Yes, folks, I am a fan of Bill Cosby's Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids since I was a kid. And now, to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of one of my favorite cartoon series, I am going to rant on a movie that is not only horrible, but spits the original and light-hearted 1972 cartoon series right on the eye.First of all, what the hell happened to Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids?! All of the cartoon characters in Fat Albert's world are stereotyped in a negative way: Fat Albert is no longer lovable, Mushmouth lost his beloved ubbi-dubbi speech, Rudy is no longer the African American version of Reggie Mantle(You know, that show-offy wise guy from the Archie Comics), Weird Harold didn't have an afro in the TV Series, Donald is now dumber than his old TV Series counterpart, Bucky doesn't have his trademark buck-teeth, Bill is bland, and, heck, not even poor Russell is spared in this movie! Look what they even did to Mudfoot in this movie! In the TV Series, Mudfoot was a wise and dignified homeless person whose reverse psychology works all the time. In this piece of s---, Mudfoot isn't anything like himself from the TV Series! Mudfoot, in this movie, is now a stereotypical angry African-American man who has the personality of Pops Williams from the Wayans Bros! At least, Pops Williams was a likable character on that show. This guy is the exact opposite! What have you done, movie?! What have you done?!! Second, the horrible animation in the cartoon segments makes Bebe's Kids look like Beauty and the Beast! Third, the acting is so bad, it's unbelievable. Finally, the music in this movie is generic and unoriginal.Bottom Line: This movie is full of character inconsistencies, generic music, terrible acting, horrible animation, and is never, ever true to the cartoon I grew up with and loved! How dare you, Twentieth Century Fox! HOW! DARE! YOU!!!

A few months shy of four years ago, I saw some of this film (at least up to the part where Fat Albert sings and raps). It was during my last year of high school, and one of those days when we got a break in one class and got to see movies to fill the time. So basically, fate brought me to this 2004 adaptation of comedian Bill Cosby's 1970's-80's cartoon series, "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids", and I doubt it would have ever really caught my attention otherwise. After all this time, I've finally seen the entire film, knowing it wasn't popular, and that it was more for kids, so it didn't surprise me when I found it to be a tad dull, even though I don't abhor it like many others seem to.Doris is an antisocial teenager in Philadelphia who hasn't been so happy since the death of her grandfather. One day, alone in front of her TV set, she cries. At this moment, "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids" is on, and Fat Albert and the gang can see her on the other side! Fat Albert sees that Doris has a problem, and is determined to help her solve it, so he comes out of the TV into the real world, and most of the others soon follow! The show soon ends, and the gang find that they are stuck in the real world until the show comes back on at 2:30 the next day! So, Fat Albert and the gang then go around with Doris and try to help her make friends. Fat Albert falls in love with her foster sister, Lauri, and eventually, he and his friends find themselves fading, and may not be able to survive much longer outside the cartoon world! Meanwhile, back in the cartoon version of Philadelphia, now that Russell is the only one left in the gang, another gang attempts to take over the junkyard!I've seen comedies where I've kept a straight face throughout, and can't say this is one of them. I never laughed, but some parts made me smile, such as Fat Albert trying to squeeze his way out of the TV, and the salesman at a clothing store in the real world learning that Fat Albert doesn't have any money after he has tried on thousands of dollars worth of clothing. However, it didn't surprise me in the least that I didn't find most of the gags amusing at all. I have definitely seen much worse attempts at comedy than this, and unlike many modern comedies, nobody in this one ever farts, but I still found that most of the gags are mediocre. That isn't the only problem with this film. Kyla Pratt puts on a rather poor performance as Doris, and the writing is also poor. The premise with Doris and her woes was poorly crafted. I sometimes got a puzzled look on my face during the movie, but can't remember exactly what put that look on my face (guess these scenes aren't all that memorable). I have to admit, I did not grow up with "Fat Albert". The cartoon came to an end not long before I was born, and I never saw any reruns of it. To this day, I have only seen a couple episodes. So, while others have compared this movie to the show, saying it's inferior, I can basically only judge it as a movie. I think my 5/10 rating might just be a TAD generous, but to me, it doesn't really stand out as good or bad, pretty much just dull and forgettable. However, this is clearly a movie aimed at kids and maybe their parents, and I don't fall into either of those categories. If it wasn't for that time when I was forced to watch the first bit of it, I could have easily ended up never seeing it at all, and since I'm not part of the audience it was aimed at, that probably would have been no big deal. If you're not a kid or the parent of any kids, then I would say you might as well skip this film, except MAYBE if you're a hardcore Fat Albert fan.

This movie was pretty much forced into being, and horribly so. I never watched "Fat Albert" as a kid, but I concluded that I would watch the movie based upon the cartoon's reputation. Had I known that Fat Albert and the gang would lunge through the television from cartoon town to real life, I wouldn't have even watched the opening credits.It was a feel good story with a good message, but it was terribly done. A lot of the scenes in the movie seemed as though they were for occupying space and time more than for aiding the plot. Fat Albert can do it all, and even though he's fat, he's super cool. That is about what I got out of the bulk of the movie.

This is such a good flick. For those of us who watched the TV show, it was such a nice twist to see the characters live and in the modern world. But, more importantly, it is such a watchable movie for young and old and it is done in a sweet and tasteful way. Imagine, a show with mostly teenage characters and no raunchy sex, nudity, drugs or swearing! I sound like a total prude, but I am not and that's my point. I watched this with my -year old and she enjoyed it as much as I did and she has no idea who Fat Albert is. There are a couple of silly parts such as the total ridiculousness of Fat Albert's "nemeis" Reggie. But, all in all, It is a fun, and sometimes sad film (yes, I cried) but totally entertaining right to the end. I can tell you that I wanted more!