LET THE FUR FLY! Animalympics turns 40 today!

[SparksterMeta0]

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I randomly rented a VHS of this at a library as a kid , maybe 20 years ago.
This fun, animal-themed sports movie was originally a pair of hour-long specials to coincide with both the Lake Placid Winter Olympics and Moscow Summer Olympics back in 1980.

From what I learned, political controversy led to NBC's cancellation of the Moscow Summer Games coverage and, as a result, the original Animalympics summer special was not shown.
Both the Summer and the previously-aired Winter specials were later edited into a single movie that made its way to home video and Disney Channel (and some premium TV channels like HBO) throughout the 90s, after failing to hit theaters.

Saberspark made a retrospective video on Youtube a couple months back, giving a better explanation behind the movie's broadcasting complications, and why the movie itself was so enjoyable.

 

[Primus]

Loved this as a kid, still have fond memories of Kurt Wüffner and his search for Dogra-La.

Also, the story of the two marathon runners, Rene Fromage and Kit Mambo, woven through the entire movie is the best.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Is it true this birthed the furry fandom?

 

[MetalMagus]

Somewhere deep in the recesses of my hippocampus are vague recollections of watching this on HBO.
Cartoons were pretty nuts back then - this has almost Ralph Bakshi level of more adult orientated content.

Also Saberspark is right on that the fencing scene is one of the highlights of the movie.

 

[Qasiel]

I love this film. There's a funeral director close to where I live called "Dean Wilson" and every time I go past it, all I can hear in my head is "For sure!" without fail.