A Wish for Wings That Work
{{Short description|1991 American children's book and TV special}}
{{use mdy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox book
| name = A Wish for Wings That Work
| image = File:WishForWingsBookCover.JPG
| caption = Cover
| author = Berkeley Breathed
| illustrator = Berkeley Breathed
| cover_artist = Berkeley Breathed
| country = United States
| language = English
| genre = Children's
| publisher = Little Brown & Co
| pub_date = 1991
| pages = 32
| isbn = 0-316-10691-7
| oclc =
}}
A Wish for Wings That Work: An Opus Christmas Story is a children's book by Berkeley Breathed that was published in 1991. It was made into an animated television special that same year. The book and special feature characters from Breathed's comic strips Bloom County and Outland.
Plot
The story centers on Opus the Penguin (a main character in all three of Breathed's comic strips and, at the time, appearing in Outland). Opus is downhearted because, as a penguin, he cannot fly. He orders a machine and assembles it, but when it comes time to test the machine by jumping off a three-mile-high cliff, Opus decides to do something less dangerous; he goes home to make anchovy Christmas cookies. He does not give up on his dream, though, and makes a Christmas wish to Santa Claus for "wings that will go!". On Christmas Eve, Santa is making his usual delivery when he loses his reindeer and crashes into a lake. Opus jumps in and uses his natural swimming skills to pull Santa out. To thank Opus for his daring rescue, a group of ducks pick him up and take him flying through the air.
TV special
{{Infobox television
| alt_name = Opus 'n' Bill: A Wish for Wings that Work
| image = Opus 'n' Bill - A Wish for Wings That Work DVD cover.png
| caption = 2007 DVD cover
| director = Skip Jones
| producer = Peggy Regan
| writer = Berkeley Breathed
| based_on = A Wish for Wings That Work: An Opus Christmas Story and Outland by Berkeley Breathed
| starring = Michael Bell
Joe Alaskey
John Byner
Tress MacNeille
Alexaundria Simmons
Andrew Hill Newman
Frank Welker
Robin Williams (as Sudy Nim)
| music = Thomas Chase
Steve Rucker
| cinematography =
| editor = Larry C. Cowan
| company = Amblin Television
Universal Cartoon Studios
| network = MCA TV
| released = {{Start date|1991|12|18}}
| runtime = 22 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget =
}}
On December 18, 1991, an animated special based on the book aired on CBS.{{Citation|title=A Wish for Wings That Work (TV Short 1991) - IMDb|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103272/companycredits|access-date=2020-12-08}} It was directed by Skip Jones and was produced by Peggy Regan for Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television for Universal Cartoon Studios.{{Cite web|last=DataBase|first=The Big Cartoon|title=A Wish For Wings That Work|url=https://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/47817-Wish_For_Wings_That_Work.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130118052417/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/47817-Wish_For_Wings_That_Work.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 18, 2013|access-date=2012-11-16|website=Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB)|language=en}}{{Citation|title=A Wish for Wings That Work - About the Animated Special|url=https://amblin.com/tv/a-wish-for-wings-that-work/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208001902/https://amblin.com/tv/a-wish-for-wings-that-work/|publisher=Amblin Entertainment|language=en-US|access-date=2020-12-08|archive-date=2020-12-08}} It was released on DVD November 6, 2007.
;Voices
- Michael Bell – Opus
- Joe Alaskey – Truffles, The Ducks
- John Byner – Bill
- Tress MacNeille – The Chicken
- Alexaundria Simmons – Ronald-Ann
- Andrew Hill Newman – Santa Claus
- Frank Welker – Additional Voices
- Sudy Nim (Robin Williams)– The Kiwi
- Dustin Hoffman (uncredited) – Milquetoast the Cross-Dressing Cockroach
=Critical reception=
Lisa Horowitz of Variety gave the special a positive review, saying that it "crams a lot of action and intelligence into its half-hour". She also praised the animation and vocal performances.{{cite book|title=Variety Television Reviews 1991-1992|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RxHbPxbBM1AC&pg=PP261 |publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=0-8240-3796-0|date=March 1994}}
Breathed, who was credited as the writer and executive producer of the special, was disappointed with the overall results. Asked in 2003 in The Washington Post where a copy of the special could be found on VHS or DVD, Breathed replied:
{{blockquote|Hopefully in the rubbish pail. We can do better than that and we will with an eventual Opus film... but I'm glad you enjoyed it. I presume your family was on speed when they watched it. I would imagine it helps.}}
In a 2007 interview, Breathed said that the reason he disliked the special was simply "unspectacular ratings", and that his humor "wasn't meant for television, even if it was done right". He also blamed his own lack of writing experience, as he wrote the script, and that the director was "way over his head". Breathed said he had wanted Sterling Holloway to provide the voice for Opus.{{Cite web|last=Plume|first=Ken|date=2007-05-22|title=Interview: Berkeley Breathed|url=http://asitecalledfred.com/2007/05/22/interview-berkeley-breathed/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111115193113/http://www.asitecalledfred.com/2007/05/22/interview-berkeley-breathed/|archive-date=2011-11-15|access-date=2020-12-08|website=FRED Entertainment}} Four years later, Breathed said the director inserted numerous inappropriate jokes into the special's background scenes.Zahed, Ramin, [http://www.animationmagazine.net/people/animated-people-berkeley-breathed/ Animated People: Berkeley Breathed], Animation Magazine, 16 March 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2017. "[T]he director, who was fired, managed to sprinkle a profane cornucopia of inappropriate flotsam around in the show.... Find a moldy DVD and check out the opening credit sequence: Watch the snowy hills during the pan. Some of them aren't hills. And that train track isn't really going into a train tunnel. Unless it's Sigmund Freud's. It's pretty funny now. Imagine how funny it was when we finally spotted it during final mixing, six days before network broadcast. Keep in mind, this was a Steven Spielberg production of a family Christmas show. I tried but failed to imagine Steven believing me when I tried to disclaim authorship of a woman's snow anus in the countryside. Or the sign in the window of the store that said "For sale cheap: Santa's Balls". Too late to change! This was the pre-digital age. We courageously let it go without telling anyone. I'm glad I'm telling this in a trade magazine and I can feel safe that it won't be going out on the Internet thing".
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.berkeleybreathed.com Berkeley Breathed's website]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050719233013/http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article The Washington Post interview, mentions the TV Special]
- {{IMDb title|tt0103272}}
{{bloomcounty}}
{{Universal Animation Studios}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wish For Wings That Work, A}}
Category:1991 children's books
Category:Books by Berkeley Breathed
Category:American picture books
Category:Christmas children's books
Category:Little, Brown and Company books
Category:1991 in American television
Category:1991 television specials
Category:1990s American television specials
Category:1990s animated television specials
Category:CBS television specials
Category:Christmas television specials
Category:Animated Christmas television specials
Category:Amblin Entertainment animated short films
Category:Adaptations of works by Berkeley Breathed
Category:Television specials by Universal Cartoon Studios