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Saturday, December 10, 2011

Saturday Special Edition - Frosty The Snowman

One of the best things that I always liked about the month of December is the child-like innocence that people experience. It doesn't really matter whether you're five or ninety-five. I believe that the holidays tend to bring out the need to find joy in simple things.

But while it is true that people can find the joy and magic of Christmas at all ages, I think that when we're children, it just seems as though that magic is most concentated.

But why is that?

I think it's because when we're kids, we don't see Christmas traditions as being work. We only see it as being fun.

One of the many activities that I used to partake in when I was younger was building a snowman out in the middle of our backyard. Growing up in Canada, there was usually a lot of snow to be found on the ground (well...usually, as this winter's been depressingly mild), so building a snowman came easy.

All you had to do was make three gigantic snowballs of varying sizes (keeping in mind that the wetter the snow, the better it worked), and stack them one on top of the other. Then you could decorate the snowman with various household items. We'd grab an old hat and scarf, and drape them on the snowmen, grab a carrot for his nose. Find a couple of rocks for the eyes, pebbles for the mouth. If we could find some under the snow, we'd stick branches in the side of the snowman for his arms. And it looked really great.

Though as a kid, I didn't know that building a snowman was such hard work. When I was a kid, my parents did the more difficult parts, which included stacking the snowballs on top of each other. All I did was dress the snowman. Of course, I think they enjoyed helping me build the snowman because they saw how happy I was when the snowman was finally completed.

And I think that's a great thing for us all to learn. That sometimes Christmas and the holiday season can be fun for people at any age as long as we're able to give our time towards people who need it. Because as we know, the Christmas season is for giving. And, as much as my family can sometimes drive me crazy, I know that they were true givers.

Today's blog topic deals with a famous snowman. A snowman that was first immortalized in song, first recorded by singer Gene Autry in 1950.

A snowman that would end up getting his own holiday special almost two decades later.



Frosty The Snowman debuted on December 7, 1969 on CBS. Produced by Rankin-Bass (a name synonymous with holiday specials), the holiday special remains a holiday staple for children all over the world. It is one of the most beloved Christmas specials still screened today, and was recently ranked #4 on TV Guide's Top 10 Holiday Specials list.

For Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass, Frosty the Snowman was a first for them. Prior to Frosty, their previous efforts utilized stop-motion animation. This special used the more traditional cel animation. The reason? The creators of the show wanted the overall feel to resemble a Christmas card. Paul Coker Jr., who worked as a greeting card designer and did artwork for MAD Magazine, was hired to design Frosty and all the other characters in the show. The show was animated by Japanese company Mushi Production, spearheaded by Osamu Dezaki, and writer Romeo Muller (who also had worked on Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer) worked on the storyboard for the half hour program.

The voice cast of the special was filled with quite a few heavyweights at the time it was produced. Jackie Vernon was cast as the role of Frosty, and I might add that he did such a good job with the role that I can't imagine anyone else even attempting to play Frosty. I know John Goodman and Bill Fagerbakke both played Frosty in future Christmas specials, but to me, Jackie is THE Frosty. Jimmy Durante was cast as the narrator of the show.

Here's some trivia for you all though. Initially when the show was first broadcast in 1969, the voice of Karen was done by veteran voice actress June Foray (who you probably know best from Bugs Bunny cartoons where she played Granny). The following year, however, most of Foray's dialogue was replaced by an uncredited actor. It's still unknown as to why Foray's work was removed from the special just one year later, but one common theory is that there was a controversy over royalties and/or copyrights. It could also be because Foray was under contract with Warner Brothers, and by working for Rankin-Bass, it could have been a breach of contract. At this point, it's hard to say why this was the case.



Most of you know how the story goes. Frosty comes to life after putting on a magic hat, and he laughs and plays with the neighbourhood children every Christmas season. In this special, we learn just how Frosty ended up getting that magic hat.

It all started off when a magician named Professor Hinkle visits an elementary school. It's the school where Karen and her friends attend, and their teacher has a special surprise for her class. What she had hoped was for her class to be entertained by a little Christmas magic performed by Professor Hinkle and his sidekick bunny, Hocus Pocus. But, needless to say, the magician bombed, and the performance was a disaster.



Shortly after that, school let out for the day, and Karen and her friends decide to build a snowman. Once the snowman was completed, the group of kids struggle to come up with a name. Rejected suggestions? Christopher Columbus and Oatmeal.

Karen ends up deciding the name. Frosty.

The snowman is almost completed, but they notice that the snowman is lacking a hat. Fate intercedes as the group finds a discarded hat lying around. Turns out that the hat belonged to Professor Hinkle, and that it was the same one he used to perform his magic tricks. The kids welcome their good fortune and put the hat on Frosty's head...and well...this happens.



Of course, before that scene aired, Professor Hinkle attempted to take the hat back from the snowman, but Hocus Pocus, in what was probably an act of rebellion against his master, puts the hat back on Frosty, which lead to the scene above.



For a few moments anyway, Frosty seemed to have fun with his new found friends, and all was well. Until the temperature started to rise, and Frosty began to feel uncomfortable. He realizes that if he doesn't get to somewhere colder, he would melt away completely, and nobody wanted to see that happen.  The children decide that the best place for him to be is at the North Pole, and this leads to a parade through the downtown streets where he gets into his famous confrontation with the traffic cop.

Of course, once the kids get to the train station, they come across a dilemma. How can they get Frosty on a train when they don't have enough money to buy a model train, let alone a train ticket? A solution presents itself in the form of a train car carrying frozen desserts. Frosty could chill out in the car, and make it to the North Pole without shedding an ounce.

