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Flatchoo is an action figure from the Belch Brigade toy line, designed by Irwin Wayfair for Heartland Toy Company, prior to the company's acquisition by Globotech Industries. Not being a part of the Small Soldiers toy line, he was not built with a X-1000 chip, and is thus a completely inanimate toy.

Design[]

Flatchoo is a red, ogre-like monster, with design features similar to Slamfist. He is the boss of the Belch Brigade, which features six other members never mentioned outside the Top Secret Dossier. The fictional toy seen in the movie has the function of producing burp and fart sounds when you press his stomach.

Early versions of the character have significant differences to the final design, including concept art of him wearing armour almost identical to Punch-It's, and a fully featured maquette of him with a green skin.[1] While this is completely unsubstantiated, it seems quite likely that Flatchoo was originally going to be an on-screen member of the Gorgonites, but was dropped far into production. There seems no other logical reason for so much effort to be put into designing and modelling an inconsequential character, going so far as to include him on crew t-shirts in lieu of Insaniac.

Small Soldiers (film)[]

Flatchoo appears briefly at the beginning of the film, during the initial board meeting between Gil Mars, Irwin Wayfair, and Larry Benson. He exists as a physical example of the pair's previous design work, and serves no greater purpose to the plot.

Other Appearances[]

Top Secret Dossier (Book)
Concept art for Flatchoo appears on a fictional print ad for the Belch Brigade on page 6, along with a list of the groups' other members—the only additional information known about the group. Aside from being uncoloured, this design is notably different from the final version, featuring armour almost identical to Punch-It's, and a staff instead of an axe.[1]

Action Figures
Kenner released a Flatchoo action figure in their initial series of toys, classifying him as a member of the Gorgonites under the pretense of being "recruited to help them fight the Commando Elite". The toy comes with an additional character, Nibble, which does not appear in the film, and is a separate entity to the PlayStation game character of the same name). The Flatchoo figure features "Launching Wart Attack" action, utilising a spring-loaded launcher in his back, and a battle axe accessory. It is important to note that the film version of this figure does not have the "launching wart", or any visible accessories, making this design feature exclusive to the toy.

Nibble[]

An angry-looking purple head with arms and legs, Nibble is similar in concept to Scratch-It, though its relationship with Flatchoo appears less symbiotic. Nothing more is known about this character than the Kenner toy's box calling it Flatchoo's "loyal sidekick", leaving it unclear as to whether this creature is from the Belch Brigade canon, or a Gorgonite assistant.

Trivia[]

  • Flatchoo was originally going to have green skin, as seen on the Stan Winston Studio crew t-shirts, but this changed some time between production and filming. A red Flatchoo is seen in the film, but a fully realised green Flatchoo maquette was made, as well as a green prototype of the Kenner toy, which can be seen on the underside of the red figure's box.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Dreamworks (1998). "Small Soldiers Top Secret Dossier", ISBN 0-14-130242-9


Navigation
Gorgonites Canonical ArcherInsaniacOculaPunch-It and Scratch-ItSlamfistTroglokhan (Freakenstein)
Non-Canon ChanterFlatchoo (Belch Brigade) • Nibble (PS1)/(Toy)Stench
Commando Elite Canonical Brick BazookaButch MeathookChip HazardGwendy DollsKip KilliganLink StaticNick Nitro
Non-Canon BipodMortarSentryVasquez
Civilians The Abernathys AlanIreneStuart
The Fimples ChristyMarionPhilTimmy
Globotech Employees Gil MarsIrwin WayfairJoe KawalskiMs. KegelLarry BensonRalph Quist
Others BradMontgomery Heart
Locations "Real" The Abernathy HouseThe Fimple HouseGiant Toy WorldGlobotech IndustriesHeartland Play SystemsThe Inner ChildWinslow Corners
Fictional GorgonGorgonite Homeworlds
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