Not associated with "Dream Come True Garage Door Openers"

Genetically nerdy, I was entranced as a kid by this TV series about a corporate flunky and his secret friend tucked away behind a bookshelf -- a primitive talking computer that sounded like the Muppet Scooter and which played on demand public domain newsreels featuring William and Ida Mckinley. The show was Marlo and the Magic Movie Machine. Though for years I thought it was called "Mario", and that Mario Bros. was spun off by Nintendo from the series, which I assumed had been more influential than it actually was, and really, Marlo and Mario -- they kinda look alike.

Mario/Marlo himself was dull. But that computer, by God I wanted my own Magic Movie Machine, secreted away behind my unadorned right bedroom wall, which I could visit after the 7pm sleeptime, ask it endless questions about anything, and watch any video of any event at my demand. Many popular children's tales spotlight secret worlds accessible from the home or bedroom. Think Narnia or Superbook (i.e., Anime Oyako Gekijo). It was the Magic Movie Machine that did it for me, the mystical portal into a less overbearing world where the physical laws were more malleable (of course seven-year old me could not fathom that such a machine could actually be built).

This one has a happy ending. The emergence of the Internet, then of Google, brought forth that "hyper-intelligtent" computer that could answer virtually any question you want. Then later, YouTube, that supremely accessible Magic Movie Machine, and unexpectedly, a childhood fantasy has almost entirely come true. Next up, I'll have to save for that bookshelf.

Unsurprisingly, YouTube has a few clips from Marlo and the Magic Movie Machine, whose current copyright owners apparently do not care that much. Circle of life and all that, I think it apt to present, from YouTube, 9 minutes of my original YouTube, the Magic Movie Machine: