The Smurfs and the Magic Flute
Encyclopedia
The Smurfs and the Magic Flute is a 1976 Belgian animated film starring the Smurfs
, directed by their creator, Peyo
. Though the film premiered in 1976 in Belgium, and 1979 in the United Kingdom, an English language
version was not released in the United States until 1983, in the wake of the characters' newfound popularity.
Although the Smurfs play a major part in the film, they do not appear until 20 minutes into the film. The film, set in the Middle Ages
, mainly surrounds Johan and Peewit
, a young squire
and his jester sidekick. Johan and Peewit had also been created by Peyo in 1952 and it was in their adventures that the Smurfs were first introduced in 1958.
The film was not produced by Hanna-Barbera
, the creators of the Smurfs television series, but by Brussels
' Belvision Studios
. The voice talent from that show was not present in the English version either; instead, the work was handled by a non-union crew whose members had previously appeared in anime dubs for U.S. television.
A presentation of independent film company Atlantic Releasing
in the United States, The Smurfs and the Magic Flute grossed over US$11 million, the highest for a non-Disney
animated release until 1985's The Care Bears Movie
. The film's success led to the creation of Clubhouse Pictures, Atlantic's children's film division.
That night a man named Matthew McCreep learns from the merchant that the same flute he had been looking for is at the castle. He heads over to the castle and steals the flute from Peewit. The king sends Peewit and the young knight Johan out to catch McCreep who uses the flute to rob people of their money. However McCreep uses the flute to stop them. Johan and Peewit then go to the house of Homnibus the wizard. Using a spell called Hypnokenesis, the wizard sends Johan and Peewit to Smurfland where the magic flute was built.
Upon arriving they meet a smurf who leads them to the village. Papa Smurf greets the two of them and tells them that they'll make a new flute in order to counter McCreep's flute. The smurfs head into the forest and chop down a huge tree to get wood from the tree trunk's very centre as only this kind of wood can be useful in crafting a magical flute. Afterwards they celebrate with a party. However, just as Papa Smurf is about to give the flute to Johan and Peewit, the two are warped back to the wizard's house. Homnibus tries the spell again but passes out from a headache.
Meanwhile, McCreep who has now stolen over 7,000 gold pieces arrives at the castle of his partner, Earl Flatbroke. McCreep tells Flatbroke of his plan to go to an island to hire people for an army to raise war on the King's castle; fortunately, two Smurfs had been listening to this. Back at the wizard's house, the Smurfs regroup with Johan and Peewit and give them the magic flute. Then they head to the port of Terminac where McCreep sets sail for the island. However they are too late. Papa Smurf tells Johan and Peewit about Flatbroke's castle and Johan comes up with a plan.
Flatbroke receives a letter from McCreep (written by Johan) to come to the island. He heads over to Terminac to board a ship where Johan and Peewit are also on board in disguise as well as Papa Smurf and 3 others. They head to the island where Johan and Peewit tail Flatbroke. Suddenly Peewit comes face to face with McCreep and they both start playing their flutes to each other. They both become exhausted soon after, but Peewit knocks out McCreep with a final note.
With McCreep and Flatbroke being brought back to the castle and all the stolen money recovered, Peewit now has two magic flutes. Johan tells him that the flutes are dangerous and must be brought back to the Smurfs, but Peewit begins to carve a phony flute to give to them instead. At the castle, Johan and Peewit give the flutes back to the smurfs, and after they leave, Peewit starts playing the flute, only to realize (to his horror) that it has no effect on the townsfolk; it is the fake flute he had made!
In 2008, a prequel Les Schtroumpfeurs de flûte ("The Flute Smurfers") was published, marking the 50th anniversary of the original story to introduce the Smurfs. This story tells of how the Smurfs make the magic flute and how it ends up in the hands of a human merchant.
. The music score was written by Michel Legrand
, a recent Oscar winner for Summer of '42
and the original Thomas Crown Affair
. It was released a year later in its native Belgium, and in some European territories subsequently. A book adaptation of the film, by Anthea Bell
, was published in Great Britain by Hodder and Stoughton in 1979 (ISBN 0-340-24068-7).
