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Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Kissyfur - By Request

This week's All-Request Wednesday is going to go a little bit differently, because rather than it being a request that someone sent me, it is actually a request that I offered someone. Because they had a birthday coming up soon (and not to reveal their age, but it happens to be one of those milestone birthdays that everyone fears, but are usually not as bad as people think they are), I offered to give them the request for that week as a little bit of a gift. So, Sharyn D. of New York, this one's for you!

But before I get to Sharyn's request for this week, I thought that I would add a little bit of a change to the All-Request Wednesday. Don't worry though, it isn't a major change. In fact, it's a change that I think will benefit all of you reading this right now, and will make the All-Request Wednesday more fun.

You know how back in the days of American Top 40 when Casey Kasem used to host the program? Sigh...I miss those days.

Anyway, whenever Casey Kasem's show would come on the air each weekend, he would break into the countdown at least twice to read off a request and dedication. Occasionally what would happen is that a person would make a request either in memory of someone who passed away, or to send a loving message to someone that they care a lot about. So, I thought to myself...why don't I try that here?

Let's be clear. You can still send me requests of whatever topics you want me to talk about in this space every week. But now I'm going to accept dedications as well. So, if you have a friend or family member who loves a specific pop culture reference, feel free to send me a note along with the topic that they would most like to see, and they will have their names in print on this very blog. I'll say yes to almost any topic.

So, today's topic is all about a television cartoon series that had a rather sporadic schedule to say the least. It was a show that ran for a total of five years, yet only had two and a half seasons.

Confused? I'll break it down for you.

The show technically began in late 1985 as a prime-time television special on NBC. Created by Jean Chalopin and Andy Heyward of DiC Entertainment, a total of four television specials were released between December 1985 and September 1986 – all four television specials earning good reviews. It was enough for NBC to consider adding the program to their Saturday Morning cartoon line-up in the fall of 1986, where it aired on and off for four years until August 1990.

Now, here's the thing about this show. I don't remember even watching one episode of it, which surprises even me as I used to be glued to the television every Saturday morning and would surely remember every single cartoon that aired on the big three networks (which was essentially all that we had to choose from in my very early childhood). But I never did get to see this program.

Of course, I think one of the reasons why I missed out on the show was because our NBC affiliate would air the program at an insanely early time. NBC started off their Saturday Morning programming the earliest of all three networks, and I'm pretty sure that I was still sleeping when the program aired.

So I ended up doing a marathon viewing session of whatever episodes of the show that I could find online, and I think I have enough information to work with to do a decent blog entry on...



...”Kissyfur”!



Okay, so here's the background behind Kissyfur. The show begins as we are introduced to circus bear Gus and his young son named Kissyfur. They joined the circus in order to perform and entertain boys and girls all over the world. As a result of their commitment to the circus, Gus and Kissyfur learned quite a lot about the human world and how they do things. And that knowledge helped both of them learn about how to adapt when an accident happened.

While Gus and Kissyfur were on a train bound for another circus show, the train ended up derailing, and Gus and Kissyfur manage to escape. They both find themselves in a swampland known as Paddlecab County, and are quickly integrated into the community.

And just what sorts of creatures make up the world of Paddlecab County?



Well, for Kissyfur, he ends up befriending a group of swampland creatures, almost all of whom treat Kissyfur with kindness and respect. Beehunnie, for instance, is a little white bunny who secretly has a crush on Kissyfur, but would be absolutely mortified if the word ever got out. She is the only female of the group, and often the only one who seems to be the voice of reason.

There's Stuckey, a purple porcupine who sort of has an Eeyore personality in that he appears very gloomy and quiet. Still, he is a loyal friend to Kissyfur despite his contrary personality.

Toot is a beaver who is the youngest in the group, and who looks up to Kissyfur in almost the same way that a boy would look up to his big brother. Duane is a pig who ironically enough absolutely hates to get dirty. In fact, some may say that he is a little bit obsessive compulsive over keeping his living space clean. Hoarder, Duane is not.

Really, the only member of Kissyfur's circle of friends who acts like more of a frenemy is Lenny, a child warthog who seems to gain great pleasure in calling Kissyfur “Kissyface”. He also has a bit of superiority complex of sorts, getting off on bossing everybody else around. He talks a good talk of bravado, but in reality, he's a bit of a scaredy-cat. Still, there must be some sort of hidden goodness inside of him if Kissyfur and his friends keep him around.



Mind you, the adult population of the swamp is just as...shall we say...unique as their offspring. And, if you wonder where Lenny's personality comes from, one needs look no further than Lenny's father Charles, who claims to know all the answers, but really doesn't have a clue.

Other notable adults in the series include Miss Emmie Lou, the schoolteacher with a heart of gold and warm feelings towards Gus, Uncle Shelby, the wisest turtle in the whole swamp, a pair of chickens known as the Cackle Sisters, Ralph, a packrat who can't help himself to the belongings of the other people in the swamp, and Howie, a mocking bird who can mimic almost anybody in Paddlecab County.

So, that is the motley crew of forest creatures that make up the area known as Paddlecab County. And, Gus and Kissyfur prove to be a great addition to the community as Gus has used his skills that he learned while in the circus to create his own business by building a boat and offering tours to the residents of Paddlecab County. It was a service that most of the forest creatures took advantage of, not only to see places in the swamp that they never visited before, but to assist them in transporting themselves and their wares to other locations, expanding their services.

Of course, every cartoon has to have at least one antagonist, and in the case of “Kissyfur”, these baddies come in the form of a pair of alligators, Floyd and Jolene.



