Animalympics

A series of vignettes are presented as the broadcast of the first animal Olympic Games through the fictional ZOO television network. The Games are staples of the summer and winter Olympic events.

Produced and directed by Steven Lisberger, Animalympics was intended to cut in with NBC's coverage of the Olympic games where every so often the Olympic Games commentators would break from their coverage by saying "let's check in on how the animals are doing" or something to that effect. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan Jimmy Carter boycotted the Moscow held Olympic games and NBC scrapped their coverage and airing of Animalympics. Animalympics was structured in such a way that it could be shown theatrically as a film and was shown as such in overseas markets. No distribution agreement ever happened for Animalympics in North America and aside from some airings on cable TV and VHS releases it never made much impact. The film did boast some early work by animation specialist who would go on to bigger work such as Brad Bird, Roger Allers, and Bill Koyer and as expected there's some really good animation on display. While technically speaking Animalympics is a nice looking production with above average animation, it's also a flabby directionless mess with no driving engine and many of the events are lacking in identity because they feel like (and are) a series of shorts based on formula that don't lend themselves to a feature film format.

Animalympics does technically have characters as the "athletes" are given talking head segments where they discuss their backstory or personalities. One of the few that standout is an alligator named Bolt Jenkins who's a strange hybrid of Bruce Jenner and John Travolta (complete with a similar delivery to Travolta's Welcome Back Kotter role) and it's more head scratching than genuinely funny. Other athletes are more or less the same with Eurasian Athletes being parodies of typical Soviet archetypes and other athletes being less engaging. Connecting the segments is color commentary by voice actors such as Harry Shearer, Gilda Radner, and Billy Crystal doing parodies of Barbara Walters and Howard Cosell which are done well enough but their not all that funny or unique. The one element I can say is good without reservation are the musical segments where the film showcases the most impressive animation sequences alongside some fairly good music (as far as adult contemporary goes).

It's probably unfair to judge Animalympics as a movie since it was intended to be shown chopped up in 5 to 10 minute segments in between the actual Olympics, but because it was released as a movie it needs to be judged as one. Animalympics is style over substance with good animation in service of what's rather traditional cartoon antics with basic satire of the 70s Cold War geopolitical climate. As a time capsule and point of interest for animation enthusiasts I can recommend it on that level, but most of the vignettes are so similar there will be long stretches where even the most patient viewer's patience will be tested.

I saw this film as a kid and really loved it, mainly because of the imaginative and funny uses of different animals competing in certain sports (i.e. Squid in the Bobsled, Otter for the swimming, Frog for the high jump, Bull in the boxing etc etc etc) but also because of the terrific soundtrack and songs by Graham Gouldman of 10CC. Watching it again as an adult on video I realised that there is so much more going on in the film - mainly that it was far wittier than i could have imagined as a child. The animals in many cases are affectionate digs at real sportsmen (i.e. the Hare competing against the Bull smacks of Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier), and the nationalities of the animals reflects brilliantly on their characters as well (in the marathon, the only frequently repeated event in the film, the goat is French and the puma is African (they fall in love!) the otter is Californian (of course) and surfs about on his tail. This is a wonderful film - expertly voiced over by Billy Crystal, Gilda Radner and Harry Shearer (of Spinal Tap / Simpsons fame) - full of humour and genuine affection towards sports, animals and animation (which is top quality throughout it should be noted) and as i mentioned before the songs are great - perhaps a bit dated now with the late 70s/early 80s production, but then a great tune never fails to touch you somehow, no matter how it is presented. This is recommended to fans of animation firstly, also to lovers of track and field events (they're all there) and to any fans of the previously mentioned artists (Crystal, Shearer, Gouldman). Here's awaiting a DVD and full critical appraisal!

ANIMALYMPICS is definitely one of those films that pretty much defines its time and place - it's got a soft-rock score by 10CC's Graham Gouldman, some shiny chrome-effect logos and bumpers (the titles that pop up at the start of each segment), references to late seventies pop culture including disco fever and surf bums, and it's pre-political correctness so there are plenty of stereotypes (if you're offended by the joke early on about all Asian people looking the same, represented by a herd of puffins, you'd better tune out or get a sense of humour) and, believe it or not, a lot of none-too-thinly-veiled sexuality from our anthropomorphic heroes - the animators do have a habit of going slightly over the top with any movement that involves breasts or rear ends! Whilst the animation isn't the best you'll ever see (I wasn't impressed with the high quantity of 'static' shots where there is literally NO animation at all) and there's not enough action or excitement for the little ones, ANIMALYMPICS does have a nice, dry sense of humour, several bright moments and a welcome lack of cynicism. If you want to revisit your youth or want to give your kids something different from the usual CGI mayhem, this may be worth a look.

A splendid satire on the Olympic industry and TV sports programmes. Plenty of recognisable types amongst the furry cast from the gushing bimbo interviewer to an intense USSR gymnast to a deadpan turtle anchorman. The animation is above average for TV but lacks the richness of Bluth or Disney. However that hardly matters because the real pleasure lies in the smart script, engaging vocal performances and first rate character design. Quite a lot of the more adult humour will sail over the heads of the young but older viewers can watch this movie again and again to pick up on the jokes they missed last time. An extremely underrated cartoon gem.

This film was made to co-incide with the 1980 Olympic games in Moscow. Sadly, the boycott over the USSR's invasion of Afghanistan damped much ethusiasm over the games, and this film fell by the wayside.

Now on video, and being marketed for the children's market, this film is a very clever spoof of network coverage of the olympic games, complete with jabs at celebrity worship and product endorsement (In one scene, a pole vaulter makes a record-breaking vault, and lands feet first into a studio set for a breakfast cereal commercial).

This film features the vocal talents of the late Gilda Radner, Harry Shearer (doing an incredible impersonation of Keith Jackson as "Keen Hacksaw"), Billy Crystal (lampooning Howard Cosell) and Michael Fremer. The very 1980's style music is by 10cc member Graham Gouldman.

There is no real "plot" to the film, just a series of linked vignettes about olympic sports (both summer and winter). Very clever.

The kids will love it for the action and animation. The adults will love it for the clever writing. A great film released at a bad time.