Paramount Players has acquired the rights from Jakks Pacific to make a movie based on theCreepy Crawlerstoy franchise. Yes, you read that correctly, there’s a movie in development that will somehow useCreepy Crawlersas the focal point. Paramount has had some luck in the toy department in making films based off of famous franchises. However,Creepy Crawlersisn’t exactly what comes to mind after makingG.I. Joeand theTransformers.
According to Stephen Berman, Chairman & CEO ofJakks Pacific, theCreepy Crawlersmovie will be “in the vein ofJumanji”. No plot details are available at this time, but that is a pretty lofty goal. However,Jumanjiwas based off of a fictional board game andCreepy Crawlersare a semi-popular toy that originated in the 1960s and had a short-lived Saturday Morning cartoon that lasted 2 seasons in the 90s. Berman had this to say.
“Creepy Crawlershas been aniconic brandsince the 1960’s and we are honored to work with Neal Moritz, Paramount Players, and the Nickelodeon-Viacom Family in bringing it to life on the big screen. We, and the studio, envision the property to be developed into a family adventure film in the vein ofJumanji.”
Creepy Crawlerswere first produced myMattel, starting in 1964. The toy set consisted of metal molds that were injected with the “Plastigoop,” and were then put into the oven. After everything cooled down, children were left with their own creepy, rubber-like creations. It’s believed thatCreepy Crawlerswere discontinued due to health concerns with the burning of metal and plastic in an oven. During its heyday,Creepy Crawlersintroduced a slew of other products that were based on the same mold and “Plastigoop” model that included jewelry and other types of creatures.
In the late 1970s,Creepy Crawlerswere introduced again, but this time with a safe set that did not function as well and took over an hour to complete one project. Needless to say,Creepy Crawlerswere discontinued before the 1980s rolled around. New York-based company ToyMax started producing the goopy creatures again in 1992 after securing the rights from Mattel. ToyMax did well with the product and continued to make it safer and more effective. Additionally, towards the end of the 90s, they started to make sets that included popular movie franchises likeGhostbustersandJurassic Park. They were even able to pull off a cartoon series that lasted for 2 seasons and spawned 12 action figures.
ToyMax ceased makingCreepy Crawlersin the early 2000s, which led to Jakks Pacific taking over, while utilizing the same molds that ToyMax used. They’ve gone on to add Hello Kitty and evenSpongeBob SquarePantsinto their newer sets with varying degrees of success. The cartoon that ToyMax made during the 90s was not very popular at all and only lasted 2 seasons, so making a feature length film aboutCreepy Crawlersseemspretty riskyat this point in time. But, stranger things have become successful movie franchises. TheCreepy Crawlersmovie news was first reported byVariety.
