Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue

Plot synopsis:
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 cartoon characters in the room (Garfield as a lamp, ALF from a framed picture, Baby Kermit as an alarm clock, Winnie the Pooh as a doll, Alvin and the Chipmunks from a record sleeve, and Slimer who passes through a wall).
The cartoon characters track down the thief and discover that it is Corey's big brother, Michael. Simon opens a box under Michael's bed and identifies its contents as marijuana. Meanwhile, Corey expresses her concerns about Michael's change in behavior. He storms out of the house. The cartoon characters quickly realize that something must be done about his addiction and they set off, leaving Pooh behind to look after Corey.
At the arcade, Michael smokes pot with his old "friends" and "Smoke", an anthropomorphic cloud of smoke. They run out and are chased into an alleyway by a policeman. The "policeman" is then revealed to be Bugs Bunny wearing a policeman's hat. Bugs traps Smoke in a garbage can and uses a time machine to see when and how Michael's addiction was started.
Meanwhile, at home, Corey and Michael's parents are concern about their son's behavior, but Corey passes it off as nothing despite also being worried about. Pooh then approaches her and questions her about Michael, which she responds saying she doesn't want to get Michael into trouble, Pooh however tries to reason with her.
Inside a Hall of Mirrors, ALF shows Michael his reflection of how he is today, then his reflection if he does not stop taking drugs: an aged, corpse-like version of himself. 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" — Smoke.
Corey and Pooh re-enter Michael's room and find his marijuana box. Smoke appears and throws Pooh inside a cabinet and tempts Corey to try the drug. Corey reasons that if she does what Michael does, then maybe they could have fun together, like they used to before he started doing drugs.
Michael comes 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. Smoke tries to persuade him otherwise, but Michael throws him out of the window, as he feels that he "listened to him long enough." While in a garbage truck, Smoke vows to return saying "[Michael] can bet on it!" The special ends with Michael letting Pooh out of the cabinet and Michael and Corey go tell their parents about Michael's drug problem, while Pooh jumps into a poster on the wall with the other cartoon characters.

Tags: good versus evil, flashback

Review:
However, the plot and visuals are so insane that it seems more like the poster-child for LSD.Plot:  The heroic struggle of Michael as he battles his drug addiction while being subjected to the humiliation brought on by the likes of Winnie the Pooh and Papa Smurf.Yea, yea, there's a good message, but it's obscured by the fact that the writers have taken a rather stale PSA idea and tried stretching it into 30 minutes.
This includes a song sequence, where you're told that there's a million, rational ways to say "No!" such as "I can't smoke pot, I have homework!"The writers can't make up their minds what to do with the characters they've brought in royalty-free.
Soon they begin interacting with the human cast, and the only one who's even slightly disturbed by this fact is not the drug-abusers, it's the little sister who talks to her teddy bear (Pooh, by the way.)  Further, there's the little drug demon floating around.
So I guess he's...uhhh.....moving on!The whole plot finally culminates in some insane sequence in which Michael is in what would appear to be the Saturday Morning Carnival of Souls, aka a theme park from hell where the various cartoon characters beat him up and ignore him and stuff.
Of course, the film ignores the fact that Michael's been having highs for two years by this point, so why this tripping sequence would frighten him is beyond me.I realize I'm completely whaling on this film, but I actually just saw it again because I went through the trouble of tracking it down on eBay because of it's sheer infamy of being a BAD cartoon.
The ever-observant Mom tells him "Don't worry, you probably just drank them last night watching football."  While we're obviously supposed to be learning that Michael is drinking beer (in addition to the pot and crack), we instead read further in and realize - Hey kids, it's okay to have chemical dependencies as long as you're a grown-up!
people were laughing hysterically throughout the whole movie and several people commented that if being high meant you got to meet the Smurfs, they wanted to get high.The teacher refused to comment on whether or not he intended this movie to seriously affect us.We were all born in the same year this movie was made, but I for one had seen all the cartoons with characters in the movie except The Smurfs, so it's not really true that you can't like it if you weren't young in the late eighties/ early nineties.The only thing that could possibly have made this movie better is if the Care Bears were in it..
