The characters from the ’90s animated seriesRecesshaven’t been seen in many years, but their story has since been continued in the fan filmThird Street. Free to watch and now streaming on YouTube, the project serves as a live-action sequel to the animated series but is not officially affiliated with Disney. Directed by Jerome Yoo, the movie was created after holding a successful crowdfunding campaign as the series has maintained a strong cult following in the years following its TV run. From the quality cinematography to the awesome character design,Third Streetmakes for a very fun watch and an excellent homage to the beloved series.
Third Streetis set several years after the end ofRecess, meaning the characters have all moved on to high school. It offers a simple story about Mikey getting his heart broken by Ashley A, leaving it up to T.J. and the gang to try to cheer him up at Kelso’s corner store. Expect to see all of the lead characters from the animated series appearing in live-action form here, and better yet, it even manages to leave the door open for a follow-up at the end. You can watch the fan film in full below.
Created by Paul Germain and Joe Ansolabehere,Recesspremiered in 1997 as a part of ABC’s One Saturday Morning cartoon block. It follows six elementary schoolchildren and the society they’ve created with the other students during recess time at school. Each member of the group basically served as a separate stereotype for school students, including popular T.J., athletic Vince, tough girl Ashley, genius Gretchen, gentle giant Mikey, and shy Gus. The series quickly developed a following after its premiere and would become one of themost memorable children’s shows of the era, running for six seasons and airing 127 episodes.
Recessended its run as a television series in 2001, but the franchise would continue with multiple movie sequels. The first one,Recess: School’s OutandRecess Christmas: Miracle on Third Streetwere released that same year, following the characters' lives during summer break and the winter holiday season. In 2003, two more direct-to-video movies were released, sub-titledAll Growed DownandTaking the Fifth Grade. The animated characters from the series have not been seen in any of their own movies or TV shows since, though they did appear on an episode ofLilo and Stitch: The Seriesin 2006. As we haven’t checked in with the kids from Third Street since, it’s now up to fan filmmakers to explore what may have happened with them as they got a little older.
As of now, there’s been no word fromDisneyabout officially revisiting the classic cartoon series. Still, as the House of Mouse is looking to pad its supply of new content for its upcoming Disney+ streaming service, there’s a chanceRecesscould get a reboot or another movie sequel some day. For now, fan filmmakers are keeping the franchise alive in the meantime. TheThird Streetfan film comes to us from Aimer Films Inc. on YouTube.
