myxedup

Butterfly McQueen is superb as "Aunt Thelma", a fairy-godmother who pops into Calvin Brundage's home via the TV set. He's the lucky winner of the "7 wishes sweepstakes" and Aunt Thelma is here to grant them, but not before Calvin learns a few lessons along the way.

This was one of those "Weekend Special" movies that seemed to pop up 3 or 4 times a year in the early 80's. There was actually another movie in this series, "Seven Wishes of Joanna Peabody", which was far superior. But still, this is cute, fun, lightweight entertainment for kids.

Oh what memories this movie brings back! This one was a Saturday afternoon staple on my local ABC station. You know, right after "American Bandstand" they did the "Weekend Special" (or was it before AB? hmmm...) So you know it's light-weight pre-teen fare.

Lauri Hendler (who would soon go on to star as Julie Kinenski on "Gimme A Break!") plays Little Lulu. The details are a bit sketchy for me, but I remember Lulu heading up some school-contest. She and her gang wanted to win it awfully bad, but the aptly-named "Tubby" insisted on being the sole hold-out. I believe because he was required to do some physical exertion for the contest, and hell, that takes away from his eating time!

(Okay, I'm just now realizing how politically incorrect this movie was...)

So Lulu dons fortune-teller garb, and tricks our dim-porker into thinking she's placed a curse on him. The fortune teller tells him that unless he helps the gang, he will lose his APPETITE!! To prove it, she secretly replaces his frosty beverage with.....PICKLE JUICE!!

Lulu diligently sticks with her plan, spiking each of Tubby's meals with la' juice-de-pickle, until Tubby begs the fortune teller to lift the curse. She obliges, but ONLY if Tubby cooperates with his nemesis, Little Lulu.

(It scares me that I remembered this much!)

Fun, amusing, kiddie flick. Makes you really miss the wholesome kiddie-programming of the early-80's.