Cree Summer Movies

Twenty years after being exiled from the village in which he was born, a mighty warrior returns to his home to find that a ruthless tyrant has slaughtered his family and spread death and despair across the land. Everything Turok ever knew is now gone, and the man responsible for this untold destruction is a ruthless warlord named Chichak. Now, with vengeance in his blood and nothing left to lose, Turok will cross fearlessly over into the Lost Land - a treacherous place where savagery rules, and primeval beasts stalk their prey with vicious ferocity. But Turok's tireless quest for revenge won't be easy, because before he reaches Chichak he will be forced to contend with not only man-eating dinosaurs and brutal cave-dwellers, but also the darkness that dwells somewhere deep within his own troubled soul. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The events in the direct-to-video Bambi II transpire during the middle portion of the original film, after Bambi's mother dies but before he grows into an adult. The film concerns Bambi being raised by his father, The Great Prince. Bambi learns his place in the forest thanks to his father and with the help of his friends like Thumper. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Although the concept of a children's cartoon series starring a cast of flying insects was hardly original to The Buzz on Maggie, this weekly, half-hour Disney Channel series set itself apart from such earlier endeavors as Honeybee Hutch and Maya the Bee by relying upon computer-generated imagery rather than traditional cel animation. The series was set in Stickyfeet, a city largely populated by flies. Heroine Maggie, who in "anime" tradition boasted an oversized head and enormous eyes (with lashes!), was fun-loving and adventurous. Her efforts to buck convention and explore the world beyond Maggie drove her friends and family crazy and often placed herself in jeopardy, but in general her strong, forceful attitude proved a positive role model for the kids at home. Other characters included Maggie's older brother Aldrin, her kid brother Pupert, Aldrin's girlfriend Dawn, and Maggie's best friend Rayna. After debuted over the Disney Channel on June 17, 2005, The Buzz on Maggie was picked up by sister network ABC in the fall of that same year. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The brainchild of Rocko's Modern Life creator Joe Murray, the half-hour animated series Camp Lazlo was set at a summer camp populated by goofy-looking anthropomorphic animals. Most of the "Bean Scouts" at Camp Kidney were willing to follow orders and toe the line, which was just the way that Scoutmaster Lumpus, a egocentric, control-freak moose, preferred to have things. Unfortunately for Lumpus, he had to contend with the rule-bending shenanigans that went on in the camp's "Jelly Cabin". Ringleader for the troublemakers was Bean Scout Lazlo, a mischievous monkey; his best friends and co-conspirators were Raj, an adolescent elephant, and Clam, a pygmy rhino. To counteract the hijinks of Lazlo and his buddies, Lumpus kept a pair of obnoxious snitches at his beck and call: Slinkman, a nerdish banana slug; Edward, a snotty, anal-retentive Platypus; and Edward's own flunkeys, the dung beetles (Chip and Skip). Some of the episodes focused on the great rivalry between Camp Kindey and the all-girl Squirrel Scouts in the camp on the other side of Leakey Lake. Foremost among the Squirrel Scouts were Gretchen the alligator, Nina the giraffe, and Patsy the mongoose, who had a crush on Lazlo (and frequently crushed him in her enthusiasm!) A good, old-fashioned exercise in harmless cartoon nihilism, Camp Lazlo premiered July 8, 2005, on the Cartoon Network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Created by Tim Cahill and Julie McNally Cahill, the half-hour cartoon series My Gym Partner's a Monkey managed to wrap up its title and its premise in a single package. Thanks to a bureaucratic snafu, 12-year-old human youngster Adam Lyon was transferred to Charles Darwin Middle School, where the teachers and students were all anthropomorphic animals. Regarded as "slow" because he lacked jungle smarts, Adam quickly gained acceptance by virtue of his "book smarts," which were far above those of his fellow students. Adam's best friend and gym partner was class clown Jake Spidermonkey; his classmates included underachiever Slips Python, the shy and gangly Ingrid Giraffe, and school bully Virgil "Bull" Sharkowski, who spoke in an incongruously high-pitched and squeaky voice. Among the adult authority figures were Principal Pixiefrog, gym teacher Coach Gillis (who conducted classes while swimming in a fish bowl), and drama instructor Miss Chameleon. Previewed by Cartoon Network on December 26, 2005, My Gym Partner's a Monkey was slated to join the cable service's weekly lineup on February 24, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Clifford the Big Red Dog finally arrives on the big screen in the animated adventure Clifford's Really Big Movie, directed by Robert Ramirez. Clifford (voice of the late John Ritter) lives on Birdwell Island with his owner Emily Elizabeth Howard (voice of Grey DeLisle). Even though he loves the Howards, Clifford starts to think that his enormous size is too much of a problem for them. Feeling unwanted, he runs off and joins the circus with his friends Cleo (voice of Cree Summer) and T-Bone (voice of Kel Mitchell). They fall in with a gang of other runaway animals, including a Chihuahua and a ferret. The dogs compete in a big contest in order to win a lifetime supply of Tummy Yummies. Clifford's Really Big Movie encourages preschoolers to develop trust, independence, and confidence. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Two of the most popular animated series on the children's cable network Nickelodeon get wrapped up in one big-screen package in this comedy-adventure, featuring the characters from Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys. Drew and Didi Pickles (voices of Michael Bell and Melanie Chartoff) decide to take a special vacation with their children, Tommy (voice of Elizabeth Daily) and Angelica (voice of Cheryl Chase), with their friends (both grown-ups and toddlers) coming along for the ride. However, the ship Drew has chartered isn't especially seaworthy, and their party ends up stranded on an uncharted island in the Pacific. The kids figure the day is saved when they discover that famous explorer and television personality Sir Nigel Tornberry (voice of Tim Curry) is also on the island with his family, but after he gets a world-class knock on the head from a coconut, Nigel's upper intellectual register gets knocked out of commission. The Rugrats are then forced to turn to Nigel's daughter, Eliza (voice of Lacey Chabert), who not only knows the wilds, but can talk to animals, which comes as quite a surprise to Spike (voice of Bruce Willis), the Pickles' family pooch. Rugrats Go Wild also features the voice talents of LL Cool J, Cree Summer, Nancy Cartwright, Jack Riley, and Flea. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Atlantis: Milo's Return is a direct-to-video animated sequel made up of three episodes. In the first episode, Milo (voice of James Arnold Taylor) and Queen Kida (voice of Cree Summer) find a town called Krakenstad, lead by Magistrate Edgar Volgud (voice of Clancy Brown). In the second story, the team of adventurers heads to the American Southwest to investigate a sandstorm and meet land prospector Sam McKeane (voice of Jeff Bennett). In the third episode, Whitmore (voice of John Mahoney) fights his old adversary Erik Hellstrom (voice of Morgan Sheppard). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

