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Excellent but underrated film

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Continuing to review "SNL"ers early work on film, we're now at 1980 with the television showing of the animated Animalympics. A 30-min. version of the Winter Games segment had originally been shown on NBC during the actual Winter Olympics on ABC but when the Summer Games (held in Moscow, Russia at that time) were boycotted by our country, that effectively cancelled the airing of the Summer Games ep of this movie. HBO eventually showed the whole thing a year later for multiple airings. Anyway, then-current members of the "SNL" cast Gilda Radner and Harry Shearer as well as future member Billy Crystal were among the voices that contributed here and what a treat to hear Radner as her Baba Wawa character as well as Crystal as Howard Cosell and Muhammad Ali ones. Aided greatly by the musical songs of Graham Gouldman of 10cc with the whole thing put together by Steven Lisberger who would later helm TRON. Many quite funny visual gags abound and there's a feel good vibe throughout especially concerning a couple of opposite sex runners that permeates the whole thing. So on that note, I very much enjoyed Animalympics.

When I was about 6 I saw the cartoon Animalympics on HBO. My family just got cable and I seemed to be the most interested in the medium. VCR's were fairly new and my uncle the pr*ck got us one for Christmas. I took the machine over and recorded the movie. I loved everything about it. I only loved one more movie as much.... Time Bandits.... I always felt like I was the only person who'd ever seen it. I recite scenes and some of the one liners i've made my own over the years. I don't know who most of the well known voices acted out were but I definitely know Gilda Radners as Barbra Wobblers( Barbara Walters). Not as corny as it sounds now back then.Every voice is perfect for the characters. Some of the perfect characters are, Keen Hacksaw, Bruce Kwokimoto,Kit Mambo, Kurt Wuffner, the Calimari Bros and the breakfast of champions.... Gecko Flakes. Never forget the Five rings of the paw print that make up the animalympic symbol. If you remember this movie and need more retro animation that isn't animated like sh*t, watch "rock and rule". I got sh*t that'll blow your mind....

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.

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.