Richie Rich
- Score
- 5
A decent antic that works well for young folks.
By Tym Stevens
The ultimate wish-fulfillment fantasy for kids.
Created in the '50s, Richie really took off in 1960 under the great 'house style' overhaul by artist Warren Kremer, making Casper give up the ghost as the main breadwinner for Harvey Comics. Richie's impossibly exorbinant life -in a capitalist rewrite of "Little Nemo"- took the desires of young kids to fantastical extremes. Bremer's crisp lines and bold rounded shapes were a pastel candyland where money put any object, place, and possibility into grasp. And Richie's goodness and charm was used as a foil to offset any lingering undertaste about greed or class.
While Harvey Comics hit hard times in the '80s, a cartoon series of the monied mite did really well for four seasons. After his success with the Home Alone movies, McCaulay Culkin starred in the 1995 film adaption, which kept all of the basics generally intact for a fun rollick. Typical of the current franchising pattern, it spawned a video sequel and new cartoon series, insuring enough nostalgia and viewer recognition for a rumored live-action Netflix series in development.