May your holidays be filled with comedy/sci-fi

Hallmark was good to us this year. What's better than creating an ornament based on one of my favorite movies from my childhood? Creating TWO of them!

I'm very happy Hallmark chose to release the DeLorean model from the first movie. Although nothing is more awesome than a flying steel car that runs on garbage (green even before green became socially normal), the first model remains a classic. And it ran on plutonium--extremely bad ass!

As for the Ghostbusters ornament, kudos! Kudos to Hallmark for not taking the easy way out with a Slimer figurine. I never understood the fascination or love for Slimer. He wasn't the first ghost shown in Ghostbusters (ghost librarian takes that honor), and he wasn't even the best designed (the creepy ghost banshee that flies out of the subway comes to mind). Of course, once the cartoon came out, all bets were off. It was all Slimer all the time, whether you liked it or not. I did not. Imagine my preteen rage when they renamed the show "Slimer! And the Real Ghostbusters." That, much like the addition of Elmyra to "Pinky and the Brain," single handedly ruined the team dynamic of the show. The lives of many children were never the same after those rebrandings.

Indignation aside, look! Mr. Stay-Puft! I especially enjoy the touch on the bottom: Menace. This is a Christmas ornament that doesn't try to make this demon, this traveller bent on destroying the world, something cutesy. The write-up on the back of the box describes how the "menacing monstrosity" meets his demise by the heroic and selfless act of the Ghostbusters. Christmassy, nationalistic, and spiritualistic all in one little box.

It also plays the Ghostbusters theme song, something that would have pushed it over the cutesy edge if not for the fact that Ray Parker, Jr was successfully sued by Huey Lewis for copyright infringement over the melody. The same Huey Lewis who recorded songs for, and had a cameo in, Back to the Future.

I love when things come together like this!

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 2, 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response.

Leave a Reply

Powered by Blogger.