The Pac-Man Christmas Album was released in 1982 by Kid Stuff Records, a children's record label that came and went in the 80s and was similar to Peter Pan Records. They did several Pac-Man related records including this Christmas one.
I didn't have this record as a kid, but if I had, I would have loved it. I was deep into anything Pac-Man or Christmas, so put the two together and I was all in. I didn't listen to it until last week, and I have to say, even as a 45-year-old man, I enjoyed the record un-ironically. It's corny of course, but it's cute, earnest, and totally early 80s Christmas.
I have a genuine Atari 2600 video game system that I've been wanting to hook up in my living room for the longest time, and I'm hoping this is the month! As inspiration to myself, and for your entertainment, here are a few classic TV commercials for the system and select games, a few of which promote Pac-Man (including a "live action" Ms. Pac-Man). Both JC Penney and Target feature in this collection, as they both offer special deals on the system. The commercial for MegaForce features future Emmy winner Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)!
Finally, I've posted the Spider-Man commercial several times before, but I can't help posting it again. I love it!
It's been a really long time since I've done a Random Images of Awesomeness post (over two years in fact), and since I've amassed quite a collection of rad images since then, it's high time I displayed some accordingly. Without further comment, here are some pleasing images for the eyes. Artist credits are given when known. Enjoy!
Jaws by Scott Lava
Masters of the Universe by JP Valderrama
Wonder Woman by Kris Anka
For more cool images, follow my Tumblr site here. Thanks!
This author writes a good overview of the career of Michael Nesmith both pre- and post-Monkees. I considered featuring Nesmith's Elephant Parts as a Tuesday's Forgotten TV selection, but this author does just as good a job as I could have done describing it, so here 'tis.
This New York Times article explains the bitter dispute between the co-CEOs of Archie Comics for control of the company. Unfortunate, especially since the comics have been experiencing a creative hot streak the last couple of years.
As you can tell the last few months, I haven't been nearly as prolific a blogger as in the past. But that doesn't mean I'm not on the Web--quite the contrary. I'm always coming across cool and interesting stuff, so much so that I'd like to start a new feature at the blog that showcases some of the things I find. I hope to do this weekly, but we'll see how it works out. Here we go!
At ComicBooked.com, writer The Ronyn explains why Michael Bay isn't to blame for desecrating the Transformers--Hasbro is.
Pac-Man is still a video game icon, even after 30 years. But you know who doesn't get credit--the Ghost Monsters. D.S. Cohen at About.com remedies that here.
Finally, Tuesday's Forgotten Film/TV has been one of the most important features sustaining the blog the last year or so, but that's not the only way to experience overlooked art. You should also check out the Monthly Underappreciated Music at Todd Mason's blog and Friday's Forgotten Books at Patti Abbott's blog.
A few weeks back, I presented an edition of Saturday Morning Recreated that focused on the lineup for ABC in the fall of 1982. In researching that article, I came across a great treat.
In addition to advertising the kids' lineups in comic books and other places back in the day, the networks also created prime time preview specials of the upcoming lineups as well. Here, including commercials, is the special ABC created to promote the very same lineup I featured last month. How 80s is it? It's hosted by Dick Clark on the American Bandstand set with guest stars Willie Tyler and Lester.
You remember Willie Tyler and Lester, don't you?
There's no mistaking the fact that ABC had their hopes pinned on the Pac-Man cartoon to help it's lineup succeed, as Pac-Man is clearly the star of this show. The very name of the special itself is "Pac Preview Party." The voice of Pac-Man, the late Marty Engels, makes an appearance later in the special.
The sad thing? I remember almost everything about this special when it aired that one time in 1982!
I hope you enjoy. If you like this, I'll keep a lookout for more of these specials. Thanks!
Holy crap, I had no idea until a half hour ago! But thanks to Google, now I know (and knowing is half the battle). If you're a longtime reader of this blog, you know there's no way I can let this occasion go unrecognized.
