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Our Friend, Martin

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Our Friend, Martin
VHS cover
Directed byRob Smiley
Vincenzo Trippetti
Written byDawn Comer
Chris Simmons
Sib Ventress
Deborah Pratt
Story byDawn Comer
Chris Simmons
Produced byAndy Boron
Andy Heyward
Phillip Jones
Robby London
Michael Maliani
Judith Reilly
Janice Sonski
StarringEd Asner
Angela Bassett
Lucas Black
LeVar Burton
Danny Glover
Whoopi Goldberg
Samuel L. Jackson
James Earl Jones
Ashley Judd
Dexter King
Yolanda King
Robert Ri'chard
Susan Sarandon
John Travolta
Jaleel White
Oprah Winfrey
Music byEric Allaman
Production
companies
DIC Entertainment, L.P.
Intellectual Properties Worldwide
Distributed by20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release date
  • January 12, 1999 (1999-01-12)
Running time
61 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Our Friend, Martin is a 1999 American direct-to-video animated children's educational film about Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. Produced by DIC Entertainment, L.P. and Intellectual Properties Worldwide and distributed by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment under the CBS/Fox Video label, it was released three days before Martin Luther King Jr.'s 70th birthday and was the final release under the CBS/Fox Video name before it was retired. The film follows two friends in middle school who travel through time, meeting Dr. King at several points throughout his life. It featured an all-star voice cast and was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1999 for "Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming More Than One Hour)".

Plot

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Miles Woodman, an African-American boy who is a fan of Hank Aaron and attends Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, is doing poorly academically, and his teacher, Mrs. Clark, tells him that he may have to repeat sixth grade if his grades do not improve. Miles and his class visit Martin's childhood house, which has become a museum dedicated to him. He and his white best friend, Randy Smith, explore Martin's bedroom but are caught by the museum's curator, Mrs. Peck, who is winding an old watch.

After holding Martin's baseball glove, Miles and Randy are transported to 1941 and encounter a 12-year-old Martin playing with his white friends, Sam and Skip Dale, until their mother reprimands them for integrating with "coloreds". Martin explains to Miles and Randy that her hatred of black people is because she sees them as "different", but that violence would make things worse. They are then transported to 1944 and meet a 15-year-old Martin on a segregated train, who explains that blacks and whites cannot integrate and must be kept separate. While having dinner with Martin's family, they look in his room after he leaves to make rounds with his father and are transported to 1956, where they meet Martin in his 20s, working as a minister at a church. While holding a meeting about the Montgomery bus boycott, which began after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus, he is informed that his house has been bombed and returns home to find that his wife and newborn daughter have escaped unharmed. His friend Turner announces his plan to attack the perpetrators in retaliation, but Martin stops him, reminding the crowd of Mahatma Gandhi peacefully standing his ground to drive the British colonies out of India and Jesus' teachings on loving one's enemies. Miles and Randy are then transported to the Birmingham riot of 1963 and witness firefighters and police officers, under the orders of Bull Connor, spraying black protesters with fire hoses and releasing German Shepherds to attack them before arresting them.

Randy and Miles are transported back to the museum; at school the next day, they tell Miss Clark about the events leading up to Martin's work before watching a videotape of his work. After school, their classmates, Latina girl Maria Ramirez and white boy Kyle Langon, decide to investigate how they got the information. When they arrive at the museum, Mrs. Peck allows them to stay, but warns them that interfering with the past can affect the present. Maria and Kyle are transported with them to the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and meet Martin in his 30s, along with a young Mrs. Clark. When they return, they discover that Martin was assassinated; to save him from this fate, they travel to 1941 and bring a 12-year-old Martin to the present. However, only Miles and Martin return together and the present is altered: the museum is burnt down, Randy and Kyle are racists and no longer friends with or know Miles, Miles' bus driver, Mr. Willis, is racist and refuses to allow black students to ride the bus, their school is segregated and named after Robert E. Lee, its principal, Mr. Harris, is racist and mistreats Mrs. Clark, Maria works as a maid and does not speak English, and Miles and his mother live in poverty.

Martin surmises that him leaving his time created an alternate timeline where his civil rights work never happened. Realizing that he must return to his own time, Martin gives Miles his watch and bids him farewell despite him warning him of his assassination, and the timeline returns to normal after he is killed at the motel. Miles reunites with Randy, Maria, and Kyle, and Mrs. Peck tells him that while they cannot change the past, they can change the future for the better. Miles receives an A on his history project, allowing him to progress to seventh grade, and he and his friends vow to continue Martin's work.

Voice cast

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Soundtrack

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Motown Records released a soundtrack album, including the talents of Diana King, Sheryl Crow, The Jackson 5, Salt-N-Pepa, Montell Jordan, 702 and Stevie Wonder. The soundtrack also features a cover of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Debelah Morgan, which combined the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell and Diana Ross versions.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Imagine" (Salt-N-Pepa featuring Sheryl Crow)
 
2."Feelin' It" (Antuan & Ray Ray featuring P-Nutt and Shortee Red)
 
3."Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (Debelah Morgan)
 
4."Finding My Way" (702)
  • Nicole Johnson
  • Malik Pendleton
 
5."When They Were Kings" (Brian McKnight and Diana King)
 
6."I'll Be There" (The Jackson 5)
 
7."What's Going On" (Marvin Gaye)
 
8."4 You" (Montell Jordan featuring Schappell Crawford and Fulfillment Choir)
  • Andrew Reid
  • Barry Burrell
 
9."Peace in the World" (Shanice)
 
10."Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" (Diana Ross)
  • Ashford
  • Simpson
 
11."Happy Birthday" (Stevie Wonder)
 
12."As Long As I Can Dream" (Debelah Morgan)
 

See also

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