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Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue

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“Drugs don't stand a chance against these guys!”
―Tagline

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, it was originally simulcast on April 21, 1990 on all three major American television networks (by supporting their Saturday morning characters): ABC, NBC, Fox, and CBS, most independent stations, as well as cable networks Nickelodeon and the USA Network. McDonald's also distributed a VHS home video edition of it, produced by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, which opened with an introduction from then-President George H. W. Bush, First Lady Barbara Bush, and their dog, Millie. It was produced by Southern Star Productions for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and was animated overseas by Wang Film Productions.

Summary[]

Nine-year-old Corey is very worried about her older brother, Michael. He is using drugs and he just stole her piggy bank to buy some more. Luckily, Corey has help. TV's most popular cartoon characters, including Winnie the Pooh, Bugs Bunny, Alf, The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and a host of other animated all-stars, leap into action to help free her brother from the clutches of "Smoke," a deceptive and corrupting character who's leading Michael down the road to a drug-abuse dead end. What follows is a roller coaster ride through the perils, pitfalls, and realities of drug abuse in which the Cartoon All-Stars prove there's a smarter way to go! It's an adventure guaranteed to entertain children of all ages as well as educate them about the dangers of alcohol and other drugs!

Plot[]

In Corey's bedroom, an unseen person steals her piggy bank from her dresser. The theft is witnessed by Papa Smurf, who emerges from a Smurfs comic book with the other Smurfs and alerts the other animated characters in the room (Garfield as a lamp, Alf from a framed picture, Baby Kermit as an alarm clock, Winnie the Pooh as a stuffed animal, Alvin, Simon, and Theodore from a record sleeve, and Slimer, who phases through a wall). The characters track down the thief and discover that it is, to their surprise, Michael, Corey's older brother. Simon opens a box under Michael's bed and identifies its contents as marijuana "An unlawful substance used to experience artificial highs." Meanwhile, Corey expresses her concerns about Michael's change in behavior. He storms out of the house, and the characters quickly realize that something must be done about his addiction. They set off, leaving Pooh behind to look after Corey.

At the arcade, Michael smokes marijuana with his old friends and Smoke, an anthropomorphic cloud of smoke with a mafioso-like appearance and personality. When one of Michael's friends shows everyone a drug that appears to be crack, a police siren begins blaring, prompting them to run off. Michael ends up hitting a dead end in an alley, and Smoke disappears through the wall, telling Michael "At times like this, you're on your own." The policeman is then revealed to be Bugs Bunny, wearing a policeman's hat. He picks up Michael's cigarette, "What's this? A joint?" He then asks Michael what made him want to start in the first place. Michael tells him that he just wanted to and tries to walk off. Bugs stops him and tells him that, while he could understand if he was led by curiosity, if he was giving off that 'I just wanted to' routine, he clearly needed a memory refresher. He traps Smoke in a garbage can and uses a time machine (which he borrowed from "some coyote") to see when and how Michael's addiction started. They're taken back 2 years ago, and it is revealed that rather than wanting to get started on drugs, he was pressured into doing so by some older kids he found smoking. Bugs asks him, "So, you still think it was your choice?" Michael confesses that he did it because he didn't want them to think he was a wimp. Bugs tells him, "Better a wimp than an all-day sucker." he continues telling Michael, "It's kind of like the old saying. If everybody else was jumping off a cliff, would you go, too?" They then watch as the past Michael gives into the pressure and tries marijuana. Bugs observes it and says, "Hmmm. I guess you would, wouldn't you? Not very bright. Definitely not one of the world's most foremost thinkers."

Back at home, Michael's father notes that two of his beers are missing but is convinced by his wife that he drank them the night before while watching football (the implication is that Michael actually stole them, unknown to both). Michael's mother expresses her concerns about him to Corey and asks her if there is anything wrong, to which she replies no. She reminds her that "We love you both." and if something was wrong, they wanted to know. Pooh comes to life soon after and asks why she didn't tell her mother that she was worried about Michael, too. She explains that if she does so, Michael will get in trouble, and she will be the first one he will suspect. Pooh admits that may happen but asks her to think about what will happen to Michael if she doesn't. She tries to explain things to her father but is unsuccessful.

