Le olimpiadi della giungla

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.

I first saw ANIMALYMPICS back in the day when HBO was first getting started. I would see it pop up here and there on NBC around Olympic time or when they needed to fill in space in a really cruddy hour version.

If you've got HBO FAMILY, try to catch this funny and entertaining movie. It's pretty much of a cult item since the songs were done by 10CC (Gee, aren't WE dating ourselves with even KNOWING about 10CC) but the songs are prett good in the context on the story (especially the song that Kit Mambo and Rene Fromage run to)

The voices are mostly provided by Billy Crystal and Gilda Radner, which adds to the semi-cult status of the full-length version. It's a really good movie..trust me.

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 think the word 'cheesy' can either be an awesome thing or a painfully awful thing. In this movie, it's awesome! 'Animalympics' screams the classic cheesy-ness late '70s, complete with a mostly soft rock soundtrack (which I really love). I saw it quite a bit when it was aired on Disney Channel time and time again during the early-to-mid '90s. I haven't seen it on TV in quite a while sadly.

This movie really sparked my imagination, nearly as much as 'Yellow Submarine' did. Sure, talking animals weren't new in 1979, but I don't think they've ever had so much personality! All the characters were some of the best developed I'd ever seen in a movie.

'Animalympics' is most entertaining before the very ending (after that, it's a tad saggy as the events get less interesting). I think the summer game events are some of the best in the whole movie, and the boxing scenes with the nod to Muhammad Ali are a laugh riot. The voices are brilliant! Gilda Radner and Billy Crystal were awesome in this movie, and I would have loved to see Gilda do more voice work. She was really cut out for it.

'Animalympics' is delightful to kids and adults alike with very sharp humor and exciting events. This was one of my all time favorites as a youngun, and although it's been a while since I've seen it (it's hard to find on video. I'm wishing and hoping for a DVD release), I remember it very fondly and would give nearly anything to see it again. Even though it's a tad expensive and out of print, I think it'll be worth shelling out a bit more than you'd usually pay for a movie.