Retrospective: Rock and Rule (1983)
- Olivia Armstrong
- Dec 13, 2016
- 5 min read
Released in 1983, Rock and Rule has an interesting history behind it that saw it rise from a more-or-less completely forgotten era of neglected animated projects to a moderate cult classic in the realms of stoners and animation geeks.
It was the first animated feature length film produced by Canadian animation company Nelvana, who were and still are mostly known for their work in animated children’s programming and their collaborations with American partners (they were also responsible for the animated segment in the middle of the Star Wars Holiday Special. Make of that what you will).
It is commonly regarded as one of the biggest box office bombs in animated feature history, largely due to distributer MGM having almost no advertising for it and for the most part acting as if it didn’t even exist, to the point where they cancelled the release of the film in North America shortly after completion and only allowed limited video release elsewhere. In fact, the failure to make a profit against an already small budget nearly pushed Nelvana into bankruptcy until they were able to recoup the costs with their other projects.
However, via old bootleg video tapes and advertisement at some small conventions, the film managed to pick up a small following, which only grew bigger with the invention of the internet. Nowadays, it has a respectable reputation as a cult classic of weird and bizarre animated works that feel less like coherent films and more an eighties drug trip.
Rock and Rule has a look and style that only could have existed at the time it was made. Everything from the designs, the music, the style is all completely drenched in eighties cheese and appreciation for the film seems to have grown over the years due to this fact, not due to its story or characters but enjoyment of the animated and musical aesthetic. It focuses on a punk rock group who bands together when one of their members (Angel, played by Susan Roman) is kidnapped by legendary rock singer Mok Swagger (Don Francks) to use her voice to bring forth a demon from another dimension during one of his concerts and the band’s lead Omar (Gregory Salata) try to get her back before the demon can be summoned. It’s pretty much as batty and bizarre as the sounds.
Story and characters would normally be seen as the most essential elements to any normal film but Rock and Rule throws convention to the wind and almost all the focus is placed on the style and music. And strangely enough, it presents a lot to admire in this respect. The soundtrack (while some tracks are hard to find due to only a few on them being released on the albums of their artists) is a mish-mash of different artists and styles of rock and many of them capture that catchy vide of the time period. Dance, Dance, Dance by Earth Wind and Fire in particular has a great catchy beat to it and really captures the feeling of being in an eighties nightclub. Send Love Through, the duet sung between Angel and Omar during the film’s climax, is also a great retro rock ballad (even if the scene itself is completely insane seeing as how the power of this duet somehow defeats the evil threat, with almost no explanation as to how it can do that. It’s that kind of movie). Even the opening song sung by the band, Born to Raise Hell (sung by Cheap Trick lead singer Robin Zander) is enjoyable in how over-the-top angsty and cheesy it is.
The best way to describe the animation is impressively inconsistent. At several points, the animation looks like it passes through three or four different styles in the space of one scene. Angel and Omar are drawn to almost look like normal human characters (to the point where they look rotoscoped in some scenes) but then several side characters adopt a far more exaggerated facial design and body proportions. The animation on Mok, the main villain, is exceptionally detailed, particularly his facial expression designed by animator Robin Budd. All these styles clash together to produce a dizzying effect, combined with the sporadic use of colour in many later scenes. However, in many of said individual scenes, there are a many of moments of artistry and energy that make it difficult not to admire. While it is inconsistent, it is always brimming with effort making it almost impossible to tear your eyes away and there is a true appreciation of watching the artists and animators express themselves as freely as they can (compared to Nelvana’s other projects, which are far safer and less ambitious).
While experiencing Rock and Rule, the feeling that most of the talent and effort was extended to the film’s creative aesthetics isn’t an inaccurate one, as even many who appreciate the film can admit the music and animation is the main reason for their enjoyment and acknowledge the other elements are definitely to the film’s detriment.
The plot is nigh incomprehensible. Even attempting to make sense of anything going on would only serve to cause more confusion. The bare bones of the story are simple enough (the evil villain Mok wants to use Angels voice to summon a demon at his concert or something to that effect) but so many scenes that are fun to watch on their own ultimately end up going nowhere and what is coherent just seems to become even more crazy as the film progresses. The characters are all fairly static and seem almost unimportant as the film progresses. Omar is suggested to have gone through a change by the end of the film but there’s no real evidence of it in any scenes prior so it just feels like a character U-turn for the sake of the films climax. He begins as unlikeable and pig-headed and just seems to stay that way for most of the film. Other than having the singing voice of Deborah Harry, there isn’t much to Angel’s character either and the rest of the side characters just doddle around the weird story outline. The characters are all implied to be half human, half animal-like mutants but there seems to be absolutely no point to this decision. There’s a brief text crawl attempting to explain it near the beginning but the fact remains that absolutely nothing about the story would change if the characters were all human, with many of them already looking almost exact with just maybe a dog nose or a rat like face, making it more akin to a bizarre combination of Heavy Metal and A Goofy Movie.
The only character of any interest is the villain, Mok. While his motivation for his evil plan is pretty stale, the expressive animation of his facial features as mentioned before and his fittingly creepy voice work transform him from a run-of-the-mill antagonist to a legitimately creepy threat (even if he’s far more interesting to look at and listen to than anything to do with his character).
On the surface, having a nonsensical story and barely-there characters would be enough to sink the film but as explained before, Rock and Rule doesn’t follow the conventions of film-making in general so it almost feels unimportant. It ultimately boils down to far more style over substance but this isn’t always a bad thing if the style is interesting or engaging enough and on that front, it’s hard to fault the film for it. While the style is an acquired taste, those who do appreciate all the obvious effort put into the reflection of the time period it was made (and as an experiment of a studio that had never been allowed to do something this creative or ambitious before), will most likely find themselves overlooking the many problems in the writing department.
It’s a forgotten piece of Canadian animated history that doesn’t pull together as a film but is worth enjoying on its merits and as another appreciation of how just bizarre animated films could be. If the style is enough to intrigue, it’s definitely an experience unlike many others.
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