The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (Darkfield)

The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (Darkfield)

If you've seen the movie Ghostbusters, then you will have no problem recognizing the Stay Puft Marshmallow man illustrated in the photomicrograph above. This giant advertising character came to life in the movie as the "evil" nemesis of the three Ghostbusters and terrorized the city they were trying to cleanse. After a horrific battle, the heroic Ghostbusters reduced the creature to mini-marshmallow pieces. We found this creature on a vintage 1988 Weitek math coprocessor, and he is about 300 microns in size. Over the years, we have spotted variations in the construction of this creature on Weitek chips. The current photomicrograph is the best image we have produced of this silicon doodle, and this is the only one that contains "BONFIRE" on the skillet (we guess to signify the roasting of marshmallows).

We have been alerted to another interpretation of this creature. Dr. Nadrian X Underwood has suggested that the Stay Puft Marshmallow man is really the robot from the television series Lost in Space. Underwood points out the grappling claws, midriff magnetic tape reels, and the glass lozenge halo present on the creature, features which were prominent on the robot. Our investigations lead us to doubt this identity because this robot did not have "eyes" and a face. Underwood counters that he sees the "face" in the image as a "crude rendering of the electromechanical gizmo that filled the robot's 'skull'". Until we have further information, we will leave any final interpretations to our visitors.

Several visitors have suggested the creature bears a resemblance to "Robbie the Robot" from the 1950s movie The Forbidden Planet. Judging from the images we have seen of Robbie, it appears that the robot from Lost in Space has more features in common with the image above.

View this silicon artwork under differential interference contrast and brightfield illumination.


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