Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Tales of Toads and Headless Horsemen

Began a cloudy, cool morning with breakfast while watching "Dead Woman Walking," a spooky episode of the swashbuckler spoof Jack of All Trades. A thief has been desecrating sacred cemeteries in the name of Jack's alter ego, the Daring Dragoon. Emilia takes a potion that'll put her in a very deep coma, allowing her to be interred in the cemetery to keep an eye on things. What she didn't plan on was Jack climbing in with her...or for Governor Croque to attempt to cremate her out of respect!

Spent most of the day working on writing, both in the late morning and early afternoon and after work. While Han is searching for princes to aid them, Leia and Luke have adopted three young ladies to keep them company and help them care for the palace. Rey is hot-tempered and feisty. Jessika is sensible and vivacious. Kaydel is girlish and witty. Though they look nothing alike, the trio become as close as sisters and think of Leia and Luke as their parents.

One day, Luke learns that three supply wagons may have made it past the First Order Clan's blockades. He goes to meet them, promising to find his ladies gifts in town. Leia asks for a new book. Kaydel wants ribbon trim for a dress she's working on. Jess wants tools. Rey only wants a rose, as they've replaced the rose bushes with a more practical vegetable garden.

A few weeks after Luke leaves, Rey finds Leia wistfully looking over a painting of her missing husband and runaway son. Han was said to have been killed by brigands, but Leia doesn't believe it. She has no idea what happened to her son, and in fact is very worried about him.

Meanwhile, Leia reveals that Snoke has finally agreed to discuss removing the blockades. He also wishes to see her daughters, hoping they'll wed his three apprentices and join their kingdom. He eyes Leia, but she still considers herself married.

Broke for lunch at 1:30. Made honey-glazed carrots to go with my leftover fish cake from the other day. Ran The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad while I ate. The last Disney anthology film of the 40's limits the shorts to two stories based on classic literature. Basil Rathbone narrates the "Mr. Toad" segment, which retells the last couple of chapters of Wind In the Willows. Mr. Toad's series of obsessions has left his beautiful old estate on the river Toad Hall on the brink of financial ruin. His friends Ratty and Mole are ready to stand up for him, until he's accused of stealing his latest craze, a motor car. Toad's horse helps him escape jail in time to save Toad Hall from the real thieves.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow takes us from Rathbone and Victorian England to Bing Crosby and Colonial America. Ichabod Crane is the new schoolteacher in a small town. Despite being poor and skinny, he's charming and popular with the ladies. He has his eyes on the fair Katrina Van Tassel, the flirtatious daughter of a rich farmer...but so does Brom Bones, the biggest and most popular man in town. His scary ghost tales at Van Tassel's Halloween party spooks the superstitious Crane, especially his tale of the Headless Horseman. Ichabod's heading home when he hears terrifying sounds. He thinks it's only the wind and reeds...until he comes face-to-pumpkin with the Headless Horseman himself!

While the "Mr. Toad" segment has its virtues, including some fun songs, Toad's escape from prison, and the wild finale in Toad Hall, the winner here is "Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Not only is it one of the most accurate adaptations of literature Disney ever did, it's also one of the scariest. That final ride with Ichabod and the Headless Horseman may be the most frightening sequence to show up in a Disney animated feature until the 1980's. No wonder this turned up in Halloween Hall of Fame. I love Bing Crosby's narration, too. This was probably my first encounter with him as a child after hearing "White Christmas" on the radio.

The best of the Disney package films along with The Three Caballeros is definitely worth a look, especially around Halloween.

Work ended up being even quieter than it was on Monday. I gathered carts once, for about 40 minutes when I first got in, then for another 20 minutes a bit later. Did returns, cleaned the bathroom, and gathered baskets for the rest of the night. Though it was cloudy, it was also at least much cooler, into the mid-60's. It actually felt like Halloween for the first time in a while.

Though it was relatively late and the sun was gone when I got home, Richard was still raking leaves in the front yard. He told me as I was heading down the path to my apartment that Charlie's due to be home tomorrow or the next day. Oh, darn. I was hoping he'd be gone much, much longer, at least through the holidays. Maybe he'll head back out in a week or two if I'm lucky.

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