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04/29/2003: My Pet Monstaaa.

The latest review is of My Pet Monster's Live-Action Videocassette, a true classic by our standards. I was most pleased to find this tape after years of searching, and it didn't let me down. I know it'll be tough for most of you to get yours hands on it, so I went through the extra trouble of creating several video clips - check the bottom of the review for those. I kinda wish I'd done that for some of the previous reviews, so maybe someday I'll go back and add vids here and there.

I feel like I've been on a timecard with the site these past few weeks. Got a lot going on, and c'mon, American Idol's in it's final stretch. That's a big time sucker. Actually, not to jinx myself, but I appear to be on the cusp of landing the kind of job I've always wanted, and between writing samples and otherwise having it on my mind, it's taking up a lot of my time. I'll let you know when and if it ever comes through. If it doesn't, I'll pretend the opportunity never existed and lie about someone else writing this entry. The point is, I'm sorta annoyed with only having enough time to do my articles and get the Hell outta here, so hopefully that'll change in a few weeks. X-E is historically unorganized, but one of my main goals a few months back was getting everything back online in the proper spots and adding a lot of new and regularly updated features. The commercials, for example - LOTS more of those coming. I'm also debating adding another section simply for scans of old print ads, since I've accumulated a pretty good collection of 'em in the past year. No, not the usual comic book scans you've seen online for years already - these are from some pretty obscure magazines and catalogs, and while none are deserving of full articles in of themselves, there's no way you won't get a kick out of seeing 'em.

Unfortunately, I'm the type who likes to make 50 plans at once, causing a brain overload that makes me put everything on hold for months on end. Still, if the new job really is on the horizon, I definitely want the site to be as efficient as possible first. The coding is a big thing, and I'm glad that'll be over with soon. As of now, everything you see on the site is just written out in plain html, eating away at five times the time it really needs. Be patient, though - I think the best is yet to come.

I remember the MPM cartoon. I didn't want one befor I saw the cartoon, and I wanted one even less after I saw it.

I never got to see anything, I never knew this existed. But, interesting news — Rainbow Foods, my grocery store, sells new MY PET MONSTER stickers. In the works for another nostalgic comeback, maybe? DUNNDUNNDUNNN..

Hey Matt, so what's the new job you are gonna be doing??
Something with writing??
like…like…uh…freelancing?

Nah, it's a steady column thingy. Basically with topics similar to X-E, but with a little more emphasis on the facts and figures than pitiful attempts at comedy. We'll see, I've got my fingers crossed.

I just saw the poodle die. What did that girl say? "Be peaceable?" LoL. Poor dog probably just fainted from desire. In that suit I'm sure Max was smelling like all sorts of bacon. Great article! The "Monstaaa!" is well… beyond words… beyond hope… Sometimes you just have to bow to the absurd and move along. Although, for some reason, it makes all kind of sense for me to see him as employed as garbageman, or the head cook in a prison cafeteria… Oh man its going to be a long night…

I am suprised you have not been approached by a magazine like FHM. They seemed to be filled with random blurbs that you could write easily enough.

my local video store had this when i was a little kid- and it was my favourite movie! I musta watched it about a thousand times.

One of my favourite bits is the zoom out right at the end as the credits roll to "the monster mash" song.

I dont think we ever had the doll here in New Zealand (if it existed i surely woulda had one) but god damn i made my parents sit theouh that movie about a dozen times.

Holy shit - I never comment on this website, but I remember the My Pet Monster movie being my favorite movie of all time as a kid. I rented it, like, fifty times. I'd completely forgotten about it.
MY FIRST BORN CHILDREN WILL BEAR YOUR NAME FOR BRINGING BACK THESE LONG FORGOTTEN MEMORIES. Actually, half of me is feeling this intense nostalgia for this movie that I'd once loved while the other half is feeling disgusted at the fact that my taste in movies hasn't changed in 17 years.

Oh my god. I used to rent this thing all the time! Thank you so much for adding the video clips, I really didnt' remember just how god awful it was. I used to watch the cartoon all the time too. I didn't know I was some kind of weird minority…I thought everybody watched it. *snif*

Crap, I'd forgotten about My Pet Monster altogether. Even when I saw the live-action pic of him, it took me a while to dredge up the memories of the cartoon.