They have no desire in helping the community. They have no compassion for any of the critters living in the swamp. But they do want to have them for dinner someday.

No, seriously...their main goal in life was to have a Thanksgiving dinner feast...with Kissyfur and his friends as the main course!

Fortunately for the creatures of Paddlecab County, the alligators were never very good at their jobs. Floyd in particular was especially inept at his job, as his plans to capture the other animals always went wrong...usually because of his own mistakes. And this caused Jolene to take out her frustrations on Floyd which distracted both of them from achieving their goal.

Ever.

Because let's face it. Had the alligators succeeded in turning Kissyfur into an entree, there would be no show.

So, that's really all of the information that I could scrounge up on Kissyfur. I had a hard time finding stuff to talk about with this topic as there wasn't a whole lot of places to gather my research. But if you click HERE, you can watch a few clips of the television series. And please give the show a real shot because after watching the few clips that I did in preparation for this entry, I learned that this show taught you a lot about life.

I learned that no matter where you were in the world, you could use your previous skills to start anew again, such as Gus did.

I learned that there was a way that you could have friendships with different groups of people of different backgrounds and still feel like part of a family.


And, most importantly, I learned that there was a really decent show that was on Saturday mornings that I really wish that I had gotten the chance to watch when I was growing up. I think that the lessons that the show taught were presented in a way that didn't talk down to children, and I think that the friendships and bonds that the characters had with each other on Kissyfur were what we should all strive for. I can understand why Sharyn really enjoyed this show, and I am glad that she suggested this show for the topic for today, not only to open up my eyes to the wonderful world of Paddlecab County, but so I can share that world with all of you!

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

July 23, 1984

First things first. I would like to take the time to congratulate both Prince William and Princess Kate on the arrival of their new baby boy on July 22, 2013. While I will admit that I have not really kept up with the House of Windsor since the death of Princess Diana sixteen years ago, I am happy that the baby arrived healthy and happy, and I am sure that it is a very happy day for everyone in not just the royal family, but for the entire United Kingdom as well. Again, congratulations to William and Kate.

And now, on with today's entry.

The Tuesday Timeline is firmly set on July 23...but which year will be our destination for today? Well, we're about to find out in just a couple of minutes.

The only thing I can say is that sometimes people have to hit rock bottom in order to become a respected figure in the world. And in the case of today's blog subject, I think she has done exactly that.

But first, let's take a look at some of the other happenings that took place on July 23 over the years. July 23 happens to be a year in which a few famous faces were born, and if your birthday happens to be today, you're sharing it with the following people; M.H. Abrams, Vera Rubin, Ronny Cox, Don Imus, David Essex, Ian Thomas, Blair Thornton, Edie McClurg, Michael McConnohie, Woody Harrelson, Eriq LaSalle, Slash, Samantha Beckinsale, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Stephanie Seymour, Charisma Carpenter, Alison Krauss, Marlon Wayans, Monica Lewinsky, Kathryn Hahn, Michelle Williams (Destiny's Child), Bec Hewitt, and Daniel Radcliffe.

Okay, so maybe two of those names are more infamous than famous. They're still worth mentioning.

And, here are some of the major news stories for the 23rd of July.

1829 – William Austin Burt patents the typographer, a precursor to the typewriter

1840 – The Province of Canada is created by the Act of Union

1881 – The Boundary Treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina is signed in Buenos Aires

1903 – The Ford Motor Company sells its first car

1914 – Austria-Hungary issues an ultimatum to Serbia demanding Serbia allow the Austrians to determine who was behind the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

1926 – Fox Film buys the patents of the Movietone sound system, designed to record sound onto film

1942 – The Holocaust: Treblinka extermination camp is opened

1950 – The Gene Autry Show debuts on CBS

1955 – Singer Chuck Berry releases the single “Maybelline”

1962 – Telstar relays the first publicly transmitted, live trans-Atlantic television program, featuring Walter Cronkite

1967 - 12th Street Riot takes place in Detroit, Michigan, which will lead to 43 deaths, 342 injured people, and over 1,400 buildings burned to the ground

1982 – Actor Vic Morrow and two children are killed on the set of “Twilight Zone: The Movie” after a stunt helicopter crashed on top of them

1986 – Prince Andrew marries Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey, becoming the Duke and Duchess of York

1995 – Comet Hale-Bopp is discovered

2012 – Astronaut Sally Ride succumbs to cancer at the age of 61

So, as you can see, a lot happened in the world on July 23. But what date will we be looking at today?



How about we go back in time almost thirty years? The date? July 23, 1984.

And, you know something? In the two years that I've done this blog, I don't believe the Tuesday Timeline has ever done a spotlight on the year 1984. And, that's surprising to me because 1984 was a rather big year in the world.

It was the year that Los Angeles hosted the Olympic Games. It was the year that Michael Jackson's “Thriller”, Cyndi Lauper's “She's So Unusual”, and Tina Turner's “Private Dancer” were played on the radio. It was the year that “Three's Company” ended and “Murder...She Wrote” began. And, it was the year that we had TWO Miss Americas!

No kidding. We really did have two. And the reason why we had two was because of a scandal that erupted within the beauty pageant...one which ended on July 23, 1984 when the woman at the center of the controversy had no choice but to relinquish her crown a few months into her reign to first runner-up Suzette Charles.



It was undoubtedly a low point for the former winner of the 1984 Miss America pageant, Vanessa Lynn Williams. But, if you think that she hid in a corner and cried about it...well, think again. But, let's talk about what happened that caused Vanessa Williams to give up the title of Miss America, as well as how she ended up winning the title in the first place.

Vanessa Lynn Williams (not to be confused with the “Melrose Place” actress Vanessa A. Williams, who ironically enough happens to be the same age as this Vanessa Williams) was born on March 18, 1963 in Millwood, New York. Born to a pair of music teachers, her parents made a point to insert the phrase “Here She Is – Miss America” in Vanessa's birth announcement.

It was like they had a crystal ball or something.

Vanessa and her brother Chris had a typical upbringing in a suburban neighbourhood, growing up in the community of Chappaqua. Vanessa studied music at an early age, and while she played a couple of musical instruments in her childhood, she preferred to write and sing her own songs. Graduating from high school as part of Horace Greeley High School's Class of '81, Vanessa studied at Syracuse University, enrolling in the Musical Theatre Arts program.

And it was during her time at Syracuse University that Vanessa Williams entered the Miss Syracuse University beauty pageant. She wasn't intending on taking part in the contest, but when a musical that she was set to perform in was cancelled, she decided to take part in the contest on a whim. It ended up being a good decision for her as she not only won the Miss Syracuse title, but she ended up winning the title of Miss New York! Winning the title of Miss New York allowed Williams the opportunity to compete in the Miss America pageant which was to be held in September 1983 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

And Vanessa went into the Miss America pageant with an edge. It was often said that if a contestant had won at least one of the preliminary competitions, they certainly had an edge in the overall pageant. In Vanessa's case, she had won both the swimsuit and talent prelims. So is it any wonder that she ended up being crowned Miss America on September 17, 1983? Have a look at her crowning moment below.



Vanessa Williams ended up beating competitors Suzette Charles (New Jersey), Pam Battles (Alabama), Wanda Geddie (Mississippi), and Pamela Rigas (Ohio) for the title. And for Vanessa Williams, she had made history. She was the very first African-American winner of the Miss America pageant, a pageant which began all the way back in 1921! It took sixty-two years for an African-American woman to win Miss America, so it was an extremely big deal in the press.



Unfortunately, that win also created some waves in Vanessa's own personal life. And while I am sure that Vanessa was happy to honour the various commitments and opportunities that came with the responsibility of being Miss America, it was very bittersweet. Apparently, colour lines were still being drawn in the sand in early 1980s America, and some people actually sent Vanessa Williams death threats and racist hate mail. It was the first time that any reigning Miss America would be subjected to such disgusting behaviour, and while I am sure that Vanessa handled the situation with grace and poise (well, I suppose if you're Miss America, you really don't have much of a choice but to), it must have been a really frightening experience for her.

Of course, nobody ever expected the events that would begin to spell out the end of Vanessa's reign as Miss America on one hot day in July 1984. And by the time the dust settled and the crown was polished, people were debating on whether the right decision was made.

You see, one of the main things that the Miss America pageant promoted was their interpretation of what they felt the perfect lady should be. Mind you, the whole idea sounds incredibly stereotypical and some may even call it outdated or even sexist...but I am not on the Miss America committee, so I don't know their policies. I can certainly question them, but I don't have the say to demand that they change them.  And looking back on it now, I think that they completely overreacted to the scandal...but again, it was a different time and a different place.  And, in 1984, I was only three years old.  My main concern was finding a blue crayon so I could colour the sky in my colouring book.

Anyway, as I was saying, the Miss America pageant had its standards for its contestants, and certainly the Miss America committee made darn sure that all fifty-one of its contestants (including the District of Columbia) represented the pageant with grace, poise, and class.

So you can just imagine the shock that might have come across the committee's faces upon hearing the news that one of the contestants posed for nude shots, which were subsequently published inside a particular adult publication. Why, it would be a disgrace! Fortunately, in the case of the 1984 Miss America pageant, fifty of the fifty-one girls did no such thing.

Unfortunately, the fifty-first girl who DID admit to posing topless...happened to be the one to win the whole shebang.

Though, I'm sure that Vanessa Williams did not intend for the photos to appear in the middle of Penthouse magazine. But somehow they did.

Vanessa Williams received an anonymous phone call in July 1984 – ten months into her reign – stating that nude photos that a photographer had taken almost two years prior had resurfaced and this news blew Williams away, who had mistakenly believed that the photos had been destroyed. And, she certainly didn't sign a release form that granted permission for the photos to be used.

Certainly, the photos themselves could be considered quite tame compared to some of the photos that are floating around social media in 2013, but back in 1984, it was a huge deal. The photos were taken around 1982 – a year before Vanessa began competing in pageants. At the time, she worked as an assistant to photographer Tom Chiapel, who photographed her and another woman completely in the nude. At the time, Williams didn't think it was a big deal, as she was lead to believe that Chiapel was taking the photos to test out a new art concept.

But by the time Williams could do anything about it, it was too late. While Playboy magazine CEO Hugh Hefner turned down the offer to publish the photos in his magazine as he didn't have Vanessa's authorization to print them. Furthermore, given her high-profile gig, Hefner declined to publish the photos because he didn't want to embarrass her. A classy move on the Hef's part.



Now, the CEO of Penthouse Magazine, one Bob Guccione, didn't feel the same way as Hefner. He was more than happy to pay Chiapel for the rights to use the photos without even so much as seeking permission from Williams to use the photos, and he announced that the photos would be published in the September 1984 issue of Penthouse.

With word of the photos being made public, it caused a scandal in the Miss America circuit. Some sponsors of the pageant had already pulled out and several more were threatening to yank their sponsorship of the pageant as well as the story became a media circus in the summer of 1984. And the organizers of the pageant were scrambling, as many of those sponsors paid for the ads that aired during the pageant, some of the prizes that the contestants would win, and the scholarship opportunities that could come from winning the title of Miss America. And, to protect the contestants of 1985 from losing out on those opportunities, the committee strongly urged Vanessa to walk away from her title to save herself and the organization some face.

