Retrofied Weekly Rewind - 5/3/24
Beavis and Butt-head? Another MOTU reboot? A viral '80s porn song? YES!
Before you start reading our weekly rundown of all the cool retro news and nostalgic fun we came across this week, THANK YOU for reading! It takes a lot of work to rebuild Retrofied and bring you killer writing plus keep you up-to-date on all things RETRO. Knowing folks like you enjoy what we’re doing keeps us going. So if you can, please like, comment, and share our work. And if you don’t already, please subscribe!
Like Loverboy, we’re “working for the weekend.” And thankfully, it’s almost here. How do you know? Well, you’re looking at it, bub! Take a peek at the fun links we’ve scrounged around the internet all week to bring you. Enjoy!
Movie Madness
The Lion King universe roars back to life with the teaser trailer for the new prequel, Mufasa. (Who apparently is—GASP!—NOT of royal lineage!)
Gumby Hive rise up! There’s a fundraiser to digitally restore, preserve, and screen three stop-motion animated shorts of filmmaker Rich Zim (Gumby, Nightmare Before Christmas, & James and the Giant Peach)
The Fall Guy, the movie loosely based on the old ‘80s TV show, is out in theaters today. Ryan Gosling has taken some unusual measures to get eyes on the film, such as dressing up as Beavis and Butt-head…again. [Image above, duh.]
Netflix’s Fear Street series is back, and once again, totally leaning into its R.L. Stine ‘80s-inspired roots with Fear Street 1988: Prom Queen.
In “Again? Really?!” news, apparently we’re getting both another Scooby-Doo and Masters of the Universe reboots, with both being live action.
Go, Speed Racer, go! Innovative car racing anime series Speed Racer will be revving up for all major digital platforms on June 1, 2024 from Shout! Studios!
Forget Jared Leto, word from on high has come down that Jeff Bridges will return for Tron: Ares.
What you may have missed from Retrofied
Tomorrow’s the made-up Star Wars holiday/marketing ploy “May the Fourth,” and what better way to spend it than playing the new Star Wars Unlimited TCG? But before you do? Read our fun analysis and interview with two of the creators about their intentionality of balancing fun gameplay with glorious nostalgia.
Consumer Corner (Stuff You Can Buy!)
Time to get WEIRD! Hard to believe it’s been 35 years, but to celebrate the anniversary of Weird Al’s seminal goofy masterpiece, UHF, announced a new 4K UHD debut to release July 2 with tons of bonus features! Get your Weird Al fix here!
Need yet another version of your favorite Star Wars character? To “celebrate” the 25th anniversary of The Phantom Menace, Hasbro is up to their same shenanigans with a new Retro Set of action figures.
In more “stuff you do not need, but will probably buy anyway” news, you can finally get that grouchy Garfield in pajamas and slippers plush you always(?) wanted!
Remember when cell phones were tiny bricks that only made calls or served as doorstops? Well, you’re in for a treat as Nokia is bringing back the classic.
Real ones know the comics were objectively better [and went definitively harder] than the cartoon, and now Skybound has announced a Kickstarter for an all-in-one compendium of the Larry Hama-fueled G.I. Joe A Real American Hero.
Random Retro
Den of Geek delivers yet again with another awesome retrospective of our favorite properties. This time it’s to look back at the 20th anniversary of Buffy spinoff, Angel.
Maybe don’t go humming this earworm in public? A viral ‘80s song has finally been identified.
Obsessed with X-Men ‘97 as much as we are? Wish you could live in that fictional world? Good news.
YouTube channel Secret Galaxy blessed us with another rundown of a failed nostalgic series. This time it’s Thundercats Roar, which kind of makes us want to watch it now.
Want REALLY retro? We loved this read about how movie studio MGM remade Hollywood 100 years ago.
Shameless Plug
Our editor in chief has his own Substack [Editor’s note: It’s me, Hi. I’m the problem. It’s me.] called VHS Treasure Hunt featuring retro clips pulled straight off of recorded-from-TV video tapes of yesteryear. This week it’s all about the wonderful and weird world of wrestling in the ‘80s and ‘90s with clips from GLOW, Tonka’s Wrestling Buddies toys, and a weird Family Feud clip, among others.
Thanks for checking out another edition of our Weekly Rewind. We’ll be back next Friday for more retro fun!