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?

Q*bert and Saturday Supercade

One of my favorite video game characters as a kid was Q*bert, a creature that would hop on a pyramid of cubes to change their color. This was no easy task, as Q*bert had to deal with a bouncing snake named Coily, a hog-faced thug named Ugg, a monster named Wrong-Way, and two green pranksters named Slick (wearing sunglasses) and Sam. Q*bert was released by Gottlieb in 1982.

Q*bert was featured on an extensive line of merchandise, including this birthday card.

In the 1980s, stickers were really big with kids. The ones shown above, like the birthday card, were made by a company in Chicago, Illinois called Mark 1 Inc. I love the character designs here.

For much of the Q*bert merchandise, there was a more standard look, as seen in these fuzzy stickers that you had to color yourself.

I got five of the stickers colored, and it looks like I started to color Ugg and lost interest.

They also made fuzzy Q*bert stickers for lazy children who did not like to color stickers themselves.

Wow, google-eyed Q*bert fuzzy sticker!  Score!

Q*bert hit the pages of comic books to promote his video game.

Cussing is a popular way to grab attention.

Q*bert even branched out into other forms of arcade games.

You know who is a Pinball Wizard?  Who?  Yes, Q*bert!

Don't spend all your quarters playing the Q*bert video game and pinball game.

Store your change in the Q*bert bank so you can save up enough money to buy more Q*bert merchandise.

Among the Smurfs, Cabbage Patch Kids, Shirt Tales, Care Bears, Star Wars Ewoks, Garfield and Strawberry Shortcake plush toys, you could find a Q*bert stuffed toy for Christmas in 1983.

The Q*bert plush was made by Kenner, which also produced other Q*bert toys.

Kenner made a line of Q*bert Qrazy Qharacter PVC figurines.

I remember thinking that the Q*bert with Coily and Q*bert with Slick figures were the best value because you got two characters for the price of one.

Non-lazy children could make their own Q*bert figures out of Play-Doh.

The sculpts for the Q*bert Play-Doh molds were among the best likenesses of the characters I remember seeing.

Instead of playing with the Play-Doh Q*bert figures on the couch or the expensive dining room table, how about playing with them on this Play-Doh mat?

Here we get a rare glimpse at Q*bert's house.

Parker Brothers released a Q*bert card game in 1983.

The Coily tokens were pretty cool, as they were "pop-up" spring cardboard pieces.

There were many different toys and games featuring Q*bert, so naturally he also became a Saturday Morning TV star, too!

Q*bert appeared along with video game stars Donkey Kong (with Mario), Donkey Kong Jr., Pitfall and Frogger in the 1983 CBS Saturday morning series, Saturday Supercade.  These characters had their own segments, with Q*bert rotating with Pitfall each week.

To my knowledge, Pitfall was the only Saturday Supercade cartoon to have merchandise tied to the Saturday morning version of the video game (in this case, Puffy Stick-Ons sold at Walgreens.

As a kid, I was not a fan of Pitfall, only because it meant Q*bert would not appear on that episode of  Saturday Supercade.  Looking at the show now, the Pitfall segments weren't really inferior to Q*bert.  Honestly, Q*bert and Pitfall were equally not very good.  We just had limited TV choices in 1983.

The Pitfall characters are actually appealing to look at.  They remind me a little of Disney animated adventure TV shows like DuckTales, Chip N' Dale Rescue Rangers, and TaleSpin.

Main character Pitfall Harry was voiced by Robert Ridgely (he played the Peculiar Purple Pieman of Porcupine Peak in the 1980s version of Strawberry Shortcake).

Harry's niece, Rhonda, was voiced by Noelle North (Princess Calla and Cubbi Gummi in Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears).  Mountain Lion Quickclaw was voiced by Kenneth Mars (King Triton in Disney's The Little Mermaid).

Pitfall did not survive to appear in the second season of Saturday Supercade.

Before Disney Channel's Teen Beach Movie, there was Q*bert on Saturday Supercade.

Q*bert and his friends from high school loved to have fun when they weren't avoiding trouble from a gang of baddies who seem to be based on Marlon Brando and his gang of hooligans from the 1953 movie The Wild One.

Q*bert is voiced by Billy Bowles (he voiced the Pink Panther's son, Pinky in "Pink Panther and Sons" around this time, too).

Q*bert is joined by his girlfriend, Q-Tee, valley girl Q-Val (both voiced by Robbie Lee), friends Q-Ball and Q-Mungus (both voiced by Frank Welker) and little brother Q-Bit.

The Q*bert segment was my favorite part of Saturday Supercade. It was sort of a mix of Q*bert, Archie comics, the TV show Happy Days and the trends and lingo of the early 1980s.

Q*bert and friends even dressed up as Michael Jackson, Pat Benetar, Cyndi Lauper and Boy George.

Coily, Wrong-Way and Ugg, as well as Sam and Slick (all voiced by Frank Welker) are joined by Coily's girlfriend Viper (Julie McWhirter).

Coily constantly plots against Q*bert.

Being a cartoon villain, naturally Coily's plans always backfire.

Coily carries on the tradition of animated snakes that are subjected to abuse for laughs.

Coily gets no respect.

Eventually, we also meet Coily's Dad, Sidewinder, and his Mom, Serpentine.  I really liked these characters as a kid.

Sidewinder looks kind of like a snake version of Homer Simpson.  And Coily clearly looks more like his Mom.  Coily also has a younger sister.  I can't remember her name.

Coily doesn't seem so tough when his Dad is around.

Before High School Musical, Q*bert got his head in the game.

In 1984, Saturday Supercade dropped Frogger, Pitfall and Donkey Kong Jr. from the lineup, and added Kangaroo and Space Ace.

Q*bert continued to curse his way to stardom.

Maybe Q*bert was so popular because he was a bad-boy hero.

I did not really think about it as a kid, but his swearing was kind of his trademark.

The additions of Kangaroo and Space Ace did not help Saturday Supercade enough, signaling the end of the series.

Q*bert was produced by Ruby-Spears, the same company that created animated TV shows for Mr. T, Rubik the Amazing Cube, and Punky Brewster.

I recently got a stack of 10 animation model sheet cels from Ruby-Spears cartoon shows, and one of them is of Coily the snake. I have always been interested in cels, and as a kid, I'd make my own using acrylic paint and my Dad's overhead projection plastic sheets. Holding one of these in person, and seeing how the paint is applied, the concept is not that different!

When Saturday Supercade ended its run on TV, the Ruby Spears versions of the Q*bert characters ended, too.

The original version of Q*bert continued as a merchandising character.

I no longer have my old Atari game system, but somehow the box from my Kangaroo game (1987) managed to survive!

I believe Space Ace is the only Saturday Supercade segment that has been shown on TV (Cartoon Network and Boomerang) since the early 1980s.

When I originally wrote this post, I had no idea that Q*bert would be starring in Disney's 2012 "Wreck-It Ralph" animated movie along with many other video game characters.

Do you dream of dressing up like Q*bert for Halloween?  Well, they actually made a Q*bert mask!

As a fan of Q*bert, I find this to be adorable and scary at the same time.