It was not until the success of Hanna-Barbera's Smurfs cartoon that Flute began to gain widespread attention: in the early 1980s, Stuart R. Ross, head of First Performance Pictures Corporation, acquired the American rights to the film for US$1,000,000. In doing so, he sold those rights to Tribune Entertainment
(television), Vestron Video
(home video), and Atlantic Releasing
(theatrical).
The English dubbing for the movie was not provided by the Hanna-Barbera cast members, but by non-union talent who were contributing at the time to American versions of imported anime. John Rust, the director of this dub, appeared as one of the voices.
The North American release of Flute, courtesy of Ross' First Performance and Atlantic, grossed US$11 million out of a maximum 432 venues, the highest on record for a non-Disney production until The Care Bears Movie in 1985, and was among Atlantic's all-time top five movies at the box office. Thanks to its success, Atlantic released several more animated features, many of which were distributed by their short-lived children's subsidiary, Clubhouse Pictures.
The theatrical poster for the film boasted, "It's the Smurfs' ONE and ONLY full length motion picture...ever!" Prior to Flute, however, a black-and-white compilation feature, Les Aventures des Schtroumpfs
, was released in Belgium in the mid-1960s, and had been forgotten by the time this film debuted in the US (1983).
The film features Papa Smurf
, Brainy Smurf
, Grouchy Smurf, Hefty Smurf (named "Strong-man Smurf" in one of the English dubs) Handy Smurf, Clumsy Smurf, Greedy Smurf (named "sweetie" in one of the English dubs), Poet Smurf, Farmer Smurf, and a new character, Festive smurf ("actor Smurf in different dub version") - who loved to sing, dance and whose priority was wanting to have a party.
However, unlike the Hanna-Barbera cartoons, all the Smurfs (with the exception of Papa Smurf
, Grouchy Smurf and Brainy Smurf
) look alike and don't have their trademark attributes, just like in the original comic book series.
The humor is also closer to the one from the comic books. Rather than being symbolically thrown away, Brainy Smurf is constantly being whacked with a hammer by other Smurfs simply for talking too much.
The characters of Gargamel
, Azrael
and Smurfette
are not present in the film.
The UK dub is different than the American version. Many of the names are wrong and several Smurfs are called by the wrong names. The UK version is now available on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK.
The film was originally released on VHS
and laserdisc
in September 1984 by the aforementioned Vestron Video, and reissued later in the decade by the discount Video Treasures and Avid Home Entertainment labels.
No American DVD release yet.
wrote in his Animated Movie Guide:
The film was a big hit at the box office and along with The Care Bears Movie helped launch "Clubhouse Pictures" and started the trend of animated films getting big-screen releases in the 80s.
The Smurfs
The Smurfs is a comic and television franchise centred on a group of small blue fictional creatures called Smurfs, created and first introduced as a series of comic strips by the Belgian cartoonist Peyo on October 23, 1958...
, directed by their creator, Peyo
Peyo
Pierre Culliford , known as Peyo, was a Belgian comics artist, perhaps best known for the creation of The Smurfs comic strip.-Biography:...
. Though the film premiered in 1976 in Belgium, and 1979 in the United Kingdom, an English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
version was not released in the United States until 1983, in the wake of the characters' newfound popularity.
Although the Smurfs play a major part in the film, they do not appear until 20 minutes into the film. The film, set in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, mainly surrounds Johan and Peewit
Johan and Peewit
Johan and Peewit is a Belgian comics series created by Peyo. Since its initial appearance in 1947 it has been published in 13 albums that appeared before the death of Peyo in 1992. Thereafter, a team of comic book creators from Studio Peyo continued to publish the stories.The series is set in...
, a young squire
Squire
The English word squire is a shortened version of the word Esquire, from the Old French , itself derived from the Late Latin , in medieval or Old English a scutifer. The Classical Latin equivalent was , "arms bearer"...
and his jester sidekick. Johan and Peewit had also been created by Peyo in 1952 and it was in their adventures that the Smurfs were first introduced in 1958.
