Citizen Goofs

Started off a sunny Election Day with The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band. This unusual live-action Disney musical concerns the real-life Family Band, who move to the Dakota Territory in 1888 on the eve of the hotly contested election between Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison. Oldest daughter Alice's (Leslie Ann Warren) new beau (John Davidson) and her father (Buddy Ebson) are Republicans, as is the majority of South Dakota. Grandpa (Walter Brennan), however, is a staunch Democrat and doesn't approve of his granddaughter running around with a Republican. Can the Family Band pull together in time for the big Cleveland/Harrison Election Night party?

A contested election makes for a strange background for a musical, and alas, the music does tend to get lost amid the political wrangling. Ebson and Brennan do especially well as the two heads of the family on opposing sides of the political divide. The Sherman Brothers score isn't considered one of their best, but it's grown on me over the years, especially the rousing "Ten Feet Off the Ground" for the Family Band. Look for a young Goldie Hawn as one of the more energetic dancers during the "West O' the Wide Missouri" dance sequence.

Switched to animation as I did things around the apartment. Linus gets the nomination for school president when Chuck is declared a no-go in You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown. He seems to be a lock, but an impassioned speech about the Great Pumpkin may blow his chances. Buster Bunny and Montana Max are also running for school president in the first season Tiny Toon Adventures episode "Citizen Max." When Monty gets Buster expelled, Buster, Babs, and Plucky think of a way to get even with him. And they're hardly the first Looney Tunes to go toe-to-paw politically. Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam compete for mayor of a small southern town, using every underhanded tactic they possibly can, in the classic short "Ballot Box Bunny."

Work was a pain again today. We were out of regular-sized turkeys for most of the day, up until my last hour. Anyone who didn't want breasts was out of luck. Once again, it was very busy all afternoon, probably thanks to people being let go early to hit the polls. Unlike Sunday, most people did seem to be in a better mood. It did slow down enough by 7 that I was able to leave with no problems and a relief who was needed elsewhere.

When I got in, I ran some Three Stooges while heating up the last of the Ham n' Cheese Soup for dinner. The Shemp short "Three Dark Horses" has the trio chosen to vote for the corrupt candidate backed by a pair of businessmen. The Stooges get wise to their plan and back the opposing party instead.