Line #24 Film/DeathToSmoochy


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4	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/death_to_smoochy.jpg]]
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6	->''"Today we celebrate outstanding achievement in film with me, the fourth leading man from ''Death to Smoochy''."''
7	-->-- '''Creator/JonStewart''', hosting the 78th UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s, 2006.
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9	''Death to Smoochy'' is a 2002 dark comedy film starring Creator/RobinWilliams, Creator/EdwardNorton, Creator/CatherineKeener and Creator/JonStewart. It was directed by Creator/DannyDeVito, who also plays a supporting role. ''Death to Smoochy'' is known for its outwardly vulgar and profane humor, particularly Williams's profound cursing outbursts throughout the film.
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11	Williams plays Rainbow Randolph (aka Randolph Smiley), a children's television show host. Onscreen, he is a lovable and friendly character, but in his personal life, he is virtually [[DepravedKidsShowHost the antithesis incarnate of himself]]: rude and irascible with a propensity for violence. Unfortunately for Randolph, his show is cancelled after he is caught by the FBI taking bribes from parents to put their kids on his show, and he is replaced by another show featuring a purple anthropomorphic rhino named Smoochy (a clear parody of [[Series/BarneyAndFriends Barney the Dinosaur]]), played by entertainer Sheldon Mopes (Norton).
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13	Randolph spirals into depression and poverty, and vows to bring down Smoochy and his show. Throughout the film, Randolph concocts a variety of sadistic and psychotic plots to ruin Smoochy's career, and becomes involved with a gangster named Merv Green (Harvey Fierstein), but his ploys are constantly foiled by the fact that Sheldon [[IncorruptiblePurePureness really is as sweet and nice as the character he portrays]].
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15	!!This Movie Contains Examples of:
16	* AllMenArePerverts: Nora Wells seems to think that way about males at first, just until Smoochy blows off steam.
17	* ArtisticLicenseLaw: New York police break up a rally in ''New Jersey.''
18	* AscendedFanboy: Spinner is a huge fan of Smoochy and, much to his delight, later is cast in the show as his cousin Moochy.
19	* AtomicFBomb: Randolph's "Motherfucker!" after discovering that Sheldon and Nora are seeing each other, also counts as a SkywardScream.
20	* {{Bathos}}: There's plenty of tense, complex political drama, personal struggles and criminal schemes – all of which revolve around who gets to wear a bright purple rhino costume and sing to children.
21	* BerserkButton: Anything related to Smoochy ends up as this for Randolph, including a fundraiser to "Save the African Black Rhino."
22	* BewareTheNiceOnes: Sheldon is undoubtedly the nicest character in the whole film, but he doesn't exactly care for people using him and going after his friends. [[spoiler:Then Spinner is murdered…]]
23	* BigApplesauce: The majority of this movie takes place (and was filmed on-location) in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity.
24	* BigNo: Merv Green's final words [[spoiler:before getting beheaded by TheIrishMob]].
25	* BitchInSheepsClothing: Rainbow when he’s away from the camera and from kids. Also {{invoked\| trope}}: the gist of the movie is that he wants to convince everyone that Smoochy is like this, too.
26	* BlackComedy: A very prominent example since 90% of the humor comes from people getting into bad situation after bad situation. The other 10% comes from all the murder/setup/mafia madness.
27	* BlatantLies: Merv Green's insistence that he put a hit on Smoochy's head because he only cared about the children. Tommy retorts with the fairy tale about "the worthless prick who got his head chopped off with an axe."
28	* BloodlessCarnage: Not carnage in a sense, but Buggy falls over a hundred feet and lands on his face on ice without a single drop of blood shown.
29	* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Smoochy's songs. They are all bouncy, upbeat tunes, exactly what you would expect on a children's show. Even the ones he is singing to junkies at a methadone clinic. [[LyricalDissonance Do not listen to the words, though]].
30	-->"My step-dad's not mean/he's just adjusting"
31	* ButHeSoundsHandsome: {{Inverted\|Trope}}: When Randolph poses as Sheldon's limo driver, he insults "that scoundrel" to coax Sheldon into doing it too. An oblivious Sheldon posits that Randolph is [[SympathyForTheDevil troubled, but talented]]. Randolph is so frustrated by this altruism that his SelfDeprecation becomes more vitriolic, jeopardizing his cover.
