cam clarke | Screaming Soup!

SCREAMING AT THE ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES RETROSPECTIVE!

Howdy there, Scream Freaks! After ’bout a year of video silence, we proudly return with our greatest triumph yet, provin’ once ‘gain why we’re the web’s #1 animated horror host show. Just as memorable as our epic season long crossover with Charles Band, as awesome as sharin’ the QnA stage with the likes of Kane Hodder, and as special as gettin’ worldwide recognition from Joe Bob Briggs on Shudder’s The Last Drive-In, we now cross paths with ‘nother icon of horror whose arrival sent shockwaves through the world of cult cinema that’s still enjoyed today. We’re talkin’, ‘course, ’bout Killer Tomatoes.

We originally planned on a Screaming Soup! special on the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes movies to be our swan song after 100 episodes, but once we accepted the reality of our tedious production schedule, and the fact the talents involved with makin’ the Killer Tomatoes aren’t gettin’ any younger, we decided 50 episodes and the validation we achieved from receivin’ Joe Bob’s Silver Bolo Award in 2021 was a good ‘nough time to cross this off our bucket list. We’re still producin’ ‘nother 50 Screaming Soup! episodes, mind ya, we’re just sayin’ this passion project of ours got significantly bumped up.

As filmbuffs and lifelong fans of the Killer Tomatoes franchise since first seein’ the cartoon while gobblin’ action figures up with our Killer Tomato toys, we always hated how there were never any behind-the-scenes featurettes or tell-all books ‘yond the makin’ of the first Attack of the Killer Tomatoes movie from 1978. IMDb, magazine articles, online interviews . . . it was all the same decades ol’ scraps of information and movie plot synopsis. Nothin’ answered the real burnin’ questions we had fer how this cult flick oddity by a gang of nerds outta San Diego managed to explode into a pop culture phenomenon as a toy sellin’ Saturday mornin’ cartoon ’round the world. Frustrated by this constant lack of knowledge, we finally took it upon ourselves to collect these factoids for the sake of Killer Tomato fans everywhere, and be the first EVER to share the WHOLE story behind this underdog franchise.

It all started with us contactin’ producer/writer Steve Peace who fans know better as their favorite parachute draggin’ Tomato War vet Lt. Wilbur Finletter. Steve and his filmmakin’ partners producer/writer/director John DeBello and writer/Killer Tomatoes creator Costa Dillon formed Four Square Productions when they began their film careers as teenagers makin’ Super 8 movies, and we managed to dig up a phone number fer that business online. “You’re lucky I even picked up. This may very well be the last workin’ landline in the world,” Steve laughed after feelin’ a strange compulsion to answer our call. Fillin’ him in on us bein’ horror hosts and expressin’ our interest in doin’ a retrospective that finally paints the whole picture ‘hind the history of the Killer Tomatoes, Steve was more than accommodatin’ and connected us with DeBello and Costa who happily granted us our first interviews for the retrospective which greatly helped lay the bones for the Killer Tomatoes timeline additional interviews with cast and crew from each movie could add meat to.

With help from Four Square, IMDb Pro, and good ol’ fashion gumshoe work, we managed to round up and interview most everyone involved with the series fer the retrospective. Recordin’ our conversations over Zoom, we had an incredible year yakkin’ it up with Olympic gold medalists, Miss Universe winners, soap opera stars, folks who worked on sets like Super Mario Bros. and Married . . . With Children, stand-up comics, heavy hittin’ talents ‘hind The Real Ghostbusters cartoon, and not to mention — John “Gomez Addams” Astin which was the most unbelievable two hours spent durin’ all this as he shared nearly a 100 years worth of stories in the entertainment biz from Hollywood to Broadway. All these folks are such amazin’ talents and the nicest, funniest people anyone could hope to talk with ’bout killer veggies. Woulda been nice to say we got to chew the fat with George Clooney, ‘course, but believe you us — if there’s anyone missin’ from this sucker, it ain’t fer lack of tryin’! It either means we couldn’t reach ’em at all or they plain said, “No.”

So, that brings us to now. After ’bout a year editin’ twenty plus hours of interview footage down to a hair over three, we’re proud to present the most in-depth, be-all end-all tell-all retrospective on the ENTIRE history of the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes series includin’ Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, Return of the Killer Tomatoes, Killer Tomatoes Strike Back, Killer Tomatoes Eat France, and both seasons of the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes cartoon series that originally aired on Fox Children’s Network. We cover Four Square’s first studio picture Sour Grapes aka Happy Hour, Elvira’s ribbin’ the original flick on late night TV, the unofficially licensed video games, the tomatoes’ resurgence thanks to the Muppet Babies, the reason why no restaurant wanted to use killer tomatoes for an ad campaign, the real story ‘hind the cartoon’s cancellation, and MORE!

And to provide as much Killer Tomato history as possible, we do include a few snippets of information gathered from home video bonus features and other content creators’ web shows, but all sources have been properly credited and handled much the same way as a research paper with links to their original work in the description of the video. The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes Retrospective is strictly a non-profit documentary made for the purpose to educate and inform fans interested in the history of the Killer Tomatoes franchise under Fair Use (Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976) as well as a creative reunion of sorts for the talents who are excited to see one another after decades apart. Everyone involved with this video from Screaming Soup! HQ to the interviewees participated in this out of the goodness of their heart for no other gain than to laugh at rememberin’ the best times they ever had makin’ these movies.