So this is the scenario I'm picturing: the monster eats the keys, but the *kid* shits 'em out. Let's hope the bad guys didn't have some huge, awkwardly-shaped theme-park key chain. 'Cause I'm thinking that shitting out Magic Kingdom turrets wouldn't be fun.

By the way — speaking of dredging up cartoon memories — does anyone else remember that cartoon (I think it was called 'Lone Star') about the native Sheriff with the "speed of the puma" etc. and his horse. I think the horse was mechanical or something because he could stand on his two hind legs and blow people away with some sort of hand-held lazer bazooka combination thingee. Anyone? Just me? I seem to recall really liking that one. But then again I really liked MASK. And Jem. So grains of salt all around.

We used to have the MPM cartoon down here in Brazil, but definately not the movie… You really found a gem, Matt, not even IMDB knows about it!

Molten, the cartoon you're talking about is BraveStarr, there's a review around here.

Ah the memories of watching the My Pet Monster video. I can't remember where I got it from but I used to have this tape as a kid.

I must have enjoyed it when I was younger as I never had the heart to throw the tape out. That said though, it's been languishing in a box in the garage for the last 10 years or so.

All I can really remember about it is the Donkey Kong style opening credits (probably the best part) and the fact they used the song "Monster Mash" for the end credits (not the best part).

Alyson Court, who plays the sister, has done a lot of voice acting for cartoons and video games. She's probably best known for playing Jubilee in the 1990s X-Men cartoon, but she also does Claire Redfield in the Resident Evil games and did Lydia in the old Beetlejuice cartoon.

Colin Fox, the bad guy, has done a ton of stuff, both live-action and cartoon. He seems to currently star in the Nero Wolfe series. Bizarrely, he and Alyson Court both appeared in a TV movie called Elvis Meets Nixon (she played Priscilla).

And most bizarrely of all, Sunny Besen Thrasher (Max) and Alyson Court both did the voice of Veronica in the late '80s Archie cartoon. Why have a boy play a teenage girl? Usually it's the other way around, and women play boys. Confuse his sexual identity, why don't you. It's bad enough that he's named "Sunny." Or is Sunny actually a girl who played male characters? I'm confused. Anyway, if you want to know what happened to him/her, check this out:

(I just realized that, considering Sunny's current work, maybe those multi-sexual roles did have a lasting effect….)

I actually remember reading "My Little Monster" books. It had this blond 10-year old kid getting in all kinds of trouble with the blue ball of meshed fur. Kinda idiotic, but less so then the video

You have to admit, with a last name like Thrasher, ol' Sunny started out with a disadvantage. Can you imagine how often that kid got pushed around BEFORE being MPM? And I doubt it got better afterwards ("Ooooh, Thrasher the fuzzy blue key-eating monster. Gimmee your lunch money, Sunny").

By the way, I personally think you should compile your best/favourites into a book. Put the word "angel" in the title and you can probably get on Oprah with it. With Baby Boomers getting to be older but not wanting to forget the good times of the 80's, I'm sure they'd love to relive the ridiculous things us kids made them buy (and later sell at garage sales–I still miss my Battle Beasts, including the gold-colour knock offs).

Who thuh hell is "Crim"? Is that a Brad-alternate character? Thank Christ I don't have to associate the stage name "Thuncercock" with Sunny Thrasher — and to think, if only I'd known, I could have gone to a showing and gotten an autograph.

Also, that chick on the right in the second picture looks like a Courtney Love "Live Through This" album-insert outtake. (Say that four times fast. Yeah).

HOLY SHIT, max's sister is played by the chick who played loonette on big comfy couch!

(And thanks for the BraveStarr heads-up, Roddy; that's the sort of thing that'll keep you awake at night. Sometime soon I'll try to keep more than one thought in my head at once).

Matt, I'd just like to thank you for confirming to this poor, confused mind that there was indeed once a video that started with My Pet Monster going all Pac-Man and trying to get away from some creepy looking guy in a Mario Brothers-looking video game. I'd been wondering if it was just some fantastical, alcohol-induced imagining from my college days, but now I can distinctly remember having rented it numerous times in my youth. God, my parents were saints.

