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Ninja Day 2010: Behind the scenes of Cannon’s American Ninja

Posted in 80s, movies, ninjas, pop culture with tags movies, Ninja Day, ninjas, pop culture on December 5, 2010 by Paxton

And so dawns another Ninja Day. Take this time to reflect on the awesomeness of a bad ass ninja. Every year this blog celebrates Ninja Day and has done so since 2006. Click here to see all my Ninja Day articles.

While today is officially Ninja Day, next week will be Ninja Week on the Cavalcade. I’ll be reviewing ninja movies next week. All having to do with the ridiculously deadly ninja, and all are vintage, from the 80s and awesome. As a matter of fact, at least two of them star one Sho Kosugi. He was THE 80s icon for the ninja who recently (last year) starred as the bad ass villain in Ninja Assassin. I’ll be reviewing at least two of the movies in the Sho Kosugi 80s ninja “unofficial” trilogy I discussed in my Unofficial Movie Trilogies article a few months ago. Want to see what they are? Tune back in next week; same ninja time, same ninja blog.

Today, though, for Ninja Day, I want to discuss the 1985 movie, American Ninja starring Michael Dudikoff.

Specifically, I want to talk about the trouble The Cannon Group had getting it to the big screen. The movie has an interesting history that I think will make a good tale for Ninja Day.

The production company, The Cannon Group, made many of the ninja movies back in the day during the big 80s ninja boom. Their main ninja star was Sho Kosugi. During post production on Ninja III: The Domination Cannon started pre-production on a movie called American Ninja. Of course, it was going to star their main ninja, Sho Kosugi, as the villain. At the time, I don’t think they had cast the title character. Here’s some early promotional art for the Sho Kosugi American Ninja.

(Via VintageNinja.net)

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Ninja Day 2010 is stealthily creeping up on us…

Posted in 80s, movies, ninjas, pop culture with tags movies, Ninja Day, ninjas, pop culture on December 3, 2010 by Paxton

That’s right. Ninja Day 2010 is three days away on Sunday, Dec 5, 2010. Are you ready? If you keep turning around thinking you’re hearing something behind you, don’t be scared. It’s just Ninja Day creeping up ninja-style ready to gut you like a rainbow trout. Just go with it.

What do I have planned? Well, on Ninja Day I’ll discuss a popular 80s ninja movie and some of the behind the scenes drama that almost led to it not being released. Next week, I’ll continue Ninja Day with a bunch of reviews of ninja movies. Most are vintage 80s, but one was released last year.

So come back on Sunday and next week, sit back, relax and let the explosive awesomeness of badass ninjas fighting fill your heart with warmth and love…and death.

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11 Kool-Aid products you probably didn’t know existed

Posted in Atari, comic books, ice cream, Kool Aid, pop culture, video games with tags Atari, comic books, Kool Aid, pop culture, video games on November 23, 2010 by Paxton

Kool-Aid Man animated gif

Everyone knows the famous Kool-Aid drink packets. Purplesaurus Rex, Cherry, Berry Blue, etc, etc. But drink packets aren’t the only thing Kool-Aid made. There is a plethora of items made under the Kool-Aid banner trying to capitalize on the popularity of one Mr Man (Kool-Aid Man).

Here are 11 items made under the Kool-Aid brand that you may not have known existed.

Kool-Aid Man comic books – Kool-Aid and Marvel Comics collaborated on issues #1, #2 and #3 of The Adventures of Kool-Aid Man comic book. Archie Comics then published issues #4 and #5. Several of these issues were given out free in a mail away premium, and several issues were also available in stores. You might think it would be difficult to come up with engaging stories involving a talking pitcher of Kool-Aid quenching the thirsts of little children, and you would be mostly right. However, the stories were zany and mostly entertaining, considering the entire comic is an advertisement for drink mix.

Kool-Aid Man video game – Yes, there was a video game based on Kool-Aid Man. It was released for the Atari 2600, Intellivision and Sears video game systems. The ad and box above are for the Intellivision version. Here is the box for the Atari 2600 version. If you really want to understand the meaning of the word tedious, then download a ROM of this game and play it.

Kool-Aid bottled drinks – For a while back in the 50s and 60s, Kool-Aid offered their flavors pre-mixed in glass bottles. I’m not sure if they were carbonated or not, but I don’t believe so.

