A popular brand of trading cards is coming to a television near you. The Hollywood Reporter confirms Danny McBride (The Righteous Gemstones, This Is the End) will write and co-create a new animated series based on the Garbage Pail Kids. The 1980s collectibles were created by the trading card company, Topps, who will also produce the series.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Garbage Pail Kids launched in 1985 as a parody of toy phenomenon, the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls. The trading cards were the brainchild of Topps collaborator, Art Spiegelman (Maus, MetaMaus). Initially introduced as a limited run, Topps pushed for the cards to become spinoff series from Spiegelman’s original Wacky Packages. Spiegelman, along with cartoonist Mark Newgarden (Bow Wow’s Nightmare Neighbors, Cheap Laffs: The Art of the Novelty Items) and artist John Pound (Howard the Duck, Mars Attack), worked to produce the first run.
The cards featured a posse of children with play-on names that described their unfortunate ailment, via The Hollywood Reporter. Characters like Adam Bomb and Blasted Billy exhibited gross and crude humor, the complete opposite of the Cabbage Patch dolls parents were buying for their children at the time. As the cards grew in popularity, they were banned from schools across the country. By 1987, a live-action film and animated series were produced, but due to parental complaints, neither aired in the United States.
McBride’s Rough House Pictures will produce along with co-creators and writers David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express, Halloween (2018)) and Josh Bycel (Happy Endings, The Big Show Show), according to The Hollywood Reporter. Brandon James (Vice Principals, Arizona) will serve as an executive producer. Rough House is joined by Tornante Television’s Noel Bright (Undone, Tuca & Bertie) and Steven A. Cohen (Mysticons, Commander in Chief). Tornante will operate under Michael Eisner (Glenn Martin DDS, Prom Queen) who also owns Topps.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, McBride’s version of the series will be for all ages with a family-friendly tone. The Garbage Pail Kids recently celebrated their 35th anniversary with a re-release of specialty cards as recent as 2016.