Avengers: Infinity War has been called the most ambitious crossover in history, but is it bigger than a 1990 animated PSA that brought together a massive collection of famous cartoons? That might sound like a crazy question, but only one of them aired simultaneously on all the major U.S. television networks, had full sponsorship from McDonald’s, was introduced by the sitting President of the United States as well as other world leaders, featured an original song from a legendary songwriter, and tried to eradicate drug use across the globe. And that very strange, very real prime time special is the subject of our newest Animation Investigation.
[brightcove video_id=”5794475595001″ brightcove_account_id=”3653334524001″ brightcove_player_id=”rJs2ZD8x”]On the latest episode of our series dedicated to the world of animation, host Hector Navarro looks back at the 1990 television event Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, which saw The Smurfs, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, DuckTales, Looney Tunes, The Muppet Babies, Winnie the Pooh, Garfield, The Real Ghostbusters, and (for some reason) an animated Alf team up to try and end drug use among kids. But it was much stranger than it even sounds.
The early ’90s was truly an amazing, bizarre time when anything was possible. But somehow even with all of those cartoon characters involved, that special did not end drug use once and for all. Still, the question remains: what was the most ambitious crossover in history?
What do you think? Was this special bigger than Avengers: Infinity War? Cross over into our comments section and let us know what you think.
