Somehow, I didn't watch this when it aired, but I think it was three years later, after its airing, that I would have the opportunity to watch it when I rented a VHS copy of it from Blockbuster. I remember seeing the special on that itself, as I'm not sure if I saw the prelude with the late President George H.W. Bush giving that speech about the fight against drugs, but I know for sure I didn't see the musical performance given by some kids and the promotion of McDonald's after the end credits. I wouldn't know about that until I read that being mentioned elsewhere on another site. The purpose behind the making of this may have been the point, but like several others, I was just excited about the crossover thing with these mostly '80s cartoon characters from various shows of that same decade and that was what drew me into it.
Other than seeing the various cartoon stars of the day come together, again, now I'm not quite sure what I saw in it after watching. I guess I almost always wasn't that good at discerning and analyzing what was wrong with nearly anything I viewed on T.V. or VHS. This isn't one of my favorites. After reading others' reviews and comments on both here and on other sites, I now see it for what it really is more than not: A promo for the well-known characters' various shows more than about drug prevention. I remember seeing another drug prevention, PSA cartoon at some point in elementary school that had completely original characters rather than mostly established ones with newer characters. I hadn't seen it in years, but I did an online search for it and tried putting "D.A.R.E. cartoon" into the search engine, to be exact, it's actually called D.A.R.E. America. I wasn't sure of the title, but that was the first thing that came to mind and I found it on my first and only guess/try. I found video of that for viewing at Youtube, three copies, but unfortunately, they all have a Spanish dub only. Now that seemed so much better than this. Also, I thought the running time of it was closer to half an hour, but it's really just a little more than 12 minutes.There was a comment on another site stating that this get-together of mainly '80s animated characters could'd revolved around them battling the ultimate foe. That sounds like that would'd been a much more interesting idea. I like the sound of that more.
I can't explain too much about it that other reviewers before me hadn't explained what the problems are with it. But I'll try to mention what was already covered differently and more short-handedly. The point of its message being too preachy (though I probably wouldn't had gotten what the big deal with that would be back then, when I was little/younger), the inconsistencies (like with the Smoke character being able to pass through walls, but not a trash can), the explanations of why drugs are so bad for anyone being too vague or not specific enough. Therefore, all of these are what would make for bad writing. The established characters are somewhat themselves, but in this, they're also not 100% consistent. It may be nice too see them all in one place, but it's such a waste, as they hardly help out the main protagonist and drug abuser, Michael, they could'd been used so much better. They attempt an intervention, but the ways they do it are done badly. Of all the original characters, I like the sister of the special's protagonist, Corey, the most. I don't remember the musical number being all that bad, but I'll take others' word for it anyway and the rest of the music may be just alright. The art and animation seem fine enough, although somebody commented it not being on the same level as other animations from 1990, but I wouldn't know the exact difference. The cast, much of whom I'm familiar with, sound like they did a great job in there roles as usual (perhaps other than the singing).
It pains me to admit it, but this isn't as great as I once thought nor is it among the best cartoons ever made looking back on it. I have no idea how I could've missed it. It would've been much better as just another PSA ad that is much shorter like several others. In my review's title, I mention this cautionary PSA tale is ineffective for the reasons I mentioned above, so that means several may not had taken heed of the dangers and effects that drugs can cause, as the explanations were poorly done. Well, at least the one thing I can say that's the sole good that came out of this is, at least established toon characters from other '80s programs that weren't featured in this, fortunately for them, it's a great thing others didn't appear in this disaster. The aforementioned reasons are why it's no longer popular with me and some of the other reviewers on here, if it even ever was popular with them at all. Not the best anti-drug PSA ever made. Anyone who is interested in checking it out should see it at least once, even if it may not be one of the most perfect. If this were to be brought to DVD, I doubt it's worth owning, most nobody would be intrigued by this, other than the very young. Not recommended.
Other than seeing the various cartoon stars of the day come together, again, now I'm not quite sure what I saw in it after watching. I guess I almost always wasn't that good at discerning and analyzing what was wrong with nearly anything I viewed on T.V. or VHS. This isn't one of my favorites. After reading others' reviews and comments on both here and on other sites, I now see it for what it really is more than not: A promo for the well-known characters' various shows more than about drug prevention. I remember seeing another drug prevention, PSA cartoon at some point in elementary school that had completely original characters rather than mostly established ones with newer characters. I hadn't seen it in years, but I did an online search for it and tried putting "D.A.R.E. cartoon" into the search engine, to be exact, it's actually called D.A.R.E. America. I wasn't sure of the title, but that was the first thing that came to mind and I found it on my first and only guess/try. I found video of that for viewing at Youtube, three copies, but unfortunately, they all have a Spanish dub only. Now that seemed so much better than this. Also, I thought the running time of it was closer to half an hour, but it's really just a little more than 12 minutes.There was a comment on another site stating that this get-together of mainly '80s animated characters could'd revolved around them battling the ultimate foe. That sounds like that would'd been a much more interesting idea. I like the sound of that more.
I can't explain too much about it that other reviewers before me hadn't explained what the problems are with it. But I'll try to mention what was already covered differently and more short-handedly. The point of its message being too preachy (though I probably wouldn't had gotten what the big deal with that would be back then, when I was little/younger), the inconsistencies (like with the Smoke character being able to pass through walls, but not a trash can), the explanations of why drugs are so bad for anyone being too vague or not specific enough. Therefore, all of these are what would make for bad writing. The established characters are somewhat themselves, but in this, they're also not 100% consistent. It may be nice too see them all in one place, but it's such a waste, as they hardly help out the main protagonist and drug abuser, Michael, they could'd been used so much better. They attempt an intervention, but the ways they do it are done badly. Of all the original characters, I like the sister of the special's protagonist, Corey, the most. I don't remember the musical number being all that bad, but I'll take others' word for it anyway and the rest of the music may be just alright. The art and animation seem fine enough, although somebody commented it not being on the same level as other animations from 1990, but I wouldn't know the exact difference. The cast, much of whom I'm familiar with, sound like they did a great job in there roles as usual (perhaps other than the singing).
It pains me to admit it, but this isn't as great as I once thought nor is it among the best cartoons ever made looking back on it. I have no idea how I could've missed it. It would've been much better as just another PSA ad that is much shorter like several others. In my review's title, I mention this cautionary PSA tale is ineffective for the reasons I mentioned above, so that means several may not had taken heed of the dangers and effects that drugs can cause, as the explanations were poorly done. Well, at least the one thing I can say that's the sole good that came out of this is, at least established toon characters from other '80s programs that weren't featured in this, fortunately for them, it's a great thing others didn't appear in this disaster. The aforementioned reasons are why it's no longer popular with me and some of the other reviewers on here, if it even ever was popular with them at all. Not the best anti-drug PSA ever made. Anyone who is interested in checking it out should see it at least once, even if it may not be one of the most perfect. If this were to be brought to DVD, I doubt it's worth owning, most nobody would be intrigued by this, other than the very young. Not recommended.