Attack of the Killer Tomatoes | |
---|---|
Genre | |
Based on | Characters created by John DeBello J. Stephen Peace Costa Dillon |
Developed by | Richard Mueller |
Written by |
|
Directed by | Karen Peterson |
Starring | |
Composers |
|
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 21 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
|
Producers |
|
Running time | 23 minutes |
Production companies | |
Original release | |
Network | Fox (Fox Children's Network) |
Release | 8 September 1990 – 23 November 1991 |
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is an American animated television series based on the 1978 film Attack of the Killer Tomatoes and its 1988 sequel Return of the Killer Tomatoes . [1] The series aired on Fox Kids from 8 September 1990 to 23 November 1991. Repeats aired on Fox in 1992 and 1996, and on Fox Family from 1998 to 2000.
The show, a sequel to the original film, is about the mad scientist Dr. Putrid T. Gangreen and his associate Igor Smith turning the tomatoes in the town of San Zucchini into monsters. [2] The evil doctor was battled by young Chad Finletter, and his friends Tara Boumdeay (secretly a human/tomato hybrid pretending to be a teenage girl) and F.T., a "Fuzzy Tomato" pretending to be a dog. The second season is known for being the first Saturday Morning cartoon series to be computer-animated. [3]
Ownership of the series passed to Disney in 2001 when Disney acquired Fox Kids Worldwide, which also includes Marvel Productions. [4] [5] [6]
The original film Attack of the Killer Tomatoes was released by Four Square Productions in 1978. A parody of the giant menace movies of the 1950s, it became a cult hit and predated the movie-spoofing disaster film Airplane! by two years.
The Killer Tomatoes might have remained in that genre had it not been for an unlikely intervention from an equally unlikely source. During the 1986–1987 season of Muppet Babies , there was a segment in the episode "The Weirdo Zone" upon which Baby Fozzie deals with how he once faced an 'Attack of the Silly Tomatoes'. The segment used clips from the movie and concluded with Baby Fozzie using a giant-sized ketchup bottle to capture the Silly Tomatoes (he told bad jokes and the large tomatoes launched themselves at him, only to be caught inside the bottle when he ducked out of the way). It became one of the higher-rated episodes of the season, so much that New World Pictures (the owner of Marvel Productions, which made Muppet Babies) approached Four Square about making a sequel to Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. [7]
Four Square had never intended to make a sequel but when New World approached them with a two-million dollar budget towards filming a potential sequel, John De Bello, Costa Dillon and Stephen Peace got to work on crafting a script. The resulting film, Return of the Killer Tomatoes , was a surprise success.
New World was pleased with the results, and the company decided to duplicate the results of the film with an animated series aimed at a younger audience. Tweaking various characters and ideas from both Attack and Return, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: The Series was born and debuted as one of the first Saturday morning cartoons on the Fox Children's Network in the fall of 1990.
There were many inside jokes to popular television series and movies that played out during the series' run. It often poked fun at itself or its low-budget film origins.
The series picks up five years after The Great Tomato War (much as the film Return of the Killer Tomatoes did), where tomatoes are banned. However that has not stopped Dr. Putrid T. Gangreen from engaging in his experiments. Gangreen's ultimate goal is world domination and he will not let anyone stop him. But his most successful experiment may very well be his undoing. Tara Boumdeay, a tomato turned human, runs away from Gangreen, taking along her "Brother", the fur-covered F.T., whom she passes off as a dog. They befriend Chad Finletter (nephew of the Great Tomato War veteran, Wilbur Finletter) who, after saving the pair from a tomato attack, gets Tara a job at his uncle Wilbur's Tomatoless Pizza Parlor. She shares their secret with Chad regarding the two of them being tomatoes and Chad vows to help them against whatever Gangreen has planned. That is where everyone stands at the start of the first episode, "Give A Little Whistle", where the evil Doctor sets his new plans into motion (and would continue through the first season).
Season Two would center on Gangreen actually conquering the world in the debut episode. However, he is overthrown by Zoltan and his gang of twice-mutated tomatoes and is forced to join up with Chad, Tara, Wilbur and the rest of the Killer Tomato Task Force (other vets of the Great Tomato War).
