"ESCAPEE FROM A HORROR MOVIE"
Real Name: Unrevealed, if any
Identity/Class: Unrevealed, possibly prehistoric
creature (see comments) (fringe character)
Occupation: None
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: None
Enemies: Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Presumably
mobile
First Appearance: U.S. Department of
Agriculture television commercial (1980)
Powers/Abilities: The large dinosaur referred
as the "Escapee from a Horror Movie" essentially has all of the
abilities of a typical prehistoric tyrannosaurus rex. It is large in
size with strength to match and possesses a durable hide, in addition
to razor-sharp teeth and claws.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 20')
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 6 tons)
Eyes: White with black sclera
Hair: None
History:
(U.S. Department of Agriculture
television commercial) - The so-called "Escapee from a Horror Movie"
traveled through water and emerged with jaws agape to attack a
riverside shipping center in New York City. It then fully exited the
river and ventured into the city proper, where it drew the attention of
the heroic Spider-Man. Following the dinosaur as it rampaged its way
toward the park, Spider-Man caught up to it and webbed its legs
together, causing it to fall, the impact of which knocked the dinosaur
unconscious. Webbing up the dinosaur's mouth as well, Spider-Man
deposited the dinosaur at the nearby zoo, joking that they would need
an extra large cage. For saving the city from the dinosaur, Spider-Man
was publicly recognized and was given a medal. As he was about to be
given a cash reward, Spider-Man interrupted to announce that he'd
rather just have a banana and after he was given one, Spider-Man swung
away on a web line.
Comments: Created by an uncredited writer and
artist.
The "Escapee from a Horror Movie"
was seen (that we know of) only in a 1980 PSA commercial by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. While there is nothing to specifically say
it was not on Earth-616, it was odd to see Spider-Man so insistently
promoting fruit. I suppose it's possible that this (as well as the
animated commercials featuring the
Energy Drainers & Flying
Menace) are part of Earth-8107, given that a) they're animated and
b) Spider-Man is voiced by Ted Schwartz, who also voiced Spider-Man in
the 1981 Spider-Man cartoon,
voices Spider-Man in the commercials. However, the Spider-Man cartoon had yet to debut
at this point so that would mean the reality actually appeared a year
earlier in these cartoons. IF that's the case, I'd say the comic
adaptation of the Energy Drainers commercial would be -616 while the
commercial would be -8107 (which would explain the replacing of the
Cold Air Crook in the commercial with Doomsday Man in the comic) and
the Lee's belt story adaptation of the Flying Menace would be -616
while the cartoon commercial would be -8107 (which might explain the
Flying Menace's change in size and color on the belt vs. the
commercial).
The "Escapee" was likely some sort
of refugee from the Savage Land but I suppose it could have been a
literal "Escapee from a Horror Movie" in the sense that it could have
been a large animatronic movie prop that had somehow escaped from a
movie set...
Unlike the 1980 Captain America
commercial (whose story featuring the Energy Drainers was loosely
adapted into a Marvel comic in conjunction with the Campbell's soup
company) and the other 1980 Spider-Man commercial (whose story
featuring the Flying Menace was loosely adapted into a comic story
appearing on a Lee's leather belt), the commercial featuring the
"Escapee from a Horror Movie" was never adapted into a print story of
any kind...at least, not that I'm aware of.
The
television commercial featuring the "Escapee from a Horror Movie" had a
copyright of
1980 by Marvel Comics Group, meaning that Marvel owns the characters in
the commercial, not that
they are
likely to use them anytime soon. Although, if it truly was a refugee
from the Savage Land, who's to say we haven't already seen it as a
random Savage Land tyrannosaurus in a later appearance of the Savage
Land? Chances are, the zoo Spider-Man left the t-rex at would have
transferred it back to the Savage Land pretty quickly since they didn't
exactly have a zoo cage large enough for it...
Profile by Proto-Man.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The "Escapee from a
Horror Movie"
has no known connections to
- any other "Escapee" or "Horror" characters
images: (without ads)
U.S. Department of Agriculture television commercial (all images in
this profile)
Appearances:
U.S. Department of Agriculture television commercial (1980) -
uncredited writer and artist
First posted: 12/09/2024
Last updated: 12/09/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let
me know.
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