The first Disney cartoon to be produced in the 70 mm format since The Black Cauldron (1985), this blend of traditional animation with computer-generated imagery is a straight adventure tale of the Jules Verne school, eschewing the studio's typical formula of cute critters mixed with song-and-dance routines. Michael J. Fox is the voice of Milo Thatch, a lowly museum employee and linguist in the early 20th century who's determined to continue his late grandfather's search for the lost, sunken empire of Atlantis. Bankrolled by eccentric millionaire Preston Whitmore (John Mahoney), Milo teams up with a diverse crew of mercenaries led by submarine commander Rourke (James Garner). After a sea battle with a giant denizen of the deep, the explorers locate the submerged civilization. Milo falls in love with Princess Kida (Cree Summer), the daughter of Atlantis' aged ruler (Leonard Nimoy), and must choose sides when it's revealed that some of his fellow expedition members intend to steal a mystical energy source from their hosts. Claudia Christian, Mark Hamill, David Ogden Stiers, Don Novello, and the late Jim Varney co-star. Although considered a shoo-in for a nomination in the debut year of the new Oscar category of Best Animated Feature, Atlantis: The Lost Empire faced stiff competition from other non-live-action entertainment in the summer of 2001, including Shrek, Final Fantasy, and Monsters Inc.. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

With 46 episodes to its credit in Season One, the zany animated educational series Warner Bros. Histeria was supposed to have offered 19 more episodes for its second season. However, the series' disappointing ratings prompted the WB network to cut down its episode manifest, and thus only seven more episodes were churned out by the animators. However, these installments are every bit as funny as the first batch, with Father Time, Mr. Smartypants, Aka Pella, Miss Information et. al. guiding viewers on a skewered, slapsticky jaunt through history. In the season opener, the Histeria! gang accompanies Neil Armstrong to the moon (Bang! Zoom!) Then it's off for a slightly more serious visit to Martin Luther King and a drop-in at the trial of Socrates. A stopover in the court of Charlemagne results in a "scrapple at the chapel", followed by random historical glimpse as viewed by the flatulent Big Fat Baby. Napoleon is subjected to jokes about his height during a visit to France, which also includes the solemn "Tennis Court Oath." And finally, a journey through North America takes us all the way from Alaska to...Mayberry? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The History of the World and other business is reinterpreted through the skewered vision of the Warner Bros. Animation team in Season One of the aptly titled cartoon series Warner Bros! Histeria. Led by the decrepit Father Time, the Histeria! crew (including the likes of Mr. Smartypants, Miss Information and Big Fat Baby) get things rolling by introducing Alexander Graham Bell via the Serlingesque "Telephone Zone", then move on to make life miserable for $Thomas Edison and J. Robert Oppenheimer. In later episodes, the life of Abraham Lincoln is morphs into the Brady Bunch theme song; George Washington bids farewell to his troops in the manner of a Bob Hope monologue; Nostradamus and Descartes have a philosophical discussion over whether the chicken or the egg came first; Leonardo Da Vinci becomes a painter through the patronage of the Book Formerly Known as "Prince"; the royal family of Ancient Egypt performs its own version of "Cats"; the conquest of Montezuma is detoured by a perusal of the Inca Shopping Network; the history of the Tudors is reformatted as a bloody slasher flick; there's an informercial for "Super Amazing Constitution"; the Yalta Conference degenerates into a pie fight; and Khrushschev tries yet again to sneak into Disneyland. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

