Mok Swagger, a legendary rock musician, is on the search for a very special voice whose frequencies can unleash a powerful demon from another dimension, his dwindling popularity driving him to destroy the world in vengeance and immortalize himself in the process. After travelling around the world looking for the right voice, he returns to his hometown of Ohmtown, a remote, storm-ravaged village famous for its unique power plant. Meanwhile, at a nightclub, Omar, Angel, Dizzy and Stretch perform in a small rock band. As Angel performs her romantic ballad to a mostly empty audience, Mok hears her sing; he realizes that Angel has the voice he needs when a ring he is wearing reacts to her voice. Mok invites Angel and the band to his mansion outside of town, where the band is formally introduced to him and his assistants, the "Rollerskating Schlepper Brothers" Toad, Sleazy and Zip. Mok incapacitates Omar and Stretch with hypnotic "Edison Balls" as he takes Angel on a stroll through his garden and tries to convince her to join him. Although Angel is unaware of Mok's true intentions, she refuses to abandon her band. Unwilling to admit defeat, Mok kidnaps her and takes his blimp to Nuke York, where his summoning, disguised as a concert, will be performed.
Following their ejection from Mok's mansion, the band find out what happened to Angel, and they follow the blimp in a stolen police car. Before they reach Nuke York, they are arrested by a border guard. Meanwhile, Angel attempts to escape with the unwitting help of Cinderella, the sister of the Schleppers. While sneaking through the ventilation system, Angel overhears Mok confirming his plans with his computer. At this time, the computer informs Mok that the only way to stop the demon is with "One voice, one heart, one song", but when Mok asks who can do this, the computer replies that there is "no one". Angel and Cindy escape the building and head to the zero-gravity dance club "Club 666", unaware that the Schleppers are following them. Dizzy's aunt bails out Omar and his friends, and tells them of the club. Angel and Cindy are intercepted and taken back to Mok's apartment, and the band tries to follow. Omar eventually bumps into Mok, who uses an impersonator to fool Omar into thinking that Angel has fallen for Mok. To manipulate Angel, Mok captures the band and tortures them within a giant Edison Ball to force her to agree with his demands. He also brainwashes them to ensure that they stay out of the way. The Nuke York concert turns out to be a disaster due to a power failure. Because the invocation requires a titanic amount of electricity, Mok relocates the summoning to Ohmtown, whose power plant has enough energy. Meanwhile, one of the Schlepper brothers, Zip, expresses childlike doubts about whether their actions are good or evil, and Mok rudely dismisses both his concerns and his feelings. During the concert, a power surge causes overloads all over the city. The shock also brings Omar and his friends out of their hypnosis.
Dizzy finds a poster advertising Mok and Angel's concert, and Stretch sticks with him to save her. After confessing that Omar saw Mok and Angel together, Dizzy tries to remind him it's all mind games. Omar, still believing Mok's earlier deception, refuses to help Dizzy and Stretch stop the concert. They go without him in a stolen police car, but crash at the concert too late, as Mok forces Angel to sing and open a portal to the demon's dimension. A massive demonic entity emerges from the portal and begins wreaking havoc on all those present, wrecking part of the ceiling and devouring some of the bystanders in the audience. But Omar has a change of heart and arrives to free Angel from her electronic shackles before the demon can turn on her. When the demon attacks Omar, Zip sacrifices himself to save Omar's life. Angel tries singing to banish the demon, but her lone voice only pushes him back. But Omar joins in harmony with Angel, and thus the creature is weakened, injured and driven back into its own dimension. Mok is thrown into the portal by Toad, who is avenging Zip's death at the demon's hands. As his attempts to climb out prove futile, he realizes that "no one" did not mean that the demon could not be stopped; it meant instead that "no one voice" could, acting alone; two voices and two hearts singing as one were needed for the counter-spell. Mok then plunges into the portal's depths as it seals itself shut. The audience believes the confrontation to have been part of the concert's theatrics, and the band continues their song in triumph as Mylar, the Ohmtown nightclub manager, announces the band as the new super rock band sensation.
