early 80s cartoon seen on HBO

[johnp]

I have had no luck in my search for the name of an animated show I saw on HBO in the early 1980s. It was a one-off special, not a series. There are two scenes I remember very well. The first is of a senile king dictating to a jester who typed on a giant typewriter with mallets. (I think the important letter was for his daughter, the princess, but it fell in the trash and she did not get it.) The other scene is of a clumsy Superman-type hero: he inhaled a raging fire and when a woman (possibly a witch) complimented him on his feat, he said, “Thank you,” and exhaled the flames onto her. Lastly, I seem to remember the animation was rather crude: moving cut-outs like South Park. If any of this sounds familiar, please let me know. This has been bugging me for years! Thanks, John

[Straydog]

Sounds like
Twice Upon A Time

Ralph the All-Purpose animal, (who looked like a vague type of winged four legged, bear/dog until he transformed into something more specific) and his mute friend Mumford the No Purpose Nothing lived in the magical land of Frivoli,the land of sweet dreams. The two were completely inept at nearly everything, so they were assigned garbage duty.

Synonamous Botch, (probably one of the best characters in this movie). was an evil nightmare maker. He set up his nightmare making business ,The Murkworks, much like a movie studio. His home was an appropriately evil castle, where he worked on his big plan to release his nightmare bombs.

Botch wanted his nightmares to last forever. Part of his plan involved stopping time and placing his nightmare bombs everywhere. Then when all the bombs were in place, he could start time again and detonate them all simultaneously. If he was to stop time he needed to stop the Cosmic Clock, located in the land of Din(Earth-our wakng world). Botch conned Ralph and Mum into going to the land of Din for him by telling them he simply wanted to give poor overworked mankind more time in the day. The gullible duo went to retrieve the clock's mainspring, but instead they mananged to break the clock and loose the spring. Without it, time stopped and everything on Earth remained still.
A very frustrated no-nonsense fairy godmother finally appeared and told them about Botch's true plan. It was up to Ralph, and Mum to get the spring back, and stop Botch.

The movie was done in a combination of B&W and color. The scenes in the world of dreams that Ralph, Mumford, and Botch lived in were done in a cartoon color.When they entered what they called the Land of Din, the backgrounds were black and white photo stills.

"The other scene is of a clumsy Superman-type hero: he inhaled a raging fire and when a woman (possibly a witch) complimented him on his feat, he said, “Thank you,” and exhaled the flames onto her."


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Twice Upon a Time-


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[johnp]

Thank you!!!