Cool Stuff: That Dancing Spaceballs Alien Now Has Its Own Collectors Statue
"Oh no, not again!" The jazzy "Spaceballs" spoof alien with the high kicks is back with another explosive debut, this time on toy shelves. Courtesy of Mega Made, "The Special" Collectors Statue touts itself as, "An unidentified alien creature...from a greasy spoon in outer space," from a scene in Mel Brooks' 1987 spoof comedy "Spaceballs" starring Bill Pullman, John Candy and Rick Moranis. The film pokes fun at the "Star Wars" franchise, then only three films deep into its journey, as well as sci-fi references to "Planet of the Apes" and "2001." The alien statue stands at seven inches tall and nine and a half inches long, and includes a vaudevillian hat and cane for a bit of the ol' razzle dazzle, all presented in a vivid full-color box. Check out the images below:
Mega Made
Mega Made
Whatever you do, don't order "The Special" at Gus's Galaxy Grill.
A Short Ragtime King
The hand-painted resin extra-terrestrial was featured in "Spaceballs" when he burst out of John Hurt's chest in a cameo role for both, recalling the iconic chestburster sequence of Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi horror classic "Alien." Sporting a slender, whipping tail and a mouth full of metallic teeth, the creature is known in the "Alien" films for its rather rude gestation, culminating in a violent penetration through its unwilling host's chest cavity — as Officer Kane found out twice now — where death of the host soon follows.
For his 1987 "Star Wars" sendup, Mel Brooks re-created the "Alien" scene in which Hurt's character, Executive Officer Kane, gives painful, deadly birth to a slithering, toothy alien that had been implanted in his body days earlier. The pair of scenes more or less end the same, with the lil' scamp escaping from a room full of shocked onlookers. But Brooks' version has a little extra spice: this alien mimics the Chuck Jones Merrie Melodies cartoon short, "One Froggy Evening," in which a construction worker in the 1950s tries to get rich upon his discovery of Michigan J. Frog. The singing and dancing frog doffs a top hat and croons old Tin Pan Alley standards like "Hello! Ma Baby!" and "I'm Just Wild About Harry" when nobody's looking. In "Spaceballs," however, everybody's looking, but it doesn't stop the creature from making a grand exit, prompting an exit from the film's stars. "Check, please!"
"The Special" is available for order at Amok Time for $99.99.