"I Heard You From the Snack Line"

Meet the Robinsons (And Other Things).

If you saw a lot of movies growing up, you probably have a lot of memories associated with them. For Erin, one of those memories was her local video store, T&V Home Video. For you, it might have been an experience you had, a movie you watched that became a favorite, or maybe the place you'd always go to lunch or dinner for afterward.

For me, it was a bizarre video that would play before each movie that starred Frankie the Frog from Meet the Robinsons (???) parodying "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye and telling everyone to turn their phones off and be quiet during the movie. The title was, you guessed it: "I Heard You From the Snack Line." I'm not sure how many theaters this played at, but I distinctly remember it at Mega Movies at Brunswick Square Mall. If you remember this (and you weren't from Sayreville, NJ or the surrounding area), PLEASE let me know. I have to know where this played.

I hadn't listened to the song in a while (even though I sing it in my head like, once a month). Here it is. Listen to it real quick (you're in quarantine, what else do you have going on) and then I'm going to share my comments.

First of all, I've never seen Meet the Robinsons. I have no idea what it's about. If you asked me before today when Meet the Robinsons came out, I would've said I have no idea - the 1970s? I don't know what to tell you. To my surprise today I found out that Meet the Robinsons came out in 2007! This must have been some sort of promo for the movie? Did this only play before movies in 2007 and 2008? How long did Disney pay theaters to run this before movies?

Anyway, moving into the substance of the video. I'm a little confused as to why it's presented sing-along style with the lyrics at the bottom of the screen. Were they...encouraging people to sing along in the theater? I thought they may have just been accommodating deaf people, which would be great, but this played before movies without subtitles. Were they just proud of the lyrical adaptation of the classic Marvin Gaye song? If the latter, they should be proud. It's a beat for beat cover. It's perfect.

Um okay so at the end, Frankie (or was it another frog? I think it's Frankie) and his goons toss a bunch of cell phones in a trunk and slam it shut while the narrator says "Be considerate...or else." That was WAY too ominous to simply mean that your phone will get confiscated. Frankie and his guys are going to murder you if you talk during a movie. Also, was that a single theater's worth of phones? How many cell phones fit in a frog trunk? That looked like triple digits. Were they frog cell phones? Are the frogs as big as humans? They're as big as the car. Is it a frog car? Why were they all ringing at once? I'm so confused.

Other questions and comments: What specifically could someone say to ruin a person's day at the movies? Did Jackie Chan get paid royalties for this? What does the R stand for on the drum kit - Robinsons? Ribbit? Something else? Speaking of the drummer, he has by far the most swag in the entire thing. Dude's going to town with his eyes closed. Also, I wish we got more of the trumpet players that pop in around :07. I bet they would've killed it.

That's it. That's the post. I don't know, we're living in a weird time right now. Don't blame me for this, you sat here and read all of it. Anyway, I need to know who remembers this. Please contact me.