Top Hat Sasquatch

I’m not very tolerant of commercials. I pretty much only see them online now that I don’t watch TV, but I don’t mind sitting through some commercials for Bounty paper towels if it means getting three new Muppet shorts. After the huge success of the new Muppet movie, the world is waiting to see what the next move for everyone’s favorite puppets will be. I think they fit in great in the world of online video, but these shorts make me wish I could see them in a sitcom-type environment. All of the Muppets living together in Kermit’s mansion, perhaps?
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The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have had some crazy merchandise over the years, but one that has a particularly interesting following is a snack from the early 90s. Yes, I’m talking about Pizza Crunchabungas, the pizza-flavored corn snacks. The reason this random TMNT tie-in has a following with fans is because it was marketed with a very cool commercial. The commercial was the only time the Turtles were animated in Claymation, and it was done by master animator Will Vinton of California Raisins fame.

I looked for this commercial on YouTube whenever I thought about it, but for some reason I never found it until now. The turtles look awesome in claymation form, and I wish we could have had a whole series (or at least a special) done in this style. I’d love to see Krang, Bebop, and Rocksteady in stop-motion.

If you want to learn more about Pizza Crunchabungas (why wouldn’t you?) you should read Matt’s definitive article at XE from a few years ago, and also check out Tokka’s video and painted model photos on Flickr.

This post is Top Hat Sasquatch’s first attempt at participating in The League of Extraordinary Bloggers, a weekly series of blog posts started by Brian over at Cool and Collected. Make sure to check out his site and join in the conversation if you run a blog!

I don’t have any one holy grail when it comes to collecting, mainly because I don’t really consider myself a collector. Sure, I have a lot of old TMNT toys and a tub full of random action figures, but I mainly just like to pick up weird pieces here and there and add them to my shelves. In my office you’ll find a 23 year old box of Batman cereal sealed sitting next to Krang’s Android Body and a ton of LEGO minifigures.

As much as I’d love to have every TMNT toy ever made, I know that’s not going to happen until I have a lot of extra spending money and even more free time to spend scouring ebay. That’s why, when I think of what my holy grail of collecting is, I think of two things. Well, two toy lines to be specific.

I want every toy ever made in The World of Springfield Simpsons line by Playmates and The Muppets series of action figures by Palisades Toys. Every one.
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Heck yes. Castle in the Sky may be my favorite Studio Ghibli film, and Disney is releasing it on Blu-ray on May 22nd, along with the The Secret World of Arrietty, which was pretty awesome itself.

If you’re not familiar with Castle in the Sky, it is a perfect example of Ghibli’s style and sense of humor. The American voice cast is great and includes Mark Hamil and Andy Dick, and the story is great. Thinking about it makes me want to go watch it right now, but I’m going to hold off until I can see it in HD.

Ghibli produces some of the most stunning-looking animated films of all time, and I can’t wait to have them all in high definition. After Castle in the Sky, I hope we get Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle.

I get a lot of PR emails, but when one about the restoration of Jaws for its August 14th, 2012 Blu-ray release date popped in my inbox, I had to check it out. Jaws is my co-favorite movie of all time, along with Jurassic Park, and I’ve been waiting for it to come out on Blu-ray for years. Luckily, it’s Universal’s 100th Anniversary this year and Jaws is getting the extra-special treatment. They put together this surprisingly good behind the scenes video of their restoration process, and it looks like they’re doing everything right.

I want to show this to my wife and say “We’re going to need a bigger TV” and see if that works.