HAPPY 25TH ANNIVERSARY TO THE MOVIE THE ROCKETEER

It's hard to believe one of my favorite all-time movies hit theaters 25 years ago today. Some people have comfort foods; I have comfort movies and The Rocketeer is one of them. 

I was introduced to the story of The Rocketeer before the film was made thanks to my pal Tim, aka Vlad, back in the late 1980's. He showed me this really cool comic book of a 1930's movie serial type of character and that was all it took for me to become a fan. It was also my intro into the wonderful world of artist Dave Stevens, the creator of The Rocketeer. 

 (I had the honor of meeting Dave Stevens at the 2000 San Diego Comic Con.)

As we all know, Dave's artwork was amazing! One of the best comic artists to draw the female form and the way he told a story between the panels was always exciting and exhilarating! Back when I was in college my comic lovin' pals and I were excited for the movie version of the Rocketeer to premiere. It didn't disappoint and we've been talking about the film since its release. I believe it is still one of the best film adaptations made from a comic book. If only the film could have found more success at the box office. Because of this, we were all cheated out of more Rocketeer films.

I've been snooping around on YouTube looking for Rocketeer vids from back in the day and I think you'll enjoy watching these embeds. I know tonight, I have a date with the first lady of Neato Coolville and we'll be watching The Rocketeer once again, just like we did on June 21, 1991...except this time we'll be cheering on the flying hood ornament from our sofa instead of a crowded movie theater.

First up, watch Dave Stevens talk about his hopes at trying to get The Rocketeer made into a movie. (Uploaded by comic artist Greg Theakston)

A 30 second TV spot for the theatrical release of The Rocketeer. (Uploaded by IntermissionSociety)

Next, we have a fun "making of" doc that aired on the Disney Channel back in the day. (Uploaded by IntermissionSociety)

Here's clip from Entertainment Tonight that aired one week after the release of The Rocketeer. (Uploaded by IntermissionSociety)

Next up is this segment from the 1992 Discovery Channel TV show, Hollywood FX Masters hosted by Christopher Reeve. (Uploaded by ThePropKing)

An excellent interview with James Horner from 1991 about the Rocketeer soundtrack. (Uploaded by Eyes on Cinema)

Let's visit the South Seas Club and enjoy the sweet sounds of Melora Hardin sing Begin Beguine. (Uploaded by Dr.AtomicThunder)  

The prop display at Disney/MGM studios back in the summer of 1991. (Uploaded by Smithfilmproductions)

The Rocketeer blasting off from Disney/MGM Studios. Watch the video starting at the 5:00 mark. (Uploaded by Dillos Diz)

(Detail of a Rocketeer VHS video promo sweatshirt from my pal Mike who has owned it since his video store clerk days!)

Happy 25th Rocketeer and big thanks to Dave Stevens, Joe Johnston and all the amazing men and women that brought The Rocketeer to the big screen. Many fans and I will always be grateful!

JAWS 19 HALLOWEEN COSTUME FOR BACK TO THE FUTURE DAY

Any kid that shows up on Halloween wearing this Jaws 19 costume will get all of our candy!

Welcome to the future kids! It's October 21, 2015 or better known as Back to the Future Day! Even though I haven't noticed any flying cars, people dressed in brightly colored spandex or kids floating on hoverboards, I'm very happy to be here.  

So for my contribution to this special day is this totally fake Jaws 19 Halloween costume! If Jaws 19 was really in theaters we would certainly see a kids Halloween costume in the stores. Anyway, I needed something to post that would fit both BTTF Day and the Halloween countdown and my photoshopped Jaws costume was the perfect choice.

It's so cool that Universal made a fake trailer for their fake movie! Now the one I really want to see is Jaws 8!

Here's the original prop poster artwork by Tim Flattery that sold in 2011 for $8000. Talk about an excellent "future" investment.

I was checking out the original USA Today prop newspaper and noticed the review for Jaws 17. I guess they were really cranking out those Jaws movies and the reviewer just hadn't caught up to 19 yet. I guess that will be in next weeks paper. 