It's here that Karen and former magician assistant Hocus Pocus decide for whatever reason to hop on the train along with Frosty to keep him company. Nevermind that Karen is hopping on a train essentially by herself. Nevermind that she seems to have the outlandish belief that she'll make it back home before dinner despite not having a way to get back home once she makes it to the North Pole.

Then again, maybe the story is set in the Yukon territory in Canada. Who knows, really?



What Frosty, Karen, and Hocus don't realize is that Hinkle has stowed away on the same train. Hinkle wanted his hat back. He didn't care whether Frosty came to life or not. Knowing that his hat really was magical, and knowing that his career as a magician was on the line, he knew that he had to get that hat back at all costs.

What Hinkle didn't count on was the fact that sitting in a frozen box car for an extended period of time with nothing more than a red jacket on can make young girls freeze. Poor Karen just couldn't take the cold, and Frosty was forced to take Karen and Hocus off the train in an effort to get her body temperature back up to normal.

It's here that Frosty's congenial nature seems to work to his advantage. Knowing that Karen could very well freeze if she wasn't kept warm, he convinces a group of forest animals to build a fire for her. This seems to work temporarily, but Frosty knows that he can't leave Karen in the cold weather for long. With a suggestion from Hocus, Frosty gets it into his head that maybe they could ask Santa for help (while at the same time taking credit for the idea, annoying the poor bunny).

Hocus volunteers to hop down the path towards Santa's residence, but as soon as Hocus leaves, Hinkle pops out of hiding and immediately puts out Karen's campfire. Frosty and Karen are forced to flee the scene, and somehow end up near a greenhouse filled with Christmas plants. Frosty decides to put Karen inside the greenhouse to keep her warm, even going inside the house in hopes of keeping her warm. Karen didn't think it was such a good idea, but Frosty insisted.

Sadly, Frosty should have listened to his friend, for Hinkle arrives on the scene and locks the greenhouse door, trapping Frosty and Karen inside the hothouse. By the time Hocus finds Santa and arrives at the greenhouse, it seems as though it is already too late.



I'll tell you...I'm now in my thirties, and that scene with Karen crying over her melted friend still gets to me even now. Truly one of the saddest moments I've ever witnessed in a Christmas special. And this is even after I watched Nestor: The Christmas Donkey!

It seems as though Frosty is gone forever...or is he? Turns out Santa has something to tell Karen. When Frosty was 'born', he was made with Christmas snow, and everyone knows that when something is made with Christmas snow, it never truly melts away. Not completely. For when a gust of cold wind blows inside the greenhouse, it magically freezes the puddle and the puddle turns into a snowman again! All that was needed now was the hat that brought Frosty back to life!



Of course, Hinkle makes one last-ditch effort to get the hat back once more, but one thing that people should realize is that you should NEVER attempt to do naughty things right in front of Santa...because Santa will tear you a new one! In fact, Santa makes a promise that if Hinkle lay one finger on that hat that he would be permanently removed from Santa's Christmas list for the rest of his life...well, unless he writes out how sorry he is to Frosty a hundred-zillion times.  That's the last we see of Hinkle for a while, it would seem. Meanwhile, Frosty is brought back to life again, and Santa takes Karen back home on his sleigh. Karen is sad to say goodbye to Frosty, but Frosty makes her a promise that he will return again on Christmas Day.

And I'm sure that Frosty has kept his word every Christmas since.



Frosty has had a few sequels come out since then. In 1976, the special Frosty's Winter Wonderland was released, once again with Vernon playing the voice of Frosty. I wish I could have more to tell you about this one, but I've never actually seen it myself. Same deal goes with the crossover special Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, released in 1979.



Then in 1992, Frosty Returns debuted on CBS, this time with John Goodman as the voice of Frosty (as Vernon had passed away in 1987). It was an okay special, but nothing really worth writing more than a paragraph about. Frosty was also resurrected by actor Bill Fagerbakke in The Legend of Frosty the Snowman, which was a straight-to-DVD release back in 2005.

Still though, with all the Frosty specials that have aired over the years, the original one is the best. Where else can you find a special that has friendship, love, Christmas magic, and happy, smiling faces?



For Frosty the snowman, was a jolly, happy soul. With a corn-cob pipe and a button nose, and two eyes made out of coal.

Friday, December 09, 2011

TGIF: Dr. Sheldon Cooper From The Big Bang Theory

Have you ever had the feeling that when you watch a certain character on television, you're absolutely surprised at how much they have in common with you?

I mean, seriously, think about it. Imagine you're tuning into your favourite television program, and suddenly a character pops up, and you go 'hey, that's ME!'

Has this ever happened to you?

Well, it happened to me. Only I didn't realize it. In all actuality, I find that I'm probably more like another character from this show as far as where I am in my life right now...but looking at the subject of today's blog, I'm finding that I have a lot more in common with this guy than I originally thought.

And today's show is one that I didn't get into until recently.

Unless you work in a place where taking breaks and lunches are absolutely frowned upon (and if you currently are at that place, might I suggest you quit your job and find somewhere else to work that will allow you to actually eat), most workplaces have some sort of employee lounge inside of it. My workplace is no exception.

Approximately six months ago, a television set was installed in the lounge as well as a DVD player. The store I work at provided us with a variety of television show box-sets for us to watch while we ate our lunches or took our 15-minute breaks. It was a really nice thing to have, and it provided some form of entertainment for us on long work days.