The film was not produced by Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
, the creators of the Smurfs television series, but by Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
' Belvision Studios
Belvision Studios
Belvision Studios was a Belgian animated cartoon studio best known for producing Hergé's Adventures of Tintin and other films and series in animation, and was active from 1956 until about 1976. One of their major achievements in animation was the production of Tintin and the Lake of Sharks....
. The voice talent from that show was not present in the English version either; instead, the work was handled by a non-union crew whose members had previously appeared in anime dubs for U.S. television.
A presentation of independent film company Atlantic Releasing
Atlantic Releasing
Atlantic Entertainment Group, also known as Atlantic Releasing Corporation was an independent film production and distribution company founded by Tom Coleman and Michael Rosenblatt in 1974...
in the United States, The Smurfs and the Magic Flute grossed over US$11 million, the highest for a non-Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
animated release until 1985's The Care Bears Movie
The Care Bears Movie
The Care Bears Movie is a 1985 Canadian animated film, the second feature production from the Toronto animation studio Nelvana. One of the first films based directly on a toy line, it introduced the Care Bears characters and their companions, the Care Bear Cousins. In the film, orphanage owners...
. The film's success led to the creation of Clubhouse Pictures, Atlantic's children's film division.
Plot
This story is set at a castle during the Middle Ages. One day a merchant brings musical instruments to sell to Peewit, the court jester, but because Peewit is such a terrible musician the King throws the merchant out before Peewit arrives. However he has left behind a flute that only has six holes. The King throws it into the fireplace in his room, which starts to emit green smoke. When the fire is put out, Peewit retrieves the flute from the ashes unharmed. He cleans it and starts playing it for the whole castle realizing that it causes everyone to dance when it is played.That night a man named Matthew McCreep learns from the merchant that the same flute he had been looking for is at the castle. He heads over to the castle and steals the flute from Peewit. The king sends Peewit and the young knight Johan out to catch McCreep who uses the flute to rob people of their money. However McCreep uses the flute to stop them. Johan and Peewit then go to the house of Homnibus the wizard. Using a spell called Hypnokenesis, the wizard sends Johan and Peewit to Smurfland where the magic flute was built.
Upon arriving they meet a smurf who leads them to the village. Papa Smurf greets the two of them and tells them that they'll make a new flute in order to counter McCreep's flute. The smurfs head into the forest and chop down a huge tree to get wood from the tree trunk's very centre as only this kind of wood can be useful in crafting a magical flute. Afterwards they celebrate with a party. However, just as Papa Smurf is about to give the flute to Johan and Peewit, the two are warped back to the wizard's house. Homnibus tries the spell again but passes out from a headache.
Meanwhile, McCreep who has now stolen over 7,000 gold pieces arrives at the castle of his partner, Earl Flatbroke. McCreep tells Flatbroke of his plan to go to an island to hire people for an army to raise war on the King's castle; fortunately, two Smurfs had been listening to this. Back at the wizard's house, the Smurfs regroup with Johan and Peewit and give them the magic flute. Then they head to the port of Terminac where McCreep sets sail for the island. However they are too late. Papa Smurf tells Johan and Peewit about Flatbroke's castle and Johan comes up with a plan.
Flatbroke receives a letter from McCreep (written by Johan) to come to the island. He heads over to Terminac to board a ship where Johan and Peewit are also on board in disguise as well as Papa Smurf and 3 others. They head to the island where Johan and Peewit tail Flatbroke. Suddenly Peewit comes face to face with McCreep and they both start playing their flutes to each other. They both become exhausted soon after, but Peewit knocks out McCreep with a final note.
With McCreep and Flatbroke being brought back to the castle and all the stolen money recovered, Peewit now has two magic flutes. Johan tells him that the flutes are dangerous and must be brought back to the Smurfs, but Peewit begins to carve a phony flute to give to them instead. At the castle, Johan and Peewit give the flutes back to the smurfs, and after they leave, Peewit starts playing the flute, only to realize (to his horror) that it has no effect on the townsfolk; it is the fake flute he had made!
