Remember waking up on Saturday morning, sporting your favorite cartoon hero pajamas...munching on some Fuity Pebbles or Cocoa Puffs and planting yourself down in front of the TV to watch some serious Saturday Morning Cartoons?  Or racing home from school in time to catch your favorite daily cartoon series?  Or finally having something to watch on Sunday nights besides Masterpiece Theater?  It was easy to find refuge in the fantastical worlds created by the many animators and storytellers of cartoons in the 80s.  Now, many filmakers are capitolizing on the resurgence of 80s pop culture and Transforming (sorry, couldn't resist) that idea into box office gold.  For this months newsletter I've chosen to feature three major films released this year based on popular animated series of the 80s: The Simpsons, Transformers, and TMNT.  I chose these because they are not only box office gold, they are also retail gems!

Let's start with The Simpsons...

America was first introduced to The Simpson family on April 19, 1987 as an animated skit on The Tracy Ullman Show.  The actual series debuted on December 17, 1989 with a Christmas special titled "Simpsons Roasting Over An Open Fire."  The first full-length episode did not air until May 1990 due to animation problems.  Some of you may also remember an ad campaign featuring Bart Simpson coveting his Butterfinger candy bar. 

Some of the concpets of the series raised contraversy among parents and conservatives.  Parents considered Bart a poor role model for children as he dubbed himself "Underachiever."  George H.W. Bush was even quoted as saying "We're going to strengthen the American family to make it more like The Waltons and less lke The Simpsons."  As with most things that cause contraversy, the Simpsons popularity only grew, and soon it became a merchandising powerhouse.  Kids were wearing t-shirts with phrases like "Don't have a cow, man" and "Ay caramba!"  Over the years, the focus has shifted off of Bart and onto Homer as more and more adults grew an affinity for the show, and as America grew up watching it.  Homer's signature annoyed grunt,"D'oh" was actually added to the Oxford English Dictionary, but without the apostophe. 

The TV series celebrated its 400th episode on May 20, 2006 as season 18 came to a close.  It is the longest running prime-time animated series, a title previously held by The Flintsones. 

In its 19 year run, The simpsons has been dubbed into several languages including Japanese, German, Spanish, Swedish, French, and Quebec French. 

The Simpson Movie, released on July 27, 2007 made $74 million dollars in its opening weekend, surpassing Mission:Impossible II as the highest grossing opening weekend for a movie based on a TV series.  It was announced on April 24, 2007 that a Simpsons ride will be added to Universal Studios Theme Parks in Orlando and Hollywood.

Transformers...

Transformers were first introduced in the US when a product developer from Hasbro Toy Co. discovered the line of Microman and Diaclone toys at the 1983 Tokyo Toy Fair.  A year later the FCC did away with regulations forbidding toy companies from broadcasting cartoons based on their products.  The animated series was developed and along with a Marvel comic book series, the three pronged marketing strategy exploded.  A three part mini-series pilot aired in September 1984 entitled "More Than Meets The Eye"  and introduced the opposing teams of Alien Transfofrmers: The Autobots (the good guys) and the Decpticons (the bad guys).   It was well received and in December 1984 it was re-aired and kicked off a 13 episode season.  The first season is the only one that was meant to be viewed in succession with a continuing plot line.  By season 2, creators were pushing hard to get to syndication and produced a 49 episode season with less continuity and more stand alone, single episode plot lines.  Season 2 also introduced four combining teams capable of merging into one giant robot: Autobots-Aerialbots and Protectobots; Decepticons-Stunticons and Combaticons.

In the summer of 1985 Transformers: The Movie was released, and though it was a critical and box office flop, it was a turning point in the story of the Transformers.  The Autobots leader, Optimus Prime was destroyed.  Due to overwhelming fan response, Optimus Prime was ressurected in an episode of the third season, as the series moved into a more Sci-fi direction.  Season 4 was the last season of new episodes aired in the US, but was followed up by a Season 5 collection of "best-of" and Transformers: The Movie split into 5 episodes.

