Ack! Ack! Uh, pardon… did you know that Tim Burton’s 1996 film Mars Attacks! was based on a set of trading cards from the 1960s? I sure didn’t! Back in 1962, Topps released a series of collectible trading Mars Attacks!cards called Mars Attacks!. So why am I bringing this up now? Because the franchise is suddenly back in the spotlight thanks to a brand-new video game, fittingly titled Mars Attracts (without the exclamation mark present in the original title). What’s in a name?!

A Personal Love for Mars Attacks!

Friends of mine know I’m crazy about both movies and video games. But not many of them know that Mars Attacks! is also one of my absolute favorites. And let’s be honest; who hasn’t fallen for this science fiction parody in which big-headed aliens take over Earth? Pure dumb fun! In 1996, Burton assembled a star-studded cast to bring this absurd spectacle to life. Jack Nicholson, Pierce Brosnan, Danny Devito, Michael J. Fox and even Tom Jones; they are all here! The special effects looked fine for their time and now, decades later, even enhance the parody aspect. Brilliant!

A New Mars Attacks! Video Game

So, there’s a new video game out: a theme park simulator. Think Bullfrog’s Theme Park or Chris Sawyer’s Roller Coaster Tycoon, but with the aliens from Mars Attacks in the spotlight. And apparently, it’s actually a really good game too! What fascinates me most is why this franchise keeps resurfacing. What inspired Burton to use trading cards as his source material, and why does the franchise pop up again almost thirty years later?

From Box Office Flop to Pop Culture Icon

A bit of research shows that Burton stumbled upon the cards by chance and wanted to create an epic spoof of space movies. While the film flopped at the box office and barely recouped its budget, Burton still managed to create an iconic image that earned its own place in pop culture. Somehow people kept talking about this movie and it slowly gained a sturdy fan base. Simply fascinating!

As the tongue-in-cheek counterpart to Roland Emmerich’s patriotic blockbuster Independence Day, Mars Attacks never reached its intended success. A sequel never happened. Yet the release of Mars Attracts proves that Burton’s quirky vision has found a new chapter after all. (Alien) life simply finds a way…

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