The Peanut Butter Solution
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The Peanut Butter Solution | |
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Directed by | Michael Rubbo |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography | Thomas Vámos |
Music by |
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Production companies | Les Productions La Fête Telefilm Canada |
Distributed by |
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Release date |
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Running time |
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Country | Canada |
Languages | Dual release in English and French |
The Peanut Butter Solution (French title: Opération beurre de pinottes) is a 1985 Canadian children's fantasy film directed by Michael Rubbo. The second installment in the Tales for All (Contes Pour Tous) series of films by Les Productions La Fête, the film stars Mathew Mackay, Siluck Saysanasy, Alison Darcy, and Michael Hogan.
Plot
Michael Baskin is an average 11-year-old boy. His father, Billy Baskin, is a struggling artist and temporary sole caregiver of the children while his wife attends to the estate of her recently deceased father in Australia. Upon hearing the news that an abandoned mansion has recently burned down, Michael and his friend Connie decide to explore the remains. Outside the mansion, Connie dares Michael to take a look inside, leading to a frightening encounter with the ghosts of its
The ghosts return the following night, giving themselves a second chance to pay him back for giving his money to some homeless people, and also give Michael special instruction not to add too much peanut butter, as it will end in dreadful results. Michael successfully makes the formula this time, but ignores their instructions not to overdo the peanut butter, and wakes up the next morning to find that his new hair has already begun to grow. After only a few minutes, Michael has grown a full head of hair. Suspicious of his fast growing follicles, Connie confronts Michael about his unusual ability. When Michael reveals to him his concoction, Connie decides to apply some to his pubic area, in an attempt to create the illusion that he's going through puberty. Connie soon discovers that the joke is on him. Pretty soon, Michael and Connie's hair grows to such lengths that it has become a nuisance for the school and their classmates, resulting in their suspensions. While Michael frantically searches for a solution, Connie discovers that the hair will stop growing by yelling at it.
The art teacher at Michael's school, simply called the Signor, frightens children and forbids them from using their imagination. After getting fired from the school, the Signor finds out about Michael's condition and kidnaps him (and many other neighborhood children) to make magic paint brushes from Michael's ever-growing hair, in which he subdues Michael with a knockout drug. The kidnapped children are
The film ends with the family reunited as the mother has returned home, and Michael's hair has stopped growing out of control.
Cast
- Mathew Mackay as Michael
- Siluck Saysanasy as Connie
- Alison Podbrey as Suzie
- Michael Hogan as Billy
- Michel Maillot as The Signor
- Helen Hughes as Mary
- Griffith Brewer as Tom
- Harry Hill as Dr. Epstein
- Edgar Fruitier
- Pat Thompson
- Terrence Labrosse
- Doug Smith
- Nick Manekas
- Karl Kastrada
- Patrick Saint-Pierre
- Jeremy Spry
- Cheryl Zaman-Zadir
- Audie Grant
- Vicki Lee
- Naoka Takahataki
- Anna Vitre
Production
- The original working title of the film was Michael's Fright.
- This film features the first English-language songs performed by Céline Dion (Listen to the Magic Man and Michael's Song). The French-language version of the film features French-language versions of the same songs (Dans la main d'un magicien and La ballade de Michel).
- Skippy peanut-butter paid for prominent product placement in the film.
Home media
The Peanut Butter Solution has been released on home video numerous times. In the United States, the film had been released only on VHS (through New World Video, Anchor Bay, and Starmaker Entertainment) until 2019. In Canada, the film was released on DVD in 2006, as part of box set with five other Tales for All films. Another box set, with every Tales for All movie, was released in 2011. In 2012, the movie was released separately. All of these DVD releases were in French only.
In 2013, the movie was transferred to
On December 10, 2019, Severin Films released it for the first time on Blu-ray/DVD in the US as the first offering of their new Severin Kids label. This release includes an "extended version" with 3 minutes of extra scenes.[1]
Reception
The How Did This Get Made? podcast released an episode on the film on July 3, 2020. [2]
In 2020, YouTuber Coda Gardner released an hour-long documentary about the film, Michael's Fright: The Strange True Story of the Peanut Butter Solution.[3]
References
External links
- Official website
- The Peanut Butter Solution at IMDb
- The Peanut Butter Solution at the TCM Movie Database
- The Peanut Butter Solution at AllMovie
- Productions La Fête Official Production Company Website