Nostalgiathon: Ri¢hie Ri¢h [1994]
Hello readers! This post is part of Andy Watches Movies and Cinema Schinema‘s joint project Nostalgiathon 2012.
The purpose of Nostalgiathon is to relive things from your childhood through the eyes of an adult. Since Andy Watches Movies and Cinema Schminema are both movie-focused blogs, we will be covering movies, but books, TV shows, whatever else are all fair game if you’d like to participate.
Eight year-old me loved this one.
When I was in elementary school, one of the big networks in Mexico aired it practically every weekend. Richie Rich and Baby’s Day Out were pretty much the only options if you were a kid catching a movie on TV after growing a bit tired of all your Disney films on VHS (not that I’m complaining).
And when I wanted a break from The Lion King or Aladdin, I would turn on the TV and, magically, Richie Rich would be on. I absolutely loved watching it. We never had a hard time growing up, regarding money or otherwise, but I fantasized about being rich like Richie. I lived vicariously through him.
He had servants, a mansion, and even his very own amusement park, complete with the most awesome toys (quads, the “Kiddiepult”). I’ll forever be jealous of the kid for having his own McDonald’s at home, not that I love those tiny bites of cholesterol with a side of cold, too-salty fries, but having your own fast food joint at home is the coolest thing (personally, I’d go for Carl’s Jr.)
22 year-old me, eh, not so much.
Wow, this movie’s dumb. Small kids like me when I ate this type of crap up, too distracted by their fantasies of wealth and private amusement parks might not notice, but the writing is horrid and cheesy and every character (filthy-rich or not) is clichéd, one-dimensional and mostly unsympathetic. Revisiting Richie Rich gave me an uneasy mix of pain and pleasure. Watching it again after more than a decade brought back some nice memories but I couldn’t shake the feeling that everything was so implausible and that the story could’ve worked much better as an animated film.
Wow, I’ve turned into an old coot, haven’t I?
OK. Positives, positives. It was nice to see that all the technology the movie presented as a bit far-fetched and only for the über-rich, are now household things like videocall and Google Maps. Christine Ebersole as Regina, Richie’s mom, and Stephi Lineburg as one of his “poor” friends are pretty good. But, honestly, if it weren’t for the nostalgic ties that bind me to this movie, I wouldn’t have enjoyed it in the least.
So, in summation, I hate Andy and Misty for creating Nostalgiathon (I’m kidding, obviously).
I do hate myself a bit, though, for watching this one after all these years and for spoiling the image I’d built up in my head. If I had left it alone, I’d still think very fondly of that great awful movie of my childhood. Whatever. We’ll always have Disney.
Pingback: Nostalgiathon – Update 1 | Andy Watches Movies
Pingback: Nostalgiathon Blogathon – Introduction | Andy Watches Movies
*giggles* Don’t hate!! 😉 I vaguely remember this movie – I think my little brother might’ve been a fan. I *think* there was a cartoon version too though. I have hazy images in my head of Richie Rich cartoons anyway…maybe it was a t.v. show on Saturday mornings? Anyway, thank you for participating and I’m sorry it didn’t hold up!! I *crossing fingers* everything I watch holds up, lol.
LikeLike
Haha, don’t worry. I don’t hate you guys. It was bound to happen sometime. And yes, there was an animated TV show! I didn’t know that. Just discovered it today :O
LikeLike
Hahaha great stuff – don’t hate us!
I think I went to see this one in theaters as a kid, don’t really remember much about it, though. I have a few things to watch that I’m pretty sure are going to be terrible, so you won’t be alone in destroying your childhood 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks, man! And of course I don’t hate you! Like I said to Misty, it was bound to happen sometime. Ah, the innocence of youth. Good times when we didn’t care about good writing and sympathetic characters.
LikeLike
I’m sure before too long I’ll ruin something from my childhood too, don’t worry
LikeLike
I remember seeing this when I was young. I haven’t seen it since but I remember enjoying it. If I watched it now I probably wouldn’t like it. Nice review.
LikeLike
Thanks. Like I said up there, loved it as a kid but can’t get past the poor writing now. Let me know what you think of it if you check it out one of these days.
LikeLike
Good choice! I also liked this as a kid but judging by what you’ve said I might just never watch it again so it remains preserved in my memory. 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks. And yes, that’d be a wise choice.
LikeLike
I haven’t seen this one but I could see why you wouldn’t enjoy this as much as an adult Fernando. I think a lot of the movie I used to love as a kid might not be as enjoyable decades later, I guess that’s called growing up 🙂
LikeLike
I loved your thoughts on the movie as an adult – LOL! Great post.
LikeLike
Thanks a lot! 😀
LikeLike
Fun review Fernando — even if it does make me feel old indirectly. 😀 That’s one of the hazards of reading these Nostalgiathon posts… I keep seeing things like this and saying “Wait, wasn’t that just yesterday?” I was in high school when this movie came out… Macauley Culkin was “the kid who’ll never be able to break out of the shadow of Home Alone” to me, and Richie Rich was a cartoon I had grown up with — and, in all honesty, hadn’t even been that fond of as a kid. So I skipped this the first time out, and it sounds like I should continue to do so.
LikeLike
Thanks. And yeah, it’s pretty bad. Skip it. Nothing compared to Home Alone and definitely not as good as it should be given the premise and the budget.
LikeLike
Pingback: Nostalgiathon – Update 2 | Andy Watches Movies