A Wish for Wings That Work: An Opus Christmas Story was a children's book by Berkeley Breathed that was published in 1991. It was made into an animated television special that same year. The story is 30 pages long, and contains large color pictures every other page, and small black and white ones over the writing. Each page contains at least one joke, either in the picture or in the story itself. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Guy Berkeley Berke Breathed (born June 21, 1957) is an American cartoonist, childrens book author/illustrator, director, and screenwriter, best known for Bloom County, a 1980s cartoon-comic strip which dealt with socio-political issues as seen through the eyes of highly exaggerated characters (e. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Plot

The story centers on Opus the Penguin (who was at the time one of the main characters in Breathed's comic strip Outland). Opus is downhearted because as a mere penguin he is denied the ability to fly. He longs to be able to soar in the air with the other birds, and his heart grows cold with the reality that he can't. Even the pigeons look down upon Opus, so Opus decides that one way or another he will learn how to fly. He orders a machine off the TV, and assembles it (maybe not correctly, the directions were in a different language). When it comes time to test the machine by jumping off a three mile high cliff, Opus decides to do something less dangerous, and goes home to make anchovy Christmas cookies. He doesn't give up on his dream though, and makes a Christmas wish to Santa for "wings that will go!". Happily for Opus, his dream of flying comes true, though not quite in the manner he expected. An early Opus appearance in the strip Bloom County Opus the Penguin is a character in the comic strips and childrens books of Berke Breathed, most notably the popular 1980s strip Bloom County. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Modern genera Aptenodytes Eudyptes Eudyptula Megadyptes Pygoscelis Spheniscus For prehistoric genera, see Systematics Some penguins are curious. ... Pigeon redirects here. ... See TV (disambiguation) for other uses and Television (band) for the rock band European networks National In much of Europe television broadcasting has historically been state dominated, rather than commercially organised, although commercial stations have grown in number recently. ... {{Taxobox classis = Actinopterygii | ordo = Clupeiformes | familia = Engraulidae | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = Amazonsprattus Anchoa Anchovia Anchiovella Cetengraulis Coilia Encrasicholina Engraulis Jurengraulis Lycengraulis Lycothrissa Papuengraulis Pterengraulis Setipinna Stolephorus Thryssa }} The anchovies are a family large but uncommon schooling saltwater plankton-feeding fish. ... Christmas is an annual holiday that marks the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. ... Santa has several meanings: the shortened form of Santa Claus the Spanish word for a female saint, as in Santa Ana (the masculine form is san or santo); the word has the same or similar spellings and meanings in several other Romance languages in astronomy, Santa is a Kuiper belt...

TV special

The animated special, which was directed by Skip Jones and produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblimation animation studio for Universal Studios, featured the voices of Michael Bell as Opus the Penguin, John Byner as Bill the Cat, and Alexaundria Simmons as Ronald-Ann Smith. It also featured the voices of Robin Williams (credited under a pseudonym) and Dustin Hoffman. Steven Allan Spielberg KBE (born December 18, 1946)[1] is an American film director and producer. ... Fievel from An American Tail, Amblimations mascot. ... Universal Studios (sometimes called Universal Pictures or Universal City Studios), a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is one of the major American film studios that has production studios and offices located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California, an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County between Los Angeles... Michael Bell (left, with Richard Beymer) in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode The Homecoming. Michael Patrick Bell is an actor and voice over artist, born April 10, 1938 in Brooklyn, New York. ... An early Opus appearance in the strip Bloom County Opus the Penguin is a character in the comic strips and childrens books of Berke Breathed, most notably the popular 1980s strip Bloom County. ... The references in this article would be clearer with a different and/or consistent style of citation, footnoting or external linking. ... Bill the Cat Articles with similar titles include Billy the Cat. ... Ronald-Ann Smith was a character in Berkeley Breatheds comic strips Bloom County and Outland. ... Robin McLaurin Williams (born July 21, 1951 or 1952)[1] is an Academy Award-winning American actor and comedian. ... A pseudonym (Greek pseudo + -onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a persons true name. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

The special now airs annually on the i television network. . The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions. ...

Trivia

• Opus in the television special sounds similar to another Michael Bell-voiced cartoon character, Chaz Finster on Rugrats.
• Post-hardcore band Poison the Well used the name for a song on their 1999 album The Opposite of December.
• The special incorporates the plane crash scene from 1937's Lost Horizon, this time with Opus flying and crashing the plane.
• As of 2006, the special is the only time that characters from Breathed's Bloom County series of comic strips have been animated.
• Berkeley Breathed has voiced his dislike for the TV special, as shown from this 2006 exchange in the Washington Post (see link below):

Salt Lake City, Utah: I need a copy of "A Wish for Wings That Work" either VHS or DVD. Where can it be found?

Berkeley Breathed: Hopefully in the rubbish pail. We can do better than that and we will with an eventual Opus film.. but I'm glad you enjoyed it. I presume your family was on speed when they watched it. I would imagine it helps.

A rugrat may also be a pejorative term for a toddler. ... A rugrat may also be a pejorative term for a toddler. ... Post-hardcore; this specific genre was created by others as a sourse to relaese the emotion that builds inside, making the music intimate and touching to listeners. ... Poison The Well (commonly abbreviated as PTW or said PT-Dub) are a heavy melodic band from Miami, Florida currently signed to Ferret Records. ... The Opposite Of December. ... Lost Horizon is a 1937 film directed by Frank Capra starring Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt, John Howard, Margo, Thomas Mitchell, Edward Everett Horton, Isabel Jewell, H.B. Warner, and Sam Jaffe. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Bloom County was a popular American comic strip by Berke Breathed which ran from December 8, 1980 until August 6, 1989. ...

External links

• Berkeley Breathed's website
• A Wish for Wings That Work at the Internet Movie Database
• Washington Post interview, mentions the TV Special