I’m putting this movie ahead of my stalled queue entailing all the crap I’m behind on, it’s a short list since Covid and money kept me from hitting Alamo very much in 2021.
Bob’s Burgers the Movie will probably be the best the non-MCU Summer film this year, too bad it was released in the shadow of the Top Gun sequel (full disclosure, I’ve never seen that). For starters, it defeated The Simpsons Movie from 2007. As much as I loved Springfield’s favorites then and today, their movie was just a long TV episode with a few things the writers/animators couldn’t do on Fox, namely Homer giving the finger and showing Bart’s junk in a funny gag. Loren Bouchard and his crew did more as their movie will probably have some lastly consequences in the regular show. If not, at least Bob’s answered a couple nagging questions I’ll avoid since they could be spoilers.
The A Story is nothing terribly new, the Belchers are having money problems with their bank and they have a week to make their upcoming payment or else their equipment is repo’d. With the kids, school is over in a week so they’re getting ready for Summer plans. Tina’s aren’t a surprise as it involves Jimmy Jr. Gene gets the shaft, his story gets no serious attention. Louise is derailed by a classmate calling her a name which puts her on a vengeful quest dovetailing into saving the restaurant.
Another element placing Bob’s over The Simpsons is the story’s execution with more musical numbers and the characters dancing (choreographed) in addition to singing. Do they take advantage of doing things on film they can’t do on Fox or [adult swim]? No and there wasn’t any need to. Bob’s strength lies in the stories, characters and music. I personally feel The Simpsons felt obligated in order to surprise the audience after being on TV for 17 years.
Is this OK with kids? Yes. If they’ve been watching the show and can keep up, the movie might only challenge those with a short attention span. Must you watch all 12 seasons in order to understand the characters, etc.? No. It works well as an independent story but for us fans, it’s filled with bonuses.
Alamo Stuff: A soda commercial from India; ads from drive-ins in the past plugging their burgers; trailers for Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitters Dead (in German), Good Burger (the Kenan and Kel vehicle from Nickelodeon) and Hamburger the Motion Picture (a Revenge of the Nerds clone); music videos from Captain Mustard’s “Funky Burger,” Gazebo’s “Trotsky Burger” and Commander Cody’s “Triple Cheese, Order of Fries”; a Wendy’s ad from 1987 I’ve never seen; Bob’s Buskers (music videos of bands animated in the style of Bob’s Burgers): “Bad Girls” by St. Vincent, “New Wave” by Sleater-Kinney and Gene’s “Fart Song.” The best Alamo addition, for the “NO TALKING” PSA, the box office fields a call from Bob Belcher asking about their policies and if it excludes the parents if their noisy children are ejected.