Kool-Aid Kool Pumps – This was a fast food promotion with Burger King. The “push-up” style sherbert bars were flavored with the elusive Sharkleberry Fin. Matt talked about them on X-Entertainment a while back.

Kool-Aid Kid’s Trivia Game – From 1985. This actually existed. It played like Trivial Pursuit, but I would hope the questions dealt with more than just Kool-Aid. How many questions can there be about Kool-Aid?

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Microsoft Windows 1.0 was released 25 years ago this week

Posted in 80s, computers, Microsoft, pop culture, technology, Windows with tags anniversary, computers, Microsoft, pop culture, technology, Windows on November 19, 2010 by Paxton

The original version of Microsoft Windows (v1.0) was released around 25 years ago this week. I say about 25 years ago because It’s really tough to pin down the actual release date due to differing information depending on where you look. If you look at official Microsoft history, they mention in one paragraph that Windows 1.0 was released in 1983, but then in the next paragraph they say Windows 1.0 was released in 1985. Other places alternately list 1983 or 1985. It’s possible that the first few releases of 1.0 (ie, 1.0, 1.01, 1.02) were not official and only demo releases. Most places I check have the release date for Windows 1.0 to be Nov 20, 1985. So I’m going with that.

Here’s the box for that first release of Windows.

Windows 1.0 required you to use 10 installation disks. And they were floppies!!

(Via Digibarn Computer Museum)

The original Windows used a radical new GUI interface to handle typical computer tasks like starting programs and file management. This freed the user from having to type commands at a DOS prompt. Delivered applications for this release included a File Manager, calendar, clock, notepad and calculator.

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7 Kids’ cartoons based on R-rated movies

Posted in 80s, cartoons, movies, pop culture, TV shows with tags cartoons, movies, pop culture, TV shows on November 8, 2010 by Paxton

They will make cartoons based on anything at this point. Movies, TV shows, video games, dolls, stickers, etc, etc. The list goes on and on. If the suits think they can make money off it, they’ll do it.

There have been countless cartoons based on movies. Usually it’s a dumbed down kid friendly version of the movie with an added talking animal sidekick or something ridiculous like that. But it’s something special when an adult oriented, R rated movie is translated into a kid friendly cartoon. It’s literally amazing that this happens. Now, there have been several R rated movies turned into cartoons that are not actually meant for kids. I’m talking about Kevin Smith’s Clerks the Animated Series and Ice Cube’s Friday the Animated Series (seriously, check You Tube if you don’t believe me) when I say that. They were both created for adult fans of the movie an not meant for children, which is why I’m not including them on this list. Here, you’ll only see Saturday morning, kid-friendly cartoons in this list. And what a list it is.

Let’s get started…

Rambo: The Force of Freedom (1986) – Released the year after First Blood Part II. I can see where you’d want a psychologically damaged one-man killing machine as a role model for children on Saturday mornings. It just fits. It’s what the corporate suits call “synergy”. The cartoon had a nice cast of voice talent though. Neil Ross (Transformers, GI Joe, Galaxy High) was Rambo. James Avery (Capt Sisko from ST: Deep Space Nine) was Turbo. Colonel Trautman was voiced by Allen Oppenheimer from He-Man, Transformers and GI Joe fame and one of the villains, Sgt Havok, was voiced by the great Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime).

Toxic Crusaders (1991) – Based on Troma’s surprise B horror sensation, The Toxic Avenger. The movie featured wall-to-wall language, nudity and extremely graphic scenes of violence and sex. The movie actually showed a dude, while robbing a fast food joint, try to rape a blind girl. Also Toxie kills someone by crushing their head in a weight machine at the gym. And if I remember correctly, he either punches completely through someone’s face or takes their head off with a punch. I totally get why one would watch that movie and think, “Kids’ll love this!”

Robocop (1988) – Based on the Paul Verhoeven classic. I actually see this as a cool cartoon, but damn this movie was violent. Copious amounts of nudity and drug use also earned every ounce of the R it was rated. The cartoon had several nods to the movie including an appearance by Kurtwood Smith’s Clarence Boddicker, despite the fact that character died in the movie.