Sunday, December 17, 2017

Countdown to Christmas: A Wish For Wings That Work (1991)

Berkeley Breathed's seminal comic strip, Bloom County, was raised from the dead 2 years ago, and now appears whenever possible on the creator's Facebook page. Hey, it happens.

Anyway, Breathed had ended the strip originally in 1989, moving on to another, short-lived strip, Outland. Characters from both strips factored into a 1991 book that was adapted for television by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment & Universal for CBS at the end of that year.

A Wish For Wings That Work centers on fan favorite Opus the penguin (Michael Bell), who asks Santa for the titular wings. If you followed the original Bloom County, rife as it was with political and social satire, you'll love this. Unfortunately, Breathed wasn't thrilled with the finished product, which found its way to DVD 10 years ago. Opus is joined in his quest by Bill the cat, who does manage to fire off one of his infamous hairballs. As Opus explains in his letter to Santa, Bill "had his brains replaced with Tater Tots", which would explain why Bill can't speak.

Other voice talent in the special includes John Byner and the usual suspects (Frank Welker, Joe Alaskey, et al). Scope out A Wish For Wings That Work.



Apparently, CBS shared Breathed's sentiments, as this has not been repeated anywhere since its initial airing.

Rating: A-.

5 comments:

Goldstar said...

Keep an ear open to hear the voice of an un-credited Robin Williams as the voice of a kiwi in Ronald Ann's support group.

Silverstar said...

And Dustin Hoffman turns up (also uncredited) as a cross-dressing cockroach.

hobbyfan said...

I'll just have to go back and watch it again......

Chris Sobieniak said...

Aside from DVD, it had received a VHS and LaserDisc release back in the early 90's as well, so it wasn't a total loss. I recall around the time, Breathed somehow had a deal with Universal that involved marketing "Opus 'n Bill" related merchandise. I recall seeing one of those DIY "CreataCard" machines at a supermarket that had those designs to choose for your greeting card.

hobbyfan said...

And with Bloom County having been revived, maybe that returns......