For the most part, a lot of the DVD packages were shows that I had seen a few episodes of. The first season of Glee, season one of Happy Days, season five of Friends...all shows I was familiar with, and at least for the final two, shows I really liked.

But there was also one box set that was there that was for a show that I had never seen before. I knew it was wildly popular and that people really got into the show, but for whatever reason, I kept missing the show. Maybe it was because I worked most nights that it was on.



That set was the first season of The Big Bang Theory.

And once I started watching the show, I absolutely fell in love with it. The writing is intelligent, the chemistry between the actors and actresses on the show is nothing short of perfection, and the character development for all the characters is among some of the best I've seen in recent sitcom history.

Eventually, the fourth season set was added to our DVD collection at work, and over time, The Big Bang Theory soon became one of my favourite TV shows.

And why did I end up becoming a fan of this program? Well, it's because of this guy.



Dr. Sheldon Cooper, played by Jim Parsons.



Now Jim Parsons wasn't originally producer Chuck Lorre's first choice to play Sheldon. Surprisingly enough, Lorre wanted Johnny Galecki to play the role instead. But when Galecki had doubts about playing the role, and expressed interest in playing the role of Dr. Leonard Hofstadter instead, Parsons got the role after auditioning twice for the role (Lorre did this as a sort of insurance policy to make sure that Parsons' first audition wasn't a fluke performance).

And to say that Jim Parsons has had great success in playing Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory is a bit of an understatement. With one Golden Globe Award and two back-to-back Emmy Awards in 2010 and 2011, it's likely that Parsons will continue his success well into 2012.

But this blog entry isn't about Jim Parsons. It's about the wonderful character that he plays. This is a character sketch on Dr. Sheldon Cooper.

It's also sort of a character sketch on myself in a weird way, because after watching several episodes of the show at work, I'm finding that I am a lot more like Sheldon than I initially thought.



Not one hundred per cent mind you. Sheldon's a rather quirky, unique individual, and I doubt that ANYONE could be just like him. If anything, as I said before, I'm more like another character from the Big Bang Theory, and if I were to point out a character that I'm most like in my current status, I'd be more like Howard (Simon Helberg), with maybe a smidgen of Raj (Kunal Nayyal). Hell, maybe there's even a bit of Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) inside of me somewhere.

But, Sheldon and I share a lot in common.

Before we get into that though, let's talk about obvious differences. Sheldon's got an IQ of approximately 187. Mine is about 50-60 points LOWER. Sheldon likes to dress in superhero T-shirts all the time, while I own maybe one shirt with some sort of logo on it. Sheldon seems unable to use and/or detect sarcasm, while sarcasm can be one of the many languages that I'm fluent in (along with gibberish, poppycock, and English). Sheldon has a Southern accent. I don't. Sheldon's family is extremely religious. I don't think any of my relatives have set foot inside a church in at least a decade. Sheldon graduated from college at fourteen and received his first Ph.D when he was sixteen. Looking back on it, I wish I could have done the same, for I could have skipped high school altogether!

So yeah, clearly, Sheldon and I aren't COMPLETELY alike. But there's lots of things that make us the same. Let's dissect Dr. Cooper, and in the process we'll dissect this pop culture addict at the same time.



  1. WE BOTH SUCK AT RELATIONSHIPS

Though there's a bit of a difference in between the both of us. Yes, I'm openly admitting that my love life is pretty much non-existent as of now. In Sheldon's case, this much is true as well. In fact, many fans of the show have stated that they have thought Sheldon to be asexual. To this day, nobody really knows what Sheldon's sexual preferences are. Sheldon's sex life probably has more questions than a standard Jeopardy quiz show board. Though during season four, Sheldon has been seeing a young woman named Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik), who ends up being his exact double in personality.



But here's where Sheldon and I seem to have a bit of difference. Sheldon's a bit...shall we say...lacking in his desire to physically touch someone. I'm not quite as bad as he is, I'll tell you that much. It's true that I have struggled with the idea of love and affection, but in my case, I strike that to being extremely guarded. I'm slowly working towards letting that guard down, but it's been a challenge. In Sheldon's case, he genuinely doesn't know how to act in a relationship at all. And, in that sense, it sort of brings me to my second comparison.

  1. WE'RE BOTH SOCIALLY AWKWARD

Well, okay, maybe that's not a fair description, but it's sort of similar. I'll admit to being the wallflower in most social situations. It takes me a long time to size up someone and openly interact with them in social settings. I've always been that way as far back as I can remember. Again, maybe that stems from me being guarded towards people as I talked about in bullet point number one, but whatever the case, I am working at trying to come out of my shell.



Sheldon on the other hand is socially inept. He almost seems incapable of behaving normally in social situations, as he has little quirks that he has to exhibit. He has his own spot reserved on a sofa in the apartment that he shares with Leonard, and if anyone other than Sheldon sits down, his agitation levels go through the roof. He has trouble displaying emotional empathy towards people, he has a difficult time showing his emotions, and he sometimes almost always comes across as a know-it-all who takes great pride in pointing out everyone else's mistakes and blunders in the most obnoxious way possible. But, I guess we can't expect any other reaction, as Sheldon seems incapable of sparing someone else's feelings.

I guess we'll sort of call that a similar circumstance, though I did stretch it a bit.

Ah, here's number 3...

  1. WE BOTH HATE GIVING UP CONTROL

This is a big one, for both myself and for Sheldon.

