<![CDATA[io9: gremlins]]> http://tags.lifehacker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png <![CDATA[io9: gremlins]]> http://io9.com/tag/gremlins http://io9.com/tag/gremlins <![CDATA[Adorable But Horrible: 26 Cute Critters You'll Want to Avoid]]> Horror isn't always slimy and grotesque; some of the most frightening monsters come in the cutest packages. We list the fluffy, wide-eyed, and downright adorable critters that want to scare you, eat you, or enslave you for all time.

Additional reporting by Josh Snyder.

Gossamer (Looney Tunes)
Cute? Look at him. He's basically a hairy valentine in tennis shoes.
Terrifying? He tries hard, but he's ultimately no match for Bugs Bunny. Then again, no one is.

Giant Killer Rabbits (Night of the Lepus)
Cute? They're your average giant mutant bunny rabbits.
Terrifying? Actually, they just seem more adorable when they're gigantic and raiding people's kitchens. But I suppose that whole eating people business could be scary. Maybe.

Beep the Meep (Doctor Who)
Cute? Passably. It helps that he looks like giant puffball.
Terrifying? Absolutely. Meeps are a murderous species who revel in pain, torture, and galactic domination. And Beep is the worst of the worst and a notorious war criminal.

Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (Ghostbusters)
Cute? He's basically a giant version of the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Plus, I've had a soft spot for him since the cartoon.
Terrifying? He nearly destroys New York with his deliciously sugary body.

Lenore, the Cute Little Dead Girl
Cute? It's right there in the name.
Terrifying? Not on purpose, but let's just say you should probably keep your pets (and yourself) clear of Lenore.

Hello Cthulhu
Cute? He might be an unspeakable horror, but he's a huggable one.
Terrifying? Honestly, he's no match for Hello Kitty.

Mogwai (Gremlins)
Cute? Sure, for now.
Terrifying? Just try feeding them after midnight and see if they're still they're still so cute.

Wolvogs (Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood)
Cute? These genetically engineered dog-wolf hybrids look like adorable domesticated puppies.
Terrifying? They may look like dog pups, but wolvogs hunt and kill as vicious wolves.

Beryllium Miners (Galaxy Quest)
Cute? They look like little children, at least until they open their mouths.
Terrifying? They look like they'd happily chow down on any of the Galaxy Quest cast members.

Were-Rabbit (Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit)
Cute? Just about everything Nick Park designs is at least a little bit cute.
Terrifying? He's a strictly vegetarian monster.

Audrey II (Little Shop of Horrors)
Cute? Despite the teeth and the thirst for human blood, she is pretty cute when she's small.
Terrifying? Even forgetting the business about eating people and wanting to take over the world, Audrey II's most frightening aspect is her ability to convince milquetoast Seymour to kill for her.

Goblins (Labyrinth)
Cute? In an adorably ugly sort of way.
Terrifying? They're by no means the most critters in Labyrinth, but they do an impressive job of slinking around in the shadows and stealing infants.

Shmee (Squee)
Cute? Squee's teddy bear has seen better days, but he's still cuter than the Doughboys from Johnny the Homicidal Maniac.
Terrifying? Shmee provides emotional comfort for the perpetually terrified Shmee, but he also encourages Shmee to take violent revenge on his enemies. Of course, it could all be in Shmee's head.

Pac-Man (Blade: Trinity)
Cute? If you happen to like pomeranians.
Terrifying? It wasn't enough to make a vampire pomeranian; the vamps of Blade: Trinity had to create a mutant vampire pomeranian with xenomorph mouth.

Woodland Critters (South Park)
Cute? In a Disney sort of way.
Terrifying? Anything that comes out of Cartman's brain is automatically terrifying, but the woodland critters get extra points for possessing satanic powers and holding blood orgies. Also, they're trying to ensure the birth of the Antichrist.

Nubbins (Sanctuary)
Cute? It's doubtful anyone would bother taking care of the troublesome little things if they didn't resemble fat chinchillas.
Terrifying? They're basically tribbles with teeth. They're cute and cuddly until they start breeding and eating. And when they get hungry, they can take down the most vicious predator.

