Orbitz (1997-1997)

Orbitz, not to be confused by the travel agency or the chewing gum was a short lived product that came out in 1997.  It was produced by the guys that brought you Clearly Canadian.  It was a Clearly Canadian drink with a new twist it had little flowing globs of colorful gel like substance called Gellan Gum. It looked allot like a portable lava lamp.  I remember seeing at stores a few time when it came out and picking it up, I personally dont think the product was market as well. I couldn't even find a commercial for it.

McDonalds Plush Muppet Babies:1987

Yay, its November and the holiday months have officially belong.  For me they start in October, but for the rest of America November seems to be the it month. Stores bring out the Holiday decorations, and the malls begin to cast their parade of holiday colors. Corporate America starts showing slews of holiday commercials. Im not saying this is bad, no on the contrary this helps people get into warmer moods, it brings in the holiday cheer.

As a kid I always remember McDonalds having some of the best holiday commercials and happy meal toys.  One of the promotions I remember best were the Muppet Baby holiday plush dolls they had in 87. I didn't own all three but I did own the Fozzie Bear one.  I was always a fan of Fozzie, maybe it was because he seemed to be such an underdog in the show. He was riffled with tomatoes after his jokes, but always got up for more. I actually remember really liking this doll enough to keeping it around even when it was time to get rid of old toys, sure he sat on a shelf but every time I looked at him it brought back memories of the holidays and good times with it.
McDonalds also had Miss Piggy, who always seemed like to much of a bitch for any kid to want to own her, and the Kermit.  They were cute and Cuddly and were dressed to make you feel a little warmer for the Holidays.
Any body else remember or own any of these?

Nightmare On My Street 1988

The Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff released a track in 1988 that would appeal to any 10 year old with a monster fascination. The Song A Nightmare on My Street was the third single off their Parents just don't understand album, and subsequently also the first rap tape I owned. I loved it, could get enough. I memorized the words of the song and would sing it every where! Last night while driving home the song came on the raido and the words came back to me with the same ease as jumping back on a bicycle. I got strange looks from the wife and kids, but there was no stopping the lyrical flow. The song also brought back a rush of memories of childhood Halloween.

Heres a video with the song with lyrics included.  Now you to can sing along to this awesometastic Halloween song!

The Real Ghostbusters:The Boogieman Cometh 1986

The Boogie man was a legend told to make kids do things their parents wanted them to do. I was never really afraid of the Boogieman, but I think it was more because I didn't have a mental imagine to associate with the guy.  That all changed in 1986 when the Real Ghostubsters cartoon came out. I was a huge fan of the movies and the cartoons as a kid.  I would watch them on Saturday mornings as part of my line up, navigating from channel to channel and sometimes having to make important decision as to what I was going to watch and not watch. Ghostbusters though was always one I hated missing.  I don't think these cartoons were every really meant to frighten their viewers, but seeing the Boogieman did in fact give me chills.

This little discription is off the Wiki Page.

"The Boogieman is a somewhat goblin-esque, anthropomorphic creature with human and animal features not unlike the god Pan from Greek mythology.  His skin and fur are pale blue.  He sports a head grossly oversized in comparison to his arms, legs and torso.  His goat-like ears and humanoid nose are quite pronounced and elongated, and his face features high, prominent cheeks.  His humanoid eyes are large and yellow, set under black brows and fantastic, porcupine-like blue hair which projects over his face and runs down the length of his back. The Boogieman's mouth (often twisted into a frightening grin) is large and ugly- bearing ruby-red lips and jagged, yellow teeth.  To top it off, he sports what appear to be unshaven whiskers on his chin.  From the neck down his body is covered in fur.  His arms are humanoid, and his large hands end in pointed red nails.  Below his waist, the Boogieman resembles a hoofed ungulate, like a sheep or goat.  His legs are short, often bent and terminate in cloven hooves. 

The Boogieman wears some clothing.  Around his short neck is a blue bowtie.  He also sports a dark blue dress coat with very long tails."

The first few nights after watching this cartoon,  sleeping was a little harder, getting sent into a room to get something at night became more of an adventure, and closing the closet door was a MUST.(Even though the bastard could open it)  

The Boogieman must have been a popular character for the franchise, because he got a second episode and even came out in a few cameo episodes. Out of all the  cartoons from this franchise the boogieman and the spirit of Halloween stick out the most in mind.  Both episodes were eerie and creepy in their own way.  

A little Halloween treat! The entire episode of The Boogie Man Cometh!

Friday the 13th for the NES 1989

Friday the 13th for the NES was released in 1989 and is considered one of the worst games ever made!
The game was produced by the now defunct toy video game production company LJN, who produced a slew of other movie based games.

Now even though the game was considered crap by its peers, as a ten year old playing video games at night, well this game scared the shit out of me. The crappy soundtrack also did wonders to my 10 year old mind. I always had a fascination with the Friday the 13th movies but was to chicken to watch a whole movie through.

Basic run down of the game was you played as six different camp counselors and you have to defeat Jason 3 times by looking for him throughout his romping grounds, of Camp Crystal lake.  Along the way you do battle with Jason's mothers severed head and other creepy crawlers that also roamed the camp grounds.  Jason would pop out  in different times to attack you, and im telling you there was nothing scarier then going into an empty cabin and having Jason come out of nowhere to try to off you.

Sure the game was a horrible representation of the movie, but then again the movies were pretty horrible in themselves as well. We watched the movies not for the Oscarress acting and cinematography, but because being scared is fun.  This game brought some great memories to me as a kid and also cowboy-ed me up the watch Jason goes to Manhattan which came out the Summer of the same year.

Here is a six minuet video clip of the game, I dare you to try to sit through all of it. I could only stomach about 4 minuets of it, but not because it was bad but because some things are better left in my past where they were some of the scariest things Iv seen.

Ecto Cooler 1987-2007

Hi-C was the drink of choice for lots of kids, sure we had lots of choice like Capri-Sun, and.....well other choices.  But when Ecto Cooler hit the shelves in 87 after the popularity of the real Ghostbusters cartoon, almost every kid was sporting the slimmer approved drink. Not only did it taste great, but it was the same color of the popular Ghostbuster allies. Ecto Cooler stayed on shelves way after the popularity of the cartoon ran its course, the cool green slime color was later removed as to not stain clothing, and the name was changed  to Crazy Citrus Cooler finally the popular drink was discontinued in 2007.

This Halloween you too can make your own Ecto Cooler!  This recipe has been on tons of Blogs and web pages, but the popular ghost is here to haunt Retro Pulp as well.   

• 1 Packet Flavor Aid Orange
• 1 Packet Flavor Aid Tangerine
• 3/4 Cup Orange Juice (No Pulp)
• 3/4 Cup Tangerine Juice
• 1/3 scoop Countrytime Lemonade
• 1 3/4 Cups Sugar
• Green and blue food coloring.

The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown 1966

As far back as I can remember , this cartoon was always part of the Halloween Tradition. In a time when the only place to see cartoons on TV was Saturday Mornings and after school, a chance to see a cartoon during prime time was good enough reason to tune in every year! It was our slap in the face to adults, our HAHA moment. "Oh you want to watch Dynasty? To bad Charlie Browns taken over the air waves Grandma!"

The Cartoon actually first aired back in 1966 on CBS, but even though it was about 15 years old when it got to us it was still a great cartoon and did its part of getting us in the Halloween mood. It was a reminder that fall had begun and the best season were about to start! I remember this CBS intro meaning a seasonal cartoon was coming up. The drumbeat sang to me something out of the norm is about to start and its probably a cartoon!



Heres a little clip from one of my favorite Halloween memories.