Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Kid Flicks: The Buttercream Gang

Every family has a movie (or movies) that, for one reason or another, takes the VCR/DVD Player hostage and receives more repeat viewings than it deserves. In our house, some of those movies were Sister Act, The Meteor Man, and 3 Ninjas. These are just some of the movies I want to write about in my new series, Kid Flicks.


Sometimes Mormon kids don't get to watch real movies. Sometimes they "get" to watch Feature Films for Families. Some were okay, others were no gosh darn good. But there was one that stood above the rest. The Buttercream Gang. Has anyone else seen this charming 90-minute PSA against headbands and bike theft?

Did you watch that trailer? Oscar-quality stuff. For those who missed (avoided) The Buttercream Gang during their childhood, let me catch you up on the important details. Pete (that Paul Reubens-looking guy) is the President of the Buttercream Gang--a group of charitable young suburban fellows. They help grandmothers, grandfathers, and anyone else suffering from the Near Death years. Pete is the valiant leader, that is, until he moves away, joins a street gang, and starts wearing cholo shirts.

When Pete moves back to town, it's up to Scott (the new Mr. Buttercream) to put a stop to his shoelace stealing and rebellious attitude. Luckily for Scott, he's got help from the rest of the gang. Together, they show Pete that real fun is to be found in bike riding and hugs.

For some reason, my family watched this movie...a lot. In fact, I found a Buttercream Gang DVD at Amoeba a couple years ago and proudly paid one dollar to take it home. Has anybody else seen this movie? Were you proud to share the same name as the newly-appointed Buttercream president? I was.


8 comments:

Lunatone said...

This movie sounds like a nightmare.

elgringo said...

Oh yeah, it was (is).

whitney said...

Well, the guy at Amoeba has seen it. Remember how excited he got when he saw that you were buying it?

brian said...

i watched that movie at least a dozen times growing up. but dont remember much other than jr high style jokes made about the name.

do you remember any of the other feature films for families titles? wasn't there one about either a witch or a cat that turns into a witch at some pond?

elgringo said...

The one I remember best is Scamper the Penguin. Quite a treat, that one. Not sure about the witch one. Maybe Rigoletto.

dw said...

i saw it a bunch of times, just like brian.

the other feature film for families that i remember is "on our own" about those 3 siblings and their uncle or something.

isn't "baker's hawk" another title?

and what was that one about some kids that accidentally win a million dollars in their stock market class? like wildest dreams or something?

also, i remember that witch one and can't think of the name. that kid likes that girl but thinks she and her grandmother are witches and his dad is trying to build a big resort on the lake.

lastly, isn't there one about time travel called like "split infinity" or something? the girl doesn't appreciate her pioneer heritage or something until she goes back in time...

i think there was a group in our neighborhood and we were all memebers of the FFF.

brian said...

thanks aaron.
remember in that wildest dreams one how they had a robot driving a car? (or rather, a child controlling a robot who drove a car)

and i remember split infinity as well. i think she was pissed at her grandfather because he sold some land in the great depression and if he hadn't her dad could now sell that land for millions and they'd be rich, so she ends up going back in time and gains an appreciation of both her granddad and poverty.

LM said...

Yes Brian! I've been trying to find out the name of wildest dreams for months! Note it doesn't come up with u google early 90 robot movies.

Thanks for ur help!


Totally trying to re-buy and re-watch buttercream gang now too!