Inappropriate spinoff cartoons for kids

[buzby]

That alien toy set is baffling. It looks like a bootleg, for a start, so I'm surprised to hear it was being sold in Smyths. Who is the "hero"? Why are the aliens all different colours? They used to do that with toys and games in the 80s, make them totally different from the film, but I thought nowadays they tried to keep the toys film accurate (with one eye on the adult buyer).

It actually does look like a toy set for a tie-in cartoon, where the aliens are all different colours to identify them, and they have distinct stock character traits, like the dumb alien, the smart arse, the sleepy one etc. The human characters would have a good alien helping them, like Slimer.

There are two licencees for Alien figures currently. Neca, who make high quality, more film-accurate figures along with a toy-like line that is a 'tribute' to the original Kenner figures, and Lanard Toys of Hong Kong, who make the cheaper, lower-quality and more toylike figures pictured above, which again are clearly inspired by the early 90s Kenner figure line. They are exclusive to Walmart on the US and Smyths in the UK. They also do a Predator figure line too.

[Glebe]

The Toxic Avenger also had a cartoon, called The Toxic Crusaders.

I can't find the clip on YouTube or that, but I distinctly remember Troma head Lloyd Kaufman making a tongue-in-cheek appearance on Wogan with some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures with Toxic Avenger faces stuck on which he was trying to pass of as genuine Toxic Avenger merchandise, the ribald fellow!

[Bad Ambassador]

The cartoon was on Parallel 9, Live and Kicking's summer replacement.

[stonkers]

I distinctly remember seeing the bull alien on sale in Woolworths as a kid, and have been confused about where the concept came from ever since.

I had the bull alien and a couple of the marines, I remember being annoyed that you couldn't get just a regular alien instead of all the animal variants. Kenner brought out Predator toys a couple of years later as well.

[St_Eddie]

Kenner brought out Predator toys a couple of years later as well.

They made a Jimmy Savile action figure?

[Blumf]

Also, these:

[Avril Lavigne]

I remember being annoyed that you couldn't get just a regular alien instead of all the animal variants.

Same. I later found out you could get a regular version but only in the Alien vs Predator figure two-pack. Probably a ploy to get folks to spend extra cash just to get the most-wanted Alien figure.



The Scorpion Alien was as close as the main Kenner line came to the designs from the movies so I bought that and pretended it was the Alien Warrior from Aliens.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Aliens already have a spiky tail (which is meant to contain a venomous sting no less) so what makes that one a scorpion? It should have pincers or something.

[Avril Lavigne]

Aliens already have a spiky tail (which is meant to contain a venomous sting no less) so what makes that one a scorpion? It should have pincers or something.

Yeah I never got that either, it's possible the figure was originally intended to be a standard alien but they slapped the 'scorpion' name on it to fit in with the dumb animal-hybrid theme.

[St_Eddie]

Aliens already have a spiky tail (which is meant to contain a venomous sting no less)

This is unconfirmed.  An earlier draft of James Cameron's script for Aliens contained a line about how the xenomorphs would sting people with a barb on the tips of their tails, but it was removed from the final shooting script.

[thecuriousorange]

That's from 1988, so way before the softer sequels and TV series.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

This is unconfirmed.  An earlier draft of James Cameron's script for Aliens contained a line about how the xenomorphs would sting people with a barb on the tips of their tails, but it was removed from the final shooting script.

I'm going by the highest of authorities: The Aliens novelisation, by Alan Dean Foster.

[The Dog]

Nobody thought CITV's World in Action cartoon would be a success, and it wasn't.

[Blumf]

Nobody thought CITV's World in Action cartoon would be a success, and it wasn't.

Well, it did get pre-empted by Panorama Babies. Robin Day in stripey socks looking after baby world leaders. Aww, look at Little Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley work together to reach the cookie jar.

[St_Eddie]

I'm going by the highest of authorities: The Aliens novelisation, by Alan Dean Foster.

Said novelisation would have been based off the earlier draft of James Cameron's script.  Some of the other discrepncies between the novelisation and the movie include (from Xenopedia)...

* The Daihotai Tractors used by the colonists are described as having six wheels instead of eight as in the film. Also, the APC has six wheels instead of four.

* Newt is around 12 years old in the film. The novel states she is only 6.

* Hudson is a Corporal in the book.

* Ripley realizes Bishop is an android immediately after she wakes up when she notices an identification number stenciled onto his hand, although she still does not confront him about it until during breakfast in the mess. The knife scene that introduces the character in the film does not take place in the book.

* The Power Loader is a four-legged "elephant"-like vehicle rather than a humanoid exosuit.

* Rather than a nondescript corridor, Newt is found in the colony's kitchen.

* During the escape from the Hive in the APC, Gorman is attacked by a Xenomorph clinging to the outside of the vehicle, which stings and paralyzes him with its tail, rather than being knocked out by loose crates.

* The Queen is attended to by small, albino Xenomorphs called Drones. These creatures move the Eggs in the Hive once the Queen has laid them, and they completely ignore Ripley as they go about their duties. These creature also appear in the film's script, but were dropped before filming began.

* Ripley has to climb out of the Hive using ladders and stairs as the elevator takes too long to reach her. In the film, she makes for a ladder, but the arrival of the Queen causes her to retreat to the elevator again.

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

I liked The Mask cartoon, only saw the film for the first time the other day and couldn't believe how age inappropriate it was.