We'll start with myself. I like to know what I am doing at all times, and I like to have control over what I want to do. That's not to say that I'm completely against changing my plans at the last minute provided that there's a good reason for it. Not at all. But when I come up with a decision that I feel is best for me, and then have someone else try to make another decision behind my back when I have things planned out, it really does frustrate me. As someone who has wanted to assert himself for a long time, it really bothers me when people take it upon themselves to make decisions for me rather than letting me do it myself. I'm getting a little better at developing my backbone though, so at least I have that going for me.



Sheldon seems to have too MUCH backbone in that regard. In many ways, although he's unaware of it, he seems to pitch fits whenever he doesn't get his own way. His abrasive nature in getting challenged by his friends and co-workers has made him a rather difficult person to get along with. His belief that he knows everything about everything has gotten Sheldon in quite a few mishaps, even getting fired from his job as a result of it.

  1. JUST BECAUSE WE HAVE A LEARNER'S PERMIT DOESN'T MEAN WE CAN DRIVE

I have a learner's permit to drive, but I don't have a full license because of the fact that I have a fear of driving that I am trying to get over. Sheldon has a learner's permit to drive, but he doesn't have a full license, because when he tried driving on a similator, he failed miserably. Of course, Sheldon has said that he doesn't need to drive because he's simply 'too evolved' to drive.

At least I'M honest with myself on that one.

  1. WE BOTH OPEN UP AFTER WE'VE HAD A FEW

Which I suppose leads to number six, which is...

  1. SHELDON AND I RARELY DRINK

As far as I'm concerned, I've seen enough people drink themselves to death in my lifetime to want to partake in binge drinking. I got it out of my system by the time I was 22. That's not to say that I don't enjoy going out for a beer every now and again, I just have left those binge drinking days behind. Of course, I did attend a friend's wedding about three months ago, and the only way that I got my booty on that dance floor was after downing a couple of glasses of liquid courage, so to speak.

Surprisingly enough, Sheldon very rarely drinks alcohol at all, so when Penny (Kaley Cuoco) decided to spike his virgin drink with alcohol, this is what happens.



  1. WE BOTH HAVE NO INTEREST IN RELIGION

I'm far from being the most religious person myself. I actually identify myself as being an agnostic. Of course, as I said before, my family's not much into attending church on Sundays. Sheldon's the same way as me in that he doesn't see religion as being a big part of his life. In his case though, his family WAS religious, and in Sheldon's case, his scientific beliefs often clash with his mother's spiritual beliefs. Still, he does attempt to satisfy his mother by attending church at least once a year.

And finally...here's the big one. The main thing that links Sheldon Cooper to myself.

  1. WE REALLY DO CARE...WE JUST MAY NOT SHOW IT RIGHT AWAY

First, we'll talk about Sheldon in this case. This statement probably describes the interaction that he has with Penny, the neighbour who lives across the hall.  When the show first began, it became pretty obvious that Sheldon and Penny would have sort of a love-hate relationship. Penny seems annoyed by Sheldon's idiosyncrasies, and she's usually the first one to make insulting remarks towards Sheldon, or is the first one who tunes out. But then again, Sheldon has a rather unusual way of getting Penny's attention.



But as much as they seem to get off on annoying each other...the truth is, Sheldon really does care a lot for Penny, even if it doesn't show up. And I think a part of it is the fact that Penny has sort of stepped in as a sort of motherly figure to him. As odd as it may sound, Penny and Sheldon do share a rather unique bond.



When Sheldon got sick one episode, and Penny offered to take care of him, Sheldon practically forced her to sing the lullaby type song that Sheldon's mother used to sing to him.



'Soft Kitty' has since appeared in at least one episode for the first four seasons.

Sheldon's also been helpful towards Penny right back. When Penny was low on cash, Sheldon let Penny borrow some money from his personal savings stash. Even better for Penny, Sheldon seemed as if he didn't care if he ever got the money back...a move Leonard described as 'one of the few idiosyncrasies that doesn't make you want to, you know, kill him.'

Perhaps the best example I can come up with to fully exhibit the bond between Sheldon and Penny is during the Christmas themed season two episode called 'The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis'. Sheldon wants to get Penny a gift that is exactly the same price as the one that she's getting him. He ends up purchasing about a dozen baskets, and when he gets her gift, he'll decide what one he feels matches the value of Penny's gift best.

And then a Christmas miracle happened. Watch this.


Wow...so you see, even someone as socially awkward as Sheldon can be moved to going out of his comfort zone to show how much he cares.

Now what if I told you that I sometimes feel like Sheldon in that case? What if I admitted that I find it hard to show affection at times?

Granted, I'm very good at saying please and thank you. That's nothing new. And, of course, I'm very sympathetic and willing to lend an ear to anyone who needs it, so I'm not nearly as bad as Sheldon. And I certainly don't need anyone singing 'Soft Kitty' inside my ear.

But I've always had a hard time expressing to people how I really feel about them...especially in person. If I can write my feelings down on paper and have them read it, then that's perfect for me...but trying to come out and say that I really like people...well, I don't know, I find it difficult.

I guess maybe it all has to do with something that I've mentioned a couple of times up above. I'm quite a guarded person in my daily life, and I've been betrayed by people who I deemed very close friends before. It's a bit hard for me to open up to people as a result. When I first started my job, it took me about three months before I even started opening up to people. I didn't even say hello. Yesterday, I celebrated my seventh year of service with the company I work for, and I'm finding that I'm a lot more open and chatty. I guess in my case, time healing those wounds, allowing me to tear down those walls did help...as well as a lot of patient co-workers on their part. When I had to undergo emergency surgery earlier in the year, I was amazed at the amount of support that I got from all of my co-workers.

I'll never forget the time that I received a get well soon card from my workplace signed by at least 125 people from the store. Some of the people who signed it were people I had only bumped into maybe once or twice. Even a few of the overnight workers signed the card, and I know that a few of them I didn't even know! It was really a touching gesture on their part, and I really can't thank them enough for their love and support.

In a way, it was that love and support that helped me recover, and really allowed me to pierce some holes in that stupid wall that I built around myself. There's still some bricks that I have to smash into dust yet, but I am on the right track. Looking back, I could see how my personality (or lack thereof when I first began my job) could have turned people off...but it's to the credit of my co-workers who demonstrated extreme patience.

And you know, Leonard, Penny, Raj, Howard, Bernadette, and Amy...they're kind of like those co-workers. They may not understand Sheldon very much, and they may not quite understand who he is...but in the end, they're still his friends...well, most of the time, anyway. And all of them (Penny especially) have contributed to helping Sheldon open up and become a less cartoonish and more realistic person.



And that's worth every BAZINGA in the world to him...and to me, for that matter.

On that final note...





Thursday, December 08, 2011

Thursday Night At The Arcade - Super Mario 3

In most cases, I find sequels to be somewhat hit and miss.

For the most part, I find sequels to be a bit on the unnecessary side. Not that I don't appreciate them, because some of them are well-done, and carefully thought out. But sometimes a movie franchise will take it a bit too far. Did we really need five Final Destination movies? Was there really a need to have six Saw movies? Was there any need to make Scream 4, years after the third movie was released?

Again, some movies have sequels that measure up to the original quite nicely. Take Home Alone 2: Lost In New York, for example. The sequel was basically a retelling of the first movie, only in a different city, and yet it managed to be just as funny and entertaining as the first one. Home Alone 3 and 4...should have NEVER been made.

Same deal with Lethal Weapon. The first two movies were great. The third one lagged in places, but was more or less enjoyable. But the fourth one wasn't exactly all that memorable. When the first scenes involve Murtaugh stripping to his underwear because Riggs tricked him into doing so, it pretty much told us that we were all getting to old for this...well, you know.

The truth is that in the world of film, sequels can do well at the box office, but more often than not fail to make as huge of an impression as the original film.

In the world of video gaming, however, sequels seem to have the opposite effect. In most cases, the sequels end up performing better and sell more copies than the original games in the series. I could go on and on about the various titles that have had successful sequels. A perfect example is the Final Fantasy series. Granted, none of them have the same characters in between game to game, but some games in the series sell better than others, and is still a force in the gaming industry. The Spyro series spawned two successful sequels before another game company took over future game projects and made the series crash and burn. Sonic the Hedgehog continues to launch successful hit game right after another. And I suppose in recent years, Grand Theft Auto and Call Of Duty are examples of sequels doing very well (even though I myself am not a fan of the series).

And then there's the Super Mario series.

I talked about Super Mario Brothers 2 way back in June of this year, and how while it was a game that was largely created by plagiarism, and was not originally a Mario game, was still enjoyable to play. Well, today's entry is all about another game in the Mario series that outperformed and outsold both the original Super Mario and Super Mario 2.



Super Mario Brothers 3 could arguably be considered to be the best (or at least one of the best) sequel to the original Super Mario Brothers game. The Nintendo game was originally released in Japan in 1988, and came to North America approximately a year and a half later in 1990. Upon its release, Super Mario 3 had become one of the best-selling video games of all time. It was ranked #6 in the Top 200 Nintendo Games ever made by Nintendo Power magazine, sold more than eighteen million copies worldwide, and made almost half a billion dollars in revenue for Nintendo.



Oh, and it was one of the gifts that I found underneath my Christmas tree from Santa Claus the same year the game was released...just three months after I saved up and bought my Nintendo console.



Part of the reason for the game's success? It actually appeared in a movie about a year before the North American version was released. In 1989, a movie was released called The Wizard, starring Fred Savage. Although the movie was critically panned and was highly regarded as a 90-minute commercial for Nintendo, the movie boasted one feature. It allowed people to get an advanced screening of Super Mario 3, as it was one of the games played in the video game competition that one of the characters enters.



I happen to know quite a few people who only saw the movie to scope out the game, and the few scenes that people saw in the movie was enough to make them desperate to play it the minute it hit the stores.

I can also attest to the popularity of Super Mario 3. Before I got it as a Christmas gift, I actually had to be put on a waiting list to be able to rent it from the video store. That's how you knew that a game was hot!



And Super Mario 3 was definitely a game that was addictive. I recall spending hundreds of hours playing that game, not stopping until I found every secret, every 1-UP mushroom, every coin, every power-up...everything. I even found both ways in which you could defeat Bowser at the end of the game. (HINT: One way involves fire, the other way involves destroying the floor.)



One reason why I enjoyed the game was because it was similar in gameplay to the original Super Mario Brothers. The basic goal was to play as either Mario or Luigi, and make your way through the Mushroom Kingdom, killing bad guys and collecting coins to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser's castle. That is the standard, basic plot in every Mario game ever made, and it will likely be that way for future Mario games to come.

What was different was the way the game was presented. There were overworlds that Mario and Luigi could walk across, and unlike the more linear Mario games before it, you could choose whatever paths you wanted to take.



Each of the worlds in the game were styled after a specific theme. And while Super Mario 2 toyed around with the idea of creating different levels with different types of weather, Super Mario 3 expanded on this concept.