French version
- Georges Atlas as Sénéchal
- Jacques Balutin
- Angelo Bardi
- Jacques Ciron as Visitor
- William Coryn as Johan
- Henri Crémieux as Homnibus
- Roger Crouzet as Smurf #2
- Jacques DynamJacques DynamJacques Dynam was a French film actor. He appeared in over 150 films between 1942 and 2004. He was born and died in Paris, France.-Selected filmography:* My Wife Is Formidable...
- Michel Elias as Papa Smurf
- Ginette GarcinGinette GarcinGinette Garcin was a French actress of stage, film and television.-Biography:Ginette Garcin made her musical debut with Jacques Hélian and his orchestra in 1946. She then worked with Loulou Gasté and went on to appear in Strélesky's absurdist theatre revues in Rouen...
as Dame Barde - Henri LabussièreHenri LabussièreHenri Labussière was a French actor and comedian. He mostly appeared on stage in various comedy plays between 1949 and 2000. As a film actor he starred in Yves Robert's War of the Buttons in 1962.-External links:...
as Fisherman - Jacques MarinJacques MarinJacques Marin was a French actor on film and TV. Marin's good command of the English language and his resemblance to the stereotypical Frenchman looks made him a familiar face in some major American and British productions and Disney movies Jacques Marin (September 9, 1919, Paris – January...
- Albert Médina as Torchesac
- Michel Modo as Pirlouit
- Georges Pradez as King
- Serge Nadaud as Guard / Deaf person / Oliver / Silvermonger
- Jacques Ruisseau as Smurf #1
English version
- Cam ClarkeCam ClarkeCameron Arthur "Cam" Clarke is a prolific American voice actor and singer, well known for his work in animation and video games. Clarke is well known for providing the voices of Leonardo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Shotaro Kaneda in the 1989 original English-dub of Akira. He often voices...
- Peewit - Durga McBroomDurga McBroomDurga McBroom is a singer and actress, born October 16, 1962 in California, who has performed backing vocals for Pink Floyd and was a member of Blue Pearl.-Biography:...
- Patty Foley
- Grant Gottschall
- Mike Reynolds - Papa Smurf, Matthew McCreep
- Ted Lehman
- Bill CapizziBill CapizziBill Capizzi was a voice actor who is also known as Bill Capeze and Bill Kapezi. He was born in North Hollywood, California.-Anime:* Digimon Adventure - Frigimon* G-Force: Guardians of Space - Galactor...
- Ron GansRon GansRonald Kenneth Gans , sometimes credited as Ron Kennedy, was an American voice-over artist and character actor, known for portraying Sebastian the alley cat on The Disney Channel's Dumbo's Circus and the voice of Eeyore on Welcome to Pooh Corner. He also voiced the Stunticon Drag Strip in The...
- X. Phifer
- Dudly Knight
- John Rust
- Richard Miller
- David Page
- Robert AxelrodRobert Axelrod (actor)Robert Axelrod is a U.S. actor who has been in several movies and lent his voice to countless televisual shows including Digimon, having started vocal acting for the English versions of Japanese cartoons in 1980...
- Brainy Smurf - Michael SorichMichael SorichMichael John Sorich is an American voice actor who is also a screen actor, writer, director and voice director.- Biography :...
- Hefty Smurf - Richard AshleyRichard AshleyRichard Ashley , is a former first-class cricketer who played two matches for Somerset County Cricket Club in 1932. He also appeared in two first-class matches in India in the late 1930s, playing for Mysore in the Ranji Trophy and for the Europeans in the Bombay Pentangular Tournament...
- Ed DevereauxEd DevereauxEd Devereaux was an Australian actor, who lived in the UK for many years. He was best known for playing the part of "Matt Hammond" in the Australian children's television series Skippy. He was also involved in the series behind the scenes: Devereaux directed The Veteran , for which he received...
- Harry Dickman
- Paul Felber
- Michael FieldsMichael FieldsMichael Fields may refer to:*Michael Fields , American TV director, writer and producer*Michael Fields , British lute and theorbo player*Mickey Fields, jazz musicianSee also*Michael Field...
- Kalman Glass
- Stuart Lock
- Anna Mackeown
- Vernon MorrisVernon MorrisVernon Leslie Morris was a Welsh cricketer. Morris was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium pace. Morris was born at Briton Ferry, Glamorgan....
