The Tragic Story of The Noid: The Rise & Fall of the Domino's Pizza Mascot

[@SecretGalaxyTV]

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[@beepboop204]

🙂🙂🙂🙃🙃

[@SirWhiskersThe3rd]

blacks

[@jamescaulfield6632]

You forgot that domino's bringing him back just recently for a couple of commercials I think they're in 2021

[@dwaynemenzies8824]

Purnt!!!!😅

[@drewood]

I had a high school teacher with the last name of Noid. He FULLY embraced that character. The Noid was all over his classroom.

[@jacobkrakowski]

Every Ying has a yang it seems.

[@TheBronyBraeburn]

My friend and I were walking past a Domino's Pizza recently. I froze and sputtered when I saw a "Avoid the Noid" sticker in the window. I had nearly forgotten about the Noid but every childhood memory flooded in all at once. I turned to my friend, "what year is this? What century is this?"

[@comettamer]

Yeap, I saw those commercials cone back and had an involuntary shudder go down my spine.

[@Adarkane325xi]

Did she tell you it was the 12th century and you both have the Plague now?

[@seatspud]

I saw a "Avoid The Noid" sticker on the back of a Cadillac, a little voice inside my head, "don't look back, you can never look back"...

[@robd1329]

​@Drew Taylor i honestly forgot the Noid. I was a kid when he was on tv commercials

[@wstine79]

Mayor West: "Perhaps it was the Noid who should've avoided me."

[@jamesh8985]

Ledgend

[@bradleymahurin5582]

It was that line that made me look this up, lmfao

[@user-vi4xy1jw7e]

​@@jamesh8985ledgend?

[@undoneonion90]

I always loved that bit 😂

[@JJGutierrez-ob5vc]

Ha I literally just saw the this part of the that episode at the same time I was reading this mayor west comment lol

[@GalactiVids]

This campaign 100% ushered my family into getting pizza delivered and we were pretty loyal to Dominos for a number of years. I clearly remember how the first order came with an awesome Noid PVC toy holding a bomb. I wanted it; but my older brother claimed it. I later got ones of him as a wizard and boxer but I coveted that original Noid. Years later, after my brother moved out, I discovered his left behind Noid and claimed it for myself. It’s currently on display in my collection. Until this video I’d never realized that the Noid was by Vinton Studios. Between the pizza at Dominos and burgers from Hardee’s to get Noid and California Raisins toys I now know where my bad eating habits came from.

[@kolonarulez5222]

I love your og noid toy tale lol

[@Gatorade69]

But... But you're supposed to avoid the Noid !

[@justrok79]

I played the hell out of Yo! Noid as a kid, but never understood why he was suddenly the hero after all the commercials. Then again, every villain is a hero of their own story.

[@kingti85]

Same dude I think I made it past the ice level like 1 time my whole life

[@poorsoul8492]

Actually Hero’s have to serve others or they are null and void

[@Skibster-w9l]

@@poorsoul8492Or they could have a hobby alongside helping people

[@Skibster-w9l]

Maybe he had a change of heart or the Noid we saw in all of those commercials was actually an impersonator.

[@ronamadeo]

I love these, and can I put in a vote for a Will Vinton retrospective? I am just now realizing how many awesome claymation projects were a part of my childhood.

[@davewhitmore1958]

Seconded!

[@nightlinger923]

As a young child, I had a phobia of claymation, though the claymation Christmas was an exception for some reason.

[@Belgand]

Return to Oz, The Adventures of Mark Twain... just how much nightmare fuel did they have their hands in?

[@nnnpodcast]

Great idea!

[@goranisacson2502]

I'm not even american, clay-mation here in Europe is more or less our local studios and Aardman as the BIG guns, and I still agree- they seem really skilled and interesting enough to have their history discussed.

[@bastien-]

You're darn right, Dan. CG will never be as cool as 80s Claymation.

[@Belgand]

We just need to get the word out. Possibly utilizing some sort of word-of-mouth rumor mill by which people can hear of it.

[@FunkyM217]

My dude, I have seen Real-time Stop-motion. And it is... certainly something.

[@CharlesWorkPPL]

​@@FunkyM217 You mean... like... puppets?

