Horrible, fascist and poorly acted
... View MoreSimple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.
... View MoreClever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.
... View MoreIt's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...
... View MoreAs 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. Growing up with these shows this special has that nostalgia feel to it. 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. Just take the time to show it off you might be surprise and it will inspire you to stay away from drugsI give Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue an 9 out of 10
... View MoreThis TV special was actually shown at my elementary school (I can't remember if I saw it on TV). 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. The laugh count stands at zero (maybe kids would like it more), and the musical number is a bust. As a story it lacks consistency and logic (the character made out of smoke can go through a brick wall, yet is trapped in a garbage can). More to the point, as a public service announcement, it's a failure. The cartoon is too heavy-handed; the kid seeing himself in green (looking into a magic mirror and then a crystal ball), seems over the top and dishonest. More importantly, did it work? Did this special actually stop kids from trying drugs? As I mentioned, my class and I saw this in school; I never did any illegal drugs, but plenty of others did. 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? Cartoon All-Stars turns out to be a historical oddity, a place to go for unintentional comedy and surreal material. It also glorifies consumption of corporate merchandise- the Garfield lamp and the Kermit clock, both likely made in Asian sweat shops, will save the day. But that's a different issue. Show this to your kids if you feel you must, but don't expect any results.
... View MoreHow 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. (Simon had to be all smart by stating EXACTLY what marijuana was." I mean, this has to be some of the greatest stuff ever! 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. And that's sad. Just like how it's sad that girl stole Mike's wallet, and he never did get it back.
... View MoreThis film spends a lot of time preaching against marijuana. 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. At first we see they all have to hide from the human characters, but within five minutes we see them all running around in plain sight without anyone noticing. 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. Because you know, pushers don't give kids drugs. He too is ambiguous - while he might be symbolic of Michael's addiction and hence is not supposed to be seen by other people, he laters goes and haunts little Corey to get HER into drugs. 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. For example, Miss Piggy eats him in a sandwich and spits him out. If the writers were not high when writing this, I must recommend they try getting high because they can't get crazier than this. 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 level of unintentional humor is is brilliant. Take this scene for example - Michael's dad is rooting through the fridge for a beer. He notices many of them missing and mentions it to his wife. 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! Scenes like this are worth the tiny price tag of this film. Oh yea, and the fact you get to hear Simon the Chipmunk say "Marijuana."
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