Garbage Pail Kids Movie, The (4K UHD Review)
Director
Rod AmateauRelease Date(s)
1987 (January 27, 2026)Studio(s)
Atlantic Entertainment Group/Topps Chewing Gum (Vinegar Syndrome)- Film/Program Grade: D
- Video Grade: B+
- Audio Grade: B+
- Extras Grade: A-
Review
The original Garbage Pail Kids trading cards consisted of wax packs of stickers featuring various characters doing horrificly and disgustingly over-the-top things to themselves and each other that reflected their witty monikers. Created by Art Spiegelman to literally parody the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls craze (which the Topps Chewing Gum company would subsequently be sued for), it was a smash hit with kids—I personally had them plastered all over my bedroom door—and a blight upon humanity to most parents. However, when 1987’s The Garbage Pail Kids Movie came along, the popularity of the cards was beginning to wane, all but guaranteeing the film’s failure, regardless of its quality.
Directed by Rod Amateau, a journeyman action and stuntman who also made 80s sex comedies like Seniors and Drive-In, the story for The Garbage Pail Kids Movie features a bullied young teenager, Dodger (Mackenzie Astin), who discovers a garbage pail of beings known as the Garbage Pail Kids in the antique shop of part-time magician Captain Manzini (Anthony Newley). Meanwhile, Dodger has a crush on his bully’s girlfriend, Tangerine (Katie Barberi), who’s trying to make it in the fashion world and will do anything to achieve her dream. Once the Garbage Pail Kids escape from their trash can confines, Dodger tries to keep them in line and enlists them to help him produce Tangerine’s fashion designs. But as Captain Manzini tries in vain to convince them to go back into the pail for their own safety, as well as others, the Garbage Pail Kids (Greaser Greg, Valerie Vomit, Ali Gator, Windy Winston, Foul Phil, Nat Nerd, and Messy Tessie) look for their lost friends who’ve been captured and sent to the State Home for the Ugly.
As bonkers as it is, The Garbage Pail Kids Movie is a fascinating bad movie. The concept of the Garbage Pail Kids was everything that the intentions behind the film’s script was not, which was to be a broadly-appealing kids movie. Instead of a theoretical horror comedy in which the titular “kids” run amok and terrorize a small town while being absolutely revolting but dangerous (ala Gremlins), we instead get a more sensible story with a moral that ugliness is on the inside and not what you see in a mirror. We get this through Dodger’s bullies, as well as Tangerine, who’s portrayed to be beautiful, but with a rotten moral compass, which Dodger eventually recognizes.
The most blatant issue with The Garbage Pail Kids Movie isn’t necessarily the dialogue, the cinematography, or the performances, but the tone. More specifically, the portrayal of the relationship between Dodger and Tangerine. Astin and Barberi were 15 and 16 years old at the time of filming respectively, with Barberi sexualized to the point of cringe. The saving grace is that this is a children’s film so there’s no chance of sex or nudity, but since her character is meant to be much older than Dodger, their romantic connection comes off as creepy instead of sweet.
To add insult to injury, the make-up effects and animatronics used to bring the Garbage Pail Kids to life look worse than they did in 1987. Special effects maestro John Carl Buechler and his team handled the effects, but they were given a limited budget and a tight time table. We should cut them some slack since they did the best they could with what they had, but the more definition that each successive home video format has given the film, it’s apparent just how substandard the characters look on camera.
One must also give the actors portraying these characters a break as well, which consisted of Phil Fondacaro, Debbie Lee Carrington, Kevin Thompson, Robert Bell, Larry Green, Arturo Gil, and Sue Rossitto. They had little to no vision inside their costumes and worked in very hot environments. It’s a wonder that something more catastrophic didn’t happen.
All of that said, there’s still something oddly charming about The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, despite its blatant myriad of problems. For me personally, there’s a nostalgia factor involved since I saw it several times when I was young; but even as an adult, it’s a strange artifact of an era when intellectual properties that weren’t necessarily built for big screen adaptations were being capitalized upon all the time. It still happens today, but the tools to bring things like the Garbage Pail Kids to life are much more advanced than they were in 1987. To wit, my preference point is appreciating a complete train wreck with heart and skill behind it than a slick Hollywood production with expensive CGI and no personality, but to each their own.
The Garbage Pail Kids Movie was shot by cinematographer Harvey Genkins on 35mm film with spherical lenses, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Vinegar Syndrome debuts the film on Ultra HD with a new 4K scan and restoration of the original camera negative, which has been graded for High Dynamic Range in HDR10 and Dolby Vision, and authored to a dual-layered BD-66 disc. It’s a fine looking picture, though be forewarned it carries a fairly heavy yield of grain. It’s encoded well enough, but gets a little chunky at times, especially during opticals. The bitrate runs at a pretty steady 80 to 90Mbps without much differentiation. There are occasional moments of frame damage, as well as speckling and scratches, but it’s all very mild. The source is in great shape, and the HDR passes definitely deepen the film’s color palette, which is quite varied. Blacks are deep with pretty good contrast, and the image is stable. It’s a little rough around the edges, but it’s a very organic and pleasant picture.
Audio is included in English 2.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio with optional subtitles in English SDH. It’s a pretty straightforward split-channel track that does everything it needs to, with plenty of support for score and sound effects, and clear dialogue. The most push that it has is for the songs in the film, including the hard rock closing number. It’s also clean with no real issues.
