Frank Welker Movies

This film is another Disney comedy romp that takes place at the ubiquitous Medfield College. The plot kicks in when an interview, in which Professor Quigley (William Schallert) is denied a much-needed computer by apoplectic college president Dean Higgins (Joe Flynn), is broadcast to a student assembly. In order to help Quigley, the students convince rich college benefactor A.J. Arno (Cesar Romero) to donate a computer to the school instead of his usual 20,000-dollar contribution. Dexter (Kurt Russell), the student leader, attempts to repair the computer, but the machine is struck by lightning and transforms Dexter into a human being with the hard drive of the computer. Since the computer's memory is now in Dexter's brain, he now has information on his human memory chip about Arno's illegal gambling operations. When Dean Higgins puts Dexter on a televised competition for a prize of 100,000 dollars to benefit the college, every time the word "applejack" comes up during the game show, it triggers Dexter to regurgitate a rundown of Arno's illegal activities. In order to stop Dexter from exposing him, Arno kidnaps Dexter and hides him at his country estate. Dressing up as housepainters, Dexter's classmates come to Arno's mansion to rescue him. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a bungling bookkeeper's assistant works in the Dalton city hall and finds himself framed for embezzling by his corrupt superiors. A sweet young woman helps him clear his name. He is also assisted by Leo the computer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

If anyone is interested in seeing what Kurt Russell used to do before transforming into Snake Plissken in Escape From New York, they can look no further than this labored Disney slapstick marzipan sequel to The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes. Kurt Russell, once again, is Dexter Riley, a science major at Medfield College, who, along with fellow science majors Schuyler (Michael McGreevey) and Debbie (Joyce Menges), concocts an invisibility spray. A gang of thieves, headed by A.J. Arno (Cesar Romero), want to get a hold of the formula to use in a bank robbery. The kids find themselves the prey of the crooks, as the bad guys attempt to get the spray. Meanwhile, Dexter employs the spray at a golf tournament, much to the surprise of apoplectic college president Higgins (Joe Flynn). But before Higgins can spout out "Wha? Wha? Wha?,." Arno continues onward with the chase for Dexter and the invisibility spray. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

A frontier scout named Hawkeye forms an unlikely friendship with a tribe of Mohican warriors amidst the backdrop of the French and Indian War in an animated adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper's classic novel. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

New bits of animation link together this compilation of Friz Freleng-directed Warner Bros. cartoons, which includes the Oscar-winning Knighty Knight Bugs. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

