Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (TV series)


Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is an American animated television series based on the 1978 film Attack of the Killer Tomatoes and its 1988 sequel Return of the Killer Tomatoes. The series aired on Fox Kids from 8 September 1990 to 23 November 1991. Repeats aired on Fox in 1992 and 1996, and on Fox Family from 1998 to 2000.
The show, a sequel to the original film, is about mad scientist Dr. Putrid T. Gangreen and his associate Igor Smith turning the tomatoes in the town of San Zucchini into monsters. The evil doctor was battled by young John Finletter, and his friends Tara Boumdeay and F.T., a "Friendly Tomato" pretending to be a dog.

Origin

The original film Attack of the Killer Tomatoes was released by Four Square Productions in 1978. A parody of the giant menace movies of the 1950s, it became a cult hit and predated the movie-spoofing disaster film Airplane! by two years.
The Killer Tomatoes might have remained in that genre had it not been for an unlikely intervention from an equally unlikely source. During the 1986–1987 season of Muppet Babies, there was a segment in the episode "The Weirdo Zone" upon which Baby Fozzie deals with how he once faced an 'Attack of the Silly Tomatoes'. The segment used clips from the movie and concluded with Baby Fozzie using a giant-sized ketchup bottle to capture the Silly Tomatoes. It became one of the higher-rated episodes of the season, so much that New World Pictures approached Four Square about making a sequel to Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.
Four Square had never intended to make a sequel but when New World approached them with a two-million dollar budget towards filming a potential sequel, John De Bello, Costa Dillon and Stephen Peace got to work on crafting a script. The resulting film, Return of the Killer Tomatoes, was a surprise success.
New World was pleased with the results, and the company decided to duplicate the results of the film with an animated series aimed at a younger audience. Tweaking various characters and ideas from both Attack and Return, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: The Series was born and debuted as one of the first Saturday morning cartoons on the Fox Children's Network in the fall of 1990.
There were many inside jokes to popular television series and movies that played out during the series' run. It often poked fun at itself or its low-budget film origins.

Plot

The series picks up five years after The Great Tomato War, where tomatoes are banned. However that has not stopped Dr. Putrid T. Gangreen from engaging in his experiments. Gangreen's ultimate goal is to rule the world and he will not let anyone stop him. But his most successful experiment may very well be his undoing. Tara Boumdeay, a tomato turned human, runs away from Gangreen, taking along her 'Brother', the fur-covered F.T., whom she passes off as a dog. They befriend Chad Finletter who, after saving the pair from a tomato attack, gets Tara a job at his uncle Wilbur's Tomatoless Pizza Parlor. She shares their secret with Chad regarding the two of them being tomatoes and Chad vows to help them against whatever Gangreen has planned. That is where everyone stands at the start of the first episode, "Give A Little Whistle", where the evil Doctor sets his new plans into motion.
Season Two would center on Gangreen actually conquering the world in the debut episode. But Gangreen learns on a personal level the importance of the quote "Be careful what you wish for". He is overthrown by Zoltan and his gang of twice-mutated tomatoes, and is forced to join up with Chad, Tara, Wilbur and the rest of the Killer Tomato Task Force.

Main characters

Besides Tara and F.T., the following characters are tomatoes that were created by Dr. Gangreen:

Season 1: 1990

Season 2: 1991

Cancellation

Numerous changes from season one to season two factored in the cancellation of the series. The show was now animated in a much different style than viewers were used to, the single episode plots were done away with in favor of an ongoing storyline, no more than eight episodes were made for this second season and changes to already-established characters contradicted facts and events that viewers witnessed in season one. The final change came in the form of taking the comedy-relief provided by Zoltan and the Gang of Five and doing away with that in favor of turning them into serious threats.

Cast