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Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue

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Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue
Official poster
GenreSocial guidance film
Written byDuane Poole
Tom Swale
Directed byMilton Gray
Marsh Lamore
Bob Shellhorn
Mike Svayko
StarringThe Smurfs, Alf, Garfield, Alvin, Simon, Theodore, Winnie the Pooh Tigger, Muppet Babies, Slimer, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Michelangelo, Huey, Dewey and Louie
Voices of
Music byRichard Kosinski
Sam Winans
Paul Buckmaster
Bill Reichenbach
Bob Mann
Guy Moon
Alan Menken
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producerRoy E. Disney
ProducerBuzz Potamkin
EditorJay Bixsen
Running time32 min.
Production companiesMain:
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation
Southern Star Productions
Original release
NetworkABC
NBC
Fox
CBS
USA Network
Syndication
ReleaseApril 21, 1990 (1990-04-21)

Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue is a 1990 American animated comedy-drama social guidance film starring many characters from several animated television series at the time of its release.[1] The plot follows Michael, a teenager who is using marijuana, leaving his family worried. When his younger sister Corey's piggy bank goes missing one morning, cartoon characters come to life from various items in her room and find it in Michael's room along with his stash of drugs, so they give him an intervention in the form of a fantasy journey to teach him the adverse consequences of drug use.

McDonald's released a VHS home video edition of the special distributed by Buena Vista Home Video, which opened with an introduction from President George H. W. Bush, First Lady Barbara Bush and their dog, Millie. It was produced by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation and Southern Star Productions, and was animated overseas by Wang Film Productions. The musical number "Wonderful Ways to Say No" was written by Academy Award-winning composer, Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman, who also wrote the songs for Walt Disney Animation Studios' The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin.

Financed by McDonald's, Ronald McDonald Children's Charities, it was originally simulcast for a limited time on April 21, 1990, on all four major American television networks (by supporting their Saturday morning characters): ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox,[a] and most independent stations, as well as various cable networks.[2][3]

Plot

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An unseen person steals a piggy bank off the dresser in the bedroom of a young girl named Corey. The theft is witnessed by Papa Smurf, who emerges from a Smurfs comic book with the other Smurfs and alerts the different cartoon characters in the room: Alf from a picture, Garfield as a lamp, Alvin and the Chipmunks from a record sleeve, Winnie the Pooh as a stuffed animal, Baby Kermit as an alarm clock, and Slimer, who arrives through the wall.

Alf, Garfield, Alvin, Simon, and Theodore identify the thief: Michael, Corey's older brother, who has a box of marijuana hidden under his bed. Meanwhile, Corey expresses her concerns about Michael's change in behavior since they used to have a close sibling relationship, which he angrily denies, causing him to storm out of the house. The cartoons set off to take action regarding Michael's addiction, leaving Pooh behind to look after Corey.

At an arcade, Michael smokes marijuana with his friends and "Smoke", an anthropomorphic cloud of smoke personifying temptation, who try to convince him to take harder drugs. They are chased into an alley by Bugs Bunny disguised as a police officer. He traps Smoke in a garbage can and takes Michael back in time using a time machine borrowed from the absent Wile E. Coyote. It is shown that Michael's addiction started through peer pressure from older high school students when he was around Corey's age. Back in the present, Michael is hesitant to smoke crack with his friends before one of them steals his wallet. He and Smoke chase after her until they fall into a sewer and encounter Michelangelo, who tells them that the drugs are harming his brain. Baby Kermit, Baby Miss Piggy, and Baby Gonzo take him on a roller coaster-esque tour of the human brain. Michael finds himself at a park, where Huey, Dewey, and Louie as well as Tigger join the rest of the cartoons to sing about how to refuse drugs.

Michael wakes up in his room, believing his interactions with the cartoons to be a nightmare. Corey tries talking to him, but he snaps and shoves her against his bedroom wall. He tries apologizing, but she runs out of his room, frightened. Smoke approves of Michael's actions, but he starts having regrets. Michael then looks at himself in a small mirror, from which Alf grabs and pulls him inside. Inside a hall of mirrors, Alf shows Michael his current reflection, then an aged, sickly version of himself severely affected by drugs. When Michael insists that he can easily quit and is in control of his actions, Alf reveals that Smoke is actually in charge. Back in Michael's room, Smoke traps Pooh in a cabinet and tempts Corey to try Michael's marijuana for herself. She considers the possibility that it could mend her relationship with Michael.

