Death to Smoochy

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"Today we celebrate outstanding achievement in film with me, the fourth leading man from Death To Smoochy." —Jon Stewart hosting the 78th Academy Awards, 2006.

"Hello. It's Danny. It's been, um... I guess now a few months since the release of Death To Smoochy, so the mourning period is over." —Director Danny DeVito, opening the DVD Commentary.

Death To Smoochy is a 2002 dark comedy film starring Robin Williams, Edward Norton and Catherine Keener. It also features Jon Stewart and Danny DeVito, who is also the film's director. Death To Smoochy is known for its outwardly vulgar and profane humor, particularly Williams' profound cursing outbursts throughout the film.

Williams plays Rainbow Randolph (aka Randolph Smiley), a children's television show host. On-screen, he is a lovable, friendly character, but in his personal life he is almost an antithesis incarnate of himself -- rude, irascible, and with a propensity for violence. Unfortunately for Randolph, his show is canceled after he is caught by the FBI taking bribes from parents to put their kids on his show and he is replaced by another show featuring a purple anthropomorphic rhino named Smoochy (a clear parody of Barney the Dinosaur), played by Norton.

Randolph spirals into depression and poverty, and vows to bring down Smoochy and his show. Throughout the film, Randolph concocts a variety of sadistic and psychotic plots to ruin Smoochy's career, and becomes involved with a gangster named Merv Green (Harvey Fierstein), but his ploys are constantly foiled by the fact that Smoochy really is as sweet and nice as the character he portrays.

The film was a commercial and critical bomb, but like most comedies that fall under that category, it has developed a cult following.

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Tropes used in Death to Smoochy include:

• Actor Allusion: Randolph attempts to discredit Sheldon by tricking him into performing at a neo-Nazi rally.
  • Another AHX Shout-Out - Sheldon pointing a gun at Burke and saying "You just fucked with the wrong rhino". Norton's character exclaims "You just fucked with the wrong bull" before murdering the man who tried to steal his car.
• All Men Are Perverts: We think Nora Wells seems to think about males that way, just until Smoochy blows off steam.
• Anti-Hero: Or Anti-Villain, depending on how you look at it, but either way, the Irish Mob. Either way, it's heavily implied that despite their violent, criminal way of doing things, they at least have lines they won't cross, unlike the real scum of the universe... children's charity event organizers.
• Atomic F-Bomb: Randolph's "Motherfucker!" after discovering Sheldon and Nora going out, also counts as Skyward Scream.
• Berserk Button: Anything related to Smoochy ends up as this for Randolph, including a fundraiser to "Save the Rhinos".
• Beware the Honest Ones
• Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Smoochy's songs. They are all bouncy, upbeat tunes, exactly what you would expect on a children's show. Even the ones he is singing to junkies at a shelter. Do not listen to the words, though.
• Cluster Penis Bomb: The cookie scene. Bonus points for Williams' rant being delivered in front of kids, who crack up hysterically.
• Concert Climax
• Contractual Purity: Not in the movie itself, but in-universe; the plot is kicked off when Randolph loses his job by getting caught taking a bribe to get a rich couple's kid participating in the episode. While it's possible that there was some kind of contractual reason he couldn't do that, the only apparent reason for losing the show is that taking a bribe makes him a bad role model.
  • Smoochy's purity is most likely contractual, seeing as how the producer ordered Nora to find someone "squeaky fucking clean."
• Depraved Bisexual: Randolph, maybe (see Foe Yay, below).
• Depraved Kids' Show Host: The movie breathes this trope.
• Disc One Final Boss The Corrupt Parade of Hope founder, Merv Green. He starts out as a potential Big Bad, pissed that Sheldon/Smoochy didn't want to do the Ice Show. He gets even more madder when Sheldon decides to do the Ice show but keep it clean. In an attempt to kill Mopes, his men kill Spinner/Moochy by mistake. Once Spinner's Irish Mob relatives catch wind of his part in the Murder he's swiftly dealt with. Leaving Burke and Stokes to take over and try to kill Sheldon.
• Dying as Yourself: Spinner Dunn goes through this when Merv Green's thugs assaults him. He first shows he's still got it, in the boxing department. Managing to fend them off briefly with some good punches. They overwhelm him with pipes though and the quote below ends up being his last words, with no sign of his damaged laden child-like personality. Had they not shot him afterwards that last blow to the head would have probably cured him.

