Dick Figures: The Movie

Dick Figures: The Movie is a 2013 American independent direct-to-streaming animated action comedy adventure film based on "mh:besttvshows:Dick Figures", created by Ed Skudder and Zack Keller. It is produced at the small business Six Point Harness animation studio and distributed by Mondo Media.

Plot
On everyone's home Planet (We call it Earth),a weak and lonely boy named Blue is starting elementary school (along with a younger Stacy, Pink, Lord Tourettes, Raccoon and Jason), but meets Broseph and a group of bullies that intend to kill him. However, a red asteroid kills Broseph and is revealed to be Red as a kid. After fighting off all of the bullies and saving Blue's life, he promises Red to always be his friend no matter what.

Many years later (catching up to the present day, after a montage sequence with Red failing in school and going out to parties and Blue succeeding and studying, in a similar fashion to Disney-Pixar's "Monsters University"), Blue is excited for Pink's birthday party but doesn't have the gift he promised for her. Red suggests asking The Raccoon for something at his pawn shop, Ancient Secrets 'N Things. After telling his partially complicated story about an ancient war in Japan to them, in which he defeated an army of demon ninjas and their leader 10,000 years ago (even though in the prologue, Raccoon appeared as a kid, with Blue in kindergarten), Raccoon promises to Blue that if he gives him an all-powerful sword by the name of "The Great Sword of Destiny" (which Raccoon used in the war), he would give Blue a gift that a goddess would ever hope to receive and that only his son, in Japan, knows the sword's location. Unfortunately, Blue refuses to go find it and bails out. Red, however, accepts to find the sword and calls Blue a "pussy". Raccoon then thinks Blue may not be a true hero to find the sword, but Blue eventually tags along to prove that he is not a coward and agrees to retrieve Pink's present.

Arriving at the docks, and avoiding two guards (voiced by Cyanide and Happiness creators, Rob DenBleyker & Dave McElfatrick) with a cartwheel trick, Red and Blue manage to get on a booze cruise (where they meet Broseph again) to get to Japan (which is portrayed as a stereotypical place with lots of pop culture references). They arrive at the restaurant and find Raccoon's son, Son-san and after Blue tells him the sword is not for his father, Son-san points that the sword is on the top of a mountain nearby. The two eventually find the hilt of the sword only, much to Blue's utter disappointment, but are caught by Lord Takagami and his Demon Ninjas who were all frozen for years to protect the sword. They escape the ninjas on a rowboat and are taken out to sea.

While out at sea, Red couldn't understand why Blue was doing all this only for Pink. Blue tells him that he loves Pink and explains what love really means to Red (since it turns out that Red had no idea what love meant at all), but he misinterprets it for a "boner". Afterwards, both start arguing that not all the girls love Red, causing Red himself to reveal to Blue that he beat up all the bullies back in kindergarten just to impress the girls and not to save Blue's life or be his friend at all. Blue, shocked and betrayed by this revelation, attacks Red and the two fight while the storm gets heavier. During the fight the two agree to never be friends with each other ever again, ending their friendship. Suddenly, their rowboat is destroyed by a lightning bolt and the two are knocked out by a big wave, and Blue's phone is being left falling into the deep, dark ocean, with Pink calling.

After an awful dream of his first encounter with Red (which is mainly different to the actual prologue sequence) as Red himself shows off his handsome looks to the ladies while fighting the bullies, Blue and Red eventually wake up to discover that they are in a mysterious and beautiful island, which Red believes to be Burrito Island. Blue, fearing that he's gonna die in the island, tries calling for help only to find his cell phone gone. However, he remembers that Red ate a bowl of tiny cell phones back in Japan and Red manages to call the Global Rescue Services (with the off-screen operator being voiced by Kickstarter backer, Ashley Shelhon) using the phone inside him. Knowing how much of an idiot he is,Red farts on Blue's face, causing the phone to lose connection.

Angered by Red's relentlessly awkward behaviour, Blue intends to get away from Red and walks into the tropical forest, which he discovers as paradise. Red then accidentally sets the island on fire while tanning himself, and the two are rescued by a plane, piloted by a long-lost friend of Mr. Dingleberry's, Captain Mayor-Lieutenant Crookygrin. Crookygrin reveals that the island was Burrito Island, much to Red's intense dismay, however Crookygrin is not sure of this, saying to himself that "maybe it was boobie island". He is on a mission to stop Red and Blue from finding the sword, but doesn't recognise the two because of his alcohol blindness, which he believes is now beginning to cure, much to their horror. Suddenly, the Demon Army ambush the plane and Blue manages to defend it with a 50-caliber on top while Red keeps the captain drunk in order to not get caught. They eventually crash in Paris, killing Crookygrin (with several bottle glass shards around his body) and crushing a mime. Before dying, he gives Blue a paper showing where are the other parts of the sword and tells them to go at the top of "Le Tour Eiffel", but both don't understand what it is. While Red and Blue agree to go together again, Mr. Dingleberry is seen watching them.

Meanwhile, Pink tries to call Blue again but fails to get in contact with him. She goes to an apartment and asks Stacy if she knows where Red is, but a far too drunken Stacy doesn't remember him and confuses him with her other boyfriend Steven (voiced by Kickstarter backer, Brandon Haines).

Back to Paris, Mr. Dingleberry tells the French police (led by a French version of Chad Cop, who somehow got involved without any explaination) where Red and Blue went and Lord Takagami appears to thank Mr. Dingleberry for his help and rewards him by killing him, promising that he would see Crookygrin, sooner than he thinks.

Meanwhile, Red and Blue meet up with Lord Tourettes who is playing the accordion at a restaurant and agrees to helps them by revealing to them that "Le Tour Eiffel" actually means "The Eiffel Tower". The French police enter the restaurant searching for Red and Blue for the plane crash incident earlier and to possibly get back the sword for Lord Takagami, since the police plan to kill the duo as well. Red (who's arms are both being chewed on by a little boy and Chad Cop, as he was posing as a crab on a plate), Blue (who distracts Chad Cop away from & Lord Tourettes try to escape but when Red farts, their cover gets blown and the police starts firing their weapons and car chases the trio throughout the town to the "cock of Paris". Red almost gets killed by a stampede of police cars and motorbikes, until Blue comes to the rescue just in time.

They manage to reach the top of the tower by helicopter. Lord Tourettes manages to knock all the policemen out by singing a pleasant lullaby (Lord Tourette's Syndrome)and after Red and Blue finds the second piece of the sword (the blade itself) on the tip top of the tower, Lord Tourettes reads the letter Crookygrin gave to Red and Blue, which explains "in French" that the last piece (which is the gem of the sword) is on the top of a mountain near their hometown.

After escaping the French Police, Red & Blue arrive in America, where they discover a large mountain near their hometown, knowing now that L.T. was right. Red reunites with Stacy. Blue tries to convince Red to help him find the final piece of the sword, but Red bails on him and drives off to party with all the girls. Blue continues to find the final piece in the mountain in an "Epic Montage", while Red continues to hang with all the girls, shortly after, Red ends up heading to the hospital in an ambulance and sees Pink outside near her apartment crying while in the ambulance. He finally learns how much Blue means to her and makes haste to the mountain with Raccoon to help Blue.

Blue is captured by Lord Takagami, who actually found the last piece of the sword before him and Takagami reveals to Blue his plan to avenge all the people that died in the war Raccoon had caused. He reunites the jewel with the sword and orders his ninjas to throw Blue in the Volcano,and before Blue nearly hits the lava, Red swings out of nowhere and grabs him just in time while Raccoon grabs the sword from Takagami, and proceed to sword fight with Takagami (who is revealed to be Raccoon's Father-san, after Raccoon chops off the mask), while Red and Blue fight off the ninjas. Raccoon defeats Father-san by chopping off both his hands and then decapitating him. Although the battle isn't over yet when Father-san's head rises up from the lava he fell into and turns into a 50-feet Ocho Muerte, who ate Raccoon's wife, Mama-san in Raccoon's past.

Ocho Muerte attacks the city and ambushes Pink's birthday party. Raccoon finds that Father-san is Ocho Muerte and reveals to Raccoon that he trapped his wife for eternity, before dropping Raccoon into his large sharp teeth filled mouth. Ocho Muerte prepares to drop Pink into his mouth to prevent her from getting the sword and Blue manages to grab the sword with his cartwheel trick (that he learned from Red in the dock scene earlier), chop off Ocho Muerte's arm and save Pink. His chopped arm causes the apartment edge to break and Blue almost falls to his death but Red grabs Blue and the sword in time. After imagining three ways to drop Blue (with the last daydream showing Red committing suicide),Red finally decides to spare Blue's life, drops the sword and pulls him up. The sword falls into Ocho Muerte's mouth, causing the giant creature to explode. Raccoon's father is now finally defeated.

Red apologizes for being very abusive and selfish to Blue and reveals that he never actually had a friend before. Blue forgives him and the two find Raccoon and his wife Mama-san to be alive. It turns out the whole thing was a set-up made by Raccoon to make sure that he would have the sword once again and Red and Blue would discover that they never really had an official friendship, until now. Blue reunites with Pink and Mama-san gives the couple the Lotus flower that Raccoon gave her during the war. Pink accepts her gift and she and Blue both share a loveable kiss. Red ends the movie by giving Blue a high five and his new catchphrase "Cause' We're Awesome!"

