Top Hat Sasquatch

Cheers. Here’s to a movie based on nostalgia that actually looks good.

HD available at Apple

In honor of Pinocchio being released on Platinum Edition DVD and Blu-ray, I decided to find a sealed copy of it on the format I grew up with, VHS.

For some reason, seeing old VHS intros makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

In the days before the internet was mainstream, I always looked forward to getting the newest Disney movie on VHS, mainly so I could flip through the booklet inside to see what movies were coming out next. Those booklets, combined with my subscription to Disney Adventures magazine were my RSS feeds of the day, if you will.

Check out the pages from this booklet below. The last couple pages were all about the Muppets, yay! Remember those Muppet Movie VHS tapes that came with the watches?

*ed. – These images died in the transition from Saturday Morning Central to Tophat Sasquatch

Hasbro’s cutesy action figures. You know you love them, you know you want them all over your desk, mingling across franchises like the characters have known each other since they were cute little babies with giant hands. You love seeing Optimus Prime battling that big, bald, Nazi Mechanic guy from Indiana Jones while Cobra Commander and Chewbacca wait for round two. There’s just something about the little buggers.

They may have started with Star Wars, but one of my favorite lines is the Marvel Super Hero Squad. They’ve been around for a while, but they’re about to burst into every nook and cranny of kids culture this year with the release of a series on Cartoon Network and even an upcoming MMO.

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I can’t wait for this movie to come out.

/Film via the Spike Jonze Fan Blog

A year or so ago I picked up a crazy looking bootlegish VHS set called Kid Pics. I didn’t think much of it at the time, and the main reason I picked it up was for the gaudy airbrushed art on the cover. It wasn’t until quite some time later that I actually popped it in to check out the toons, and discovered The Happy hamster.

Apparently, a company called Amvest Video thought it would be a good idea to bundle a bunch of cartoons together and try to pawn them off as quality collections, when in fact they were insane compilations. They surrounded the shorts with clips of The Happy Hamster dancing and saying creepy things in front of a blue screen. Take a look at the titles featured on this Walt Disney edition of Kids Pics.

I love how they included some of the old Alice Comedies under the Mickey Mouse category. Seven Dwarfs and Friends? Really? I wouldn’t have been too excited by The Winged Scourge when I was five years old.

The fact that Hooked Bear came out in 1956, and they included their company’s contact information on the box makes me think that it is somehow legit, but who knows. Did the Happy Hamster even get used in other sets? Did anyone actually join the club and get one of those awesome shirts?

Did any of you have any bizarre VHS bootlegs growing up?