(So an ambigram is a word that makes either the same word or a new one when looked at from another angle.  Turned 180, backwards, whatever. The most recently famous one is the below DVD cover.)

One line of a movie.  That’s all I had to go on. For some reason it remained in my head years later, long after any other details of the movie had long parted.

“Evil spelled backwards is live, and we all want to live. Don’t we?”

Such a messed up line. I knew I watched this movie, probably on HBO or the like, when I was too young to be watching something like it. For years, and in some ways still to this day, all animation is assumed to be for kids. An absolutely ridiculous thought.  Bugs Bunny alone wasn’t meant for kids. Family Guy and Adult Swim have helped but there’s still a large group of people who wouldn’t think twice of a child watching any cartoon because it’s “kids stuff”. The same people who think comics are for kids, even when the new star of the House quotes from one.

(Hey kids! To read my thoughts on the comics aren’t for kids trope read Biff Bam Pow Comics Aren’t Just for MF’ers Anymore here: https://teamhellions.com/2010/08/24/bam-pow-comics-arent-just-for-motherfuckers-anymore/ )

But how could I find a movie off of one line, pre-internet? Unless it’s a random book find of the 100 Greatest Movie Quotes, and this movie certainly didn’t make it, I wasn’t going to find it. The funny thing is, after so many years giving up on ever discovering it I never reset my brain to use this new technology.

One day at work I was showing off some of the search features to a customer.  See kids, way back when there was a large book store chain called Borders that was pretty great until it died. Suddenly an epiphany, I could find this movie in the store search engine.  Not only that, I could then order it and have it sent to the store for free. Then future Kevin would have to pay for it. I was thrilled, ordered the movie, it came in and…

I still haven’t watched it.

Borders has been dead just shy of ten years.  Ten years this DVD has sat here unloved.  Waiting for the right time to watch it, when ever that may be. I’m sure the movie isn’t evil. But I’m not even sure it’s any good. For the next few posts we’re going to take a look at the 1983 animated film, Rock and Rule.