In the spirit of my Peanuts as Pitchmen series, and riding the wave of 80s nostalgia this week, I present another pop culture icon as product shill, and another favorite here at the blog--Pac-Man.
Here is a commercial for 7-Up from 1982 that features both Pac-Man and a jingle-ized version of "Bette Davis Eyes." You can't get more 80s than that.
Love Pac-Man? Love pasta? Then you'll love Pac-Man Pasta!
Finally, here is a commercial that is labeled as for Pepsi on YouTube but is in fact for some kind of online gaming platform or something. Being a Spanish language commercial makes it diffuclt for me to tell. It features an interesting way to present Pac-Man, however.
And thus wraps up a huge week here at the blog. I'm out of town this weekend, but I'll be here on Monday. Thanks!
It's been awhile since I've featured a Pac-Man related post, so here's something I just came across last week. Similar in vein to the animation by artist PES I featured long ago, here is the short film "Chomp Chomp." Enjoy!
Rolling along in the Countdown to Halloween, we stop at one of my pet topics--Pac-Man, the game, his image, and yes, his cartoon series. Here, Pac lets out his wild side thanks to some bogus power pellets in "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Pac-Man." Enjoy!
UPDATE AS OF 8/23/2010: Looks like this episode has been deleted from YouTube, and I can't find it anywhere else, sorry. I'll keep the post in case the episode appears in the future. Thanks!
If you're a long-time reader of this blog, you know that I have a strange Pac-Man fixation (check out my posts under the label Pac-Man). So what I treat it was to come across this hysterical clip. An infamous prankster in France named Remi Gaillard and his cronies filmed themselves dressed as Pac-Man and ghosts chasing each other through public places such as a supermarket, golf course, and pool hall. They make quite a spectacle of themselves in front of innocent passers-by (some not too pleased about it, as you'll see). Take a look!
Here is a bonus clip of an old commercial from the 80s for Arby's restaurants, promoting their Pac-Man tumbler set (unfortunately, the commercial is cut off at the end).
I saw this over on the Secret Fun Blog, the author of which received a good word from the artist who created this film. The title is "Game Over" and was created by an artist who goes by the name PES. The film recreates classic video games such as Centipede, Space Invaders, Asteroids, and yes, even Pac-Man, using common household items. This really caught my attention, and I'll be checking out more of his work, which you can see in the video links that appear after the film is completed. Enjoy!
I can't let the holiday season go by without...a Pac-Man special!
Keeping the record of continuous months with at least one Pac-Man post intact (4, if you're counting), here everyone in Pacland learns the true meaning of the holiday. Well, the secular meaning, at least.
Here's a Pac-Man Christmas bonus. In Madrid, Spain, there is, no kidding, a Pac-Man Christmas tree. You think that's awesome? You would be right!
Next up in my Thanksgiving parade of clips in another episode of the Pac-Man Saturday morning animated series from the early 80s. Travel back in time to see the first Thanksgiving in Pac-Land in "Happy Pacs-Giving!"
With the big day less than two weeks away, I'm going to kick things into high gear, hopefully posting almost every day straight until Halloween.
Today I offer a Halloween episode of the early 80s Saturday morning cartoon series Pac-Man, based, of course, on the hugely successful video game. I first mentioned the existence of this series back in September and teased that you would see it again soon. Well, here it is! Enjoy.
UPDATE AS OF 10/21/08: I didn't realize until after posting this that the Pop Culture Holiday Blog has also posted a spooky themed episode of Pac-Man, titled "Pacula." I'll definitely check it out, and so should you, right here:
I'm still in a Pac-Man state of mind (isn't that a Billy Joel song?), so I'm going to meander more about him today. Please be patient, as I'm going to talk about a 1980s pop culture phenomenon, and in doing so, I sometimes get high on the 80s goodness, being a young child during that glorious decade.