And on July 23, 1984, that's exactly what she did.

In a press conference, Vanessa Williams relinquished her title to first runner-up Suzette Charles, a Miss America first. Suzette Charles would later come to be known as the shortest reigning Miss America of all time, with her title lasting just seven weeks. Two months later, Vanessa Williams did file a lawsuit against both Tom Chiapel and Bob Guccione to the tune of five hundred MILLION dollars in damages caused by the scandal, but later dropped the suit, believing that success was the best revenge.

And, just how much success did Vanessa Williams have since being forced to give up the title of Miss America? Well...


  • Has released eight studio albums between 1988 and 2009, which includes eight Top 40 singles, four Top 10 hits, and at least one chart-topper
  • Has had roles in successful television series, including “Ugly Betty” and “Desperate Housewives”
  • Has appeared in several feature films including “Eraser”, “Soul Food”, “Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man”, and even “Hannah Montana: The Movie”
  • Starred in several Broadway plays
  • Has been nominated for several Tony, Emmy, and Grammy Awards
  • Has been a spokesperson for Radio Shack, L'Oreal Cosmetics, ProActiv, Crest Toothpaste, Disneyland and M&M's (where she voices the character of Miss Brown)
  • Is the mother of four children ranging in age from thirteen to twenty-six

Now, I ask you again...does this sound like the resume of a woman who let losing the title of Miss America bring her down? I think not.




Certainly the events of July 23, 1984 were such that Vanessa Williams would rather forget everything that happened. But what she has done since is nothing short of wonderful. The sweetest revenge certainly did come with success. And, I can't think of a better song to end this blog entry off than this #1 hit from early 1992...a song that is very much appropriate given all she went through.


Monday, July 22, 2013

Shrek 2

When I was a child, I remember reading tons of books. After all, one of my favourite places to go as a little boy was the town library. I was a definite bookworm as a child, and to an extent, I am still a bookworm today.

Some of my favourite stories of all time as a child were classic fairytales. I mean, they were classic stories that have entertained generations of children for years. And, some of the stories were more than just fun to read. They taught us a lot about life and living it.

I mean, from reading fairy tales I learned that we can't catch wayward gingerbread men no matter how fast we run, I learned never to promise anybody my first born child unless I found out their name first, and I learned that if a person's hair was long enough, you could use it as a ladder to climb up the side of a tower.

Granted, the weight of the person climbing the hair would make the person's head hurt like hell, and you may accidentally scalp them. But, that's another story for another day.

The truth of the matter is that over the last ten years, classic fairy tales have become popular again. When I was working in the seasonal department of my workplace, the fastest selling statues were the ones that were based off of classic fairy tales like Cinderella and Snow White & The Seven Dwarves.

Okay, so yes, the statues were of the Disney kind. They still sold. Especially the Grumpy dwarf statues.

Over the last few issues, Archie Comics have done an entire feature on fairy tales. If you pick up any of the recent Betty & Veronica comic books beginning with issue #264, you can see the Archie characters re-enacting classic fairy tales. So far, they have done Rapunzel, Beauty and the Beast, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, with The Little Mermaid and Rumplestiltskin planned for the upcoming issues.

And, in the world of feature films, many classic tales have been made and remade into box office blockbusters. All you need to do is examine the successes of such films as “Snow White and the Huntsman” and “Oz: The Great and Powerful” to see what I mean.

Well, today's feature film is one that was released almost a decade ago (which suddenly makes me feel somewhat on the old side as I remember very well the day I watched it). It was a film that also looked at classic fairy tales...in a rather humourous, sarcastic way. By combining elements of no less than ten different fairy tales with references to modern pop culture, you have almost what you could call a parody of a fairy tale...one that made almost a billion dollars at the box office in 2004 alone!

Which is fantastic...considering that the film happens to be a sequel.

Traditionally speaking, sequels tend to not do very well in comparison to the original. But consider this. When “Shrek” was released on May 18, 2001, the film made just under half a billion dollars.



When “Shrek 2” came out three years later, on May 19, 2004, the film made TWICE the amount. That's fantastic for a sequel.

And since I already did an entry on Shrek last year, I thought that this year, I'd look at “Shrek 2” (which coincidentally happens to be my favourite of the four Shrek films that make up the...what's the term? Quadrogy? Is that even a word?)

You know what, just for the sake of argument, we're just going to call it a quadrogy.

Okay, so as I mentioned before, Shrek 2 was released on May 19, 2004, and returning to the second film are Mike Myers as Shrek, Eddie Murphy as Donkey, and Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona. I could also talk about the fact that Gingy (Conrad Vernon), Big Bad Wolf (Aron Warner), Pinocchio (Cory Cameron), and Magic Mirror (Chris Miller) also return to the Shrek sequel...but they're more secondary characters, so we'll just give them an honourary mention.

There are also some new faces joining the adventure in the 2004 sequel. We have French & Saunders comedienne Jennifer Saunders as the Fairy Godmother, Rupert Everett as Prince Charming (who happens to have a connection to Fairy Godmother, but I don't want to reveal too much), Julie Andrews and John Cleese as Fiona's parents, and Antonio Banderas as this cute little creature.



But don't let those eyes fool you...he's not as timid as you might think. More on that later.



Okay, so we all know what happened at the end of the first Shrek. Shrek and Fiona end up falling in love with each other, Shrek ends up breaking the curse which has plagued Fiona her whole life (which surprisingly transforms Fiona into a female ogre), and Shrek and Fiona become ogre and wife, destined to spend the rest of their lives together in quiet solitude in Shrek's swamp hut.



