A Wish for Wings That Work (1991)

Opus the Penguin struggles to achieve his seemingly impossible dream to be able to fly.

Director:

Skip Jones

Writers:

Berkeley Breathed, Berkeley Breathed (book)

Stars:

Michael Bell, Joe Alaskey, John Byner

Cast

Cast overview:
Michael Bell	...	Opus (voice)
Joe Alaskey	...	Truffles / The Ducks (voice)
John Byner	...	Bill the Cat (voice)
Tress MacNeille	...	The Chicken (voice)
Andrew Hill Newman	...	Santa (voice)
Robin Williams	...	The Kiwi (voice) (as Sudy Nim)
Alexaundria Simmons	...	Ronald-Ann (voice)
Frank Welker	...	Santa Claus (voice)

Storyline

Opus the Penguin, amoung his other problems, always felt inadequate by his being "aerodynamicly impaired". Together, with Bill the Cat he tries doggedly to overcome that weakness, all without success. It is only on Christmas Eve that Opus learns what worth his natural abilities are.

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Plot Keywords:

penguin | duck | talking animal | kiwi | pig | 

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Genres:

Animation | Short | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 December 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Wish for Wings That Work

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amblin Television, Universal Cartoon Studios, Universal Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

22 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The live-action footage from Opus' nightmare is from Lost Horizon (1973).

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Goofs

The cockpit window in the Lost Horizon dream doesn't match the cockpit window that's inside Opus's cockpit.

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Quotes

Opus: As your records will show, Father Christmas, I am a bird. Specifically, a penguin. An embarrassing accident at birth, for which I do not blame my mother. I prefer to blame Congress.

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Crazy Credits

After the credits, we see Truffles yelling up at Opus "Don't get cocky up there!" before Opus' prothstetic buttocks falls on him.

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Connections

References Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

User Reviews

A beautiful fairytale

Based on Berke Breathed's popular cartoon Bloom County, A Wish for Wings that Work is sure to amuse and enthrall every audience, from youngest to oldest. Wings is the story of Opus the penguin, whose greatest wish is to fly. But alas, penguins are not meant to fly no matter how hard some of them try. Throughout the movie Opus' misadventures entice the watcher to both laugh and cry, before, as befalls a good fairytale, it ends happily albeit with a twist.

Although I am no great fan of cartoons I really enjoyed Wings. It has a charming quality to it, an ability to make people feel like children again. Making it even better is the fact that it has a number of rather adult jokes (such as Elvis turning up or the Toy and Gun store being named after Norman Schwarzkopf).

In all I strongly recommend A Wish for Wings that Work, whether you are a Bloom County fan or not.