The movie is based on a comic book, and the comic is way darker and more violent than the movie.

Similar trajectory to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, except it went "dark, violent, satirical comics" -> "kiddified cartoon" -> "wacky movie with age-inappropriate elements"

[Replies From View]

That alien toy set is baffling. It looks like a bootleg, for a start, so I'm surprised to hear it was being sold in Smyths. Who is the "hero"?

Was Bill Bailey not in any of the Alien films?

[Replies From View]

It's funny the impact that toy lines had on the desire to watch inappropriate films.  When Terminator 2 received its UK television premiere on BBC 1 I didn't think twice about watching it and making sure I taped it as well, even though I was under the requisite 15 years of age.  It was automatic.  I had essentially seen pages in the Argos advertising it for years.



I was especially fascinated by the idea of this.  Of course I never bought any of them.


I had even watched The Terminator when it had broadcast a few months beforehand.  The toy line in Argos had instructed me to get ready for Terminator 2, and I knew I had to prepare for it by watching The Terminator, a film with an 18 certificate.  And I was 13 I think.

[Replies From View]

I wonder if the skin could be melted back down into the initial gloop and reused, or if it was expended by the moulding process.  As a kid I assumed it was a kind of reusable Ecto-Plasm material, but it looks like the T800 skin is wasted once used up, which must make the toy pretty expensive to keep playing with.  And it's seemingly not something generic that can be bought cheaply like plaster of paris would be.

What a swizz!

[AsparagusTrevor]

The version of T2 they used to show on the BBC was basically suitable for children anyway. I remember buying the VHS to replace my copy taped from TV and couldn't believe all the added swearing and violence. Unfortunately though the BBC showing didn't comically replace all the swear words with milder and nonsensical words like the infamous Robocop TV-version.

I too really wanted that Terminator Regenerator thing, never got it but eventually my friend did and it was a horrible, messy thing where the flesh never turned out right. We were very disappointed.

[Replies From View]

Yes that's true.  The first film was heavily edited for television too.  I naturally accepted all the abrupt edits for violence because I didn't know what was originally there, but my favourite is the edit for language right near the end, which I always noticed.

Sarah Connor:  You're terminatedf


Sorry Sarah were you about to say something else?  We seemed to accidentally cut you off there right at the crucial moment.

[gmoney]

I got that Bioflesh regenerator thing for Christmas one year. It was awful, didn't work at all and was just a mess. My mum ended up buying me a second-hand keyboard instead a couple of weeks afterwards to make up for it.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Not much of a disguise, is it?  The Terminator's hair is made of flesh. I've heard of skinheads, but this is ridiculous.

Also, it has no bits.

[confettiinmyhair]

Yeah, I found some Terminator 2 action figures when going through some old toys in my parents loft. God knows what kind of plastic these 90s toys were made out of because a lot of them are in better knick than plastic figurines I've purchased for my 3 year old son.

[St_Eddie]

I was especially fascinated by the idea of this.  Of course I never bought any of them.

I actually purchased this very toy when on holiday with my family in New York as a kid (from FAO Schwarz - the toy store with the massive piano from the film Big).  My parents dropped me off back at the hotel and left me to my own devices whilst they went back into the city to do more shopping but explicitly told me not to try and play with my new Terminator toy whilst they were away, in case I made a mess.  Naturally the moment they were out of the door, I went into the bathroom and started trying to make a mold of skin for my exo-skeleton model.  I did indeed make a right hash of it and ended up with a gloopy mess of pink gelatinous ooze which utterly failed to adhere to the figurine and quickly ended up congealing into a semi-solid block.

I panicked when I realised that there was no sure fire way to depose of the offending mess, as it looked like it could potentially block the toilet and throwing it in the bin wasn't an option, as my parents would be sure to notice it and lambast me for disobeying their orders.  So I did the only sensible thing in that situation and shoved it through the grate of the bathroom's air ventilator shaft.  I spent the remainder of the holiday fearing that my parents might discover it seeping out of the grate one morning, but thankfully that never occurred.  I sometimes wonder whether if it festered in there after we'd returned home to England and if a staff member was called into investigate the source of the stench.  Then again, perhaps Arnie's gloop still remains in the vent to this very day. 

I wonder if the skin could be melted back down into the initial gloop and reused, or if it was expended by the moulding process.  As a kid I assumed it was a kind of reusable Ecto-Plasm material, but it looks like the T800 skin is wasted once used up, which must make the toy pretty expensive to keep playing with.  And it's seemingly not something generic that can be bought cheaply like plaster of paris would be.

What a swizz!

Indeed.  You were required to buy separate refills tubs, which were very expensive I seem to recall.  It was a great toy though, once I actually learned how to properly use it with the help of my Mum.

[Spiteface]

I had that Terminator thing.

I remember being disappointed the figures had ZERO articulation.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I was just going to ask about that. I assume that moving the Terminator's arms and legs would have made the strawberry blancmange skin fall off.

[Dex Sawash]

the strawberry blancmange

One for the unused CaB accounts thread

[Darles Chickens]

Nobody thought CITV's World in Action cartoon would be a success, and it wasn't.

The twee lyrics that they added to the theme tune didn't really help.  Still don't even get what "Poppadom" has to do with anything.

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Would have loved a Seth Brundle cartoon and Kenner action figure range.