Western Animation / Tamagotchi Video Adventures

Tamagotchi Video Adventures is a 1997 Tamagotchi VHS by the American company 7th Level. It consists of three segments.

"Now Museum, Now You Don't" is a cartoon and the main feature. Cosmotchi notices that his museum lacks an exhibit from Earth. He sends the Tamagotchis to Earth to find an exhibit for his museum. The Tamagotchis get into groups, collect objects, and leave behind golden eggs. They partake in human activities, such as golfing and watching TV. When the Tamagotchis return to Tamagotchi Planet, they show Cosmotchi what they found. Masktchi, the only Tamagotchi who didn't have a group, shows Cosmotchi a popsicle stick that a kind human gave him to cheer him up. Cosmotchi uses Masktchi's popsicle stick for the museum because it shows the selflessness of humans.

"What's a Tamagotchi?" is a music video about the characters featured in the first segment. It's about 4 minutes long.

"How to Draw Tamagotchi" is a segment where Dan and his Hand Puppet friend Handy Warhol teach viewers how to draw Tamagotchi characters. Dan gives the viewers an easy step-by-step art lesson. Handy Warhol helps Dan and makes his own unique drawings.

Tamagotchi Video Adventures was a Failed Pilot Episode complete with series bible. Ultimately, it was never made into a full series, just one rare VHS that was never popular.

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Tamagotchi Video Adventures provides examples of:

• Actor Allusion: Mimitchi and Potitchi referencing The Ren & Stimpy Show is alluding to their voice actor, Billy West, also voicing Ren and Stimpy themselves.
• Aliens Speaking English: Cosmotchi, thanks to the translator. However, we do get some Gratuitous English from some of the other Tamagotchis.
• Alliterative Title: Tamagotchi Toons.
• Bare-Handed Puppetry: Handy Warhol is a hand with paint on his face and fake hair on his head.
• Bookends: The "camera" pans down to Tamagotchi Planet at the beginning of the cartoon and pans up to the sky at the end.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: At the beginning of the animated segment, Mimitchi appears, notices the viewers from across the screen, and recognizes they don't understand what Cosmotchi is saying, as he brings out a translation machine to translate his speech into English.
• Canon Foreigner: Cosmotchi is entirely unique to this VHS. He never appears in any Japanese material.
• Cheek Copy: A variant. Tarakotchi and Zattchi demonstrate how to work the photo copier they've chosen to be Tamagotchi Museum's Earth exhibit by using it to copy Cosmotchi's face onto Tarakotchi's belly. Tarakotchi somehow gets the copied face to whistle.
  Cosmotchi: Not my best side... but I like it!
• Crowd Chant: The Tamagotchis all cheer "Mask-tchi! Mask-tchi!" as they select Masktchi's popsicle stick to be the relic that represents Earth in the museum.
• A Dog Named "Dog": Close enough. A hand named Handy.
• Dogs Love Fire Hydrants: Alluded to. During the "What's a Tamagotchi?" song, Pochitchi, a dog Tamagotchi, is seen next to a fire hydrant for a second or so.
• Elvis Impersonator: Ginjrotchi, for some reason, has Elvis' hair and outfit as well as a penchant for dancing. He has the same deep voice, too... except he speaks the gibberish-sounding Tamagotchi language like most of the other characters.
• Episode Title Card: It has one, despite not needing one.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Guess what "How to Draw Tamagotchi" is about.
• Failed Pilot Episode: It's pretty clearly one for a show called Tamagotchi Toons that never got picked up. It even has an Episode Title Card.
• The Full Name Adventures: Tamagotchi Video Adventures.
• Garage Sale: Nyorotchi and Bill scour a garage sale to find Earth stuff for the museum. They come across a tape player and enjoy dancing to the music playing from it.
• Klingons Love Shakespeare: After visiting Earth, Ginjirotchi becomes a full-fledged Elvis impersonator, taking on his deep voice and hairstyle and giving Cosmotchi a car similar to the one Elvis drove as a possible exhibit to complete the museum.
• Line Boil: The animation style used here utilizes line boils.
• Lyrical Cold Open: The song "What's a Tamagotchi?" is introduced with a male announcer speaking rather than singing a set of lyrics, with noticeable build-up in the background instrumentation, before the main part of the song starts.
  This just in, a space news flash
  Fourteen small distant neighbors dropping in for a bash
  They've got hip technology and like a good snack
  But they'll need your assistance to find their way back
  They're here on a mission of a cultural sort
  To bring back an Earth object of great import
  If your mom can't find her slippers or your dad's lost his socks
  Don't be alarmed to find the house is full of rocks!
  They're not rocks at all, but eggs of purest gold
  And here's a big secret you're about to be told
  It's no fairytale goose that left them, you see
  But out-of-town critters known as Tamagotchi!
  [different vocalists take over from here]
  What's a Tamagotchi? (A Tamagotchi)
  Have you seen them go-tchi? (Go go go-tchi)
• The Man in the Moon: When the Tamagotchi travel through outer space in a spaceship, they pass by the moon, which is shown to have a face for whatever unexplained reason.
• Never Trust a Title: The "s" in Tamagotchi Toons suggests there's more than one "toon". However, there's only one episode.
• One-Shot Character: This is the only time Cosmotchi and Handy Warhol appear.
• "Pan from the Sky" Beginning: The cartoon opens with a view of outer space that pans down, eventually reaching the surface of Tamagotchi Planet. A Flying Saucer is then seen zooming by before the scene cuts to a panning shot of a town on the planet that slowly approaches Tamagotchi Museum, one of the video's main settings.
• "Pan Up to the Sky" Ending: Inverted at the beginning of the video, with the frame panning down to the surface of Tamagotchi Planet as the Bandai logo and opening titles appear on-screen. Played straight twice later on - the first time is at the end of the main cartoon segment with the frame panning up as Cosmotchi and the Tamagotchis ride a car proposed as a museum exhibit into space; the second time is at the end of the video after the credits, with the footage of the Tamagotchis riding the car being reused.
• Pun-Based Title: The title of the animated segment, "Now Museum, Now You Don't", is a pun on the phrase "now you see it, now you don't".
• Questioning Title?: The song "What's a Tamagotchi?"
• Rage Quit: The male of the golfing couple slams down his clubs after being outmatched by Zuccitchi and Kuchipatchi.
  Male Golfer: THAT'S IT! I QUIT, I QUIT, I QUIT! I'LL NEVER PLAY GOLF AGAIN!
  Female Golfer: Darling! It's just a game!
• Recursive Canon: While in the flying saucer, a couple of the Tamagotchis are seen playing with the very virtual pets the video is adapted from.
• Shout-Out:
  • Mimitchi and Pochitchi go inside a television and play the roles of Ren and Stimpy, respectively.
    Pochitchi: Happy joy, happy joy!
    Mimitchi: YOU EEDIOT!
    Cosmotchi: Fascinating! Yet disturbing, somehow.
  • Handy Warhol is a reference to Andy Warhol.
  • Mametchi's contribution to the museum is a glove from the planet Vulcan. The glove is even shown making the Vulcan hand salute.
  • Ginjirotchi's hair style, white suit, deep voice and dancing are references to Elvis Presley. His verse in the "What's a Tamagotchi?" song mentions blue suede shoes, a reference to one of Elvis's most famous songs.
• Simpleton Voice: This version of Kuchipatchi has a very low-pitched voice, probably to fit his personality (he's described as "big and dumb" in the song segment).
• Tagline: "Enjoy the video based on the original virtual reality pet!"
• Theme Tune Roll Call: "What's a Tamagotchi?", which can be considered a theme song of sorts, introduces the characters and describes their personalities.
• Translator Microbes: The cartoon starts with the Tamagotchis speaking an alien language before Mimitchi turns on a translation machine.

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