In this spoof, Don Diego Vega (George Hamilton) follows in his father's footsteps as he dons the identity of Zorro in an attempt to defend the weak and innocent from the ravages of the evil. However, when Vega falls victim to a debilitating injury, it is up to his gay twin brother, Bunny Wigglesworth (George Hamilton), to take up the mask and sword. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Several years after the death of novelty album recording artist Ross Bagdasarian, his son Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. brought his father's most popular creation, Alvin and the Chipmunks, back to life with a record album called Chipmunk Punk (1980). The resurgence in popularity of the high-pitched, squeaky-voiced, animated chipmunks Alvin (the mischievous one), Theodore (the giggly, shy, fat one) and Simon (the brainy one) allowed Bagdasarian, Jr. to follow that project with Alvin & the Chipmunks: A Chipmunk Christmas (1981), a half-hour television special and accompanying record album. Voicing the same character Bagdasarian had, that of the chipmunks' "father" Dave Seville, Bagdasarian, Jr. created the story of the chipmunks preparing a Carnegie Hall appearance, only to realize that Alvin has given away his harmonica, an instrument with which he's scheduled to perform a solo. On the play list for their big show was "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas, Don't Be Late)," the single that launched the chipmunks' decades-spanning career in 1958. So popular was Alvin & the Chipmunks: A Chipmunk Christmas, that in 1983, NBC produced a second chipmunks TV series, Alvin and the Chipmunks (1983-1990), which ran as a Saturday morning children's program, spawning a variety of videos and further record albums. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Acknowledging the excellent response to the syndicated 1983 cartoon miniseries G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Hasbro Toys commissioned a sequel, G.I. Joe: The Revenge of Cobra, which aired the following year. The plot is set in motion when the evil organization Cobra steals the laser core from the cannon of the G.I. Joe team. With this element, Cobra creates the Weather Dominator, wreaking havoc upon the earth's atmospheric and ecological balance. The Joes manage to neutralize the Dominator with an energy feedback, whereupon the machine's three most vital components are scattered to various parts of the world. For the balance of the story, both the Joes and the Cobras struggle to recover those precious components. Several new characters (and potentially marketable action figures) were introduced in the course of the story, notably the villainous Zartan and the Drednoks. As with the first G.I. Joe cartoon project, this one was offered as either a two-hour "movie" or as a five-part miniseries, its individual episodes bearing the titles "In the Cobra's Pit," "The Vines of Evil," "The Palace of Doom," "Battle on the Roof of the World," and "Amusement Park of Terror." Written by Ron Friedman, G.I. Joe: The Revenge of Cobra first aired in the United States from September 10 through 14, 1984. One year later, the daily G.I. Joe series proper was entered in syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Transformers was one of several syndicated half-hour cartoon series of the 1980s designed to promote a line of toys. In this instance, the playthings, marketed by Hasbro, were tiny robots that could be "transformed" into automotive vehicles, and vice versa. It was not for nothing that the series' theme song boasted that its characters were "more than meets the eye." Basically, the series chronicled the eons-old battle between two branches of the Transformer family: the Autobots, mentored by Optimus Prime, and the Decepticons, headed by Megatron. After battling for centuries on their home planet Zobitron (also known as Cybertron), the two warring factions decided to move their battleground to another world, and in the process crash-landed on a prehistoric Earth. Released from suspended animation in 2005 A.D., the good-guy Autobots (bearing such names as Inferno, Grapple, Red, and Smoke Screen) and the bad-guy Decepticons (numbering among their ranks the likes of Dirge and Thrust) resumed their conflict as though no time had passed at all. The Autobots managed to win several humans over to their side, notably earthlings Spike and Sparkplug, and, when the battle returned to the Autobots' home planet, Marrisa Fairborne of the Earth Defense Command. Although the animation was mediocre, The Transformers boasted excellent writing and story values, thanks to the input of such fantastic-fiction specialists as Donald F. Glut and Marv Wolfman. Also, the writers did a nice job weaving the Hasbro-licensed characters into the action, rather than have them merely show up as walking and talking advertisements. Debuting in daily "strip" syndication in September of 1984, the series remained in active production for three years. After its syndicated run, The Transformers was rebroadcast by cable's Sci-Fi Channel from 1992 to 1997. The series has also spawned a number of sequels, among them Beast Wars, Beast Machines, and several Japanese anime versions of the property, released in the U.S. under such titles as Transformers: Robots in Disguise and Transformers Armada. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally telecast on March 24 and 31, 1984, as a two-part animated episode of the Saturday morning ABC Weekend Special anthology, "The Amazing Bunjee Venture" juxtaposes the Stone Age with the Modern Age in time-honored Hanna-Barbera tradition. Two 20th century youngsters, Andy and Karen Winsborrow, are accidentally transported back to the year 100,000,000 B.C. While dodging dinosaurs and surly cavemen, the kids find a loyal friend in the form of Bunjee, a lovable, orange-haired creature who resembles a flying elephant with suction cups for feet. Returning the courtesy, Andy and Karen bring Bunjee with them when they return to the present. Alas, Bunjee is hardly ready for modern civilization, and vice versa. Nancy Cartwright, later famous as the voice of Bart Simpson, is heard as Karen. The current video version of The Amazing Bunjee Venture has been reedited as a single 43-minute episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this inane teen comedy, a rafting competition is going to determine whether four friends will graduate or not (an interesting amendment to college practices), and up against their team is a group of offensive rich kids. Meanwhile, a band of expelled military rafters is out to thwart the race as a whole. Bob (Tim Matheson) of the aspiring group of graduates, and Heather (Jennifer Runyon), a convert from the military rafting side, are a hot item, as are many other couples, since sex seems to be the only known activity carried out on land. A game of charades with a dog -- in order to locate a hostage -- is the funniest sequence in an otherwise routine story. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this sci-fi comedy, a high school hood, Michael Harlan, procrastinates on his science project until the day before it is due. Hastily seeking to rectify his predicament, the youth begins scouring an abandoned military dump and runs across a strange looking machine with a large crystal orb. He has no idea that it belonged to a shot down alien space craft and that it contains not only the power to generate time warps, it can also destroy the world. If he did, he might not have turned it on. Unfortunately, he does activate it and sends his entire class back in time. The special effects are especially notable, as the kids roam Earth from the dawn of time, to the future. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide