Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue

Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue
Promotional poster
Written by	Duane Pool Tom Swale
Directed by	Milton Gray Marsh Lamore Bob Shellhorn Mike Svayko Karen Peterson
Starring	Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. Jeff Bergman Jim Cummings Aaron Lohr Jason Marsden Don Messick Lorenzo Music Russi Taylor Frank Welker Janice Karman
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Producer	Buzz Potamkin
Running time	27 min.
Original release
Network	ABC NBC CBS
Release	April 21, 1990

Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue is an animated drug prevention television special starring many of the popular cartoon characters from American Saturday morning television. Financed by McDonald's, the special was originally simulcast on April 21, 1990 on all three major American television networks: ABC, NBC, and CBS, along with most independent stations. McDonald's also distributed a VHS home video edition of the special, produced by Buena Vista Home Video, which opened with an introduction from then-President George H. W. Bush, and First Lady Barbara Bush. The show was co-produced with Walt Disney Television Animation and Southern Star Productions, and was animated overseas by Wang Film Productions.

Plot

File:Cartoon all-stars to the rescue 2.jpg

The characters gather around Michael to sing a song about "saying 'no'."

The plot chronicles the exploits of Michael, a teenage boy who is using marijuana as well as stealing his father's beer. His younger sister, Corey, is worried about him because he's started acting differently than he used to, like his eyes are bloodshot, and he warned Corey not to tell their parents or she'll be accused on what he's done. Many of her cartoon tie-in toys come to life, to help find her stolen piggy bank, ending up in the boy's room, finding Michael's stash of drugs, and also finding out Michael was the one who stole Corey's money to buy marijuana. The various cartoon characters then proceed to band together, and take Michael on a fantasy journey to teach him the risks a life of drug-use can bring.

Synopsis

The story begins in Corey's bedroom. A hand reaches in and snatches her piggy bank from her dresser. The theft is witnessed by Papa Smurf, who alerts the other cartoon characters in the room (namely Garfield, Alf, Baby Kermit, Winnie the Pooh, Alvin and the Chipmunks and Slimer).

The cartoon characters track down the thief and are appalled when they discover that it is Corey's big brother, Michael. Minutes later, Corey comes into the room looking for her piggy bank. She finds it smashed on Michael's bed, as well as a strange box. When she asks what is in it, Michael refuses to tell her and hides the box under the bed. Simon opens it and identifies its contents as marijuana. Meanwhile, Corey expresses her concerns about Michael's change in behaviour. He storms out of the house. The cartoon characters quickly realise that something will have to be done about Michael's addiction and that they are the ones to do it.

At a night club, Michael is smoking marijuana with his friends and Smoke (an anthropromorphic cloud of smoke who serves as the main antagonist of the special). When they hear police sirens, they run off. Michael and Smoke are chased into an alleyway by what appears to be a policeman. Smoke disappears through the wall, telling Michael that 'at times like this, he's on his own'. As the policeman's shadow approaches, it is revealed that its owner is in fact, Bugs Bunny wearing a policeman's hat. Smoke comes back and mocks Michael for running from a cartoon rabbit, but Bugs traps him in a trash can.

Bugs finds Michael's cigarette butt and asks him how he got started on marijuana. Michael claims to have started because he wanted to. Bugs doesn't believe Michael and takes him into a time machine which he claims to have borrowed from Wile Coyote. Smoke escapes the trash can and follows Michael into the time machine. Bugs takes Michael back to the day when he first started doing drugs, and reminds him that rather than wanting to get started on drugs, he was bullied into doing it by his so called friends.

Back at the house, Michael's father notes that two of his beers are missing, but eventually decides that he drank them last night while watching football (in fact, Michael stole them). Meanwhile, Michael's mother expresses her concerns about Michael to Corey and asks her if there is anything wrong, to which Corey reluctantly replies no. Pooh Bear comes to life soon after (much to Corey's amazement) and asks her why she didn't tell her mother that she was worried about Michael. Corey explains that if she tells and Michael gets in trouble, she will be the first one he will suspect. Pooh admits that that might happen, but asks Corey to think about what will happen to Michael if she doesn't tell. Corey tries to explain things to her father, but this attempt is unsuccessful.

In the park, one of Michael's friends says that she can buy them all Crack for ten dollars. Michael is unsure if he should follow her example and attempts to leave. But Smoke steals his wallet and tosses it to the friend, who runs off with it down an alleyway. Michael gives chase but falls down a manhole with Smoke. There, they are greeted by Michelangelo, Baby Kermit, Baby Piggy and Baby Gonzo. The Muppet babies take Michael on a roller-coaster ride through a drug inflicted human brain. At the end of their ride, Michael realises that the brain they just toured through is his brain and that they are currently inside him while he is about to fall off a skateboard. The Muppet babies escape from the brain, but Michael and Smoke are left behind.

Michael comes to at the feet of Huey, Dewey and Louie, who ask him why he never said no to drugs before. Michael says it was because he didn't want to, but the trio can tell that he is lying and that he really doesn't know how to say no. Together with most of the cartoon characters to appear in the special previously (along with the added character of Tigger), the ducklings sing the song Wonderful Ways to Say No.

