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My hungry ass could never be a hippo

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Hungry Hungry Hippos - Milton Bradley (1978)

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So I recently got the original four Hunger Games movies off Apple for $8. Some thoughts:

• I’d never seen them before, but when it comes to both Hoffman and Sutherland I am a completist.

•Damn. Philip Seymour Hoffman really does look like hammered shit, you can immediately tell he’s on the verge of death. It’s sad to behold. Apparently when he died in February 2014, he still had 2 critical scenes to shoot for Mockingjay Part 2. Incredible actor, but it’s too bad he didn’t go out on a high note professionally.

•Donald Sutherland is fine as President Snow, although he looks bored…which is understandable. It’s still great to see him work though.

•The costumes and makeup are fairly cheesy and over the top (maybe that’s explained in the books?). Stanley Tucci and Lenny Kravitz in particular get me giggling anytime they’re onscreen. Tucci’s blue raspberry wig deserved an Oscar!

•Two movies in, I’m wondering why I’m not just watching Battle Royale again, as this ripoff is fairly boring.

•Jennifer Lawrence is mediocre at best.

•The movies have absolutely ensured I’ll never read the books.

•It’s a race, it’s a chase, hurry up and FEED YOUR FACE!

🤪

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GIF by Reconnectingroots

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H.H.H.

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August 29, 2024

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Sears at the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois From the 1971 Sears Annual Report (via: archive.org)

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Zooming’ out

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The Electric Company gang

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Scarecrow (1973) - Jerry Schatzberg

The crows are laughin'… I guess the fish are reciting poetry…

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GENE HACKMAN as Harry Moseby in NIGHT MOVES (1975)

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Sukeban Deka (1975) Shinji Wada

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x - x - x

MODEL: THE ALADDIN

(Note: this model's name was spelled "Alladin" in catalogs. However, collectors have mostly taken to referring to it as the Aladdin, and I prefer to stick to the typical English spelling of the folk tale.)

Brand: Lava Lite

Introduced: 1975

Discontinued: Unclear, though the lamp no longer appears in a 1979 catalogue.

Base and cap colors: brass

Wax colors: orange, red, green

Fluid colors: clear, yellow, blue

Size: height 16” or 14”, diameter 9”

The 1970s were a time of innovative and out-there designs for the Lava Lite brand. Models of the 1960s established iconic shapes which would be iterated on over the years, and from the 1980s onward, the brand’s new offerings would focus on color and pattern variety as well as lamps with more classical shapes but featuring sculpted and highly decorated bases. In the 70s, though, interesting silhouettes were what made new designs stand out, and I think none is more emblematic of this design ethos than the Aladdin.

The Aladdin is an example of a high-concept lava lamp that does not rely on gimmicky detailing and patterns to get its core idea across. In a way, the Aladdin just makes sense – for what lava lamps are, the Aladdin feels like an inevitability. What is a lava lamp if not the idea of a magical lamp? It remains notable that the Aladdin preceeds the Disney movie – if it had not already been made, maybe it would’ve come out in the 90s.

The Aladdin originally retailed for $29.99. Aladdin lava lamps can occasionally be found on second-hand sites, where they usually sell for anywhere from $150 to $700.

MY REVIEW:

It feels like the Aladdin should be a lamp one has a strong opinion on. Is it magical, or gimmicky? Is it pleasantly quirky or over-designed? Is it timeless or dated? When I look at the Aladdin, I think I should either love it or hate it… But I don’t. I don’t think I’m a huge fan of it, really – I’m certainly not interested in acquiring one – but it also doesn’t verge into gaudiness enough to fully turn me off it. Simply put: I’m pretty ambivalent about the Aladdin, even though I tend to have pretty strong ideas about lava lamp designs.

I also feel I should have a set opinion on the cultural background of its design. At times the Aladdin feels somewhat awkwardly orientalist. Obviously, the lamp is based on Arabian oil lamps, and the name refers to the SWANA folk tale. Is turning this type of lamp (and choosing this particular name) into a cheap consumer product in poor taste? I’m not sure about that either; I can’t manage to really be offended by the Aladdin, at least not more than I am charmed by it. I seem to always be of two minds regarding the Aladdin.

SILHOUETTE: 7/10

My ambivalence towards the Aladdin means I’m not particularly enthusiastic about its silhouette, but I think it may be more important to judge it based on what it’s trying to achieve, and not simply on whether I think it’d look good in my bedroom. And as far as its design intent goes, the Aladdin does pretty well. The shape of the lamp is immediately recognizeable and unique. You could probably guess its name just by glancing at it.

On the other hand, I also think more care could have been put into the design. If you take a look at the traditional type of lamp the Aladdin imitates, you’ll find what I think is a much more elegant shape: far from a stout, round base with a short spout – which is almost more similar to an occidental teapot – these lamps usually have elongated silhouettes and long, curving spouts, which give them a far more refined look. In comparison, the Aladdin looks a lot less elegant and more clumsy.

One example of an Arabian-style oil lamp

Still – you can recognize the inspiration so evidently that the silhouette still works. It’s also worth considering that making the lamp longer could have also required scaling it up, and making it any bigger would not have made it more graceful.

DETAILS: 9/10

The Aladdin, like other Lava Lite lamps of the era, does without much detailing. In a way, it maintains a degree of simplicity and sparsity of design. Again comparing it to its inspirations, the oil lamps it is based on are usually much more decorated, with varied and intricate carvings. Does that mean the Aladdin should have emulated them, though? Ultimately, I don’t think so. With the colorful lava globe being its visual focal point, a lot of extra detailing would have made it look crowded – and I think what would have likely been a poor imitation of traditional Arabian designs would have thrown the lamp squarely into “too orientalist for comfort”.

Though, while the sparse design of the Aladdin works for it, the fact its spout and handle are black and don’t match the base is a faux-pas in my book. It makes them look like last-minute add-ons, rather than whole parts of the lamp. I think I’d have given the Aladdin full points here if those elements matched the brass of the base.

COLORWAYS: 8/10

The Aladdin only came in three colorways, all of them with a brass base: clear liquid/red wax, yellow liquid/orange wax, and green liquid/blue wax.

I think the choice to only include a brass base and cap makes sense: I think only a gold color would have also made sense, and it wouldn't have been different enough from the brass color to really need including.

As far as the globe goes, the different colorways of the lamp work well for what it’s doing. The colors all fit with the Arabian inspiration of the design, and I think they also work in evoking the idea of a genie’s magical form trapped within the glass globe. Still – a few additional colorways would have been welcome. I've seen a few custom Aladdins featuring purple wax, which I think is a good idea. I would have also liked to see a yellow liquid/red wax version; something including either pink wax or pink liquid would have also been lovely.

POWER: 6/10

Once again, I’m a bit conflicted here. The Aladdin should be really powerful, right? With a rather simple design, it evokes such a clear, defined vision! It almost tells a story simply by existing. But then again – why do I feel so lukewarm about it? When I think of those really impactful lava lamp designs, those that stay with me even when I’ve never had the chance to see them in the flesh, this is simply not one that comes to mind. Ultimately, the Aladdin just doesn’t have the kind of powerful draw I find in other unique designs such as the Wizard or the Fluidium.

MY FINAL LAVA SCORE: 7.5/10

Is my information wrong? Did I miss a detail? Do you have a better picture of this model? Is there another model you’d like me to look into? Please send me an ask or submit relevant pictures!