Alternaversal Productions

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum



Background

Alternaversal Productions, LLC is the production company of Mystery Science Theater 3000 creator Joel Hodgson, which produces the show following its acquisition by Shout! Factory from the franchise's original production company Best Brains. It produced Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return for Netflix, and is currently producing more episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 streaming at the Gizmoplex. The company was renamed to Gizmonic Arts in 2023.

Alternaversal Productions

The Stinger (April 14, 2017-November 22, 2018, May 6-December 16, 2022)

Visuals: Over a clip from the movie shown during the episode is the white words on the bottom of the screen, "ALTERNAVERSAL PRODUCTIONS, LLC."

Variants:

  • Reptilicus: The wacky "comic relief" janitor sticks his hand in the electric eel tank, comically "screaming" and flailing in pain.
  • Cry Wilderness: The logo zooms in to see the villainous hunter Morgan messily and rather disgustingly eating meat that is implied to be a dead baby raccoon.
  • The Time Travelers: A lady of the future dances to synth music with colorful lights as one of the scientists awkwardly watches. We get a closer shot of his face as he does a weird smile.
  • Avalanche: A police car swerves by a store, knocking a man through the window in slow motion as he screams.
  • The Beast of Hollow Mountain: In her destroyed house, a woman throws a wooden pole towards the titular "beast" (a claymation T. rex). It easily chomps it in half.
  • Starcrash: In his spaceship, Akton awkwardly smiles and laughs.
  • The Land That Time Forgot: A screaming man is taken away in the mouth of a very fake looking Pterodactyl.
  • The Loves of Hercules: The Hydra's head lightly bumps into Hercules in what the filmmakers must have intended to be an attack, as he spins into the wall.
  • Yongary: The titular kaiju Yongary (played by Cho Kyoung-min) dances with Icho (a young boy) to "rock and roll music". Icho laughs and yells "go Yongary go!"
  • Wizards of the Lost Kingdom: Shurka the sorcerer and his wife are startled when their scrying pool explodes. The former points at the pool and screams "DAMN HIM! HE HAS BEATEN ME THIS TIME, BOBINOOOOOO!"
  • Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II: Tyor smiles as his biceps grow in size. He says "wow!" David Carradine's character smiles at a woman embracing him saying "it's actually not looking that bad!" Tyor then throws his sword in slow motion.
  • Carnival Magic: The "wacky" sheriff who chased Alex the Chimp when he took a car and started driving sits on his police car with a sad look on his face as it gets towed away.
  • The Christmas That Almost Wasn't: Sitting in a chair next to a Christmas tree, a stuffed tiger, and a man named Sam, Santa does his trademark "Ho ho ho!" laugh, but in a way that sounds almost maniacal. He nudges Sam and yells "Hey, Sam! This is fun!" before laughing some more. Sam himself joins in to the chaotic laughter.
  • At The Earth's Core: A reptilian monster falls off a cliff and explodes.

In season 2 of the Netflix series, also known as The Gauntlet, "ALTERNAVERSAL" and "PRODUCTIONS" are now stacked on top of each other, with "LLC." omitted.

  • Mac and Me: At a supermarket, Mac's mom, who is holding a baby alien (Mac himself is present), knocks down a stack of Coca-Cola cans. The manager angrily yells "Hey! What the hell you think you're doing?" She chirps in protest. From another aisle, Mac's dad walks out, holding a watermelon. He and the manager stare at each other, the latter completely dumbfounded.
  • Atlantic Rim: Red tells his teammates a story of a past fight. "I'm pinning him and I'm shaking and I'm fighting with him. Spitfire comes in, dude. He's got a full payload. The 50 Cal didn't even leave a scratch. He pulls up sharply, comes around for a second run. Spitfire balls up, dude, he comes in close. Drops it, nails it, BUH-BOOOOM! The thing is gone!"
  • Lords of the Deep: An unconscious woman is approached by the sea monster in the movie, a bizarre white plastic puppet with red glowing eyes surrounded by black markings and "wings". It gives her a weird embrace around the mouth and blinks.
  • The Day Time Ended: A weird looking tiny green stop motion alien appears out of green light. A young girl named Jenny looks at it and smiles.
  • Killer Fish: A man in a floral shirt and hat with sunglasses resting on it says "Aaaah... that's it. Laugh it up. Art."
  • Ator, the Fighting Eagle: Ator's teacher Griba tells him to "Keep the legs apart, with the equilibrium of the body distributed evenly." Ator does so, and Griba kicks him in the groin. Griba then points at the pained Ator. "Rule number two: surprise."

On the Gizmoplex episodes, it is back to the first format minus "PRODUCTIONS", reading "ALTERNAVERSAL, LLC."

  • Santo in the Treasure of Dracula: Santo, Black Hood, and their allies all climb out of their cars to beat each other up.
  • Robot Wars: In a crowd of people in line for the robot simulation, Drake tells Leda "I think you need to be, you know, spanked." Leda then slaps Drake in the face.
  • Beyond Atlantis: The pearl diving team reunites after being split in half, East Eddie all covered in wounds. Someone asks "What happened?", to which East Eddie angrily replies "Some mother-crabber set a trap!"
  • Munchie: While the other kids in the classroom fight each other with paper airplanes due to the teacher leaving, Gage shakes his head with a smile and says "gotta be Munchie".
  • Doctor Mordrid: Adrian obnoxiously dances around and "sings" a stereotypical hard rock song while holding a Molotov cocktail, as the sirens of the approaching police can be heard in in the background.
  • Demon Squad: At a bar, Nick Moon cracks open a bottle of beer by using the mouth of a dragon demon (portrayed via rubber puppet) as a bottle opener.
  • Gamera vs. Jiger: The three main kids sit at a table together and discuss their thoughts on Gamera. "It's a lie! Gamera is a friend to all children!" "He isn't our friend anymore, I hate Gamera!"
  • The Batwoman: A crowd of reporters hound an open door with many questions. One reporter says "Well, we lost her. But this case must be very hard cause they call Batwoman." (sic) Another excited reporter yells in response "Yeah, write that down!"
  • The Million Eyes of Sumuru: In reference to an imposter of President Boong getting shot, Mr. West asks "What happened?" Helga replies "She killed Boong". The real President Boong walks out from behind a door smoking a cigarette, asking "Did I hear my name?" Mr. West and Helga are in shock. "President Boong?!" "The real one."
  • H.G. Wells' The Shape of Things To Come: Omos casts a giant spinning projection of himself and gives a speech to the space crew that have arrived on the planet, where they are surrounded by his robots. "I am Omos, emperor of Delta-3. Welcome, my dear Dr. Caball. How marvelous to see you!"
  • The Mask: A woman opens a door and enters the bedroom. Upon seeing the dead body of the man who was sleeping there, she lets out a piercing, high-pitched scream as the camera zooms into her face.
  • The Bubble: Mark watches a platter with drinks "fly" around a bar (the strings are clearly visible).
  • The Christmas Dragon: The young girl protagonist points to the sky, screaming "D...D...DRAGON!" in terror. A man stealing a dragon egg gets snatched by the talons of a dragon.

Technique: Live-action and whatever "FX" (in the loosest sense of the term) the clips may have.

Audio: Depends on the clip.

Availability: Seen on Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return on Netflix, as well as the revival of Mystery Science Theater 3000 on its specialty streaming service, Gizmoplex.

Legacy: A revival of the Best Brains "stinger" logos used on the original show.