''Animalympics'' is a 1980 American animated

sports comedy A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme. It is a production in which a sport or a sports-related topic is prominently featured or is a focus of the plot. De ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

directed by

Steven Lisberger Steven M. Lisberger (born April 24, 1951) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for writing and directing the 1982 film ''Tron''. Early life and education Lisberger was born in 1951 in New York City and gre ...

and produced by Lisberger Studios for the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

network. Originally commissioned as two separate specials, it spoofs the

Summer Summer or summertime is the hottest and brightest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are the longest and darkness hours are the shortest, with day ...

and

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in ...

and features the voices of

Billy Crystal William Edward Crystal (born March 14, 1948)On page 17 of his book ''700 Sundays'', Crystal displays his birth announcement, which gives his first two names as "William Edward", not "William Jacob" is an American comedian, actor, and filmmaker. ...

Gilda Radner Gilda Susan Radner (June 28, 1946 – May 20, 1989) was an American actress and comedian. She was one of the seven Saturday Night Live cast members, original cast members of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on the NBC sketch comedy series ...

Harry Shearer Harry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, musician, radio host, writer, and producer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Shearer began his career as a child actor. From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member of The ...

and

Michael Fremer Michael Alan Fremer (born 1947) is an American music journalist, YouTuber, and voice actor from New York City, known for writing about audiophile equipment and vinyl. He is the editor of ''The Tracking Angle'' and Senior Editor at ''The Absolute ...

Plot

The film is a series of vignettes presented as the broadcast of the first animal Olympic Games through the fictional ZOO television network. The Games combine summer and winter Olympic events. The event is covered mostly by Barbara Warblers, a songbird, and "anchorturtle" Henry Hummel. The

100-meter dash The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

is covered in the style of a

drag race Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, mos ...

by Jackie Fuelit. Unlike the real Olympics, continents are represented rather than countries. The continents featured are North America, South America,

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia. Eurasia represents the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, whereas Europe represents Western and Central Europe. The only mention of areas other than continents are the New York City Rats soccer team, Dean Wilson being from California, a Central American marathon runner named Pepé Repanosa, an

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...

cliff diver named "Primo Cabeza", marathon runner Terry Hornsby being from

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

, René Fromage being from France, and Kurt Wüfner appearing at the downhill event right before a

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

n is given a gold medal. Although many of the segments stand alone, there are some recurring events and important characters. The largest such story is the coverage of the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

, where competitors René Fromage and Kit Mambo are the favorites to win. Both are 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 Wüffner, a West German

dachshund The dachshund ( or ; German: 'badger dog'), also known as the wiener dog or sausage dog, badger dog, doxen and doxie, is a short-legged, long-bodied, hound-type dog breed. The dog may be smooth-haired, wire-haired, or long-haired, with varie ...

skier Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International ...

, and his disappearance to Dogra-la during a mountain climbing expedition shortly after the slalom event. There are even cases of players attempting to cheat in the games, only to end up losing disgracefully while their honorable opponents take home the victory. At the start of the soccer game, the New York Ratpack led by Rizzo the "Whiz" uses underhanded maneuvers to win; yet they are overpowered by the European All-Stars Hounds led by Rolf Shmecker whose experience brings home the win. During the ice hockey game, the Eurasian Longhorns have rigged the entire ice rink with explosives in order to help take out their rivals; the North American Kodiaks, led by their coach Bear McLane. Yet in spite of the foul play, the Kodiaks still emerge victorious due to the efforts of their star player Guy Lafluke. In the swimming game for the 100 meter free-style lap, the largest swimmer Ono Nono tries to take out the entire competition with a tidal wave to ensure no one else but him wins; yet he is defeated by the young surfer Dean Wilson who uses his own tail as a surfboard to ride the wave to the finish line first. With the boxing game, viscous brawler Janos Brushteckel is known for overpowering his opponents with excessive force; yet aspiring boxer Joey Gongolong manages to outmaneuver him with clever strategy and out-boxer style to wear him down and ultimately deal the winning blow. For the fencing game, Count Maurice Boar-Deaux uses underhanded moves to take out all other fencers; only to be outsmarted by The Contessa whose graceful moves and style help her to adapt to the Count's actions and ultimately overcome him, avenging all the players whom he wronged. A minor story features an

alligator An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus ''Alligator'' of the Family (biology), family Alligatoridae in the Order (biology), order Crocodilia. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mis ...

