History Trivia / EarthwormJim

* KidsMealToy: Taco Bell offered a set of four toys in 1996. They included a squeeze toy, a piggy bank, a bowling game, and a wind-up car.

** A [[UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable PSP]] game was planned, and apparently almost done, but due to financial difficulties, it was cancelled.
** Creator/{{Sega}} also considered the possibility of putting a port of the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis[=/=]Mega Drive version of the original on UsefulNotes/XboxLiveArcade, and made a poll with some other games to see people's opinions on whether it or other games should be on there. They abandoned the thought and replaced it with another game when they found out that Creator/{{Gameloft}} was already working on an [[VideoGameRemake HD remake]] for the same service.

* RecursiveAdaptation: The UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor game ''Earthworm Jim: Menace 2 the Galaxy'' is based on the cartoon. ''Earthworm Jim 3D'' also has milder links.

** On another note, Matt Frewer was originally supposed to be the voice for Jim, but the role went to Dan Castellaneta instead.

** As proof from this promo with footage from the pitch reel, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT3_DX4we28 the show was somewhat different originally]]. Most notably, Major Mucus makes a brief appearance when he was AdaptedOut in the actual cartoon.

* FranchiseKiller: The TroubledProduction of ''Earthworn Jim 3D'', coupled with it being both a critical and commercial failure, put the franchise in limbo for nearly two decades. Many past attempts at rebooting, with the exception of ''HD'', have also fallen into DevelopmentHell which has further cemented this.

* ScheduleSlip: ''Earthworm Jim 4'' was set to release some months after the launch of the Intellivision Amico in October 2020 but was pushed back multiple times alongside the Amico due to various complications. Development on the game was also halted a few times since the staff also help develop the Amico. In an interview with ''Retro Gamer Magazine'', Tommy Tallarico states the game's probable target release year is in 2023.

* TheWikiRule: [[https://earthwormjim.fandom.com/wiki/Earthworm_Jim_Wiki Earthworm Jim wiki]]

* TropeNamers:
** LevelAte
** PlanetHeck

** Going back further, Shiny employee Nick Bruty believes the second game is "shit". However, he is a very harsh self-critic, and in his defense he feels he didn't give all the effort he could into developing it (as, unlike the rest of the team, he did not get a break between the first and second games--he was in charge of the special Sega CD edition of [=EWJ1=]--and felt burned out.)

%% * GodDoesNotOwnThisWorld: The only reason ''Earthworm Jim [[ThirdIs3d 3D]]'' was allowed to go as it was.

** ''Menace 2 the Galaxy'' Has yet to see a rerelease anywhere outside of its original system.

* TroubledProduction: According to Matt [=McMuscles=], who spoke with a developer on Earthworm Jim 3D as part of his ''What Happened?'' series, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpHydE8z1FY the game originally had a different vision with a more open world layout and was supposed to be a PC exclusive]]. However late into development the decision was made to change the game to be more similar to popular platformers of the time like Banjo-Kazooie and Playstation and Nintendo 64 versions were mandated. VIS Interactive was a new studio filled with mostly inexperienced developers who'd never even worked on either hardware, and they found that the limitations of the [=PS1=] meant that most of the open-world levels had to be scaled back. There was also massive crunch leading up to the release of the game, and despite this it would be met with a very lackluster reception.

* CreatorBacklash: The third game was despised by the original creators including Creator/DougTenNapel.

* NoPortForYou: Surprisingly averted with the Special Edition of the first game, which was originally released for the Sega CD and later received a version for PC.

** Averted for a time, as the entire series (well, almost) was on the free streaming service Tubi. However, it's since been removed.

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: It suffered the same timeslot demotion as ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}!'' It was in a more precarious position though, as WB didn't make it, Creator/{{Universal}} did (their animation studio was also known for making ''WesternAnimation/ExoSquad'').

* ActorAllusion: Minor superhero Johnny Dactyl appears in a cloud of blue smoke and attempts a dramatic speech to terrify the villains. Sounds like something Creator/JimCummings [[WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck has done before]].

* MissingEpisode: An entire dub, actually. The entire series was dubbed in Italian by Mediaset and was advertised, but never actually aired. As such, all episodes are missing, and the only thing remaining from the dub is the theme song performed by Music/CristinaDAvena in 2003, that only resurfaced in 2016.
** Tubi inexplicably lacks the "Exile of Lucy" episode; it's not clear why it isn't there, since the episodes appear to be sourced from the same tapes as the American DVD release (meaning all the second season episodes are higher-pitched, indicating that for whatever reason, those episodes came from European copies; [[DigitalDestruction high-pitched audio tended to happen when media was converted from the NTSC standard used in the US to the PAL format used in Europe]]).

* TalkingToHimself:
** Psy-Crow and Bob the Killer Goldfish both share a voice actor, as do Peter Puppy and the LemonyNarrator (who he interacts directly with at least once).
** In the episode "The Exile of Lucy", Queen Slug-for-a-Butt is deposed and sent to Earth, where she meets and befriends [[NosyNeighbor Mrs. Bleveredge]], with whom she shares a voice actress.