32	* CharacterCatchphrase: "Well how do you like that?" from Sheldon, when faced with something unexpected.
33	* ConcertClimax: Filled with kid show hosts, assassins, and an incredibly silly yet still very touching ice show that's happening during the climax.
34	* ContractualPurity: Not in the movie itself, but in-universe; the plot is kicked off when Randolph loses his job by getting caught taking a bribe to get a rich couple's kid to participate in the show. While it's possible that there was some kind of contractual reason he couldn't do that, the only apparent reason for losing the show is that taking a bribe makes him a bad role model.
35	** Smoochy's purity is most likely contractual, seeing as how the producer ordered Frank Stokes to find someone "''squeaky FUCKING clean!"''
36	* CuteBruiser: Sure, Spinner may be adorably naive with the simple mind of a five-year-old, as Sheldon says, but he's also a former boxing champ. And it's obvious he's no pushover during his last moments when he manages to fight back against the hitmen who mistake him for Smoochy, who only get the upper hand on him because they outnumber him three-to-one and brought lead pipes.
37	* DefrostingIceQueen: Nora initially regards Sheldon as an annoying nuisance and doesn't care about what he wants out of his show, but begins falling for him once she starts realizing that he's genuine.
38	* DentedIron: Spinner, who "owns" a restaurant now that he's retired from boxing.
39	-->'''Burke:''' Fried beans. But hey, you don't retire with a record of 81 and 59 and end up the Governor.
40	* DepravedKidsShowHost:
41	** The movie '''''breathes''''' this trope, especially with Rainbow Randolph. He's popular with kids but thinks little of them, is a greedy alcoholic with a vulgar mouth, and goes so far to set up Sheldon with [[spoiler:a cookie in the shape of a penis and luring him to a Nazi rally]]. Sheldon finds out the hard way that the business as a whole has become like this.
42	** Buggy, another former kids' show host, has a serious drug problem which is implied to have cost him his job. His promised reward for [[spoiler:assassinating Sheldon (which he thankfully fails)]] was to get his old show back despite clearly being unwilling to kick the habit and now being a murderer on top of it.
43	* DidIJustSayThatOutLoud: Randolph accidentally reveals that he framed Smoochy when he says "You should have seen the way he was checking me out in the car."
44	* ExecutiveMeddling: InUniverse. At the behest of the studio and Tommy Cotter, they have Sheldon cast Tommy's cousin Spinner (a fan of Smoochy) – so Sheldon writes the part of Cousin Moochy for him. Despite Spinner's sub-par acting skills, Sheldon doesn't have a problem with it.
45	* ExpyCoexistence: Smoochy the purple rhino is modeled after [[Series/BarneyAndFriends Barney the purple dinosaur]]. One of the insults Randolph hurls at him during a tirade is "bastard son of Barney", establishing that Barney also exists in-universe.
46	* FalseReassurance: Nora offers one to Sheldon, and he's so naive that he buys into it completely.
47	-->'''Sheldon:''' (''excitedly'') Hold the phone. You're telling me that [=KidNet=] is finally ready to pursue a show of Smoochy caliber? I mean, to commit to Smoochy quality?
48	-->'''Nora''': Yes, I believe we're ready to… push ourselves to that level.
49	* FunnyBackgroundEvent: As Sheldon and Nora are talking at the end, one of the scrolling headlines reads "Rainbow Randolph: Paranoid lunatic [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold with a heart of gold]]."
50	* HappyDance: Randolph does one after getting Sheldon [[spoiler:framed as a Nazi]], which ends with him accidentally [[RunningGag crashing into a wall]].
51	* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Rainbow Randolph finally comes to his senses and goes out of his way to save Sheldon from being assassinated at the ice show. He's still crazy, though.]]
52	* HurricaneOfEuphemisms: The cookie scene has Randolph fire one off for "penis". Bonus points for Williams' rant being delivered in front of kids, who crack up hysterically.
53	* IJustWantToHaveFriends: What seems to be part of Randolph’s issues is he’s incredibly lonely, [[spoiler:and Sheldon’s forgiving him and befriending him causes him to become a better man.]]
54	* InterruptedSuicide: Rainbow Randolph tries to commit suicide by lighting himself on fire after drenching himself with gasoline, until a little girl urges him not to.
55	* TheIrishMob: PlayedForLaughs. They talk Sheldon into giving Spinner a role on the show through intimidation, but they end up being grateful and take out the garbage trying to kill him.
