New Shrimpola Cola From Sheep In The Big City: Contains Shellfish

 The 2000 Cartoon Network series Sheep In The Big City contained a commercial for a "brain burning" shrimp-based soda called Shrimpola Cola.  The mascots for the new drink were a duo of Beastie Boys shrimp, singing a catchy rap jingle.  I made one of the Shrimps out of shells, shark teeth, and rocks found on the beaches of Venice, Florida.

I did not catch Sheep In The Big City when it originally aired, but I stumbled across the Shrimpola Cola commercial on YouTube and fell in love with it.  I really admire the graphic style of the Sheep series, created by Mo Willems.  I'm especially impressed that he created shrimp characters that actually look like the Beastie Boys.

J-Man Jokerz Wild: Batman Beyond the Sea Returns

 The world of the futuristic Batman Beyond animated series is terrorized by a gang of thugs called the Jokerz.  The most Jokerish looking of the Jokerz is a dapper guy named J-Man.  J-Man is the second character I've built from Batman Beyond, using shells, rocks, and shark teeth found on the beaches of Venice, Florida.  J-Man was voiced by none other than Batman The Animated Series artist and legend, Bruce Timm.

There are some very sinister looking members of the Jokerz gang.  One of them, named Scab, looks like one of Santa's Elves from 1983's A Christmas Story (the ones that are rough with Ralphie and Randy at the department store).

Batman Beyond The Sea

 

The 1999 sci-fi animated series Batman Beyond featured a teenage Batman named Terry McGinnis (voiced by Will Friedle) in a cyberpunk future.  This new Batman was mentored by the original Batman, Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy).

Though I remember when the series aired on the WB (remember that network?) I never actually saw it until a friend introduced me to it on HBO Max.  It's rather shocking that this complex and striking series was a Saturday Morning show.  The series has a very strong cult following, and is beloved by many fans.

I live in Venice, Florida, and I decided to build Batman Beyond out of shells and shark teeth I found on the beaches here.  Batman's fingers, feet, and arm spikes are made out of shark teeth.  Batman's legs and arms are made out of cerith shells.  The iconic Batman Beyond pointy headpiece is made from boring turret snail shells.

  

Looney Tunes 2017: The Inauguration of Sylvester's Replacement

I typically avoid politics, but I had an idea for a new Warner Brothers character that simply wrote itself.

A new adversary for Speedy Gonzales and Tweety Bird!  A huge personality.  A fat cat in every sense of the word.

The Tasmanian Devil Went Down To Georgia

This past weekend, I went to a wedding in Scottsboro, Alabama, and it got me thinking about the Tasmanian Devil.  Let me explain.  The Bride grew up in Alabama, and the Groom is Australian.  I have always been fascinated by Aussie wildlife, and animation, so naturally I'm familiar with the Warner Brothers Looney Tunes Tasmanian Devil (or "Taz").  The character, voiced by Mel Blanc, debuted in 1954.  The appearance of the Tasmanian Devil has changed drastically over the years, particularly on merchandise.  I especially like this stuffed animal version of the character, sold in the 1970s (it actually looks a bit like a real Tasmanian Devil).

Taz has been a very popular merchandising character for Warner Brothers.  Over the years, stuffed animals of the Tasmanian Devil were produced by a company called Mighty Star.

The memorable Tasmanian Devil only appeared in a few animated Looney Tunes shorts from 1954 to 1964.

It seems Mighty Star began producing Taz stuffed animals in 1971.

Mighty Star plush toys were sold in many toy stores and theme parks.  Believe it or not, for a short time in the 1990s, the Mighty Star Looney Tunes plush were sold at the Looney Bin Roger Rabbit "toon" store at the Disney MGM Studios (now called Disney's Hollywood Studios) at Walt Disney World in Florida.

In 1976, Marriott's Great America amusement parks opened in Illinois and California.

The Tasmanian Devil and the rest of the Looney Tunes served as mascots for the parks.

The shops inside Marriott's Great America sold souvenirs featuring the Warner Brothers characters.

The Marriott Corporation sold the Great America parks in 1984.  The park in Illinois was purchased by Six Flags, which inherited the Looney Tunes characters.  The Great America Park in California eventually became part of the now-defunct Paramount Parks chain (which featured Hanna Barbera and Nickelodeon characters and included Kings Island in Ohio, Carowinds in North Carolina, and Kings Dominion in Virginia).

By 1985, Looney Tunes "lands" took over the kid sections in the Six Flags parks chain.

Growing up in Alabama, my "home park" was Six Flags Over Georgia.  Taz enjoyed taking the park's Mind Bender roller coaster for a spin.

