Tom Cruise’s Digger is now playing in theaters. Or, at least it was. It’s actually playing in very few theaters now, so you know, that was fast. I haven’t seen Digger, but I’m going to assume it’s a mega-budget adaptation of the 1982 Atari arcade game Dig Dug. That would certainly make more sense than some other things I’ve been hearing about it.

It wouldn’t be the first time Dig Dug made it to the big screen. In fact, it was the first video game ever advertised in cinemas, thanks to an unprecedented marketing campaign by Atari which included a full “trailer” which was meant to trick audiences into thinking it was a preview for an upcoming film. So before you saw Halloween III: Season of the Witch (and hated it until society decided it was good), you might have had this look at a 50s-style disaster movie that eventually turns into a doo-wop music video (there’s no comedically sick cat in sight, though; wait, I think I might know why Digger is tanking–it looked really weird!).

Now, the song might sound a lot like a Chubby Checker ditty to those who are fans of that era of music. And originally…it was. In fact, there are even contradicting reports as to who wrote the thing. Some online posts claim it was Checker, although that have never been proven. What has been proven is a demo cassette that was discovered in 2014 which is indeed performed by Checker, although this was ultimately not used in the commercial itself. As Matt Osborne, the man who shared the demo online, wrote…

“My father, Don Osborne, was the Vice President of Marketing of ATARI’s Coin-op division at the time and he brought this home one day for us to listen to. I’m not sure how I actually ended up with it, but he may have lent it to me and I just never gave it back or he never asked for it to be returned. The only info that I have about it was that ATARI had envisioned a somewhat ’50’s styled take on the song, inspired, in part, by Chubby Checker’s hit ‘The Twist.’ At the time that I’d heard the song and had got possession of the tape, it was fully intended that Chubby’s song would be used in the final commercial. It’s been over 30 years, that and I was about 13 at the time, so details are fuzzy, but I remember my father being extra excited that Chubby was involved in the project and had great things to say about having met him. After that, I don’t recall why his [song] was eventually dropped in lieu of the one in the final cut of the commercial. The only thing that makes sense is that Chubby might have appealed to a much older audience and not the one that the commercial was targeted towards, so they eventually [chose] a younger representation for the band singing the song. Still, try going online and digging up any history, or even a mention of Chubby’s involvement, and you will find very little. I’d love to know more myself, so please share if you find anything out.”

Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, no one has ever found an “official” reason why Chubby’s take got buried in the dirt and another singer with similar vocal skills was put in his place. If I had to guess, however, it was almost certainly a royalties issue, as stupid things like that are often the cause of such corporate decisions. But hey, a bop’s a bop. And this song is a bop. Is it also a satirical commentary on climate change? Who knows!

“But Scrat,” I hear you good people ask, “when are you going to share the fucking trailer you keep teasing?” Well, for years, only a terrible quality upload was available with poor picture and even worse audio, but eventually a 35mm print of the ad was unearthed by someone and given a full HD scan, so now we can experience Dig Dug’s cinematic adventures in their intended, pixilated glory. Or, as Tom Cruise says, “Dig Dug or die!”

Have the power today, y’all! Be safe, be well, be you! Also, DIG!