Work was dead as a doornail. It's the middle of the week, the end of the month, and the only thing going on is college basketball. Not to mention, the weather wasn't the best. It was cold and breezy, and the clouds were in and out all morning. It showered very briefly around noon, but to my knowledge, hasn't done anything like it since. I was in and out with no trouble whatsoever.
I heard from the office rental place in Cherry Hill during work. I guess they never got my e-mail, because they wanted to know when they could do a quick phone interview. Tomorrow at 1 PM will be fine.
Put on another Disney cartoon when I got home while changing. "Flowers and Trees" was the first short done in the new, wider three-strip Technicolor process, and it won an Oscar in 1933. The still-gorgeous color manages to offset the simple story. Two saplings in love are threatened by an old stump, who burns the woods to take them out. That proves to be his undoing when he remembers that he can burn, too...
Went for a quick walk to A&A Pretzels to pick up lunch. All they had were the stuffed pepperoni pretzels, so I got those, a can of Diet Pepsi, and two of the regular. Though the clouds were breaking up by this point, it remained breezy and chilly for the time of year.
Had lunch while watching My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. "Games Ponies Play" have Twilight and her friends doing everything they can to impress the Equestria Games Inspector Ms. Harshwhinny to hold the games at the Crystal Empire this year. When they meet her at the train, she seems to be impressed by their huge cheer, but not so much by the endless tours of the castle. Rarity hopes they can stall, so she can do an especially elaborate hairstyle for Princess Cadence. Turns out all of the pomp and circumstance wasn't necessary. Not only are they entertaining the wrong pony, Ms. Harshwhinny is more impressed by those who don't go out of their way to make a fuss.
Went online for Broadway's Lost Treasures Volume II, which can currently be found at the Internet Archive (along with the rest of the series). We have a lot more Tony-winners and nominees here. Thankfully, only three of the songs are from the 1971 "through the years" Tony show, and one, Tom Bosley's lively "The Name's LaGuardia" from Fiorello!, is actually a chorus number. Robert Morse also does well by his "I Believe In You" from How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. Angela Lansbury and Beatrice Arthur have a blast reviving their "Bosom Buddies" from Mame in 1987, when they were major TV stars. We see more of Jerry Orbach than I'm sure most people ever wanted to when he takes it all off for "All I Care About Is Love" from the original 1975 Chicago.
The undisputed winner among the big numbers was "The Lambeth Walk," energetically performed by the cast of the British comedy Me and My Girl. They have so much fun with the number, they actually take it into the audience. Katherine Hepburn gives us a glimpse of how she managed to keep the Coco Chanel biography Coco up and running with her sterling performance before a lengthy fashion show to "Always Mademoiselle." Patti LuPone kicks things off in high style performing the title song from the hit 1987 revival of Anything Goes. Michael Jeter seems to be made of rubber as he flies through an amazing drunk Charleston with the cast of Grand Hotel in "We'll Take a Glass Together." "One Day More" shows off the entire enormous cast and complicated plots of Les Miserables.
Switched to Match Game Syndicated during dinner. This was the wild week with McLean Stevenson sitting between Jannelle Allen and Debralee Scott. In the second episode, Charles hits Gene with his card during an argument over the merits of the original Shogun mini-series. Gene collapses onto Jannelle's lap, prompting McLean to take over the next two questions. The none-too-happy host shows up with his head wrapped in bandages in the next episode, leading to a round of mummy and toilet paper jokes before he finally calls the female contestant to help him get it off.
Finished the night back at YouTube with spring childhood memories. From the early 80's through the early 90's, toy companies released half-hour specials based on either a new toy line, or an addition to an existing line. More rarely, there would be something based on a popular book or comic strip, like Fairies from 1981. A teen hunter is brought to the fairy realm to stop the fairy king's shadow from spreading darkness across the land. Despite the fairy tale premise, this actually a bit darker than most of the shows I watched tonight, with almost painterly artwork bringing the fairies and their world to life.
The early Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears specials are a lot more typical. In Care Bears Battle the Freeze Machine, Professor Coldheart lures a bullied boy who wants revenge on the kids who made fun of him into repairing his machine that will turn them into ice statues. The Care Bears know that revenge is hardly the best way to make friends, and the boy learns a lesson when Hugs and Tugs (who make their debut here) are also caught in the machine's rays.
Strawberry Shortcake and Pets on Parade introduces the kids' beloved critters, sweet diet-obsessed Angel Cake and her skunk Souffle, the Purple Pieman's female counterpart Sour Grapes, Strawberry's bike (one of the few toys from her line we had), and the Strawberryland Trolley. Sour Grapes and the Pieman claim Strawberry fixed the pet contest in favor of their crow and snake. Souffle knows what it's like to have people misunderstand you and encourages Strawberry to fight with her greatest weapon - the Pieman's dislike of berry talk.
For every Strawberry Shortcake that's well-remembered today, there's a Herself the Elf or Rose Petal Place that only animation historians, toy collectors, and kids who grew up in the era remember. Herself the Elf is something of a cross between Strawberry and Fairies. Herself and her friends control nature with their magic wands. After Herself is kidnapped by a wicked wizard and his shrill daughter, her friends combine their powers to go after her. Likewise, Rose sings to keep the garden alive in Rose Petal Place, but her friends have to rescue her after she's taken by obnoxious spider Nastina and her annoying fly partner Horace.
Sweet Sea is entirely new to me. I never even heard of the doll until tonight, and I certainly don't remember the cartoon. Unlike most of the toys advertised in these specials, Sweet Sea was the only doll in her line, a cherubic mermaid. Her friends were sea animals that came as part of outfit packs. In the special, Sweet Sea's parents give her a magic necklace that is supposed to keep an evil sea serpent at bay. When the Serpant's octopus partner gets his tentacles on it, Sweet Sea and her seahorse friend go after them.
I have far fonder memories of The Charmkins. This and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory were the first videos we ever rented in 1985, and we took it out a lot over the years. Despite having never owned any of the sweet-smelling, charm-based toy line, we loved the story of how feisty Black-Eyed Susan and her brother Wee Willie Winkle rescued dainty ballerina Lady Slipper from Dragonweed and his brothers.
Peppermint Rose debuted in 1993, by which time most of the fanciful girl lines had come and gone. It was too late in the day for even the pretty dolls in their flowery Victorian bloomers and Blossom hats to make much of an impression. Too bad, as this special is honestly pretty fun. Rose is recruited by a tiny wizard to rescue the magical peppermint rose bush from beetles who want to devour it. Seeing her go from a whiny kid who thinks she can solve anything by writing a check to a thoughtful young woman who is able to lead her friends in the song that finally defeats the beetles is actually rather sweet. The sequence where she has a rap-off with an insect is as hilariously campy and of-its-time as it is out of left field.
If you also can't remember a spring without fairy, nature, and Care Bear magic, you'll want to check out these rare 80's fairy tales!
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