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Mummies Alive!Other Neat Things, |
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Mummies Alive!Other Neat Things, |
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The Mummies can make weird skeleton-like faces. Ja-Kal can open his face and his eyeballs or pieces of his face stick out. Rath can stick his teeth out to look like a vampire. Armon can open his mouth and his teeth stick out. Nefer-Tina can open her face and her tongue will stick out. These faces are often used to horrify people, and are an excellent way to scare off the opponent to avoid a battle. Ja-Kal made the first Mummy face in Sleep Walk Like an Egyptian. When asked by Presley how he did that, he said "I am not exactly sure myself". In Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra, Rath turns his head into a snake's head.
The Sphinx is where the Mummies live. It was built by the City Museum as the building that would house the Rapses Exhibit. In Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra, Scarab had the Exhibit removed, and the building was going to be torn down in Sleep Walk Like an Egyptian, but a demonstration led by the Mummies saved the building. The vacant building proves to be a perfect home for the Mummies.
They all can ride together in a dragster-type of vehicle called the Hot-Ra that was built by Rath. It can sprout wings and fly. Nefer-Tina (a chariot driver in her life 3500 years ago) is usually the one to drive it. The Mummies also occasionally use their Nile-Ator Jet Cycles (motorcycles that can also sprout wings and fly). Amazingly, they also have a speedboat and a small jet airplane called the Skycophagus. All these vehicles are kept in their "garage" that is located in the Sphinx. For the land and air vehicles, a launching ramp opens up out of the mouth of the Sphinx. The Mummies make a somewhat unsuccessful early test of the launching ramp in Sleep Walk Like an Egyptian. An excellent view of how the Mummies flood their speedboat room, and exit the Sphinx is in The Face in the Mirror. The Hot-Ra has seen its own destruction in quite a few episodes, yet Rath always seems to be able to rebuild it for the next time.
"Let's kick Tut!" is what they often shout when they go after the bad guys. When they were going to fight Talos in Body Slam, they said "Let's kick some big bronze Tut!". When Scarab is huge and powerful in My Dad the Hero, he interrupts with: "I've always hated that phrase".
A medical analysis of Rath in We've Got One shows: No detectible pulse. No bodily fluids whatsoever. Subject's tissue appears necrotic (completely dead). The creature has no internal organs - although Rath responds to the last comment with "I do so! I keep them in a jar right next to my bed."
The Mummies often use their wrappings (bandages) in ingenious ways to assist them. They use them to grab onto things, or may climb up and down on them. In A Dark and Shrieky Night they even do some "web-slinging" a la Spiderman. Presley disguises himself as a mummy twice - in Dog Bites Mummy, he puts on Kahti's wrappings, and in Sleep Walk Like an Egyptian, he joins the Mummies in a "Save the Sphinx" demonstration.
After 3500 years, it took awhile for the Mummies to get used to modern life. They call television "the magic box". They are also amazed from time-to-time how little pieces of metal (coins) can do amazing things when put into machines. After they use a coin, they often exclaim: "Great is the power of George Washington!" Armon's favorite food is now "Beefy Burgers". (Armon's favorites 3500 years ago were his mom's roast rhino, elephant ear on a bun, and hippopotamus stew.)
Rath has a magical table-top sized Pyramid that he can use to reveal locations. He also sometimes uses a wand that he spins to help find things. When Rath does not know something, his typical answer is: "It's far too complicated to explain".
Rath gave Presley an "Eye of Ra" amulet that he always wears around his neck. Presley has it for the first time in Sleep Walk Like an Egyptian. It is powered by special energies found in the scroll the Pharaoh left. The amulet can be used as a key to get into the Sphinx. It can emanate a strange glow. It can also shoot out an energy blast as in Desert Chic and Good Bye Mr. Cheops. Presley can use the amulet to call the Mummies for help and the Mummies can track the location of the Amulet. In The Bird-Mummy of Alcatraz, Presley is able to use the amulet to transfer energy to Ja-Kal.
The Mummies have been teaching Presley how to defend himself. They call their art Egyp-Tsu. He has used this self-defence against school bullies, villains, and he even threw Armon more than once. Ja-Kal uses a magical weapon called the boomer-ra in some of the earlier episodes. In The Gift of Geb, Ja-Kal gives Presley his first lessons. Then in High Nuhn, Ja-Kal gives the boomer-ra to Presley to use for his own protection and Presley gets to be quite an expert with it.
