SCENEAli Gator, Foul Phil, Greaser Greg and Windy Winston
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR1987
CERTIFICATE IDNFV-000001126
Film RecordPublic record
Directed by
Rod Amateau
Studio
Topps · Atlantic Entertainment Group · 97 min
Box office
$1.6M worldwide on a $1M budget
Honors
Golden Raspberry Award — 3 nominations
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, riding the wave of Topps' notorious trading card line that had already scandalized parents and delighted kids with its gross-out humor. Directed by Rod Amateau, the film paired practical creature effects with a cast of small-statured performers inside elaborate character suits, an approach that made it a genuine oddity of eighties genre filmmaking. Despite its critical drubbing and box office failure, it has since become a fixture of cult cinema, prized for its handmade grotesquerie and its place at the tail end of an era when children's entertainment could still be genuinely strange.
This cell groups four of the Kids together, Ali Gator, Foul Phil, Greaser Greg and Windy Winston, with Phil Fondacaro's work behind Greaser Greg giving the ensemble its human anchor. Collectors seek out these grouped character cells because they capture the film's ensemble identity rather than a single gag, useful for anyone building out a set around the full cast. Fondacaro's presence adds a performer-specific line of interest, tying the physical creature work to a recognizable name in genre acting circles.
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, cleanly punched with no visible torn or deformed holes.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a single-track variable-area format.
Edge print
Partial text visible along the lower edge reads approximately 'D7IV' followed by additional characters that are not fully legible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base appears with a warm cream-yellow tint typical of older acetate safety stock; dye image shows rich colour saturation with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light vertical scratching is visible across the picture area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with a release print of the film on record.
Era check
The single variable-area optical track, warm acetate base tint, and colour dye stock 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 000062970
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