But when Fiona and Shrek receive an invitation from King Harold and Queen Lillian of Far Far Away to attend a royal ball at their castle in celebration of Fiona's marriage to Shrek, Shrek is determined not to go. After all, Far Far Away is way too posh for him (seriously, the kingdom of Far Far Away kind of looks like what Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills would resemble in the mid-fifteenth century). Still, he agrees to travel to Far Far Away in order to make Fiona happy. Donkey also tags along for the carriage ride.

Needless to say, King Harold and Queen Lillian are quite...shocked at Fiona's appearance, and even more shocked to see who she has married. To Lillian's credit, she is more than willing to give Shrek a chance and treats him with kindness and respect. But Shrek and Harold get into a feud right from the very beginning, ending in a food fight that sends Fiona running to her chamber to get away from the tension.



It is here that Fiona first meets up with the Fairy Godmother, who initially comes across as a kind and gentle soul. She offers Fiona almost everything under the sun...talking furniture, a bichon frise, even a sexy man boy chauffeur named Kyle. But when Fiona rejects all of that, the Fairy Godmother's personality shifts into pure evil.

You see...unbeknownst to Fiona, years ago, Fairy Godmother entered into a sweetheart deal with King Harold. Fairy Godmother granted Harold his happily ever after when he was in his youth...but it certainly wasn't out of the goodness of her heart. She was actually blackmailing poor Harold into doing something for her. He had to make sure that Fiona was rescued by Prince Charming, and that Fiona and Charming would live together in perfect harmony.

Of course, we all know that Shrek foiled those plans in the first movie, and well...needless to say, it wasn't what Fairy Godmother dreamed of for Fiona or Charming.

But why would Fairy Godmother be so concerned about who Charming married? Well, I'm not going to tell you. Don't worry, the secret is revealed early on in the film. I'm just purposely holding details away from you, in case there are a minute few who have not seen the film yet. Nor will I tell you the reason why Fairy Godmother is blackmailing King Harold. But let's just say that finding out the background behind King Harold's “happily ever after” is simple if you know how to spot hidden clues and subtle dialogue peppered throughout the film. It's actually quite clever how they do it.

Anyway, with the threats of Fairy Godmother hanging over his head, King Harold reluctantly hires a hitman to take care of Shrek and Donkey while they accompany him on a hunting trip.



Enter Puss in Boots.

However, for all the bravado this murderous feline has, he certainly doesn't do very well in his job, as it doesn't take much effort for Shrek to overpower him. Puss in Boots later informs Shrek of King Harold's plot and Shrek begins to question whether he is the right person for Fiona to remain married to. It is right around this time that Donkey and Shrek come up with the idea to visit the Fairy Godmother for advice on how he can have his very own “happily ever after”. And despite Donkey's objections, Shrek decides to take Puss in Boots along, with Puss feeling ashamed for what he tried to do.

Of course, once the trio gets to the Fairy Godmother's lair, she cruelly and viciously tells Shrek that ogres don't deserve a “happily ever after” (all to persuade him to stay away from Fiona so that Fiona will eventually choose Charming instead). But when the Fairy Godmother's back is turned, Shrek, Donkey, and Puss in Boots steal something from her that could cause Shrek's dream to come true...or it may turn into Shrek's worst nightmare.

And, that's really all that I want to say about this movie. Again, I never spoil the ending to a film no matter how old the movie is or how successful it was. It's because I want you all to watch the film yourself and make your own judgments.

However, I do have some trivia for all of you.



01 – In the above song sung by Fairy Godmother, Jennifer Saunders went to a vocal coach to prepare her for the solo. I think the end results proved to be quite good, don't you?

02 – In the scenes that take place in Far Far Away, you may notice that a lot of the shops are spoofs of 21st century businesses. These include “Old Knavery”, “Versarchery”, “Farbucks”, and “Baskin Robbinhood”.



03 – In Fiona's childhood room, there's a poster of “Sir Justin” on the ceiling. Unbeknownst to the animators, Cameron Diaz had entered into a relationship with Justin Timberlake right around the time that Shrek 2 was being made, making this joke even more appropriate!

04 – Joan Rivers, Larry King, and Simon Cowell all make cameo appearances in the movie, though you'll have to wait until after the closing credits before you can see Simon.

05 – Puss in Boots was the most difficult character to animate, just based on the amount of work needed to make his fur appear realistic.

06 – Puss in Boots was deliberately designed after Zorro, ironically enough also a character portrayed by Antonio Banderas.

07 – The film's plot was loosely based on the 1967 film “Guess Who's Coming To Dinner”.

08 – The Fairy Godmother was originally planned to appear in the first Shrek movie, but the part was cut out. Therefore, she was made as the main villain of Shrek 2.

09 – There's a scene that takes place near the end of the film which has King Harold clutching a love potion with the number nine written on it in Roman Numerals. Love Potion No. 9...where have I heard that before?



Oh, yeah...

10 – The entrance of Far Far Away was deliberately designed to look like the entrance of the Paramount Studios lot.

11 – One of the original concepts of King Harold was that he would appear in the film completely naked (playing off of the story “The Emperor's New Clothes”). Instead a different fairy tale was used to tell Harold's story.

12 – 300 Hewlett Packard workstations were used in the making of this film.

13 – John Cleese and Julie Andrews recorded their lines together.

14 – Tom Waits and Nick Cave voice the same character in the movie. I won't reveal which one they voice, but they can be found in “The Poison Apple” pub.

