Sources: Wikidata. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
The Garbage Pail Kids Movie arrived in 1987 from Atlantic Releasing, a bid to translate the Topps trading card phenomenon into a live-action feature. Built around animatronic and costumed performers rather than animation, it stands as a curious artifact of eighties licensed cinema, released amid the trading card craze it sprang from. Poorly received on debut, it has since become a touchstone for collectors of practical effects oddities and cult ephemera from the decade's stranger merchandising ventures.
This cell centers on Foul Phil, one of the titular Kids, brought to life through puppeteering and performance work credited to Kevin Thompson and Debbie Lee Carrington. Greaser Greg appears alongside him, performed by Phil Fondacaro, situating this as a shared character moment rather than a solo portrait. Foul Phil draws collector interest as a fan favorite among the Kids, tied to the gross-out charm that made the cards popular. A cell like this, drawn from the theatrical print, preserves a fragment of that character pairing as it existed on film stock, valuable to those assembling a visual record of the production's practical creature work.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour release print of The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (1987).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no visible tearing or distortion.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical soundtrack track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a modulated white waveform band.
Edge print
Edge text reads, mirrored: 'FUJI FILM' on one edge; numeric code 'A 48X 3 8 1 9' is visible on the opposite edge.
Base & colour
Base carries a warm cream-amber tint typical of processed colour print stock; dye image reads with strong blue-cyan cast in the lit areas, consistent with a colour print.
Projection history
Light parallel longitudinal lines are visible across the frame area, consistent with projection wear; no splices or cue marks are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with a release print of a 1987 live-action feature.
Era check
Fujifilm colour print stock, variable-area optical mono or stereo track, and warm amber base are all consistent with a mid-to-late 1980s theatrical release print.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000062926
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