Michael wakes up in his own bedroom and dismisses his whole experience as a nightmare. At that moment, Corey comes into the room and tells Michael that Pooh Bear wants to know why he never talks to their parents anymore. Michael tells her to tell Pooh Bear to mind his own business and throws her out of the room. Corey runs off in tears.

Michael instantly regrets his violent behaviour but Smoke comes out from under the bed and insists that he did the right thing. Michael points out that Corey is his little sister and that he doesn't know what's right anymore. As he stares into a mirror inside his marijuana box, his reflection is replaced with Alf's, who pulls him through the box into a hall of mirrors. Smoke attempts to follow but is left behind.

Inside the Hall of Mirrors, Alf shows Michael his reflection of how he is today, then his reflection if he doesn't stop taking drugs: a wizened, corpse like version of himself. Alf assures him "it's not Freddy Krueger" (which is a surprising thing to say on a kids television event). When Michael insists that he could quit if he wants to and that he is in charge of his own life, Alf takes him to see 'The Man in Charge'. This is revealed to be Smoke, and the influence he has on Michael's brain.

Corey and Pooh re-enter Michael's room, only to find not Michael , but his marijuana box. She picks it up and wonders what's inside it. Smoke appears and tempts her to open the box. When Pooh tries to persuade Corey otherwise, he is thrown into a airless cabinet by Smoke. Corey opens the box but is unsure of its contents. Smoke however, reveals that it is what is causing Michael's change in behaviour. Corey reasons that if she does what Michael does, then maybe they could have fun together, like they used to before Michael started doing drugs.

As Pooh climaxes from withdrawl due to the cabinet being an airless chamber, and in the process, hyperventilates, which causes Michael to spontaneously end up in another nightmare. he is later seen running terrified through a horror themed carnival, with Smoke's words of temptation ringing in his ears and the cartoon characters apparently ignorant of his plight. Finally, he comes to a fortune telling tent and asks the stall tender (Daffy Duck) to see his future for him. Daffy's crystal ball shows Michael lying on his death bed, his face even more ravaged than when Alf showed it to him. Michael is horrified by the prospect of this being his future, but Daffy and the other cartoon characters tell him that it can be avoided if he stops taking drugs.

Michael runs out of a nearby door back into his bedroom, just in time to stop Corey from using the drugs herself. Michael tells Corey that he never wants to see her taking drugs ever again. But Corey points out that he (Michael), does that sort of thing all the time. Michael admits that he was wrong but is unsure if he can change. Corey advises him to talk about his problems to their parents and to her. Smoke tries to persuade Michael otherwise, but Michael throws him out of the window, as he feels that he 'has listened to him long enough'. As he lands in a dump truck, Smoke vows to return. Michael sadly admits that Smoke is right and that he will try to return, Corey agrees but says that 'when he gets here we'll be ready for him', much to the agreement of all the cartoon characters (even Pooh who was freed by Michael) to appear in the special.

The special ends with Michael and Corey going to tell their parents about Michael's drug problem.

Cartoon all-stars

The special was able to get so many characters from various franchises because the license holders gave producers royalty-free access due to the public service aspect of the special. The character of Garfield was reportedly used without the permission of Jim Davis, its creator.

This cartoon marked the first time Warner Bros. cartoon characters Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck were voiced by someone other than legendary voice artist Mel Blanc. Blanc had died shortly before the production, and Jeff Bergman was called upon to recreate the voices.

The characters, from 10 different franchises, are:

• ALF: The Animated Series: ALF
• Alvin and the Chipmunks: Alvin, Simon, Theodore
• DuckTales: Huey, Dewey, and Louie
• The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: Winnie-the-Pooh, Tigger
• Jim Henson's Muppet Babies: Baby Kermit, Baby Piggy, Baby Gonzo
• The Smurfs: Papa Smurf, Brainy Smurf, Hefty Smurf
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Michelangelo
• Garfield and Friends: Garfield The Cat
• The Real Ghostbusters: Slimer
• Looney Tunes: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck

Cast

• Jason Marsden - Michael
• Joey Dedio - The Dealer
• Georgi Irene - John
• Townsend Coleman - Dad, Michelangelo
• Laurie O'Brien - Mom, Baby Piggy
• Lindsay Parker - Corey
• George C. Scott - Smoke
• Jeff Bergman - Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck
• Frank Welker - Slimer, Hefty Smurf, Baby Kermit
• Lorenzo Music - Garfield the Cat
• Danny Goldman - Brainy Smurf
• Don Messick - Papa Smurf
• Russi Taylor - Baby Gonzo, Huey, Dewey and Louie
• Jim Cummings - Winnie-the-Pooh, Tigger
• Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. - Alvin, Simon
• Janice Karman - Theodore
• Paul Fusco - ALF

Artisitic supervisors

• Stephen J. Anderson & Michael White (Story Development supervisors)
• William Schifrin & Karen A. Keller (Layout supervisors)
• Xiangyuan Jie & Kathleen Swain (Background supervisors)
• Russell Hall & Nancy Kniep (Clean-up supervisors)
• Kathleen Quaife-Hodge (Effects supervisor)

International screenings

• The show was screened in New Zealand in October 1991 on both TV2 and TV3 simultaneously.

External links

• Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue at IMDb