The eight worlds of Super Mario 3 began with a standard grassy knoll level. Consider it an intro world, so to speak. As the game progressed, Mario and Luigi would pass through a vast desert, an island nation with lots of rivers and oceans, a land where the enemies are three times the size of Mario, a city in the clouds, a frozen tundra level, a maze that proves to be a plumbing nightmare, and ending off in Bowser's lava-filled domain.

The power-ups have greatly improved as well. No longer does Mario have to rely on his grandpappy's mushrooms and fire flowers anymore. In this game, there's also a leaf power-up which allows Mario to transform into a flying raccoon.

Yes, I know what you're saying. In real life, raccoons cannot fly. In Mario's world, anything is possible. And if Mario runs fast enough, Mario can fly up to the sky provided that his power gauge is high enough. This new power can help Mario get through almost any level. Other suits that Mario can try on for size include a frog suit (which can help Mario get through those terrible underwater levels I hate so much), a hammer brother suit (my personal favourite, as you can throw hammers at things), and a Tanooki bear suit (which you can use to turn into an invincible statue if things get too tough).



One handy feature with Super Mario 3 is the fact that unlike other games, you could actually pick up items to be used at a later date. This feature would be re-used in other Mario games, but this one was used brilliantly. You could get items a number of ways to hold on to. You could get the mostly by visiting Toad in one of his many homes (seriously, how does a stupid mushroom dude own so much real estate in Mushroom Kingdom?) and by opening treasure chests. But you can also win items from killing off Hammer Brothers and Hammer Brother cousin enemies as a prize.

Yeah, that's another main difference about Super Mario 3 compared to earlier Mario games. Goombas could fly. Hammer Brothers could throw boomerangs, sledgehammers, and can breathe fire. Koopa shells could now be picked up and thrown. Oh, and pirahna plants can now try to burn you. What fun.

There's even more mini-boss action in this game...far more than the other games before it. Super Mario 2 attempted this the first time around with creative end bosses, but all of them were just a figment of Mario's imagination.  For one, you had various forms of a boss known as Boom-Boom that appeared in almost every fortress or castle in the game that one would have to defeat to unlock doors blocking your path.



For another, apparently in the five years that passed between Super Mario Brothers and the third game, Bowser fathered seven children. Who knew that there was even a Mrs. Bowser in the picture? Or maybe she left Bowser because of his unhealthy obsession with Princess Peach? All interesting, unanswered questions.

Alas, there's a little bit of business to take care of before you rescue Princess Peach. Each of Bowser's seven children has stolen a magic wand belonging to each world ruler in the Mushroom Kingdom, and at some point, you'll have to find a way to board each of the Koopalings airships to steal the wand back from them. What I find interesting is that each of the kids have their own distinct look and personality, and each one had their own battle strategies, making the game much more challenging.

The order of each Koopa Kid you encounter, as well as their main attack and what celebrity they happen to be named after are as follows.

WORLD 1: Larry Koopa (named after Larry King). Shoots magic beams from wand

WORLD 2: Morton Koopa Jr. (named after Morton Downey Jr.) Shoots magic beams from wand

WORLD 3: Wendy O. Koopa (named after Plasmatics singer Wendy O. Williams) Throws deadly red and white bracelets that bounce around

WORLD 4: Iggy Koopa (named after Iggy Pop) Shoots magic beams from wand, and bounces around room quite often

WORLD 5: Roy Koopa (named after Roy Orbison) Shakes the ground, immobilizing people if jumped on

WORLD 6: Lemmy Koopa (named after Lemmy Kilmister) Throws bouncy balls at Mario which bounce around room

WORLD 7: Ludwig von Koopa (named after Beethoven) Shakes the ground, immobilizing people if jumped on, bounces around room quite often)

Once the Koopalings are defeated, they disappear, give up their wand, change the world rulers back into humans, and from there, Mario gets a letter from Peach along with clues to defeating future levels, clues to finding warp whistles, and a power-up.

Oh, yeah, forgot to mention, there's three hidden warp whistles that can be found in Super Mario 3. These whistles can be used to warp between worlds. The more whistles you have, the best chance you have of making it all the way to world eight without having to play the game straight through (which came in handy given that the original NES version had no save files on it).

I won't reveal how you can find these whistles, but I can tell you that you can find two of them in World 1, and one in World 2. And, in the case of one of the whistles, you're going to need to have a hammer power-up. But that's all I will say. Besides, I'm sure those of you who have played the game know how to get them already, so I'll leave you to it.



All in all, Super Mario 3 was a fine game, and if anything, it proved that sometimes sequels can become much powerful and more well-known than their predecessors.

While the case may be largely true that if something isn't broken, don't fix it, this didn't happen with Super Mario 3. In fact, the sequel was so ground-breaking that it influenced several future games.



In fact, having recently bought the Nintendo 3DS game Super Mario 3D Land, I'm amazed at the similarity between it and Super Mario 3. It's like playing a three-dimensional version of that game.

No wonder why every time I play it, I get a sense of nostalgia...

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Across The Pond and Beyond - Xuxa

Sometimes when I plot these entries out (I usually do them about three or four weeks in advance), I don't necessarily plan for each entry to have the same recurring theme to run for days.

And yet, for the third entry in a row, that theme seems to pop up like one of those moles in a Whack-A-Mole game.

The theme being not judging a book by its cover.

We're taking a bit of a break from the holiday fun and festivities for a bit. Don't worry, I've got quite a few holiday-themed entries lined up yet. December's only just begun after all. I mean, I suppose our subject has had a few Christmas themed albums and shows at some point during her career, right?