Besides Tara and F.T., the following characters are tomatoes that were created by Dr. Gangreen:
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "Give a Little Whistle" | Richard Mueller | 8 September 1990 | |
Dr. Putrid T. Gangreen has a whistle to command all tomatoes to destroy San Zucchini. Can Chad stop his plan and save Tara at the same time? | |||||
2 | 2 | "Attack of the Killer... Pimentoes?" | Jack Enyart | 15 September 1990 | |
Dr. Gangreen utilizes cherry tomatoes in his latest conquest attempt. He sends Igor Smith to Finletter's Tomatoless Pizza Parlor and sells Wilbur on the idea that pimentos (actually the cherry tomatoes) could be used to showcase his latest pizza creation. They are sent to every neighborhood in this town. Now, San Zucchini is a battleground. | |||||
3 | 3 | "Tomato from the Black Lagoon" | Ted Pedersen | 22 September 1990 | |
Dr Putrid T. Gangreen watched a news report with Whitley White about the Tomato Link from the Black Lagoon. Gangreen and Igor must bring it to the lab for examination. Meanwhile, Wilbur is about to give money to Chad. He's heading to the botanical gardens with FT and Tara. They're on the way to the Black Lagoon but they did not know is that the Tomato Link is under the depths. He caught Tara. Some say it was dangerous like the face of a tomato but inside his heart, he has love. | |||||
4 | 4 | "Streets of Ketchup" | Richard Mueller | 29 September 1990 | |
Dr. Gangrene has built a new tomato. An Elvis-like person who is Tara's new idol. | |||||
5 | 5 | "Tomato Invasion from Mars" | Ted Pedersen | 13 October 1990 | |
Tomatoes grown on Mars have mutated greatly and arrive on Earth for conquest. Can Chad, Tara and the Tomato Task Force combat a menace from beyond the stars? | |||||
6 | 6 | "War of the Wierds" | Jack Enyart | 20 October 1990 | |
Igor Smith heads back to the lab from the henchman convention and finds the angry Dr. Gangreen a shell of himself. Dr. Gangreen relates the story of a childhood enemy named Sidney Igotcha whose tricks led to Gangreen's obsession with tomatoes. Now he's back and created a new enemy aimed at his own attempts at world conquest. It's an all-out war between the two bitter foes. Tomato vs. Kumquat and the Tomato Task Force caught in the middle. | |||||
7 | 7 | "Invasion of the Tomato Snatchers" | Richard Mueller | 27 October 1990 | |
Dr. Gangreen's latest plot involves replacing every citizen in San Zucchini with tomato-headed doubles and it's up to Chad, FT & Tomato Guy to save the citizens, Tara and the day. | |||||
8 | 8 | "Terminator Tomato from Tomorrow" | Ted Pedersen | 10 November 1990 | |
Chad & Tara must rescue the Tomato Task Force from the Tomato Terminator in the 23rd Century with the help of an eclectic star ship crew. | |||||
9 | 9 | "Camp Casserole" | Richard Mueller | 17 November 1990 | |
Chad & Tara head to summer camp for two weeks where she is picked on by two mean girls. Dr. Gangreen plans to exploit Tara's hurt feelings by promising to make her fully human if she helps him control Larry, the largest tomato monster the angry Doctor ever created. | |||||
10 | 10 | "Spatula, Prinze of Dorkness" | Richard Mueller | 24 November 1990 | |
On Halloween night, Count Dracula relates a tale of how he once gave Dr. Gangreen a serum to transform tomatoes into vampire tomatoes. Though the Doctor refused, Zoltan overheard their conversation and, mistaking the word serum for syrup, ingests the serum himself and renaming himself "Spatula, Prinze of Dorkness". Can they be stopped before the entire town is transformed into neck-kissing vampires? | |||||
11 | 11 | "Frankenstem Tomato" | Ted Pedersen | 1 December 1990 | |
Wilbur's pizza delivery truck falls off a cliff in Death Valley as he was taking Tara, Chad and FT to the top secret Tomato Task Force field training. The only place stay for the night is the Frankenstem's Horror Castle where Doctor Gangreen plans on using Tara's tomato brain to bring the Frankenstem Monster to life. | |||||
12 | 12 | "The Gang That Couldn't Squirt Straight" | Jack Enyart | 15 December 1990 | |
After a plot to splatter Chad with tomatoes goes awry, Zoltan & the Gang of Five rebel against Dr. Gangreen and take up racketeering to enslave some of San Zucchini's businesses. Luckily the mayor deputizes Wilbur, Chad & Tara to oppose this new threat. | |||||
13 | 13 | "Beach Blanket Tomato" | Ted Pedersen | 29 December 1990 | |