When Scarab has Presley trapped, he calls for Prince Rapses' spirit with a chant. It can vary, but is usually something like: "Spirit of the true Rapses. Come to me. Give me life eternal." and the spirit has no choice but to respond and come out of Presley's body.
Over the years, Scarab became fantastically wealthy (although in Ghouls' Gold he does run out of money - at least for that episode). He used his wealth to finance the Rapses Exhibit in an attempt to locate the spirit of Prince Rapses. In Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra he then gives ten million dollars to the Museum to close the exhibit early. Scarab takes on the identity of a Mr. Harris Stone when he deals with people. He lives in a huge pyramid in San Francisco. Scarab loves technology and uses it often to supplement his magic. His wealth allows him to utilize it fully. The best example of this is in Sleight of Hand.
Mummies Alive begins quite a few shows in the middle of a battle. This is a very exciting way to start - and is something that is seldom done in other action-based animations.
The Western Gate is a porthole to the past where many of the villains and spirits come from and disappear to. It lies between two Shabti-like statues under the central span of the Golden Gate Bridge. The Gate only opens at night or during a total eclipse of the sun. It disappears with the first rays of the sun. It cannot be seen by the people of the city. One must be an ancient Egyptian to see it.
In High Nuhn, Presley asks each of the Mummies if they ever had any boy/girl friends 3500 years ago. Ja-Kal said he had a girlfriend named Tia who became his wife but would not go into the details. (However, more details about Tia and their son are revealed in Sleep Walk Like an Egyptian.) Rath said that he had a brilliant student who had the finest touch with magic he had ever seen (who was found out to be Chontra in Good Bye Mr. Cheops). Armon said he had girlfriends like "Anubis has fleas". Nefer-Tina said she never had a boyfriend since she wanted to drive chariots and had to pretend to be a boy to do that.
 Ja-Kal |
 Rath |
 Nefer-Tina |
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Be sure to check out Anna Maat's page of: Scene Quotes - Including Sound Clips. Anna has recorded about 15 more great quotes from Mummies Alive for you to listen to.
See our "What the Show is About" page for information about the theme song for Mummies Alive, a sound clip of a part of it, and the complete lyrics.
See the writeup in our Show Summaries page and go to the description for the show: A Dark and Shrieky Night. The complete lyrics of the song are given.
The best set of images available on the Web for Mummies Alive is at Anubis' web site. He has nicely set up image archives for the show:
Image Archive
Also check out YTV's very interesting randomized Image gallery. Each time you refresh the screen, the images change.
Here's one from the very first episode, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra. The Rapses Exhibit is packed up in a truck that belongs to "Stone Express". This is obviously Scarab (i.e. Harris Stone)'s own company. There is no reason for Scarab to intercept his own truck on the way to the airport. He could have quite simply instructed the driver where he wanted it taken.
In Ghouls' Gold, little 12-year old Presley is able to pick up Armon's golden arm and throw it, but in Who's Who, Rath could barely lift it because it is too heavy, even though he is in Armon's body.
In Reunion, the Mummies lose their transformations early in the show, but are somehow able to transform two more times without ever going back to their sarcophaguses to "recharge".
Presley is 12 years old. Maybe he can fly a plane when under the power of the Eye Of Darkness, but not on his own as he does at the end of The Face In The Mirror. And in another episode, he expertly drives the Hot-Ra. No way! Do you want to see Presley walk the cabling of the Golden Gate Bridge? He does that in The Gift of Geb. Yet, at the end of Who's Who, he is scared stiff because he is stuck on a branch of a fairly small tree.
Do you really think Ja-Kal can fly fast enough to catch up to the Mummies' Jet Airplane as he does in The Face in the Mirror?
Several boo boos in Tempting Offer: (1) Armon transforms and seems to be unable to handle a couple of Shabti, but Ja-Kal, Rath, and Nefer-Tina do not even bother to transform and have no trouble with them. (2) The battle in the kitchen makes a whole lot of noise - yet Presley's mom and Mr. Ludie just outside do not hear a thing. (3) By this time, Presley's mom should have recognized the Mummies. She has seen them at various times in many previous episodes.