As the sixth and final season of A Different World gets under way, newlyweds Whitley (Jasmine Guy) and Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison) are returning from their honeymoon in Los Angeles -- which unfortunately coincided with the Rodney King riots! Nor is life a bed of roses for the couple upon settling into their new home. Whitley loses her position at the art gallery, forcing Dwayne to hold down three different jobs to make ends meet. Things look temporarily brighter when Dwayne is offered a lucrative job in Japan, but alas, this opportunity also comes a-cropper. And on top of everything, Whitley learns she is pregnant! Meanwhile, Dwayne's formerly footloose roommate Ron (Darryl M. Bell) has matured sufficiently to assume the management of a trendy nightclub. As for Ron's erstwhile girlfriend Freddie (Cree Summer), she has apparently forsaken her tacky Annie Hall wardrobe and her artistic inclinations for a stylish business suit and a career in law, leading the increasingly militant Lena (Jada Pinkett) to label Freddie a sellout -- at least until she realizes that Freddie intends to improve the system from within, rather than as the perennial outsider. As for Whitley's no-nonsense former roommate Kim (Charnele Brown), she has finally settled upon a boyfriend who is truly marriage material (it's taken her long enough). Newcomers to the cast includes Gary Dourdan as Shazza Zulu, whom Freddie briefly dates before returning to Ron; Karen Malina White as the garrulous and somewhat pushy college freshman Charmaine Brown, a character carried over from A Different World's "parent" series The Cosby Show; Patrick Malone as Terrell, a student who may look and act like a thug but isn't...and may be a potential boyfriend for Charmaine. When near the end of the series' run Lena, Charmaine, Terrell, and Gina Devereaux (Ajai Sanders) decide to rent a house together, the casual viewer might assume that the producers had a spin-off series in mind, but this never came to fruition. Before leaving A Different World, let us give an affectionate nod to actor Lou Myers, who has woven in an out of the proceedings as Vernon Gaines, chef at the campus hangout The Pit. The series' resident philosopher, Vernon is known far and wide for occasionally bending the truth to serve his needs -- but in the season six episode "A Rock, A River, A Lena," we are offered proof incarnate that Vernon did indeed make the acquaintance of guest star Lena Horne during WWII. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

It's official -- the formerly self-centered Hillman College graduate Whitley Gilbert (Jasmine Guy) is definitely in love with her fellow collegiate Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison) as A Different World begins its fourth season. Unfortunately, during the summer, Dwayne has met and fallen for someone else: a Japanese-American girl named Kinu. So disconsolate that she forgets to pay her room rent on time, Whitley temporarily moves in with another of her Hillman College confrères, the worldly Jaleesa (Dawnn Lewis) -- in an apartment right across the hall from Dwayne's! Hoping to make Dwayne jealous, Whitley finally agrees to go out with Dwayne's dweebish roommate Ron (Darryl M. Bell), but the scheme doesn't work. Incidentally, Ron is far more interested in the artistically inclined coed Freddie (Cree Summer), who isn't quite as waif-like as in previous seasons, and is beginning to emerge as something of a social activist thanks to the influence of her Black History professor. Meanwhile, the romance between Jaleesa and local community-center leader Walter (Sinbad) has gone south, with Jaleesa now hitching her star to hard-driving calculus teacher Colonel Clayton Taylor (Glynn Turnan), whose son Terrence (Cory Tyler) is currently driving everyone crazy as a new Hillman freshman. As the season progresses, Whitley lands a marketing job and later becomes assistant to an art gallery curator; Dwayne and Kina split, with Dwayne finally realizing he is as much in love with Whitley as she is with him; Ron is invited to join his dad's car business, but he opts instead to become a drummer in a band ; and Whitley's former roommate Kim is temporarily working at a mortuary. Season four ends with the possibility of Ron failing to graduate from Hillman, Walter accepting a job in Philadelphia; and Whitley laboring under the misapprehension that Dwayne wants to break off their relationship. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi