Our Friend, Martin

Our Friend, Martin is a direct-to-DVD animated children's educational film about Martin Luther King, Jr. It was produced by DIC Entertainment and published by 20th Century Fox, and it was released on January 12, 1999.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) As expected from a good number of things made by DIC, the animation is cheaply done.
 * 2) * In fact, the animation style used in this movie looks like it was ripped off from fellow-DIC series Mummies Alive!, due to the fact many episodes of it alongside this movie were animated by the same overseas company (Hang Yang Production).
 * 3) * Additionally, some of the stock footage used in the film is edited to superimpose Miles and Randy into it.
 * 4) Some questionable voice choices. Martin Luther King Jr.'s voice actor for his twelve year old self sounds way older than a twelve year old.
 * 5) * Actually, pretty much all of the characters both look and sound way too old for 6th-graders.
 * 6) The movie has a rather strange premise. A class trip takes Miles, a student who is failing school, and his best friend Randy to Martin Luther King Jr.'s childhood home, and they are able to travel back in time to various points of MLK's life by making contact with personal belongings of his.
 * 7) Some mediocre and unlikable characters.  For example, Kyle is your everyday generic school bully character.
 * 8) Some moments in the movie, don't really fit the G rating. Such as Kyle's dad smoking in the car, Martin Luther King getting shot (thankfully offscreen), and some racial profiling.
 * 9) Some voice acting is a bit mediocre.
 * 10) One of the scenes, where Maria Ramirez speaks Spanish and doesn't understand English when the timeline is screwed up, there is no subtitles for the English viewers to understand what she is saying.

Good Qualities

 * 1) Amazing soundtrack.
 * 2) Good voice acting from some voice actors such as Samuel L. Jackson and Whoopi Goldberg.
 * 3) The movie does a good job of teaching about MLK's life and the Civil Rights Movement.
 * 4) The plot premise may be strange, but the idea of going back in time to witness the life of an important historical figure is very interesting.
 * 5) Most of the characters are likable.
 * 6) * Miles Woodman is a likable protagonist, as he is a determined underachiever who becomes curious about Dr. King's past in order to be promoted to the 7th grade.
 * 7) * Martin is a very likable character, which isn’t surprising at all.

Reception
The movie currently has a 6.7/10 rating on IMDB and a 66% on Rotten Tomatoes.

It was nominated for an Emmy award in 1999 for Outstanding Animated Program.

Watch It Here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woWoZSyO12c