Looney Tunes merchandise invaded Six Flags gift shops.  I made sure to get this five inch tall vinyl Tasmanian Devil figure (made in Hong Kong) in 1985.

The Tasmanian Devil of 1985 looks very different from the Tasmanian Devil of 2014.

Mighty Star plush Looney Tunes toys were sold inside Six Flags parks during the 1980s.

Mighty Star continued to tinker with the design of the Tasmanian Devil.

Gradually, the nose and mouth on the Taz toy got larger.

Taz became the "go-to" tough guy character for Warner Brothers.

The Tasmanian Devil stuffed toy gradually got shorter and stockier.

The 1979 Stephen King short story The Crate was apparently inspired by the Warner Brothers Tasmanian Devil.

By 1991, Taz got his own animated TV series, Taz-Mania.  The Tasmanian Devil was the star of the show, which was set in Australia.  Jim Cummings (the voice of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger for the past few decades) played Taz (and some other characters) on Taz-Mania.

This is what Mighty Star's Tasmanian Devil plush toy looked like in stores at Six Flags parks in the 1990s.  This version could also be found in Warner Brothers Studios Stores in shopping malls around the world, until Warner Brothers started designing their own plush toys in the mid-Nineties.  Then the stores closed.  Poor Taz!

Very different looking versions of Taz plush toys can be found today, even in "Claw" Machine Games at the grocery store or Walmart.

For more fun, check out Taz the Biker: Tasmanian Devil or Angel?

Cats Don't Dance At Subway

Do you remember that episode of the TV show "Quantum Leap" where Scott Bakula becomes a cartoon cat in Hollywood in the Thirties?  Well, that was a 1997 Turner Feature Animation movie called "Cats Don't Dance."

Optimistic Danny the Cat (voiced by Scott Bakula) travels from Kokomo, Indiana to Hollywood to become a singing and dancing star.

Danny is so skinny.  Instead of Subway, maybe he should eat a Big Mac.

Jasmine Guy (from the TV show "A Different World") provides the speaking voice for Danny's love interest, Sawyer (a former dancer and a secretary for an Animal Talent Agency).

Sawyer's singing voice was provided by Natalie Cole.

"Cats Don't Dance" fully embraces the romantic idea of Hollywood in a fun way (notice Woolie the Elephant as the mascot for Mammoth Pictures, a clever spoof of the MGM Lion).

To my knowledge, the only merchandise tied to the film was the set of toys available at Subway Restaurants.

Before the countless Penguin animated films we've seen over the past ten years, there was Pudge the Penguin  (voiced by Matthew Herried).

Things are rough for the animal actors in Hollywood until Danny shows up.

I found the "Cats Don't Dance" Subway toys at a Flea Market many years ago.  I think the Woolie the Elephant Squirter (which I never got) may have been the toy sold to kids under the age of three.

I never saw the Two-Faced Darla Subway toy.  I heard that it was recalled at some point.

Darla Dimple (voiced by Ashley Peldon, with singing by Lindsay Ridgeway) is clearly a parody of Shirley Temple.  Her towering monster servant, Max, was voiced by the film's director, Mark Dindal.

"Cats Don't Dance" was the first and last movie made by Turner Feature Animation.  By the time the film was released, Turner Entertainment merged with Warner Brothers.

When "Cats Don't Dance" debuted in movie theaters in March of 1997, it didn't do very well.

Most people are probably more familiar with this film from showings on the Disney Channel or Cartoon Network.

Re-watching "Cats Don't Dance", I discovered a nice little hidden Easter Egg.  In the "Danny's Arrival Song" sequence, there is a sign on a building with an artist's palette and the name "Nikolai."  This was put in by "Cats Don't Dance" visual artist Dennis Greco as a nod to (Disney) artist Larry Nikolai.

Larry Nikolai has worked in animation and theme park design for many years.  He was nice enough to help me out with a story I did called Monsters, M.I.A.: Six Flags Over Georgia's Monster Mansion And The Big Monster On Campus.

Looking at the model of Woolie the Elephant, it does make me wonder what a CGI "Cats Don't Dance" would look like.

A younger Scott Bakula takes time from his Quantum Leaping to work with a younger Randy Newman.

In the movie, we learn that Scott Bakula can sing, and sing really, really well!

The songs were written by, but not sung by, Pixar favorite, Randy Newman.

The character Danny the Cat seems to have been inspired by Mickey Mouse (at least subliminally).

Danny's personality and many of his facial expressions and poses are very Mickey Mouse (in a good way!).

