The Return of Bunjee (found ABC Weekend animated special; 1985)
The Return of Bunjee is a two-part animated ABC Weekend Special from the eighth season of the anthology series with parts 1 and 2 airing on April 6th and 13th, 1985, respectively. It is the sequel to The Bunjee Venture (or The Amazing Bunjee Venture as it is alternatively titled), which is based on the book of the same title by Stan McMurtry. Unlike its predecessor and most other ABC Weekend Specials, this one isn't based on a story or book and is completely original. Both ABC Weekend Specials featuring the Bunjee character were written by Malcolm Marmorstein and co-produced by Hanna-Barbera's foreign subsidiary studio, Hanna-Barbera Australia, and Southern Star Entertainment. Co-producers were Doug Patterson, the late William Hanna, and the late Joseph Barbera.
Frank Welker, Nancy Cartwright, Robbie Lee, and Linda Gary reprise their voice roles from the first special.
Premise
Setting out to find a mother for the Bunjee babies, Bunjee, Karen, and Andy use the time machine once again. But in this venture, they're sent to Medieval Times. Then, they must go through the obstacle of facing off against a malevolent sorceress and a three-headed dragon before they can return home and to the kids' time. They eventually find a mother who also becomes Bunjee's mate named Bunjana.
Availability
While The Bunjee Venture had a domestic video release, The Return of the Bunjee did not. The movie did receive a release on VHS in Italy titled Il Ritorno di Bunjee, but it's incredibly rare and has not been digitally archived to date.
On July 3rd of 2020, the YouTube channel thisisvhshell uploaded a compilation trailer from a Polish tape, which includes some footage of the special.
Other than descriptors of the story, the video's cover, and a few pieces of screenshots and footage, no other media of this special has been found prior to the 26th of December in 2022 when Internet Archive user greyscale42 uploaded the full animated special on the Internet Archive and also uploaded it on YouTube in their YouTube channel, Obscure Media Archive. They stated that their grandmother had recorded the special back when it aired on VHS and had found said recorded VHS years later in their closet. They would later digitize said VHS and upload them on the internet, available to be watched.
Gallery
Videos
See Also
- Boss Cat (found British opening and ending titles of "Top Cat" animated series; 1962-1989)
- CBS Storybreak "What Happened in Hamelin" (lost episode from animated series; 1987)
- Dastardly & Muttley - Operation: Pigeon Pursuit (lost build of unreleased PlayStation 2 video game; 2007-2008)
- Fender Bender 500 (partially found episodes of "Wacky Races" reboot animated series; 1990s)
- Jetsons: The Movie "Gotcha" (partially found full version of song from Hanna-Barbera animated film; 1990)
- Jetsons: The Movie - Janet Waldo performance (lost audio of animated film; 1988-1989)
- Jokebook (partially found Hanna-Barbera animated series; 1982)
- Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone (partially found episodes of syndicated animated series; 1990)
- Rock Odyssey (partially lost Hanna-Barbera animated film; 1987)
- Showbiz Pizza's Yogi Bear and Boo Boo Showtape (found animatronic audio showtape; 1987)
- The Banana Splits Adventure Hour (partially found Hanna Barbera live action-animated TV series; 1968-1969)
- The Flintstones (cancelled Seth MacFarlane reboot of animated series; 2013)
- The Flintstones Movie (partially found Sega Channel exclusive build of 2D movie tie-in platformer; 1995)
- The Funny World of Fred and Bunni (partially found live-action/animated variety show pilot; 1978)
- The Hanna-Barbera Happy Hour (partially found NBC comedy variety show; 1978)
- The Moxy Show (partially found episodes of CGI anthology series; 1993-2000)
- The New Teen Titans "Just Say No!" (partially lost Hanna-Barbera anti-drug animated PSA; 1983)
- The Ruff and Reddy Show (found episodes of NBC Hanna-Barbera animated series; 1957-1960)
- The Snorks (partially found unaired pilot of Hanna-Barbera animated TV series; 1982)
External Links
- BCDB info on part 1 Retrieved 14 Jan '18
- BCDB info on part 2 Retrieved 14 Jan '18