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Sultan and the Rock Star

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Sultan and the Rock Star
Genre
  • Adventure
  • Drama
Based onSandy and the Rock Star by Walt Morey
Written bySteve Hayes
Directed byEd Abroms
StarringTimothy Hutton
Ken Swofford
Bruce Glover
Ned Romero
Richard Paul
Pat Delaney
Shug Fisher
Brendan Dillon
Elven Havard
Wayne Winton
John Lawrence
Music byArtie Butler
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producerRon Miller
ProducerJerome Courtland
CinematographyMike Swetten
EditorDennis A. Orcutt
Running time60 minutes
Production companyWalt Disney Productions
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseApril 20, 1980 (1980-04-20)

Sultan and the Rock Star (also known as The Hunter and the Rock Star) is a 1980 American made-for-television adventure drama film starring Timothy Hutton and based on the novel Sandy and the Rock Star by Walt Morey, with the major difference being the titular cat is a mountain lion and not a tiger. It was originally broadcast on NBC as an episode of Disney's Wonderful World on April 20, 1980.[1]

Synopsis

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Paul Winters (Timothy Hutton) is an overworked teenage rock star who escapes from his fans and obligations to hide out on "Sportsman's Island", where he befriends Sultan, a gentle 400-pound show biz Bengal tiger. When he discovers the friendly feline is scheduled to be hunted and killed by the island's cruel owner, George McKinzie, Paul scrambles to protect his newfound friend.

Cast

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Song

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Filming

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Sultan and the Rock Star was filmed on location in July 1979 at Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo County, California.[2]

During pre-production, Timothy Hutton spent two weeks at Disney's Golden Oak Ranch in Canyon County, California learning how to act around Sultan; he admitted that he was scared out of his wits for the first few days of training because it wasn't easy to be natural, loose and funny while acting with a tiger.[3]

Home media

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The film was released on DVD under the title The Hunter and the Rock Star exclusively through the Disney Movie Club and DisneyStore.com on May 1, 2012. On May 2, 2013, it was restored back to its original title and made available for rent or purchase via the "DisneyMoviesOnDemand" channel on YouTube.

References

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  1. ^ Cotter, Bill (1997). The Wonderful World of Disney Television. Hyperion Books. pp. 162–163, 547. ISBN 0-7868-6359-5.
  2. ^ Sultan and the Rock Star film production: The Spokesman-Review newspaper, retrieved July 17, 2015
  3. ^ Interview with Timothy Hutton: Herald-Journal, April 1980, retrieved July 17, 2015
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