Nightmare Fuel / Recess: School's Out

• The film's Big Bad Dr. Phillium Benedict. Starting off as a teacher in Third Street Elementary during the 60s, he worked his way up to becoming the principal of the school, all just to satisfy his own ego by abolishing recess in an attempt to raise test scores, at the cost making of students miserable. And when he ends up being fired for that, he spend the next thirty years going into politics and got himself appointed as U.S. Secretary of Education so that he can try to abolish recess again (on a nationwide scale), only to be fired by the President afterwards. Bitter about the losses of his previous jobs, Benedict formed the Anti-Recess Legion and formulated a nefarious plot that involves sending the Moon into different orbits that would change the weather patterns around Earth and result a new Ice Age, so that he can force all children around the world to stay inside and study in order to raise test scores. And when this became this clear to all the students and teachers in Third Street School, they all find it to be downright insane; even Principal Prickly and Miss Finster are both disgusted by this as well. Even when T.J. rightfully points out the flaws and consequences of Benedict's plot, Benedict spitefully states that he doesn't give a damn about it as he still wants to accomplish it.
  • An especially terrifying example of Fridge Horror and one that oddly isn't stated in the movie itself (even by Gretchen, who you'd think would point it out), but there's the mere fact that, if Benedict's plot had succeeded, he would've drove trillions of lifeforms on Earth, including the entire human race, to extinction. Seriously, did he not think that through?!
  • Even at the time when Benedict presents his plan to a captured T.J. and Prickly by using a hologram of the Earth and the Moon, the way he describes his plan implies that not only is he aware of the consequences that his actions will bring, but that he just doesn't care as long as it suits his ego.
  Benedict: (showing a hologram of the Earth and the Moon to Prickly and T.J.) You see, all I have to do is modify the moon's orbit ever so slightly... (moves the hologram Moon to one position) ...and tide levels on the Eastern Seaboard rise eight feet. Move the Moon over here... (moves the hologram Moon to a different location) ...and the currents that warm southern California suddenly become ICE-COLD! Summer, as we know it, will become a thing of the past. And without summer... (the hologram Earth freezes, causing Prickly and T.J. to gasp in horror) ...no summer vacation!
• The ugly bald guy who is one of Benedict's Co-Dragons. He is very imposing as he maintains his job in providing security for Benedict; even keeping a lookout around the school as he scares off T.J. when the latter spotted something weird going inside the school. He doesn't waste time having several of Benedict's men capture and confine T.J. into the storage room alongside a captured Prickly; even confiscating T.J.'s walkie-talkie when both Prickly and T.J. catch up to what Benedict is really planning. When T.J.'s friends formulated a plan for the students to reclaim the school, the bald guy decides to take action by beating up the gang, only to be covered in corn chowder by Prickly and T.J. before falling down the stairwell. Even when arriving for the final battle, the bald guy openly attempts to beat up T.J. to a pulp for all the trouble he went through, only to be stopped by Finster, who smacks out the bald guy by punching him in the face many times.
• The film's opening at a fenced military base, where two military officers are in charge of fixing up bugs of the tractor beam machine. However, several cars tore down the fence, and Benedict's agents initiated a break-in. The military officers tried to erase the access code, but the ugly bald guy broke into the lab by blowing up the lab door and tasers the two officers into unconsciousness, thus allowing Benedict and his men to steal the tractor beam machine.
• The scene where Prickly is dematerialized in front of a shocked T.J.. Mainly because it comes out of nowhere, but also since Recess is a Disney cartoon, odds are we just saw him get killed. He wasn't though as he ended up bring held prisoner by Benedict and his men.
• The scene of when T.J. finds Prickly's golf pants inside the dumpster. Afterwards, he spots two of Benedict's guards escorting what appears to be Principal Prickly, with one of them praising 'Prickly' for acting like Robert De Niro and the other one asking if Prickly's wife had suspected anything. 'Prickly' refutes this before pulling his face off, revealing himself to be the bald guy in disguise while gloating that 'it was like taking candy from a baby." The bald guy and the guards then all make an Evil Laugh afterwards, which confirms T.J's suspicions that the real Prickly is in danger and that the bald guy was only posing as Prickly to throw the authorities off Benedict's trail.
• Upon T.J. being captured by Benedict's agents, his friends tried to budge the door open to save him, but they are chased off by Benedict's ninjas, with one of them throwing a shruiken at the kids. Yes.... an actual deadly weapon... at children. It almost strikes Spinelli in the face, but it missed and made a dent on the door, giving the kids a full understanding that the ninjas (as well as Benedict's agents) have no qualms in hurting and/or killing children. Even Miss Finster and Randall themselves are horrified to see T.J.'s friends being chased off by the homicidal ninjas.
• Dr. Rosenthal being condemned to "detention" by Benedict over the laser's repeated failures. Whatever "detention" constitutes under Dr. Benedict's watch, it clearly isn't pleasant. Perhaps most disconcerting is the fact that we never do see Dr. Rosenthal again after he's dragged away by the bald guy and a guard while begging for mercy; even his fellow scientists show nothing but pity for him afterwards.
• During the final battle, Benedict personally attempts to set the tractor beam into full power in order to move the moon (even after being warned of the full consequences of doing so); even when Prickly punches him out, Benedict still managed to set the beam to full power after being slumped by the punch, and he jams the mechanism while spitefully taunting Prickly as the latter tries to reverse it. Fortunately, T.J. gets Vince to throw his baseball into the photon channeler to destroy the beam, thus foiling Benedict's plan for good.

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