Animalympics | |
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Original VHS cover for UAV edition |
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Directed by | Steven Lisberger |
Produced by | Donald Kushner Steven Lisberger Peggy Flook (associate producer) |
Written by | Steven Lisberger Michael Fremer |
Story by | Steven Lisberger Roger Allers John Norton |
Starring | Billy Crystal Michael Fremer Gilda Radner Harry Shearer |
Music by | Graham Gouldman |
Cinematography | Ted Bemiller Paul Nevitt (animation camera) |
Editing by | Matt Cope |
Studio | Lisberger Studios |
Distributed by |
Theatrical: Warner Bros. UAV Corporation Family Home Entertainment |
Release date(s) | February 1, 1980 |
Running time | 75 min. |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Animalympics is a 1980 animated film produced by Lisberger Studios and released by Warner Bros.. Originally commissioned by the NBC network as two separate specials, it spoofs the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, and features the voices of Billy Crystal, Gilda Radner, Harry Shearer and Michael Fremer.
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The film is a series of vignettes presented as the broadcast of the first animal Olympic Games through the fictional ZOO television network. Because of the combination of the two short cartoons, the Games combine both summer and winter Olympic events. Many of the characters presented, both ZOO crewmembers and Olympic participants, are celebrity caricatures.
Unlike the real Olympics, continents are represented rather than countries. The continents featured are North America, South America, Eurasia, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia. Eurasia represented Eastern Europe (in particular, Russia, then the Soviet Union), reflecting the Summer Olympics scheduled to be held in Moscow, whereas Europe represented Western and Central Europe. South America is only briefly represented in soccer. Australia is represented briefly by a bobsled team.
The only mention of areas other than continents are the New York Rats soccer team, Dean Wilson being from California, a Central American marathon runner named Pepe Repanosa and an Acapulco cliff diver, marathon runner Terry Hornsby being from Boulder, Colorado, René Fromage being from France, and Kurt Wüfner appearing at the downhill event right before a Scandinavian is given a gold medal.
Although many of the segments could easily stand alone, there are a number of recurring events and important characters. The largest such story is the coverage of the marathon, where competitors René Fromage (a French goat) and Kit Mambo (an African lioness) are the favorites to win. Both determined to win — Fromage having devoted his entire life to the marathon, Mambo determined to make a name for herself — they find themselves surprised when their minds wander to thoughts of mutual admiration and then to love, culminating in the pair holding hands for the rest of the race and crossing the finish line together. Another important story is that of Kurt Wuffner, German dachshund skier, and his disappearance to Dogra-la (a spoof of Shangri-la) during a mountain climbing expedition shortly after the slalom event.
In various parts of the film, references to past medalists and athletics are indicated. Because it is clearly stated that it is the first Animalympics, the highlights of other events must be from other events such as world championships. In fact, figure skater Dorrie Turnell is indicated as having won the Junior World Championship.
Some events are only referenced rather than being covered. In the song "We've Made It to the Top", various events are shown that are otherwise not covered:
Also referenced but not covered:
Originally commissioned by NBC in 1978, it was produced as two separate shows intended to air along with the network's 1980 winter and summer Olympics coverage.[2][3] However, only the half-hour winter show made it to the small screen, as the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan caused President Jimmy Carter to boycott the Moscow Summer Olympics. As America stayed away, NBC canceled its Olympic coverage, and Lisberger's hour-long companion special along with it.[4] However, from its conception, producer Donald Kushner and director Steven Lisberger intended the project as a feature-length theatrical release. The resulting version, recorded and mixed in Dolby surround sound via magnetically-striped 35mm film, had its debut at the 1980 Miami Film Festival, where it was well-received. It was released in various countries overseas during the summer season that same year.[1]
Though it never found a theatrical distributor in the U.S., Animalympics was soon acquired by Warner Bros. for home video and pay-TV release. The film aired in summer 1984 on HBO and Showtime nationwide, as well as intermittently during the early-to-mid 1990's on The Disney Channel, and also on Philadelphia's PRISM.[5]
Considering that the film was produced in 1979, several music-video-like sequences accompany its soundtrack by 10cc's bassist Graham Gouldman, uncommon at the time.[6]
Among those who worked on Animalympics were art director/animator Roger Allers, animation director Bill Kroyer, and animator Brad Bird. Allers, who animated Kit Mambo, the lion star of Animalympics, appropriately went on to direct The Lion King.[7] Kroyer later wrote and directed the animated feature FernGully: The Last Rainforest. Brad Bird went on to work as story editor of The Simpsons, and later achieved even greater success writing and directing The Iron Giant, The Incredibles[8] and Ratatouille.
Director Lisberger went on to conceive, co-write and direct the science fiction classic Tron, which some of the Animalympics crew were involved in. Its soundtrack supervisor was Michael Fremer, who was involved in Animalympics as a co-writer, voice artist, dialogue/music track editor and sound mix supervisor.[9]
A&M Records in the USA, and Mercury Records in Europe released an Animalympics soundtrack album, which has long been out of print. The music on this soundtrack was written and produced entirely by Graham Gouldman, who performed the tracks himself along with other members of 10cc (Gouldman was the bassist for the band at the time).[10]
Pieces of classical music play in the Animalympics Movie. The Hut on Fowl's Legs (Baba-Yagá) from Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky plays during Tatyana Tushenko's floor exercises. March to the Scaffold from Symphony Fantastique by Hector Berlioz plays during the couple's figure skating. The 3rd movement from Symphony No. 3 by Johannes Brahms plays during Dorie Turnell's skating performance.
The German distributor Alive released a Region 2 DVD on October 5, 2007, containing the original English version and a German dub.[11]
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