My Pet Monster is a character that began as a
plush doll first produced by
American Greetings
American Greetings Corporation is a privately owned American company and is the world's second largest greeting card producer behind Hallmark Cards. Based in Westlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, the company sells paper greeting cards, electr ...
in 1986. It has horns, blue fur, and a fanged smile, wearing breakaway orange plastic
handcuffs
Handcuffs are restraint devices designed to secure an individual's wrists in proximity to each other. They comprise two parts, linked together by a chain, a hinge, or rigid bar. Each cuff has a rotating arm which engages with a ratchet tha ...
.
The property was sold to
Saban Brands in 2012. Then in 2018,
Hasbro
Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...
acquired the My Pet Monster brand from Saban Brands.
Plush
The My Pet Monster character began as a
plush doll
A doll is a model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and wood are foun ...
first produced by AM Toys, a subsidiary of
American Greetings
American Greetings Corporation is a privately owned American company and is the world's second largest greeting card producer behind Hallmark Cards. Based in Westlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, the company sells paper greeting cards, electr ...
, in 1986.
[ As one of the few plush dolls marketed to boys at the time, My Pet Monster was popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The doll has blue fur, horns and a fanged smile, and is recognizable by its orange plastic ]handcuffs
Handcuffs are restraint devices designed to secure an individual's wrists in proximity to each other. They comprise two parts, linked together by a chain, a hinge, or rigid bar. Each cuff has a rotating arm which engages with a ratchet tha ...
. The handcuffs could also be worn by children and came with a breakaway link so that the child could simulate breaking the chain. Several versions of the doll have been released in various sizes and other attributes. Other characters were also created with brightly colored fur and unorthodox names like Gwonk, Wogster and Rark. Their popularity allowed a wealth of merchandise
Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative way that entices customers to purchase more ...
including coloring book
A coloring book (British English: colouring-in book, colouring book, or colouring page) is a type of book containing line art to which people are intended to add color using crayons, colored pencils, marker pens, paint or other artistic media ...
s, Golden Look-Look books, frame-tray puzzles and various other items.
Toymax released a 22-inch tall talking My Pet Monster doll in 2001.[
]
Media
The character's popularity spawned a live-action direct-to-video
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy w ...
film in 1986 about a boy named Max who becomes the Pet Monster after being exposed to a statue, changing when hungry. Dr. Snyder, the scientist who originally discovered the statues and the legend behind them, wants to kidnap him for publicity purposes, while Max's sister helps him out of the crisis. A pilot for an unproduced series, it ends on a cliffhanger as Snyder is exposed to a statue of a much larger and more menacing monster and begins to transform.
My Pet Monster also spawned a children's cartoon series that ran for one season on ABC, produced by Ellipse
In mathematics, an ellipse is a plane curve surrounding two focal points, such that for all points on the curve, the sum of the two distances to the focal points is a constant. It generalizes a circle, which is the special type of ellipse in ...
(France), Nelvana
Nelvana Enterprises, Inc. (; previously known as Nelvana Limited, sometimes known as Nelvana Animation and simply Nelvana or Nelvana Communications) is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment company owned by Corus Entertainment. Founded ...
(Canada), and Hi-Tops Video
Hi-Tops Video was a children's home video sublabel of Media Home Entertainment (a division of Heron Communications), active from 1986 until 1992. Some of its releases include some Charlie Brown specials, ''Madeline'' and primarily some of the or ...
in association with Golden Books. It gives a completely different origin for the creature than the live-action film.[ The show follows Monster, who lives with a boy named Max. When Monster wears his handcuffs, they turn him into a stuffed animal. Max often puts the handcuffs on Monster to keep his existence secret from others. Max's sister, Jill, and his friend Chuckie, are the only ones that know this secret.
The two main adversaries in the show are Mr. Hinkle, a neighbor who always thinks Max is up to something, but is not quite sure what; and Beastur, a large monster who hates light and tries to bring Monster back to MonsterLand. Beastur, though immense and fierce, is incompetent. He can be stopped by the magic cuffs -— which reduce him to a smaller, though still "alive" monster -— or by his own bungling, and sent back through the warp portal to his own world. He wears dark ]glasses
Glasses, also known as eyeglasses or spectacles, are vision eyewear, with lenses (clear or tinted) mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically utilizing a bridge over the nose and hinged arms (known as temples ...
to protect his sensitive eyes, which he can use to see in the dark.
Beastur appears in nearly every episode as either a primary or secondary foe. On one occasion, he is scared back through the portal to Monsterland not by light or the cuffs, but by the affections of a smitten female gorilla
Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four ...
. In the final episode, it is also shown that Beastur hates to be hugged, even more so than being exposed to light.
Though not a breakthrough success, the cartoon show significantly boosted sales of the already popular plush toy.[ Much of the voice cast of ''My Pet Monster'' reunited in 1989 for '']Beetlejuice
''Beetlejuice'' is a 1988 American fantasy horror comedy film directed by Tim Burton, written by Michael McDowell, Larry Wilson, and Warren Skaaren, produced by The Geffen Company, distributed by Warner Bros., and starring Alec Baldwin, ...