The drug-induced carnival in Michael's mind leads him to Daffy Duck, who reads his future in a crystal ball and sees an almost skeletal Michael on his deathbed. After one last warning from the cartoons, an ashamed Michael stops Corey from using the drugs just in time. When he apologizes and expresses concern over whether he can change, she advises him to seek help from his family. Smoke tries to persuade him otherwise, but Michael throws him out a window into a garbage truck. All the cartoons appear on a poster on Michael's wall, and they agree to be prepared for if and when Smoke returns. Michael releases Pooh from the cabinet, who jumps into the poster with the others before the siblings go downstairs to talk to their parents.

Characters

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The characters, from 10 different franchises, are (in order of appearance):

Voice cast

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The various character owners licensed them freely due to the public service aspect of the special.[4][5]

The special marked the first time the characters Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck were voiced by someone other than Mel Blanc, who had died shortly before the production,[6] prompting Warner Bros. to enlist Jeff Bergman in his place.[7]

Broadcast

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ABC George H. W. and Barbara Bush anti-drug message promo
7 Network Bob and Hazel Hawke anti-drug message promo

The special was screened in Australia on 9 November 1990. Like the U.S. broadcast, it aired at 4.30pm simultaneously on Australia's major commercial networks (Seven Network, Nine Network, and Network Ten). Prime Minister Bob Hawke introduced the Australian screening.[8] It was screened in New Zealand in December on both TV One and Channel 2 simultaneously. Prime Minister Jim Bolger introduced it instead of the U.S. president. It was screened in Canada on the CBC, CTV, and Global Television Networks and most independent stations shortly after its original U.S. broadcast, although all of the characters had their respective shows aired on either CTV or Global but not CBC. Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney introduced it. The special was broadcast in Brazil in 1994, as Rede Manchete made Portuguese Brazilian dubbing in Herbert Richers Dubbing Studios.

In the United States, all superstations and a handful of independent stations (mainly in selected cities) aired the special, but some stations aired the special at a different period during the week the special aired on the Big Four stations and a number of cable networks. Superstations WPIX in New York City, WGN-TV in Chicago, KTLA in Los Angeles, KTVT in Dallas, WKBD-TV in Detroit, KHTV in Houston, WVTV in Milwaukee, KSTW in Tacoma/Seattle, KSHB-TV in Kansas City, and KWGN in Denver premiered the special at the same time the big four networks and cable systems premiered, with St. Louis' KPLR-TV premiered the special two hours later after its television premiere. New York's WWOR-TV and Boston's WSBK-TV would later premiere the special the following morning on April 22. The special also aired on selected cable systems, including BET, TNT, USA Network, Nickelodeon, and The Disney Channel.

Reception

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Some modern critics have considered the production a time capsule of animation history during the US war on drugs,[9] and have ridiculed it as "propaganda"[10] and "preachy".[11] However, Sean Thiessen of GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT described it favorably as "the greatest anti-drug special ever made."[9]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Fox did not have a Saturday morning schedule at the time, but would launch one that September.

References

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  1. ^ "Cartoon special: Congressmen treated to preview of program to air on network, independent and cable outlets". Los Angeles Times. April 19, 1990. Archived from the original on October 9, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  2. ^ Bernstein, Sharon (April 20, 1990). "Children's TV: On Saturday, networks will simulcast 'Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue,' an animated feature on drug abuse". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 9, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  3. ^ "Hollywood and Networks Fight Drugs With Cartoon". The New York Times. April 21, 1990. Archived from the original on May 15, 2013. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
  4. ^ Bernstein, Sharon (April 20, 1990). "That's Not All, Folks—Cartoons Join Drug War: Children's TV: On Saturday, networks will simulcast 'Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue', an animated feature on drug abuse". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 9, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
  5. ^ Gerstenzang, James; Decker, Cathleen (March 3, 1990). "Bush Praises TV for Enlisting Cartoon Heroes in War on Drugs President's visit: He brings his anti-drug message to Southland entertainment executives and schoolchildren". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 5, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
  6. ^ Flint, Peter B. (July 11, 1989). "Mel Blanc, Who Provided Voices For 3,000 Cartoons, Is Dead at 81". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 19, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2008. Mel Blanc, the versatile, multi-voiced actor who breathed life into such cartoon characters as Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Pie, Sylvester and the Road Runner, died of heart disease and emphysema yesterday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 81 years old.
  7. ^ "Jeff Bergman". behind the voice actors. Archived from the original on 26 April 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  8. ^ Toons join the drug war! TV Week, November 3, 1990
  9. ^ a b "The Movie Where Garfield, Bugs Bunny, the Smurfs, and a Ninja Turtle Team up to Fight the Ultimate Menace". 2 March 2023. Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  10. ^ "Recover from Your 4/20 Hangover by Rewatching 'Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue'". 21 April 2016. Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  11. ^ "America's Stoned Kids: Guinea pigs of cannabis legalisation | Television | the Guardian". Archived from the original on 2023-04-15. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
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