Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical (2005)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Andy Fickman

Writers (WGA):

Kevin Murphy (play) &
Dan Studney (play) ...

Release Date:

16 April 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Tagline:

The feel-good event of the year!

Plot:

An outrageous tongue-in-cheek musical comedy adaptation of the classic 1936 anti-marijuana propaganda film.

Plot Keywords:

Reefer | Propaganda | Drugs | Marijuana | Campy

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 3 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Kristen Bell	...	Mary Lane
Christian Campbell	...	Jimmy Harper
Neve Campbell	...	Miss Poppy
Alan Cumming	...	Lecturer / Goat-Man / FDR
Ana Gasteyer	...	Mae Coleman
John Kassir	...	Ralph Wiley / Uncle Sam
Amy Spanger	...	Sally DeBains / Statue of Liberty
Robert Torti	...	Jesus
Steven Weber	...	Jack Stone / George Washington
Kevin McNulty	...	Mayor Harris MacDonald
Stephen J.M. Sisk	...	Blumsack (as Stephen Sisk)
Stephen E. Miller	...	Mr. Paul Kochinski
Robert Clarke	...	Principal Poindexter Short
Ruth Nichol	...	Mrs. Roxanne MacDonald
Lynda Boyd	...	Mrs. Deirdre Greevey

Also Known As:

Kifferwahn (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for drug material, sexual content and some violence.

Runtime:

109 min (Showtime Library Print) | Germany:112 min

Country:

USA | Germany | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (DVD rating) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | France:U | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/16 | USA:TV-MA

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

ApolloScreen Filmproduktion GmbH & Co. Filmproduktion KG

Trivia:

In 1997, writing partners Kevin Murphy and Dan Studney, who had met while studying at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, were driving from Oakland to Los Angeles and listening to Frank Zappa's "Joe's Garage". "So I started picturing it in my head," Studney recalls. "Frank Zappa's concept of a musical and then it just hit me. I turned to Kevin and said 'What about doing Reefer Madness as a musical?'" By the time the creative duo reached Los Angeles, they had already written the first song.

Goofs:

Continuity: After the musical number "Romeo and Juliet," when the Lecturer is holding the Bible and moves it out of the shot, you can hear the sound of the book landing on the grass, like it was tossed down. In the next shot, the Lecturer is again holding the Bible under his arm.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Parents: It's time for parents to take a stand / For the preservation of this great land / 'Till the things that scare us are burned or banned, / Or smashed to smithereens! / And once the reefer has been destroyed, / We'll start on Darwin and Sigmund Freud, / And sex depicted on celluloid, / And communists and queens!
Lecturer: When danger's near, exploit their fear!
Parents: The end will justify the means!

Movie Connections:

Remake of Tell Your Children (1936)

Soundtrack:

Little Mary Sunshine

Excellent movie

Just saw Reefer Madness tonight on Showtime and it was fantastic. I thought the score is very relevant to the politics that are going on currently and were right on target. It was interesting to hear the lyrics commenting on the political "spin" that seems to be very relevant to both political parties. Also the targeting "fear" instead of actual problems is very representative of today's political climate.

The cast was great too, especially Christian Campbell who is very talented and very good looking as well - he should be in more! I also enjoyed Steven Weber and Alan Cumming who have always been favorites of mine.