When I think of comic books, I think of the ones that feature superheroes. Those have been the most successful, with some becoming much more popular than others. There have also been comic books featuring other types of characters. Movies have been based on some of those other characters, including the 1994 movie Richie Rich.
Richie Rich, the richest boy in the world, was the only son of billionaire Richard and his wife Regina. Richie had a privileged life with everything money could buy except friends. He spent the most time with Cadbury, his butler. One day Richie saw a group of children playing baseball and decided that he wanted to try to become friends with them. He was eventually able to win them over after a rocky first meeting.
Richard and Regina were known for doing a lot to help people less fortunate than they were. That also involved making some business decisions that Lawrence Van Dough, one of Richard’s employees, didn’t agree with. Lawrence came up with a plot to get rid of the Rich family so that he could take over the company and get access to the family vault. Things didn’t go according to his plan which left Richie, his new friends, and Cadbury to try to stop Lawrence.
Richie Rich was based on the Harvey Comics comic book of the same name. The character was first introduced in Little Dot, another comic book made by Harvey Comics. There were several different comics made featuring Richie. I do remember reading some when I was a child, but I don’t remember anything specific from them. I think the movie kept the basic idea from the comic book. Richie did seem to be a bit older in the movie than I think he was supposed to be in the comic books. There have been a few cartoons made featuring the character as well as a live action movie made in 1998.
The first few minutes of Richie Rich were narrated by Cadbury while Ritchie and his parents were introduced. That also set up the idea that Richie didn’t have any close friends and wanted to change that. It was a bit later in the movie that Lawrence was introduced. It was clear right from the start that he wasn’t a nice guy and was going to serve as the villain of the movie. There was a tiny amount of mystery added connected to the plot he came up with. It was such a weak mystery that there weren’t any surprises or any suspense with how things worked out.
The plot for Richie Rich was simple and predictable, which will bother some viewers. I did still think it was entertaining, though it would have been nice if there had been more substance to it. There was an attempt to add some interest with Lawrence’s plot and how that all worked out. That aspect of the plot just wasn’t developed enough to make it work better. There did seem to be more focus on Ritchie trying to make friends than there had been on Lawrence’s plot. A bit of action was added later in the movie when there was a confrontation between some characters. There was only a little bit of violence in that part of the movie that wasn’t graphic in any way. The movie was rated PG, so it should be fine for children to see. They will probably be more entertained by the movie than adults.
There was a decent amount of humor used throughout Ritchie Rich without the movie being hilarious. The movie did make me laugh, but I have seen much funnier movies. Some people will no doubt be disappointed that it isn’t funnier. Many of the things done for comedy were rather silly. I did think that worked for the movie since it wasn’t trying to be serious. Some viewers may find the humor too silly. A few scenes did use some slapstick type of humor that I also thought fit in with the movie. There were a few things that I believe were supposed to be funny that seemed to fall flat. I don’t remember any of the gross humor like turns up in many newer movies aimed at children. I do think the humor, like the movie in general, will appeal more to children than adults.
Richie had a very privileged life and had every thing money could buy. He had already learned that money didn’t buy true friends and he tried to make new friends so he could have some semblance of a more normal childhood. He did go to an exclusive school with a few other boys his age that he did get along with. They weren’t close though and none of them were interested in doing some of the fun things that Richie wanted to try. Richie was a kind kid who was relatively well adjusted. Macaulay Culkin was fine in the part, though he did seem to be a bit old for it. I did read that a decision was made to cast actors who were taller as the adults to make it look like he was younger than he was. This was the last kid type of movie that he made and he went nine years before turning up in anything else after this one.
Richard and Regina enjoyed everything their wealth allowed them to buy. Sometimes they did seem to be materialistic, but that wasn’t the case. They both felt strongly about using some of their wealth to help others as well. They had tried to instill that value in their son. Richard and Regina weren’t around that much, so Edward Herrmann and Christine Ebersole didn’t have that much to do. Cadbury had worked for the family for years and had been specifically Richie’s butler since his birth. He acted like a very proper butler most of the time, but he also had a slightly wild side that eventually came out. I did like Jonathan Hyde in the part.
Gloria, Tony, Omar, and Pee Wee became Richie’s new friends. Gloria especially wasn’t interested in being Richie’s friend at first. They finally gave him a chance thanks to Cadbury’s interference and they became good friends and even helped Richie deal with certain things. Diane was Gloria’s mother who was around at times when the kids were at Richie’s. There did seem to be a relationship developing between Diane and Cadbury. None of them were that developed.
Lawrence Van Dough had worked for Richard for years. Lawrence was very greedy and jealous of the Rich fortune. He strongly disagreed with how Richard and Regina managed their finances. Lawrence came up with a plan to get rid of the family so he could take over the business and the family vault. John Larroquette was good in the part. He can play villain type characters well. He was a little over the top in certain scenes, but it worked for the character. Ferguson was helping Lawrence put his plan in motion. Ferguson wasn’t very nice either. Professor Keenbean worked in research and development for Richard and also served as a tutor to Richie.
Main Cast
Macaulay Culkin - Richie Rich Christine Ebersole - Regina Rich Edward Herrmann - Richard Rich Jonathon Hilario - Pee Wee Jonathon Hyde - Cadbury John Larroquette - Lawrence Van Dough Stephi Lineburg - Gloria Michael McShane - Professor Keenbean Michael Maccarone - Tony Mariangela Pino - Diane Joel Robinson - Omar Chelcie Ross - Ferguson
Donald Petrie - Director
I have only seen Ritchie Rich on television. It does seem to turn up somewhat frequently on a few of the channels I get. I don’t know if there is a DVD available or not.
Ritchie Rich could have had a stronger plot but it still managed to be mostly entertaining overall. It will probably appeal more to children than adults.
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