Danny and Sawyer learned to dance with a little help from their mentor, Gene Kelly.

The character animation in the movie is very reminiscent of Disney's Aladdin, too (there's even a "Darladdin" poster in the background during the "Animal Jam" scene).

Look for lots of fun old Hollywood caricatures in the movie, too.

Luckily, Danny and his pals get discovered and are put into lots of movies!  Specifically, at the end we see the characters in posters for Warner Brothers movies like Batman, Superman and Beetlejuice.  It takes us way beyond the 1930s.

Danny's animal friends include Tillie the Hippo (Kathy Najimy, from "Sister Act"), Woolie the Elephant (John Rhys-Davies), T.W. the Turtle (Don Knotts), Frances Albacore (Betty Lou Gerson, the voice of Cruella De Vil in Disney's "101 Dalmatians") and Cranston Goat (Hal Holbrook).

Say, doesn't Frances the fish look a bit like Yzma from Disney's "The Emperor's New Groove"?  Well, there's a reason for that.  Both films were directed by Mark Dindal, and they both have a very similar feel (even similar jazzy soundtracks!).

For more fun, check out Bucky And The Emperor's New Groove At McDonald's.

Pac-Man And The Ghost Monsters Present Haunted Holidays

Nothing captures the spirit of the early 1980s quite like Pac-Man Puffy stickers.  The fact that these have googly eyes adds greatly to their trade value.

The Pac-Man arcade game was created by Namco Ltd. of Japan, and debuted in 1980.  Pac-Man is among the first Anime characters to become a sensation in the United States (where the characters were licensed to Bally-Midway).

In the early 1980s, Pac-Man characters appeared on anything and everything you could think of.  This image from my childhood Pac-Man lunchbox could also be found on a special drinking glass sold at Arby's (and many other places).

When I was in elementary school, lunchboxes were made out of metal.

In those days, things were different.  Not better, just different.  For example, underpants were made out of sandpaper.  Ouch!

You've probably heard about "The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon."  You know, how actor Kevin Bacon is somehow connected to every actor in Hollywood.

Well, forget about Kevin Bacon.  Pac-Man has some sort of connection to everyone on the planet.

In 1982, Bally-Midway/General Computer Corporation launched the successful Ms. Pac-Man arcade game.

The Pac-Man characters got a new animated look to decorate the Ms. Pac-Man machines.

Quite a bit of merchandise was inspired by the Ms. Pac-Man game, including PVC figures from Coleco.

The Pac-Man characters were introduced to Six Flags theme parks in 1982, since both properties were controlled by Bally-Midway at that time.

Hanna Barbera produced a Pac-Man cartoon for the 1982 ABC TV Saturday Morning schedule.  Once again, the characters got a new look.

The Pac-Man animated series took viewers to Pac-Land, where Pac-Man (voiced by Marty Ingels) lives with his wife Pepper (Barbara Minkus) and their Pac-Baby (a character based on the 1982 Bally-Midway "Baby Pac-Man" pinball game).

Thanks to references on "Family Guy" I guess there are people under the age of 38 who have heard of the TV show "The Electric Company."

The Electric Company was a show aimed at "Graduates of Sesame Street" and like that series, it was created by the Children's Television Workshop.

The Electric Company Magazine featured stories tied to whatever was popular at the time, including a special Pac-Man Christmas.

Marvel's Spider-Man starred in live-action "Spidey Super Stories" on episodes of The Electric Company.

Hanna Barbera's 1982 "Christmas Comes to Pac-Land" special has been airing on TV for years on Cartoon Network and Boomerang.

Pac-Baby was voiced by Russi Taylor, who is famous for her work as Minnie Mouse, Baby Gonzo in Muppet Babies, Donald Duck's Nephews on "DuckTales", Strawberry Shortcake, and Martin on "The Simpsons".

Pac-Man's Dog is Chomp-Chomp, and his unique barks were provided by voice-over legend Frank Welker.  If you've seen a movie or TV show with an animal in it, chances are good that Frank Welker did the voice.

The Pac Family Cat is Sour Puss, voiced by Peter Cullen (well known for his role as Optimus Prime in "Transformers").

Pac-Man was constantly chased by the Ghost Monsters.  Clyde the orange ghost (Neil Ross, from the animated G.I. Joe series) bossed around his spirited gang.  They included Sue the purple ghost (Susan Silo, who was also one of the CopyCats on "Kidd Video"), Inky the blue ghost (Barry Gordon, voice of the Nestle Quik Bunny and Donatello on "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"), Blinky the red ghost and Pinky (both voiced by Chuck McCann, a Disney veteran known for his work on "DuckTales" and EPCOT Center's Dreamfinder character).

