Monday, March 11, 2013

Saturday School: Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue (1990)

Talk about one of a kind!

Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue was a 1-shot special that aired in April 1990 on ABC, NBC, CBS, USA, Nickelodeon, and a number of independent channels. Since it was funded by McDonald's, you'd think PBS would've gotten in on the action, too.

Introduced by then-President George H. W. Bush and wife Barbara, To The Rescue tells the story of a teenager who's gotten involved in drugs, leading to him stealing from his sister's piggy bank. Characters from Smurfs, Real Ghostbusters, Alvin & The Chipmunks, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Muppet Babies, and icons Winnie The Pooh, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, & Garfield join together to help bring the siblings back together. This was the first time that someone other than Mel Blanc had voiced Bugs & Daffy (Jeff Bergman took over the roles, a year after Blanc had passed away). Coming as it did almost a year after the movie, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", this was the 2nd gathering of cartoon stars "under one roof", if you will.

Film legend George C. Scott ("Patton") voices the villain, "Smoke", who gets a quick comeuppance, courtesy of Bugs.



It's worth noting that even though he was a central character in the story, Garfield was used without the consent of creator Jim Davis. Hmmmmmm. Makes ya wonder what that was all about.....

Rating: A.

No comments: