Breakfast Club deserve an article all to themselves, but in short: they formed in the late 70s, briefly featured Madonna (who Gilroy Dated) as a drummer and sometimes singer, released one album, and their 1987 single Right On Track is one of the greatest forgotten hits of the 80s. Gilroy was the lead singer of a band called Breakfast Club – no relation to the film. (What’s more, it was written by two of her show’s frequent writers, Mark Curtiss and Rod Ash.) Dan Gilroy is more of an enigma, until I realized who he was. Though Duvall didn’t produce Rock ‘n’ Rhyme, it’s no wonder that some versions of the film bear her good name in front of the title. Shelley Duvall you may know as actress she gets around, but she’s perhaps best known for creating, producing, and staring in her own live action television show of children’s stories, Faerie Tale Theatre and its several successful spin-offs. The real stars of the show are Shelley Duvall and Dan Gilroy as Little Bo Peep and Gordon Goose. What’s particularly strange about this all-star musical line-up is that there are only a few songs in Rock ‘n’ Rhyme, and of these big names, only Little Richard and the Stray Cats actually perform. “I lost two wonderful husbands all because of Lou’s insistence on following me Check out this scene with Cyndi Lauper as Mary (Had a Little Lamb) and Woody Harrelson as the Little Lamb, turned full-grown sheep, Lou: What it does have are adult undertones that would’ve gone over kids heads, terrific 90s aesthetics, and a high-profile cast that few children could appreciate.
The writing isn’t very compelling and there are some severe pacing issues. To an adult audience, Rock ‘n’ Rhyme is clearly made for kids. To my kid brain, the strange lighting, the desperation of the main character, and the actuality of people vanishing without a trace amounted to real concern and dreamlike foreboding.
#Mother goose club behind the scenes tv
Cartoon-like live action strips away a lot of the goofiness that an actual made for TV cartoon would’ve accentuated, and emphasizes the drama of the situation. The bright colors, crazy camera angles, and absurd sets of the production, coupled with the intense, mismatched fashions of the time give Rock ‘n’ Rhyme a unique feel. If Rock ‘n’ Rhyme had been animated in the goopy TV style of the late 80s it would’ve been no more memorable than an episode of The Smurfs. Certainly no adult will feel the same tension I did in preschool, but it’s easy to see how a kid might. Pretty bleak stuff for a kid’s movie.ĭoes it hold up? Well, kinda. They soon discover that, due to Mother Goose’s disappearance, Rhymies are vanishing from existence and if they don’t find her soon, their world will end. Together, Gordon and Bo Peep drive through Rhymeland meeting with other nursery rhyme characters, searching for clues. Their fears are confirmed when Itsy Bitsy Spider tells them he saw something come out of the sky and take her. One day, on his way to work, Little Bo Peep (Shelley Duvall) drives up and tells Gordon that his mother has disappeared. The film follows Gordon Goose (Dan Gilroy), the adult son of Mother Goose, who can’t stand living in Rhymeland amongst all of his mother’s spastic creations, called Rhymies. The musical star power alone is insane Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry, Bobby Brown, The Stray Cats, Little Richard, ZZ Top, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkle (though not in the same scenes), and that’s just hitting all the high notes. It’s distinctive for having music video-style production as well as starring a number of well-known musicians and actors.
#Mother goose club behind the scenes movie
Mother Goose Rock ‘n’ Rhyme, also called Shelley Duvall’s Rock and Rhymeland, was a made for TV movie from 1990, with frequent play on the Disney Channel during the early nineties.
The solution to my years of curiosity was only a Google search away. Then one day, almost 20 years later, it came up in conversation, Mother Goose Rock ‘n’ Rhyme. Every so often I’d remember the video, but could never figure out what it was. To make my memories of the film even more fragmented, we ran out of time in class and the video was stopped before it was over, leaving the disappearances unresolved. One of the clearer memories I retained was of the Three Men in a Tub, oddly dressed, floating by in a forest, not speaking, only gesturing. I recall enjoying the video, but not being able to shake a sense of dread. People started just… vanishing without a trace. Mother Goose had disappeared and her son was looking for her. It was a story about nursery rhymes in live action, but with all the bright colors of a cartoon. Once in preschool, my class was shown a video for a special occasion.