I remember seeing this when I was 9-years-old and it blowing my mind- the fact that Alf AND the Muppet Babies AND Slimer would all be hanging out together was a truly amazing event in my life- perhaps THE most important moment of my developmental years.
This was the result of their collective animated illegalities.Anyway, my main question is: "How come I liked this so much as a kid but became a marijuana addict in college?".
Taking the most popular cartoon characters of the day (Bugs Bunny, Garfield, a Ninja Turtle, etc.), as merchandise that come to life to save a boy from drug addiction, Cartoon All-Stars acts as a public service announcement warning kids to stay away from marijuana and other illegal drugs.It's a novelty to see all these characters in one cartoon (copyrights usually prevent that), and the underlying purpose is noble, but the end result isn't impressive at all.
Did this special actually stop kids from trying drugs?
At most, after watching this a child may take the message for a little while, but by the time he or she gets to high school they've outgrown Winnie the Pooh and will likely experiment with marijuana anyway.So what do we have at the end of the day?
Getting kids not to try pot because all their favorite cartoon characters hate it...pretty weak!.
Do you kids love Kermit and The Chipmunks and Bugs Bunny and a dozen other cartoon characters?
Then you'll love their preachy anti-marijuana short film, featuring characters at random who have nothing to do with the plot, and are only there so kids can say "Hey, I love that character, I don't want to smoke!" This is a seriously bad movie, and just on how bad it was, we can only hope it turned more kids to pot just for future reference that movies like this are horrible and don't work!The plot makes no sense at all.
This kid Michael is just flung from one set piece to another, with well known 80s cartoon characters inhabiting various set pieces.
The characters who normally would try to be making jokes aren't funny in the least, and this thing just comes off as really preachy.
Of course, pot smoking makes people look like the phantom of the opera, that makes sense.
Most of the roles are pointless, but their's are the worst.This is an overly preachy short, that tries to hit kids despite that it has no logic behind it's method, and what better way to tell kids what not to do than with all their favorite cartoon characters together talking about it.
This is a horrible mash-up of characters, and despite that it may have worked to help kids not smoke, it scares without information, instead of informing and using logic.
And if smoking pot will make all your favorite cartoon characters appear, then why not try it?My rating: BOMB out of ****.
One of the greatest works of Anti-Drug propaganda, this time aimed at small children.
The video opens with a Ronald McDonald House commercial that is humorous on a bad taste level ("Peel them taters!") Then look who's here, if it isn't then president George Bush and his wife Barbara, historically famous for raising the Anti-Christ.
They give a well meaning message to the grade-school set, which obviously didn't take when you look at all that heroin those kids took a few years later.
The half-hour animated special features simply everybody: Bugs Bunny, Winnie the Pooh, Muppet Babies, the Smurfs.
How weird is it when you are a senior in high school, taking health class (which is supposed to be taken in 9th grade) and your teacher comes out of nowhere saying "I don't really feel like giving you guys more work for me to grade, so I'm going to put on an anti-drug cartoon from 199...something"?My point exactly.
So, while sitting there, watching this piece of work (which they should show on television or at LEAST have on tape available for purchase) and remembering that exactly 14 years ago I sat in my living room watching Alf, Alvin, Simon and Theodore under a bed talking about how drugs are bad.
WHY they don't do something like this again, or show it every year on National Anti-Drug Day (I don't know if there actually IS that day, but work with me)?Now, quality programming of this magnitude just can't be found anymore.
I was 9 when this aired, and in the habit of watching TV on saturday mornings, so I sure did see it.And it scared the living crap out of me.Drugs make your skin turn green and your eyes sink in, and your brain goes all haywire and you'll DIE!!
For the then-hip clothing of the kids, for the lingo, for the fact that it's a bunch of cartoon characters telling you that drugs are bad..