[@FunkyM217]

@@CharlesWorkPPL Nah, it's kinda hard to explain, but it was more like one of them Art Animations, if you know them...

[@SuperFlashDriver]

@@FunkyM217 Dude, the idea of going slightly step by step, mixed in with high shooting photography and work building that is nothing related to claymation but rather movable sculptures...Yeah, I know what you're talking about.

[@jinpei05]

Wow, an informative and entertaining video in less than 15 minutes? I watched this twice and could have had a Domino's pizza delivered with time to spare! Thanks, Dan!

[@itsagundam79]

After watching this video, I feel like I need to know the history of claymation. It both frightened & titillated me as a child, from the caricature style of celebrities to the Raisins.

[@SuperFlashDriver]

If you need to look into the history of claymation, look into the works of the 1890's claymation and Willis O Brian's work. Those two people whom made claymation to what it is today. Unfortunately no longer used once Computers had the ability to move the character in real time and easily compared to claymation and puppetry.

[@Gatorade69]

@@SuperFlashDriver It is still used, just very rarely or they try to replicate the style in CG. Look up Lee Hardcastle, he still gets some work.

[@SuperFlashDriver]

@@Gatorade69 I'll have to check it out when I get the chance to.

[@i.am.not.herbert]

Dude.... that Adventures of Mark Twain movie is what you should do a video on. The mysterious stranger skit from that claymation movie is one of the coolest most disturbing freaky things I ever saw in my childhood. I still go out of my way to make people watch that to this day.

[@sadie9728]

Yes I think I got a PTSD flashback when I saw a clip of it here. That thing messed me up.

[@i.am.not.herbert]

@@sadie9728 that show was awesome. I don't think I've ever had a girlfriend I didn't make watch it multiple times

[@SuperFlashDriver]

I actually did watch the movie, and man, what a film that was. The devil scene is not scary to me, but pretty much sum up my feelings towards humanity as a whole. Felt like I was actually agreeing with the devil there. Except he literally made the planet disappear and everything that was seen there doesn't exist anymore...To be honest, even with live action stuff claymation hybrid stuff, it's much more real than any 3D animation that could try to get as close as the craftsmen of claymation and practical effects anyday. This is why I've yet to see it return someday to the present that is mostly filled with CGI everywhere.

[@Gatorade69]

What is the movie called ? Adventures of Mark Twain ? What year was it released ?

[@SuperFlashDriver]

@@Gatorade69 It was released sometimes in 1984/1986. And yes it's called "Adventures of Mark Twain".

[@karldomogalla2058]

We had some of the Noid figurines. Both of my parents worked at Domino’s at different points when we first moved to town and we got these during my mom’s run.

[@joshuafrias2415]

Wow, the history of the Noid is a mascot story that I didn't know would get so dark so fast. My goodness. At least he's getting a new lease on life...somewhat.

[@jlavigne1155]

Lol

[@Quirky_QF]

I was OBSESSED with The Noid back in the day. Still am. He's just this little red ball of chaos that you can't help but love.

[@jesuschambrot2164]

I was an intern at Vinton Studios in 2004. I remember seeing an array of different maquettes of the Noid. He went through a lot of color iterations before his final color was chosen.

[@wstine79]

I thought the Noid was just as cool as the California Raisins. I love that claymation style.

[@Tiberon098]

I remember seeing a Noid mascot as a kid once, it was terrifying.

[@exodous02]

IRL? Where did you see him? I think if I saw a Noid it would have freaked me out as well.

[@ooooo524]

Avoid the noid

[@The_Infamous_Boogyman]

Seriously. Same here, that thing was so weird. Is it a rabbit? A man in a suit? Wtf is going on here? 😅

[@Gatorade69]

@@The_Infamous_Boogyman He's a mix of a rabbit and a man. A Manbit if you will...

[@multitudeofidols]

I can't get over the fact that the employees escaped while he was eating the pizza they made at his demand. Sometimes real life writes comedy better than fiction.

[@keriley2]

Loved the Will Vinton Christmas Special reference. Sometimes it felt like I was the only one who had seen it growing up.

[@Dalpima]

OMAIGAWD THE CHRISTMAS DINOS!!!! I REMEMBER THAT AS A KID!!!! You just unlocked an entire portion of my memory that I had COMPLETELY forgotten about! THANKS GALAXY!!! :D

[@Deniki666]

I remember the NES game. And also the dominoes in my hood recently had a "No Noids" decal on the window which I found nostalgically amusing.

[@Dj.D25]

I was very happy they brought back the Noid character a couple of years ago in a new Dominos commercial and questioned why they haven't done a series of commercials since. Especially since Dominos had No Noid stickers on their windows and certain videos on Facebook hinted at the Noid coming back as though it was a major revival. I was expecting some kind of long lasting advertising campaign.

[@OldManTheseDays]

These commercials were so surreal. Somewhat like Cheater Cheetah to me; that strange zone of “what am I watching?”. Cool thing to cover and totally unexpected. Love it.

[@iamfuturetrunks]

Makes me want them to cover Chester Cheetah in a future video. Especially since he is one of the few mascots that appears to have aged within the ad campaigns back in the day.

[@comicpopreturns]

That Claymation Christmas is a MUST-SEE at my place every holiday.

[@BoredPodcaster]

When I was a kid, I really liked the Noid. It was a good mascot, and the hallmark of an era gone by.

[@timmeyer9014]

I forgot all about the Will Vinton Christmas special. I loved that when I was a kid. Awesome callback!

[@benjaminmuratore9341]

One fun and obscure thing you could've mentioned was actually a pinball machine called "Domino's Spectacular Pinball Adventure" that came out in late 2016. The playfield artwork features an image of the Noid on it.

[@Transfixed]

Thank you for making this episode delightfully free of single-frame visual jokes! Avoid the pause button! 🙏 Also that NFT joke was great.

[@SuperNicktendo]

I had noid toys. I live in Chicago so it's really hard to get a "bad" pizza. Maybe those school pizzas that were soggy because they stayed in a tin, but I was a kid and Pizza was a pizza. As an adult, when I was in Denver last year I wanted one and I chose the pizza king and it was the worst pizza I had in my 40 years on this earth.

[@R3troZone]

I used to love the commercials as a kid, made me want a Domino's pizza. But there were no locations anywhere near me. Never tried one until the mid-90s when I was around 15 or 16.

[@dazwannawzad9272]

Dominos ad b4 this video...I loved the Noid since I was a Will Vinton fan, even had a bendy figure of him. Great video, ty!!!

[@maxordman4100]

Terrific video! The Noid is such a wonderful character. I’m a huge fan of Domino’s pizza too. Louis was obviously a truly tragic soul. Thank you for giving his story respect though! My mom is not a Domino’s fan but I will always happily enjoy it myself. I love Noid’s whacky personality!

[@davenewton4862]

I was living about a mile from the Chamblee Domino's when that incident happened. And I was a delivery driver for a different location when they had their 30 minutes or free policy.... people would give us the wrong address (transposed numbers usually) or bad directions, then magically appear by their mailbox right after 30 minutes were up...happened a lot.

[@richardj855]

This reminds me of that 80s game show that had the animated whammies. I loved it when those guys popped up on the show. Classic childhood memory from the 80s.

[@davewhitmore1958]

"Press Your Luck"

[@LoudGoat74]

One thing I was reminded of during the course of this video were the "reinforcement flaps" around the three edges of those old Domino's boxes. Definitely not a commonplace feature.

[@jayg8806]

Thanks!

[@v_zach]

I remember Guinan joked to Data once "You're a droid, and I'm annoyed.", and I didn't get how she knew about Domino's commercials. By the way, this was before it was revealed she was living on Earth as early as the 19th century.

[@gonzoalex23]

I saw the preview image, and immediately hoped you'd discuss the genius of Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas. I adore that special!

[@TrueYellowDart]

Oh my goodness THANK YOU for the stellar shoutout to the Claymation Christmas Celebration! It is an all-time great not only for the visuals but for all of the EXCELLENT music it has! More Christmas songs need groovetastic bass lines!

[@JLvatron]

Living in Canada, I didn’t see the Noid ads until prolly well into the campaign. I just thought “who is this fool?” And changed the channel. Thank you for the Noiducation!

[@fourtwentytexas]

I know it's not Domino's but I've invited my brother-in-law over for an 80's night. Pizza Hut pan pizza, playing the first TMNT on NES, and cap off the night with watching Silver Bullet, as we tuck into out sleeping bags in the living room.

[@GCJACK83]

Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas... how I love that one, and every year I wonder why they stopped airing it.

[@sytbaconman]

A lost part of The Noid lore is when Adam West snapped his neck for a gag in Family Guy. The Noid survived the snapping and got landed in the hospital in a coma and on life support. Which explains his long term disappearance.

[@SteveGerencser]

I was a hard core Domino's Pizza employee and fan in the 80s and 90s. I still have a ton of Noid toys and merchandise, along with a Domino's letterman's jacket in a box somewhere. I have the video game around somewhere as well.

[@jasonelliott7977]

Dan, do a retrospective on the Cool Spot from the 7UP commercials.

[@jonplaud]

7:09 out of all crazy characters in film during the 80s, he scared me the most (sans Chucky)

[@TotallyNegatory]

As a kid in the 80s, I always thought the Noid had a side gig on Press Your Luck.

[@lipstickzombie4981]

Whammies?

[@TotallyNegatory]

Yep. It seems so easy to tell the difference now, but on a tube tv they looked identical.

[@Stratelier]

In retrospect, Allstate Insurance's character "Mayhem" is conceptually like Domino's The Noid. I remember playing the NES game back in the day. Hard as nails for sure, and not necessarily "great" but still decent enough for a lot of fun as a kid, and I was eventually able to beat it.

[@Frank_D]

The Domino's in my town is the worst. The last time I ordered from them, the driver forgot to bring my drinks (2 2-liter bottles of soda). He told me he'd be right back, so I figured he was going to drive to the restaurant and back to give me the drinks I ordered. After about a half hour he still didn't show up, so I called the store. Someone picked up the phone and immediately hung up. I called back, and when I explained the situation the guy on the line acted like it wasn't his problem and he didn't know when the driver would be back with my drinks. After another half hour he still was a no-show, so I called again. Once again someone picked up the receiver and immediately hung up, so I called back and got a message that I was being transferred to the store manager. It was the same guy who didn't think it was his problem. Finally an hour and a half after delivering my food, the driver comes back with 4 20-oz bottles (which doesn't come close to the 4 liters of soda I ordered). I told him to take it back and I wanted a refund, and he told me I'd have to call the restaurant again, so I just took the drinks. I emailed corporate about it, and I never heard back from them. Domino's has become the Noid.

[@chriscampanozzi6516]

Your content is always illuminating, thank you.

[@willybeezy2775]

When did the channel change from toy galaxy to secret galaxy and why? Not going to stop watching. Just wondering is all. Thanks as always for the amazing content.

[@btetschner]

A+ video! Such a memorable mascot, was actually thinking about him this week. Had no idea about that guy that had the last name of Noid, what a crazy story. Avoid the Noid!

[@billybandyk0720]

Avoid The Noid!!!!! Avoid Domino's Pizza!!!!!!

[@ceno10101]

I loved the noid, was sad it was only brought back for a brief time. Not many people before then even knew what I was talking about when I said I had some noid figures when I was younger.

[@MungkaeX]

I used to go to school next to that original Domino’s location. There was a pretty amazing Mexican restaurant in the space when I went there, but now there’s some trendy Burrito shop there. We had a “newer” Domino’s location just down the street that I always assumed was the original location.

[@adamwebb8114]

Will Vinton studios is legendary ❤

[@iamfuturetrunks]

Kinda surprised the commercial that recently came out (end of 2022 or beginning of 2023?) that features the noid wasn't mentioned near the end. I was surprised to see the noid back since I had only seen the references to him in stuff like the simpsons way back when. I never noticed the newer commercials that came out years ago with Crash Bandicoot. Also this reminded me I have a noid "ACTION FIGURE!" somewhere in storage I got when I was a kid. A rubbery toy that I think I got from a good will store or something.

[@rave16912007]

This is one of my 80s memories that I knew so well yet completely forgot about. Thank you for making this great video.