The reason why I chose to make this entry non-Christmas themed is a sound one.

In all the months that I've had the Across The Pond And Beyond feature up and running, I've featured subjects from a variety of countries. Britain, Spain, Australia, Japan, Ireland, Wales, Scotland...there's quite a few that I have brought up in this spot.

I'm going to introduce a new country to this blog entry.

Brazil.

And why not? Brazil actually has quite a few topics that we can bring up. Brazil is a force in the world of soccer. Brazil also has some of the best beaches in the world.



They even have their own version of America's Next Top Model...or at least had one.

Today's subject happens to have had a lengthy career in the world of entertainment, both in her native Brazil and for a brief period, the United States. And, our subject had gotten a lot of scrutiny from people over the years who claim that maybe she wasn't the best role model for young children given her past dalliances with more adult forms of entertainment. And our subject almost walked away from it all after a devastating event with could have been incredibly catastrophic, but didn't.

I suppose you want to know who I'm talking about in this blog entry. Well, you probably have seen it up above in the title anyways...but I never said that keeping people in suspense was my strong point.



Our subject for today is Brazilian children show hostess Maria de Graça Meneghel, who usually goes by the stage name of 'Xuxa' (pronounced Shoo-Sha), a name given to her by her brother.

Born in 1963 in Santa Rosa, Brazil, Xuxa's family moved to the city of Rio de Janeiro in 1970, when she was seven. A few years later, Xuxa was discovered by a publishing company that specialized in printing fashion magazines, and at the age of sixteen, she appeared on the front cover of a Brazilian magazine, kicking off her modeling career.

Seems pretty innocent, right? And if Xuxa had just stuck to modeling for fashion magazines, it probably wouldn't have been such a big deal.

But then things started happening in her personal and early professional life that got the proverbial ball of criticism rolling.



When Xuxa was just seventeen, she began dating famous soccer player, Pele, who at the time was in his early 40s. The relationship somehow managed to last five years, ending for good in 1986. A little bit on the uncomfortable side I must admit, but they say that when one finds true love, age isn't much of a factor, and in this case it wasn't. A couple of years later, she dated someone more close to her age, Formula One driver, Ayrton Senna from 1988-1992. Sadly, Senna was killed in a racing accident in 1994.

So, okay, her personal relationships were somewhat exploited in the media, and they painted her in some rather ugly colours, but that's what tabloids do with celebrity couples all the time.

But then in 1982, when Xuxa was nineteen, she made the decision to pose for the Brazilian version of Playboy magazine. And anyone who has ever read a Playboy magazine knows that the magazine is filled with women who don't really wear a whole lot of clothing...if any at all. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing though. It's not my business what people do with their personal lives, and if they want to pose nude in a magazine, then more power to them. But considering the negative rap that Playboy magazine, and similar magazines like Playboy get, some people would get a little intimidated to pose in a magazine wearing nothing at all. Not Xuxa though. She went into that shoot, took dozens of pictures for the magazine and was published in the pages. It wouldn't be until years later that Xuxa would begin to regret that decision, but we're getting to that.



Throughout the 1980s, Xuxa would continue her career by starring in a variety of South American produced films. Mostly comedy films with Brazilian comedy troupes and similar themes. Though a couple of these films would also be a bit controversial in nature. In one such film, Xuxa portrayed the role of a prostitute, and the film could best be described as being a soft core pornography film.

So, when Xuxa expressed interest in creating a show for children, parents immediately raised their red flags in shock and horror. According to some parents, Xuxa was not the type of person that they wanted to see hosting a children's show at all. She liked to pose nude, they said. She made adult films, they said. She dated men who were old enough to be her father, they said.

But, here's the thing. Kids loved Xuxa. When Xuxa debuted her very first children's show in 1986 on Brazil's Globo TV network, (a program entitled Xou de Xuxa), it immediately became a hit with kids.

From the success of the program came a slew of children's albums that Xuxa recorded. Much like other children's shows in North America such as Sharon, Lois, and Bram's Elephant Show, the songs heard in Xou de Xuxa were pressed into albums, and sold in stores all across South America. The album sales were huge in Brazil, with her third album selling three and a half million copies worldwide.



Below is a clip that can be found of the show Xou de Xuxa. This one's from 1988.  The quality's not that great, and I'm afraid that I don't speak Portuguese at all, so I can't translate what Xuxa is saying, but you can get an idea of what the show was like back then.



One thing that I immediately notice is how much action and excitement there is on the program. Look at the audience, and the dancers, and the people in costume, and how excited they are to be there. In all the years I used to watch children's shows, I had never seen one so loud and colourful as this one. It kind of made me wish I was Brazilian, because back when the show was in its prime in Brazil, I was in the show's target demographic.

Something else I noticed though was that Xuxa's outfits on the show were a bit elaborate and cut very short! Yeah, it is true that Xuxa didn't look like the host of a children's show...more often than not, she looked as if she should be dancing at a Rio de Janeiro night club after hours. But, again, there's a lot of cultural differences between North and South America, and maybe Xuxa's look at the time was deemed appropriate enough. At least she was wearing clothes, so that's something.

But with the success of Xou de Xuxa bringing Xuxa fame from a younger audience, Xuxa was beginning to realize that maybe posing for Playboy and acting in films for an adult audience maybe wasn't the right way to go. During the early 1990s, Xuxa launched a campaign to try and buy back all of the film negatives, tapes, and other things from Xuxa's past so that they couldn't be seen by her new audience. It was a valiant effort, and she even had help from her ex-boyfriend Pele to try and get everything back. Unfortunately, with the Internet gaining more and more popularity, and people being able to scan and post these images on websites all over the world, it was only inevitable that the pictures would somehow leak out.

