Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Color Corey Feldman!

The marketing machine for the 1984 Steven Spielberg movie "Gremlins" worked well on me.  I was obsessed with Gizmo, the cute Mogwai, and Stripe, the scary Gremlin.

The character of Mrs. Deagle in "Gremlins" was played by actress Polly Holliday (she was "Flo" in the TV series "Alice").  I went to college where she went to school, and she visited the campus when I was there.  I am happy to report that she was very nice and friendly!

I have a Gremlins activity book that has some outstanding drawings.  The artist is not credited, which is a real shame.

This illustration recreates a scene with Gizmo, Billy (Zach Galligan) and Pete (played by Corey Feldman).

There was talk years ago of Warner Brothers developing an animated version of "Gremlins" into a TV series, and I had wondered if they would use the great character designs shown in this book.

Corey Feldman is great at playing rascals, but he was also the innocent voice of young Copper the dog in the 1981 animated feature, "The Fox and the Hound" (which is one of my all-time favorite Disney cartoons).

9 comments:

  1. I had this activity book also. In my 5th grade class, Gremlins was all the rage when it came out. Kids had lunch boxes, action figures, notebooks, you name it.

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  2. I didn't know Corey Feldman was the voice of Copper!

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  3. Hey Tom! I think I still have all my Gremlins stuff from many years ago---yes, they were pretty popular with kids at my school, too!

    Hey TokyoMagic! Young Tod was voiced by Keith Mitchell (later known as Keith Coogan) who played Brad in 1987's "Adventures in Babysitting" and Christina Applegate's slacker brother in "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead" from 1991!

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  4. I didn't know he was the voice of Tod! I love "Adventure's In Babysitting!" THOR!!!!!! Whatever happened to Keith Coogan? I think he was the grandson of Jackie Coogan (child silent film star and also Uncle Fester in the Addam's Family TV show.)

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  5. Hey TokyoMagic! A quick trip to imdb.com shows that Keith is still acting, and yes, he's the grandson of Jacki Coogan.

    "Thor" from "Adventures in Babysitting" was Vincent D'Onofrio from "Law and Order." Yup, same guy!

    I have to admit that "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead" is one of those movies that I have to watch if I am flipping through the channels. "I'm right on top of that, Rose!"

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  6. Awesome!! Say... didn't they make a Gremlin Furby or something like that, which was THE TOY to have one year?

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  7. Hey Darrin! Yes---I have the Gremlins Gizmo Furby (never been opened!).

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  8. Man, this artist made Corey look so awful. I think I even had this coloring book. I was a big fan of Gremlins. I had Gremlins cards I think! Funny I thought I was one of the few who knew Corey did the voice in Fox & The Hound. I was a big, big fan of his though. I also loved Keith Coogan, I'm pretty sure I blogged about him a few times.

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  9. See, Ally, I think it looks like Corey, but eating is just not the ideal activity to capture for a coloring book. Especially since this is the only representation of him in the book. It's cool that you got a letter from Corey and put it on your blog. I want to meet some of the Goonies one day.

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