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Rock & RuleHere's an underrated gem from the 80's. 'Rock & Rule' was the first animated feature from Canada by Nelvana Studios, and boy, does it 'ROCK'! (pun intended.) In a dark, post apocalyptic world where animals are the dominate species, an aging rock star named Mok is searching for a 'special voice' for his dark experiment to pull in a demon from another dimension. He finds such a voice in Angel. The female singer of a struggling rock band. When simple charms don't work, Mok resorts to kidnapping Angel, and it's up to her band mates, Omar, Stretch, and Dizzy to save her before Mok accomplishes his dark nefarious plans.
This film came off of the coat tails of 'Heavy Metal', but since animation was still seen as kids stuff in the 80's, both films didn't make much of an impact, and would only garner 'cult' followings. Like 'Heavy Metal', 'Rock & Rule' features a unique soundtrack with musical acts like Cheap Trick, Debbie Harry, Iggy Pop, and Lou Reed. The overall animation in 'Rock & Rule' is almost on par what what you'd expect from Disney, or Don Bluth, and features some early examples of CGI. As far as character's go, Angel is perhaps one of the best female heroines in animation. She may look cute, but is quite tough, and fairly resourceful. She does get into bad situations, but doesn't always wait for Omar to save her. (Even tough Omar would seem more like the movie's main hero.) By stark contrast, Mok literally steals the show for his sheer evil presence. He basically embodies all the great rock icons like Mick Jagger, and David Bowie. along with some of Disney's best screen villains. He'll stop at nothing to get what he wants, and he usually does. I feel that 'Rock & Rule' is an underrated film that, in some ways, was way ahead of it's time. Definitely worth a look if your into rock music, or adult animation.
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