- Bill OwenBill OwenWilliam John Owen Rowbotham MBE , better known as Bill Owen, was an English actor and songwriter.-Career:...
- Richard Pescud
- Yael O'Dwyer
Inspiration
The film is based on La Flûte à six trous ("The Flute with Six Holes"), which appeared in the Belgian weekly comic Spirou magazine in 1958-59. Subsequent book publications renamed it as La Flûte à six Schtroumpfs ("The Flute with Six Smurfs"), which was also the French title of the film.In 2008, a prequel Les Schtroumpfeurs de flûte ("The Flute Smurfers") was published, marking the 50th anniversary of the original story to introduce the Smurfs. This story tells of how the Smurfs make the magic flute and how it ends up in the hands of a human merchant.
Production and release
Peyo, the creator of the Smurfs, oversaw the production of La Flûte à six schtroumpfs at Brussels' Belvision in 1975. The film was based on Peyo's comic album of the same name, and the ninth to feature his duo of characters, Johan and PeewitJohan and Peewit
Johan and Peewit is a Belgian comics series created by Peyo. Since its initial appearance in 1947 it has been published in 13 albums that appeared before the death of Peyo in 1992. Thereafter, a team of comic book creators from Studio Peyo continued to publish the stories.The series is set in...
. The music score was written by Michel Legrand
Michel Legrand
Michel Jean Legrand is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist...
, a recent Oscar winner for Summer of '42
Summer of '42
Summer of '42 is a 1971 American coming-of-age drama film based on the memoirs of screenwriter Herman Raucher. It tells the story of how Raucher, in his early teens on his 1942 summer vacation on Nantucket Island, off the coast of New England, embarked on a one-sided romance with a woman, Dorothy,...
and the original Thomas Crown Affair
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film)
The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1968 film by Norman Jewison starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. It was nominated for two Academy Awards and won the Award for Best Song with Michel Legrand's "Windmills of Your Mind"...
. It was released a year later in its native Belgium, and in some European territories subsequently. A book adaptation of the film, by Anthea Bell
Anthea Bell
Anthea Bell OBE is a British translator who has translated numerous literary works, especially children's literature, from French, German, Danish and Polish to English...
, was published in Great Britain by Hodder and Stoughton in 1979 (ISBN 0-340-24068-7).
It was not until the success of Hanna-Barbera's Smurfs cartoon that Flute began to gain widespread attention: in the early 1980s, Stuart R. Ross, head of First Performance Pictures Corporation, acquired the American rights to the film for US$1,000,000. In doing so, he sold those rights to Tribune Entertainment
Tribune Entertainment
Tribune Entertainment was a television production and syndication company owned and operated by Tribune Broadcasting in the mid-1980s. Many programs offered from Tribune Entertainment have been broadcast on the company's television stations....
(television), Vestron Video
Vestron Video
Vestron Video was the main subsidiary of Vestron, Inc., a home video company based in Stamford, Connecticut that was active from 1982 to 1992. It is considered to have been a pioneer in the home video market....
(home video), and Atlantic Releasing
Atlantic Releasing
Atlantic Entertainment Group, also known as Atlantic Releasing Corporation was an independent film production and distribution company founded by Tom Coleman and Michael Rosenblatt in 1974...
(theatrical).
The English dubbing for the movie was not provided by the Hanna-Barbera cast members, but by non-union talent who were contributing at the time to American versions of imported anime. John Rust, the director of this dub, appeared as one of the voices.
The North American release of Flute, courtesy of Ross' First Performance and Atlantic, grossed US$11 million out of a maximum 432 venues, the highest on record for a non-Disney production until The Care Bears Movie in 1985, and was among Atlantic's all-time top five movies at the box office. Thanks to its success, Atlantic released several more animated features, many of which were distributed by their short-lived children's subsidiary, Clubhouse Pictures.
