Out of Frame, Into Reality: Perri-Air Magazine Ad

The "Perri-Air" joke in Spaceballs (1987) features Mel Brooks as President Skroob, who inhales air from a can labeled "Perri-Air" to survive on Planet Spaceball, which has depleted its atmosphere. This gag parodies bottled water brands like Perrier while satirizing environmental exploitation. The film, released on June 24, 1987, stars Bill Pullman as Lone Starr, John Candy as Barf, Rick Moranis as Lord Dark Helmet, and Daphne Zuniga as Princess Vespa, among others. The joke critiques consumerism by framing breathable air as a commodified product, mirroring real-world trends like seltzer waters and highlighting absurdity.

A magazine ad for Planet Druidia’s greatest export - their pure salt-free, calorie-free air. No H, just the O - as in Oxygen!

I found the image from RPF (https://www.therpf.com/forums/threads/from-within-ehp-production-made-spaceballs-perri-air.351002/) who found the print blocks for the Perri-Air label on a random shelf under a stack of Taxi Cab Door Decals.

I took an image of that found decal - which I can only assume was made for the movie, (even though Mel uses a can of Perri-Air on screen) and made the fake ad to look like an ad you’d find in a magazine on Planet Spaceball.

Out of Frame, Into Reality: The Future of Law Enforcement ED209

Continuing our series of items that live just out of frame from the movies – here’s the ED 209 Service Manual, designed lovingly similar to the Motorola Radio Service manuals *all rights reserved. 

What’s ironic about the service manual here, is that The ED-209 malfunctioned during his debut boardroom demonstration early on in RoboCop (1988) and had a catastrophic impact on the product’s reputation, highlighting its unreliability and raising serious concerns about its suitability for law enforcement. Although Dick Jones, played by Ronny Cox, downplayed it as just a glitch. 

The incident occurred when ED-209 failed to recognize that the test subject, Mr. Kinney (Kevin Page), had dropped his weapon. Despite the situation being de-escalated, the droid continued its countdown and ultimately killed Kinney with excessive force, firing hundreds of rounds into him in front of horrified executives.

This malfunction exposed several critical flaws:

Software and Design Issues: ED-209's programming lacked the ability to terminate its "lethal threat" protocol once the weapon was discarded, demonstrating poor coding and testing practices. Its logic system operated on a "fail deadly" principle, prioritizing overkill rather than restraint—an acceptable trait for military use but disastrous for civilian law enforcement.

Corporate Negligence: The decision to load ED-209 with live ammunition during a demonstration further underscored Omni Consumer Products' (OCP) recklessness and disregard for safety, prioritizing showmanship over practicality.

Public and Corporate Fallout: The incident embarrassed OCP in front of its executives and demonstrated that ED-209 was not ready for deployment. This failure opened the door for Bob Morton's (played brilliantly by Miguel Ferrer) RoboCop program to gain traction as a safer alternative.

Ultimately, this malfunction became a satirical critique of corporate greed and incompetence, emphasizing how profit-driven motives can lead to dangerous oversights in public safety technologies. 

It also gave Bob Morton a chance to leap frog Dick Jones in front of the Old Man (Dan O'Herlihy), as the Old Man thought the fact the thing worked, “seemed kind of important,” to him. Bob should have checked on who Dick Jones’s after-work friends were. 

Total off the wall side note – it seems that three cast members of Robocop ended up playing important characters on Twin Peaks a few years later – 

Ray Wise

RoboCop: Played Leon C. Nash, one of Clarence Boddicker's henchmen.

Twin Peaks: Played Leland Palmer, a central character and the father of Laura Palmer, whose descent into madness is a key storyline.

Miguel Ferrer

RoboCop: Played Bob Morton, the ambitious OCP executive behind the RoboCop project.

Twin Peaks: Played Albert Rosenfield, a sarcastic but brilliant FBI forensic analyst assisting in the Laura Palmer investigation.

Dan O'Herlihy

RoboCop: Played "The Old Man," the CEO of Omni Consumer Products.

Twin Peaks: Played Andrew Packard, a wealthy businessman and pivotal figure in the show's intrigue during its second season.

Out of Frame, Into Reality: Nakatomi Annual Report 1988

Continuing the idea: what if we explored props that weren’t necessarily on set or even in the frame, but instead captured the spirit of the movie? Objects that feel like they belong just out of sight—familiar totems of a world we love.

The Nakatomi Corporation’s Annual Report for shareholders 1988. Highlighting on the cover, the brand new office plaza in Los Angeles.

While we know there’s no actual annual report for the Nakatomi Corporation, the building is actually Fox Plaza, but the building’s portrayal in Die Hard serves as a narrative device to explore themes of corporate power, international economics, and individual heroism against systemic threats. That’s one iconic building. The fictional Japanese multinational symbolizes the excesses of global capitalism, with its $640 million in untraceable bearer bonds stored in their vault serving as the focal point of Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber's heist. Gruber and his team are not true terrorists but rather "corporate raiders," embodying the mergers and acquisitions culture of the 1980s, often associated with leveraged buyouts—today referred to as private equity.

Gruber is a character that can be seen as satirical reflection of capitalist greed, paralleling Nakatomi executive Joseph Takagi. Both pursue profit, albeit through different means: Takagi expands through market economies, while Gruber uses fear and violence. This duality highlights the blurred lines between legitimate business practices and exploitative tactics. Gruber’s ultimate goal—a luxurious retirement funded by stolen wealth, “sitting on a beach, earning 20%” —underscores his alignment with capitalist ideology rather than revolutionary principles. Whoever said they were terrorists? They’re corporate raiders akin to modern day pirates.

And while we’re at it - the Nakatomi logo looks a little bit like mistletoe…

Does The Nakatomi Corporation logo look a bit like mistletoe to you?

Out of Frame, Into Reality: The Caterpillar Power Loader P-5000

I had this wild idea: what if we explored props that weren’t necessarily on set or even in the frame, but instead captured the spirit of the movie? Objects that feel like they belong just out of sight—familiar totems of a world we love. Today, I’m sharing something straight from that mindset: the Haynes manual for the Caterpillar Power Loader P-5000.

We can imagine this Haynes manual for the Caterpillar Power Loader P-5000 from James Cameron’s Aliens (1986) just beyond the frame of the camera.

Now, think about it—why, in the year 2122 (the setting of Aliens), wouldn’t this be some holographic PDF or futuristic tech? Maybe there’s a reason. Maybe, in a world of advanced technology, there’s still something reassuring about a tangible, dog-eared paper manual lying around. It’s a small nod to humanity’s roots amidst all that sci-fi grandeur.

When I started looking into this concept, first I realized I wasn’t the first person to think of it. But I did notice that most versions of the paper manual label the Power Loader as a Weyland-Yutani product. But let’s be real—the CAT logo is right there on screen! So, I took inspiration from an image shared by imgur fatherbrain (seriously, check out their work and buy a t-shirt from them if you like it) and gave it my own spin. I reworked the background and restored iconic CAT branding to create this homage.

It’s not just a manual—it’s a bridge between worlds: our industrial present and James Cameron’s gritty vision of the future. A little slice of cinematic history you can almost touch.