Nearly 27 years after the first episode aired, Paramount Pictures released Transformers on July 3, 2007 to a box office explosion nearly 50% over what the studio had predicted.  The film grossed $155.4 million in its opening week(Tuesday release) including a $70.5 million weekend, making it the biggest grossing non-sequel opening week ever.

And now, grab a pizza, it's time for "Turtle Power"...

What started as a parody of four early 80s comics, Marvel's Daredevil, and New Mutants, Dave Simm's Cerebus, and Frank Miller's Ronin, soon escallated into a marketing juggernaut in several directions.  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles premiered at a comic book convention in Portsmouth, NH in May 1984.  It was meant to be a one-shot parody and only 3000 copies were printed.  Eventually the series ran from 1987-1989, covering 76 issues and spanning 2 volumes.

The cartoon series premiered December 14, 1987 as a 5-part mini-series and continued until its final episode aired on November 2, 1996.  The violence of the original comic book was toned down for the cartoon series, and even modified before it aired in the UK.  The series saw many big changes to its format over the years, including the deletion of some characters, a more action oriented feel, and several opening sequence developments.  The Turtle's impact was evident when Michelangelo represented the group in a drug prevention TV special in April 1990, "Cartoon All-stars To The Rescue."

Three live action films were produced in 1990, 1991, and 1993, introducing new characters, including April the friendly neighborhood news reporter, and went further into the origin story of the Turtles and their Ninja Master, Splinter, a mutated rat.  

On March 23, 2007 TMNT was released.  In contrast to the three previous films, TMNT was completely CGI produced.  Though chronologically the story takes place after the third live action film, filmakers were determined to derive its tone from the original comic book series, with a grittier feel.  Subtle references to the three previous films are alluded to in several scenes.  TMNT was the #1 film in the US on its opening weekend grossing $24.45 million.

That's not all folks.  Several films are already in the works that are derived from popular 80s cartoons including Thundercats (CGI, Warner Bros.) no release date yet, The Smurfs (Computer animated, Paramount) 2008, GI Joe (Live action, Paramount) 2009, and Speed Racer, (Live action, Wachowski Bros.) 2008.  There have also been rumors swirling around for years about another He-Man and the Masters of the Universe film, but nothing is confirmed.  I'm still waiting for someone to buy the rights to produce Star Blazers!!!

--The Simpsons has been translated into Arabic, but due to Islamic customes

several aspects have been changed.  Homer drinks soda instead of beer and eats Egyptian beef sausages instead of hot dogs.

--In 2004 The Simpsons surpassed Ozzy and Harriet as the longest running sitcom.

--Every opening sequence of The Simpsons is different: Bart writes a different phrase on the chalk board, Lisa plays a different tune on the sax, and the family encounters a different gag when they enter the living room.

--The Simpsons has won 23 Emmy Awards.

--Peter Cullen, the original voice actor for Optimus Prime in the animated Transformers series reprised his role for the 2007 movie.

--Though the original Transformers series ended with the fourth season in the US, it continued to air in Japan for four additional seasons.

--When Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze was filmed, Corey Feldman, who voiced Donatello, was in rehab and Adam Carl filled in.  Feldman reprised his role in the third movie.

--Due to local censorship, in order to air the cartoon in UK, Ireland, Sweden and Germany, the title had to be changed to Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles.  All of the weaponry was toned down and Michelangelo's nunchaku were eliminated, replaced with a grappling hook.

--The TMNT stories provide enough evidence to identify the species of the four turtles as Red-eared Terrapins

Just in case you missed it on the homepage check out The 80s MonsterBash!!!  We will be giving away a pair of tickets and hotel accomodations for the "concert event of the year" in Charleston, SC, October 13, 2007: SURVIVOR, THE ROMANTICS, A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS, TOMMY TUTONE, CUTTING CREW, AND NAKED EYES!!

Just send us an e-mail at retroactive2004@aol.com and tell us why you should win!!