I saw this pop up on eBay recently, the Willis Pac-Man side art for the upright cabinet. Now I’m a big fan of Willis artwork, but this one makes me giggle. It is truly rediculous. Three angry sets of eyes from the light blue, purple, and a pink ghosts? Looking down at what appears to be a cartoonish version of a dude in a Pac-Man costume, about to eat a couple of cherries the size of baseballs. At least the pac dude has a wall to hide behind, because that pink ghost is enormous. We are all familiar with the iconic game and its characters so its easy to make the connection with this one, even if the resemblance is vague at best. The artwork lacks any other connection to the game and the colors are blocky and flat. I can’t help but think of Noice’s famous Crystal Castle’s artwork install for some reason. The seller is on KLOV and was kind enough to share a few details from the artwork, confirming it was made by Willis. The sideart has the © WILLIS INDUSTRIES 1982 tag and the part number PN 26-3169, indicating it was distributed by Wico.
It would appear that Willis and Wico did business in 1982 and part of 1983. Which makes this an interesting piece of the puzzle and a great piece of arcade history. If you have this side art on your game, I would love to see it. Or if you know anything about the relationship between Willis and Wico, drop me a line, thanks!