56	* ItsAllAboutMe: Rainbow Randolph can't get over the fact that he's been fired from his job, doesn't blame himself for causing it, and thinks he can bounce back into his time slot once he removes Sheldon from the picture. He spends much of the movie accusing Sheldon of stealing his fame.
57	-->'''Randolph''': I'm Rainbow ''[[PrecisionFStrike fucking]]'' Randolph!
58	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Rainbow Randolph is revealed to be this [[spoiler:after Sheldon befriends him, going as far as to prevent Buggy Ding-Dong from assassinating him out of gratitude, and can’t say no to kids’ requests for autographs on the way to do so.]]
59	* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Burke Bennett, Sheldon's agent and the guy [[spoiler:who eventually tries to get him killed]].
60	* KidsShowMascotParody: Sheldon Mopes/Smoochy is, as mentioned, a Barney [[{{Expy}} knockoff]]. While this movie was marketed as an anti-Barney comedy, Mopes is [[DownplayedTrope actually]] depicted as a heroic figure whose good-hearted demeanor brightens people's lives.
61	* LargeHam: Creator/RobinWilliams, natch. After Randolph gets fired and spirals out of control, Williams plays every moment he's on screen going over the top with Randolph as much as he can, whether he's joyful or losing his mind.
62	* LaughablyEvil: Creator/RobinWilliams as VillainProtagonist Rainbow Randolph, not to mention the other mob-affiliated characters.
63	* ManChild: Spinner. It's implied that his boxing career has… diminished his mental capacity.
64	* MistakenForRacist: {{Invoked\|Trope}}. [[spoiler:Randolph tricks Sheldon into performing at a Nazi rally right before a police raid. The scandal nearly destroys Sheldon's career before Randolph accidentally slips up and reveals the frame job to Nora.]]
65	* MeaningfulName: Randolph ''Smiley'' often has a big grin on his face. Now, that does not mean he's happy. [[SanitySlippage Far from it.]]
66	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:Sheldon, after chasing Burke with a gun, punching him, and threatening to shoot him for Spinner's death and the assassination attempt against him. Tommy convinces him not to tarnish his convictions because of someone like Burke.]]
67	* NiceCharacterMeanActor: Rainbow Randolph, and how. Publicly a beloved kids' show host, but in private disregards them as "booger eaters", is a vulgar alcoholic, and goes to great lengths to destroy Sheldon's career.
68	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Played with. Of the dozens of entertainers mentioned as characters in the movie, none of them are real. However, at one point, Randolph refers to Smoochy as a "bastard son of Barney." Also, there are a few implications that Randolph is an {{expy}} for [[Series/PeeWeesPlayhouse Pee-Wee Herman]].
69	* NobleDemon: Tommy Cotter is leader of the Irish Mob, but also very protective of and compassionate for those she considers her friends and family.
70	* NonIndicativeName:
71	** Sheldon '''Mopes''', despite all that happens to him, does anything but.
72	** And yet, "Burke" Bennett is pretty much exactly dead-on.
73	* NotEvilJustMisunderstood: The basis of "My Stepdad's Not Mean, He's Just Adjusting." However, he tells the kids at the end that [[EvilAllAlong if he's ever outright abusive]], the magic number is 9-1-1.
74	* NotMeThisTime: Randolph wasn't involved in [[spoiler:Spinner's murder]], but he's already tried screwing over Sheldon publicly so many times that everyone thinks he's the culprit. Hence, the cops order a manhunt on him.
75	* NotMyDriver: Randolph poses as a limo driver and drives Sheldon to a "gig" that really screws up his career… temporarily.
76	* NotSoAboveItAll: If what Rainbow says is true, prior to Smoochy, StrawFeminist Nora has slept around with every single kid show host, including Randolph.
77	* OffWithHisHead: The ultimate fate of [[spoiler:Merv Green]] is that TheIrishMob chops his head off in retaliation for assassinating [[spoiler:Spinner Dunn]]. Overlaps with CringeComedy when Sheldon learns what happened.
78	-->'''Sheldon:''' I don't think I feel so good about this all of a sudden, Tommy.
79	-->'''Roy:''' Then we took his head and played a little…
80	-->'''Sheldon:''' Okay, that's, uh, that's definitely more information than I really cared to have at this point, thanks.
