The Retroist

The Retroist

Share this post

The Retroist
The Retroist
Benji Takes A Dive At Marineland
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
User's avatar
Discover more from The Retroist
A Retro Podcast, Blog, and Newsletter.
Over 3,000 subscribers
Already have an account? Sign in

Benji Takes A Dive At Marineland

Retroist's avatar
Retroist
Aug 07, 2015
1

Share this post

The Retroist
The Retroist
Benji Takes A Dive At Marineland
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Share

Let’s take a minute to define absurd:

ab·surd,
adjective: (of an idea or suggestion) wildly unreasonable, illogical, or inappropriate.
“the allegations are patently absurd”
synonyms: preposterous, ridiculous, ludicrous, farcical, laughable, risible, idiotic, stupid, foolish, silly, inane, imbecilic, insane, harebrained, cockamamie; unreasonable, irrational, illogical, nonsensical, incongruous, pointless, senseless; informal, crazy, daft

Used in a sentence? “The premise of this old television special is absurd!”

I remember watching Benji Takes A Dive At Marineland in 1981. And catching it over, and over, and over again on Showtime a few years later.

What can I say; I’m a sucker for this type of TV.

What was this made-for-TV special about? Read the headline: Benji takes a dive at Marineland.

Right, but it’s not that simple. They could have made this special a straight-up serious documentary that showcases the how, and the why, of Benji diving at Marineland.

While it is cool to see a dog in a scuba suit, it would have been boring. So they went right past that and made this into an actual scripted special.

This special does not have the earnest emotional tone of earlier Benji films. No, this one goes full out corny and odd, then turns those two levels up to eleven!

I’ll list the elements that make this amazing in no particular order:

  1. Mermaid dog puppets (attracted to the star of the show, Benji, of course)!

  2. Boss Hogg-like dog puppets!

  3. Singing pineapples!

  4. The most wooden acting to ever be presented to a television audience!

  5. Calypso music!

  6. Dolphins (not puppets)!

  7. A ridiculously campy story line!

  8. And… Diabolical Nazi dog puppets! Didn’t see that one coming, did ya?

Unfortunately, copies of the special which have been posted online from time to time have all be removed. So you will need to track down the full special in other places.

Still, some clips that capture the tone of the special do find their way online.

If you are wondering if Benji actually take a dive at Marineland? Here is the spoiler. You better believe he does.


Subscribe to The Retroist

Launched 4 years ago
A Retro Podcast, Blog, and Newsletter.
1

Share this post

The Retroist
The Retroist
Benji Takes A Dive At Marineland
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Share

Discussion about this post

User's avatar
The Mystery Of The Red Quarters…Solved!
Did you ever find a quarter painted red and wonder if that red served a purpose? It does.
Feb 11, 2017 • 
Retroist
45

Share this post

The Retroist
The Retroist
The Mystery Of The Red Quarters…Solved!
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
6
Remember when Mickey Mouse decided to commit suicide?
Unless you lived in the 1930s or are a fan of vintage comic strips you might not be aware of the attempted Mickey Mouse suicide.
Aug 30, 2017 • 
Retroist
9

Share this post

The Retroist
The Retroist
Remember when Mickey Mouse decided to commit suicide?
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Monkey’s Blood (Mercurochrome) for those boo-boos
Remember when you were a kid, and you would were out roughhousing with your friends.
Oct 23, 2019 • 
Retroist
4

Share this post

The Retroist
The Retroist
Monkey’s Blood (Mercurochrome) for those boo-boos
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
2

Ready for more?

© 2025 Retroist
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More

Create your profile

User's avatar

Only paid subscribers can comment on this post

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in

Check your email

For your security, we need to re-authenticate you.

Click the link we sent to , or click here to sign in.