In the park, one of Michael's friends says that she can buy crack cocaine for ten dollars. He is uncertain of this, "Crack?! That's serious stuff!" One of his friends replies, "Come on, Michael. You're not gonna chicken out on your friends now, are ya?" Michael tries to leave as Smoke joins in the taunting telling Michael, "Yea, what are ya, a baby?" and steals his wallet and tosses it to her, 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 Miss Piggy, and Baby Gonzo, where they proceed to go on a roller coaster ride through a drug-inflicted human brain. When it is over, he realizes that the brain they just toured is his own and that they are currently inside him, riding a skateboard. Realizing they're about to fall down, the babies escape, but Michael and Smoke are trapped in. After falling over, Michael wakes up at the feet of Huey, Dewey, and Louie who, after asking Michael if he's okay, proceed to ask Michael why he didn't just say no. Michael tells them because he didn't want to, but they suspect it's because he doesn't know how. They are joined with the other characters joined by Tigger and teach him the "Wonderful Ways to Say No".

Michael wakes up in his own bedroom and thinks the whole experience was merely a nightmare. At that moment, Corey comes in and tells him that Pooh wants to know why he never talks to their parents about his problem. He tells her to tell Pooh to "mind his own business" and threatens her if she ever tattles him out. She runs off, frightened, and Michael immediately regrets his behavior. However, Smoke comes out from under the bed and claims 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 tries 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: an aged, corpse-like version of himself. When he insists that he could quit if he wants to and that he is in charge of his own life, Alf takes him by the hand and directs him to "talk to 'the Man in Charge'" ― Smoke.

Corey and Pooh re-enter Michael's room and finds his marijuana box. Smoke appears and tempts her to open the box. She asks him who he is. He replies, "A friend of your brother's. Open the box, Corey." Pooh tries to persuade her otherwise "If I were you, which I'm not, I wouldn't listen to him." But he is thrown into a cabinet by Smoke. Corey opens the box but doesn't know what its contents are. Smoke suggests she find out for herself, "Your brother uses it." Corey then reasons that if she does what Michael does, then maybe they could "be friends again", like they used to before he started doing drugs.

Meanwhile, Michael comes to a fortune-telling tent and asks the stall tender (Daffy Duck) to see his future for him, "Your future lies behind those doors." It turns out to be him lying on his death bed, his face even more ravaged than what Alf showed him. He is horrified, "This is my future?!" Daffy tells him, "It is if you don't get off of those drugs." Alf, Bugs Bunny, the Muppet Babies, Huey, Dewy and Louie, and Michelangelo return giving further words of encouragement. Now knowing the consequences, Michael asks where he can leave, to which they point to a door.

Michael runs through the door and back into his bedroom, just in time to stop Corey from using the drugs herself. He tells her that he never wants to see her end up like him, and admits he was wrong, though he is unsure if he can change. She advises him to talk about his problems to their parents and to her and they can help him. Smoke tries to persuade him otherwise, but Michael, having "listened to him long enough," throws him out the window and into a garbage truck. Smoke says that he can't be rid of that easily and vows to return. Michael admits that Smoke will return, but Corey states that "when he gets here, we'll be ready for him", to which the cartoon characters, now appearing on a poster as a reminder for Michael to say no, agree with. After Michael lets Pooh out of his cabinet, Pooh jumps into the poster, and Michael tells Corey, "Come on, Sis. Let's go talk to Mom and Dad."

Characters[]

The characters, from 10 different franchises, are:

Voices (in alphabetical order)[]

Songs[]

Trivia[]

  • This is the second Disney film to feature non-Disney characters, after Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
  • This marked the first time Jeff Bergman voiced Bugs and Daffy, due to Mel Blanc dying the previous year.
  • On the official poster and VHS cover, Smurfette can be seen, even though she never appears in the special.
  • Joe Biden, the 46th president of the United States, is known to give this special his praises. Prior to the official airing, he stated in a press release that Cartoon All-Stars is "the single most ambitious and important drug education program ever attempted anywhere".
  • Interestingly, Bugs and Daffy are the only Toons featured in this special to have originated in animation; Pooh and Tigger came from literature, the Muppets and ALF were puppets first, Slimer debuted in a live-action movie, the Chipmunks were first heard in music, and Donald's nephews, the Smurfs, Garfield, and Michelangelo all first appeared in comics.

Continuity errors[]

  • Pooh first appears as one of Corey's stuffed animals, but at the end of the film he returns to a poster hanging on the wall in one of the kids' bedrooms.

Gallery[]

External links[]

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