| Genre: | Social guidance film |
| Director: | Milton Gray Marsh Lamore Bob Shellhorn Mike Svayko |
| Voices: | |
| Music: | Richard Kosinski Sam Winans Paul Buckmaster Bill Reichenbach Bob Mann Guy Moon Alan Menken |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Executive Producer: | Roy E. Disney |
| Producer: | Buzz Potamkin |
| Editor: | Jay Bixsen |
| Runtime: | 32 min. |
| Company: | Main: The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Southern Star Productions |
| Network: | ABC NBC Fox CBS USA Network Syndication |
Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue is a 1990 American animated drama television film starring many characters from several animated television series at the time of its release.[1] The plot chronicles the exploits of Michael, a teenage boy 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, and most independent stations, as well as various cable networks.[2] [3]
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 other 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, 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-like 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 to apologize, 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 him 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 family. Smoke tries to persuade him otherwise, but Michael throws him out a window into a garbage truck. All of 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.
The characters, from 10 different franchises, are (in order of appearance):
Papa Smurf, Brainy Smurf, Hefty Smurf and some other unidentified Smurfs (although Smurfette is seen on the poster and VHS cover, she doesn't appear in the special; Harmony Smurf and Baby Smurf make picture cameos)
ALF
Alvin, Simon and Theodore
Winnie the Pooh and Tigger
Baby Kermit, Baby Piggy and Baby Gonzo
Slimer
Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck (Wile E. Coyote is mentioned but not seen; his time machine is used by Bugs Bunny)
Michelangelo (although he appears in the special, he is not shown on the poster and VHS cover)
Huey, Dewey and Louie
Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and characters from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? were planned to appear, but were not included for unknown reasons.[4]
The various character owners licensed them freely due to the public service aspect of the special.[5] [6]
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,[7] prompting Warner Bros. to enlist Jeff Bergman in his place.[8]
The special was screened in Australia in November 1990. Like the U.S. broadcast, it aired simultaneously on Australia's major commercial networks (Seven Network, Nine Network, and Network Ten). Prime Minister Bob Hawke introduced the Australian screening.[9] 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.
Some modern critics have considered the production a time capsule of animation history during the US war on drugs,[10] and have ridiculed it as “propaganda”[11] and “preachy”.[12] However, giantfreakinrobot.com described it as "the greatest anti-drug special ever made."
In 2019, Vivienne Medrano and Nico Colaleo organized an international reanimated collaboration, wherein 53 artists collaborated to reanimate the "Wonderful Ways to Say No" song.[13] The recreation featured 2D, live-action, and stop-motion animation.