Rock & Rule was Nelvana's first animated feature film and it was the first Canadian animated feature to be produced in English (the 1981 Canadian-American co-production Heavy Metal was also produced in English, but was an anthology film. Le Village enchanté, a 1955 production from Quebec, was the country's first, overall).[6][7] The movie began production in 1978 as a children's film entitled Drats!. Nelvana used $8 million to finance and produce the film."[8] The premise remained the same, centering on a post-apocalyptic rock band composed of fuzzy mutant creatures who evolved from rats,[9] in a world where the human race was wiped out and only the street animals cats, dogs and rats survived.[10][11] However, instead of wiring her to the soundboard, Mok transformed Angel into a guitar, and literally played her to summon the beast.[12] The crew felt that it would be easier to animate cartoony characters[13] but, as the film evolved, they gradually became more humanistic,[14] and Hollywood acquaintances encouraged them to skew the tone towards an older audience.[15]
The film was produced without a well defined script;[16][17] so the crew would develop and work on sequences, leaving holes for more layers of the story to be added later.[18][19]
The cost of production, $8 million in studio resources, nearly put Nelvana out of business. Over 300 Nelvana animators worked on the film.[20] The film went $3 million over budget.[21]
The animation was of unusually high quality for the era, and the special effects were mostly photographic techniques, as computer graphics were in their infancy. Computers were used to generate only a few images in the film. To add depth a computer controlled multiplane camera system was developed.[22] One effect was called "controlled streak photography", where glowing effects are made by combining backlit animation with a computer-controlled camera.[23]
Release
Prior to its completion, Rock & Rule was picked up by Hollywood film studio MGM/UA in April 1983. However, they did not care about the animated feature and gave it only an extremely small limited release in theatres on April 15, 1983.[24] Due to some scenes involving adult themes such as sexuality and profanity, the film was uniquely marketed.[25]
Alternative versions
American
The American distributor, MGM/UA Entertainment Company, disliked Greg Salata, who voiced Omar, and insisted that he would be re-dubbed by an actor with name recognition, along with several edits being made to the film. Paul Le Mat was cast and Omar's obscenities were written out. The prologue was also altered, giving a reason why the characters are part animal. Released through United Artists in April 1983, the revised film was unable to find an audience at the box office. It was this chopped version that quickly found its way to VHS and LaserDisc.[4]
Canadian
The film was initially broadcast on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1985[26] (uncut and including parental warnings). In 1988, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation began airing the original cut, which featured extra footage, a different, clearer audio mix, the original voice of Omar, original shots that had been replaced by alternate footage, and the shot of Zip regaining consciousness at the conclusion.[27]
Home media
Original home video release copies of Rock & Rule are extremely difficult to find. MGM/UA Home Video released the film on VHS and Betamax in 1984 and on LaserDisc in 1986.[28] Both of these editions soon went out of print. Bootleg copies of the film ended up being sold at comic book conventions, but these copies erroneously listed the film as having been done by Ralph Bakshi.[29] Soon after its demise in the home entertainment market, copies of the film could be acquired only by writing to Nelvana, who charged a fee of $80 to create and send a video copy of the film.[30]
On June 7, 2005, Unearthed Films released the film for the first time on DVD. The first disc includes the theatrical cut and the second disc includes the original cut of the film (though the original print was destroyed in a fire; this was taken from a VHS source)[citation needed] and The Devil and Daniel Mouse, the TV special that was the inspiration for Rock & Rule. Other features were the alternate 'Ring of Power' introduction sequence and a slightly different rough-cut version of the ending. Also included is the trailer for Electric Dragon 80.000 V, a 2001 Japanese film written and directed by Sogo Ishii. On September 28, 2010, a Blu-ray Disc was released by Unearthed Films and has two versions of the film in one disc.[4] Both Unearthed Films releases have since gone out-of-print.