Armon has no money for the hot dog vendor in A Dark and Shrieky Night but just a bit later he gives a couple of coins to Nefer-Tina to use on the bus.
In Dog Bites Mummy, the Hot-Ra has reached the ball park and Set and Anubis can hear it. It continues to travel at full speed and Presley has time to put on Kahti's wrappings. There is indication that they are circling back but after what should have been several minutes of travel they are now approaching the ball park again.
Also in Dog Bites Mummy, Presley seems to take care of himself pretty well as he takes on Anubis himself. And this is before he learns Egyp-Tsu and is easily embarrassed by Tiny Turner in The Egyp-Tsu Kid, which is several episodes later. --- Pointed out by N.J.
In Miscast, the Hot-Ra get totally wrecked by several large steel girders. Yet it is still able to be driven into Talos for its coup de grâce.
Possible boo boo: In Ghouls Gold, the Hot-Ra is made of gold, so wouldn't you think that the Nile-Ator is as well. You would also think that the golden parts of the Mummies' armor might be made of gold ... or at least Nefer-Tina's earring should be.
Another possible boo boo: In Good Bye Mr. Cheops, Presley accidentally destroys the Beefy Burger sign with his amulet. The sign he destroyed looks just like the sign on top of the building, but in the next two scenes the sign is still there in the background. It could have been a free-standing sign he destroyed, but there does not seem to be such a sign in the wide angle views of the restaurant.
Hospital security would never handle a policeman the way they do with Joe in We've Got One. And Hospital staff would never simply carry someone into the hospital as they did with Bix Bingsley in True Believer. They would always use a stretcher.
Also in We've Got One, Rath is referred to as "an elderly male" in the Emergency Room. When the Mummies come to the hospital, Armon asks for the "elderly gentleman". Where would Armon have picked that reference from? And that does not sound like enough of a description to identify Rath from the other patients.
When buses are shown they have a "BA" on them which stands for "Bay Area Rapid Transit" yet no buses have this in San Francisco. The BA logo is only used on B.A.R.T. trains. All SF area buses are run by M.U.N.I. and have a corresponding logo. Good attempt but just a little off. --- Contributed by a fan from Berkeley, California through our survey.
In the episode Pepped With Good Intention, Pep slithers into Presley's room (in snake mode) and pulls him out of bed. Presley is in his pajamas and barefoot when Pep carries him from the room. Yet one scene later he's in his familiar green shorts and tennies. For the rest of the show his shorts switch between green (normal) and brown (sleepwear), but he is never barefoot again. --- Contributed by a fan from Houston, Texas through our survey.
Rath's hat trick in Dead Man Walking. Rath puts on a hat that is much smaller than the one he already has on, yet it fits. Then, later in the episode, the hat is knocked off but his other hat is nowhere to be found. --- Contributed by G.D. for Mary.
In Missing Ja-Kal, Presley's amulet disappears and reappears during the Dance. In Eye of the Beholder, Presley's cage stops glowing when Rath arrives through the statue. And in Sleight of Hand, the Mask said it would stop the challenge if magic is detected. Scarab tries to zap Nefer-Tina once, but the challenge continues. --- Contributed by a fan from Ottawa, Ontario through our survey. Note: There is some disagreement about the Nefer-Tina zap. Some people have the opinion that it was a blast from Scarab's suit. But neither Scarab nor the Mummies have in any episodes displayed weapons emanating from their armor. The evidence seems to lean towards it being a blast of magic.
Also in Sleight of Hand, one of the rules is "No one may interfere with the challenge ... or your guardians will forfeit". But Presley tells Ja-Kal to shoot the projectors, which he does. They should have been disqualified for that.
In High Nuhn, there was hail on the shield of the Hot-Ra. Then when they went into the mall, there was no shield up. Just after that, on the skating rink, the shield was up but there was no hail on it.
Ja-Kal's eyes are blue. Nefer-Tina's are grey. Rath and Presley and Rapses' eyes are Green. But Egyptian people do not normally have eye colors other than brown, such as are Armon's. Contributed by G.S.
In Family Feud II - New Mummy in Town, Rath transforms and in the very next scene, he is in the Skycophagus, he is not transformed.
In Family Feud III - The Heart's Arrow, the Hot-Ra drives up to Beefy Burger, and it looks like Presley is asleep, and only a few seconds later he is awake. Also Rath looks like he is asleep for a brief moment pulling up to the Beefy Burger window.
