Superhero Media: The Adventures of the American Rabbit

Ever get around to watching a classic cult film and coming out of it having no idea what the appeal is? Welcome to my experience of The Adventures of the American Rabbit, an animated time capsule of Regan era American optimism and hubris that left me cold. I was born in 1986, due to childhood trauma, I don't remember much of anything before 2002, but my leftover childhood toys were a mix of Transformers, TMNT, Inspector Gadget and a few more 1990s things, but the pop-culture legacy of the 1980s toys-as-advertisments boom were present in my childhood. Perhaps it is because I lack that nostalgic connection to childhood, or perhaps it is because Regan era free-market capitalism is anathema to my political alignment, but I just cannot muster up any enthusiasm for this kind of saccharine, flag-waving indoctrination. About the only element of The Adventures of the American Rabbit that I even really care about is that it's an American/Japanese co-production with the legendary Toho studios. 

Rob Rabbit is born in a rural idyll to supportive parents and grows into a well-adjusted, fair and pious youth chosen by some divine force to be "The American Rabbit", a hero for justice and right. The American Rabbit has flight, super speed, super strength, invulnerability and roller-skates on his feet. Why does he have these powers and why is he America-themed? No idea. I wasn't certain that the film was even set in the USA until about halfway through when the characters start naming cities that they're driving to. Rob travels to San Fransisco where he starts to play piano at a bar until a gang of jackals try and enforce a protection racket and the locals decide to march against fear. The jackals keep hassling the "good people" of the city and The American Rabbit saves the day again-and-again as the band travel across the country and the villain, a vulture who repeatedly exclaims how evil he is, enacts his master plan to conquer the country by blowing up the Statue of Liberty. In the end, The American Rabbit uses some new super powers we've never seen before to drain the power from NYC and chase the vulture into the North until his wings freeze up and he dies.

If I had to put down a specific problem that ruined The Adventures of the American Rabbit for me, it would be the complete lack of tension in the plot. The American Rabbit is the only super-powered being in the entire setting, without the presence of a kind of kryptonite, there is no threat any antagonist can bring to him. The villain is a cardboard cut-out with no identifiable character traits other than "being evil". The heroic characters will always triumph because they are good and unselfish, willing to sacrifice their own happiness and/or lives to the benefit of others. This is Reganist propaganda pure and simple. It's willfully misinterpreting the lyrics of "Born in the USA". It's a John Wayne WWII film. It's indoctrinating children with a pledge of allegiance from the very first day of schooling. And at no stage is it a worthwhile piece of entertainment whilst being propaganda. Yes, I'm a Film Studies graduate, so I'll say that Birth of a Nation is important because it created the three act screenplay, or The Searchers introduced a broader audience to deconstructionist narratives, despite the horrific racism that both feature. This film is best forgotten and not worth your time to watch. #anarchy