Cover
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Author | Berkeley Breathed |
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Illustrator | Berkeley Breathed |
Cover artist | Berkeley Breathed |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Genre | Children's |
Publisher | Little Brown & Co |
Publication date
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1991 |
Pages | 32 |
ISBN |
A Wish for Wings that Work | |
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2007 DVD cover
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Directed by | Skip Jones |
Produced by | Peggy Regan |
Written by | 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 Dustin Hoffman |
Music by | Thomas Chase Steve Rucker |
Edited by | Larry C. Cowan |
Distributed by |
Amblin Television Universal Cartoon Studios |
Release date
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December 18, 1991 |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
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.
The story centers on Opus the Penguin (a main character of 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; when it comes time to test the machine by jumping off a three-mile-high cliff, Opus decides to do something less dangerous, and 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.
On December 18, 1991, an animated special based on the book aired on CBS. It was directed by Skip Jones and was produced by Peggy Regan for Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television for Universal Cartoon Studios. It was released on DVD on November 6, 2007.
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.