Hubbaflubbadibbadabbadoo

Everytime I walk down the street,
I hear the tap tap of my feet,
All I wanna sing is hubbaflubbadibbadabbadoo
Bibbillybobbilyboo.

Sorry about that, I had to sing this morning. Just something so skimmillybobbillyboo about this morning. Or quite possibly, somebody spiked my coffee.

Okay, that’s out of my system.

I’d like to take this opportunity to write about Savage Steve Holland. I know what you’re thinking. you think Savage Steve Holland is some lame whipping boy wrestler from the 1970s. He’s not though. In fact, he’s a director.

His most notable work came in the 1980s. He directed three very 80s movies (and wrote the first two): Better Off Dead, One Crazy Summer and How I Got Into College. He is also the guy who animated that lovable Whammy character from the game show Press Your Luck. He spent much of the 1990s and beyond directing television programs, both live motion and animation.

This past weekend, I saw his third of three motion pictures from the 1980s, How I Got Into College. The movie was pretty stupid but it had the Savage Steve Holland trademarks: wacky irony, explosions, pro wrestling, preppies getting the beaten by the lovable loser and Curtis Armstrong.

When most people discuss cheesy 80s movies, the name John Hughes always comes up. I got nothing against John Hughes, he made some good movies, but Steve Holland’s movies are just so wacky and out there. There really is nothing quite like the films he’s made. He found a way to bring cartoonish gags and humour into live motion films. He also has an odd way of picking songs that actually last. Every 80s movie has 80s music. But his films, have songs that lasted past the 80s. Whether it was Van Halen, the Eurythmics or Edie Brickell, it’s like he knew how to differentiate between 80s cheese and 80s quality.

Tags: Animation, Cinema