15 – While Larry King and Joan Rivers were credited with voices in the American release of the film, in the UK, their voices were dubbed over by British presenters Jonathan Ross and Kate Thornton.

16 – The author of the Shrek book series, William Steig, died during the production of Shrek 2, so the movie is dedicated in his memory.

17 – Jennifer Saunders was forced to record her lines in England, as she was in the middle of filming “Absolutely Fabulous” at the time.



18 – David Bowie was so impressed by Butterfly Boucher's version of “Changes” that she recorded for the film that he provided backing vocals for the track!

19 – There's a clever spoof of the O.J. Simpson arrest in 1994 inserted into the film. You know, the one with the “white bronco”?

20 – The “hairball” scene took three hours to record. Poor Antonio Banderas must have been exhausted!


21 – Queen Lillian can be seen reading a book entitled “Kings are from Mars, Queens are from Venus”. 

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Livin' La Vida Loca

I hope you're ready for some Latin flavour this Sunday, because the Sunday Jukebox is going to have a little bit of sizzle and spice added to it.

Considering that we're in the middle of summer, I think that some of the best music to listen to is music that takes you to a beach party. And, of all the summers that I have lived through, I don't think I remember any year that felt as summery as the year 1999.

Say what you will about late 1990s music. I know some had a real issue with it because it all sounded the same with boy bands, grunge bands, techno bands, and bands that celebrated “girl power”.

Suffice to say, the late 1990s were not exactly a great time for pop music. Far better than the 2010s, but not by much.

Now, 1999 was different. In fact, I think that 1999 was one of the final years that I listened exclusively to Top 40 radio, as there were a lot of great songs that were released that year.

1999 was also the year that I “technically” became a man, as I celebrated birthday number eighteen that year. And, my 18th birthday was just a month before the summer of 1999 kicked off. So, I have a lot of fond memories of that summer.

(Well, aside from the bout of pneumonia that I mysteriously contracted at the beginning of September 1999.)

The truth is that there was a lot of good music coming out during that time. 1999 was the year of the “Latin Explosion” on the pop charts, as several artists with a Latino background were topping the charts. Carlos Santana was still making hit music some thirty years after his very first release, and he had a couple of hits during the year 1999. Jennifer Lopez proved that she was a triple-threat by releasing her debut album “On The 6”, which had several chart-toppers between 1999 and 2000. And, Enrique Iglesias followed in his father's footsteps with the single “Bailamos”.

And then there is today's artist of the day, who some credit to kicking off the summer of Latin sensations. A man who began his career in a boy band, grew up to become a soap opera star, and by the time he was thirty, he had already earned a number of awards, including a Grammy or two.

The name that this artist was given at birth was Enrique Martin Morales. Of course, many of you probably know him best by his stage name.



Today's subject is Puerto Rican born Ricky Martin. And, the song? Well...we're going to get to that in a second. But first, here's a brief biography of the singer.

He was born on Christmas Eve, 1971 in San Juan, Puerto Rico to an accountant and a psychologist. When Ricky was just two years old, his parents divorced, and as a result he ended up having several half-siblings and splitting his childhood between two different addresses.

By age six, he was beginning to find his voice as a singer. He was an alter boy during his early childhood, and was frequently found in his mother's kitchen using a wooden spoon to sing along to REO Speedwagon, Journey and Menudo songs.

Yeah...that last one...we're going to hold on to that one for a little bit.

Now, singing wasn't the only thing that Ricky Martin was skilled in. Because his grandfather was a poet, writing lyrics came naturally to the young boy, and by the time he was ten, he had already begun writing songs in both Spanish and English. It was also right around this time that he began acting in various commercials around the Puerto Rico area.

And, believe it or not, those commercials helped Ricky secure an audition for Menudo!



Now, I don't know how many of you were familiar with Menudo, but the group originated in the late 1970s. And, Menudo wasn't your typical boy band either. Unlike boy bands like the Backstreet Boys and the New Kids on the Block, who kept the same line-up for twenty years and counting, Menudo frequently rotated their members. You see, whenever a member of the band's voice began to change, or if they got too tall, or if they got too old (sixteen or seventeen was generally the cut-off), they were axed from the band and a newer, younger member was brought in.

So, when Ricky Martin joined the band in the summer of 1984 (after being rejected from the band twice before), he was going into the band knowing that his tenure there would not last forever. But that was fine for him. It would be a great opportunity for him to try performing as part of Puerto Rico's biggest boy band, to see if he liked it. And, considering that he appeared in such videos as the one below, I think it's safe to say that he enjoyed it well enough.



But, there were a few hiccups along the way. Beginning with his very first performance as a member of the band, Ricky Martin went outside of the box and did his own thing on stage...which was a big no-no, as the band manager had given him orders to do what the band was doing. He was severely reprimanded for not doing what he was asked, and he was told that if he were to go against the group again, he would be terminated from the band. And, Ricky Martin never disobeyed orders again after that.

Still, although he enjoyed performing with Menudo and received a lot of experience performing in front of crowds, he didn't like the fact that he had to sacrifice so much of his childhood as a result of his commitment to the band. There was actually one point in which he considered leaving the band on his own while the band was on a Brazilian tour, but in the end decided to stick with it, as he feared being sued for breaching his contract, not to mention he didn't want his fans to be disappointed, or face the media scrutiny that would come from such a decision. But it all balanced out with his commitment to global charities such as UNICEF, and it helped the young Ricky Martin realize that he had more to give than just his vocal abilities.