The first-ever Tomato Task Force beach party is besieged by Dr. Gangreen's tomato sharks and it's up to Chad, Tara & the Tomato Task Force to stop him and get the show renewed for a second season. |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
14 | 1 | "The Ripening Disaster" | Flint Dille | 7 September 1991 | |
Dr. Gangreen's latest scheme involves mutating Zoltan and his new Gang of Six into credible threats to conquer Earth one continent at a time. | |||||
15 | 2 | "A Rotten Reversal" | Flint Dille | 14 September 1991 | |
After succeeding in his goal to conquer the world, Dr. Gangreen attains inner peace and releases the Tomato Task Force from his dungeon, which leads to his own creations turning on him. Meanwhile, the KTTF join up with Whitley White and Tomato Guy in the sewers attempting to avoid being recaptured by Zoltan's forces. | |||||
16 | 3 | "Phantomato of the Opera" | Richard Mueller | 21 September 1991 | |
Dr. Gangreen is missing and the KTTF splits up to find him. Tara travels to Paris, France to locate him but only manages to locate the Phantomato of the Opera. Is he friend or foe? Note: This episode aired earlier than intended as it relates events viewers had yet to see, such as the new alliance between the KTTF & Gangreen & Igor in the episodes "A Rotten Reversal" & "The Tomato Worms Turn". | |||||
17 | 4 | "Stemming the Tide" | Gordon Kent | 5 October 1991 | |
Will the Killer Tomato Task Force join Gangreen & Igor in an uneasy alliance to combat their mutual enemies? And is the key to defeating the tomatoes located in the heart of Africa, where they can't seem to get a clear foothold upon? Note: This episode aired later than was intended as it directly relates the events & fallout of "A Rotten Reversal". | |||||
18 | 5 | "The Tomato Worms Turn" | Ted Pedersen | 19 October 1991 | |
Travelling to Africa via rollercoaster, Chad, Tara, Dr. Gangreen & Igor locate the one enemy that can defeat the tomatoes, the African Tomato Worm Tribe. Can they arrive back in San Zucchini to save the KTTF in what may be their last stand? Note: This episode also aired later than was intended as it directly relates the events & fallout of "A Rotten Reversal". | |||||
19 | 6 | "Ultra-tomato III" | Unknown | 2 November 1991 | |
After the events of "The Tomato Worms Turn", Gangreen begins his new plot to take over the world with a new creation named the Ultimato, armed with a brain cloned from the angry Doctor himself. He & it deceive the KTTF into thinking it's on their side but the creature has its own designs on world domination and Gangreen doesn't fit into its plans. | |||||
20 | 7 | "Tomatotransformation" | Evelyn Gabai | 9 November 1991 | |
The KTTF & Gang of Six trade places which leads to the newly-tomatoed Wilbur & his team being on the run while the now-human Gang of Six plan on putting the African Tomato Worms on ice. Can Chad, Tara, Gangreen & Igor reverse fortunes in time? | |||||
21 | 8 | "The Great Tomato Wars" | Ted Pedersen | 23 November 1991 | |
With humanity slowly reclaiming Earth from the Killer Tomatoes, Fang stages an uprising and ousts Zoltan from the Gang of Six. Zoltan then forms a tentative alliance once more with Dr. Gangreen, who creates five new caveman-themed tomatoes to fight against Fang's crew. The tomato infighting threatens to undo the work achieved in previous episodes but the key to saving the day may very well be FT. |
Screaming Soup! Presents the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes Retrospective, a documentary film focusing on the history of the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes franchise with interviews including cast and crew from Attack of the Killer Tomatoes TV Series, was released in February 2023 on YouTube. [8]
Gadget Boy & Heather is an animated television series co-produced between DIC Productions, L.P., France Animation, and M6. The series originally debuted in September 1995 in first-run syndication in the United States on Bohbot Entertainment's Amazin' Adventures II block and in October 1995 on M6 in France on the channel's M6 Kid block.
Thomas Edward Bray is an American actor and writer perhaps best known for his role as Murray "Boz" Bozinsky in the detective TV series Riptide. He made his film debut in the slasher film The Prowler (1981) and later appeared in John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness (1987), and The Horror Show (1989). His work has been primarily in television, and his most recent credit was in 2012 on an episode of the TNT series Leverage.
