Rifftrax Year: 2013
Riffers: Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett
I remember being a kid and being told to say NO to strangers and drugs and whatever. Nobody ever bothered to tell us why, all we knew was "No!" Maybe you could argue children wouldn't understand, and I guess we wouldn't. Still, this short doesn't really hammer home the point it makes.
In Say No to Strangers a teacher lists four rules in class about not accepting anything having to do with strangers. Then we see a brother and sister wandering around and being put through the most adorable instances in which these rules would be practiced. Always say "no" to strangers, even though there is absolutely nothing dangerous in the world.
Seriously, the scenarios at play are pretty funny on their own. The kids pet a puppy an old man has, then the old man offers it to them as a gift. I also chuckled quite a bit as the fourth rule is put into play, which tells us that policemen are friends to children (they're number two behind Gamera), so the kids put this to use by turning one into their own personal chauffeur so they aren't late for dinner.
The short then climaxes as we watch the kids draw and hang up pictures of the four rules in real time. Ugggggggggggggggggh.
There's quite a bit of opportunities to go dark with this short, but mostly Mike, Kevin, and Bill keep things as pleasant as the short presents the world. There might be a bit of a missed opportunity here, but some edgier riffs on children and strangers may have strained good taste so it's no biggie. Riffs are generally funny regardless, especially during the classroom setting at the beginning. Music period teaches "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath while the children's book assignment is 50 Shades of Grey.
There are plenty of silent spots to get riffs in, especially during the ending drawing portion. When the short just screeches to a halt in these final few minutes the guys struggle a bit. But for the most part Say No to Strangers stays funny.
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