The Animated Adaptation of the popular 1986 plush toy of the same name, My Pet Monster is a 1987 Merchandise-Driven animated series from Nelvana that ran for a single season of 13 episodes on ABC. It was preceded in 1986 by a direct-to-video movie, also titled My Pet Monster (which has its own page on this wiki).
The cartoon follows a different plot than the movie. Whereas the movie had its protagonist transform into the eponymous monster whenever hungry after being cursed by a statue, the show has the kid (named Max, just like in the movie) as a separate character from the monster (named, umm, Monster), who is indeed his pet and best friend. Max has a magic pair of handcuffs that turn Monster into a plush when placed on his arms. He uses this to keep Monster's existence a secret from everyone else, with the only ones in on the truth being his older sister Jill and their friend Chuckie. The main adversaries of the show are Beastur, a bigger, scarier monster who hates light and seeks to take Monster back to Monsterland, and Mr. Hinkle, Max's neighbor who is very certain that Max is hiding something from him.
The show was short-lived but proved a modest success, boosting sales of the toys significantly. Some of the actors in the cartoon were also in the 1986 movie, such as Alyson Court and Colin Fox, although they often took on different roles. There was also a series of kids' books from Golden Books Publishing that shared a similar premise to the cartoon, with the main difference being that Monster lived in a cave under Max's house.
Nelvana has every episode on their Retro Rerun Youtube channel.
Tropes:
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Max and Jill, who are blond in this series, had brown hair in the movie.
- Adaptation Name Change: Jill was known as Melanie in the movie
- Affectionate Nickname: Jill calls Monster “Monzie” for short.
- Animated Adaptation: Of the My Pet Monster plush toy line.
- Another Dimension: Monsterland, where Monster originally came from, is accessed via portal. Beastur regularly comes in and out of Monsterland via portal to try and capture Monster and take him back to his home.
- Benevolent Monsters: Monster himself is Max's goofy, fun-loving, mischievous pet and best friend.
- Big Bad Ensemble: The series has two antagonists in the form of Monster's archenemy Beastur and Max and Jill's neighbor Mr. Hinkle.
- A Boy and His X: In this case, the "X" is a monster. As the title of the show (and the theme song) suggests, the focus of the series is on the friendship between Max and his pet Monster.
- Canon Foreigner: Chuckie had no counterpart in the direct-to-video movie.
- Cool Key: The key that Max uses to unlock Monster's magic handcuffs. They also double as a homing device to track the handcuffs if Max loses them.
- Decomposite Character: Whereas Max was a kid with the ability to transform into Monster in the 1986 movie, Max and Monster and separate characters in this series.
- A Dog Named "Dog": Monster is a monster named Monster.
- Extreme Omnivore: Monster loves to eat garbage. Just saying "the G-word" around him will get him all wild and excited.
- Merchandise-Driven: What else did you expect from an 80s cartoon based on a plush toy? It certainly doesn't help that Monster can be transformed into a stuffed toy whenever Max puts the orange handcuffs on him - the same orange handcuffs the plush monster came with in the toy stores!
- Mister Muffykins: Mr. Hinkle's pet poodle Princess fulfills this, although Monster loves messing with her.
- Only One Name: Max and Jill are only ever referred by their first names, although one episode reveals their last name to be Smith.
- Pet Monstrosity: Monster, obviously. It's called My Pet Monster for a reason!
- Secret Chaser: Mr. Hinkle, who is completely certain that Max has some kind of wild creature living with him and is determined to find out what it is so he can have it rid of.
- Secret-Keeper: Jill and Chuckie help Max keep the existence of Monster a secret from the adults.
- Speech-Impaired Animal: Well, monster, in the case of Monster and Beastur.
- Supernormal Bindings: Monster's handcuffs transform him into a plush toy that allows Max to hide him from others as needed. When placed on Beastur, these handcuffs cause him to shrink to a weak and tiny version of himself.
- Surprise Slide Staircase: Max's treehouse has one of these.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Mr. Hinkle seems to be this to Dr. Snyder from the movie, being played by the same actor and fulfilling the role of primary human antagonist. Beastur likewise seems to be based on the final scene of the movie, where Dr. Snyder gains the ability to transform into an even bigger, scarier monster.
- Team Pet: Monster is this for the Power Trio of Max, Jill, and Chuckie.
- Things That Go "Bump" in the Night: The denizens of Monsterland are these; Monster himself however was so bad at scaring children that he ended up befriending them instead - something that didn't sit well with Beastur and the others.
- Third-Person Person: Monster and Beastur both speak like this.
- Treehouse of Fun: Max, Jill, and Chuckie use a treehouse in Max's backyard as their primary base of operations.
- Weakened by the Light: Beastur's sensitive eyes make him very vulnerable to light, hence why he hates it.
