(Re)Animations: Potato Head Kids (1986)
We make a lot around here of being a “strange kid.” Heck, it’s part of our name! But before the concept for Strange Kids Club ever began there was another can of “kids.” No, not Garbage Pail Kids (though they are the eternal inspiration for what SKC stands for); I’m talking about the Potato Head Kids!
Personally, I’ve never been a big Mr. Potato Head fan. I don’t have anything. in particular, against potatoes it’s just that the concept an anthropomorphic potato with split personality disorder seemed a lot less cool than the original concept of Frankenstein’s monster. It’s no surprise then that I’ve never heard of this series before now; a spin-off of Mr. Potato Head in which a group of pint-sized Potato Heads get into silly adventures.
It’s surprisingly similar to Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, only with an obligatory musical number towards the midpoint of each episode. To my knowledge it was never explained why or how the Potato Head Kids came into existence, an oddly disturbing fact considering that every other character on the show were human. Heck, even Attack of the Killer Tomatoes pulled off a more convincing origin for its foodie brood than this show did.
Apparently it didn’t prevent them from merchandising the crap out of the characters, though. That’s right, there was actually a complete set of these spuddy bastards that were actually sold in stores – not to mention a short-lived McDonald’s Happy Meal promo – which included a schoolhouse playset. It’s like a bizarre Village of the Damned where all of the children are spuds sent from some cute and cuddly Hell dimension!