Trivia / Platypus Comix

• Actor Allusion:
  • One of the videos in "Jack Valenti's Movie Ratings System" depicts Julie Andrews teaching moviegoers about an updated MPAA seal, and the "Suggested For Mature Audiences" box. Peter refers to the video as, "one trailer starring Miss Poppins that parents could miss by going to the snack bar."
  • The "Fall 1989" installment of "The Ancient Lost Art of TV Guide Advertising" includes a promo◊ for a TV movie called Brand New Life. The promo shows Barbara Eden, of I Dream of Jeannie fame, carrying seven little people on a silver platter, so Peter admits that he'd only watch the movie if Eden's character magically shrunk people.
  • The review of Cricket on the Hearth instructs, "...make room for Danny Thomas", before he appears as the special's host (and one of its voice actors), as a reference to the sitcom Make Room For Daddy, which starred Thomas.
  • "Sabrinas Trough Time III" refers to Wayne Knight as "Dennis Nedry", the name of his Jurassic Park character, when he appears◊ in a Frosted Cheerios commercial.
• Attention Deficit Creator Disorder: As of 2018, the site has four ongoing comics all created by Peter, along with humorous articles added every so often. He also has to edit the publication, BANG! Magazine.
• Cowboy BeBop at His Computer:
  • Doubling as Wrongfully Attributed, "Love is Hard" refers to this feedback from an Aladdin story meeting as "the smartest thing [Michael Eisner] ever said in his life," even though Jeffrey Katzenberg actually gave it (as shown in one of the DVD bonus features):
    "I can see why he likes her. But I can't see why she likes HIM."
  • Peter's look at Marvelous Maureen theorizes that Darth Vader's unmasked appearance in Return of the Jedi inspired Gumbrayne's design◊, even though RotJ wouldn't premiere for about another year.
  • In ""The Platypus Comix Farewell Toys R Us Tour," Peter mentions that the only kids' programs on Saturday morning TV are by Litton Entertainment. This is false, as several Fox affiliates have the non-Litton block Xploration Station and some PBS stations air the PBS Kids block on weekends.
  • Peter's review of Disney's The Watcher in the Woods expresses surprise that the 2017 made-for-TV adaptation would air on Lifetime rather than a channel owned by Disney... even though the Mouse House owned half of Lifetime thanks to their acquisition of ABC.
• Creator Backlash: Peter won't avoid admitting his discontent with some of his old, discontinued series, such as Riot Act and Marin Meadow .
• In Memoriam:
  • Peter paid tribute to trailer voiceover Don LaFontaine with a compilation of various videos he narrated, including some that he did aside from movie trailers.
  • The death of former Motion Picture Association of America president Jack Valenti motivated Peter to write about the evolution of Jack Valenti's Movie Ratings System.
  • A few days after the untimely deaths of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson, Peter wrote a eulogy for...ALF. Which quickly was edited into a eulogy for Billy Mays.
  • Occasions that called for banners include:
    • The death◊ of Michael Jackson.
    • The breakup◊ of R.E.M..
    • The death◊ of Steve Jobs.
    • The death of Osama bin Laden got a banner which looked more cheery than the ones listed above.
    • The end◊ of Cul-de-sac.
    • The death◊ of Harold Ramis.
    • The death◊ of David Bowie.
    • The death◊ of Prince.
    • The death◊ of Stan Lee.
• Life Imitates Art: "Nester and Wiiner # 2: No More Heroes," a story about Casual Video Game production causing a decline in quality Nintendo games, ended with Nintendo making plans for a game about breathing. Over a year later, Ubisoft announced plans for Innergy, a game about breathing.
• Milestone Celebration:
  • The week of Platypus Comix's 10th anniversary brought the banner providing the current page image.
  • Peter displayed this◊ a few days after Joan of Arc's 600th birthday.
  • The website celebrated the 25th anniversary of Free Spirit (1989)^note the anniversary of when ABC televised the pilot, as opposed to when the show began its regular Sunday night airings with this banner◊, and a review of the last episode ABC aired, "Blast From the Past".
  • The website celebrated the 35th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda with this banner◊, and a list of Easter Eggs in the code for The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.
• Missing Episode: Several of the oldest banners got deleted to save space.
• One-Episode Wonder: "Rice Cub" ends by asking the reader to tell Peter if he or she would like to read a sequel. Even though some people answered that they would, Peter evidently never found the time to make one.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: After Peter learned of the existence of a website called "Platypus Comics," he wrote about his characters' reactions to the similarly named work and its debatably enjoyable content in "Riot Act # 2."
• Reality Subtext: Numerous examples, such as the Mulberry comic "Murphy's Lawn" (built up on Brittany Murphy's death) and the Keiki comic "Beefer in the Time of Cholera" (set during the economic recession of the late 2000s). Peter also traditionally makes comics about Dan Blather covering the Olympic Games and Mulberry trying to influence the Presidential Election.
• Viral Marketing:
  • Some of the banners displayed in Fall and Winter of 2010 have the number pi◊ displayed◊ for reasons that didn't seem very clear until New Year's Day 2011, when Paltridge released the first Princess Pi comic.
  • During the week of April 15-21, 2012, the banner featured a working countdown to midnight April 23 ET, at which time Peter Paltridge would make "the most important announcement in Platypus Comix history." Peter extended the countdown◊, then shortened it◊, then◊ revealed that he plans to collect stories and comics for an independent publication: BANG! The Entertainment Paper (later renamed).
• What Could Have Been: Peter's DeviantArt page includes sketches and synopses for two abandoned ideas he had for flagship comics: Mackenzie, the Magician's Daughter, and Johnny Redshirt. They both got rejected in favor of Princess Pi.