Oh yeah, wasn't there a sort of offshoot of the MPM line with mini-monsters, presumably for the kids whose parents couldn't afford the big guy? I think I had one of those…

My Pet Monster was HUGE in Canada. I think this video (and the cartoon) were Canadian productions (based on the fact that the cartoon aired here, in repeat form, for about 18 years) and I recognize most of the cast from their many, many appearances in horrible Canadian productions. Max played the younger brother on the Edison Twins, a show a thousand times worse than this video.

Anybody remember 'The Cowboys of Moo Mesa'? I have no particular memories to glorify, I just really wanted to say "Moo Mesa"

I've gotten a few e-mails from readers in Canada about MPM - yep, seems like it was much bigger there than it was here in the States. The cartoon aired here, but there's no way it lasted anymore than a few years, if that. I doubt the live-action thing was shown more than once, if ever.

Holy fuck! That was the kid who played Paul on The Edison Twins? God, remember that horrible Windigo episode? Everytime that little twerp rolled his eyes and gaped his maw, I thought that he seriously shouldn't be allowed out of his room without a helmet on. (Also, I didn't remember Corey Haim being on The Edison Twins ( http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-... ). Not quite as bad as selling your rotten teeth and pubes on E-bay, but still. . . However, I did spot the chick who played Annie (Marnie McPhail) playing Ensign Alice Eiger in Star Trek: First Contact. I think I had a crush on Annie when I was a kid).

Speaking of talking fuzzballs: I was at the gym again at lunch (’cause, even in Canada, bikini season is coming up) and for some reason they had a cartoon on the TVs. It's one I hadn't seen before, but the main character looked like the prof from Teddy Ruxpin (hence that talking fuzzball tie-in) and the house he lived in looked like the professor's cottage. Only imagine all of that as conceived of by The Four Horsemen. Is there a revamped series? Please god, say "no."

I was hoping someone would mention that Sunny played on the Edison Twins which was a classic show in its own right. But Alyson, for you Canadians, is the host of CBCKids, every morning. I'm sure she's tried to put MPM behind her… waaay behind her.

My pet monster had a movie, coooooh. I remember in the early 90's one of my friends had the football my pet monster. I sort of wanted one since then. Then they had the new ones on sale a few months ago and i got a pet monster of my own.

wow, big comfey couch. That clock dance was just to great to pass out on…even when you're way to old to be dancing to clocks.

Does that Moo Mesa thing have to do with cowboy cows? B/c i keep seeing the same action figure of a cowboy cow that looks like it would fit in really well with bucky-o-hare toys.

I must have had my parents rent this movie a hundred times (Hey I was 4 years old and didn't know how bad it was!) Good luck with the job hunt Matt.

I remember cows dressed as cowboys riding horses. Considering that cowboys herd cattle for slaughter, it not really the most well thought-out concept for a kid's show.

I saw both the live and animated My Pet Monster. Didn't really care much for either one as they both differed in content drastically. In the cartoon, there was a bigger monster who tried to capture the little monster, and he could generate portals between his world and ours. I don't know if Evil Curator Guy was in the cartoon. Might the animated video exist more than the live action movie?

The big guy was Beastor. And I think the live-action video implied that the Evil Curator Guy was turned into Beastor at the end, setting up the cartoon series. Though since the cartoon series also said that Beastor lived in Monster-land (or something along those lines), and Monster lived with Max and his sister (Jill?) and had a crazy Asian kid showing up all the time, I can't for the life of me think why whoever made the video tried to tie things together.

And for the love of all that's holy that *IS* Annie in First Contact. Ah, the Edison Twins. Possibly the stupidest show filling my head with useless facts ever.

Did you know that if you cut down trees on top of a hill, erosion will get out of control? Thanks to Annie, a bowl of chocolate pudding, some straws, and some milk, I *do* know that. And that fact filled up a part of my brain that could have been dedicated to an actual, employable skill.

I remember Cowboys from Moo Mesa. That was one of the terrible cartoons that came along and heralded the end of my interest in Saturday Morning…Along with Biker Mice from Mars. Even at age 12 I knew that stuff was horrible pap.