Let me get this out of the way.I love Bugs and Daffy, as well as Muppet Babies, Garfield, Duck Tales, and ALF.I respect George Bush, even if he wasn't my favorite president.I don't actively dislike the Smurfs.Let me get all of this all out of the way.Now let me point out that this special is truly one of the most unintentionally hilarious slices of "Reefer Madness"-style anti-drug propaganda pieces ever put to film (or in this case, video).
Not because I was needing an intervention on drug use, just because I liked seeing all these cartoon characters together who normally never would be.
Introduced by then-President George Bush and his wife Barbara, this is a made-for-TV drug PSA starring many of my favorite Saturday morning cartoon characters (and others that weren't my favorites).
The characters include Garfield, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, the Smurfs, the Chipmunks, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Alf, Slimer, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Michelangelo, Muppet Babies, and Huey, Duey, and Luey.
They all come together to help a kid who's been seduced into using drugs by the villainous smoke monster "The Man in Charge." It's the kind of thing that ticks off certain crowds today and I'm sure it ticked them off then, as well.
As a kid I was raise and told how bad drugs and alcohol are bad for you and this video is part of the reason I avoid Drugs and never join the club.I remember renting Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue as a kid a few times and seeing it on TV.It is pretty cool how all these animation studios and networks actually join forces to help created this Public Service Announcement video feature your favorite cartoon characters plus some of my favorite cartoons were apart of this program.Alf from "ALF: The Animated Series" Alvin, Simon Theodore from "Alvin and the Chipmunks" Huey, Dewey, and Louie from "Ducktales" Garfield from "Garfield and friends" Bugs Bunny and Daffy from "Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies" Baby Kermit, Baby Piggy, Baby Gonzo "Muppet Babies" Winnie the Pooh and Tigger from "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" Slimer from "The Real Ghostbusters" Papa Smurf, Brainy Smurf, Hefty Smurf from "The Smurfs" Michelangelo from "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" It's not too often you ever seen a crossover like this and from many different TV series which were very huge at the time.
Each character does their part in this special and make it special to see a crossover with a message to stay drug free.The plot does it very well and gives each character their own right to shine the voice acting works very well and there are some moments of humor to lighten the mood but keeping it message in the plot along with the animation being impressive and why I love hand drawn cartoons.
I remember I asked a lot of questions after watching this cartoon and my dad told me a few stories about when he was younger and he did always have a point of telling me the parts about getting busted by parents, the police, and even about his "friends" having to go to the emergency room for doing something stupid while hopped up on something.
Of course, back then, I didn't care about the anti-drug message, I just cared about seeing all my TV heroes: The Ninja Turtles, Garfield, Kermit, The Chipmunks, etc.
It's true that kids should say no to drugs, and this cartoon special brought the message out in a big way..
As a kid, I didn't know if I liked the way all the different characters were stuck together (there are some crossovers that just do *not* work).
This is one of the few best half hour animated TV specials you'd find.Approved by Bush Sr. himself and NBC,CBS, and ABC.It's about a teen named Micheal who's addicted to drugs and he eventually steals money from his sister Corey to buy more.Corey finds out what he did to her piggy bank, but she was told not to tell their parents that Micheal is on Drugs.Things seem bad till some unlikely heroes show up to help Micheal's problem.
Every famous cartoon character you'd find from the old school Saturday Morning line ups are on a mission to talk some sense into Micheal that drugs are bad for him.Those who were around during the late 80s-early 90s won't have trouble in knowing who's who in this TV special.It has a great moral to it.
And a fun way of telling kids to say no to drugs.
Course for those who are parents just be sure to explain some parts to your kids when you watch this program.What's cool is they actually got permission to use more than 10 copyrighted characters.
And they're even voiced by the actual voice actors that put life into them.It's really cool to see, don't know if it'll have a chance in a decent DVD release.But I highly recommend it to those who grew up watching the cartoons from 16 years ago..
Therefore it's no accident that a cartoon got made telling the tykes to avoid controlled substances.Well, aside from the fact that "Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue" features characters that people in the 2010s likely will have forgotten ever existed, its message is all wrong.