Now, enjoy this love letter to one of our favorite movie franchises of all time! It ain’t perfect, but we gave it all we got and then some. TOMATOES!!!!

Other than that, please show your support for our show with donations through Patreon, Buy Me A Coffee, and Ko-fi, catch up on all past Screaming Soup! Seasons, check out this week’s Howl’n Hottie, read recent reviews for the newer horror films and comics we’re checkin’ out in our blogs, R-Rated Reviews and Sequential Slime, and help us get the word out about the web’s #1 animated horror host show! Please use our social buttons in the upper right corner of the site and follow our tweets, subscribe to our video channels, like our Facebook, watch and share all our vids, and keep that fan mail comin’. You can also warm up some Screaming Soup! leftovers with reruns currently playin’ on Beta Max TV, Sluggo’s The Vortexx, and Mr. Lobo‘s OSI 74 .

SCREAMING AT THANKSGIVING AND RETRO-TOY CON!

Howdy there, Scream Freaks! After weeks full of holiday parties, noisy parades, and belly bustin’ dinners, most folks would double over dead from exhaustion, but not us! We dropped dead forever ago and feel more alive than EVER as Thanksgivin’ returns, encouragin’ us to admit things we’re thankful fer.

Right now, we’re most thankful for bein’ a part of Retro-Toy Con recently, which is this unbelievable toy convention thrown by our compadres over at Toy Federation. These guys know how to party, let us tell ya. Not only did they make sure to pack the dealer room with an unbelievable mix of toys from yesteryear and today rangin’ from obscure Freddy Krueger knockoffs to mainstream mainstays like Star Wars and G.I. Joe, they even booked all kinds of celebrity guests from our favorite Saturday morning cartoons, Friday the 13th Part 2, the WWE hall of fame, and let’s not forget — yer favorite animated horror host Deadwest!

Yessir, as part of the star line-up, we happily spent the weekend meetin’ you Scream Freaks who showed up while as well as tradin’ quips with wrasslers Hacksaw Jim and the Million Dollar Man, doin’ Cobra Commander impressions with Arthur Burghardt (G.I. Joe’s original Destro), sharin’ candy with Jem and the Holograms‘ Samantha Newark, slingin’ back drinks at the bar with Warrington Gillette aka the first Jason Voorhees to kill onscreen, hangin’ ten with the first gang of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles actors, Rob Paulsen, Cam Clarke, Townsend Coleman, and Barry Gordon, and catchin’ up with our amigos Mark McCray and Dan Klink from The Best Saturday Mornings of Our Lives podcast. Fanboy overload, right? Even better, we got to be Retro-Toy Con’s MC the whole time, makin’ important ’round the clock announcements while teasin’ the other guests with random messages. “Attention Hacksaw Jim. We checked, and we’re sorry, but you can’t use yer 2×4 when thumb wrasslin’ yer fans.”

Sure to go down as one of the greatest achievements of our afterlives was Rob and Arthur complimentin’ our pipes. Words can’t describe what receivin’ that kinda validation means to us comin’ from such talented voicebox dynamos. Only other moment that comes close to beatin’ it was at the end of the con, when we zipped from one cartoon superstar to the next for closin’ statements with the best one bein’ Samantha sayin’, “Show’s over, Synergy.”

This vendor had a beast of a My Pet Monster collection!

And if that weren’t ‘nough of a treat, we even had the honor of hostin’ all the celebrity panels! We asked Warrington ’bout his journey from Wall Street broker to bein’ celebrated as one of the few actors to play Jason over a little kumbaya campfire, and he pitched fans an offer to own a part of his newest flick, Bloody Social. Arthur Burghardt held our hand in shock as we revealed our interest in him takin’ us down memory lane to when he was a magic hobo in Full Moon’s Killjoy. The panel that was the most fun fer us, however, was forcin’ Hacksaw Jim and Ted “The Million Dollar Man” Dibiase to sit through a slideshow of their greatest hits in plastic as they gave their feedback on all the different toys made in their image over the years. We forgot to record our pow-wow with Arthur like dumbasses, but we’ll be sharin’ the audio from the panels with Warrington, Hacksaw, and Dibiase ‘fore long, so y’all can get a taste of the fun we had.

Speakin’ of yappin’ with talents, we even managed to steal Rob and Cam away from their turtle fans long ‘nough to interview ’em fer their work on the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes cartoon series for our Killer Tomato Retrospective we’ve been teasin’. Cam not only played Gangreen’s evil sidekick, Igor; he even voiced one of the killer tomatoes from the second season ‘long with Rob’s mutant veggie, Mummato. We still can’t believe our luck! We’re incredibly thankful fer their participation in our project and can’t wait to add their clips of ’em playin’ with their mutant tomato chew toys with everyone else’s stories of bein’ in such a wonderfully wacky series.

Speakin’ of the Killer Tomatoes Retrospective — UPDATE — We’re comin’ closer and closer to completin’ this bucket list of a dream project. Editin’ is just ’bout done, the animation shouldn’t take too long, and after we drop in the soundtrack –POW! We hope to have this sucker out there for y’all to enjoy ‘fore Valentine’s Day! What could be sweeter than the first ever behind-the-scenes feature of anythin’ and everythin’ Killer Tomatoes with ’bout 20 interviews of nearly everyone involved from the filmmakers to the cast and crew?! We can’t wait!