Nelvana uploaded the film to its YouTube channel, Retro Rerun, on November 30, 2019 (which was presented in the American VHS and LaserDisc formats).[31] The upload has since been made private on the website as of April 2022 (which was available on Amazon Prime Video after Amazon's acquisition of MGM Holdings on March 17, 2022, renamed currently known as Amazon MGM Studios).
Merchandise
Because of MGM's lack of interest in the film, very little promotion was given. The film was mentioned in an episode of Night Flight, when Lou Reed was interviewed and incorrectly credited as the speaking voice of Mok. Marvel Comics published a comic book adaptation with authentic pictures from the film and its production in Marvel Super Special #25.[32][33] According to letterer and assistant editor Michael Higgins, the comic sold well despite the film itself having had only a very limited release.[34]
Reception
The film received mostly positive reviews. Spin called Rock and Rule "the greatest oddball scifi musical ever committed to animation cels".[35] Critic Janet Maslin of The New York Times commented that "The animation ... has an unfortunate way of endowing the male characters with doggy-looking muzzles. In any case, the mood is dopey and loud."[36]American Film magazine described it as a "nominee for the Instant Midnight Movie Award."[37] Graham Young of the Birmingham Mail said "The antithesis of Disney, and flawed but ahead of its time, Rock & Rule will surprise and delight anyone whose combined interests include graphic novels, animated films and rock music."[38] Mike McPadden of Vice wrote that "it's enjoyable on its own merits and potently nostalgic."[39] Keith Breese of Contact Music described Rock & Rule as "a masterpiece of outré animation and wildly ambitious vision and remains a triumph in animated feature film".[40] The film has since developed a cult following.[5]
Presumably, due to the film's limited release and the fact that the artists were under contract to different record labels, a proper album was never issued, although a promotional cassette was given to the press featuring nine songs from the movie.[42] The only songs to be commercially released are three by Cheap Trick, which were issued in their 1996 boxed set Sex, America, Cheap Trick, as well as Earth, Wind and Fire's sole contribution entitled "Dance, Dance, Dance", which was released as a digital single in 2012,[43] and Iggy Pop's "Pain and Suffering", which finally surfaced as a bonus track on the 2019 re-release of his album Zombie Birdhouse[44] (an entirely different recording of the song was included on the album's 1991 reissue). Additionally, Debbie Harry revised the lyrics to "Angel's Song" and retitled it "Maybe for Sure", which was featured on her 1989 album Def, Dumb & Blonde.[45]
Critical reception
LA Weekly called the soundtrack "a mixed bag of rock songs" with the "standout track" being "Earth, Wind & Fire's funky club jam 'Dance, Dance, Dance'".[4] Keith Breese of Contact Music noted that the soundtrack "certainly feels contemporary", with "Debbie Harry's addictive 'Angel Song' as the highlight".[40]
^Clive Smith (director) (2005). Rock & Rule Audio Commentary (DVD). Unearthed Films. Event occurs at 2:13. We started development of the film in 1978 as "Drats," and it was a film that was skewed to a much younger audience, with softer, younger characters, and it was a bit more Grimms' Fairy Tale quality about it.
^Townsend, Emru (2005-06-07). "Rock and Rule (Part 1)". Archived from the original on 2017-07-14. Clive Smith: It was sort of a post-apocalyptic world where some dreadful disaster has happened. And out of that came a new race of creatures. Mutants, which were partly animal, partly human. When it was Drats!, they were a lot fuzzier and warmer and friendlier. Rounder.
^Townshend, Emru (1997). "Tom Sito: Looking back on the leaner times making Rock & Rule". The Critical Eye. Archived from the original on 2004-08-25. Retrieved 2020-03-11. The original name of Rock & Rule was Drats!, because they were meant to be evolved rats who became cognizant after the human race was obliterated, but that was never really made clear.
