Attack of the Killer Tomatoes | |
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Genre | |
Based on | Characters created by John DeBello J. Stephen Peace Costa Dillon |
Developed by | Richard Mueller |
Written by |
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Directed by | Karen Peterson |
Starring | |
Composers |
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Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 21 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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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).
– The mayor of San Zucchini, who is an airhead who somehow lucked into his job. He made two significant appearances in the series, one where he slept through San Zucchini being overthrown (in "Invasion of the Tomato Snatchers") and an appearance where he decides to name Wilbur Finletter as San Zucchini's first sheriff since the 1920s (in "The Gang That Couldn't Squirt Straight"). An election poster could be seen of him as well in the episode "Give A Little Whistle".
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 | |
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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 | |
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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]
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