One thing I've always noticed about Pac-Man is the different looks he's sported in different pictures. Of course there's the usual.
Then there are attempts to make him more 3-dimentional. To wit:
Here he has arms and legs, which really help in the ghost hunting department. Notice the eyes shaped like little Pac-men.
Here he looks much the same as above, but he now has a nose and boots. The better to run after and...smell ghosts?
AAUUGGHH! THE 80S! IT'S TOO MUCH 80S IN ONE SHOT!! MY HEART CAN'T TAKE IT!! AAUUGGHH!!
Here we learn two things about Pac-Man: he's much more lean that any of us expected (got to be all that marathon running)--and he really needs a dentist.
This is one of my favorite depictions of the man they call Pac, from his early 80s ABC Saturday morning cartoon show. The boots are back, along with a fedora (inspired by Indiana Jones, perhaps?) and a bright smile. You'll be seeing more of this incarnation in the future. Stay tuned to this blog in the coming weeks (oooh, blog tease).
Here is the same character design as previously seen, but for a print ad for the Nintendo version of the game rather than the cartoon show. This was when Nintendo's first home game system was the hottest thing out there, dating the ad at about 1987-89. I find this interesting, as the cartoon was off the air for a few years before this ad came out.
I love this image! It's a fan's dramatic representation of the game action, as the good guy Pac-Man (here an actual human) is chased by the fiendish ghosts, with only Pac-man's pellets to save him. Good stuff!
This is a funny illustration of Pac-Man by freelance artist Andrew Bell. The picture becomes downright hilarious when you learn its title: "You Said No One Would Get Hurt." Genius!
Finally, here is the Pac-Man image I've found the most unique, especially since it's from the very thing that started it all--the original arcade game version. Here we have legs, which is not uncommon, but he's more oval than round, plus, he has red eyes! Sleepless nights from being chased by ghosts, I guess? I 've always found it ironic that this console is Pac-Man's origin, yet has artwork that differs the most from the game version. Does anyone else think about these things? No, of course not, just me.
Thanks for being patient through this long-winded (for me) post. Coming up next: part 10 of the Saturday Matinee! See you then.
I love the Internet. Ya know why? Because it's like a stream of consciousness for the universe. Case in point. I was looking through YouTube for material for upcoming posts and came across one thing that led to another and I wound up at: old TV commercials for Pac-Man cereal.
Weird, to be sure, to be interested in something so obscure, yet I am. Mostly because I found no less than seven of these things! Wanna see them? Sure you do!
I'm guessing this is the oldest of the bunch, likely 1981 or no later than '82. The jingle has a good bit of techno in it, which isn't surprising as it fits a video game-related product, and this was the start of the techno-sounding 80s.
Next, the same jingle but even more 80s-ish art design (a healthy dose of neon, a glowing aura around the characters, etc.).
Looks like Pac-Man and Co. are going to houses throughout the neighborhood.
Yep, they're canvassing the hell out of this town.
In these past few commercials, I like how Pac and the ghosts, although working together to promote the cereal, still give each other uneasy glances here and there. In this next one, however, their relationship is more overtly hostile. Have no fear, Super Pac is here!
In these last two commercials, the animation is gone and is replaced with live action children dancing, no doubt thanks to the "energy" provided by the sugary cereal. In this next clip, they dance "The Pac-Man!" This commercial is covered in 80s cheese: the return of the neon, the Day-Glo clothes, techno sounds, corny choreography--awesome!
Finally, let's not forget Pac-Man's betrothed--Mrs' Pac-Man! Otherwise known as Pac-Man with a pink bow on his head.
Wow, no less than seven commercials for a cereal that no longer exists. Most licensed cereals are temporary swipes at a passing fad, but Pac-Man cereal must have lasted for several years. Did any Gen-Xers out there who might be reading this eat this stuff? I never did, although I remember its existence. Please place comments below. Thanks!
