Bibbidi Bobbidi Muppets

I slept in really late this morning. It was past 11:30 before I finally got to making blueberry honey pancakes for breakfast and running Hey Cinderella! The earliest of three Muppet fairy tale specials starts out with your basic Cinderella (Belinda Montgomery) working to the bone for her wicked stepmother (Joyce Gordon). The king wants his son Prince Arthur (Robin Ward) to find a bride. Arthur doesn't want someone as stuffy as a princess. He wants someone more down-to-earth, and finds the perfect girl when Cinderella and her dog Rufus wander into his garden. She thinks he's the gardener; he doesn't care what she is, other than a nice girl. Cinderella can only go to his ball if she has a coach and horses...but this is a Muppet version, and the fairy godmother is having a hard time with her magic, Kermit's upset that the king won't let frogs come to the ball, and who needs horses anyway when you have a huge purple Muppet monster pulling your carriage? Cindy and Arthur do eventually make their dreams come true...but not in the usual way!

A really wacky version of one of the world's most wide-spread stories. Sure, we have a sweet kid in a fancy dress, the fairy godmother who helps her, the wicked stepmother and the none-too-bright king. But you don't see many Cinderellas where the coachman insists on staying a frog, there's a Muppet monster pulling the carriage, the fairy godmother is lousy at her job, and Cindy and her prince learn that there are other ways of finding true love than making the shoe fit. Enjoyable enough if you can find it; to my knowledge, this and the other two Muppet fairy tale specials, The Frog Prince and The Muppet Musicians of Bremen, are out of print on video and were never on DVD.

(And I recognize some of the Muppets used in this special. The King, his page Featherstone, and Rufus the Dog would all turn up again in the later specials as well as the early seasons of The Muppet Show.)

I didn't do much else on this very hot day. Swept the porch after I finished the video, just to get outside. It was really hot, but not all that humid, much to my surprise. There was a really nice breeze, and it didn't feel too bad under the shady trees over my porch.

I finally got through to Mom around 10 minutes to 2. She had spent the morning working on her garden. No wonder she hadn't been able to get to me the first time I called - she was on top of a ladder when she heard the phone! Her jazz date with Dad didn't go too well. He'd had a little too much to drink beforehand and misbehaved. She apparently did get to attend some other concerts and events in the Cape May area that made up for it.

We also talked about the party she's having for my brother Keefe's leave in two weeks. My sister Rose, her family, and I are going to stay overnight. She said to bring a pillow, and that I'll probably sleep in the office, like I do when I visit alone. That's fine. Whatever works for them. I'm just looking forward to seeing the Cape May side of the family for the first time since Christmas Eve.

I talked to Mom so long, I ended up having to rush lunch and was almost late for work! Thank goodness work was busy, but otherwise not as much of a pain as the last few days. The 4 for 20 meat sale stopped working briefly mid-way through my shift, but they did get it fixed. Other than that, there were no major problems, and I was in and out.