Thursday, May 05, 2016

Three Caballeros and Two Skywalkers

I slept in this morning. It was gray and dreary when I did finally drag myself out of bed and away from my journal and the Leia-centric Star Wars novel I'm currently reading, Razor's Edge. I cheered things up with breakfast, and then cleaning the kitchen. I finished Attack of the Clones, then watched Saludos Amigos while I ate and worked in honor of Cinco Del Mayo today. The first of Disney's two feature-length visits to Mexico and South America is mainly a series of shorts with a travelogue wrap-around depicting the animators' trip below the equator. Goofy learns about the life of the Argentine gaucho in a variation on his "How To" shorts, Donald takes a perilous ride on a llama during a vacation in Lake Titicaca, and we're introduced to Pedro the determined mail plane and smooth-talking Brazilian parrot Jose Carioca.

Ran two shorts that came on the Classic Cabelleros Collection DVD while I put away the cleaning supplies. "Don Donald" is actually a much older short from the late 30's, and is in fact Daisy's debut short. Donald tries to take out Mexican senorita Daisy, but his burro doesn't want to carry two ducks. Trading the troublesome animal for a nice, shiny new car doesn't work much better. Donald finds himself stuck with a "Contrary Condor" when the egg he's trying to gather hatches. Now the mother condor thinks he's her baby!

Headed out for lunch and to run errands around quarter after 1. I wanted to get a lot of my running around done before the weather supposedly gets bad again tomorrow. First stop was Jalapeno's Grill on the White Horse Pike. Given the holiday, some Mexican was in order. Needless to say, on a Mexican holiday, the place was twice as busy as normal. I really, really wish they'd either hire more help or a faster waitress. It took her 20 minutes to take my order, and another 20 minutes to take my dish after I'd finished eating, and then I had to get a bus boy to bring my receipt, so I could pay. The place looked great, with bright-colored metallic streamers and Mexican-themed cardboard hangings everywhere, and the waitress was even dressed up in a swishy red skirt and black peasant blouse...but they are soooo sloooow!

When I did finally make my way out, I went straight to the Haddon Township Library. Surprisingly, despite the weather, there wasn't much going on today. They did finally move all the kids' DVDs into the colorful new spinning racks. (The older racks will be used for non-fiction DVDs.) It seems to have done some good - I got everything on with no trouble. Shelved CDs, audio books, and new releases as well. I finally found the novelization for The Force Awakens among the new releases. Of course, I had to take that out. Also grabbed Minions, Inside Out, and the latest Care Bears set from the kids' area.

Made a very quick stop at Thriftway on the way home for eggs. Their 18-count container of eggs is back to being $1.99. You won't find them that cheap anywhere else. I'll save any other shopping for tomorrow or Saturday.

Went straight home after that to start the third and final Star Wars Fairy Tale. Luke, Leia, Cecil, and Arthur are traveling through the Enchanted Woods on their way to the Dagobah Swamps. It's no longer a friendly place. The green trees and colorful plants have been replaced by lifeless trees and gray fog. Animals attack them and each other. Luke and Leia have been having headaches since they entered the Woods...a typical sign that dark Force magic is in evidence.

Got off in time to make a quick Spinach, Mushroom, and Potato "Pancake" (spinach, mushrooms, cheese, and shredded fingerling potatoes in eggs and turned over pancake-style) while finishing out The Three Caballeros, which I began before I left to run errands. Donald returns to South America for another round of shorts and some of the most surreal animation I've ever seen. Along the way, we're introduced to two new semi-regular characters, the noisy Panchito the Rooster and the wacky Aracuan Bird. We also learn more about South American and Mexican customs, including a sequence about Las Posadas and two really nifty South American dancing numbers.

While I prefer Caballeros, newcomers to Donald's trips down south may want to start with the tamer Amigos first. Either way, these cartoons are a very interesting slice of culture for Donald Duck fans and fans of unusual animation.

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