Vinegar Syndrome’s 2-Disc Limited Edition 4K Ultra HD release of The Garbage Pail Kids Movie sits in a black Amaray case alongside a 1080p Blu-ray and a double-sided insert featuring new artwork by Brent Engstrom and Michael DeForge on one side and the original Craig Nelson-painted theatrical artwork on the other, although the latter alters the original style of the film’s title (likely a rights issue with Topps). This is contained in a slipcover, also with new artwork by Engstrom and DeForge, and next to that is a 40-page booklet containing essays by Austin Trunick, Chris Shields, and Walter Chaw. Everything is housed in deluxe magnet box packaging that’s exclusive to the Vinegar Syndrome webstore, which is limited to 8,000 units. They’re also offering a standard release minus the additional packaging and booklet. The following disc-based extras are included on both releases:
DISC ONE (UHD)
- Audio Commentary with Katie Barberi and Mackenzie Astin, moderated by William Morris
DISC TWO (BD)
- Audio Commentary with Katie Barberi and Mackenzie Astin, moderated by William Morris
- Tangerine’s Dreams: Katie Barberi on The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, Telenovelas, and a Life in Hollywood (HD – 27:01)
- Anything Is Possible: Hal Miles on Creating Animatronics for The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (HD – 26:09)
- The Effects of The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (HD – 11:46)
- On the Set with 1st AD Thomas Irvine (HD – 6:22)
- The Artful Dodger with Mackenzie Astin (HD – 27:16)
- The Kids Aren’t All Right (HD – 21:21)
- Original Trailer (HD – 2:02)
First is a new audio commentary with actors Katie Barberi and Mackenzie Astin (both appearing via Skype), moderated by film programmer William Morris. Unfortunately, Katie Barberi is mixed a bit too low so it’s difficult to hear her sometimes, even as quiet as the film’s soundtrack is. Nevertheless, the three have a fun back and forth conversation while watching the film together, with Katie Barberi and Mackenzie Astin primarily in the driver’s seat.
Next are two new interviews. In Tangerine’s Dreams, Katie Barberi discusses her earliest acting experiences as a young girl, dating Mackenzie Astin and getting the part, her fond memories of screenwriter Melinda Palmer, her take on her character, the advantages and disadvantages of being half Mexican but appearing Caucasian as an actress, kissing Ron MacLachlan and being too young to understand why he would be uncomfortable with it, working with Rod Amateau, her first day on the set, appearing in telenovelas and learning improvisation, breaking up with Mackenzie Astin during shooting and having an emotional final scene with him, adoring Anthony Newley and the crew, working with the small actors, how the film negatively impacted her and her co-stars’ careers, the cult reaction to the film, having a lovely experience with a fan, and being eternally grateful to all of the fans. In Anything is Possible, special effects and animatronics artist Hal Miles talks about becoming a fan of movies and special effects because of the original Mighty Joe Young, working on projects locally for commercials at fourteen, going to college and getting his first job, transitioning into creature effects and animatronics, working for John Carl Buechler and Empire Pictures, getting the job on The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, the problematic cable-controlled animatronic effects used for the film, the process of creating the characters, designs that were never used, the actors in the costumes, seeing the results during rushes, going to the premieres, his feelings about the film and his work years later, some of the behind-the-scenes memorabilia he’s been able to hang onto, and creating the Animation Hall of Fame.
Aine Leicht’s (Cavetown Pictures’) extras for Scream Factory’s Blu-ray release follow. The Effects of The Garbage Pail Kids Movie interviews special makeup effects creator and design supervisor John Carl Buechler, and makeup effects artist Gino Crognale. Buechler discusses his pitch for the project before it had been scripted, making a test video with actor Phil Fondacaro as Greaser Greg, his warm feelings about director Rod Amateau, his thoughts on the film’s tone versus the characters, the finer qualities of the crew he worked with, prepping the effects, how grueling the shoot was for everyone, and being pleased with the results within the limits of what they had. Makeup effects artist Gino Crognale recalls hearing about the project, sculpting the arms and the gloves, and troubleshooting the effects early on. On the Set speaks with first assistant director Thomas A. Irvine who briefly talks about how effects are done today versus then, being aware of the trading cards beforehand, issues with the actors when shooting in the summer, his duties on the film, working with John Carl Buechler, his feelings on the cast, trying to envision what the final film would be, and younger generations now discovering the film.
The Artful Dodger talks to Mackenzie Astin about his familiarity with the cards, getting recognition because of his appearances on The Facts of Life, getting the part of Dodger, his father (John Astin) trying to talk him out of it, his memories of Rod Amateau, working with Anthony Newley and Katie Barberi, the “whathefuckery” in the film based upon the relationship between his and Katie Barberi’s characters, working with smaller actors and the trials they were put through on the set, the 1980s influence on the fashion, Tangerine’s car getting damaged during filming being a metaphor for the execution of the film, the art of the original cards influencing future artists, finding retroactive value in the film, and being approached by fans, as well as appreciative of them. The Kids Aren’t All Right interviews actors Kevin Thompson, who portrays Ali Gator, and Arturo Gil, who portrays Windy Winston. They talk about getting their jobs on the film, Thompson’s regrets about certain aspects of the character, working with Rod Amateau, dealing with the costumes and working with the puppeteers, looping the voices, having issues with body language and being able to see, the reaction to the film, its cult appeal, and people still discovering it for the first time. Last is the film’s trailer.
The only thing missing from previous releases is the 30 Years of Garbage: The Garbage Pail Kids Story documentary from the Region B Blu-ray release of the film in Germany by Capelight Pictures.
The Garbage Pail Kids Movie today is a piping hot slice of nostalgia pie, at least for those of us who were around when it was first released. For everybody else, it’s a fascinating look at what not to do with a property like this. Vinegar Syndrome gives it their usual spit and polish treatment with a fresh 4K scan and a fine extras package, which should please even the most casual fans.
- Tim Salmons
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