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1970s or 1980s live action/animation combo short about video game characters coming to life and fighting over a major city

Science Fiction & Fantasy Asked by bmurrell30 on March 3, 2021

When I was little I used to get these collections of obscure animated shorts on VHS at the library. All I remember about the tapes themselves is that they were put out by a company called "Picture Start". I think there were several such collections, as I recall getting at least two distinct volumes.

Anyway, one short in particular that my arcade-obsessed ten-year-old brain absolutely loved was this one about video game heroes and villains escaping from their respective games and having this epic battle over a major city.

Here’s what I remember specifically:

The short opens with a live-action shot of a TV, an old CRT model, in someone’s living room, playing Space Invaders. Over this shot a man with a distinct British accent complains about how stupid video games are. "It’s an idiot box" is one line I remember him saying.

After this, stuff starts to go off the rails. The TV breaks open and the aliens from the game escape. At the same time, someone in a darkened arcade (I think he’s supposed to be some kind of wizard) calls the heroes out of the games there to do battle. The arcade games explode as the heroes make their entrance.

From here the short switches to animation as the battle commences. I don’t remember much about this sequence except that the music for it was driven by this really awesome rock guitar.

Goodies and baddies throw down, and just when it looks like the good guys have won, this enormous alien appears and destroys everything.

I watched this thing enough times to know it wasn’t just some beautiful dream, so what was it called?

One Answer

Strong possibility you are looking for a british made short film from the 1980's called Arcade Attack. It does feature animated sections with characters from video games battling in a city but I did not spot the line about the "idiot box"

You can watch it here... https://www.austinfilm.org/2016/12/watch-this-arcade-attack-mind-ripping-1982-short-that-pits-pinball-vs-video-games/

Correct answer by skyjack on March 3, 2021

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