81	* OhCrap: Sheldon's jaw drops when he realizes he's performing at a [[spoiler:Nazi rally]].
82	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: After [[spoiler:being framed as a Nazi by Randolph, temporarily fired from the show, and finding out that the Coney Island Methadone Clinic was closed]], Sheldon is seen eating a cheeseburger. Considering at the beginning of the movie he was eating and actively promoting soybean over greasy foods, this is a pretty clear sign he's depressed.
83	* ThePollyanna: Sheldon – it takes [[spoiler:an assassination attempt]] to make him hit the RageBreakingPoint.
84	* PreemptiveDeclaration:
85	-->'''Sheldon:''' Oh, you didn't have to get off the phone.
86	-->'''Nora:''' If I didn't, you'd still be here.
87	-->'''Sheldon:''' I am still here.
88	-->'''Nora:''' I'm hoping to correct that.
89	* RunningGag: Randolph slamming into/getting slammed into a wall.
90	* SadClown: {{Zig Zagg\|ing Trope}}ed. In one sense, Creator/RobinWilliams is playing his usual role here, as a guy who's jovial on the surface but hurting inside. In another sense, he's playing wildly against type. Rainbow Randolph is less 'sad' than 'fucked-up and mentally unbalanced.'
91	* SenselessViolins: Buggy carries his rifle in a trombone case when trying to [[spoiler:assassinate Smoochy]] at his ice show.
92	* SeriousBusiness:
93	** Apparently, kiddie TV shows are full of groupies, graft, and corruption in every sense of the word, and one honest entertainer can be a massive SpannerInTheWorks.
94	** And God help you if you try to mess with the Parade of Hope's control of the ice show racket.
95	** In a way, the Smoochy ice show as well. Instead of the usual combined sweetness and humor of an ice show for kids, Sheldon wrote a full opera [[RealLifeWritesThePlot about everything that happened since he got his TV show]], complete with suits throwing money at him, two-hundred-foot Nazi banners, and a prima donna in full Viking gear singing a lament for Moochy.
96	* ShiftingVoiceOfMadness: The trademark SpeaksInShoutOuts style of Robin Williams is [[DarkerAndEdgier played as this here]]: with Randolph's dialogue increasingly devolving into fake accents, character impressions and random one-liners as he loses his mind.
97	* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Nora finds herself falling for Sheldon the more she sees that he's the real thing and not a fake like countless others before him.
98	* SkywardScream: The AtomicFBomb mentioned above and another one before that: "Oh, God! What does it all mean?"
99	* SpiritualSuccessor: To Creator/BlakeEdwards' ''Film/{{SOB}}'', another BlackComedy satire on showbiz, the SanitySlippage of a member of the business and a faded SubvertedKidsShow star.
100	* StrawFeminist: Nora Wells, the executive producer for Smoochy the Rhino. Though she has an excuse, and she gets better once she realizes that Sheldon is the real deal.
101	* SubvertedKidsShow: God knows Randolph ''tries'' to pull this on Smoochy's show several times. It finally happens (albeit without his intervention) in the ice show, [[spoiler:which includes Nazi iconography and a staged murder before devolving into a very real gun fight.]]
102	* TooMuchInformation: Understandably, this is Sheldon's reaction when he learns TheIrishMob [[spoiler:beheaded Merv Green]].
103	* TookALevelInKindness: Nora, Tommy and Randolph were initially antagonistic towards Mopes, but they eventually warmed up to him at the end.
104	* VillainProtagonist: Creator/RobinWilliams as Rainbow Randolph, natch. He's the guy who wants Smoochy to meet his death, after all. Doubles as UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist – while he's a pitiful failure, he's a humorous one with a brash personality.
105	* VoicemailConfusion: Lampshaded, when Nora calls Sheldon earlier in the film, and gets Sheldon saying "Hello" on the line, she begins to speak until she hears "I'm just kidding; it's an answering machine." Fortunately the recording lists where his upcoming gigs will be located, so Nora copies down one of the addresses so she can meet him in person.
106	* WatchOutForThatTree: Rainbow Randolph's victory dance after framing Smoochy as a Nazi is cut short by a wall.
107	* WorstNewsJudgmentEver: Literally ''all'' entertainment news in this movie is about children's TV. Sheldon receiving full creative control over the Smoochy show is on the front page of ''Variety'', for crying out loud!

Context Film / DeathToSmoochy