This family adventure movie, produced in Canada, was released when I was two years old, before any of my earliest memories (I think). I obviously didn't see it when it was brand new, but remember seeing a lot of it several times in the 90's. However, I don't recall ever watching it right to the end in my childhood, as I could never remember how it ended. At 23 years old, I've finally gotten around to seeing "Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller", the whole film, from start to finish, after not seeing any part of it for maybe around fifteen years. This probably wouldn't have happened if I hadn't remembered it from my childhood. I thought much of the movie was reasonable, thanks to the humour, but eventually, it got a little tiring.Ralph James and his con artist friend, Tommy Tricker, are both elementary school kids who collect stamps. Tommy likes to use stamps as a way to swindle his peers, and even does this at school, until Albert, the leader of the stamp club, stops him. Unfortunately, when Tommy comes over to Ralph's house one day, Ralph becomes another one of his victims. Tommy tricks him into trading one of his dad's rare stamps, and Ralph doesn't realize he's been tricked until the young schemer is on his way, and it's too late! Ralph knows he will be in trouble when his dad finds out, and his sister, Nancy, decides to help him try and get it back or find a replacement. After failed attempts, the siblings discover how to magically shrink and travel inside a stamp, and Ralph decides to do just that, in a search to find Charles Merriweather, a stamp traveler who has been missing for 75 years! This movie is not billed as a comedy, but I probably wouldn't be able to give it an above average rating if it weren't for the times I laughed. I think many people would agree that the film clearly has more for kids than adults, with a storyline that could easily bore adults. I can't forget such comedic highlights as the way Albert tells Tommy to stop swindling other students with stamps, Ralph locking himself up while his dad tries to get him to come out, and the chase through the mall (featuring an early appearance from Rufus Wainwright, years before his music career took off). I did not care much for Tommy as a character, with some of the things he does, such as the prank he pulls on Albert early in the film. Mind you, even that character can be funny at times. Unfortunately, in the end, the humour is not consistent enough to carry the film, and to me, the film seemed a little overlong. If it were shorter, I might be able to rate it 7/10, instead of 6, but as it is, I can't say I highly recommend it for adults.

I think there are two kinds of kid movies. In the first group, there is a good story which both kids and even adults find interesting. You also have a good casting and feel that the producers respect the audience. In the second group, you see that a standard movie has been converted into the kids world, and child players act as if they are much more older then they actually are. Even though i must admit that this film has a relatively good story, i think it is in the second category, which makes it a extremely disturbing film. You just can't feel any warmth for the child actors which causes you dislike it all from the beginning.

The idea of traveling by stamp will enchant most kids. There are some fun sequences with the kids as they learn about this odd way of travel. There are also enough holes and leaps of logic to make most adults scratch their heads throughout the movie. The movie is harmless enough to let your young children watch it, but not something that will expand your children's horizons as much as you may want. For the seasoned film fanatic, the idea is interesting, but the execution lacks distinction from many other "kids on magical adventure stories". Another blah movie that won't shock or thrill you much. The guy with bass drum and other instruments, whose song plays whenever the kids transfer to stamp, reminds me of the Big Bad Wolf in The Three Little Bops. Just a random thought for that dumb ten lines rule.

This is a moderately decent film for kids, but anyone over 11 will be bored by it. I wish Mike and the 'bots of MST3k could have gotten a chance to view this film. A good scene for the 'stinger', or little odd clip from the film at the end of an episode, would be Ralph running between the trees. I say this because the way he is running looks like really really weird.