There are halls of fames for everything nowadays. You got the obvious ones: Rock & Roll HOF, Baseball HOF. You have the ones no one seem's to care about like The Rockabilly Hall of Fame, or the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame (Actually exists). But there's not one Hall of Fame that everyone cares about. There are non-sports fans that could care less who's getting in the Baseball or Football Halls of Fame. There are people that aren't into current entertainment that don't care about who's on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But the one Hall of Fame we all could relate to is missing. The Nostalgia Hall of Fame.
Things change from childhood to adulthood, but there are always things that remind us of childhood or our teenage lives. We might see an old book in the library and think "Hey, I remember reading that book in 5th grade." There might be an old toy at a yard sale or on the E-bay that reminds us how we played with it non-stop a long, long time ago. So why is there no Hall of Fame for all the old stuff we like?
Well now there is. Kinda. I'm not ambitious enough to build a giant building and officially induct things and give them plaques and crap. But as a blogger I can do my duty. After all, in 10 or 20 years when the new cool thing on the internet is something totally different, blogging will be nostalgic.
There are several categories that something can get inducted for including: Toys, Movies, Cartoons, TV Shows, Sports, Music, Video games, Quotes and more. Nostalgia will be inducted in an at least 10 years old basis, so anything before 1998 is fair game.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Hall of Fame Category: Lifetime Achievement
With hundreds of toys, 3 comic books series, a daily comic strip, 18 video games, 4 movies, 3 cartoon series, and over 20 years of existence (I guess they wouldn’t be teenagers anymore huh?) the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are far more than just Nostalgic. In the mid/late 1990s the Turtles were left without a TV show, a less than loved movie sequel, and a dwindling action figure line. The late 90’s almost killed the Ninja Turtles forever (Much to the enjoyment of Shredder). Somehow the Turtles evolved to become icons to a new generation while their original fans were getting too old to enjoy the heroes and their half-shells. From their debut in a dark, adult oriented comic book, to their kid friendly cartoons, and their movies which had amazing costume work for their time, the Ninja Turtles changed the face of Entertainment by lasting so long and renewing themselves to be appealing to many people from different generations.
Mario Brothers Hall of Fame Category: Video & Computer Games
Not many people remember the Original Mario brothers. Most think the original MBs were in the first Super Mario Brothers game, Some noticed the barrel jumper in Donkey Kong was very Mario-esque. But few know the first time Mario and Luigi were in a video game together. Before Mario had to go to several castles just to have Toad tell him “The Princess is in a different castle” Mario and Luigi were in a very Joust-like came for Arcades, computers, The Atari, & the NES. The image is from the Japanese version called Kaettekita Mario Bros. But the original US version was very similar, just a little less polished. This was long before the time of the leaf that could turn mario into a flying raccoon (If that wasn’t LSD inspired I don’t know what is). But for the time, it was a very addictive game. I wonder why Nintendo never kept the crab enemies.
Bill Nye: The Science Guy Hall of Fame Category: TV Shows (Non-Animated)
Kids hated learning during non-school hours. They tried making ya learn during cartoons and other kids shows all the time, thats why most of those shows got cancelled. But from 1993 – 1997 Bill Nye the Science Guy made learning fun. Or at least made it fun to see if he was gonna blow himself up in some kind of experiment. He never did, but it was still a great show. BNTSG lasted 100 episodes, which for that time was pretty good for a 4 year show. BNTSG spawned plenty of wannabes, most notable was Beakman’s World. Nye, however, had a creepy Mr. Rogers thing going on, he seemed to like science a bit too much. But nonetheless, as Nye would say, “Science Rules!” Or it did for 30 minutes a day.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Hall of Fame Category: Cartoons
He-Man and the Masters has to be one of the most loved cartoons of the 80s. Every kid in the 80’s wanted a power sword that could turn them into He-Man, the badassest dude to ever rock a baldric and a loin cloth. While the original series only ran for a year, it consisted of 130 episodes that fans of the show can’t get enough of. It spawn three different series because of its popularity, a She-Ra spinoff and two short lived He-Man revivals in the 90’s and 2002. 80’s pop culture enthusiasts, nerds, and He-Man fans alike lived for the one line they could count on being in each episode: “By the power of Grayskull!” Skeletor didn’t have a chance.
The Ninja Turtles Theme Hall of Fame Category: Theme Songs
There are only a handful of theme songs that get stuck in your head. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme (although most people don’t know the extended version of that song.), “The Song That Never Ends” from the Lambchop show, The Ghostbusters theme, and The Ninja Turtles theme. While some theme songs seem to go on forever, like that damn Lambchop song, The theme to the TMNT cartoon was short and sweet, barely a minute long. It got straight to the point and let you know everything you needed to know: Leonardo leads, Donatello does machines, Raphael is cool but crude, and yes… Michaelangelo is a party dude.
