I posted a few thoughts on the Sideshow’s Facebook page after watching these, but wanted to spew a bit more. I was a frequent watcher of the Wonder Years, and like many other kids, had a thing for Winnie Cooper (Wow, have you seen her lately?). It was a program I anticipated watching and really related to, but don’t think I stuck it out for all six seasons. I also remember watching the specials Howie Mandel did for HBO, with many laughs following the rubber glove trick, and the voice that would later become Bobby (the animated series). So, it’s kind of a surprise I never saw Little Monsters.
In watching it recently, I thought it was a pretty fun flick, kind of a Beetlejuice (1988)/Drop Dead Fred (1991) hybrid, even though DDF came out a couple years later. Several faces and mannerisms made by Mandel seemed to be influenced by Michael Keaton in Beetlejuice, so it makes me wonder if any of the same producers were on both films. Please enlighten me if you decide to dig deeper, as I'm too lazy to do the leg work.
As for Munchie, I actually ran across it after finding Munchies, a Ghoulies/Gremlins style flick, which I will be getting soon. Within the first minute or so, I knew the voice of Munchie sounded familiar, and sure enough, I pegged it as Dom Deloise before the opening credits confirmed it. And, while Loni Anderson isn't hard to look at, I wasn't aware that a young Jennifer Love Hewitt was the female (kid) lead. The animatronics of Munchie were almost Showbiz Pizza Band laughable, and while it was an okay flick, the stacks of "to watch" grow exponentially, so it’s not something I'm rushing to watch again. A side note: Showbiz Pizza blew circles around Chucky E. Cheese, and many of CEC’s band are former Showbiz characters with new costumes after CEC bought them out.
There was a follow-up in 1994 called Munchie Strikes Back, but the only one to return was Jamie McEnnan (the lead boy), which looks like only a bit part. It is worth noting, though, that Angus Scrimm has a part as Kronas and Fred Olen Ray (softcore extraordinaire) plays a band member, but it's probably not something I'm going to seek out.
So, when are we going to get an official release of the entire Wonder Years collection and a Blu-Ray of Drop Dead Fred? And, it's a shame that only Howie Mandel’s first HBO performance is available on DVD, which based off the reviews, is a far cry from what I remember. I’d love to see Shout Factory pick up all of these and do them justice, as they recently did with the Beetlejuice cartoon, and the Halloween Special later this Fall.
It's a short post, but let's take a walk down memory lane until the next one:
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