So after Ricky Martin left the band at age seventeen, he returned to Puerto Rico to complete his high school education, and on January 6, 1990, he moved to New York City days after his eighteenth birthday to celebrate the fact that his trust fund was now accessible to him. He remained in New York for a few months and applied to drama school in the city, but decided to make a change in his plans before classes began by moving to Mexico City to perform in a play.

From there, he joined a telenovela for a couple of years, and even inked a recording deal with Sony Discos. Unfortunately, the first album he put out with the label was very controversial, as Ricky Martin failed to read the contract in full. Had he looked over the contract more closely, he would have read the clause that only entitled Martin one penny of royalties for every album sold. Can you say, sucker?

Here's a note for all of you reading this. Before signing a contract...READ IT!



Ricky Martin definitely could. In English and Spanish, no less. Still, despite the fact that he got royally screwed out of royalties, he looked on the bright side. He did have an album of new material out (which would become the Spanish language debut “Ricky Martin” in 1991), and he was beginning to build a fan base as a solo artist. What could be better?



The album proved to be a huge success in Latin America, and it was enough to prompt a second album release, “Me Amares” in 1993. The following year, Martin's agent convinced him to move to Los Angeles, California to increase his star presence in the acting world. He took on a minor role in the short-lived series “Getting By”, and when that was cancelled, he won the role of Miguel Morez on the ABC soap opera “General Hospital”. But he only lasted on the show a few months, as he felt a bit ostracized by the fact that his accent was making people treat him differently. At the same time, he was questioning his sexuality, and came to realize that he was gay. But it would take another fifteen years before he would come out publicly, for fear of backlash from the public. After all, in Ricky's words, he already found it hard enough to be Latino in the world of Hollywood. But to be Latino and gay? That was near impossible.

And, this was only in 1994. I think it's safe to say that the world has changed a lot in nearly twenty years.



Needless to say, after leaving “General Hospital”, Ricky Martin decided to focus solely on his music, and he released three more Spanish language albums, all of which were very successful – in particular 1998's “Vuelve”, which spent twenty-six weeks at the top of the Billboard Top Latin Album charts. He earned his very first Grammy nomination in 1999, and his performance at the 41st annual Grammy Awards television broadcast of “La Copa de la Vida” was so well-received that he earned himself a standing ovation, endearing himself to American artists.

Which was good, considering that in 1999, Ricky Martin was recording material for his first English-language album, which would be released on May 11, 1999. And, not only would the first single from the album be the biggest hit of Ricky Martin's career, but it was the single that kickstarted the Latin music craze of the summer of 1999.



ARTIST: Ricky Martin
SONG: Livin' La Vida Loca
ALBUM: Ricky Martin
DATE RELEASED: March 23, 1999
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #1 for 5 weeks

Would you like to know some interesting trivia about this particular song? Well, how about this?

The song reached #1 in the United States in the spring of 1999, and remained there for five consecutive weeks. But, did you know that the single also peaked at #1 in Canada, Australia, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom?

The song also did very well on the Best of 1999 charts, peaking at #10 overall.

The song is also considered to be the most downloaded single of Ricky Martin's career. Granted, the song was released before iTunes and mp3 players were in vogue, but as of July 2013, the song has been downloaded over half a million times.

The video was nominated for six MTV Video Music Awards in 1999, winning two.

The video won the Ritmo Latino Music Award for Music Video of the Year.

The song was the first American number one single to be recorded in an entirely computerized environment using the Pro Tools software package.

It was a brilliant single to kick off Ricky Martin's career, and over the next couple of years, he would release other hits such as “She's All I Ever Had”, “Shake Your Bon-Bon”, “Nobody Wants To Be Lonely” (a duet with Christina Aguilera), and “She Bangs” (which was famously butchered by American Idol contestant William Hung.


And, perhaps more importantly, Ricky Martin opened up the doors to other Latino artists, and paved the way for an easier way to break into the American market. Shakira, Paulina Rubio, Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias...all were artists where their road to success became a lot less bumpier because Ricky Martin paved the way for them. 

Saturday, July 20, 2013

My Pet Monster

This may sound like a rather odd question to ask, but were you ever afraid of the hypothetical and very imaginary “monster under the bed” or “monster inside the closet”?

It's okay if you were. I'll be the first one to admit that I had a fear of a monster that lived under my own bed.

Granted, it turned out to be nothing more than a T-shirt that I outgrew that was covered in dustbunnies. At least, that's exactly what it looked like during the day.

When the sun set for the day, and the moon lit up the night sky, the dark shadows that covered that dust covered shirt suddenly made it seem a lot more scarier. It wasn't uncommon for me to get creeped out whenever I looked under the bed at night, because it sort of resembled a dead animal...or a monster!

And, believe me...as a young kid, I did almost everything possible to protect myself from the monster that hid under my bed. Whether it meant plugging in a glow-in-the-dark nightlight in the nearest electrical outlet, or having my parents check underneath the bed for a monster check, or even leaving the window open in the middle of January to freeze the monster enough so that they wouldn't even think of bothering me.

As I said, I had the most “elite” monster security system available.

I don't really remember when I “installed” my monster security system. In all likelihood, it was when I was three years old...so this would be going back to the mid-1980s. And, I would say that from the ages of three to six were the years in which I was most afraid of the “monster under the bed”.

But after the age of six, I began to get less afraid of the monster that I believed resided underneath my bed. Instead of being afraid of it, I began to have a change of heart towards my former nemesis. I began to see it as a friend, instead of an enemy. Instead of being afraid of it, I came to the conclusion that the monster underneath my bed was a friend, protecting me against other creepy figures of the night such as the boogeyman, the killer tarantulas, or the evil tooth fairy who steals your teeth instead of leaving you money underneath your pillow.