Bunnicula
Cute? He's your standard bunny: long ears, fluffy tail.
Terrifying? Maybe if you're a vegetable. Or a conspiracy-theorist cat.

The Denizens of Halloweentown (The Nightmare Before Christmas)
Cute? There's a reason they've been lining the shelves at Hot Topic all these years.
Terrifying? The Oogie Boogie is especially nightmarish, but the rest of Halloweentown gives a good scare, even when they don't mean to.

Sully (Monsters, Inc.)
Cute? That one child calls Sully "Kitty" throughout the entire movie pretty much sums it up.
Terrifying? About as scary as a monster from Sesame Street. But he does make his living terrorizing children, so we'll give him a pass.

Bun-Bun (Sluggy Freelance)
Cute? Yes, even while wielding a knife.
Terrifying? With a violent temper and the ability to produce switchblades seemingly out of no where, Bun-Bun is a force to be reckoned with. He's been known to slay telemarketers, the Easter Bunny, and anyone else who gets on his nerves.

Ickis (Aaahh!!! Real Monsters)
Cute? Unfortunately for him, yes. The small children he's supposed to be scaring frequently mistake him for a bunny rabbit.
Terrifying? Not as much as he'd like, but he gives it a solid try.

The Gingerbread Men (The Tick)
Cute? And delicious.
Terrifying? They're thoroughly evil and pretty clever, but because they're made without preservatives, they tend to go stale after a while.

The Gingerdead Man
Cute? This one falls a bit more on the disturbing side.
Terrifying? A psychotic killer resurrected as a knife-wielding cookie and voiced by Gary Busey? Actually, yes, it's pretty terrifying.

Reynardine (Gunnerkrigg Court)
Cute? Sometimes. He's trapped in the body of a stuffed wolf.
Terrifying? He's a body-stealing demigod, although at the moment he's confined to a single body. Still, he can shift into a pretty intimidating wolf form.

The Rabbit of Caerbannog (Monty Python and the Holy Grail):
Cute? From a distance.
Terrifying? It's not just the fact that the rabbit can decapitate you with its teeth. It's the awful can opener noise it makes when it does it.

Evil Children Everywhere
Cute? Creepifying to be sure, but reasonably cute.
Terrifying? Absolutely. It doesn't matter if they're banishing you to the cornfield or sacrificing you to the Devil; evil children are always utterly terrifying.

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<![CDATA[Gremlins Boy Is All Grown Up And Seeking Revenge on Furry Monsters]]> Remember Zach Galligan, the sweet-faced youth from Gremlins? Well, he's older now and has developed a hatred for the furry creatures of the world in Nightbeasts. Here's the tagline: "They come out at night." You don't say.

It wouldn't be horror week without campy/terrible horror movies to get excited over — and nothing looks more crap-camp- tastic than Nightbeasts, the story about a man, and a pack of Bigfeet — because they travel in packs, bitches! Check out the trailer.


[via CHUD]

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<![CDATA[20 Best (And 20 Worst) Pets In Science Fiction]]> When humans finally conquer space, we'll still want to keep other creatures as pets. Some science-fiction pets are among our favorite characters, but others, you just want to flush out the airlock. Here's our list of the best and worst.


BEST:


Spot, Data's Orange Tabby Cat from Star Trek: The Next Generation
Who: Data's number 1 friend that didn't wear a Devo-esque visor on his face.
Why he's awesome: He's probably one of the only cats in the universe that has an infinitely advanced AI at his beck and call.
Bonus points: Anything that pisses Riker off is a big plus in my book.

Willis the Bouncer from Robert Heinlein's Red Planet
Who: A sound mimicking furry ball that every kid should have as a friend.
Why he's awesome: In a 1960's era future, when a dog just won't cut it, the only way to really impress the kids at school is with an alien that doubles as a soccer ball. And here's a clip from the Fox miniseries adaptation.

R2D2, Star Wars
Who: The yin to C3PO's (annoying) yang that brings logic and light to any situation through a series of flickering lights and bleeps.
Why he's awesome: He's a moving trashcan that manages to be more likeable than most of the Star Wars palz extended cast.

Porthos, Captain Archer's Beagle from Enterprise
Who: Easily one of the more tolerable characters on Enterprise. Mostly because he didn't talk.
Why he's awesome: He's a beagle! How can beagles not be cute? Also, I feel like after the unfortunate Scotty related transporter incident, he deserves a nice memorial.

Ampersand, Y the Last man
Who: The world's ending, every man is dead, you're an aspiring escape artist pining away for your lost girlfriend and you're all alone. What do you do? Have crazy monkey antics with your favorite jungle friend with a punctuation mark as a name.
Why he's awesome: Not to spoil too much, but he may or may not be humanity's key to getting the XY's back in action.


Lockjaw
Who: Marvel's own alien bulldog and member of the non-human branch of the Avengers.
Why he's awesome: He's super strong, can eat anything and once latched onto the Thing.

Dog the Robot from Half Life 2
Who: Alyx Vance's No.1 go to robotic buddy who helps when your path is blocked by other dimensional beings or just wants to play fetch with your grav gun.
Why he's awesome: He's a giant robot with the personality of a dog. Do you need more?

Pen Pen, from Neon Genesis Evangelion
Who: A genetically altered super smart penguin that lives with Misato Katsuragi during the Angel apocalypse.
Why he's awesome: While the series has moments of intense despair and darkness, you can always count on jerky, anime humor involving naked people and penguins to brighten your day.

K-9 from Doctor Who
Who: Dr Who's multi-generational robotic canine companion.
Why he's awesome: He's gotten a series of spinoff stories and was even parodied on South Park.

Nibbler from Futurama
Who: Nibbler is part of an ancient race of Nibblonians who protect the universe from giant glowing brains that make everyone stupid. Er, Stupid-er.
Why he's awesome: He can eat about 1,000 times his body mass to, uh, produce dark matter.

Gaspode, from Terry Prachett's Discworld series
Who: A talking dog with human intelligence that attempts to bring "Hollywood" to Discworld.
Why he's awesome: He's an endless source of snarky remarks and regularly uses his speech to manipulate humans when he needs food.

CJ-7
Who: A puff ball with a body that guaranteed to produce family friendly fun times.
Why he's awesome: CJ-7 can help you repair torn relationships with certain parental figures and bring people back from the dead.

Einstein, Doc Brown's dog from Back to the Future
Who: You might be under the impression that a certain Family Ties alum might be the Doc's best time traveling friend in this series, but you'd be wrong. This adorable little terrier follows Doc whenever her goes.
Why he's awesome: As long as you ignore the craptacular animated television series, Einstein is always cute, helpful and never obnoxious.

Ein, Cowboy Bebop
Who: A super brained corgie that gets stranded on the Bebop.
Why he's awesome: Although they never really get into it in the series, Ein is a "data dog" that possesses super intelligence that allows him to answer phones and steer cars.

Bubastis, Ozymandias' lynx from Watchmen
Who: When you're a super genius David Bowie impersonator with the world at your fingertips what do you do next? You create a genetically engineered psychedelic colored lynx as a companion.
Why he's awesome: He takes one for the team for the sake of furthering an evil plan for his master.

Gizmo, Gremlins
Who: The main furry faced protagonist of the Gremlins series.
Why he's awesome: While I'm pretty much a fan of all the gremlins, I can't deny the greatness that is Gizmo channeling his inner Rambo.

Seymour from Futurama
Who: Seymour is a part of one of the most tear jerking episodes of Futurama involving Fry recounting the story of the most loyal dog that ever lived.
Why he's awesome: Did you see the last scene? He's the most loyal dog that ever lived! Also, we can rest easy knowing that alternate timeline Fry gave Seymour a great life.

Bronx from Gargoyles
Who: Bronx is the dog version of the Manhattan gargoyle clan. During the whole series you only see one other gargoyle beast, but unlike Budeka, Bronx gets a whole episode devoted to him befriending an Amish kid.
Why he's awesome: Gargoyles are already pretty high on the cool supercreatures scale, but add a dog personality to the mix, and you've got gold.

Roach from WALL-E
Who: They weren't lying when they said that after the world ended there would be nothing left but cockroaches. Fortunately, the end of the world also gave them charming personalities!
Why he's awesome: Making me want a roach as a pet is an epic win in my book.

