Rock Odyssey

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Rock Odyssey
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Production company	Hanna-Barbera
Release date	July 13, 1987
Run time	120 minutes
Starring	Scatman Crothers
Producer(s)	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Music composed by	Hoyt S. Curtin
Screenplay by	Joseph Barbera Neal Barbera Robert Taylor
Storyboard artists	P.J. Alvarado Jr.
Director(s)	Robert Taylor Gordon Hunt
Title card

Rock Odyssey is an American animated musical television movie. Originally intended to be released in 1981, it became plagued by a troubled production schedule that led it to be continuously shelved until 1987, and even then it was only for a special screening at the Los Angeles International Animation Celebration on July 13. It was written by Joseph Barbera, Neal Barbera, Robert Taylor, and produced William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, the founders of Hanna-Barbera, directed by Robert Taylor, and voice directed by Gordon Hunt. Despite not directing the movie, Hanna and Barbera were both credited, while Taylor was not.

Warner Archive Collection confirmed that they still have the film in their vaults, but are unable to release the film on home video due to music clearance issues.

A mysterious girl called Laura goes on a magical trip through the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s to find her true love, all while the most popular songs of the decades play.

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
The Jukebox	Scatman Crothers
Laura	Madeline Vergari
Jerry Lee Lewis
Fats Domino
Marlon Brando
Elvis Presley (neon sign)	N/A
Billy	Robert Jason
James Dean (photo)	N/A
John Wayne (photo)	N/A
Bob Dylan
Janis Joplin
Paul McCartney (cutout drawing)	N/A
John Lennon (cutout drawing)	N/A
Paul McCartney (cutout drawing)	N/A
George Harrison (cutout drawing)	N/A
Ringo Starr (cutout drawing)	N/A
Bob	N/A
Sir Gleam (photo)	N/A
The Moon	N/A
Jack	N/A
Jack's pet lobster	N/A
Seagull	N/A
Whale	N/A
Ronald Reagan (drawing)	N/A
Ayatollah Khomeini (drawing)	N/A
Aileen Spence
Rosalie Purl
Laura's boss	N/A
Executive	N/A
Troll	N/A
Cheshire Cat	N/A
George Jetson	N/A
Jet Screamer	N/A
Groove	N/A
Boo Boo Bear	N/A
Yogi Bear	N/A
Cindy Bear	N/A
Fred Flintstone	N/A
Green Goose	N/A
Barney Rubble	N/A
Pebbles Flintstone	N/A
Bamm-Bamm Rubble	N/A
Tanya	N/A
Wilma Flintstone	N/A
Betty Rubble	N/A
Scoots	N/A
Country	N/A
White Rabbit	N/A
Alice	N/A
Jet Screamer's backup singers	N/A
Judy Jetson	N/A
Rocky	N/A
Jimi Hendrix (drawing)	N/A

Organizations

• The Platters (mentioned)
• H.B. Realty (mentioned)
• The 5th Dimension (mentioned)
• Buffalo Springfield (mentioned)
• The Beach Boys (mentioned)
• The Doors (mentioned)
• The Supremes (mentioned)
• The Rolling Stones (mentioned)
• The Band (mentioned)
• Led Zeppelin (mentioned)
• The Beatles (cutouts)
• Cattanooga Cats
• Taylor Van Lines

Locations

• Earth
  • United States
    • Drive-in restaurant
    • Amusement park
    • High school
    • Bob's residence
    • Stanford Arms
    • Orbit City
    • Jellystone Park
    • Bedrock
      • Rock Park
    • New York
      • New York City
• The Moon
• The Sun
• Hell
• Heaven

Objects

• Sir Gleam Fights the Evil Tooth
• Ouija board
• Wheel of Destiny

Vehicles

• Billy's car
• Jack's boat
• Titantic (mentioned)
• Laura's car

Production

Development

When Hanna-Barbera promoted Heidi's Song in an interview with Millimeter magazine in 1981, the studio fully expected it to be a rousing success and begin a "renaissance" of further animated theatrical features, having already started Rock Odyssey, described as a rock and roll take of Disney's Fantasia, and Nessie Come Home. When Heidi's Song was released the next year, it bombed at the box office, leaving Hanna-Barbera to have no choice but to cancel Nessie Come Home, but for some reason continued with Rock Odyssey. Indeed, it was advertised in Hanna-Barbera's trade ad for 1981, describing it as a 90-minute TV special to be aired on ABC.

The Fantasia-inspired musical tale cost up to $5 million.

Filming

It was copyrighted in 1987.

Aftermath

Ironically, at a congressional hearing for children's television on March 16, 1983, vice president of ABC's children's programming Squire Rushnell mentioned that they would be airing Rock Odyssey as a prime-time two-hour film.

In July 1987, the finished film finally had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Animation Celebration. By 1989, Hanna-Barbera still planned on releasing it as a television special.

Music

The music was composed by Hoyt S. Curtin, who was credited for musical recreation, with musical supervision from Paul DeKorte.

