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FuzzyBoots
Since: Jan, 2001
2011-07-20 09:55:24
Well, that was quick. :-P I was doing a few more searches for details and the thread at http://forum.dvdtalk.com/movie-talk/557800-please-help-me-id-few-obscure-movies-my-childhood.html
identified it as Little Spies
. It's referenced in Planning with Props. Sorry for the clutter.
Oreochan
Since: Dec, 1969

Live-Action, a group of kids have their dog stolen by a company (I think illegitimately for animal testing) and decide to try to rescue him. Bits I remember included them enlisting the aid of a scary old man who owned an amusement park (there was a training segment where they had to work their way toward the center of a spinning disk, I remember). One of the characters had a remote control helicopter gained by eating a massive amount of cereal to save the box tops. They used it first for surveillance (with the inept mook trying to catch it with his dog-catching net) and it was later used to rescue them from a net trap, resulting in the helicopter spinning out and crashing. Right before they left, the kid who owned the helicopter stared at the wreckage and said something along the lines of "And I don't even like <Cereal Name>".
Other bits I remember were them using a grappling hook to get over a fence, a scene where they spoofed cameras, and I think in the net scene, they tried to call the scary old guy but he'd fallen asleep. And I think the people who'd set the net trap were high school bullies who'd been employed by the company.
I remember watching it at a fairly young age, so I don't think it can be later than 1992 or so.