Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Directors:

Mike Judge
Yvette Kaplan

Writers:

Mike Judge (written by) &
Joe Stillman (written by)

Release Date:

20 December 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

Coming to a screen bigger than your TV.

Plot:

Our intrepid adolescent heroes wake up to find their beloved television stolen, and embark on an epic journey across America to recover it...

Plot Keywords:

FBI | Television | Beavis And Butt Head | Alter Ego | Petrified Forest

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Mike Judge	...	Beavis / Butt-Head / Tom Anderson / Mr. Van Driessen / Principal McVicker (voice)
Bruce Willis	...	Muddy Grimes (voice)
Demi Moore	...	Dallas Grimes (voice)
Cloris Leachman	...	Old Woman on Plane and Bus (voice)
Robert Stack	...	ATF Agent Flemming (voice)
Jacqueline Barba	...	FBI Agent Hurly (voice)
Pamela Blair	...	Flight Attendant / White House Tour Guide (voice)
Eric Bogosian	...	Ranger at Old Faithful / White House Press Secretary / Lieutenant at Strategic Air Command (voice)
Kristofor Brown	...	Man on Plane / Man in Confession Booth #2 / Old Guy / Jim (voice)
Tony Darling	...	Motley Crue Roadie #2 / Tourist Man (voice)
John Doman	...	Airplane Captain / White House Representative (voice)
Francis Dumaurier	...	French Dignitary (voice) (as Francis DuMaurier)
Jim Flaherty	...	Petrified Forest Recording (voice)
Tim Guinee	...	Hoover Dam Guide / ATF Agent (voice)
David Letterman	...	Motley Crue Roadie #1 (voice) (as Earl Hofert)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for continuous crude sex-related humor and language, and for a drug-related scene.

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Ireland:15 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Germany:16 | Netherlands:12 | Portugal:M/16 (video premiere) | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:7 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #34439) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Iceland:12

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Beavis's hallucination scene in the desert was inspired by artwork drawn by Rob Zombie. The music of the scene is White Zombie's "Rat Finks, Suicide Tanks and Cannible Girls".

Goofs:

Continuity: When the ATF storms Dallas' hotel room and Fleming threatens Dallas with a cavity search, Agent Hurley's hair changes from red to black to red again from each shot.

Quotes:

[after Beavis and Butt-head enter the motel room]
Muddy Grimmes: Man, Earl said you guys were young, but, jeez. Oh, well. As long as you can get the job done. What are your names?
Butt-head: Uh, Butt-head.
Beavis: Oh, I'm Beavis.
Muddy Grimmes: Well, that's all right. I'd rather not know your real names, anyway. Mine's Muddy.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs King Kong (1976)

Soundtrack:

The Lord is a Monkey

Don't mis-judge Mike Judge

I know a lot of you who have never seen Beavis and Butthead probably think very little of the show based on the low-brow nature of it (I was one of them), but if you give this movie a chance you'll see that it's actually as well written and at times as, dare I say, subtle as King of the Hill.

Beavis and Butthead have their TV stolen and when trying to get it back are mistaken for hit men by drunken drunk Muddy Grimes (Bruce Willis, as I was rather shocked to find out once the credits rolled), who sends them on a mission to 'do his wife' Dallas. Misinterpreting this as any horny teenagers would, B+B head to Las Vegas to carry out the terrible act. But we discover (they don't, however) that Dallas and Muddy are part of international weapons conspiracy and our two teen-aged heroes are being set-up to take the blame.

So, as they take off across the country, causing absolute mayhem wherever they go, the ATF closely follow, giving full body cavity searches to everyone and anyone they meet at the order of head honcho Agent Flemming (the late Robert Stack), who comes out with some brilliant, deadpan one-liners. The set-pieces are wonderful and the mushroom-induced dream sequence by Rob Zombie looks amazing.

Mike Judge's animation style also brilliant. Avoiding bright, primary colors used in shows such as The Simpsons, Family Guy and Futurama, he uses mainly softer colors, pencil-effect scenery and water-color backgrounds. It's a sort of calming, easy-going animation style that he's totally made his own.

You should totally check-out this movie. Don't be put off by what you may have heard or may think of Beavis and Butthead. You'll be conning yourself out of loads of laughs if you do.

And look-out for Daria Morgendorfer in the 'Lesbian Seagull' scene.