Songs

• "Rock It (Prime Jive)" - Paul DeKorte, Doug Boyd
• "Blue Suede Shoes" - Robert Jason
• "The Great Pretender" - Paul DeKorte, Mitch Gordon, Richard Bolks, James Gilstrap, Ron Hicklin
• "Searchin'" - Billy Richards, Herman Channey, Bobby Sheen, Bobby Nunn
• "Blueberry Hill" - James Gilstrap
• "Great Balls of Fire" - Robert Jason
• "Bye Bye Love" - Jerry Whitman, Ron Hicklin
• "Till We Meet Again" - Loulie Jean Norman
• "Roll Over Beethoven" - Robert Jason
• "Help" - Paul DeKorte, Doug Boyd, Ron Hicklin
• "Satisfaction" - Jim Haas, Ron Hicklin
• "For What It's Worth" - Paul DeKorte, Robert Jason
• "Aquarius" - Ron Harris, Edie Lehmann Boddicker, Paul DeKorte, Mitch Gordon, Myrna Matthews, Sandie Hall, Ron Hicklin
• "Purple Haze" - The Hanna-Barbera Orchestra
• "Blowin' in the Wind" - The Hanna-Barbera Orchestra
• "You Keep Me Hangin' On" - Edie Lehmann, Myrna Matthews, Sandie Hall
• "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" - Myrna Matthews, Sandie Hall, Robert Jason, Gail Farrell
• "Rock the Boat" - Jess Harnell, Jon Paul Joyce, Sandie Hall
• "Yesterday" - Doug Boyd
• "Yesterdays" - The Hanna-Barbera Orchestra
• "I Really Don't Want to Know" - Paul DeKorte, Mitch Gordon, Richard Bolks, Robert Jason, Ron Harris
• "Summer Breeze" - Paul DeKorte, Doug Boyd
• "I'm a Woman" - Madeline Vergari
• "Stayin' Alive" - Robert Jason
• "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" - Paul DeKorte, Sandie Hall, Ron Hicklin, Edie Lehmann
• "On the Road Again" - Paul DeKorte, Robert Jason
• "Old Time Rock and Roll" - Jess Harnell, Jon Paul Joyce, Sandie Hall
• "Just the Way You Are" - Paul DeKorte, Doug Boyd, Ron Hicklin

Crew credits

• Story director: Robert Taylor
• Character designers: Sandra Berez, Robert Taylor
• Layout supervision and production designers: Tony Sgroi, E. Michael Mitchell
• Layout artists: P.J. Alvarado Jr., Kurt Anderson, Moe Gollub, Lianna Kelley, Tony Sgroi, Robert Smith, Marty Strudler, Richard Ung, Bob Singer, Philip Ortiz
• Animation supervisors: Charles Downs, Jay Sarbry
• Animators: Frank Andrina, Michael Oliva, Harold Ambro, Rudolph Cataldi, John Walker, Sr., George Scribner, Margaret Nichols, James Stribling, Robert Goe, Charles Downs, Edward DeMattia, Ernesto Lopez, Michael Rochon, Roderick Maki, Sean Newton, Constantin Mustatea, Marlene Robinson May, Irvin Spence, Jesse Cosio, Arthur Roman, Spencer Phil, Oliver Callahan, Joanna Romersa
• Background supervisor: Al Gmuer
• Background artists: Fernando Arce, Dennis Durrell, Dennis Venizelos, Paul Julian, Katsuyoshi Hozumi, Gilbert DiCicco, Martine Porte, James Hickey, Flamarion Ferreira, Michelle Meon, Lorraine Marue, Robert Gentle, Andrew Phillipson, Michael Humphries, Jeff Richards, Jeff Riche, Bill Proctor, Eric Heschong, Phillip Phillipson, Victoria Jensen, Bonnie Goodknight
• Special electronic animator: Ron Hays
• Animation checking supervisors: Paul Strickland, Barbara Wiles
• Animation checkers: Jackie Banks, Gina Bradley, Pat Helmuth, Cheryl White
• Ink and paint supervisor: Alison Leopold
• Xerographist: Star Wirth
• Special effects consultant: Evelyn Sherwood
• Creative consultant: Bill Perez
• Technical supervisor: Jerry Mills
• Camera operators: Steve Altman, Curtis Hall, Glenn Higa, Brandy Hill, Raymond Lee, Ralph Migliori, Joe Ponticelle, Dave Valentine, Roy Wade, Jerry Wittington
• Editorial supervisor: Larry C. Cowan
• Dubbing supervisor: Pat Foley
• Show editor: Gil Iverson
• Editors: Warner Leighton, Margaret Webb
• Sound directors: Alvy Dorman, Phil Flad
• Negative consultant: William B. DeBoer
• Post production supervisor: Joed Eaton
• Production coordinators: Richard Leon, Mike Rowland
• Music consultation and licensing: Karyn M. Ulman
• Graphics artists: Iraj Paran, Tom Wogatzke
• Executive in charge of production: Jayne Barbara

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: July 13, 1987 at 9:45 pm at the Nuart Theater in Los Angeles
• United Kingdom and Ireland: October 14, 1990 at 2:00 pm on Sky Movies

Behind the scenes

• All the songs are of popular bands and solo acts of each decade, although they are all covers.
• The characters are mute but will occasionally be given their "voice" when they start singing the song that plays.
• H.B. Realty is a reference to Hanna-Barbera, the company that produced this movie.
• At the restaurant, there is a poster advertising a dance for October 3rd.
• Across the way from "Peggy Sue's" apartment is a building that has the letters YWCA on top, which is a parody of the YMCA.
• The film was originally not meant to include a tribute to the 80s, with a sequence for "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" hastily added, which has no real bearing on the movie (unless it's Laura dreaming or hallucinating), and amounts to only showcasing mostly musical moments from past Hanna-Barbera shows and movies are used, including Alice in Wonderland or What's a Nice Kid like You Doing in a Place like This?, The Jetsons episode "A Date with Jet Screamer," Hey There, It's Yogi Bear, and The Man Called Flintstone.
  • This was inspired by HBTV, which did use songs by their real performers over scenes from Hanna-Barbera productions, some of which actually included scenes from Rock Odyssey.
• P.J. Alvarado Jr., who was credited as a layout artist, was also an uncredited storyboard artist.

Everlasting influence

• In the 1993 TV film Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby, there was an Easter egg with a poster advertising a musical called Rock Oddity.

In other languages

Language	Name	Meaning

Home availability

• Unlikely due to music clearance issues mentioned above.