And of course, parents complained that Xuxa's past dalliances with Playboy magazine, as well as her tendency to kiss young boys on their cheeks during the taping of Xou de Xuxa, were not qualities that they wanted to see on a show for children.



But this is where today's life lesson comes into play. Yeah, she did have a rather eventful past where she did a lot of experimentation. But then again, haven't all of us had those experiences at one point? It's unfortunate that the Brazilian media made such an example out of her, but I think that her past shouldn't really have mattered in this case. Looking back on it, she didn't really do anything that was considered to be sadistic, and she didn't kill anyone, so really, who is anyone to judge what someone did in their youth and young adulthood?

Xuxa rebranded herself, marketed herself towards a younger crowd, and the kids loved her. I'll be the first to admit that while I didn't understand one word she was saying, she did put on one hell of a show. And Xou de Xuxa ran for six years, wrapping up in 1992.

Following the end of Xou de Xuxa, Xuxa attempted to expand her fame into other nations including Argentina, Spain, and even the United States. The American version of the show (simply called Xuxa) was filmed during the summer of 1993 and began airing in September of that year. I actually remember watching one episode of the American version and being completely absorbed in it. The show aired insanely early on the ABC station that aired it (I think it was on at 7:30am), and the only reason why I was up early enough to watch it was because I was up all night throwing up with the stomach flu. It was the only show I can think of that made the words “GLOOP TIME” a household expression.  Take a look at a clip below.



TRIVIA: Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham once worked on the set of Xuxa.

Part Fun House, part Sesame Street, maybe even a couple of shades of Barney the Dinosaur was mixed in there too, I don't know. But I sat through the whole episode with a mixture of puzzlement and interest. It was by far one of the strangest shows I had ever seen, and I don't even know if I fully understood what the show was about, even though the show was in English. It was a show that like the Brazilian version was filled with lots of excitement, fun, songs, and games.

And immediately after watching the show, I threw up, providing a whole new meaning to the phrase 'Gloop Time'.

Regardless, it was a decent attempt at a kids show, but somehow American audiences weren't impressed. The show managed to barely last until 1994 before the plug was pulled. However, while Xuxa's popularity in the United States didn't resonate well, her star in Brazil continued to rise with two brand new shows. In 1994, Xuxa Park premiered in Brazil and was once again a hit. About a year later, a show for more adult audiences called Planeta Xuxa debuted, and that show featured celebrity guests, musical groups, and more adult discussion. And in 1998, Xuxa gave birth to her one and only child, a daughter, and she embraced motherhood. It seemed as though the early 2000s would be Xuxa's golden moment.

And then came the events of January 11, 2001.

It started off like any normal day on the set of Xuxa Park. Xuxa was taping a show with an audience of about 300 people, most of them young children. She was doing a dance number in front of a large colourful spaceship. She would do the number, enter the spaceship as part of the act, and then the show would end for the day.

But then this happened.



If you watch the clip closely you may see a stage hand attempting to put out a small fire that started around the spaceship set, but for whatever reason, the fire grew out of control and engulfed the whole stage. A quick evacuation effort by the crew of the set resulted in no fatalities, but twenty-six people suffered burns in the blaze which destroyed the whole soundstage. Xuxa was devastated over the fire, and she felt horrible for everyone who had gotten hurt, even though the fire was nobody's fault (it was started by an electrical short circuit).



Xuxa Park was eventually taken off the air shortly after the fire, and everyone who was hurt in the fire recovered from their injuries. Still, Xuxa felt badly, and it took her years to return back to the stage again. Fortunately, in 2005, Xuxa returned to television to present the television show Xuxa TV, a program that as of right now is still airing today.

But I think that's something else that we should also talk about. The fact that Xuxa cared so much about her fans. Days after the fire, Xuxa was visiting the victims of the fire as they recovered from their injuries almost daily, and she wanted to make sure that they were all right. Of course, some people will claim that the only reason she did that was so she wouldn't get sued, but looking as various articles I've read on this fire, I don't buy that. I think she genuinely cared for the children who were hurt.

And it's not the first time that her love for children has been shown publicly. In 1987, Xuxa loaned her image for a campaign urging parents to vaccinate their children against polio. That year, 97% of all Brazilian children received the polio vaccination. Two years later, she established the Xuxa Meneghel Foundation, a foundation designed to help children.

As recently as 2007, Xuxa met with the president of Brazil to discuss starting up another national campaign designed to stop children from experiencing physical or emotional abuse through bullying at school and in their own homes.

Xuxa's commercial success has admittedly been hit and miss. Certainly her acting skills have been widely panned in the media, as four of her movies (in particular with her 2000 film Xuxa Popstar) are currently ranked as some of the lowest rated programs on the Internet Movie Database. Yet her musical career has garnered her much success, including her winning a Latin Grammy Award for best children's album in 2002. In total, Xuxa has recorded almost ONE THOUSAND songs during her whole musical career.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that Xuxa's path to stardom in her native Brazil may have been a bit unorthodox, and certainly she had to encounter a lot of criticism along the way. She even faced tragedy head-on. So for her to come out of all that to become a success, and to be loved by so many children all over the world is nothing short of remarkable.

So, really, when you look back on it all...the past doesn't really matter. All that matters is the person one becomes now.

A pretty heavy lesson talked about today, but one that we should take with us.