Why It's Awesome

 * 1) It is 100% faithful to the source material.
 * 2) The animation is great, and is even a step-up from the comic strip-esque animation of the show.
 * 3) Phenomenal soundtrack and score composed by Nick Keller, which can range from dramatic, action-packed, and downright engagingly memorable.
 * 4) *Even the main theme song in the end credits is so catchy.
 * 5) The characters are still as memorable and likable as ever.
 * 6) Lord Takagami is a very intimidating villain, with a very interesting plot twist that he is the Raccoon's father, and suddenly reveals that he himself actually is Ocho-Muerte.
 * 7) Clever choice of pop-culture references, for example:
 * 8) * When Red and Blue used fake names "Tom", and Captain Crookygrin was asking them to take out the Ninjas while calling them "Jerrys" is a reference to mh:besttvshows:Tom and Jerry.
 * 9) * Red says he's like King Kong when climbing up the Eiffel Tower to fetch the blade of the sword.
 * 10) * The scene where they play that video game for a few seconds is almost a reference to mh:awesomegames:Super Mario Bros. where the protagonist of the game says Mamma Mia and then falls down the bottomless pit.
 * 11) Just like the web series it is based on, the jokes and dialogue are intelligent and mad funny, perfected with excellent timing and pacing.
 * 12) Perfectly choreographed and kinetic action scenes with flawless pacing, timing and execution.
 * 13) *The car chase scene in Paris is amazing, and it is kind of like the freeway fight scene in The Matrix Reloaded.
 * 14) *The final battle with Ocho-Muerte is awesome, and it may remind you of other monster movies like Godzilla.
 * 15) The voice acting is still great, with the cast from the series reprising their roles.
 * 16) Funny and memorable quotes:
 * 17) *CUZ WE'RE AWESOME!
 * 18) *Father, I want to go to America. That is not a country yet.
 * 19) Plenty of heartwarming moments, such as the evolution of Blue and Red's friendship at the beginning, and the plot twist that Raccoon's wife was still alive.
 * 20) Excellent character development, such as how Red finally begins to realize the importance of friendship and relationships as he also suddenly grows to be more mature and serious about his actions, while still maintaining his memorable qualities. With how much Blue really meant to Pink the whole time, and him realizing the meaning of friendship and how Blue felt like to him.
 * 21) Great directing by Ed Skudder and Zack Keller.
 * 22) The follow-up "Figured Out" that demonstrates the events after the movie was also great and heartwarming. Let alone a flawless ending to the series.
 * 23) You can watch the whole movie in twelve chapters for free on YouTube, which is cool.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Along with Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, there is some gross-out humor.
 * 2) A few plot holes.
 * 3) *It never explained how Broseph managed to come back to life while growing up despite the fact that Red killed him during the childhood origin story at the beginning of the film to stand up for Blue.
 * 4) * Red not having a full backstory about his lack of experience on friendship is an odd omission, given how it gave off a great introduction to Blue.
 * 5) * When Blue fell into Ocho Muerte's mouth and died, how does he keep staying alive?
 * 6) Lord Takagami's plot twist as a father of Raccoon, is somewhat similar to episode 5 of a science fiction movie, except cutting the hero's hand.
 * 7) While the action scenes are great, the blood can sometimes be a bit unnecessary.
 * 8) Although you can watch the movie in twelve chapters for free as mentioned above, you sadly have to pay to watch the full movie in one part, unless you can find somewhere free to watch it.

Reception
Dick Figures: The Movie received positive to favorable reviews from critics, audiences, and fans alike with a total of 7 critics who reviewed it and an average score of 73 out of 100. The highest praise came from Filmthreat.com in which editor Mark Bell gave the film 4.5 out of 5 stars and said "Overall, though, I adored Dick Figures: The Movie. It may appear to be as simple an animation as you can get, but it is perfectly executed and extremely entertaining." while John Blabber at Bubbleblabber.com gave the film an 8 out of 10, saying "This first entry in the series is a strong and valiant effort by some of the most respected animators in the business. However, it’s just that…a movie WRITTEN by animators." the lowest review came from Tadpole at Deviantart.com giving the film 3 out of 5 stars, but still said the film was "fun, fun, fun".

In September 2014, the film won the award for 'Best Animated Feature Film' at the Berlin International Festival Awards. The film has currently gained a rating of 6.8/10 on IMDb.

Trivia

 * 1) While the film was available to rent or purchase, one of the film's executive producers, Aaron Simpson, aimed to give everyone access to the film, whether they could afford a paid digital download or not, so the movie was also distributed on YouTube for free in 12 chapters over the course of 3 months. The film had met its first theatrical premiere at the Buffer Festival in Toronto on November 9th 2013.
 * 2) The first 5 minutes of the movie was previewed by the episode, "First Day of Cool". The movie however has a few things added to it (a quick added part with Lord Tourettes running over to Blue saying "Hello", an extra sound for the see-saw and Red's grunts and gasps have been removed). The episode's fight sequence is however altered in Blue's nightmare (halfway in the movie) with Red showing off to the girls while fighting the bullies, blowing a kiss for example.
 * 3) Shane Dawson was negotiated to have a voice role in the movie, but somehow couldn't make it.