Kevin and Dug from Up
Who: Kevin is a rare, brilliantly colored giant bird that Carl and Russell accidentally find in Paradise Falls. Dug is sweet golden retriever with a collar that allows him to talk.
Why they're awesome: It takes a lot to make slapstick giant birds funny, but Pixar does a magnificent job. And Dug? He's exactly what I imagine an actual talking dog to sound like. SQUIRREL!

WORST:

Tribbles from Star Trek
Who: Fuzzy, purring little meat pets that take over the original Enterprise.
Why they suck: Pets rocks were bad enough, why would they think that a massively multiplying furry pet rock would be better?

ALF
Who: Alien puppet that takes over a really lame sitcom in the 80's. If ever you want to torture someone without the use of waterboarding, show them and episode of ALF… or Small Wonder.
Why he sucks: Look me straight in the eye and tell me you didn't scream in horror when you saw that clip.

Snarf, Thundercats
Who: A fat alien cat that ends every sentence with an annoying "snarf!" sound.
Why he sucks: Is he a lizard or a cat? I'm going to go with meth induced demonic lovechild.

Teddy from A.I.
Who: An animatronic intelligent Teddy Rucksbin from the future that accompanies David in a search for the Blue Fairy.
Why he sucks: Ok, now I understand that some people might take issue with Teddy's position on the worst list but he's a toy that's alive. That's pretty much the worst nightmare of most 8-year-old kids. And me.

Slimer from Ghostbusters
Who: A green ghost that terrorizes the Ghostbusters team by covering everything in slime.
Why he sucks: For those of us born in the mid 80's and watched the Ghostbusters cartoon first, we expected to see cool ghost antics when we finally saw the movie. Instead, we were greeted with a grotesque blob that was pretty evil.

Div-x from Penny Arcade
Who: You might remember the Sony Dix-X player, an ahead of its time technical marvel.
Why he sucks: According to Penny Arcade Comics, he's a foul-mouthed drunk that's teetering on the edge of killing us all.

Pets from Children of Men
Who: When the world's gone infertile, people turn to animals to provide comfort in the end of humanity.
Why they suck: I have nothing against the animals in Children of Men, personally, but seeing all the dogs, cats and birds cluttering people's homes can be an ominous image.

Selacious Crumb from Star Wars
Who: He's a little fox-lizard thing that hangs out with Jabba the Hut and laughs at all his lame jokes.
Why he sucks: Everybody hates the skinny jerk in the corner with the stupid laugh.

Gleek from Superfriends
Who: The alien monkey pet of the Wondertwins.
Why he sucks: Usually if he was featured in Superfriends, you could count on him popping out to end the episode on a lame joke.

Independence Day Dog from Independence Day
Who: If you're like me then you probably laughed at the idea of a ball of flame chasing a golden retriever down a tunnel.
Why he sucks: Was it really necessary to have a slow motion explosion behind a dog? And wouldn't all that heat ultimately cook them all in that storage locker?
Then Again:...he's immune to explosions. And that's pretty cool. Dodging fire like that, he's like a canine Neo. Maybe he should have been best?

Space Buddies
Why they suck: I'll just point you in the direction of this.

Queequeg, X-files
Who: A Pomeranian adopted by Dana Scully and eaten shortly after by the legendary Big Blue.
Why he sucks: He was found snacking on his previous owner.

Krypto
Who: Superman's dog. Enough said.
Why he sucks: I hate pet versions of superheroes. Also, why does he need a cape?

Muffit from the original Battlestar Gallactica
Who: Caprica used to have a variety of tracker dogs but sadly, none of them survived the Cylon attack. Instead a group robotic dogs are created to replace them.
Why he sucks: Is he an ewok? A fuzzy, metallic gremlin on meth? You decide.

MAD Cat from Inspector Gadget
Who: Dr. Claw's chortling fat feline.
Why he sucks: He's the quintessential evil cat meant to taunt the hero. Plus Dr. Claw regularly beat the crap out of him and he seemed to be ok with that.

Frank the Dog from Men in Black
Who: An alien stool pigeon using the guise of a small pug.
Why he sucks: He made me remember "Who Let the Dogs Out" existed.

