Movie and Film Profile: Recess: School's Out (2001)

Recess: School's Out premiered on February 10, 2001. Generally released theatrically on February 16, 2001. Produced by Walt Disney Television Animation in association with Paul and Joe Productions and distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. Based on the animated television series Recess, which ran from September 13, 1997, through November 5, 2001.

DFME Rating: ★★★½☆ (3.50 out of 5 Stars)

Caution: Possible Spoilers Ahead

On the final day of school at Third Street Elementary, T.J. Detweiler and his friends celebrate the start of summer vacation. T.J.’s excitement fades when he learns that each of his friends will be attending different summer camps, leaving him alone. While exploring the empty school grounds, T.J. notices unusual activity inside the school building and discovers a group of scientists operating a mysterious machine.

T.J.’s warnings are dismissed by adults, but matters escalate when Principal Prickly is apparently vaporized by the device. Determined to uncover the truth, T.J. reunites with his friends and continues investigating. They soon learn that the operation is being led by Dr. Phillium Benedict, the former principal of Third Street Elementary. Benedict was previously dismissed for attempting to eliminate recess to improve academic performance and later disgraced as U.S. Secretary of Education for proposing similar policies nationwide.

Benedict reveals his plan to use a powerful tractor beam to alter the moon’s orbit, triggering a permanent ice age that would eliminate summer vacation and force children to remain indoors studying year-round. The group rescues Principal Prickly, who was not destroyed but held captive, and rallies students, teachers, and school staff to stop the plan.

During the final confrontation in the school auditorium, the children and faculty overwhelm Benedict’s guards. Vince LaSalle ultimately destroys the tractor beam with a precisely thrown baseball, preventing the catastrophe. Benedict is arrested, summer vacation is saved, and T.J. and his friends reunite to spend the summer together.

The soundtrack for Recess: School’s Out was released on January 23, 2001. The score was composed by Denis M. Hannigan. The album mixes classic pop and rock songs, mostly from the 1960s. Songs included “Dancing in the Street” by Martha and the Vandellas; “Born to Be Wild” by Steppenwolf; “One” by Three Dog Night; “Incense and Peppermint” by Strawberry Alarm Clock; “Wipe Out” by The Surfaris; “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix;” Nobody But Me” by The Human Beinz; “Let the Sunshine In” by The 5th Dimension; “Green Tambourine” by Robert Goulet; “Recess Suite” by Denis M. Hannigan; and “Dancing in the Street” by Myra. The “Theme from S.W.A.T.” was played in the film and the trailer, but was not included on the album. The song “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge was used in commercials for the VHS and DVD releases, but was not used in the film or included on the soundtrack. 

First released on home media (VHS and DVD) on August 7, 2001. Recess: School’s Out is available on Disney+ as of February 16, 2026. 

