A Wish for Wings That Work

TV Short
19911991
TV-GTV-G
22min

A Wish for Wings That Work (1991)

Animation Short Adventure

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

Director
- Skip Jones
Writer
- Berkeley Breathed(book)
Stars
- Michael Bell(voice)
- Joe Alaskey(voice)
- John Byner(voice)

See production, box office & company info

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

A Wish for Wings That Work (1991)

A Wish for Wings That Work (1991)

A Wish for Wings That Work (1991)

A Wish for Wings That Work (1991)

A Wish for Wings That Work (1991)

A Wish for Wings That Work (1991)

A Wish for Wings That Work (1991)

A Wish for Wings That Work (1991)

A Wish for Wings That Work (1991)

A Wish for Wings That Work (1991)

A Wish for Wings That Work (1991)

Michael Bell in A Wish for Wings That Work (1991)

Opusas Opus
(voice)

Bill the Catas Bill the Cat
(voice)

Tress MacNeille

The Chickenas The Chicken
(voice)

Andrew Hill Newman

Santaas Santa
(voice)

The Kiwias The Kiwi
(voice)
(as Sudy Nim)

Alexaundria Simmons

Ronald-Annas Ronald-Ann
(voice)

Santa Clausas Santa Claus
(voice)

Milquetoast the Cross-Dressing Cockroachas Milquetoast the Cross-Dressing Cockroach
(voice)
(uncredited)

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. —Kenneth Chisholm <kchishol@execulink.com>

duck talking animal kiwi pig cat 14 more

Trivia
Berkeley Breathed was exceptionally displeased with the quality of the final product. In an exchange published in The Washington Post he said to a person trying to find the VHS or DVD version, "Hopefully (you will find it) 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 later interview Breathed explained that the production of the special was very difficult, and that he was constantly at odds with the director, who wanted to add in more crude and vulgar jokes.

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

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.

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.

Connections
Featured in Familiar Faces: Familiar Faces #46: The 12 Forgotten Animated Christmas Classics (2010)

Top review

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.

helpful•4

0

CPol
Sep 30, 1999

Release date
- December 18, 1991 (United States)
Country of origin
- United States
Language
- English
Also known as
- A Wish for Wings That Work: An Opus Christmas Story
Production companies
- Amblin Television
- Universal Animation Studios
See more company credits at IMDbPro

Runtime
- 22min
Color
- Black and White
- Color
Sound mix
- Stereo
Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1

A Wish for Wings That Work (1991)

Top Gap

By what name was A Wish for Wings That Work (1991) officially released in Canada in English?

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