HAPPY 25TH ANNIVERSARY TO THE MOVIE THE ROCKETEER

It's hard to believe one of my favorite all-time movies hit theaters 25 years ago today. Some people have comfort foods; I have comfort movies and The Rocketeer is one of them. 

I was introduced to the story of The Rocketeer before the film was made thanks to my pal Tim, aka Vlad, back in the late 1980's. He showed me this really cool comic book of a 1930's movie serial type of character and that was all it took for me to become a fan. It was also my intro into the wonderful world of artist Dave Stevens, the creator of The Rocketeer. 

 (I had the honor of meeting Dave Stevens at the 2000 San Diego Comic Con.)

As we all know, Dave's artwork was amazing! One of the best comic artists to draw the female form and the way he told a story between the panels was always exciting and exhilarating! Back when I was in college my comic lovin' pals and I were excited for the movie version of the Rocketeer to premiere. It didn't disappoint and we've been talking about the film since its release. I believe it is still one of the best film adaptations made from a comic book. If only the film could have found more success at the box office. Because of this, we were all cheated out of more Rocketeer films.

I've been snooping around on YouTube looking for Rocketeer vids from back in the day and I think you'll enjoy watching these embeds. I know tonight, I have a date with the first lady of Neato Coolville and we'll be watching The Rocketeer once again, just like we did on June 21, 1991...except this time we'll be cheering on the flying hood ornament from our sofa instead of a crowded movie theater.

First up, watch Dave Stevens talk about his hopes at trying to get The Rocketeer made into a movie. (Uploaded by comic artist Greg Theakston)

A 30 second TV spot for the theatrical release of The Rocketeer. (Uploaded by IntermissionSociety)

Next, we have a fun "making of" doc that aired on the Disney Channel back in the day. (Uploaded by IntermissionSociety)

Here's clip from Entertainment Tonight that aired one week after the release of The Rocketeer. (Uploaded by IntermissionSociety)

Next up is this segment from the 1992 Discovery Channel TV show, Hollywood FX Masters hosted by Christopher Reeve. (Uploaded by ThePropKing)

An excellent interview with James Horner from 1991 about the Rocketeer soundtrack. (Uploaded by Eyes on Cinema)

Let's visit the South Seas Club and enjoy the sweet sounds of Melora Hardin sing Begin Beguine. (Uploaded by Dr.AtomicThunder)  

The prop display at Disney/MGM studios back in the summer of 1991. (Uploaded by Smithfilmproductions)

The Rocketeer blasting off from Disney/MGM Studios. Watch the video starting at the 5:00 mark. (Uploaded by Dillos Diz)

(Detail of a Rocketeer VHS video promo sweatshirt from my pal Mike who has owned it since his video store clerk days!)

Happy 25th Rocketeer and big thanks to Dave Stevens, Joe Johnston and all the amazing men and women that brought The Rocketeer to the big screen. Many fans and I will always be grateful!

WHITE CASTLE'S HALLOWEEN TRICK OR TREAT BAG WITH OREO TREATS

Hey, it's the Castleburger Dudes and they want to wish everyone a safe Halloween...or at least they did on the bottom of this plastic trick or treat bag from 1994. This was White Castle's kid's meal during the Halloween season of that year. What makes this kid's meal so special is that it included a mini-package of Halloween Oreos. Oreos began their Halloween tradition only three years earlier, so it's neat to see an example of one of their earlier Halloween packages.

Also, inside this 21 year old kid's meal is an Oreo bendy! Our bendy is proudly lifting up the Oreo Halloween Treats pack! Way to go Bendy Oreo! You are one strong Castleburger Dude!

LET'S VISIT OLD OFFICIAL MOVIE WEBSITES

One of my favorite official movie websites was for 2004's Sky Captain. I was disappointed that the site was recently removed. Since this movie is one of my favorites from the 2000s, I was hoping that it might survive like the websites for Space Jam and You've Got Mail. Why do movie websites have to die? The deletion of Sky Captain made me think about other past movie websites. I jumped into the Wayback Machine and discovered you can still access some of these old movie sites. In 1990s world wide web fashion, I've compiled a link list of some old official movie websites. Most still work in one way or another and it's a fun history lesson on late 20th century website design. So grab a can of Surge along with a bag of Doritos 3Ds and click away!

1994 Stargate First! Stargate was the first official movie website.
1994 Star Trek: Generations Archived at Trek Core.
1995 Tank Girl
1995 Nick of Time
1995 Jumanji
1995 Goldeneye
1996 James Bond Be sure to click on Q's Gadgets for some 90s Bond fashions!
1996 Phantom
1996 Scream
1996 The Long Kiss Goodnight
1996 Multiplicity
1996 Jingle All the Way Check out the virtual trading cards!
1996 Mars Attacks! My favorite old-timey movie website and most of this one still works.
1996 A Very Brady Sequel
1996 Twister
1996 Barb Wire This is the UK site, so don't bother with the US site link.  It doesn't work.
1997 The Lost World
1997 Starship Troopers
1997 Masterminds
1997 Spice World
1997 Alien: Resurrection
1997 Vegas Vacation I wonder if the Griswold's email still works?
1997 The Saint
1997 I Know What You Did Last Summer
1997 Anaconda
1997 Excess Baggage Alicia Silverstone's voice will greet you.
1997 Batman and Robin
1997 Warriors of Virtue I barely remember this movie.
1998 Mask of Zorro Not really the official website, but it has a neat little Zorro flash.
1998 The Avengers Very cool neon flash animation.
1998 Star Trek: Insurrection
1998 Godzilla Sorry to include this one, but here it is anyway.
1998 Something About Mary
1998 Dr. Dolittle
1999 Fight Club You can still download the Flight Safety Card wallpaper!
1999 Lake Placid Fun gory GIF.
1999 The Matrix Turn the volume up on your computer and annoy your family.
1999 Universal Soldier: The Return Not sure if the site works, but it has a fun cheesy flash intro.
1999 American Beauty Still active and still creepy weird.
1999 The Sixth Sense I see dead websites.
1999 Titanic
1999 Star Wars: Episode I We all griped about the movie, but we still flocked to the website!
1999 Iron Giant This one is still active. I visited this one many times back in '99.
2000 Battlefield Earth The flash intro is better than the whole movie.
2000 Fox Japan Go watch the X-Men flash. X-Domo Arigato!
2001 Harry Potter
2001 Donnie Darko Freaky and the Tangent Universe clock is still counting.
2001 Unbreakable
2002 Tron 20th Anniversary VHS & DVD Home Video It's Tron w/ a techno-beat!

POW! BAM! 1990S GIFS FROM OLD MOVIE WEBSITES

Here's a nostalgic collection of 1990s GIFs mined from old official movie websites. Enjoy these nuggets from the World Wide Web of the past!