[@haileybalmer9722]

It's not what we're talking about, but the Adventures of Mark Twain is nightmare fuel. It tries to be everything to everyone, and as a result, it's saccharine and plodding in some places and terrifying in others. I think they were going for a Return to Oz feel, and we ended up with something that felt like a very well done homemade claymation film by that one weird religious cousin everyone is increasingly concerned about. "Yeah, that's Cousin Jedidiah. He mostly reads, plays with his clay models, and talks about the coming judgement. He asked for a gun for Christmas."

[@cainofthejungle]

Thank you so much for this Dan! I asked not that long ago and here it is! And this episode is Totally Awesome!

[@MissMTurner]

I just realized the "Mahem" commercials are basically a spiritual reboot of the Noid. 😂

[@yyyyyyh7390]

In 87 I went to kings island and won a 4ft tall giant dominos noid a friend of mine delivered pizzas for greccos pizza we ran deliveries all over town with that thing tied to the car sticking out of the trunk out the window on the hood stuck to the bumpers and anything else we could think up. The whole town got a laugh except local dominos a month later threatening to sue if we didn't stop😊

[@Jorphdan]

Would love to see you do a history of Dungeons & Dragons! Plus I'd love to run a game for you and your staff :)

[@Getwright-]

I think its just two guys at toy galaxy. Whats the minimum for D&D

[@Plaprad]

@@Getwright- Strangely enough, and I never would have believed it unless I saw it for myself, One. Granted, he was our DM and made Matt Mercer look like he's just starting out. But he kept a game going for over six hours alone while we sat back drinking beers and heckling.

[@tumblingworm737]

Ray Harryhausen animated the 1st test reel for the Noid😮

[@dionelr]

I remember that dinosaur claymation Christmas special! I seem to recall they mixed up the words to that song with waffling instead of wassling? That sounds familiar, right?

[@RDub2]

Found a Noid plush at an antique story the other day. My wife wouldn't let me buy it. Also...Jurassic turns 30 this year...I'd love one of your videos on it.

[@kevin_vincent]

The true tragedy is the loss of free delivery. Today, the restaurant demands not only a delivery fee, but a driver tip as well.

[@mechaplatypus82]

We had an old vhs tape of Christmas specials recorded off TV and I know I watched the California Raisin special over 1000 times. Good memories.

[@anthonykent00]

I've been wait for you to do The Noid!

[@pathevermore3683]

both my grand ma and my dad bought me a noid toy for christmas of 87'. i was afraid of getting another one the rest of the holiday. could you blame me? i got a pair-a-noids.

[@pauljoyner4338]

Insert rimshot sound

[@crewchief5144]

I remember Vinton's "Rip Van Winkle" scaring the hell out of me. Right when he asked "what are you doing here?" and the reflection answered "what are YOU doing here?" and the music changing. Brrrr, claymation can be creeeeeeeepyyyyyyy.

[@Juncti]

I remember this well from when I was a kid. That NES game was actually quite fun for the time period. I think this was around the same time Pizza Hut had a campaign with the Ninja Turtles selling a cassette tape of their music from a tour that went around the US at the time. As a kid that was some awesome times

[@gnollman]

My family still watches the Claymation Christmas every year, such a great show.

[@noid442]

Back in the late 90s I found a large Noid plush, around 2 feet tall, at a local thrift. I had that creep for years, and he even inspired one of my earliest profile names, which I still use to this day.

[@fearlessfreep]

I got an "Avoid the Noid" t-shirt around '88 as a promo. I had that shirt longer than any other piece of clothing I've ever possessed, still wearing it when I got married in 2002. By the time my wife threw it away it wasn't much more than polyester webbing, but you could still make out the graphic.

[@megatronjenkins2473]

I was convinced for YEARS those Christmas dinosaurs weren't real, just a misremember, THANK YOU, DAN!!!!! WAFFLING ALONG!!!!!

[@Jerry74]

Remember the 30 minute thing. My dad would call but the closest was still kinda far so many a time we got it free. Then one day they put one five blocks from my house which ended that!

[@blazr1976]

My worst pizza experience was the time I baked a Digiorno and forgot to remove the cardboard circle underneath. 1 smoke filled kitchen later a lesson was learned.

[@JonTripp115]

Worst pizza experience was when I bought a large pizza and was driving it back to work. I took a corner and the entire front of the box disassembled, and the pizza slid out, folded, and hit the floor cheese-side down. I spent the next hour washing melted mozzarella off of my carpets.

