Smoke (Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue)



Smoke is the main antagonist of the 1990 cartoon television special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue. He is a anthropomorphic cloud of smoke who preys and influences on people's desires to do drug abuse for his own purposes.

He was voiced by the late George E. Scott, who also voiced Percival C. McLeach in The Rescuers Down Under.

Role
Being a being of living smoke, Smoke is known for his troubles of luring young teens into using illegal drugs (such as cocaine, marijuana and tobacco) for years and has had success in doing so through. Among the many teens he brought into his inner circle is a young teenager named Michael, who has become very distant towards his family as he hangs out with his peers, who too are using drugs.

Upon hearing that Michael just destroyed a piggy bank belonging to his young sister Corey and stole her money and their father's beer, several cartoon characters in Corey's room come to life and found out that Michael himself has a box of drugs underneath his bed. They decided to take action by showing Michael the dangers of drug abuse. Michael left for the arcade, where his peers and Smoke meet up with him before one of the teens shows up to offer some crack. Smoke tries to goad Michael to try the stuff, but the event is interrupted by an arriving police raid. The teens are forced to flee, but Michael is cornered by an incoming police officer, who actually turns out to be Bugs Bunny in disguise. Using a time machine, Bugs and Michael traveled back to two years ago, where it is revealed that Michael has only become addicted to drugs due to peer pressure by some older high school delinquents.

After being returned back to the present, Smoke steals Michael's wallet and gives it to one his his delinquent peers, who goes off to buy more crack. As Michael runs to get his wallet back, he and Smoke fall into a sewer hole before being taken into a tour of the human brain, where he is told about the dangers of drug abuse that's causing to the brain. This causes Michael to wake up in his room, believing the events to be just a nightmare he had.

After lashing out at Corey when she tries to confront him about his problems, Michael starts to have second thoughts and looks through a mirror in his marijuana box right before he is pulled into it by Alf. Inside a Hall of Mirrors, Alf shows Michael a reflection of what would happen if he doesn't quit using drugs: an aged, corpse-like version of himself. When Michael insists that he could quit if he wants to and that he is in charge of his own life, Alf takes him to see the "man in charge", who is none other than Smoke himself. This made Michael realize in complete horror that Smoke has been pushing people into doing drug abuse that would lead to their deaths to become more powerful, and that he would suffer the same fate if he doesn't quit.

In the meantime, Corey spotted Michael's marijuana box in his room, and Smoke takes the opportunity to try and convince Corey into using the stuff, hoping that she would end up the same fate as Michael; even throwing Winnie the Pooh into a cupboard when the latter tried to warn Corey. However, being convinced by the cartoon characters about the dangers of drug abuse, Michael returns back to his room and prevents Corey from using the drugs, admitting that he was wrong to do so himself and that he is unsure to know how to quit. As Corey pleads with Michael to talk to their parents about the issue, Smoke tries to convince Michael to ignore her and continue on with his drug habit. However, being aware of the dangers of drug abuse, Michael states that he's done listening to Smoke and furiously throws him out of the window into a garbage truck.

As the garbage truck drives away to the dump, Smoke angrily stated that he can't be disposed of so easily and that he will return for the kids. However, Michael and Corey stated that they, along with the cartoon characters, will be ready for Smoke when he does return. Michael and Corey then head over to discuss the former's drug problem with their parents, leaving the cartoon characters proud that they finally brought Michael out from Smoke's control for good.