Ten years before the debut of the first literary mash-up, two video pranksters uncovered The Secret To Save Publishing–classic lit action figures!

In the video embedded above from 1998, Phil Lord and Chris Miller did a dead-on parody of children’s television advertising, trying to sell plastic action figure versions of Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, and Anne Bronte. The toys feature Boomerang Book-Throwing Action and an AMAZING Brontesaurus tribute to Voltron.

Here’s more from the YouTube page: “This was a fake commercial we made in 1998 for a series of educational shorts about action figures based on historical figures. Its educational value was somewhat suspect. It was never aired.” (Link via Huffington Post)

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