named Bolt Jenkins. He was "born as a handbag" and told that he would never walk again. A song during his story reveals that he lives in the sewers. After seeing a frog named Boris Amphibiensky break the world record for the

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

, Jenkins has an epiphany, and becomes determined to break the record. Jenkins goes on to set world records in the high jump, the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

, and later the

. Jenkins sacrifices his gold medal in the hundred meter dash to an African competitor and favorite whom Jenkins considers to be his superior. The film spoofs real-life sports personalities like

Howard Cosell Howard William Cosell (; né Cohen; March 25, 1918 – April 23, 1995) was an American sports journalist, broadcaster and author. Cosell became prominent and influential during his tenure with ABC Sports from 1953 until 1985. Cosell was widel ...

and

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...

Voice cast

as Barbra Warblers / Brenda Springer / Cora Lee Perrier / Tatyana Tushenko / Dorrie Turnell / The Contessa *

as Rugs Turkell / Joey Gongolong / Art Antica / Bruce Kwakimoto *

as Keen Hacksaw / Mayor of Animalympic Island / Burnt Woody / Mark Spritz *

as Henry Hummel / René Fromage / Kit Mambo / Bolt Jenkins / Kurt Wuffner / Dean Wilson / Mele / Count Maurice Boar-Deaux / Jackie Fuelit / Bear McLane / Guy Lafluke / Bjorn Freeborg / Mamo Ululu

Production

''Animalympics'' was commissioned by

in 1978, as the network intended Lisberger Studios to create it as two hour-long specials to be paired alongside coverage of both the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

and the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

then held in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. But after the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

had invaded and gained control of Afghanistan, then

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

decided to boycott the Moscow Summer Olympics. Because of this, NBC canceled its Olympic coverage and the ''Animalympics'' Summer special. However, from its conception, producer

Donald Kushner Donald Kushner (born March 2, 1945) is an American producer who has worked with animation, live-action, and theater productions. Biography Kushner was born March 2, 1945, to Ann Gardner. He has two sisters. Kushner attended high school in Pr ...

and director Steven Lisberger intended the project as a feature-length theatrical release (complete with Dolby surround sound via 35mm film), even though The Winter Olympics special was already considered for an

Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year ...

nomination. Among those who worked on ''Animalympics'' were art director/animator

Roger Allers Roger Allers (born June 29, 1949) is an American film director, screenwriter, animator, storyboard artist, and playwright. He is best known for co-directing Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney's ''The Lion King'' (1994), the highest-grossing t ...

, animation director

Bill Kroyer William Kroyer is an American director of animation and computer graphics commercials, short films, movie titles, and theatrical films. He and Jerry Rees were the main animators for the CGI sequences in '' Tron''. From 2009 to 2021, he served as ...

, and animator

Brad Bird Philip Bradley Bird (born September 24, 1957) is an American filmmaker, animator, and voice actor. He has had a career spanning over four decades in both animation and Live action, live-action. Bird was born in Montana and grew up in Oregon. He ...

. Allers, who animated Kit Mambo, the lion star of ''Animalympics,'' went on to direct ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical coming-of-age drama film directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, produced by Don Hahn, and written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. Produced by Walt Disney ...

.'' Kroyer later wrote and directed the Oscar-nominated short '' Technological Threat'' and the animated feature '' FernGully: The Last Rainforest.'' Bird went on to work as story editor on the animated sitcom ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'', and later achieved even greater success writing and directing the animated films ''

The Iron Giant ''The Iron Giant'' is a 1999 American animated science fiction film directed by Brad Bird and produced by Warner Bros. Feature Animation. It is loosely based on the 1968 novel '' The Iron Man'' by Ted Hughes (which was published in the United ...

'', ''

The Incredibles ''The Incredibles'' is a 2004 American animated superhero film written and directed by Brad Bird. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, the film stars the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer ...

'' and ''

Ratatouille Ratatouille ( , ; ) is a French Provençal dish of stewed vegetables that originated in Nice and is sometimes referred to as ''ratatouille niçoise'' (). Recipes and cooking times differ widely, but common ingredients include tomato, garlic ...

''. Director Lisberger went on to conceive, co-write and direct the science fiction

cult classic A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...

Tron ''Tron'' (stylized as ''TRON'') is a 1982 American science fiction action adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer ...

'', 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. Fremer also went on to supervise the soundtrack to ''

'' as well.