^Townshend, Emru (1997). "Clive Smith: The rise and fall of Rock & Rule". The Critical Eye. Archived from the original on 2004-09-04. Retrieved 2020-03-11. We had an idea where Angel, who started off as a Drat, basically normal Drat-type person. But when Mok finds her and steals her, rather than control her through some electro-digital futuristic device, which he does in the film, he actually changed her into a guitar. So Mok actually had this sort of feminine form that was half-guitar, half-woman, shall we say, for his final performance. So as he played her, so she sang. It was pretty, kind of, erotic.
^Townsend, Emru (2005-06-07). "Rock and Rule (Part 1)". Archived from the original on 2017-07-14. Clive Smith: I think some of the thinking of that was we were convinced that it was harder to animate humans than it was to animate fuzzy little creatures.
^Townshend, Emru (1997). "Clive Smith: The rise and fall of Rock & Rule". The Critical Eye. Archived from the original on 2004-09-04. Retrieved 2020-03-11. And we were advised at the time, I guess by certain acquaintances in Hollywood, that we should be aiming at an older audience. And so we basically turned the picture around completely. And just targeted it much, much older.
^Townsend, Emru (2005-06-07). "Rock and Rule (Part 1)". Archived from the original on 2017-07-14. Clive Smith: We didn't have a script, we had an idea.
^Kraft, David Anthony (1983). "A Life of Its Own: The Animation of Rock & Rule". Marvel Super Special #25. Neither script nor storyboard was developed chronologically.
^Kraft, David Anthony (1983). "A Life of Its Own: The Animation of Rock & Rule". Marvel Super Special #25. They began by creating a very rough concept of the story, a mere skeletal structure onto which any number of plot and story elements might be added.
^Townsend, Emru (2005-06-07). "Rock and Rule (Part 1)". Archived from the original on 2017-07-14. Clive Smith: We had a concept, and we started to develop not just the writing, but on a parallel stream we started to develop characters and the animators themselves all contributed the development of the characters and the development of the story. But story ideas would come up, we would write sequences that reflected this very rough concept, and those sequences then would be developed.
^Walmsley, Ann (May 27, 1985). "A Bearish Movie with Bullish Results". Maclean's. Maclean Hunter Limited. p. 54. Retrieved 2020-03-10. More than three years in the making, the futuristic rock 'n' roll film employed more than 300 animators
^Walmsley, Ann (May 27, 1985). "A Bearish Movie with Bullish Results". Maclean's. Maclean Hunter Limited. p. 54. Retrieved 2020-03-10. Although the CBC aired Ring of Power two months ago and Embassy Home Entertainment will distribute it as a video cassette, Loubert says he does not expect it to reach the big screen.
^"Movie Information". The Rock & Rule Homepage. Archived from the original on 2008-03-12. Retrieved 2020-03-11. Nelvana use to offer to get a technician to make a VHS copy for $79.00, but they have since stopped doing this in anticipation of the DVD release
^Friedt, Stephan (July 2016). "Marvel at the Movies: The House of Ideas' Hollywood Adaptations of the 1970s and 1980s". Back Issue! (89). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 68.
^Gilchrist, Garrett (August 30, 2014). "Rock & Rule Thread". orangecow.org. Archived from the original on June 16, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2020. It was previously believed that no official soundtrack album had ever been issued for Rock & Rule. However, as it turns out, a handful of film critics received a cassette tape featuring nine songs ("Hot Dogs and Sushi" and "Send Love Through" were omitted).
^Peacock, Tim (April 25, 2019). "Lost Iggy Pop Classic 'Zombie Birdhouse' Set For Reissue In June". Archived from the original on July 12, 2020. Retrieved March 11, 2020. 'Zombie Birdhouse' also contains a previously unreleased version of 'Pain and Suffering', featuring Blondie's Debbie Harry on backing vocals. The song was originally recorded for the ground-breaking animated feature film 'Rock & Rule'.
