History Film / BabyGeniuses

* BadBadActing: A trademark of these movies and a poster child for why infants are rarely cast as the stars in a live-action film.
* BambooTechnology: One of the babies builds a camera jamming device out of miscellaneous parts and toys lying around, including a GameBoy.

* EverybodyKnewAlready: In the third movie, the villains' first "secret" base is their own burger bar.

Dr. Elena Kinder (Turner), CEO of the Babyco corporation, has formulated a method of child rearing (the Kinder method) meant to produce exceptionally intelligent children. To demonstrate its superiority, she arranged for a pair of identical twin boys to be born to a surrogate mother. One of these twins, Whit, was adopted by Dr. Kinder's niece, Robin (Kim Cattrall), and raised as a normal child. The other, Sylvester (nicknamed Sly), was raised in a habitat in Babyco's secret lab, under the guidance of the Kinder method, along with a few other babies. The movie also establishes that babies have their own language and know the secrets of the universe, both of which are forgotten when they "cross over" at age 2. Both Dr. Kinder and Robin's husband Dan (''Series/AllyMcBeal'' star [=Peter MacNicol=]) are researching infant pre-language.

* BabyLanguage

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/baby_geniuses.jpg]]

''Baby Geniuses'' is a 1999 action/comedy directed by Creator/BobClark and starring Creator/KathleenTurner and Creator/ChristopherLloyd. Dr. Elena Kinder, CEO of the Babyco corporation, has formulated a method of child rearing (the Kinder method) meant to produce exceptionally intelligent children. To demonstrate its superiority, she arranged for a pair of identical twin boys to be born to a surrogate mother. One of these twins, Whit, was adopted by Dr. Kinder's niece, Robin (Kim Cattrall), and raised as a normal child. The other, Sylvester (nicknamed Sly), was raised in a habitat in Babyco's secret lab, under the guidance of the Kinder method, along with a few other babies. The movie also establishes that babies have their own language and know the secrets of the universe, both of which are forgotten when they "cross over" at age 2. Both Dr. Kinder and Robin's husband Dan (''Series/AllyMcBeal'' star [=Peter MacNicol=]) are researching infant pre-language.

A 1999 action/comedy directed by Creator/BobClark and starring ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit's'' Kathleen Turner and Creator/ChristopherLloyd. Dr. Elena Kinder, CEO of the Babyco corporation, has formulated a method of child rearing (the Kinder method) meant to produce exceptionally intelligent children. To demonstrate its superiority, she arranged for a pair of identical twin boys to be born to a surrogate mother. One of these twins, Whit, was adopted by Dr. Kinder's niece, Robin (Kim Cattrall), and raised as a normal child. The other, Sylvester (nicknamed Sly), was raised in a habitat in Babyco's secret lab, under the guidance of the Kinder method, along with a few other babies. The movie also establishes that babies have their own language and know the secrets of the universe, both of which are forgotten when they "cross over" at age 2. Both Dr. Kinder and Robin's husband Dan (''Series/AllyMcBeal'' star [=Peter MacNicol=]) are researching infant pre-language.

* AllGermansAreNazis: Implied in the third film. The British have a Literature/SherlockHolmes expy, the French have an [[Film/PinkPanther Inspector Clouseau]] expy, the Italians have a [[OliveGarden random pizza baker]], and the Germans have... [[UsefulNotes/TheGestapo Herr]] [[Series/AlloAllo Flick]]?

* GrowingUpSucks: When babies turn 2, they cross over and forget everything they knew.

The film was critically panned; it was ranked by leading film critic Creator/RogerEbert as one of his most hated movies. However, despite being savaged on all sides by critics, it made about triple its budget. It was followed by a sequel, ''[=SuperBabies=]: Baby Geniuses 2'', which starred Creator/JonVoight, in 2004. As of June 2015 resides in the top twenty of the [[Website/{{IMDB}} Internet Movie Database's]] [[http://www.imdb.com/chart/bottom Bottom 100 list]] (the original used to be on the list as well, but has since fallen off). And even though neither of the original films were extremely successful, Clark planned a ''third'' movie, which has been released as a DirectToVideo movie titled ''Baby Geniuses and the Mystery of the Crown Jewels'' (which was originally going to be a TV show called ''Baby Geniuses: Baby Squad Investigators''), but since [[AuthorExistenceFailure he died in 2007]], a new director had to come in. A ''fourth'' movie has been released too, and a fifth soon followed.