CAST & CREW

• Director: Chuck Sheetz
• Producer(s): Paul Germain, Joe Ansolabehere, Stephen Swofford
• Screenplay: Jonathan Greenberg
• Writer(s): Joe Ansolabehere, Paul Germain, Jonathan Greenberg
• Editor: Tony Mizgalski
• Art Director: Eric Keyes
• Music: Denis M. Hannigan (Score)
• Animation Department: Sung-chul Ba (Animation Director), Jong-chul Baik (Animation Director), Kyung-jin Byun (Animator), Myung-a Cho (Layout Artist), Hea-joung Choi (Animator), Sung-wook Choi (Layout Artist), Sun-mi Heo (Layout Director), Sun-wook Houng (Animator), In-sul Hwang (ANimator), Moon-su Hyung (Animator), Yu-jin Jang (Animator), Baik-ma Jung (Layout Director), Jae-young Jung (Layout Director), Soo-yeon Jung (Animator), Yong Sub Jung (Animator), Young-kwan Jung (Layout Artist), Chan-joo Kim (Animation Director), Doo-you Kim (Animator), Il Kim (Animation Director), Jong-beom Kim (Animator), Mi-young Kim (Animator), Seo-han Kim (Animator), Young Che Kim (Layout Director), Gun-shik Lee (Animator), Gyu-chang Lee (Animator), Hyun-ae Lee (Animator), Jun-hae Lee (Layout Artist), Kwang-Hee Lee (Layout Director), Kyung-pil Lee (Animator), Seung-hee Lee (Layout Artist), Seung-ik Lee (Layout Artist), Assaf Mizrahi (Animator), Grant Nellessen (Animator), Chang Geon Noh (Animation Director), Do-young Park (Animator), Jun Suk Park (Animator), Kyung-mi PArk (Layout Artist), Ki Hyun Ryu (Animator), Cho Se-jeong (Animator), Seung-yen Seo (Animator), Mi-na Shin (Layout Artist), Sang-chul Soun (Animator), Yung-sub Won (Animator), Min-su Yang (Animator), Myung-hee Yoo (Animator), Hyun Jin Yu (Animator) 
• Voice Cast: Rickey D’Shon Collins (as Vince LaSalle), Jason Davis (as Mikey Blumberg), Ashley Johnson (as Gretchen Grundler), Andrew Lawrence (as T.J. Detweiler), Courtland Mead (as Gus Griswald), Pamela Segall Adlon (as Spinelli), Dabney Coleman (as Principal Prickly), Robert Goulet (as Mikey’s singing voice), Melissa Joan Hart (as Becky), Peter MacNicol (as Fenwick), April Winchell (as Ms. Finster and Mrs. Detweiller), James Woods (as Dr. Phillium Benedict), Diedrich Bader (as Guard #2), Allyce Beasley (as Miss Grotke), Gregg Berger (as Tech #1), Klee Bragger (as Digger Sam), CLancy Brown (as Bald Guy), Dan Castellaneta (Guard #1), Toran Caudell (as King Bob), Rachel Crane (as Ashley Q0, Elizabeth Daily (as Cap’n Sticky), R. Lee Emery (as Colonel O’Malley), Ron Glass (as Dr. Lazenby and Tech #2), Tony Jay (as Dr. Rosenthal), Clyde Kusatsu (Mr. Yamashiro), Charles Kimbrough (as Mort Chalk), Tress MacNeille (Lunch Lady #2, Opera Director and Dr. Steinheimer), Andrea Martin (as Lunch Lady #1), Anndi McAfee (as Ashley A), Mark Robert Myers (as Technician), Ryan O’Donohue (as Digger Dave and Randall), Phil Proctor (as Golfer #2 and Scientist #2), Patrick Renna (as Jordan), Kevin Michael Richardson (as Cop #2), Jack Riley (as Golfer #1), Justin Skenkarow (Soldier Kid and Wrestler Kid), Michael Shulman (as Hustler Kid), Francesca Marie Smith (Ashley B, Swinger Girl and Upsidedown Girl), Kate Soucie (as Counselor), Robert Stack (as Superintendent), Ken Swofford (as Coach), Nicholas Turturro (Cop #1), Erik von Detten (as Captain Brad Lawson), Paul Wilson (as Coach Kloogie and Mr. Detweiler)

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• MPAA Rating: G
• Runtime: 82 minutes
• Sound: Sony Dynamic Digital Sound (SDDS), Dolby Digital, Digital Sound (DTS)
• Format: Color (Technicolor)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Genre(s): Adventure, Animation, Comedy (from movies.disney.com)

BOX OFFICE (from IMDb.com) 

• Budget: $23,000,000 (estimated)
• Opening Weekend (U.S. & Canada): $10,065,873
• Gross (U.S. & Canada): $36,706,241
• Gross (Worldwide): $44,460,850

RATINGS

• My Rating: 3.5 (out of 5)
• Rotten Tomatoes: 60% (Tomatometer) | 56% (Popcornmeter)
• Metacritic: 43 (Metascore) | 6.7 (User Score)
• IMDb: 6.5 (out of 10)
• The Movie DB: 66% (User Score)
• Letterboxd: 3.3 (out of 5)
• Combined Rating: 61.63

MY THOUGHTS 

If you grew up watching the Recess television series (I watched my kids grow up watching it), then I recommend Recess: School's Out. It was faithful to the television series, capturing its humor, characters, and playground politics that made it so popular. At the end of the day, it's a story about the importance of play and childhood freedom, and not taking any of that for granted. The animation was exactly like the television series and lacked the polish of Disney's animated feature films, but maybe that is what they were going for?

Have you seen Recess: School’s Out? Share your thoughts in the comment section. 

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