A Wish for Wings That Work facts for kids
Cover
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| Author | Berkeley Breathed |
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| Illustrator | Berkeley Breathed |
| Cover artist | Berkeley Breathed |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's |
| Publisher | Little Brown & Co |
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Publication date
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1991 |
| Pages | 32 |
| ISBN | 0-316-10691-7 |
A Wish for Wings That Work: An Opus Christmas Story is a fun children's book written by Berkeley Breathed. It came out in 1991. The book was also turned into an animated TV show in the same year. Both the book and the TV special feature characters from Breathed's popular comic strips, Bloom County and Outland.
The Story of Opus's Wish
This story is all about Opus the Penguin. Opus is a main character in all of Berkeley Breathed's comic strips. In this story, Opus feels sad because, as a penguin, he can't fly. He really wishes he could soar through the sky!
Opus tries to build a flying machine. He puts it all together, but when it's time to test it by jumping off a super tall cliff, he decides it's too risky. Instead, he goes home to bake some yummy anchovy Christmas cookies.
But Opus doesn't give up on his dream. For Christmas, he makes a special wish to Santa Claus. He wishes for "wings that will go!"
On Christmas Eve, Santa is busy delivering presents. Suddenly, he loses his reindeer and crashes into a lake! Opus quickly jumps into the water. He uses his amazing swimming skills to pull Santa out of the cold lake.
To thank Opus for being so brave, a group of ducks help him out. They pick him up and take him flying through the air! Opus finally gets to experience the joy of flying.
The TV Special
| Opus 'n' Bill: A Wish for Wings that Work | |
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2007 DVD cover
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| Directed by | Skip Jones |
| Produced by | Peggy Regan |
| Written by | Berkeley Breathed |
| Starring | Michael Bell Joe Alaskey John Byner Tress MacNeille Alexaundria Simmons Andrew Hill Newman Frank Welker Robin Williams (as Sudy Nim) |
| Music by | Thomas Chase Steve Rucker |
| Editing by | Larry C. Cowan |
| Distributed by | Amblin Television Universal Cartoon Studios |
| Release date(s) | December 18, 1991 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
On December 18, 1991, an animated TV special based on the book was shown on CBS. Skip Jones directed the special. Peggy Regan produced it for Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and Universal Cartoon Studios. The special was later released on DVD on November 6, 2007.
Voice Actors
Many talented actors lent their voices to the characters in the TV special:
- Michael Bell as Opus
- Joe Alaskey as Truffles and The Ducks
- John Byner as Bill
- Tress MacNeille as The Chicken
- Alexaundria Simmons as Ronald-Ann
- Andrew Hill Newman as Santa Claus
- Frank Welker as Additional Voices
- Sudy Nim as The Kiwi
