Separated At Birth: Chuck Liddell & Sloth Fratelli (John Matuszak)

Oh the joys of having a blog like this as an outlet to every whim and passing fancy that, well, passes through my addled mind.

Today’s installment of Separated At Birth was actually suggested by my wife while we were catching up on Dancing with the Stars.

Maybe it’s the open car door ears or the slightly off-kilter eyes or the tuft of hair at the top, but I think Jenn was on to something.

Here’s the tale of the tape:

  Chuck Liddell Lotney “Sloth” Fratelli (John Matszak)
 
Chuck Liddell
Chuck Liddell
Sloth Fratelli
Sloth Fratelli
Nicknames The Iceman Sloth/The Tooz
Height 6′ 2″ 6′ 8″
Weight 205 272
Hair Mohawk Carrot Top
Eyes Close-set and Beady Independent of one another, both functionally and presentationally

I’m not sure I’d say Chuck Liddell is tiny but compared to the imposing Sloth (Matuszak) he seems a tad puny.

Chuck and Sloth both seem to have really sweet sides, but don’t get them angry (Can I get a “Hey, you guys!”?).

Anyhow, Matuszak went too early because he treated his body like an amusement park. Liddell subjects himself to some harsh abuse (NSFW!) too (though not as self-inflicted, it is self-chosen).

Hope your Thursday is as nostalgic and filled with pop culture as mine!

Previous incarnations of Separated at Birth:

Dave Foley and Vicent Kartheiser
Javier Bardem & Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Maria Bello and Mary McCormack
Gerard Butler and Clive Owen
Christopher Meloni and Elias Koteas
Lisa Rinna and Nicholson’s Joker
Janine & Mariska

Battle of the Planets

If you’re a child of the 70’s and 80’s you likely remember the first Japanese Anime cartoon invasion, highlighted by Speed Racer, which got the feature film treatment earlier this year.

But the Americanized Japanese cartoon that will always hold my heart is Sandy Frank’s Battle of the Planets/G-Force. Click the links to see the differences and show your age/generation.

Here’s the intro, if you need a refresher:

My favorite line?

“Watching, warning against surprise attack by alien galaxies from beyond space.”

I’m not exactly sure where “beyond space” IS, but I’d love to find out. Maybe the ridiculous and obviously added-in 7-Zark-7 could tell us.

Here are several versions of the Japanese title sequence for reference.

For those not in the know, Battle of the Planets/G-Force was actually called Gatchaman in Japan and tackled some fairly adult themes. Chief among them: death/mourning/grief and gender roles/hermaphroditus.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Even forgetting about it’s Japanese roots, Battle of the Planets notably spawned the team of 5 heroes/adventurers with coordinated outfits using giant robots to kill giant robots genre. Notable followers in this trend include, but aren’t limited to:

Given the fact that the show got the broadcast treatment twice in the States and that it’s always been a badge of geek-cred honor, it’s nice to see an even newer version being made now.

Insert internet rumors and teaser here. 😉

For those interested in verifiable data on the Americanized series and the newest release, IMDb is your best bet.

Ideally, I’d like to see the recent (2005) dubbed release (if it’s still available) and read the comics before seeing the new version, but maybe I’m being pedantic. Maybe.

Anyhow, Transmute!/Transform!