[@AltimaNEO]

I was so fascinated with claymation was a kid. And maybe just stop motion in general. There was just something so cool about it. Im glad I got to meet Will Vinton at my school.

[@wallbiewtf9422]

Worst pizza experience was during high school when I worked for a now closed local restaurant called Parnelli's Pizza. A customer just sat back and laughed on his porch while his two Dachshunds attacked my ankles and tore two holes in my jeans on my way back to my car after I had delivered his food. That was probably the worst and I regularly delivered to a guy in a mental facility who was in there for killing his father.

[@justinweber4977]

After watching what amounts to a documentary on The Noid, I now need a Mr. Pizza Head episode.

[@BlackShardStudio]

"In 30 minutes or less" I am old enough to get that reference

[@LoudGoat74]

And I love that it's a dual/meta reference to the OG toy review videos. Layers upon layers. Ha!

[@robbiewabisabi]

When I was in college papa johns gave me a coupon for a free pizza no strings attached and every time I went back they gave me the same coupon. This went on for seven months.

[@Snikit]

This was fascinating! Thank you! ✨🍕✨

[@Elucidarian]

Holy crap, I never heard about the real life Noid hostage crisis!

[@NateCreed]

I actually have a huge Noid collection, including some of the original concept sketches of the character's development, and the original coverart for the unreleased Noid in 3-D #3. I love this character!

[@Michael.RedKnight]

I ordered pizza with a 30’minutes guarantee from a competitor. A pizza was delivered in 25 minutes, but the wrong pizza with toppings family members could not eat after an additional 40 minutes the correct pizza was delivered, but they refused to honour the 30 minute guarantee stating “A pizza was delivered in 30 minutes. If you want the pizza, you will have to pay for it.” We didn’t pay, sent it back, and never ordered delivery from the franchise again.

[@johncliffalvarez6513]

You should so do a video on the adventures of Mark Twain. Looking back, I’m surprised that was a movie for kids. Definitely had some deep and dark themes.

[@SabinStargem]

The worst, and best pizza experience: On a windy day at a Costco, the pizza box was flipped out of my hands by a stiff breeze. The pizza was ruined, but a friendly stranger and concession staff soon gave me a fresh pepperoni pizza.

[@joshdillon9637]

My uncle was one of those who won a lawsuit against Domino's. He got quite a sum but he always told me he'd rather have his knee back to normal again than to have the money.

[@ooshiga]

Wow. Not only have I gotten pizza from that Buford Highway Domino's, but my cub scout troop went there to see how pizzas were made when I was in 3rd grade and as a gag the employees locked us in the walk-in-freezer for a few minutes. My 3rd grade year was 1988 to 1989. Thank you for adding some more info to a memorable location of my youth.

[@charlesweinert4116]

Dominos never had to worry about cheese sticking to the lid of their boxes because they never put any cheese on their pizzas.

[@Pegwarmers]

I loved the Noid. I've been a huge fan of claymation since back when the Noid and the Raisins were new.

[@sneakyquick]

I delivered for dominos in hs in the 90s. It was a great job. We would give the local police free pizza whenever they wanted, so we could drive as fast as we wanted to make deliveries on time.

[@starchildluke]

My worst pizza story came from Pizza Hut. They claimed they'd delivered my pizza but they never did and refused to rectify it. I may have lost my temper on the phone lol

[@davidpyott3710]

Also I love the videos about advertising campaigns

[@kl1thedominion]

I grew up in Ypsi, it's wild hearing my hometown brought up in one of your videos.

[@jws1341]

Amazing as always

[@lonestar_iconoclast]

My worst pizza scenario actually occurred at a Domino's. I had my half brother with me and between the two of us, we had enough cash to buy a large pizza to split. I ordered it on the Domino's App, we waited for it to cook, we got notified that t wa done, so we walked over to the shop to pick it up (it was just across the street from the ibrary we're hanging out at)… only to find that someone else had picked up before us! Thankfully, the stuff there were able to bake us a new pie right then and there, at no extra charge. The pizza was still good but we did have to wait for fifteen minutes for the new one to get cooked.

[@timvanboening9432]

I loved the Noid commercials. The Will Vinton claymation was a style so characteristic of the 80s.