There's one thing that I
want to talk about before I go ahead with this edition of the
Saturday Smorgasbord.
Recently, the city of
Calgary and the surrounding towns around it have been hit hard by
excessive rainy weather, and as a result of this, a lot of the area
is now flooded. At least reports, four people were considered dead,
and thousands of people are now displaced from their homes and
businesses. The scenes coming out of Calgary are devastating, and I
can't even imagine what they're going through right now. So, I want
to express my concern to the entire area affected by the floods, and
am sending out my thoughts and prayers to the people of Southern
Alberta.
And, now, onto this week's
blog entry.
Since this is the fourth
Saturday in the month of June, we're going to be taking a look at the
world of literature. And, I'm hoping that many of you reading
today's entry will have just as many fond memories of this book
series as I do.
But before I go ahead with
the blog, I want to tell you a little bit of a personal story.
When I was a kid, I think
that I must have caused my parents and my siblings a lot of
frustration and worry, as I was hardly considered to be the type of
kid who would sit still in one place for very long. I was a very
curious and inquisitive child, and it wasn't uncommon for me to make
my way through every room of the house in a time span of just ten
minutes.
Of course, just because I
did make my way through the house faster than the speed of light
didn't mean that I always did the most responsible things. Sure, I
thought that I was helping out, but in actuality I ended up causing
more trouble and damage than I really should have.
I remember one instance in
which I found a snow globe in my eldest sister's bedroom, and I was
completely mesmerized by snow globes and had to shake it constantly
whenever I had the chance (to this day, I still love snow globes).
Unfortunately, I ended up dropping the snow globe over the banister
of the staircase and it went ka-blammo all over the hallway, sending
shards of glass and little bits of fake snow all over the floor.
Needless to say, my sister was not impressed, and my dad was
incredibly angry!
But that was really the
only thing I destroyed of hers. The other sister...well...I reckon I
still probably owe her something like $500 for some of the things I
ended up destroying with my curiosity. Let's see...I buried her
Barbie dolls, I scribbled over a heart-shaped pillow, I cut up some
of her Garfield books, and I destroyed her entire vanity filled with
costly cosmetics and other hygiene products.
(Although, to be fair,
that last one was a freak accident!)
And, as far as my parents
and late grandparents go, my constant investigating of all things
that did not belong to me was so apparent, it's a wonder that I
didn't cause them to have a stress related heart attack. My
grandparents cringed every time I went to their cabinet filled with
knick-knacks and breakable collectables because I thought that they
were awesome looking toys. My mom probably got so mad at me because
it wasn't uncommon for me to rummage through the refrigerator and
tear apart an entire head of lettuce to snack on (leaving a trail of
lettuce leaves all over the floor from the kitchen to my toy box in
the living room). And, I can't even begin to tell you how many times
my dad screamed at me to stay away from his 1948 model acoustic
guitar!
(Honestly, looking back at
how I gravitated towards that guitar, it's a miracle that my father
still owns it today, still in remarkable condition!)
But in many ways, although
my curiosity almost always got me into trouble as a little boy, I
wouldn't trade those experiences for anything. Always being one to
be fascinated by new discoveries and wanting to know more about the
world, and getting my hands dirty...well, that made me grow into the
person I am now. And, it's only recently that I'm beginning to
pursue my desire to be curious about everything and everything around
me. I've always been one who loved to learn about new things, and
I'm finding that I'm becoming more versatile and am capable of doing
more than I thought I could because of my natural curiosity. After
all, I wouldn't be moving towards a new job opportunity in
electronics had I not been willing to learn how to use a cash
register.
(Oh, yeah...that's right.
I'm moving to my third department in a year. That's kinda exciting,
right?)
So, is it any wonder that
when I was a kid, I was drawn to a book series that also featured a
main character that was just as curious as I was. He kept going to
various places all over the city, and he was constantly getting into
mischief. Mind you, he was never malicious in his intentions. He
just wanted to help out, or have some fun. It wasn't his fault that
he accidentally overdosed on ether, or threw pizza dough at random
people, or sailed across the sky carrying ten thousand balloons. He
was just going with the flow.
Although, I imagine the
man in the yellow hat turned bright red with embarrassment over some
of the trouble that his beloved friend got himself into.
But, such was the life of
Curious George!
And, yes, we're going to
be talking about that cute little monkey, Curious George in this
week's edition of the Pop Culture Addict's Guide to Life!
From an early age, I was
obsessed with everything that had to do with Curious George. Years
ago, CBC used to air the old Telefilm cartoons that were made during
the 1980s, and I would watch that show religiously alongside Mr.
Dressup and Canadian Sesame Street. I would also make a trip to both
my school library as well as my city's public library, checking out
every Curious George book I could get my hands on. In fact, I
believe that when my elementary school's library would have their
annual book purging event where they sold the worn out, used books to
the students at dirt cheap prices, I picked up a couple of coverless
Curious George books to read. I didn't care...cover or not, Curious
George stories were absolutely fantastic, and I simply had to read
every single one.
Now, Curious George was
born well over seven decades ago, the creation of husband and wife
team Hans Augusto (H.A.) and Margret Rey. In 1940, the combat of
World War II was well underway, and thousands of people fled the
countries in Europe that were deep in the conflict. In June of that
year, Margret and H.A. Rey fled Paris, France on self-made bicycles
with very little possessions in their name, in an attempt to get out
of town before the Nazis moved in (both Reys were Jewish).
One of those possessions
was the manuscript for “Curious George”!
It wasn't the first time
that the Rey's had written a story starring the cheeky little monkey.
A year prior to their leaving France, they had published a story
entitled “Cecily G. and the Nine Monkeys”, which many believe to
be the very first appearance of Curious George...even though he was
called “Fifi” at the time.
TRIVIA:
Initially in the United Kingdom, when Curious George was first
printed there, George's name was changed to “Zozo”, to avoid any
negative comparisons. You see, at the time that Curious George was
written, the UK was still under the rule of King George VI, and I
don't think it would have been very classy to compare the King of
England to a curious little monkey. It's only my assumption that the
name was changed back to George following the real life passing of
King George VI in 1952.
When
Curious George first began being printed, initially only H.A. Rey was
given full credit on the cover. The reason being that the children's
book market was already saturated by female authors, and the Reys
felt that having a male name attached to the book would make it stand
out from the rest. Eventually, Margret's name was also added to the
cover, with Margret being credited for the writing while the pictures
were credited to H.A.
The
first book in the series, “Curious George” was released in 1941,
and this is the book that many of the book series most iconic images
came from. The story begins as we see George living in an African
jungle. He's a happy and carefree monkey whose only fault is that he
is very, very curious. And, in this book, that curiosity lead to his
capture by a man dressed entirely in yellow.
Yes,
the man in the yellow hat was also in Africa...but not to snap
pictures. Instead, he was there to take home souvenirs...like a
little brown monkey.
Don't
worry though. Lest you think that the man in the yellow hat is armed
with a big yellow gun, think again. This man would never harm a fly,
let alone a monkey.
The
man takes off his yellow hat and leaves it on the ground as he hides
behind a tree, hoping that the monkey would take the bait. Not only
does George comply, but he ends up having a lot of fun with the
hat...well...that is until the man in the yellow hat captures him.
Turns
out that the man in the yellow hat wants to take George to an
American zoo. But the journey to get there isn't exactly the
smoothest ride. Let's see...he...
- falls out of a boat into the water while trying to fly like a seagull
- accidentally calls the fire department after seeing the man in the yellow hat use the telephone
- gets thrown in jail by the fire department for calling them under false pretenses
- breaks out of jail
- grabs a whole bundle of balloons and ends up sailing across the skyline of the big city!
That
last image is probably one of the most iconic ones in the whole
series. Wouldn't you agree?
So,
after all that, you might think that the man in the yellow hat is
seriously reconsidering everything that he had to go through in order
to bring George to America. But surprisingly, he is in great
spirits, and he brings George to his new home at the zoo – after
reimbursing the balloon vendor, that is.
But
George doesn't exactly stay in the zoo for long, as in the second
book, “Curious George Takes a Job”, he escapes the zoo and causes
even more trouble than ever before! He eats an entire pot of
spaghetti in a restaurant, he paints a jungle mural inside of a
strangers living room, and in the escape attempt, he falls and breaks
his leg. Then at the hospital, he accidentally opens up a bottle of
ether, and well...
Needless
to say, George's curiosity almost killed him off! Thankfully, the
doctors and nurses revive him in time, and the man in the yellow hat
decides to adopt him and bring him home. Even better, George's story
was made into a film script and the second book ends with George
watching his life story unfold on the silver screen!
The
original Curious George series would continue for five more books,
ending its original run in 1966. Eleven years later on August 26,
1977, H.A. Rey passed away at the age of 78. Margret would continue
to be a huge part of the Curious George franchise, editing the series
of children's books that were based on the 1980s cartoon series.
Here...I've
posted links to four of the telefilms below. Maybe the stories will
jog your memory.
Oh,
that George!
Margret
Rey would continue working on various Curious George projects until
her death on December 21, 1996 at the age of 90. But even though the
Reys are both deceased, Curious George continues to make a huge
impact on the newest generations. A brand new animated series began
airing on PBS in 2006, and that same year, a feature film which
starred Will Ferrell as the man with the yellow hat was released,
introducing children to the wonderful, curious world of Curious
George.
And,
in Harvard Square, Cambridge Massachusetts, a children's book store
sits with the name “The World's Only Curious George Store, Harvard
Square”, which features hundreds of pieces of Curious George
merchandise which presumably includes books, DVD's, and stuffed
animals.
Hmmm...I
ought to find a way to get down there. I always wanted a Curious
George toy!
And,
to conclude this entry on Curious George, I thought I'd post this
song from the film soundtrack!
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