Gir, Invader Zim
Who: Invader Zim's mentally disturbed robot helper that was given to him as either a joke or sabotage. Probably both.
Why he sucks: Yeah, yeah Gir is really cute, but he's amoral, evil and would gladly watch you die a fiery death while bursting into a fit of giggles.

Astro, The Jetsons
Who: The Scooby Doo knockoff of the 21st century.
Why he sucks: It might have worked with the Scooby Gang, but there's only room for one charismatic dog with a speech impediment ‘round these parts.

Lamar, Half Life 2
Who: The neutered headcrab that resides in Dr. Isaac Kleiner's laboratory.
Why he sucks: Crabs are rarely a good thing. Head crabs are a double whammy of bad.

Joshua from Dark Angel
Who: A transgenic dog-man with an affinity for painting and crappy comedic timing.
Why he sucks: There was only one good thing that came out of season two of Dark Angel and that rhymes with Smensen Shackles.

Honorable Mention: Blarp from the Lost in Space remake.

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<![CDATA[Original Gremlin Director Hints At Gremlins 3]]> The original Gremlin wrangler, Joe Dante, seems to firmly believe the Gremlins movie franchise will be back, with or without his involvement.

Bloody Disgusting interviewed Gremlins director Joe Dante, who was pretty convinced there would be a third film, and that he would have no part in it.

I find it hard to believe that they won't make a Gremlins 3 because they're remaking Adventures in Babysitting. I mean, they're gonna remake everything. They won't be coming to me. (Laughs) I can tell you that for a fact.

The director went on to say that there is very little chance he'll be asked to do the third, strangely adding:

"They did that once, they won't do it again," Dante told BD, laughing. "They made that mistake once. Its a moot point, they won't be coming to me." (Laughs) "I can tell you that for a fact."

What you mean they weren't floored with the bra-clad Gremlina? Until we know more, you'll have to wait until the DVD and Bluray of the original Gremlins is released (which are currently in the works) to get your Gremlins fix.

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<![CDATA[Gremlins-Themed Sneakers, Before and After a Midnight Snack]]> If you liked 80s mini-monsterfest Gremlins, then you'll want to slide into these sneaks. This pair looks like good monster Mogwai, who turns evil if you feed him after midnight. Check out the evil sneaks!

Here's a closeup of those furry, spotted sneaks. I want some friendly monsters on my feet!



And as you know, when the nice Mogwai gets wet, he gives birth to naughty Mogwais who turn into evil gremlins if you feed them after midnight. And these are the sneaks for those evil creatures, who do a lot of chomping. If only they had fangs on the toes, I would totally buy these.

Sneaker Freaker via mashKULTURE

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<![CDATA[Tasty Super Scifi Cereal Breakdown]]> As a child, I was forbidden to eat marshmallowy cereal unless it was a special occasion - - so naturally, like any youth told that they can't have something, I became obsessed. I wanted to know what the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pizza cereal tasted like and screamed for a taste of Batman's bowl of bat wings. I've rounded up a collection of cereal boxes and commercials that should bring back so much breakfast nostalgia, you'll get a contact sugar rush. So, pass the milk and lets go on a cereal sugar bender together.

Jurassic Park Crunch
This 90s cereal turned your milk the color of dino-vomit. Jurassic Park Crunch had dinosaur and egg shaped marshmallows with whole wheat crunchies, but the biggest draw was the roaring box sweepstakes. If your cereal box roared upon opening, you would get to go to the Jurassic Park island itself, or Universal Studios, I'm not sure which. I just remember being promised dinosaurs.
 
 
 
 
 
Wheat Hearts and Sugar Jets:
Whatever Mr. Peabody wants me to eat I will.

Powerpuff Girls Cereal
This 90s cereal combined multi-colored Rice Krispie treat-like bits that were laced with POP ROCKS. Plus the Powerpuff ladies kick major butt.

C-3PO's Star Wars Cereal
Kelloggs brought us spacey droid goodness with this 1984 cereal. Their slogan was "A New (crunchy) Force At Breakfast" and had "twin rings phased together for two crunches in every double-O".

Bill And Ted's Excellent Cereal
Cinnamon oats and marshmallow notes? Excellent.

