Kenan Thompson: Kid Icon turned Household Name

Kenan Thompson is by now an iconic american actor and comedian. 

He got his start at a young age in The Mighty Ducks 2 film March 1994 and the next month in April All That premiered with Thompson being one of the original cast mates, on Nickelodeon. Thompson was amongst the original cast of young people who would go on to make television history.

Considered by some as a kid-version of Saturday Night Live, the sketch comedy series saw Thompson perform a number of now iconic characters, including: Randy (from Cooking With Randy And Mandy), Superdude (from The Adventures of Superdude), Ishboo, Pierre Escargot, Bruno the Ballerina, Principal Pimpell, Miss Piddlin and Lester Oaks (Lester Oaks: Construction Worker) and Mavis (of Mavis and Clavis).

Mavis and Clavis was the beginning of Thompson becoming one-half of a dynamic duo opposite Kel Mitchell that teamed up for various other projects including the movie Good Burger and a self titled All That spin-off series, Kenan & Kel (which ran 4 seasons from 1996 to 2000).

In 2003, Thompson he joined the NBC Saturday Night Live. In 2004, he starred in the box office success Fat Albert in the title role. 

In 2011, he voiced the character Greedy Smurf in the CGI animated adaption the 1980's popular television show, The Smurfs. He reprised his role as Greedy in the 2013 sequel. In 2015, Thompson's long awaited reunion  with Kel Mitchell took place on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The reunion  saw Thompson reprise his role as Lester Oaks in the Good Burger sketch - SEE HERE.

As of 2022, Thompson has currently been on SNL since '03, making him the longest-tenured cast member in the show's history. He has performed in over 1,500 sketches, hitting the mark during the March 5, 2022 episode.

He has been nominated four times for a Primetime Emmy Award for his work on SNL, winning once in for co-writing "Come Back, Barack" in 2018.

For Kenan Thompson hard work has proven to pay off. He was the host of Nickelodeon's Kids Choice Awards (KCA) in 2021 and his work with NBC has earned him an opportunity to star in the title role of his own short lived self-titled sitcom, Kenan, which premiered on NBC in February of 2021.

Thompson received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work done in television. The ceremony was held on August 11, 2022 and honored Thompson with the 2,728th star located at 6627 Hollywood Boulevard.

"Rugrats in Paris" Celebrates It's 20th Anniversary In 2020 As We Remember It's "ChatBack" Watches!

November 17, 2020 will mark the 20th Anniversary of the release of the Rugrats in Paris film which premiered in theaters on November 17th in 2000 in the United States.

The animated feature released by Paramount and Nickelodeon made $103 million at the box office after being made with a budget of $30 million and saw a cool $20 million spent in promotional efforts towards the films success including toys in kids' meals at fast food restaurants.

From 11/13/2000 to 12/10/2000, Burger King promoted Rugrats In Paris. During the promotion, Burger King offered 4 special "ChatBack" watches, with each watch featuring a mini-conversation between 2 Rugrats. One watch was released per week, and sold for US$1.99 with any value meal purchase.

The four were made exclusive for a limited time only. It's safe to say that during this period only a certain demographic of children (now known as Millennials) got to experience and take part in this promotional blitz as a consumer which is now engraved into their bedded memories as apart of nostalgia.

The watches were uniquely and brilliantly designed in bold, vibrant colors ranging from lime green, purple & clear, deep sea blue and orange. When activated, the Rugrats characters "chat back'' to each other using phrases inspired by the movie. Each watch featured a "conversation'' between two different Rugrats characters with the press of a button. It's wrist bands were made of thick rubber that was tough to break. Aside of the character features it was easy to tell time with for child or an adult. Each watch was fun, family-friendly and uniquely designed in their own way.

THERE WERE 4 WATCHES FEATURED: (Pictures from Burger King's website; all ©2000 Burger King & Viacom.)

Phil & Lil (green watch) - released week 1

Phil: It's an alien!
Lil: It's Reptar!
Phil: Wow!
Lil: This is great!

Kimi & Chuckie (orange watch) - released week 2

Chuckie: It's a 'moozement park!
Kimi: That's scary!
Chuckie: You're not too brave.
Kimi: I'm not goin'!

Angelica & Susie (purple watch) - released week 3

Susie: I'm gonna sing!
Angelica: Now what?
Susie: Listen to me!
Angelica: Don't interrupt.

Tommy & Dil (blue watch) - released week 4

Tommy: Wanna play, Dilly?
Dil: My Tomby!
Tommy: Let's do it!
Dil: Play! Play!

Unlike any other wrist watch that has ever been made. Not your average Rolex but a contemporary competitor of such in its own right. Something to remember when November 17, 2020 pops up on the calendar.