Began a cloudy morning with Mickey's Christmas Carol. The actual focus in this much-loved featurette is on Uncle Scrooge, who makes a perfect Ebeneezer Scrooge. Mickey is Bob Cratchit, with Donald as Nephew Fred. Goofy's a great Jacob Marley, and Big Pete was never so terrifying as the fire-and-brimstone Ghost of Christmas Future.
Had enough time for most of "Pluto's Christmas Tree" while I got ready for work. Mickey chops down Chip and Dale's pine tree home for his tree. They happily wander among the gaily colored baubles and candy canes...until Pluto figures out what they're up to and tries to chase them out.
Work was on-and-off steady all morning. I'm a bit surprised it got as busy as it did, given we're in the middle of the week. Everyone must be finally starting to get ready for Thanksgiving. I alternated between shelving candy and gathering carts, fitting sweeping in shortly before I left.
By the time I was on my way out, the clouds had scuttled away, revealing a gorgeous, sunny, windy afternoon. I took the long way home down Nicholson Road. It was a little busy around the shopping center, but other than that, there were no problems. I enjoyed the wind waving through the sienna leaves and crackling gardens.
Put on some Match Game while making a Chocolate-Coffee Smoothie for lunch. A 1980 episode had Jamie Lee Curtis, impressionist Richard Paul, Betty White, and Bart Braverman from the action show Vega$ joining Gene, Brett, and Charles. Half the fun of this show is playing along at home - I love seeing how well I can match the stars myself.
I finally found Julie's purple paisley Christmas dress for a good price on eBay for Ariel. I wanted a 70's holiday outfit for her. I'm not a fan of Julie's original Christmas jumper. The crushed velvet jumper itself is nice, but the glittery gold tights and platforms go a little too much into mature territory for a 9-year-old. The current dress they have for Julie at AG is much cuter, but it's also bright pink - fine for a honey blonde, but not for a flaming redhead. There was a rip in the left sleeve, but it was in the back. It didn't come with the headband or shoes. The magenta Swiss lace headband from an Our Generation dress worked, and I actually liked the white t-strap shoes from Molly's Polka Dot Outfit better than the black t-straps that originally came with the dress. The white knit tights are so soft, I wish I had a pair.
Since I changed Ariel into her new holiday outfit, I figured I might as well change everybody. I might not have the chance to next week, anyway. Samantha is in her original Cranberry Christmas Dress with the ribbed tights and the red strap shoes from her green Spring Dress. Molly borrowed Sam's "meet" outfit strap shoes to go with her green velvet dress. Whitney is in the blue-violet velvet and tulle Snowflake Ball Gown from 2010 with a Springfield Collection shrug, black tights, and black velvet shoes. Jessa gets the red and gold brocade Chinese New Year's Outfit from the mid-90's modern collection. Josefina looks lovely in her original yellow and black striped Christmas Dress with the black mantilla and ruffled pantaloons. Felicity wears her bright blue Christmas Gown with Josefina's choker from her birthday outfit accessories.
Worked on writing after I finished the dolls. Donald and Bill literally dig up Donald's "goddess"...who turns out to be a long-faced redhead with reasonable curves and wide eyes (Patti Deustch). They try to bring the unconscious woman to the others...but there's something strange about her..
Broke for dinner at quarter of 7. Made Cincinatti Chili from Kit's Cooking Studio for dinner, along with sauteed Brussels sprouts and the last of the pop-can Sweet Hawaiian biscuits Added celery and sweet orange peppers to the chili for more snap and crunch.
Finished the night with The Grinch, another holiday movie from last November. Once again, all the Whos down in Whoville like Christmas a lot...but the Grinch (Benedict Cumberbach) still does not. This time, Cindy Lou Who (Cameron Seely) is the daughter of harried single mom Donna Who (Rashida Jones). She first encounters him at the supermarket, where he sarcastically tells her that she should ask Santa to get her mother some help. She decides to do just that, recruiting her friends to help her trap the real Santa Claus.
Meanwhile, the lonely Grinch, who spent his childhood as an orphan with no holidays, is tired of the Whos' noisy displays. He first invades their tree-lighting ceremony, then decides to steal their Christmas goodies. After his attempts to corral a yak to pull his stolen sleigh falls through, he dresses as Santa and makes his dog Max his reindeer. When they do execute their plan, the Grinch encounters Cindy Lou again at her house....and starts to have second thoughts about why he's doing this when Cindy tells her how much she wants Santa to help her mother.
Aww, this was awfully sweet, and a major improvement on the rather mean-spirited live-action Grinch movie from 2000. The colorful animation reflects the world of the Whos and the Grinch's home on Mount Crumpet equally well, and the Grinch's back story is mercifully limited to a few short scenes. Cindy's sincere desire to help her mom comes off much better than the preachy commercialism message in the live-action film did. Cumberbatch is just as good as Carey as the Grinch; Seely's an adorable Cindy, too. Nice score as well, both from Danny Elfman and the jazzy neo-swing numbers that accompany much of the comedy.
The movie does have some problems. I still say this simple picture book was never meant to be a feature-length film, no matter how good the animation or special effects are. There's a ton of padding in the middle and end of the movie, mainly useless slapstick scenes with Cindy and her buddies trying to trap Santa or the Grinch chasing "reindeer" or working on his plot. It can occasionally come off as too sugary or sweet.
If you have younger kids who may find the live-action version to be a bit too violent, they'll find much to enjoy in this more modern retelling.
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