The musical number "Wonderful Ways to Say No" was written by Academy Award-winning composer, Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman, who also wrote the songs for Walt Disney Animation Studios' The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin.

Financed by McDonald's, Ronald McDonald Children's Charities, it was originally simulcast for a limited time on April 21, 1990, on all four major American television networks (by supporting their Saturday morning characters): ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox,[a] and most independent stations, as well as various cable networks.

Alf, Garfield, Alvin, Simon, and Theodore identify the thief: Michael, Corey's older brother, who has a box of marijuana hidden under his bed.

Meanwhile, Corey expresses her concerns about Michael's change in behavior since they used to have a close sibling relationship, which he angrily denies, causing him to storm out of the house.

It is shown that Michael's addiction started through peer pressure from older high school students when he was around Corey's age.

Michael finds himself at a park, where Huey, Dewey, and Louie as well as Tigger join the rest of the cartoons to sing about how to refuse drugs.

Inside a hall of mirrors, Alf shows Michael his current reflection, then an aged, sickly version of himself severely affected by drugs.

[4][5] The special marked the first time the characters Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck were voiced by someone other than Mel Blanc, who had died shortly before the production,[6] prompting Warner Bros. to enlist Jeff Bergman in his place.

The special also aired on selected cable systems, including BET, TNT, USA Network, Nickelodeon, and The Disney Channel.

Some modern critics have considered the production a time capsule of animation history during the US war on drugs,[9] and have ridiculed it as "propaganda"[10] and "preachy".