Slappy and the Stinkers
| Slappy and the Stinkers | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover art | |
| Directed by | Barnet Kellman |
| Produced by | Martha Chang |
| Written by |
Robert Wolterstorff Mike Scott |
| Starring |
B. D. Wong Bronson Pinchot Jennifer Coolidge Joseph Ashton Gary LeRoi Gray |
| Music by | Craig Safan |
| Cinematography | Paul Maibaum |
| Edited by | Jeff Wishengrad |
Production company |
The Bubble Factory |
| Distributed by | TriStar Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 78 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Slappy and the Stinkers is a 1998 adventure/comedy film directed by Barnet Kellman. The film stars B. D. Wong and Bronson Pinchot. The film revolves around a group of children who try to save an abused sea lion from a greedy circus owner.
Plot
At prestigious private school, Dartmoor Academy, the principal, Morgan Brinway is forcing the second-graders to study opera appreciation. Five feisty kids (leader Sonny, contraption making Loaf, movie loving Domino, sympathetic albeit tough Lucy, and the reluctant participating Witz), nicknamed the "Stinkers" by Mr. Brinway, are secretly skipping class to create chaos on the school grounds. Witz becomes the test pilot for a flying chair, one of Sonny's newest ideas. The Stinkers go to Groundskeeper Roy's shed and steal his leaf blower. Before that, they stole Mr. Brinway's desk chair. The Stinkers fail to notice that the leaf blower was not entirely duct taped onto the desk chair. When turned it on, the leaf blower flew off the contraption but left Witz sitting in the chair. The leaf blower was heading straight for Mr. Brinway's new convertible, but the leaf blower ran out of gas before it destroyed the car. Roy accidentally obliterates the car's side door with his lawn mower blade. Mr. Brinway warns the Stinkers they will be expelled if they mess up one more time, they soon rebel while trying to keep a low profile and are involved in even more misadventures.
When the kids discover sea lion Slappy during an aquarium field trip, Sonny and the others decide to free him by smuggling him back onto the school bus and hide him in Mr. Brinway's hot tub; as a form of celebrating their success, they have a party. After Mr. Brinway arrives home earlier than usual, the Stinkers retrieve Slappy and hide him at Witz's house. Roy mistakes the sea lion for a giant gopher and sets out to kill him. Animal thief Anthony Boccoli plans to steal Slappy and sell him to a Bulgarian circus.
The next day, the Stinkers take Slappy with them to the beach so they can set him free, but Slappy refuses to leave. The kids discover there was an orca swimming nearby and that's why Slappy didn't want to go in the water. Sonny decides they should return Slappy to the aquarium. Roy tries to dispose of Slappy which causes the festival attractions to get ruined. Assuming this was caused by the Stinkers, Mr. Brinway expels them. The Stinkers discover that Boccoli kidnapped Slappy, which prompts the kids to set off on a rescue mission.
The group locates Boccoli's hideout and disposes of him by squirting him with water, blowing sawdust onto his body and shooting him with Roy's gopher bomb gun. After saving Slappy, the Stinkers get chased by Boccoli. Mr. Brinway and the class go on a hiking field trip to look at birds, which gets interrupted when the Stinkers crash through and Mr. Brinway becomes part of the getaway. After being chased to a log flume, the Stinkers and Mr. Brinway escape Boccoli by going down it; Boccoli tries to drown the group by turning on the flume, but the water is blocked by a beaver's nest and once he removes it, the water splashes him and he slides down the spillway. The Stinkers, Slappy and Mr. Brinway safely land into the lake below, whereas Boccoli falls onto a floating log. Roy, who is also the school bus driver, ties a rope around Boccoli. Slappy is returned to the aquarium, Mr. Brinway withdraws the Stinkers' expulsion and the Stinkers become heroes.
Cast
- B. D. Wong as Morgan Brinway, the weary headmaster of Dartmoor Academy. He strongly dislikes the Stinkers.
- Bronson Pinchot as Roy, the clumsy and awkward groundskeeper of Dartmoor Academy. The Stinkers are his friends.
- Jennifer Coolidge as Harriet, Mr. Brinway's ditsy assistant. She is always unaware of the Stinkers' rambunctious acts; unlike Mr. Brinway, she cares a lot for the Stinkers and sometimes tries to defend them.
- Joseph Ashton as Sonny, who is the leader of the Stinkers. He makes his own rules and the others follow them. He is the source of a lot of the Stinkers mischief. It was his idea to free Slappy. He is on scholarship.
- Gary LeRoi Gray as Domino, a member of the Stinkers. He has watched more movies than most people, let alone the group members.
- Carl Michael Lindner as Allen "Witz" Witzowitz, a member of the Stinkers who, unlike Sonny, is always cautious about everything the Stinkers do. He tries to always do what the adults say, and never wants to get in trouble. He is on scholarship, along with Sonny and Lucy. He is also the only asthmatic member of the group, as indicated several times throughout the movie.
- Scarlett Pomers as Lucy, a member of the Stinkers. She is the only girl of the group. She is tough, funny, and has a crush on Witz. She is on scholarship, along with Sonny and Witz.
- Travis Tedford as Loaf, a member of the Stinkers and the group's mechanic. He designs many of the Stinkers tools, but they usually end up as failures.
- David Dukes as Spencer "Spence" Dane Sr., Spencer Dane Jr.'s father. Brinway is always nice to him because he relys on him for donations to the school.
- Spencer Klein as Spencer Dane Jr., Mr.Brinway's favourite student and the son of Spencer Dane Sr. He has a deep hatred for the Stinkers, and they hate him back. He is constantly insulting the Stinkers and acts like a snob to them because of their modest backgrounds, but they get him back with pranks.
- Sam McMurray as Anthony Boccoli, an animal broker and the main antagonist who wants to sell Slappy to a Bulgarian circus, but he fails when the Stinkers rescue Slappy. Everyone gets his name mixed up with "Broccoli" and "Braccoli".
- Terry Walters as Nancy
- Bodhi Elfman as Tag
- Terri Garber as Witz's Mom
- Jamie Donnelly as Aquarium Information Woman
- Frank Welker as Slappy and Gordon
Reception
Slappy and the Stinkers was panned by critics. As of July 2014, the film holds a 0% "rotten" rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.[1]
References
- ↑ Rotten Tomatoes, "Slappy and the Stinkers (1997)". Accessed July 24, 2014.