Return of the Killer Tomatoes! is a 1988 American parody film directed by John De Bello. The first sequel to the 1978 film Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, the film stars Anthony Starke, Karen Mistal, and John Astin, as well as George Clooney in an early role. Like its predecessor, Return of the Killer Tomatoes was largely panned by critics. It has been described as a cult film.
Inspector Gadget is a media franchise that began in 1983 with the DIC Entertainment animated television series Inspector Gadget. Since the original series, there have been many spin-offs based on the show, including additional animated series, video games, and films.
Toonsylvania is an American animated television series, which ran for two seasons in 1998 on the Fox Kids Network block in its first season, then was moved to Monday afternoons from September 14, 1998 until January 18, 1999, when it was cancelled. It was executive produced in part by Steven Spielberg, as DreamWorks' first animated series.
Curious George is an American children's animated television series based on the children's book series of the same name for PBS Kids which features Jeff Bennett as the voice of Ted Shackelford. Frank Welker, who voiced George in the 2006 feature film, reprises the role in the series. The show premiered on PBS Kids on September 4, 2006, and originally ended after nine seasons on April 1, 2015 before returning in 2018. Later seasons were released on Peacock, and the series concluded on March 17, 2022 after a total of 15 seasons. This is the second animated series from Imagine Entertainment, following 1999’s The PJs.
Ghostface is a fictional identity that is adopted by the primary antagonists of the Scream franchise. The figure was originally created by Kevin Williamson, and is primarily mute in person but voiced over the phone by Roger L. Jackson, regardless of who is behind the mask. The disguise has been adopted by various characters in the movies and in the third season of the television series.
Killer Tomatoes Strike Back! is a 1991 American comedy film. It is the third in the Killer Tomatoes film series, following Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978) and Return of the Killer Tomatoes (1988), and followed by Killer Tomatoes Eat France (1992). The film stars Rick Rockwell, Crystal Carson, Steve Lundquist, John Witherspoon, and John Astin.
Killer Tomatoes Eat France! is a 1992 American film that was released as the fourth and most recent sequel to Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. Like its predecessor, Killer Tomatoes Strike Back, it was a direct-to-video release. The film had been intended as the third in the series according to Return of the Killer Tomatoes but was replaced as the third film by Killer Tomatoes Strike Back. It is the final film made by New World Pictures before their sale to News Corporation in 1997. Because the film was co-produced with the corporate successor 20th Century Fox, this is the only New World film whose rights are solely owned by 20th Century Fox.
Anthony Starke is an American actor. He is well known for his one-episode role in Seinfeld, playing the third-person-speaking character Jimmy in "The Jimmy", as well as playing Jack on The George Carlin Show, on Fox.
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is a 2D platform game developed by Imagineering and released in 1991 for the NES. A Game Boy version was released in 1992 and although it uses the same cover as the original NES game, it is not a port of that version. The Game Boy version was developed by Equilibrium and published by THQ in Europe and the US. It was also released in Japan, where it was published by Altron in 1993.
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is a 1978 American parody film produced by J. Stephen Peace and John DeBello, and directed by John DeBello based upon an original idea by Costa Dillon. The film stars David Miller, George Wilson, Sharon Taylor, and Jack Riley.
Disney's Kim Possible Movie: So the Drama is a 2005 American romantic action comedy film released as a Disney Channel Original Movie and produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. It is the second TV film based on the animated television series Kim Possible. This film includes a mix of hand-drawn animation and computer animation.
The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange, or simply The Annoying Orange, is an American live-action/animated television series created by Tom Sheppard and Dane Boedigheimer for Cartoon Network. Based on the characters from the web series Annoying Orange, created by Boedigheimer and Spencer Grove, it was produced by Annoying Orange, Inc., The Collective, and 14th Hour Productions. A preview aired on May 28, 2012, and the official premiere was on June 11, 2012. The show ended on March 17, 2014, with two seasons and thirty episodes, with a total of fifteen episodes per season.
VeggieTales in the House is an American animated sitcom developed by Doug TenNapel and produced by Big Idea Entertainment, and animated by Bardel Entertainment. It picks up after VeggieTales, a Christian-themed video and film series, featuring anthropomorphic vegetables.
Primal is an American adult animated action horror television series created and directed by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network's night-time programming block, Adult Swim. It is the first combined action/sci-fi/horror animated series from Cartoon Network Studios and Williams Street.