And yes I had a vivid imagination as a kid, and no I will not apologize for it.

But what caused this sudden about face about an imaginary monster that lived under my bed? What caused me to see this “monster” as a friend instead of a foe?

The answer lies in today's Saturday Smorgasbord entry.

You see, right around the time that I was six years old, a cartoon used to air on television that I absolutely fell in love with. Unfortunately, the cartoon was also short-lived. It lasted for thirteen episodes during the 1987-1988 television season. However, I remember the show airing well into the 1990s and beyond.



The show was actually based on a plush toy that was produced by American Greetings (and no, it wasn't a Care Bear). In 1986, plush toys that were marketed only to boys were quite rare, so American Greetings came up with a fuzzy blue monster with horns, a pointed smile, and a large polka dotted nose. The monster dolls also came with a set of orange handcuffs made out of plastic, which could be locked and unlocked. The cuffs not only fit the monster doll, but it also fit children's wrists as well.

The popularity of the plush doll spawned dozens of merchandising opportunities. Colouring books, puzzles, Little Golden Books, and clothing items featured this fuzzy blue monster, and in 1986, the doll even spawned a live-action television special, which featured a boy named Max transforming into a monster after he bumps into a statue which emits a curse on him. I can only verify that this live-action special exists through my own eyes. I remember watching it once and only once. And it was so long ago that I don't quite remember what it was all about.

But I DO remember the cartoon adaptation. And, that's what we're talking about today.



Do any of you remember “My Pet Monster”? It's okay if you don't. I'll give you the 411 right now. But before I do that, I will give you one piece of trivia. Apparently, this show could be considered a “Six Degrees of Separation” kind of show, because many of the voice actors could be tied to other shows.

Sunny Besen Thrasher and Alyson Court both voiced characters on “The New Archies”.
Alyson Court, Colin Fox, and Tara Strong (then known as Tara Charendoff) would voice characters on “Beetlejuice”. (Amusingly enough, whereas Court and Strong played best friends Jill and Ami on “My Pet Monster”, they would play bitter arch-rivals Lydia Deetz and Clare Brewster on “Beetlejuice”)
And, just about the whole cast would appear on at least one episode of “Care Bears”!

Anyway, back to “My Pet Monster”.



My Pet Monster” debuted on ABC on September 12, 1987. It would later air in Canada on Global Television. The plot of the cartoon was like this. A boy named Max Smith (Sunny Besen Thrasher) brings a monster doll home with him and discovers that once he removes the handcuffs that are attached to him, the doll comes to life, becoming Monster (Jeff McGibbon), a mischief making, garbage eating, lovable ball of fluff who would do almost anything for those he loved best.

Very few people know of the fact that the monster doll is real. Max decides to keep Monster's identity a secret. Later on, Max's sister Jill (Alyson Court), and Max's best friend Chuckie (Stuart Stone) are introduced to Monster (or Monzie as Jill calls him), and they too promise to keep his identity a secret. In most cases, they hide him in plain sight just by snapping the handcuffs back on him. But sometimes they are forced to throw a disguise on Monster when the cuffs are inaccessible for whatever reason.

With good reason too, given that during the course of the thirteen episode series, Monster makes a couple of enemies along the way.



Enemy #1: Mr. Hinkle (Colin Fox), the annoying neighbour next door.

Well, okay, technically Mr. Hinkle doesn't ever meet Monster. Max, Jill, and Chuckie do too good a job hiding him.



Mr. Hinkle's dog, Princess on the other hand? Yeah, she knows of Monster's existence all too well. And, given how Monster loves to scare her at every possible opportunity, it's a wonder that poor little Princess hasn't dropped dead of a stress-related heart attack!

But then again, Princess was always considered to be more of a minor annoyance than foe.



The real enemy that Monster had to deal with was a great big purple and red monster who went by the name of “Beastur” (Dan Hennessey). Now, Beastur was a real nasty piece of work. He lived in the vast dark world of Monsterland (which we actually see in one episode after Max, Chuckie, and Monster enter through the portal after Beastur kidnaps Jill), and Beastur's main goal in the series is to capture Monster and bring him back there. But with Monster adjusting to life on Earth, he is reluctant to leave his new friends behind.

But lest you think that Beastur is a worthy opponent, think again. Beastur doesn't exactly have the largest brain out there, and almost every single one of his schemes goes completely wrong.



And then there's his weakness. Natural sunlight.

You see, one of the reasons why Beastur loves Monsterland so much is because the whole world is one big, dark, scary cave with no light. Whenever Beastur travels to Earth, he always wears gigantic black sunglasses to protect him from the sunlight.

Of course, once Max, Chuckie, and Jill discover this weakness, they waste no time in exposing his Achilles heel, often blinding Beastur back to Monsterland.

But whenever Beastur and Princess aren't in the picture, Monster has lots of fun with his friends. And, sometimes he causes unintentional problems for them both.

For instance, he accidentally ate some cookies that Jill had baked for a charity drive, so he tried to make replacement cookies with Max and Chuckie's help. Unfortunately, Monster's ingredients for the cookies made them explode after consumption, so they had to find a way to stop people from eating them.

Monster also helps Max get some self-confidence after he is humiliated by a snooty boy prior to a surfing contest.

And when Monster goes undercover to examine what life as a middle school student is all about, he ends up running for class president!

So, have I sparked your memory about “My Pet Monster” yet? No? Well, how about clicking HERE? By clicking the link, you can watch a full-length episode of the series that somebody posted on YouTube. You're welcome.


So, you see? You shouldn't be afraid of the “monster under your bed”! He just might be the best friend you have!