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...because despite the dreaded 'Digitally Remastered Sound & Picture' sales pitch on the back of the box, this little cartoon gem has NOT been ruined with DVNR filtering or any of the horrendous processes companies put older cartoons through to get them 'suitable' for todays audience. I can understand a little filtering and remastering to a toon from the 20s or 30s because of the sheer age of the reels or whatever master tape they have, but when they start filtering it to the point of actually erasing some of lines in the drawings, or removing parts of the soundtrack because the stupid filtering software thinks it's extra noise on the master tape, that's just not acceptable. To sum it up, this Opus & Bill Christmas Special looks EXACTLY like it did on TV back in the 90s. The old feel is still there, but the quality has been bumped up just a teeny tiny tad from the VHS edition. Just enough to make it DVD quality. I am so happy they have preserved this cartoon the right way!! BOO TO FILTERING, AND YAY TO LEAVING STUFF ALONE!! Now as far as the actual content goes, short as it may be this is a very entertaining Christmas toon. In a nutshell Opus the penguin hasn't ever asked ol' Saint Nick for anything in his life, except for this one special Christmas. Opus sees his duck friends enjoying the gift of flight day in and day out, and they always poke fun at poor Opus for being flightless himself. He proceeds to write a letter to Santa explaining his situation, asking him for 'wings that can fly', and you'll just have to buy a copy yourself to see what happens next. From Bill the brain-dead cat to Milquetoast the Cross-Dressing Cockroach (voiced by one Dustin Hoffman), this is a classic, very political Christmas cartoon that will never lose it's fun-factor. A highly recommended buy.Read full review
I was a big fan of the comic strip Bloom County, birthplace of Opus the Penguin and also Bill the Cat. This animated special is based upon a wonderful childrens' book by Berkley Breathed, some time after his strip Bloom County ended. That storybook is loaded with rich and colorful artwork. I feel that in this animated show, they have done a masterful job of bringing the printed pages to life. While I feel that this should be a regular feature on television every Christmas season, it is still a good viewing any time of the year. This show is unlike the comic strip Bloom County, which had a political, somewhat liberal-leaning theme. It stands alone and one does not have to be familiar with Bloom County in order to understand or "get" this program. This cartoon feature is definitely family friendly, and is fun viewing for adults and kids alike. Until the TV folks wise up and run this show yearly - it really is worthy of that status, just as with A Charlie Brown Christmas, A Christmas Story, Rudolph, Frosty and the like - you'll be doing yourself and your family a favor by getting this DVD while you can.Read full review
Some "Christmas Specials" are still on the air and have become classic, despite the fact that the were really not that good. Consider "The Little Drummer Boy" from the early 1970's. You still see that crud on the air, for goodness' sake. But "A Wish for Wings that Work" was a delightful - if offbeat - tale that teaches real Christmas values; thankfulness for who you are, the gifts you possess and confidence that your own uniqueness has worth. Opus is a penguin who wishes that his wings allowed him to fly like other bird species. He makes a wish to Santa Clause to bring him "wings that work." However, when Santa encounters an disaster while delivering gifts, Opus' abilities as an antarctic waterfowl prove to be the key to rescuing Santa and, by extension, Christmas. I only saw "A Wish for Wings that Work" during one Christmas season, back in the 1980's I think, but I wish it was on every year. Consequently, I purchased three - two for the grandchildren and one, of course, for me. Just FYI, I do prefer the book, and I think that you can still find it. I'll have to go looking for it, now.Read full review
I first saw this Christmas special on my tiny 13 inch TV sitting on the floor in my dorm room my freshman year of college. The picture was fuzzy as I had to hold on to the rabbit ears to get the chanel it was on.(I went to college in the middle of nowhere.)I had been a longtime fan of Bloom County and this cartoon didn't fail to deliver. It has all the quirkiness of the original comic strip but it also has a sweet story with a very good message.(It isn't sappy in the least.) Much to my dismay it didn't become a Christmas classic and it was never aired again. Ten plus years later I thought about it again and mentioned it to my husband who has the same sense of humor as I do and I was sure that if he had seen it he would have loved it as I did. We had fun reminiscing about it and shared the sentiment that we thought it would be a holiday standard and missed it very much. I hadn't run into anyone else who had even seen it let alone missed it like I did so I never thought I would see it again. Around the same time I had started to look around Ebay and thought maybe, just maybe, somehow someone else loved it like I did. I typed in "A Wish For Wings That Work" and to my dismay I found it like that! After doing a little dance and calling my husband at work I bought it and began the agonizing wait for the mail to come. When it arrived we immediately shoved it in the DVD player and took a little trip down memory lane. Everything about the special stands up to the test of time and thanks to movies like "March of the Penguins" and "Happy Feet" new generations love everything with at cute penguin in it. "A Wish For Wings That Work" is fun for all ages and would be a great addition to anyone's Christmas traditions.Read full review
I remember watching this movie thinking I need to have it in my collection, so I bought the VHS. Watched it and laughed at the antics of Bill & Opus. That Bill with those Tater-tots just make me roll. "Hairball!!!!" "Albastross!!!" I laugh everytime. Since the purchase of the VHS, technology has changed causing me to purchase a backup DVD. My Niece, just tonight, asked to watch it again. She is 6 and her brother, who is 3, was distracted and therefore watched it at the same time. If you want a video that can go with your Christmas collection to watch every year, this is a great addition.
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