Sources: Wikidata. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
FILM NOTES
The Garbage Pail Kids Movie arrived in 1987 courtesy of Atlantic Releasing, riding the coattails of the Topps trading card craze that had already made the Garbage Pail Kids a schoolyard sensation. Live action and puppetry stood in for animation, giving the film a strange, handmade quality that set it apart from the glossier family fare of the era. It was savaged by critics on release and pulled from some theaters, yet that very notoriety has secured its place as a touchstone of eighties oddity, now sought out by collectors drawn to its unrepeatable weirdness and the rarity of surviving promotional material.
This cell pairs two of the line's characters, Messy Tessie and Tangerine, whose names alone place them squarely within the Garbage Pail Kids' gross-out naming tradition. A frame carrying both figures together suggests a shared scene or promotional pairing, the kind of material studios produced to sell the film's ensemble appeal. For collectors, having two named Kids on a single strip of 35mm adds density and interest, a small archival record of how the picture presented its cast to audiences.
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.
Edge print
"A 48X 3 8 5 4 6" is legible along the lower edge of the strip.
Base & colour
Base shows a warm yellow-amber tint typical of processed colour print stock; dye image appears saturated with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or prominent scratches are visible on this strip.
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
The variable-area optical mono soundtrack, warm amber base, and key-number format are all consistent with a mid-to-late 1980s colour 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 000062928
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