Also in The Heart's Arrow - in the ending scene, the sling around Ja-Kal's arm is first white, and then turns a frosty grey. - Contributed by a fan from Oshawa Ontario via the survey.
In Water, Water, Everywhere, just how did they get the sacred kitty in the bottle in the first place? The neck looks way too narrow for her to get her paw in, much less get in and turn around to face forward. - Contributed by Wes
Here's a historical boo boo: When the Mummies yell "Let's kick Tut!", the refer to the Pharaoh Tut. However, King Tut lived from 1352 to 1343 B.C. The Mummies are from 1525 B.C. There is no way they could have known Tut. Contributed by Chase Hawks
Here are a few boo boos contributed by Matt:
Kathy V. (aka Rath's Girlfriend) points out: "In the first episode (and in the opening credits to the show) Presley is hanging on the door to the truck, the window is rolled down so he can hang on when they show the shot with the door about to hit the sign, then they shoot back to where the sign is hitting the door and window, glass is broken as the door is hit and Presley goes flying - but it had been down only seconds before. Could be automatic windows but they have to be darn fast."
Sarah M. from Wellington, New Zealand gave us this one when responding to our survey: "In Curse of the Sekhmet, Rath is not in the moat around the Sphinx. He is beside the Golden Gate Bridge. How else could he have sailed away like that? Also, in the same episode, Scarab greets Sekhmet on his boat when she comes out of the Western Gate. Scarab is wearing his usual robes. But a few scenes later, he is in his dressing gown and welcomes her to his home.
Jena pointed out that when Nefer-Tina becomes beautiful in Loss of Face, she often reverts back to her blue-grey skin in several scenes - most-often in scenes where she has transformed.
In Paws, why does Kahti not fall under Bastet's power?
In Egyp-Tsu Kid, Presley's black eye heals itself rather quickly.
These are from "Kahti", in Edmonton, Alberta:
In Kid Scarab, Scarab mouths Heka's words for a few frames, a common mistake in animated shows that are produced under the cloud of a language barrier - Contributed by Art
In Sleight of Hand, Scarab grabbed Rath's sword, but it didn't turn into a snake like it was supposed to - Contributed by Fawn, a big fan of Mummies Alive. But Shara disagrees and says: Rath's sword didn't turned into a snake when Scarab picked it up because there was no magic allowed! Without magic, the snake does nothing!
Presley's mom is a solid, level-headed person. She shows that she is extremely perceptive when she sees right through Presley's dad in My Dad the Hero, and is rightfully very suspicious of Chontra in Good Bye Mr. Cheops. So why is she not worried about her son when drive-a-mother crazy occurrences such as these are happening:
In Paws, San Francisco's streets are amazingly empty during the Hot-Ra chase. Also, the swat team vehicle arrives at the park, but the swat team is nowhere to be seen. In fact, many of the shows do not emphasize that San Francisco is a very busy city. Quite often, people and cars are rarely seen.
It is nice to see the Golden Gate Bridge crammed with cars in Desert Chic and Good Bye Mr. Cheops. But in the latter show, why are the Mummies in the Hot-Ra driving so slowly in the right-hand lane?
With all the sightings of the Mummies - on land, water, and in the air - and all their exits from the Sphinx (lots of people must have seen that), and the many battles with Scarab, and the destruction caused by the battles, and all those gods and spirits ... you would think that the National Guard would have been called by now, or at the least, mass panic should have set in.
If you want to be a bit picky, the theme song has a line: "Protection for the Pharaoh teen", but Presley is twelve years old, and is almost, but not yet a teenager. Also, Presley was not a Pharoah, and even Rapses was not yet a Pharoah - another minor boo boo in the song. --- The Pharoah boo boo was pointed out by Naomi
But the biggest boo boo of them all is the name of the show: "Mummies Alive". They are not alive at all. They are dead, dead, dead! This is medically confirmed in We've Got One and is also apparent in Tree O'Clock Rock. In Reunion, Ja-Kal incorrectly calls for the Mummies to: "Paddle! Paddle for your lives!" We are not complaining, though. "Mummies Alive" is a classy name for a show - much better than: "Mummies Dead".
Some Mummies Alive stuff is available at Amazon:
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