Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle

Trivia

Day of the Tentacle was named #34 overall among the “150 Best Games of All Time” by Computer Gaming World Magazine (15th Anniversary Issue--November 1996).

Contributed by PCGamer77 (3025) on May 01, 2008.

In the future, Laverne is forced to thaw out the hamster from being frozen for 200 years. She uses a microwave and was worried about if it was like the microwaves back in her time because they really could "pop" a hamster good. This is in reference to the "microwave the hamster" trick in Maniac Manision. Laverne goes on to mention that children that put hamsters in microwaves get put up for adoption, so don't do it. They are trying to discourage children from doing it in real life after they saw something on a video game.

In the plot of the game, you are forced to use a microwave 200 years in the future to melt the frozen hamster left in the ice bin from 200 years ago. Laverne hopes that the microwaves aren't like the ones back in her time because they could really pop a hamster good. This is reference to the fact that you could microwave Ed's hamster in Maniac Mansion (causing the hamster to explode). Another reference to this is the fact that Ed's hamster used to be brown with white spots, now it is just brown.

In DOTT, there is a clever reference to the Commodore 64 Computer. The original version of Maniac Mansion was released for the Commodore and is the same version that can be played in Weird Eds room. Get Bernard to "talk to" the computer and he'll say something like "Hello computer, I still love you even though you have 64k of memory", This refers to the fact that Commodore 64s had 64k of RAM, and yes, Weird Ed's computer is obviously a Commodore 64.

Maniac Mansion is more than just a game within a game, it's also an integral part of the plot. Dr. Fred and his family (within Day of the Tentacle) licensed themselves into Maniac Mansion and should have become rich off the royalties. Well as luck would have it, the contract was never signed and so Dr. Fred lost out. During the course of the game's plot, you'll have to deal with this situation and get Dr. Fred reimbursed by the lawyers at Lucasarts.

It's also interesting to note that Dr. Fred (in Day of the Tentacle) mentions the royalties that he lost from the 1990 TV Show based on his life, the YTV/Family Channel sitcom, Maniac Mansion, which takes great liberties from the source material.

Finally, the Couch Potato's Buying Network (shopping channel) within the game instructs viewers to call their operators at 1-800-STAR-WARS , otherwise known as the Lucasarts' hotline.

The title for 'Day of the Tentacle' has obviously been influenced by the novel titled 'Day of the Triffids' by John Wyndham. In this sci-fi novel, carnivorous, walking plants called 'Triffids', after waiting for the perfect opportunity, decide to end the reign of Humanity and take on the world.

The music playing during the intro is the ouverture to the opera "Wilhelm Tell" by the famous 19th century opera composer Gioachino Rossini.

Contributed by Unicorn B. Lynx (60462) on Aug 16, 2003.

Check out the Darth Vader calendar in Dr. Fred's office! You can also spot the Stormtrooper helmet in Green Tentacle's room (above the stereo and a bit to the left).

Contributed by Tomer Gabel (4476) on Jun 07, 2001.

In the mansion 200 years in the past, a picture of Max from Sam and Max Hit the Road can be seen.

At one point during DOTT's develoment, the artists consulted with legendary animator Chuck Jones.

This game is a member of Computer Gaming World's Hall of Fame.

Contains the original Maniac Mansion as an actual computer game (on a computer) inside the game.

A CD version of the game was released a year or two after the floppy one and features great speech and no copy protection.

Contributed by Tomer Gabel (4476) on Jan 10, 2000.