'', another cartoon show with a surreal theme and a supernatural world populated by fantastic monsters.[
Reruns of all 13 half-hour episodes aired on ]Teletoon Retro
Teletoon Retro was a Canadian specialty channel that was owned by Corus Entertainment that was based on the Teletoon programming block. The service was dedicated to broadcasting classic animated television programs as well as some live-action s ...
in Canada from September 5, 2011.
Characters
*"Monster" (voiced by Jeff McGibbon in TV series, portrayed by Mark Parr in special) - The Monster, Max's friend in series, as opposed to being Max in special)
*Max Smith (portrayed by Sunny Besen Thrasher
Sunny Besen Thrasher (born December 13, 1976) is a Canadian former child actor who starred as Paul Edison in Nelvana's live-action series ''The Edison Twins'', and supplied voices in the first two Care Bears movies. He's the son of Prairie Oys ...
) - Becomes a monster in the special, but is a separate character in TV series. When he wins the surfing competition he is referred to as Max Smith.
*Chuckie (voiced by Stuart Stone
Stuart Stone (born Stuart Eisenstein) is a Canadian film, television, and voice-over actor as well as a producer of television, film and music. He is best known for his roles as Ronald Fisher in the 2001 cult film, ''Donnie Darko'' and Ralphie Ten ...
) - Max's best friend in TV series, does not appear in the special.
*Jill Smith (voiced by Alyson Court
Alyson Stephanie Court (born November 9, 1973) is a Canadian actress. Beginning her career as a child actress, her first role was on the series '' Mr. Dressup'' (1984–1994) and she made her film debut in '' Sesame Street Presents: Follow That B ...
) - Max's older sister in the TV series. Monster clearly has a crush on her.
**Melanie (portrayed by Alyson Court
Alyson Stephanie Court (born November 9, 1973) is a Canadian actress. Beginning her career as a child actress, her first role was on the series '' Mr. Dressup'' (1984–1994) and she made her film debut in '' Sesame Street Presents: Follow That B ...
) - Max's sister in special.
*Beastur (voiced by Dan Hennessey, briefly voiced by Jack Darley in commercial) - A giant monster in the series who pursues Monster with the intention of taking him back to Monsterland. Briefly mentioned at the end of the special as the name of one of the monsters represented by the statues.
*Mr. Hinkle (voiced by Colin Fox) - Suspicious neighbor who is aware of Monster's antics, but never actually succeeds in proving Monster exists.
*Princess (voiced by Tracey Moore) - Hinkle's dog which resembles a Standard Poodle.
*Dr. Snyder (portrayed by Colin Fox) - Mad scientist and later monster hunter in special.
*Rod (portrayed by Yannick Bisson) - Max's older brother in special, aware of Max's monster changing ability.
*Stephanie (portrayed by Kelly Rowan
Kelly Rowan (born October 26, 1965) is a Canadian film and television actress and former fashion model. A native of Ottawa, Rowan studied acting in London and New York City before working as a model. She was featured in the horror film '' The Gat ...
) - Rod's date in special.
*Hinkle's niece, Jenny
*Wolfmen (musicians)
*Leo (school bully)
*Annie (voiced by Tara Charendoff) - Neighbour/Jill's friend.
*Jumbo Jim (ringer)
*Mrs. Smith (portrayed by Jayne Eastwood
Jayne Eastwood (born December 17, 1946), also credited as Jane Easton or Jane Eastwood, is a Canadian actress and comedian. She is best known for her film roles as Anna-Marie Biddlecoff in the comedy film '' Finders Keepers'' (1984), Judy the Wa ...
) - Max and Jill's mother, brief role at the beginning of the special where it is revealed her first name is Julie.
*Rex Stalker (monster hunter)
*Blaine (portrayed by Hadley Kay) - Max's nemesis in Boogie Board Blues.
Episodes
Direct-to-video special (1986)
Series (1987)
Home media
*On October 28, 2008, KaBoom! Entertainment released ''My Pet Monster- The Complete Series'', featuring all 13 episodes, on DVD exclusively in Canada.
*On October 6, 2009, Trinity Home Entertainment
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the ...
released ''My Pet Monster- The Complete Series'' on DVD in the USA.DVD set info
at TV Shows on DVD.com
*The live-action film was originally released on VHS. It has yet to be released on DVD, Laserdisc
The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diameter typical ...
, Video CD
Video CD (abbreviated as VCD, and also known as Compact Disc Digital Video) is a home video format and the first format for distributing films on standard optical discs. The format was widely adopted in Southeast Asia, Central Asia and the ...
, or Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
.
References
External links
My Pet Monster
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...
Archived
from the original on March 19, 2016.
*
*
{{Hasbro
1980s American animated television series
1980s Canadian animated television series
1980s toys
1987 American television series debuts
1987 American television series endings
1987 Canadian television series debuts
1987 Canadian television series endings
American Broadcasting Company original programming
American children's animated fantasy television series
Canadian children's animated fantasy television series
Fictional humanoids
Fictional monsters
Stuffed toys
Television series by Nelvana
Animated television series about monsters