Sea-Monkeys On Film
Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007)
In a scene where Dave is talking to the chipmunks in the living room, which is filled with their Christmas toys & Uncle Ian’s gifts, we can spot various Sea-Monkey items around the room.
The first item we see is the Play-Pen from the Port-A-Pet kit, right next to Simon on the table. Then we can see a Night-Life Gems box on top of the TV behind Dave. On another shot, we see, from left to right, the Play-Plen, the Port-A-Pet box on the couch, the tank from that set in the bottom right of the lamp, and the Night-Life Gems kit again. Finally, before this scene ends, we can briefly spot a blue Ocean-Zoo on a counter with a VideoNow instruction sheet inside it.
The year this movie was filmed and released makes the appearance of those products a peculiar one. In 2007, after about 12 years as the Sea-Monkeys licensee, Educational Insights' agreement ended. In June of 2007, Big Time Toys came into the picture when they became the new licensee of the Sea-Monkey brand.
Alvin and the Chipmunks started filming in late March of 2007, and eventually got its theatrical release in December of that year. Given that these product placement deals tend to be signed in advance, and set in stone by the time filming production begins, it's interesting to see those remnants of Educational Insights products on screen, given the timeline & all that was happening behind the scenes with the Sea-Monkey brand during that time.
Amos & Andrew (1993)
While Amos, the criminal played by Nicolas Cage, is talking to Andrew (Samuel L. Jackson) about his life, he mentions wanting Sea-Monkeys as a child because he liked how happy the Sea-Monkeys family looked in the pictures, which is what he desired his real-life family to be.
The VHS promo display package included a Sea-Monkeys starter kit.
Boss Baby, The (2017)
The Boss Baby and his brother arrive at a pet convention in Las Vegas, where a large Sea-Monkeys Ocean-Zoo is visible on the show floor. We get a few close shots of it where we can see the anthropomorphic version of Sea-Monkeys swimming around. In the directory, we can spot Sea-Monkeys at no. 6 in the list and an icon of them on the show floor map.
Finding Nemo (2003)
After escaping from the sharks in a previous scene, Marlin & Dory are then seen sleeping inside a diving mask. Dory is sleep-talking, and before being woken up, one of the lines she says: “Sea-Monkey has my money.”
Frankenweenie (2012)
With the science fair happening soon, a fierce competition begins among the town’s kids to produce the best experiment. Victor Frankenstein is one of those kids; having recently lost his dog Sparky, he builds a machine to reanimate it using electricity. The other kids get wind of this and eventually copy his invention to use it on other creatures. One of the kids, named Bob, uses his version of the machine to bring to life his Sea-Monkeys. These Sea-Monkeys, along with the other reanimated monsters, start wreaking havoc at a local festival. To stop the Sea-Monkeys, Victor and Bob eventually kill them by luring them into salty popcorn, which they can’t handle & causing them to explode; since these are freshwater Sea-Monkeys.
The Invisible Goldfish, an early novelty toy created by Harold, also makes an appearance in this film.
Goofy Movie, A (1995)
In the opening song, After Today, a pair of nerds wearing Star Trek shirts hold up a copy of the Weird Planet comic, which has an ad in the back for Sea-People.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
In the opening fight sequence, the team is fighting an Abilisk. To get its attention, Quill yells: “Hey, you giant Sea Monkey, up here!”
Halloweentown (1998)
The children are around Halloweentown gathering ingredients for a witches' brew; one of those ingredients is the sweat of a ghost. To distract the ghost they get it from, the boy Dylan randomly says to the ghost: “Did you know that Sea-Monkeys are actually shrimp?”
Identity (2003)
Disclaimer: This reference stems from a dialogue in which the Indian burial ground trope is briefly used and may be considered distasteful.
Due to a rainstorm, a few travelers end up stranded in a remote motel, where eventually some of the guests start to die mysteriously. One of the guests brings up the burial ground that surrounds the motel—where Indigenous Americans who died from lack of water are buried—as a possible cause for the strange events. Incredulous about what he heard, Ray Liotta’s character, Samuel Rhodes, snarkily responds with: “Now they’re coming back to life like sea monkeys, huh?”
Jawbreaker (1999)
While Fern Mayo is being interviewed about her relation to the dead classmate, she mentions that she used to sit behind her in class, and found her beauty marks in her neck fascinating, and would find patterns in them; one of them being a Sea-Monkey.
Loaded Weapon 1 (1993)
General Mortars (William Shatner) enters the home of another criminal (Denis Leary) and approaches a fish tank, and asks “Sea-Monkeys?” to which the criminal responds “Piranhas.”
Lodge, The (2019)
In this psychological horror film, the siblings have ghost shrimps as pets. In a conversation between the girl and her step-mom, they’re referred to as sea monkeys.
Multiplicity (1996)
In the epilogue one the clones played by Michael Keaton is seen wearing an official Sea-Monkeys t-shirt that was being sold at the time.
Secret Life of Pets, The (2016)
In the sewers—where the group of rejected animals called The Flushed Pets gather—Snowball, their leader, is talking about how humans pretend to love pets, but then turn around and dispose of them. He approaches a small Sea-Monkey aquarium, and asks, “Ain’t that right, Sea-Monkeys?” to which one of the Sea-Monkeys responds, “Hey, it’s not our fault we don’t look like the ad!”
The speaking Sea-Monkey was voiced by Brian T. Delaney.
Superman Returns (2006)
In his pursuit of power, Lex Luthor steals Kryptonian crystals from Superman’s Fortress of Solitude so he can use their properties to help humanity. As Lex is describing to his henchmen the benefits these crystals could provide by growing them, he says, “To think that one could create a new world with such a simple little object. It’s like a seed. All it needs is water.” To which his henchwoman, Kitty says, “Like Sea-Monkey”, Luthor responds “Exactly, Kitty. Like Sea-Monkeys.”
Unfrosted (2024)
In this Netflix comedy film, we see the first portrayal of Harold von Braunhut in a film, with actor Thomas Patrick Lennon fulfilling that role.
In this film, Harold is part of the initial research & development team behind Pop-Tarts. He's introduced as "Inventor of the Sea-Monkey and German immigrant”, someone akin to those brought over to the US via Operation Paperclip. Based on the character’s country of origin and leaning on Harold’s real-life association with white supremacist groups, his dialogue through the film heavily implies he’s not just any regular immigrant.
As a taste pilot, Harold's character has a few scenes throughout the film as he helps Kellogg's (now Kellanova) to perfect the pastry product. While working with Chef Boyardee, who is also a taste pilot, they accidentally create a sentient Sea-Monkeys-infused ravioli that causes some mischief in some brief scenes. In the film’s epilogue, Harold and Chef Boyardee are living together, with them caring for the now angsty teenager ravioli named Eric.
In the Sea-Monkeys side of things, we spot a Sea-Monkeys ad in the back of an Archie comic, we instantly see fully grown Artemia appear when Harold demonstrates how his invention works, and in other scenes, we see a chalkboard with Sea-Monkey information.
The X-Ray Spex, another of Harold's iconic novelty items, are also seen in the film.