Star Wars Cereal
General Mills' super new Star Wars cereal made grocery shopping a terror as they slapped Hayden Christensen's face on every single box, thankfully they also gave us plenty of Obi-Wan.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Adams Family Cereal
Creepy and cooky cereal from 1991.

E.T.
Created in 1984 this E.T. had his own blend of chocolate and peanut butter cereal, which now sells for a whole lot more. One lucky owner sold his box of E.T. at an Australian auction for $800.

Batman Cereal
Tiny Bat-symbols from 1989; I always wondered what Bruce Wayne would have thought about this. I also assumed it would taste like Capn' Crunch but instead it tasted just like sugar.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cereal
With pizza shaped marshmallows, sold.

Ghostbusters Cereal

Gremlins Cereal Commercial (breaks down half way sorry!)
This Cap'n Crunch rip off came out in 1985, just don't eat it after midnight.

GI. Joe Cereal

Star Trek Promo Box

The Spock Box.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Monster Cereal (With Star Trek Promotion eeek!)
Hey - You can't have a cereal post with out giving the original monsters their due.

Seriously, there is so much crazy scifi cereal I couldn't name them all... so I've compiled a gallery of other cereals equally as teeth rotting for your viewing pleasure:

And finally, although I can't justify putting Mr. T on this list, I'm including Pee Wee's breakfast of pancakes and Mr. T cereal, as both are fantastic.

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<![CDATA[The Cutest Science Fiction Sidekicks, And Why They Fail]]> All sidekicks must have certain key lovable qualities, or else they lose that sparkle that makes them so endearing. But sometimes the cute-overload factor goes too far and a gag reflex kicks in, making people want to destroy that character. Compiled after the jump is a list of the most adorable sidekicks in science fiction TV and movies, some good, some too cute for their own good.


For Better Or Worse, SciFi's Most Adorable Sidekicks

Stitch: Lilo and Stitch

He burps and eats everything. A cross between a bug and a dog, he was sort of sweet... until he did the whole Elvis impersonation, and then I was out the door. I can't stand animals dressed as people (alien animals or otherwise).

R2-D2: Star Wars

An obvious choice, but possibly the cutest bucket of bolts in the history of robots. Despite being a giant trash can, he was surprisingly expressive — you could tell when he was mad by his fussing and futtering. If you took a vote on which robot you wanted to be stuck on a deserted Tatooine with, hands down it would be R2. While C-3PO is wonderful, if I had to chose it'd be R2 based on the fact that, "goodness gracious me," would get old after about five minutes. Sorry C, He's the droid I'm looking for.

Aliens-newt.jpg

Rebecca "Newt" Jorden: Aliens

Oh no, an adorable girl is left on an alien infested planet! Surely she won't be a massive hindrance at all. Too late, she's fallen into an air vent. Once I found out that the dirty blonde girl nickname was "Newt," I lost all my love for this character. You could make a case against Bishop as well, but he was OK in my book.

Hud: Cloverfield

He had me at, "I'm just saying how freaky would it be if a flaming homeless guy came out of no where." His innocence and one-liners completely humanized this story. I don't even remember any of the other characters' names really. Hud was a great mix of that 20-something guy that is part idiot and part child, which was most evident any time he tried to talk to Marlena.

Robin: Batman

He thinks everything Batman does is totally yay, which is valuable because one thing you don't want from a sidekick is questions. Especially when you say, "Robin go check out that scary cave with no light, I'll be right behind you." He makes a great victim when there aren't any ladies around for you to save. His boyish good looks play in his favor but, his naivete demeans him. Robin get a 50/50 split on annoying versus lovable.

Hurley: Lost

Not all people can pull off charming with that much going on, but Hurley manages to. His whole "cursed by the numbers" schtick and his ridiculous bad luck in his first flashback were borderline annoying, but once he went bananas his charm became more of a quirk. He's the heart of the island and a lot of people forget that as he follows orders from chiseled jawline Sawyer or smarty-pants face-stubble Jack.

mc317250abdc91289e3a368a3bf55e7e7f07bf7a9.jpg
Arthur: The Tick

The shy little moth to The Tick's massive ego. His nervous stammer and mutterings are the perfect compliment to The Tick. And let's not forget the fact that he's often mistaken for a bunny, that's cute laugh out loud.

