Thin Ice [Model 8300]

Early in production, David Warhol came to Keith Robinson, who was manager on the game, and said he had a friend who wanted to break into the video game field as a composer and was willing to write a theme for Thin Ice for free. Keith told him no; it was against Mattel policy to use freelancers, even if they were literally free. Following Keith's authority about as much as anyone at Mattel did, Dave had his friend write the music anyway. Dave coded it for Intellivision and Julie linked it into the game.

The theme, 'Carnival of the Penguins', was so addictive and perfect for the game that Keith agreed it had to be used. He contacted Mattel's crack legal department and suggested they buy the rights for $100. They probably could have, but they procrastinated for months. By the time they got around to contacting the composer, the game had been demonstrated at a number of trade shows using the music; the composer was able to negotiate a payment of $1200 for the 15 second theme.

Thus George Alistair Sanger sold his first video game melody. He has gone on, under the nickname The Fat Man, to become the most famous composer of music for interactive media. He and his Team Fat have provided the music for Loom, Wing Commander, The 7th Guest and many other computer games.

The penguins Norman and Minky were named after Julie and Monique's boss Keith Robinson (who only reluctantly admits that his rarely-used first name is Norman) and his boss Mike Minkoff (Snafu).