Maybe some of them smoke a joint at the end and remind the audience that marijuana is NOT an addictive drug..
"Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue" is a half-hour animated short film from over 25 years ago.
The title already says that this is a collection of famous cartoon characters and they are making a statement against drug abuse.
As we watch this program, we learn about the story of Michael, who goes through the first part summarizing his drug addiction.
Your favorite characters like Winnie the Pooh, Garfield, Smurfs, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Smiler, ALF and Baby Kermit, will teach him the disadvantages of taking drugs.Part 2: This next part features Michael, with his friends, doing drugs.
Later, Bugs Bunny, also helps Michael refresh his memory by going two years back in time when he started drugs.
In result, all of the cartoon characters sing to Michael about not one, but millions of ways to say no before Michael wakes up.
Changing his mind, too late, ALF then shows him his future after this and reveals the man in charge of his life.Part 5: (I hate that smoke cloud.) Anyway, the fifth and final part of this program researches about Corey, being manipulated by Smoke who tempts her to use Michael 's drugs.
Basically, it's a Cartoon Drug Prevention Scheme starring the most famous Cartoon Stars of the day including ALF, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Muppet Babies, Garfield, TMNT, etc.
For a kid growing up at this time it would have seemed like a Miracle, all these stars coming together in one place seemed almost biblical.
So with pretty much every kid with a TV set waiting for this amazing spectacle to appear, first thing we get is George Bush Senior and the First Lady, and by no means in Cartoon form either.
Marijuana...Yes, for a child uninitiated in the indecencies of the adult world, this seems pretty unbelievable, their favourite Cartoon characters who'd they'd be expecting to be flying off on some mystical adventure over the rainbow are going to spend the next 25 minutes lecturing them on drug abuse, and that's what this whole Cartoon is all about, each individual Cartoon Star coming up to this kid with drug problems and telling him that he's going to be a walking corpse soon enough.
You could say that its like an Animated Xanadu, all your favourite things coming together in one place but for a pointless reason.
Also, the whole lesson is flawed from the start as it basically says that if you smoke marijuana all your cartoon characters will appear.
Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue has to be one of the most hilarious things I have ever seen.
It's an anti-drug video from the early 90s, where a bunch of media companies (Disney, Warner Bros, etc) teamed up to produce a cartoon special to tell kids that drugs are bad.However, it soon becomes obvious that the kid's sister is pretty whacked out on drugs as well, despite her trying to persuade him to drop the drugs habit...The kid, Michael, is smoking marijuana, and steals money from his sister, Corey, in order to get money for drugs.
At that point, something truly weird happens and the cartoon characters dotted around Corey's bedroom come to life, and end up trying to "wake her up".
unless you're tripping...), and tells her to go and see her parents about his drug problem (but not about her problems, which are obvious because she's hallucinating a bear talking to her).Michael goes to his "friends" who are smoking weed, and they take his wallet to buy crack.
then he appears to embark on a psychedelic journey where various cartoon characters talk to him, complete with glowing colours, and Michaelangelo the Ninja Turtle who appears to endorse drugs by calling him "cool".
All along the way there's this character called "Smoke" which I guess is meant to represent his addiction to drugs.
The other characters try to fight him off, and finally Michael manages to get rid of him when his sister tries to take drugs (although given she's seeing Smoke and Pooh Bear talking to her, she's riding the acid train already...).
In that respect it failed - drug use has indeed become a fact of life, seen in video games, films and TV shows, and being portrayed in a much more realistic way than the horror stories shown in this.
Indeed, I would say that it would push kids in the opposite way - the message here is that if you take these drugs, your favourite cartoon characters will pop up out of boxes and magazines to see you and tell you about drugs!
It's worth watching for the sheer hilarity of seeing squeaky clean cartoon characters express familiarity with drugs.
It's hilarious for the fact that drugs apparently make you look like the Plastic Prince of Pop. And it's also hilarious just that anyone in a boardroom might think that anyone, child or adult, would take this seriously..
Scott, I felt that it was time for me to mention that this was his very first cartoon voice role, in this made for TV animated special.