The story centers on Opus the Penguin (a main character in all three of Breathed's comic strips and, at the time, appearing in Outland).

[1][2] It was directed by Skip Jones and was produced by Peggy Regan for Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television for Universal Cartoon Studios.

Lisa Horowitz of Variety gave the special a positive review, saying that it "crams a lot of action and intelligence into its half-hour".

Asked in 2003 in The Washington Post where a copy of the special could be found on VHS or DVD, Breathed replied: Hopefully in the rubbish pail.

I would imagine it helps.In a 2007 interview, Breathed said that the reason he disliked the special was simply "unspectacular ratings", and that his humor "wasn't meant for television, even if it was done right".