The theatrical poster for the film boasted, "It's the Smurfs' ONE and ONLY full length motion picture...ever!" Prior to Flute, however, a black-and-white compilation feature, Les Aventures des Schtroumpfs
Les Aventures des Schtroumpfs
Les Aventures des Schtroumpfs is an animated feature film based on the Belgian comic book series "The Smurfs". It was the first animated feature film featuring the Smurf characters. The film was released in 1965 in Belgium...
, was released in Belgium in the mid-1960s, and had been forgotten by the time this film debuted in the US (1983).
The film features Papa Smurf
Papa Smurf
Papa Smurf is a male fictional character from The Smurfs. At 542 years old is the third-oldest Smurf after Grandpa and Nanny, and well above the typical age of the other Smurfs, which are approximately 100 years old...
, Brainy Smurf
Brainy Smurf
Brainy Smurf is a male fictional character from The Smurfs.- Character :Brainy Smurf fancies himself as the all-around-brain of the village. Although he acts as though he is second-in-command behind Papa Smurf, this isn't the case and even Papa Smurf doesn't seem very fond of his sanctimonious...
, Grouchy Smurf, Hefty Smurf (named "Strong-man Smurf" in one of the English dubs) Handy Smurf, Clumsy Smurf, Greedy Smurf (named "sweetie" in one of the English dubs), Poet Smurf, Farmer Smurf, and a new character, Festive smurf ("actor Smurf in different dub version") - who loved to sing, dance and whose priority was wanting to have a party.
However, unlike the Hanna-Barbera cartoons, all the Smurfs (with the exception of Papa Smurf
Papa Smurf
Papa Smurf is a male fictional character from The Smurfs. At 542 years old is the third-oldest Smurf after Grandpa and Nanny, and well above the typical age of the other Smurfs, which are approximately 100 years old...
, Grouchy Smurf and Brainy Smurf
Brainy Smurf
Brainy Smurf is a male fictional character from The Smurfs.- Character :Brainy Smurf fancies himself as the all-around-brain of the village. Although he acts as though he is second-in-command behind Papa Smurf, this isn't the case and even Papa Smurf doesn't seem very fond of his sanctimonious...
) look alike and don't have their trademark attributes, just like in the original comic book series.
The humor is also closer to the one from the comic books. Rather than being symbolically thrown away, Brainy Smurf is constantly being whacked with a hammer by other Smurfs simply for talking too much.
The characters of Gargamel
Gargamel
In the fictional world of The Smurfs, Gargamel the sorcerer is the sworn enemy of the Smurfs and the main antagonist in the show and comic books. While described as a wizard in the narration, Gargamel is not depicted as possessing real magical powers to speak of...
, Azrael
Azrael
Azrael is the name of the Archangel of Death in some extrabiblical traditions. He is also the angel of death in Islamic theology and Sikhism. It is an English form of the Arabic name ʿIzrāʾīl or Azra'eil , the name traditionally attributed to the angel of death in some sects of Islam and Sikhism,...
and Smurfette
Smurfette
Smurfette is a female character from the Smurfs.Smurfette was the only female Smurf until the creation of Sassette. A Granny Smurf was also later introduced, although it is unclear how she was created. Thierry Culliford, the son of Peyo and current head of the Studio Peyo, announced in 2008 that...
are not present in the film.
The UK dub is different than the American version. Many of the names are wrong and several Smurfs are called by the wrong names. The UK version is now available on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK.
The film was originally released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
in September 1984 by the aforementioned Vestron Video, and reissued later in the decade by the discount Video Treasures and Avid Home Entertainment labels.
No American DVD release yet.
Reception
Of The Smurfs and the Magic Flute, animation historian Jerry BeckJerry Beck
Jerry Beck is a well-known animation historian, with ten books and numerous articles to his credit. He is also an animation producer, an industry consultant to Warner Bros., and has been an executive with Nickelodeon and Disney....
wrote in his Animated Movie Guide:
The film was a big hit at the box office and along with The Care Bears Movie helped launch "Clubhouse Pictures" and started the trend of animated films getting big-screen releases in the 80s.
Sources
- Beck, Jerry (2005). The Animated Movie Guide. ISBN 1-55652-591-5. Chicago Reader Press. Retrieved 5 April 2007.