Count Chocula Hall of Fame Category: Food & Drinks
Some vampires like blood. Others like puppies. Then there’s a few who like cereal. Vlad Chocula is one of those. Count Chocula cereal has been around since 1971. Back in the 70’s you could put anything in food and it was OK. Coca-Cola had cocaine in it, when America invented Chinese Food it had MSG in it, and hundreds of food stuffs had the dye Red 40, which is to blame for all the redheads in the world, and aids. Then in the late 80’s, early 90’s some kid swallowed a razor blade that was in his ham & crackers Lunchable and all of a sudden all food had to be “slightly healthy.” And of course, the FDA took Count Chocula off the shelves due to concerns of health risks (if you ate it you turned into a vampire). The Count changed his recipe, added healthier ingredients, including something called “Wholegrain,” and the Cereal Vampire was back in business. While some store chains still refuse to give the Vamp his dues and don’t sell the Chocula, there’s no doubt it has had a very large pop culture impact. It has an uncountable number of mentions, parodies and odes on TV shows like 21 Jump Street, The Simpsons, Futurama, Invader Zim, Family Guy, Robot Chicken, The Office, and movies like Wedding Crashers and Blade: Trinity. Count Chocula has completed one of his two life long goals, make cereal. The other, kill that damn Nesquik bunny.
Jean-Claude Van Damme Hall of Fame Category: People
Jean-Claude Van Damme was the third wheel of 80’s & 90’s action films, luckily beating out Sly Stallone and Arnold Schwarzawhatever for some reasonably decent action films like Bloodsport and Lionheart. JCVD was also a pretty talented kickboxer in his time, finishing with a 15-1 kickboxing record, knocking out his opponent in each of his wins (14 of which were in the first round). Oh.. and he studied ballet for five years. Thats right, he could do a pirouette and then kick your face off. Try that, Chuck Norris. “The Muscles from Brussels” has been in over 30 action films, some with great homosexual porn-like titles such as The Hard Corps, Hard Target, Double Team, Knock Off, and Double Impact. JCVD married a woman with more muscles than him, I guess because he’s scared Tong Po will return (Kickboxer, watch it). Even though his full, real name is Jean-Claude Camille Francois Van Varenberg he’s one of the biggest names in the 80’s Action film movement.
The Brave Little Toaster Hall of Fame Category: Movies (Animated)
Despite the fact that I now hate talking-inanimate-object-animated-movies, especially those with song breaks, The BLT was a perfect movie when it came out. Sure, it didn’t have a great cast (Couple SNL guys), and the names of the characters were… unoriginal: Toaster the Toaster, Blanky the Blanket, Radio the Radio, and Kirby the Vaccuum cleaner (still don’t get that one). But, not much was cooler to a kid than a Toaster and his group of electronic friends trying to find their master. Don’t be surprised if you see this movie remade in the near future. Of course, kids these days will be like “Wait… radio? What’s a radio?” The BLT, toy story, and A Bug’s Life all have something in common. “A113″ is seen in all three movies. In the BLT it’s “The Master’s” apartment number. John Lasseter, the director of all three movies, was in room A113 in college and he worked it into all three movies. Enjoy The Brave Little Toaster for as long as ya can before Hollywood remakes it, or until you accidentally watch “The Brave Little Toaster Goes To Mars.”
The Ultimate Warrior Hall of Fame Category: Sports
In the world of late 80’s, early 90’s pro wrestling, there were really only 2 names you needed to know, first, of course, Hulk Hogan. Second, The Ultimate Warrior. If you were a good, drug-free kid, you probably liked Hulk Hogan. However, if you, or somebody you knew, were a crackhead, you spent your time cheering for The Ultimate Warrior. Most wrestlers were well built (steroids) and in rather good health (except for the steroids) in the 80’s. But the Ultimate Warrior just seemed to have a little too much energy, and nearly overdosed on speed nightly (alegedly). It was no secret that Brian James Hellwig (The Ultimate Warrior’s real name) was strange. In fact, he was like those old high school/college football players that just can’t give up their glory days when Hellwig legally changed his name to “Warrior”. Whether he drew his power from crack (supposedly), speed (allegedly) or meth (Just a rumor), or maybe steroids (most likely) he was still one of the most notable characters from many people’s childhoods. Nowadays however, not so much, its hard to like someone who later turned into a homophobic motivational speaker who looks like a dirty hippie version of Gary Busey.
Ninja Rap by Vanilla Ice Hall of Fame Category: Music & Songs
Wanna know where Soulja Boy got his moves? Wonder no longer, he got them from the best song of the 90’s, “Ninja Rap” by Vanilla Ice! Granted, Soulja Boy might not have been born yet when this song came out in 1991. He’s like what, 7? 8, maybe? At least we all know what The Iceman was singing about, not so easy with Soulja Boy. Does anyone really know how to crank a Robocop? Sure Soulja Boy might have made more money, and Vanilla Ice’s rap career might have been unsuccessful ever since he tried being a motocross racer. He did, however release an album called “Hot Sex”. But this song has nostalgia written all over it. It was in the second Ninja Turtles movie, it’s Vanilla Ice, every member of the crowd is dressed up in late 80’s/early 90’s gear including a dude wearing a pink headband. Oh, and there’s a guitar keyboard! I dare you to listen to it once and not start singing “Go ninja, go ninja, go!” at least once during the day.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Mario Brothers
Bill Nye: The Science Guy
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
Count Chocula
Jean-Claude Van Damme
The Brave Little Toaster
The Ultimate Warrior