Soundtrack

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

in the US, and

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

in Europe released an Animalympics soundtrack album, which has long been out of print. The music on this soundtrack was written and produced by

Graham Gouldman Graham Keith Gouldman (born 10 May 1946) is an English singer, musician and songwriter, best known as the co-lead singer and bassist of the art rock band 10cc. He has been the band's only constant member since its formation in 1972. Before 10c ...

, who performed the tracks himself along with other members of

10cc 10cc are an English rock music, rock band formed in Stockport, southeast of Manchester, in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians, Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, who had written and recorded togethe ...

(Gouldman is the bassist and co-founder of the band). The soundtrack was recorded primarily in

Strawberry Studios Strawberry Studios was a recording studio in Stockport, historically in Cheshire, now within Greater Manchester, England. Founded in 1968, it operated until the early 1990s. Strawberry Studios was used by a range of artists including the Ramones ...

North and South, used extensively by 10cc, as well as in Los Angeles. Pieces of classical music play in the film. "The Hut on Hen's Legs (Baba Yaga)" from ''

Pictures at an Exhibition ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' is a piano suite in ten movements, plus a recurring and varied Promenade theme, written in 1874 by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky. It is a musical depiction of a tour of an exhibition of works by architect and ...

'' by

Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (; ; ; – ) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five (composers), The Five." He was an innovator of Music of Russia, Russian music in the Romantic music, Romantic period and strove to achieve a ...

plays during Tatyana Tushenko's floor exercises. "March to the Scaffold" from ''

Symphonie fantastique ' (''Fantastic Symphony: Episode in the Life of an Artist … in Five Sections'') Opus number, Op. 14, is a program music, programmatic symphony written by Hector Berlioz in 1830. The first performance was at the Paris Conservatoire on 5 December ...

'' by

Hector Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

plays during the couple's figure skating. The 3rd movement from Symphony No. 4 by

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

plays during Dorie Turnell's skating performance.

Track listing

All tracks are written by

Side 1 Side 2

Personnel

Per vinyl liner notes *

–

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

and

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

* Rick Fenn – guitar, backing vocals * Duncan Mackay – keyboards,

clavinet The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...

, backing vocals * Paul Burgess –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Stuart Tosh Stuart Mcbeath Tosh (born 26 September 1948) is a Scottish drummer, songwriter and vocalist. He recorded and toured with a succession of bands during the 1970s and 1980s, including Pilot, The Alan Parsons Project, 10cc, Camel, and Roger Daltre ...

– backing vocals * Mike Timony –

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

on "Love's Not For Me (Rene's Song)" *

Jimmie Haskell Jimmie Haskell (born Sheridan Pearlman; November 7, 1926 – February 4, 2016) was an American composer and arranger for motion pictures and a wide variety of popular artists, including Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Steely D ...

– orchestral arrangements * Sid Sharp –

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...

* Joel Sill – coordinator * Alan Barson, Chris Nagle, Larry Forkner –

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

* Tony Spath – engineering, mix-down engineer * Melvyn Abrahams – mastering and half speed mastering at Strawberry Mastering and Sheffield Lab Matrix

Release

Despite the 1980 NBC premiere being cancelled midway, Lisberger Studios prepared a theatrical version for overseas markets by editing together the

and

sections, alongside other additions and changes to increase its run-time for theatrical exhibition. Though ''Animalympics'' never found a theatrical distributor in the U.S.,

Telepictures Telepictures (also known as Telepictures Productions; formerly known as Telepictures Distribution and Telepictures Corporation) is an American television show and filmmaking company, currently operating as a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Entertainmen ...

did acquire US home video and pay-TV distribution rights to it shortly after the NBC cancellation. It eventually got a full US TV premiere on NBC affiliate

WPTZ WPTZ (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Plattsburgh, New York, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for the Burlington, Vermont–Plattsburgh, New York market. It is owned by Hearst Television alongside Montpelier, Vermo ...

on July 4, 1982. ''Animalympics'' also aired in its theatrical form on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

and Showtime nationwide in summer 1984, as well as intermittently during the early to mid-1990s on

The Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company. Launched on April 18, 1983, under the na ...

Availability

The film was released on VHS by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

, Family Home Entertainment and UAV Corporation. On April 3, 2018, Hen's Tooth Video put out the first-ever region 1 DVD release. In 2019, German label WinklerFilm put out a remastered DVD alongside the first-ever Blu-ray release worldwide.

References

External links

*
''Animalympics''
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on April 4, 2012. *
Animalympics
' on

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...