Strangely I seem to remember the My Pet Monster live action video. Bits of that article brought up memories not pondered in MANY years. As a kid I always saw the video box for that Fred Savage movie about him turning into a monster and thought it had something to do with MPM. heh. what was that movie? ah well. rockin' site Matt.

Little Monsters, starring Howie Mandel and Fred Savage. I loved that movie as a kid.

Monsters Inc. was similar to Little Monsters, while Toy Story stole the concept from Jim Henson's Christmas Toy movie and series.

Monster's Inc was not at all similar to Little Monsters. Little Monsters was about hell. Monster's Inc was about regular everyday people and love and stuff.

Little Monsters was about Hell? I will admit that I was wrong if you do to. Sure Mandel's humor makes you feel like you are in Hell, but their world was not supposed to be where Bill and Ted went in Bogus Journey.

Ok, ME maybe our opinions on Hell differ. But think of this, it was a dark place underground, where bad children turned into demons. And if you are bad enough you have to stay there, terrorizing children and recruting new monsters. So there was no fire, but the thing in the suit at the end was red & had horns. Maybe it wasn't hell, but it sure looked like it to me.

I think that Little Monsters and Monsters, Inc. are basically the same concept, but it had never occured to me before. Devils, demons and monsters are hellish beings, but I don't think the world in Little Monsters was really hell. Hell is where sinners suffer, but everyone in Little Monsters ENJOYED their job of scaring kids, just like in Monsters, Inc.

OH MY GOD. I had completely forgotten about "The Christmas Toy" Jim Henson special. I LOVED that as a kid. Matt, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do a review of it for next Christmas. It's adorable!

While you're at it, review the Challenge of the SuperFriends DVD, just out from Warner Home Video. I was watching it last night and thought, "Gee, that kid who runs that X-E site would like this just for the cheesy factor alone." I mean, this had it all. Mind control, aliens, space travel, time travel, and that starburst transition between scenes with the accompanying sound effects. Not only that, you'll get to notice how Flash and Hawkman sounded nearly the same as did Green Lantern and Apache Chief.

i have a zugly. I am looking for more of them and i have searched the web over and ever again looking for some one who knows what i am talking about. and no they are not my pet monsters they are kind of a knock off. there are tones of them. i have seen 3 different kinds. if any one can give me any info on zuglys please email me at oddles15@yahoo.com

I remember the cowboys of moo mesa. i love them. i was only 5 when they were around, but i miss them!! does anyone know how we might convince someone to bring it back to the telly? or anyone know if they have like boxed-sets or something? mooooo.

you know what i miss the most? my little pony. they never show any of the good shows anymore. like fraggle rock, my little pony, rainbow bright, cowboys of moo mesa, care bears,…. they show all the crap now like, yugioh (no offense to you who like this show) like who gives a shit about it?. i miss the good quality old times tv. and why dont they have a radio station that plays big band music??

well there was fore of us children growing up and we all had stuffed zugly dolls. i was in the shower today and was singing puff the magic dragon when i started thinking about my child hood,and i remembered the zugly dolls. however i dont remember the cartoon,just the stuffed dolls. i think they got thrown away, but i still had mine up untill a few years ago. then i lost track of it.

I remember the Zugglys well. Does anyone remember My Buddy dolls? My brother and I each had one. They were about the size of a toddler,resembled us, and we carried ours everywhere. We even used them as decoys, in our beds, so our parents wouldn't know we had snuck out to stay up all night and watch the sun rise. How about Bravestarr? Silver Hawks? Where DID all the quality toys and cartoons go? Well, thanks for the memories.

My Husband has a Zugly doll that he has had since he was born and he swears there was a movie made by the same name. If anyone has any information on where to get this movie please email me at torinlaforge@yahoo.com

I also have a Zugly doll. I've had it since I was somewhere between one and a half and two years old (about 1986-1987). I even have the picture of my mother giving it to me as my first doll on Christmas. I had no clue that there was a cartoon out on it. Apparently, I did a "haircut" job on mine as a kid, so the piece of hair at the top is cut off, and the eyes are a little faded, but it goes wherever I go. It's the only tangible piece of my childhood I have left, so I'll keep checking these boards for any info anyone has on them and whether there are many of them left.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 29th, 2003 at 9:33 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.