Paradox Development using their successful game engine from the completed, but cancelled, Thrill Kill video game. The video game and action figure lines represented a newer, updated version of the robots, whereas the reissued game and licensed products were all based on the original Red Rocker and Blue Bomber characters. In popular culture Al McWhiggin, the main antagonist in the 1999 Disney/Pixar animated film Toy Story 2, owns the Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots playset and has it in his office in Al's Toy Barn. When Slinky Dog meets the robots and talks to them about a cowboy doll with a bad arm, the Blue Bomber says that he hasn't seen Woody but Red Rocker starts to argue with Blue Bomber. Both fight until Blue Bomber defeats Red Rocker. The Blue Bomber is voiced by the film's director, John Lasseter, and the Red Rocker one of the co-directors, Lee Unkrich. They also appeared at the 72nd Academy Awards alongside the Toy Story cast presenting the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. They also appeared as a cameo in the 2004 Disney/Pixar animated film The Incredibles, where the Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots appeared in Mr. Incredible's room. These robots are also used in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory during the Oompa Loompas' musical number about Mike Teevee in the TV room at Willy Wonka's factory. The robots appeared in The Simpsons episode, "Simpson Tide" Homer Simpson imagines that he is playing with a Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. They appeared as a video game arcade in many Dave & Buster's locations when it debuted and opened on December 26, 2016. In 2006, Full Fat developed a Game Boy Advance game based on the toy. In the video game, more robots were introduced, including the "Orange Oppressor", the "Yellow Yahoo", the "Green Grappler", the "Purple Pyro", the "Pink Pummeller", the "Brown Bully", the "Silver Stretcher" and the "Black Bruiser". Near the end of the adventure video game Space Quest III, the player character Roger Wilco and the main antagonist Elmo Pug fight each other with gigantic Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. Roger Wilco has a grey robot while Elmo Pug has a red one. Film adaptation On April 19, 2021, Mattel Films teamed up with Universal Pictures and Vin Diesel's One Race Films for a live-action film adaptation of the 1966-launched toy of the same name; starring Diesel himself. References