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Little Green Army Men
Long before their 1995 spy mission in Pixar’s animated hit movie Toy Story, little green army men inspired hours of make-believe war-play for children.
Made of hard molded plastic, little green army men first appeared in the 1930s, thanks to the Bergen Toy and Novelty Company. These monochromatic toy soldiers were direct descendants of their metal forebears of previous centuries. Each soldier typically stood two to four inches tall in one of a variety of actions poses, modeled after soldiers in the mid-20th century United States military.
The plastics manufacturing boom of the 1950s meant that these toys could be produced for pennies a piece, and they were sold in bulk by a variety of toy companies. Toy companies also created playsets around them which depicted famous historical battles. The low price point also made them easy to replace – a hit with both parents and kids alike
Sarge (also known as Army Sarge and Sergeant) is a minor character in the Disney/Pixar Toy Story film series and the gung-ho commander of an army of plastic toy soldiers from the Bucket 'O' Soldiers. He is loosely based on the late R. Lee Ermey's role as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket.
He and the Bucket 'O' Soldiers are set in particular positions. They are extremely disciplined with a "leave no man behind" policy and are masters of reconnaissance. Woody describes them as "professionals." Sarge and his soldiers go on missions to help Andy's toys check up on Andy's activities with his friends or family. Sarge and his troops frequently help out their fellow toys. With their assistance, the toys discover what presents Andy and Molly are getting on birthdays and Christmas.
The Guns of Star Wars
The Empire Strikes Back,” and “Return of the Jedi” feature a good amount of not only existing firearms, but also some historic WWI and WWII vintage pieces. They’re all modified. Lucas apparently thought that taking any old gun, cutting down the barrel and stock, and putting a scope on top made it a space gun.
Most are barely recognizable, but many were left fully operational and actually fired blanks on screen. Doing so made it easier for the actors to react to shooting their blasters while filming, and for the special-effects guys to come along later and add the red or green blasts over the muzzle flashes.It’s interesting to see how many weapons of war, which are antiques by today’s standards and were pretty close to it in the ‘70s and ‘80s when the movies were made, were designed to look futuristic by subtracting a few pieces and adding some aesthetic touches. And since the studio filming for the first movie was done in England, there aren’t any American arms in the mix, which actually made the blasters less familiar to U.S. movie audiences.
The Ship Behind HG Wells' Thunder Child
HMS Thunder Child is a fictional ironclad torpedo ram of the Royal Navy, destroyed by Martian fighting-machines in H. G. Wells' 1898 novel The War of the Worlds whilst protecting a refugee rescue fleet of civilian vessels. It has been suggested[1] that Thunder Child was based on HMS Polyphemus, which was the sole torpedo ram to see service with the Royal Navy from 1881 to 1903.
Thunder Child was a Royal Navy torpedo ram famous for sacrificing itself in order to protect the evacuation fleet on the Essex coast. Her valiant efforts resulted in the destruction of two tripods and allowed the evacuation fleet to escape, including the paddle-steamer carrying the narrator's brother and his two female traveling companions.
In the Novel
In the novel Wells gives only a rough description of the ship, describing her thus: "About a couple of miles out lay an ironclad, very low in the water, almost, to my brother's perception, like a water-logged ship." After the narrator talks about his brother he introduces us to the Thunder Child in chapter 17. This was the ram Thunder Child".[2] A few paragraphs later, it is stated that "It was the torpedo ram, Thunder Child, steaming headlong, coming to the rescue of the threatened shipping".[2]
The battle takes place off the mouth of the River Blackwater, Essex, where people from London are escaping the Martian offensive. Three Martian fighting-machines having approached the vessels from the seaward side, HMS Thunder Child signals to the main fleet and steams at full speed towards the Martians without firing. The Martians, whom the narrator suggests are unfamiliar with large warships (having come from an arid planet) at first use only a gas attack. When this fails to have any effect, they employ their Heat-Ray, inflicting fatal damage on the Thunder Child.
The ship continues to attack, bringing down one of the fighting machines with its guns even as it succumbs. The flaming wreckage of the ironclad finally rams into a second fighting-machine, destroying it. When the black smoke and super-heated steam banks dissipate, both the Thunder Child and the third fighting-machine are gone. The attack by Thunder Child occupies the Martians long enough for three Royal Navy warships of the main Channel Fleet to arrive.
Real Life Counterparts
The ship is described as a huge ironclad with several guns and twin funnels. It was also noted as being so low in the water that it appeared to be waterlogged.
The only torpedo ram of the Royal Navy was HMS Polyphemus, which may have served as inspiration for the HMS Thunder Child. There was also a Danish Torpedo Ram named Tordenskjold (Thundershield) whose similar name suggests a connection.
Adaptions in Pop-Culture
The Thunder Child has only appeared in the Pendragon Pictures version of the War of the Worlds. The film wrongly portrays the vessel as a Havock-class destroyer. The battle is reversed, much like the Jeff Wayne's version, where the ship fires its cannon before ramming the tripod. The 1953 and 2005 versions completely omit any mention of the Thunder Child. The only War of the Worlds adaptation other than the Pendragon Pictures film to feature the Thunder Child was the Jeff Wayne's Musical Adaptation.
Although the Thunder Child does not appear in the movie War of the Worlds: Goliath , the comic book story "The Captain" from Heavy Metal Magazine - which ties into the film - declares that the captain of the Thunder Child was called Captain Eric Wodensen, while the ship itself was referred to as a Minotaur-Class Ironclad Battleship that was already outdated when it was called into battle.
Additional Details
- Published by:
- The Guns of Star Wars
- Little Green Army Men
- HMS Thunder Child
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