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37 Retro Facts and Figures That Make Us Yearn for the Good Old Days

Our time machine broke down, so here’s the next best thing

37 Retro Facts and Figures That Make Us Yearn for the Good Old Days

November 23, 2023

Movies. Music. Video games. Those things all existed back then, okay you youthful little Gen Zers?! They may have been primitive and strange forms of what you love today, but dang it, they happened. Luckily for us, some early humans from the 1980s and 1990s made some pretty elaborate cave drawings for us to look back on today.

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Classic movies crushed at the box office Batman swept Ghostbusters II away. Batman, released on June 23 1989, grossed $251,188,924 from 2201 theaters in the U.S. Columbia Pictures' Ghostbusters II came in eighth that year, with $112,494,738 from 2,410 theaters. CRACKED — Source

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Classic movies crushed at the box office Tomorrow Never Dies ate Titanic's exhaust. Though it was entertaining, Tomorrow Never Dies was overshadowed by Titanic when they were both released. CRACKED — Source

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Classic movies crushed at the box office Escape From New York was melted by Raiders of the Lost Ark. John Carpenter's 1981 film was released to 600 theaters and wasn't as successful as Raiders of the Lost Ark and other films of that year. Despite this, the movie developed a cult following over time. CRACKED — Source

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Classic movies crushed at the box office Last Action Hero was flattened by Jurassic Park. Last Action Hero was a box office flop, quickly losing to Jurassic Park which came back into theaters. CRACKED — Source

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Classic movies crushed at the box office Spider-Man 2 swung over The Matrix Reloaded. Spider-Man 2 grossed $115.8 million over the four-day holiday weekend, bringing its six-day total to $180.1 million. This beat The Matrix Reloaded's previous record of $146.7 million by a large margin. CRACKED — Source

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Classic movies crushed at the box office Blade Runner was lost to time (for a bit) due to E.T. Blade Runner didn't have a great opening weekend compared to E.T., but it gained a cult following over the years and an improved director's cut came out in 1992. CRACKED — Source

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Classic movies crushed at the box office The Shining.got frozen out by The Empire Strikes Back. The Empire Strikes Back, Kramer VS. Kramer, and The Jerk were the top films in 1980. The Blues Brothers, The Electric Horsemen, and The Shining also did well, each making just under $31 million. CRACKED — Source

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Nintendo was denied the rights to Popeye only after Shigeru Miyamoto had designed a game around it. So he swapped Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Bluto for a generic carpenter, a princess, and the gorilla bizarrely named Donkey Kong. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Little Mac had to be little because two thirds of the screen was needed for the player to focus on the larger, more intricate opponents. 3 2:58 POINTS: 4770 Rounos TKO And his name was indeed a play on the newly popular Big Mac. CRACKED.COM — Source

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37 Retro Facts and Figures That Make Us Yearn for the Good Old Days — Source

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Kirby's relatively unimaginative round body was supposed to be a temporary placeholder. Nintendo KIRBY'S DREAM LAND Nintendo - - ABOUT KA GAME BOY But, like a kid who found a stray puppy, designer Masahiro Sakurai fell in love with it after naming it. His original name - and a great name for a puppy - was Popopo. CRACKED.COM — Source

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It's no coincidence that Johnny Cage is a cocky pretty boy movie star who can do a split. Mortal Kombat was designed to be a vehicle for Jean-Claude Van Damme. CRACKED.COM — Source

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THE BEASTIE BOYS' FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT WAS A JOKE. They wrote it as a gag song, making fun of annoying rock anthems. When the song was published, they released a video that was meant to be a parody. The irony was lost on fans and it was a big hit. CRACKED.COM http://www.npr.org/2011/05/06/136019762/the-fresh-air-interview-the-beastie-boys — Source

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PUDDLE OF MUDD's REHEARSAL SPACE WAS TURNED INTO A LITERAL PUDDLE OF MUD. The band wound up naming itself after the flood that soaked the entire first floor of their rehearsal space, which was located next to the Missouri River. CRACKED.COM http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Puddle_of_Mudd.aspx — Source

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SUMMER OF '69 WASN'T ABOUT THE YEAR. IT WAS ABOUT THE SEX. 1969 - NOOK 3 BS 22 1 GNG Goka 27 24 10 FED 14/21 7 28 26 29 30 31 25 Bryan Adams confirmed in an interview that it was about 69 the sex, not '69 the year. Adams was 9 years old in 1969, so if it had been about his memories of that year, the song would actually have been creepier. CRACKED.COM http://www.pacities.org/sunsetstrip/show/6235/Review/Article45.html — Source

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THE RIFF FROM SWEET CHILD O' MINE IS A GUITAR EXERCISE. When Axl Rose heard Slash's string-skipping exercise, he insisted it be spun into a song, using a poem he'd written to his girlfriend as the lyrics. When it came time to record it, their producer asked for a dramatic breakdown for the middle. Rose's Where do we go now? was literal-he didn't know where to go with the lyrics. CRACKED.COM http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=628 — Source