The Ghost Monsters worked for a villain named Mezmaron (Allan Lurie) who looks quite a bit like a cross between Toy Story's Emperor Zurg and Darth Vader.

Even a popular character like Pac-Man was not immune from having a network tinker with his TV show.

By the second season, Pac-Man welcomed a cool Fonzie-type character named Poochie.  I mean P.J.

Pac-Man's teenage nephew P.J. (played by Darryl Hickman, voice of Waggs in Hanna Barbera's Smurfs-inspired dog cartoon "The Biskitts") was loosely based on Bally-Midway's 1983 "Jr. Pac-Man" game.

Another new character was Super-Pac (based on Namco's "Super Pac-Man" arcade game from 1982).  Super-Pac was voiced by Lorenzo Music, probably best known for his role as Garfield the cat for many years.

As part of The Electric Company Magazine's "Pactivities," Pac-Man lampoons Porky Pig, Batman, Woody Woodpecker, Count Dracula, Pocahontas and the Wolf Man.

Pac-Man even goes Sci-Fi, sending up Star Wars as Dot Vader in "The Empire Strikes Pac."

Who would have guessed that a character that looks like a cut piece of pie would be such a phenomenon?

In 1982, Pac-Man inspired "Pac-Man Fever", a catchy song from Buckner & Garcia that was a huge hit and drove people crazy.

Here are the Cheat Codes for The Electric Company Magazine's Pac-Man Games and Puzzles.

There's also answers to other games and puzzles.  One in particular makes me laugh.

By 1983, Pac-Man characters were comfortable in their role as mascots in Six Flags theme parks across the United States.  Wearing a big top hat, Pac-Man even performed in a Magic Show.

This brochure mentions many things that no longer exist.  The Stars Hall of Fame was a Six Flags property in Orlando.  It did not last long.  Six Flags sold the Movieland Wax Museum in Buena Park, California.  Astroworld in Houston closed down years ago.  Free Fall is no longer operating at Six Flags Over Georgia.  And the dolphin show has been closed for many years.  Sorry to rain on your parade.

Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man got their own Pac-Man Play Fort at Six Flags Over Georgia in 1983.  Similar Play Forts opened up at other Six Flags parks, too.

By 1985, Bally-Midway no longer owned Six Flags, and the Warner Brothers Looney Tunes kicked out Pac-Man.  Ironically, the Hanna Barbera empire (including the Pac-Man animated series) was eventually swallowed up by Warner Brothers via a merger with Turner Entertainment.

By 1991, Pac-Man rebooted his career with another new look.

The basic Pac-Man vs. Ghost Monsters concept remained, but the characters were given new situations to explore.

Pac-Man game ads were frequently featured in Disney Adventures Magazine during the 1990s.

In 2012, Pac-Man and the Ghost Monsters appeared in Disney's "Wreck It Ralph" animated feature.  It was awesome to see Pac-Man and the Ghost Monsters on the big screen.

Ms. Pac-Man is often thought to be a better game than the original Pac-Man.

 When Ms. Pac-Man originally debuted, the orange ghost known as Clyde was re-named Sue.

Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man learned to adapt to new game systems.

A new generation could become addicted to Pac-Man.  Thanks to Game-Gear, they could play it at school, on the bus, at Grama's house, or at a funeral.

As new Pac-Man games were released, Disney Adventures Magazine offered tips for gamers.

In 1994's "Pac-Man 2", the characters looked and moved like cartoon characters.  They were quite different from the original "cut-pie" Pac-Man.

As more advanced game systems were introduced, the arcades mentioned in the "Pac-Man Fever" song were quickly becoming a thing of the past.

In 2003, Pac-Man and the Ghost Monsters began to materialize in the 1980s section of Disney's Pop Century Resort at Walt Disney World in Florida.

In "The One Where Joey Dates Rachel" 2002 episode of the TV show "Friends", Monica and Chandler are given a Ms. Pac-Man arcade game by Phoebe.

When the highly competitive Monica loses the game, she tells Ms. Pac-Man, "Well, you're just a little b**ch, aren't you?"

Pac-Man's look has changed many times over the years.  The pie eyed (or Pac-Man eyed) version of the character is charming as a hand drawn character or as a computer animated one.

A brand new CGI animated Pac-Man TV series is slated to debut in 2013 on the Disney XD channel.

It's time for Pac-Man to celebrate another holiday!

It's St. Patrick's Day, Pac-Man!  Instead of a pinch, how about a byte?