* StockParody: Sly dancing in the white disco suit from ''SaturdayNightFever'' in the first movie.

The film was critically panned; it was ranked by leading film critic Creator/RogerEbert as one of his most hated movies. However, despite being savaged on all sides by critics, it made about triple its budget. It was followed by a sequel, ''[=SuperBabies=]: Baby Geniuses 2'', which starred Creator/JonVoight, in 2004. As of June 2015 resides in the top twenty of the [[Website/{{IMDB}} Internet Movie Database's]] [[http://www.imdb.com/chart/bottom Bottom 100 list]] (the original used to be on the list as well, but has since fallen off). And even though neither of original films were extremely successful, Clark planned a ''third'' movie, which has been released as a DirectToVideo movie titled ''Baby Geniuses and the Mystery of the Crown Jewels'' (which was originally going to be a TV show called "Baby Geniuses: Baby Squad Investigators"), but since [[AuthorExistenceFailure he died in 2007]], a new director had to come in. A ''fourth'' movie has been released too, and a fifth soon followed.

* AwardBaitSong: "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GjKlF9mhl0 A Gift of Love]]" by Randy Travis.

* AllGermansAreNazis: Implied in the third film. The British have a Literature/SherlockHolmes expy, the French have an [[Film/PinkPanther Inspector Clouseau]] expy, the Italians have a [[OliveGarden random pizza baker]], and the Germans have... [[GeStaPo Herr]] [[Series/AlloAllo Flick]]?

* WhamLine: [[spoiler: "You think I went to all this trouble just because dad liked you best?!?"]]

The film was critically panned; it was ranked by leading film critic Creator/RogerEbert as one of his most hated movies. However, despite being savaged on all sides by critics, it made about triple its budget. It was followed by a sequel, ''[=SuperBabies=]: Baby Geniuses 2'', which starred Creator/JonVoight, in 2004. As of June 2015 resides in the top twenty of the [[Website/{{IMDB}} Internet Movie Database's]] [[http://www.imdb.com/chart/bottom Bottom 100 list]] (the original used to be on the list as well, but has since fallen off). And even though neither of original films were extremely successful, Clark planned a ''third'' movie, which has been released as a DirectToVideo movie titled ''Baby Geniuses and the Mystery of the Crown Jewels'' (which was originally going to be a TV show called "Baby Geniuses: Baby Squad Investigators"), but since [[AuthorExistenceFailure he died in 2007]], a new director had to come in. A ''fourth'' movie has been released too, and a fifth soon followedr.

The film was critically panned; it was ranked by leading film critic Creator/RogerEbert as one of his most hated movies. However, despite being savaged on all sides by critics, it made about triple its budget. It was followed by a sequel, ''[=SuperBabies=]: Baby Geniuses 2'', which starred Creator/JonVoight, in 2004. As of June 2015 resides in the top twenty of the [[Website/{{IMDB}} Internet Movie Database's]] [[http://www.imdb.com/chart/bottom Bottom 100 list]] (the original used to be on the list as well, but has since fallen off). And even though neither of original films were extremely successful, Clark planned a ''third'' movie, which has been released as a DirectToVideo movie titled ''Baby Geniuses and the Mystery of the Crown Jewels'' (which was originally going to be a TV show called "Baby Geniuses: Baby Squad Investigators"), but since [[AuthorExistenceFailure he died in 2007]], a new director had to come in. A ''fourth'' movie has been released too, and a fifth will come out this year.

* TheCameo: Dom [=DeLuise=] (or: that guy who keeps doing voice work in Creator/DonBluth movies) appears a couple times in the film.

The film was critically panned; it was ranked by leading film critic Creator/RogerEbert as one of his most hated movies. However, despite being savaged on all sides by critics, it made about triple its budget. It was followed by a sequel, ''[=SuperBabies=]: Baby Geniuses 2'', which starred Creator/JonVoight, in 2004. As of July 2011 resides at the top spot of the [[Website/{{IMDB}} Internet Movie Database's]] [[http://www.imdb.com/chart/bottom Bottom 100 list]] (the original is also in the list, currently at #68). And even though neither of original films were extremely successful, Clark planned a ''third'' movie, which has been released as a DirectToVideo movie titled ''Baby Geniuses and the Mystery of the Crown Jewels'' (which was originally going to be a TV show called "Baby Geniuses: Baby Squad Investigators"), but since [[AuthorExistenceFailure he died in 2007]], a new director had to come in. A ''fourth'' movie has been released too, and a fifth will come out this year.