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TOAD THE WET SPROCKET TOOK ITS NAME FROM A MONTY PYTHON SKETCH. In the bit, which appeared on an album, Eric Idle was making fun of rock bands with ridiculous names. Не had no idea one of the names had been chosen by an actual band until he heard them on the radio. CRACKED.COM http://youtu.be/DR22krUkBc — Source

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THE Goo Goo DOLLS WERE ORIGINALLY CALLED SEX MAGGOT. Their manager balked at the name, so they picked the name Goo Goo Dolls when they spotted an ad for a doll with a moveable, rubber head in True Detective magazine. CRACKED.COM http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/The_Goo_Goo_Dolls.aspx — Source

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INDIE MOVIES OF THE '90s CLERKS ALMOST NO ONE WENT TO THE PREMIERE. Pretty much everyone in the audience had worked in the film. One of the few who didn't, however, turned out to be associated with Sundance, and got the movie in the festival. CRACKED.COM — Source

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INDIE MOVIES OF THE '90s RESERVOIR DOGS TONY SCOTT WANTED TO DIRECT. Tarantino, however, told him he was already securing funding to direct the movie himself. Like a total class act, Scott had no problem settling for a different Tarantino script, True Romance. CRACKED.COM — Source

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INDIE MOVIES OF THE '90s KIDS THE WRITER WAS BANNED FROM LETTERMAN WHILE PROMOTING THE MOVIE. According to David Letterman, he found Harmony Korine going through Meryl Streep's purse and threw him out. Korine was going through heavy drug use at the time, a period he has described as crazy. CRACKED.COM — Source

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INDIE MOVIES OF THE '90s THE VIRGIN SUICIDES THE NOVEL DROVE SOFIA COPPOLA TO BECOME A DIRECTOR. I really didn't know I wanted to be a director until I read The Virgin Suicides and saw so clearly how it had to be done, Coppola said-and indeed, the adaptation was one of her first movies. CRACKED.COM — Source

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INDIE MOVIES OF THE '90s JUNGLE FEVER SAMUEL L. JACKSON WON AN AWARD THAT TECHNICALLY DOESN'T EXIST. Jackson's performance in this movie was so legendary that he won Best Supporting Actor at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival, even though the festival does not really give that award. Only four people have ever received it. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Space Jam was a spin-off of a Nike Super Bowl commercial. The 1992 ad featuring Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny was very popular, leading Jordan's agent to take the now famous duo to the big screen. CRACKED.COM — Source

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The Spice Girls got their names because of a lazy journalist. A journalist who couldn't remember their names assigned the nicknames of Baby, Sporty, Posh, Ginger, and Scary. Which explains why Scary is so racist. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Baby Spice wasn't in the original Spice Girls line-up. Michelle Stephenson was originally the fifth member. She was replaced by Abigail Kisand and finally Emma Bunton. CRACKED.COM — Source

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JTT won the first-ever Kids Choice Lifetime Achievement Award Jonathan Taylor Thomas won the award at age 18, which maaay have been premature. CRACKED.COM — Source

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The Hamster Dance was created to win a bet. THE HAMPSTER DANCE dance the night away Art student Deidre LaCarte created the website in a bet over who could get the most views on a site. Gonna go out on a limb and say she won. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Elwood Edwards was the You Got Mail voice. Disappointing. I always imagined he looked like the AIM Buddy icon. CRACKED.COM — Source

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James Cameron didn't want My Heart Will Go On for Titanic, and Celine Dion didn't want to sing it Dion was convinced by her creepy husband-manager, and Cameron was convinced by her demo. Smart business move for both of them. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Pogs were a rip-off of the Japanese game Menko. Menko's been popular since the 1600s, travelling to Hawaii when Japanese people imigrated in the early 20th century. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Producers didn't let Aaron Paul audition for the role of Francis. MALC THe IN LM MIDDLE On Malcom in the Middle, Bryan Cranston and Paul could have been coworkers a lot sooner, but they rejected him even though he desperately wanted it. CRACKED.COM — Source

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A Little House on the Prairie Actor Created Malcom in the Middle. MALC IN THe LM MIDDLE Linwood Boomer, who played Mary Ingalls' husband, based the character of Malcom on himself as a kid. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Ryan Gosling could have been a Backstreet Boy if AJ McLean called him back. backstreet boys Talk about the call that changed destiny... Gosling turned down McLean's initial offer to join, but left an unreturned message that he had changed his mind. CRACKED.COM — Source

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ZACK MORRIS IS NOW OLDER THAN MR. BELDING WAS WHEN SAVED BYTHE BELL BEGAN LIFE AS GOOD MORNING, MISS BLISS CRACKED COM — Source

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