Sam Panico Nelvana was a Canadian animation powerhouse in the 1980's, producing the Boba Fett cartoon in the Star Wars Holiday Special, Droids, Ewoks and even the live action Whoopi Goldberg movie Burglar. Along the way, Nelvana's franchises have been shown on over 360 television stations in more 180 countries, in approximately 50 languages. But their first major film was Rock and Rule.Based heavily on their earlier animated film The Devil and Daniel Mouse, the film took five years to create and used up all of the studio's resources thanks to its $8 million dollar budget. MGM never promoted the film and it quickly faded from the U.S. box office. If Nelvana hadn't started working in kid-friendly TV, they would have gone out of business.In 1983, a nuclear war destroys the human race and mutated street animals populate the Earth.Mok Swagger is a legendary rock musician (voiced by Don Francks, with Lou Reed and Iggy Pop singing his songs) who is hunting for a special voice that will allow him to release a demon. Why? Well, as he's lost his fame, he just wants to set the world on fire.Meanwhile, in a nightclub in Mok's hometown, Ohmtown, Omar (Paul Le Mat voiced him with Robin Zander from Cheap Trick singing), Angel (Susan Roman voice, Debbie Harry singing), Dizzy and Stretch play a show in a small bar. Mok hears Angel sing and knows that he has finally found the voice that he's been looking for.Mok invites the band to his mansion outside of town, drugging the band and escaping with Angel. Taking her to Nuke York, he stages a magic ritual as a rock concert, we learn that only one voice, one heart and one song can stop the demon. Yet the evil rock star convinces Omar that Angel is willingly with him before capturing and torturing the band.Will Omar get it together? Will Mok unleash a demon on the world? Will we get to hear songs by Cheap Trick, Earth Wind & Fire, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and Debbie Harry? Yes. Maybe. Yes.This isn't a cartoon for kids. It's packed with drugs, devil worship, some sex and swearing (there was more before MCA demanded cuts). They pretty much dumped the film with only a Night Flight mention and a Marvel tie-in comic. I remembered waiting for the film to come out and it never did.The book is really gorgeous because instead of original art being created for the comic, it's a fumetti style book that takes cel art and creates comic book layouts from it.This film is like an 80's rock and roll version of The Apple. There's a musical couple that is torn apart by evil big business, but way less camel toe - ironic as many of the creatures in the film look like humanoid dromedaries.The animation is pretty interesting as well, looking Bakshi-like (indeed, Ralph Bakshi is often credited as the director of this, but Clive A. Smith in the true person behind the film). Even though production started as early as 1978, it really reflects the MTV style of the 80's. It compares favorably with a more well-known animated film from Canada, Heavy Metal.Rock and Rule played on HBO and Showtime in the U.S., never showing in theaters. It wasn't released officially on video until 2005 and a new blu-ray from Unearthed Films was released in 2010.

Jesper Brun I must admit that I mostly enjoyed watching Rock & Rule. I was not at all surprised when I found out it has a cult-following it is as cult as can be. The premise for the story is really interesting. The setting in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by mutants of dogs, cats and mice makes this a unique movie. The atmospheric musical score and the stylised animation only makes it better. Those were the good things in this movie and they really steal the show, because aside from the villainous Mok, the characters are not that interesting. Omar is too self-absorbed to make us sympathise with him in general. He is just your generic rock n' roll douche. The story is a little messy and does not flow as well as it could, but I stated that the movie in general is a mixed. The stylised animation, the sometimes disturbing images and the spectacular climax outweigh those flaws. It is definitely worth watching if you want an experience.

Matt Kracht I didn't see this when it first came out, back in the early 80s. If I had, I probably would have liked it, since I was the proper demographic. As someone nearing 40, I really can't say that I was impressed, however. Unlike Bakshi's work, which is generally aimed at adults, this was squarely aimed at the kid demographic, with anthropomorphic animals, over-the-top sentimentality ("love conquers everything" is a major theme), and incredibly dopey characters, right out of a Saturday morning kids' cartoon, with wacky voices to go along with them. The plot is pretty much throwaway. A narcissistic, aging "superrocker" named Mok is looking to summon a demon, although he's never really given any motivation for doing so, other than maybe wanting to be more famous than he already is. Unfortunately, he comes across as a stereotypical Disney villain and a not-so-subtle satire of Mick Jagger. The other characters are pretty much forgettable, though the heroine Angel could have been an interesting character. Stupidly, she's completely incapable of doing anything herself, and needs to be constantly saved by her male friends.The animation is pretty good, and the voice work is alright. I really wasn't very fond of the art style (cartoon animals, with snouts and big ears), as it was heavily influenced by Disney. Some people have suggested that it's supposed to be a parody of Disney's style, but I really doubt that. These are the same guys who did the Strawberry Shortcake cartoon in the 1980s. I think they're incapable of being edgy enough to take on parody. I think it's a straight-up, honest homage.In the end, this may be a little too dark for younger kids, but I doubt that it will really appeal very strongly to older teens (or adults), due to the cheesy message and heavy moralizing, which is more common in kids' cartoons. I had always heard it described as "for adults", but it's clearly not. It just goes to show you that pretty much anything that's animated can (and eventually will) be described as "adult" by someone, somewhere, eventually, even if it's overflowing in cheesy sentimentality and completely harmless. I've seen edgier episodes of The Simpsons.While not totally G-rated, I'd still say that anyone older than 12 should probably steer clear of this movie, unless they're Christian. It's got a very simplistic, heavy-handed moral that should resonate well with them.

tavm After 25 years of reading about this Canadian animated movie from Nelvana in the now-defunct magazine ComicScene, I finally checked out Rock & Rule from the library a few weeks ago. It was the single disc version so there was no longer alternate CBC version nor the previous Nelvana TV short "The Devil and Daniel Mouse" (which I remember enjoying one late Saturday morning in the late '70s) that I read was on a second disc. The animation was certainly awesome enough for the period with the futuristic sets and character designs. The songs by Blondie, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Cheap Trick, and Earth, Wind, & Fire were enjoyable if not completely memorable (though if I could listen to these tunes more than once, they'd probably get stuck in my head). I was intrigued by some of the dialogue in some scenes like the "Evil spelled backwards is Live" line. The plot seemed entertaining enough as it was but for some reason I wasn't as overly impressed with it as I thought I was. Maybe it was because it had some material I was overly familiar with like the girl being some power force that I recognized from The Fifth Element which I remember not being too impressed with (though I realize that that movie came out about 13 years after Rock & Rule). Still, for animation fans and those of the artists I just mentioned, Rock & Rule is certainly worth checking out.