Well that's all I have for BTTF Day. Hope everyone enjoys the future. Now I'm going to go and hydrate a pizza and enjoy an ice cold Pepsi Perfect! See you in 2045!

BRIDES OF DRACULA PAPER BAT PROMO FROM 1960

FLEA MARKET FINDS #89

Just in time for the Halloween countdown, I found a goodie at a neat little antique shop the other day.

Eek! It's a paper bat!

This paper bat is very cool as it's a promotional item for the 1960 film Brides of Dracula, the second Dracula movie from Hammer Films.

I've always been a Hammer horror fan and finding this bat was kind of a thrill. I wonder if it was distributed as a hand out during a screening of Brides. I can imagine some kid holding on to this bat in the dark theater scared silly as he/she watched Peter Cushing fight lady vampires. Neat that the kid saved it for 55 years so I could find it and share with you during the Halloween countdown. Thanks kid!

Here's the movie trailer to Brides of Dracula -

HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY, JAWS! LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE BAKED YOU A CAKE (BACK IN '75!)

It's hard to believe the movie Jaws is forty years old today! To help celebrate one of the best movies ever made, lets look at this crazy Jaws cake from back in the day. (I found this article in a cooking magazine called Mail Box News.)

Agnes Willis must have been a cake making genius because I love everything about this Jaws cake. Of course the best part of the article is the quote from Agnes, "I cut off one of the doll's legs to fit it in the mouth better." Well played Agnes! 

As a bonus, this magazine had another Jaws cake! Wow, you can almost hear the famous theme! No, wait...that was just my stomach growling for a piece of Jaws cake!

BREEDERS OF THE LOST STORK: HOWARD THE DUCK RAIDERS POSTER RECREATION

We all know the film Howard the Duck was a bomb and has often been criticized. I saw the film during its initial release in 1986 when I was sixteen. Even though I left the movie feeling disappointed, it still had some nuggets of coolness between the cracks. At the beginning of the film and inside Howard's apartment we see his collection of movie posters on the wall. Like everything on Duckworld, things are skewed towards a duck theme. For only a few frames we see the movie's gold nugget, a poster parody of Raiders of the Lost Ark, renamed Breeders of the Lost Stork. Wow! I've always loved parody and seeing a glimpse of that Breeders poster was such a fun moment.

After seeing the movie, I really wanted a Breeders of the Lost Stork poster for my poster cluttered bedroom wall. I had hoped the poster would be offered for purchase through the Star Wars/Lucasfilm fan club, Bantha Tracks. For a few issues, they sold Howard the Duck movie posters, but the club closed up shop and Howard the Duck bombed at the box office. When the internet hatched, I thought eventually, a good image besides the same screen grabs would pop up. I've never seen one. 

Okay internet, until a nice scan of the original prop poster surfaces, here's my feeble attempt to recreate the poster digitally. At least now, we can view it better outside of a screen grab.  

Maybe now that the egg is rolling, someone who is a real digital wizard will make one that's more precise than mine.

Here's the original Raiders poster that was parodied by the filmmakers as found on the Heritage Auctions website, next to the Breeders one. 

 

Due to the popularity of the Guardians of the Galaxy end credits scene, we just might get a new and much improved Howard the Duck movie. I hope tucked in the background will be a Breeders of the Lost Stork poster! Now that would be a neato cool Easter egg! 

NEON SIGNS OF BLADE RUNNER

Blade Runner has been discussed and dissected so many times since its 1982 release that I didn't think I had anything new to share. However, I was surprised when I did a simple internet search for Blade Runner neon signs and not much showed up. What? I figured I'd see scads of Blade Runner sign galleries. Maybe even an awesome gallery of production photos of each sign from the 2019 Los Angeles set. This was wishful thinking. I guess sometimes you have to do stuff yourself. Okay internet, you now have a Blade Runner sign gallery. Until a better collection of sign photos surface, here's a bunch of sign screen grabs from Blade Runner. You're welcome.