Spinner: Hey what round is it!?

• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Much of why Randolph is obsessed with Smoochy/Sheldon is because he doesn't believe him to be the genuine Nice Guy and tries to prove it otherwise. However when it seems legit, he does end up trying to save him from Buggy Ding Dong.
• Getting Crap Past the Radar: In-universe example. During Rainbow's opening song -- "Some like to toss, while others to catch" and "One might say grab while the other says snatch."
  • "Golly gee, size doesn't matter when you want some friendly patter."
• Granola Girl: Sheldon is the Spear Counterpart. He's vegetarian, loves to strum his acoustic guitar, dresses simply even after coming into money, and loves to preach about healthy living.
• Heel Face Turn: Rainbow Randolph. He's still crazy, though.
• Hope Spot / Ignored Epiphany: Randolph is framed for Spinner's murder, he finds himself hiding in an abandoned building. Here he realizes that he should give Smoochy a chance, believing that an intervention from a former fan of his during his suicide attempt, is a sign from god that he should just move on and admit Smoochy's the better man. However after seeing an ad for the Ice Show which specifically shows Smoochy with Nora, he's back to his Anti-Smoochy ways vowing to tear him apart with his bare hands.
• Informed Christianity: Very few moments with Rainbow Randolph show that he may be Christian. When he talks to Angelo, he believes the Devil sent Smoochy to mock him for his failure. When he's hiding from the cops he mentioned wanting to be a priest before he became a kid show host. When Sheldon tries to talk him out of shooting, him and Nora, he does a Yul Brynner impression of Pharaoh Ramses quoting his speech in Exodus.
• The Irish Mob: Played for laughs.
• Jerks with Hearts of Gold: Tommy and the Irish Mob. They start out merely intimidating Sheldon into letting Spinner be on the show. However due to his good nature they grow to love and cherish Sheldon like he's one of their own. Even after Spinner dies, they still watch out for his well-being and even talk Sheldon out of killing Burke.
  • Rainbow Randolph is one too. He does naturally care about kids and while it takes some prodding he does eventually come around and help Sheldon out. Even saving him from Buggy Ding-Dong.
• Large Ham: Robin Williams, natch.
• Made of Iron: Played with regarding Rainbow Randolph. Throughout the entire movie, he's often been punched, kicked, thrown, fallen and even knocked out a couple of times. While it does leave him, bruised, bleeding and even missing a tooth, he never gives up. At one point when the Irish Mob interrogates him and breaks a coffee table with his body, he threatens to sue them rather than talk. Only talking when they break out the hammer.
• Nice Character, Mean Actor: Rainbow Randolph.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Played with. Of the dozens of entertainers mentioned as characters in the movie, none of them are real. However, at one point, Randolph refers to Smoochy as a "bastard son of Barney." Also, there are a few implications that Randolph is an Expy for Pee-Wee Herman.
• Non-Indicative Name:
  • Sheldon Mopes, despite all that happens to him, does anything but.
  • And yet, "Burke" Bennett is pretty much exactly dead-on.
• Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: The basis of "My Stepdad's Not Mean, He's Just Adjusting." However, he tells the kids at the end that if he's ever outright abusive the magic number is 911.
• Not My Driver: How Randolph got Mopes.
• Old Shame: Jon Stewart brings this up a lot, almost to the point where you might make the mistake that he's actually proud of the movie but is afraid that liking it will make him not cool.
  • In-Universe, Nora had an infatuation with kid show hosts, to the point where she slept with hosts including but not limited to, Rainbow Randolph, Jingle Jackson, Wally the Whale, Buggy Ding Dong and Smoochy. She says she's not proud of it and it's implied that out of all of them, Randolph and Smoochy were the only ones she was seriously in love with. She left Randolph when he became corrupted, but stayed with Smoochy, because he was a nice guy both on and off screen.
• Preemptive Declaration:

Sheldon: Oh, you didn't have to get off the phone. Nora: If I didn't, you'd still be here. Sheldon: I am still here. Nora: I'm hoping to correct that

• Rule of Three: While it was well-known in the movie, that there were numerous kid show hosts mentioned, both fictional and real life. Only three are shown on screen. Each one with different personality traits.
  • Sheldom Mopes aka Smoochy is a Nice Guy, who wants to make a difference, but also has hidden anger issues whenever he gets pushed too far.
  • Rainbow Randolph is a failed kid show host, who let corruption and greed get to him until his initial bust and is slowly driven insane when he sees Mopes get more fame. But as time goes on he does show he is a good man at heart and is still well loved by some fans. This eventually leads to his Heel Face Turn
  • Buggy Ding Dong is considered the low point in kid show host stuff. It really goes to show that Randolph, A man who had framed Smoochy for Nazism is still an upstanding guy compared to Buggy. Buggy used to be the best kid show host, but unlike Randolph, whose only crime prior to his fine was accepting bribes and not living up to his Iconic status, through his heavy drinking and insane personality; Buggy became a heroin addict and a disgrace which cost him his job. To make matters worse, while Randolph did have homicidal tendencies against Smoochy, he never tried anything physical in front of the kids. Buggy on the other hand, was planning to snipe Smoochy and while Randolph did stop him, it was shown early on that his heroine induced narcolepsy caused his eyes to be blurry. This in turn would have him running the risk of shooting a co-star or an audience member by mistake.
• Sacrificial Lion: Brain damaged he may be, Spinner didn't go out without a fight when he got ambushed by Merv Green's cronies. When they initially grabbed him he was able to punch two of them off. The only reason he died was because they resorted to using a lead pipe and a gun to finish him off.
• Serious Business:
  • Apparently, kiddie TV shows are full of groupies, graft and corruption in every sense of the word and one honest entertainer can be a massive Spanner in the Works.
  • And God help you if you try to mess with the mob's control of the ice show racket.
• Skyward Scream: The Atomic F-Bomb mentioned above and another one before that: "God! What does this all mean?"
• Strange Minds Think Alike: When Merv Greene berates his goons for killing Spinner by mistake he mentions the colors of the rhino suit Fuchsia (Smoochy/Sheldon) and Bergundy (Moochy/Spinner) should have been a dead giveaway. Later on when Randolph vows revenge on Smoochy for being with Nora, he refers to him among most things as "Fuchsia fuck".
• Straw Feminist: Nora Wells, the executive producer for Smoochy the Rhino.
• Subverted Kids Show
• Watch Out for That Tree: Rainbow Randolph's victory dance after framing Smoochy as a Nazi is cut short by a wall.
• Villainous Breakdown: Randolph's story is a major one from beginning to end, but the most prominent is when he confronts Sheldon and Nora at gunpoint. Sheldon tries to calm things down, Nora doesn't take the hold up seriously and even berates and threatens him. However a combination of finding out Sheldon is with Nora whom he previously had an affair with, along with seeing the drastic changes of what used to be his penthouse and Sheldon trying to keep the peace causes him to break into a song. When he finishes he is too down on himself to realize he lowered his gun. With Nora's help, Sheldon manages to disarm him causing the latter to beg him to kill him. Instead, Sheldon offers to help him through his troubles, which causes Randolph to meekly ask if he could be his friend. Which Sheldon accepts.