Merchandising. You know every movie marketed to kids or any super hero movie has a ton of junk. Every Pixar flick, sure the movie does well, but the real dough was from the merchandising. Funny that sales of video tapes/DVD's/LD's used to be a big part of this money figure. That's pretty much gone, but merchandising is evergreen. Everybody kid wants a piece of a movie they just saw that caught their imagination. Maybe own the flick, but until it comes out, you buy plushies, toys, board games, and all sorts of crap with the images of the movie you just saw. You like them for a month or two and then, move on. Or you become an HYPER FAN and keep junk forever on a shelf in the basement of the science building. Don't blame me. I keep mine in boxes in the basement because I paid something for it once so I can't bear to part with it or throw it away.

Of course, when I added this to my junk collection, I was still a teenager. Waning horny teenager years. I saw this movie more than any other movie I'd ever seen in the theater. I was a big fan of all things cartoon having grown up in the Saturday morning 70's and 80's. Not only did I go see this by myself, but every friend and my mom that hadn't seen this went and saw it with me. It was the type of movie that moved the bar for me. It was something I'd never seen before. So why the hell did I buy this POS?  Yeah, it was before the movie came out on VHS so it was the only way I could see images from such an amazing flick.

Spoiler Alert! I guess when they sold these ViewMaster sets, they listed the entire dialogue of the included "reels" on the side of the box. What is a Viewmaster you ask? You don't know? It's a way to view things so that they looked three dimensional. It was a toy around forever. They even had projectors to see these on a screen and ones that came with "records" to play along with the reels. Wow. They still make these as well mostly for retro nerds. Collectors would have these type of gift sets and you can probably go to the 'Bay to see what this set would cost if in pristine condition. We had them since we were kids, but they usually got ruined when they were left outside or stepped on. 

See? My set really isn't in collectors condition. I'm sure I looked at these reels with this viewer a few times and had minutes of enjoyment. I may have bought the cups from McDonalds that were collectors cups for the flick. I think I've even got a few read along books with the story in  it. You know, I really didn't make much money back then, yet I bought crap like this. "Future investment" I thought. Right.

The business end. The reels had two sets of the same picture offset by a little and you had the plastic magnifying lenses to look through to produce a "3D" image. The only thing different about this as opposed to the 70's versions I used when I was really small, the "arm" that came down and advanced the reel was a bit bigger, and I think the viewer was made with fewer pieces to assemble.It seems I have taken a picture of an optical illusion as well. The slot above the eyes usually gives the caption that's on the reels, but in this picture, it looks smaller than it is. Strange. Something to know and show and share with friends. We do it all for you Rod.

The rear is where the light flows in. Yes they made these so you could use them at night with a back light on them and taking "C" batteries that you'd forget about and they'd leak and ruin the whole thing. (Damn you RAYOVAC!) Really, there isn't much more to say about these. I will say I got mine from the now gone Westlake K-Mart, the very first K-Mart I ever went too. Maybe by this time, they didn't have cafeterias anymore, and it was before they became "Big K" stores and got Little Caesars restaurants in them. This K-Mart still had the delicatessen at the front of the store where you could buy cold cuts and get sandwiches. I believe I bought their "famous sub" which were on special, 2 for $3 and were made with floor tile and Elmers mayo. I got this viewer and sat in the parking lot having a feast. It was how I rolled when I had my freedom of a Chevy Monza and a fresh $20 bill from McDonalds to  burn. Geeze. Am I dating myself when I used to go to the ATM and only pull out $20 at a time? Memmmoorrriiieeeees.  

Enter Boomer The Dog. He's the one that got me to dig out this View Master from my basement when he presented me with this pack of reels from one of my favorite flicks. Wow. Talk about obscure! My guess is that every Disney movie ever was adapted with movie stills to make reels for the View Master. I wonder if there are "Gus" reels, or "The Computer Wore Frilly Things" or "The Apple Blumpkin Gang"? I'll bet. Really, it's been around forever. The cool thing is, they haven't faded or changed to orange like some old slides have.

Yes, they came along with booklets with the plot of the movie that expanded on what was written on the reels. My newer set had no such booklet. What a treat it is to have stills from this movie. It was a make-up great who recently died that did the transformation in this film. Rather than a fade into an animal, they applied make-up and really looked like Dean Jones was becoming an Old English Sheepdog. It still was film tricks, because American Werewolf In London soon showed the world how horrible it could be to transform into a monster. Gee, I just wanted to be fuzzy and cuddly not kill people and have the zombies return to tell me that they can't go to their resting place until he does himself in. Spoiler Alert! Awww, forget it. Can you imagine? In the Disney film, the guy actually DIDN'T want to be a dog? How silly is...SHHHHHHHH. Check it.

Back to reality. I don't own the DVD of this flick so I can't see the frame where you could see Jessica's HOOHOO. You ask many of the boys that saw this movie in their teens and see how many would say "yeah I had a crush on her." It wouldn't be until a few years later when "Cool World" came out where there was a HOTTER cartoon bim than ol' Jessica. Remember, she was only hooked up with Roger because "He makes me laugh". She wasn't bad, she was drawn that way. Personally, I had a crush on the Black and White Betty Boop who sold cigarettes where Jessica sang.  Good lord, flashbacks.

-Ric