Gizmo: Gremlins (2)

Another coin toss here, because don't we all like to get drunk and sing the mogwai song? And yet the need to dress him up as Rambo totally crosses the line from cute to crappy.

Short Round: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

One line, "YOU CALL HIM DOCTOR JONES." Everything about this character was harnessing the power of cute for good. From the boxes he tied on his shoes for driving to his open-eyed screams, all charming.

Wicket: Ewok Adventure, Star Wars

Who else could level out Mace's wild tantrums. Good cute, like the kind of teddy bear I would actually want to own.

et_bike.jpg

Elliot: ET

After watching this movie who didn't dress up in an orange hoodie and bike around with a white alien bundle for Halloween, or Saturdays? Elliot is a spot on example of the right amount of child-like/charm wonder in a great sidekick.

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<![CDATA[Six Awesomest Scifi Gadgets That Fit in Your Pocket]]> A spaceship or a gigantic death ray is cool, but wouldn't you rather have an awesome scifi gadget you could slip into your pocket or clip to your belt for easy access? When you're on the interstellar warpath, you want the very best, so we've put together a list of some science fiction mobile devices that will make your life a little bit easier in about a century. Start filling up your pockets!

  • The Sonic Screwdriver from Doctor Who: This is probably one of the most versatile gadgets in all of science fiction creation. It could be used to disable robots, rewire security grids, repair dead machinery, open locks, and yes, even turn screws. They were never quite clear about how this worked, just that it was "sonic," but it got The Doctor out of more scrapes than McGuyver's Swiss Army knife, and won't raise eyebrows at airport security.
  • The Lightsaber from Star Wars: Sure, it was just a sword... or was it? You could use this to open up tauntauns for warmth, melt steel blast doors open, deflect laser blasts, and light your way. Plus, if you have a really steady hand you could probably shave and cut the Thanksgiving turkey with it, and that's just for starters. Plus it has a handy belt loop so you can accessorize with it.
  • The Handheld Replicator from Star Trek V: We only saw this thing once on-screen when Spock used it to create a marshmallow while he was camping with Kirk and Bones, but think about how awesome it would be to have this in your pocket. Especially while on a road trip or at the movies. Of course, it's so small in size that you wouldn't be able to get anything substantial out of it, but we envision a river of never-ending candy streaming out that would make your house a pretty popular stop on Halloween. You could even get a toy version of this by mailing a coupon in to Kraft, creating one of the lamest movie tie-in toys ever.
  • Ziggy from Quantum Leap: Although unfortunately named after the world's lamest comic-strip, Ziggy was the sentient supercomputer that told Scott Bakula where and who he was, and what he was supposed to be doing. It looked like it was made out of see-through Legos and frequently got whacked by Al in an effort to make it work right, and it would make the perfect PDA. Don't like the lunch meeting it has scheduled for you? Just slap it around a bit.
  • Mr. Igoe's hand from Innerspace: Igoe was the mute henchman of Mr. Scrimshaw, and he wanted nothing more than to cause you pain. He had a fake right hand that could pop off and be interchanged with several different tools, including a blowtorch, a corkscrew, a drill, and... a vibrator. Which he puts to good use on the red-haired vixen in the film. Talk about your ultimate handheld gadget, and his license plate even read SNAPON.
  • The Neuralizer from Men In Black: Seriously, this pen-sized gadget could come in handy in millions of different ways, and it has the bonus benefit of giving you Jedi-like powers of persuasion as well. Not only could it make you forget things (at user-tweaked intervals), but you could plant suggestions in the newly erased mind the way Will Smith has that woman sass up her life. I'd like to have one just for all the times I get pulled over by traffic cops.
  • Honorable Mention — The Bathroom Buddy from Gremlins: In the movie, Billy's dad (who is also the guy who bought the damn Gremlin in the first place) spends most of the movie trying to invent a "Bathroom Buddy" that will revolutionize going to the bathroom. Need a shave? Time to brush your teeth? Thanks Bathroom Buddy! No idea what else it could do, because thankfully the film didn't get too graphic with it. Alas, he never got it to work right, leaving us with a hunk of useless plastic and an empty spot in our pocket.
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