History Film / DeathToSmoochy

* {{Bathos}}: The show has a lot tense and 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.

** Buggy, another former kids' show host, has a serious drug problem that 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.

* ExecutiveMeddling: InUniverse. At the behest of the studio and Tommy Cotter, they make Sheldon cast Tommy's cousin Spinner (a fan of his show) – so Sheldon creates the part of Cousin Moochy for him. Despite Spinner's sub-par acting skills, Sheldon doesn't have a problem with it.

* MistakenForRacist: Invoked. [[spoiler: Randolph tricks Sheldon into performing for a Nazi rally immediately before a police raid. It nearly destroys his career before Randolph accidentally slips up and reveals the frame job.]]

* SenselessViolins: Buggy carries his rifle in a trombone case when trying to assassinate Smoochy at his ice show.

* ShiftingVoiceOfMadness: Robin William's trademark SpeaksInShoutOuts style 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.

* 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.]]

%%* DepravedBisexual: Randolph, maybe.

** Buggy, another former kids' show host, has a serious drug problem that is implied to have cost him his job. His promised reward for [[spoiler:assasinating 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.

* SubvertedKidsShow: God knows Randolph ''tries'' to pull this on Smoochy's show several times.

* 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...]]

* BigNo: Merv Green's final words before getting beheaded by TheIrishMob.

* ButHeSoundsHandsome: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]: 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.
* CatchPhrase: "Well how do you like that?..." from Sheldon, when faced with something unexpected.

** 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.

-->'''Nora''': Yes, I believe we're ready to... push ourselves to that level.

* HurricaneOfEuphemisms: The cookie scene has Randolph fire off a string of euphemisms for "penis". Bonus points for Williams' rant being delivered in front of kids, who crack up hysterically.
* 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.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
** Tommy Cotter, leader of the Irish Mob and very protective of those she considers her friends and family.
** 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.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Burke Bennett, Sheldon's agent and the guy who eventually tries to get him killed.

* ManChild: Spinner. It's implied that his boxing career has...diminished his mental capacity.

* NiceCharacterMeanActor: Rainbow Randolph, and how. He's a beloved kids show host, but disregards them as "booger eaters", is a vulgar alcoholic, and goes through great lengths to destroy Sheldon's career.
* 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.]]

* NotMyDriver: Randolph poses as a limo driver and drives Sheldon to a "gig" that really screws up his career...

* OffWithHisHead: The ultimate fate of Merv Green when TheIrishMob chops his head off in retaliation for assassinating Spinner Dunn. Overlaps with CringeComedy when Sheldon learns what happened.

-->'''Roy:''' Then we took his head and played a little...

* ThePollyanna: Sheldon - it takes [[spoiler: an assassination attempt]] to make him hit the RageBreakingPoint.

* TooMuchInformation: Understandably, this is Sheldon's reaction when he learns TheIrishMob beheaded Merv Green.

->''"Today we celebrate outstanding achievement in film [[SelfDeprecation with me, the fourth leading man]] from ''Death to Smoochy''."''

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 Smoochy [[IncorruptiblePurePureness really is as sweet and nice as the character he portrays]].

* AllMenArePerverts: We think Nora Wells seems to think about males that way, just until Smoochy blows off steam.

* DefrostingIceQueen: Nora treats Sheldon like an annoying nuisance and doesn't care about what he wants out of his show, but once she starts realizing that he's genuine, she begins to fall for him.

** 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 he can’t say no to kids’ requests for autographs on the way to do so.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Burke Bennett, Sheldon Mopes' agent and the guy who eventually tries to get him killed.

* NotMeThisTime: Randolph wasn't involved in [[spoiler:Spinner's murder]], but he's already tried screwing over Sheldon publicly so many times that everyone automatically thinks he's the culprit and the cops order a manhunt on him.

* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Nora finds herself falling for Sheldon the more she realizes that he's the real thing and not a fake like countless others before him.

* 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.

* LaughablyEvil: Creator/RobinWilliams as VillainProtagonist Rainbow Randolph, not to mentioned the other mob-affiliated characters.

** 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.

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 canceled 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).

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Sheldon is undoubtedly the nicest character in the whole film but he doesn't exactly care for people using him and killing his friends. [[spoiler: Then Moochie is killed...]]

* 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 shelter. [[LyricalDissonance Do not listen to the words, though]].

* 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 as a prototype Smoochy the Rhino will be located, so Nora copies down one of the addresses so she can meet him in person.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Tommy Cotter, leader of the Irish Mob and very protective of those she considers her friends and family.

* DepravedKidsShowHost: 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.

** Which is even more relevant considering Robin Williams' untimely death.

* BigApplesauce: The majority of this movie takes place in (and was filmed on-location in) UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Rainbow when he’s away from the camera and from kids.

%%* NotMyDriver: How Randolph got Sheldon.

%%* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Creator/RobinWilliams as Rainbow Randolph, natch.
%%* VillainProtagonist: Creator/RobinWilliams as Rainbow Randolph, natch.