The film was critically panned; it was ranked by leading film critic Creator/RogerEbert as one of his most hated movies. However, despite being savaged on all sides by critics, it made about triple its budget. It was followed by a sequel, ''[=SuperBabies=]: Baby Geniuses 2'', which starred Creator/JonVoight, in 2004. As of July 2011 resides at the top spot of the [[Website/{{IMDB}} Internet Movie Database's]] [[http://www.imdb.com/chart/bottom Bottom 100 list]] (the original is also in the list, currently at #68). And even though neither of original films were extremely successful, Clark planned a ''third'' movie, which has been released as a DirectToVideo movie titled ''Baby Geniuses and the Mystery of the Crown Jewels'' (which was originally going to be a TV show called "Baby Geniuses: Baby Squad Investigators"), but since [[AuthorExistenceFailure he died in 2007]], a new director had to come in. A ''fourth'' movie has been releaased too, and a fifth will come out this year.

The film was critically panned; it was ranked by leading film critic Creator/RogerEbert as one of his most hated movies. However, despite being savaged on all sides by critics, it made about triple its budget. It was followed by a sequel, ''[=SuperBabies=]: Baby Geniuses 2'', which starred Creator/JonVoight, in 2004. As of July 2011 resides at the top spot of the [[Website/{{IMDB}} Internet Movie Database's]] [[http://www.imdb.com/chart/bottom Bottom 100 list]] (the original is also in the list, currently at #68). And even though neither of original films were extremely successful, Clark planned a ''third'' movie, which has been released as a DirectToVideo movie titled ''Baby Geniuses and the Mystery of the Crown Jewels'' (which was originally going to be a TV show called "Baby Geniuses: Baby Squad Investigators"), but since [[AuthorExistenceFailure he died in 2007]], a new director had to come in. And a ''fourth'' movie is in the works, and it's mentioned at the end of the third movie.

A 1999 action/comedy directed by Creator/BobClark and starring ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit's'' Kathleen Turner and ChristopherLloyd. Dr. Elena Kinder, CEO of the Babyco corporation, has formulated a method of child rearing (the Kinder method) meant to produce exceptionally intelligent children. To demonstrate its superiority, she arranged for a pair of identical twin boys to be born to a surrogate mother. One of these twins, Whit, was adopted by Dr. Kinder's niece, Robin (Kim Cattrall), and raised as a normal child. The other, Sylvester (nicknamed Sly), was raised in a habitat in Babyco's secret lab, under the guidance of the Kinder method, along with a few other babies. The movie also establishes that babies have their own language and know the secrets of the universe, both of which are forgotten when they "cross over" at age 2. Both Dr. Kinder and Robin's husband Dan (''Series/AllyMcBeal'' star [=Peter MacNicol=]) are researching infant pre-language.

The film was critically panned; it was ranked by leading film critic RogerEbert as one of his most hated movies. However, despite being savaged on all sides by critics, it made about triple its budget. It was followed by a sequel, ''[=SuperBabies=]: Baby Geniuses 2'', in 2004. As of July 2011 resides at the top spot of the [[Website/{{IMDB}} Internet Movie Database's]] [[http://www.imdb.com/chart/bottom Bottom 100 list]] (the original is also in the list, currently at #68). And even though neither of original films were extremely successful, Clark planned a ''third'' movie, which has been released as a DirectToVideo movie titled ''Baby Geniuses and the Mystery of the Crown Jewels'' (which was originally going to be a TV show called "Baby Geniuses: Baby Squad Investigators"), but since [[AuthorExistenceFailure he died in 2007]], a new director had to come in. And a ''fourth'' movie is in the works, and it's mentioned at the end of the third movie.

* DawsonCasting: In the third movie, the babies are played by toddlers old enough to walk by themselves without CGI.

* StarDerailingRole: The first film is often blamed for contributing to the decline of Christopher Lloyd's and Kathleen Turner's onscreen acting careers.

* UncannyValley: Yeah, the CGI mouths that allow these babies to "talk" in these movies are just ''so'' convincing.

** Did we forget to mention he's the brother of the sixtysomething Bill Biscane in this movie?

* CompilationMovie: The third one (it was originally going to be a TV show)