gurgles

     Here are a few night crawling monsters to help you celebrate this year's All Hallow's Eve... slightly different than you may remember them.

Happy Halloween, kids!

See Ya REEL Soon!

     It's pretty safe to say that there's something magical about the ambience of being at Walt Disney World.  Sure the many rides, shows, and characters each provide an overall sense of joy, but I'm talking about the little things... such as the sound of the bustling crowd on Main Street or even the voice on the monorail telling you to stand clear of the doors. Even these simplest of details can spark that zippy-doo-da feeling of delight in the hardest of hearts. If you're looking online for an example of this, no one, in my opinion, better delivers a sense of what it feels like just to BE at Walt Disney World than the YouTube channel, SeeYaReelSoon.

     Married couple Joe and Ashley document their many adventures in the most magical place on earth with a series of videos that, for at least my family and I, remind us of that magical ambience like no one else. Whether it's enjoying a refreshing sip of Bibo at Epcot's Club Cool, or riding the Tomorrowland People Mover for the umpteen-billionth time... well... you get it! We like watching their videos! So much so that, for us, Joe and Ashley have become synonymous with Walt Disney World. It's because of this that I decided to go ahead and add them to my roster of Disney Park Pals!

Huge honor, right?

     While I'm at it, here are a few more Park Pals who I'm guessing, based on our MANY viewings of SeeYaReelSoon, are some of Joe and Ashley's favorites.

Really Bad Eggs

     YAAAAAARRRRRRRR!! Here be a few more blackhearted Park Pals to have set sail under the Jolly Roger!

Talk Like A Kenny Day

    So I've come up with a different look for my Disney Park Pals, and since today is International Talk Like A Pirate Day, I thought it'd be fitting to kick off this new line with one of my favorite scallywags - Kenny the Pirate!

     Normally, I've had the Park Pals specifically be fan art of Meet and Greet characters that you might run into at one of the Disney parks. While Kenny the Pirate isn't an official Disney character, he does spend an awful lot of time in the parks, so, as far as I'm concerned, he's a Disney World staple! 

     My wife and I have planned two trips to Walt Disney World in the past, and are currently planning a trip to Disneyland for sometime in the near future. A few years back, we happened upon Mr. the Pirate's website and once we did, the whole planning process became both easier and more enjoyable. Walt Disney World offers so much to do that, while being a ton of fun, can easily become overwhelming. Think about it, you're hot, you're tired, and on top of all that... you can't decide what "magical" thing to do next. It's not going to be long before the kids start crying and the daddy's start... using a more colorful vocabulary. Fortunately, a lot of this heartache can be avoided with a good itinerary! That's where Kenny the Pirate comes in.

     Kenny spends seemingly ALL of his time in the Disney parks gathering info on wait times, ride closures, etc. to help park-goers come up with an informed game plan so that they get the most bang for their Disney World buck. You can check out his website here, and you definitely don't want to miss his SUPER informative Character Locator! I highly recommend it!

     But enough with the commercial! It's International Talk Like A Pirate Day and I haven't internationally talked like a pirate ONCE! Curse the hornswagglin' wench that birthed the likes of I for me lazy son-of-a-biscuit-eater ways! Yaaaaarrrrrr!

P.S. I just googled 'scallywag.' I'm sorry, Kenny! I meant no disrespect. 

You're So Randomz

     Once again, I've come up with a hodgepodge of different characters that I just felt like drawing and slapped them all together in an attempt to bring a little happiness into the world.

Mission: Accomplished?

Judy Jetson from The Jetsons

Alvin, Simon, and Theodore from Alvin & The Chipmunks

Pinkie Pie from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street

Auntie Nelda from The Ernest Movies

Penguin Suits - Porg

     Since the Porgs are basically the penguins of the Star Wars universe, I just HAD to make a Porg Penguin Suit!

Only 100 days 'til The Last Jedi!

Care Bearz Dorbz-es-ezzz....ssszz

     I haven't posted anything Care Bears related in, like, FOREVER! It's time to do something about that!

     There's a fairly new line of toys out from Funko, known as Dorbz, that I like quite a bit. I haven't paid money for any of them yet, but if they were to actually produce the following mock-ups... well... that would change.

The Silly Nate Film Club - The Great Muppet Caper

     It's been a little while since I've posted anything, and it's been an even less little while since I've done an installment of the Silly Nate Film Club. Since all I really do with this thing is gush on and on about random movies I like, I was thinking about putting the kibosh on it altogether, but then I got to thinking about how much negative content there is out there in relation to movies and pop culture in general. Whether it's "10 Reasons This Movie Sucks" or "5 Things to Hate About The Movie You Previously Loved," all the nerds seem to have a serious beef with something and are taking it out on our nostalgia! So I figured, a little gushing from time to time certainly couldn't hurt. 

     The film I'll be gushing over today is one that's always been towards the top of my personal "Movies That Make Ya Feel Good" list. From 1981, it's The Great Muppet Caper!

"Nice title!"

     This is the second film in what I consider to be the Muppet Trilogy (The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, and The Muppets Take Manhattan) and definitely my favorite. For the first installment, The Muppet Movie, Jim Henson handed the directing responsibilities over to James Frawley, but for The Great Muppet Caper, he took the helm making this his directorial debut! This may be the reason why I love it as much as I do. His love of musical numbers, comedic takes, special effects, and just movies in general seem to shine through from beginning to end.

As well as his love of dining on the... tops of... pineapples? What's that all about?!

     In a time of cinematic universes, and never ending debates over what is and isn't canon, it's refreshing to look back at a movie that basically just says, "Screw it. Let's be nutty." They're the same Muppets we love, but with a premise different than the usual "We gotta make it into show business!" storyline. They've already made it... and this is the madcap nonsense that they've produced as a result. Kermit and Fozzie are identical twins, Charles Grodin plays the American brother to Diana Rigg's British Lady Holiday, and the entire supporting ensemble of Muppets live in a dilapidated London hotel without any explanation! It’s glorious insanity as only the Muppets can deliver!

With plenty of paper towels!

     What The Great Muppet Caper proves is that the Muppet characters aren't nailed down to a specific premise. Their stories don't define them. They're characters that are so well developed, they can be in a wide variety of different situations and still feel familiar. Fozzie Bear is Fozzie Bear, whether he's a struggling comedian or a wannabe newspaper reporter, he’s the same lovable bear regardless of what duties the script assigns him. This, to me, helps the brilliant illusion that the Muppets are actually real people. This, like the big opening musical number states, is a movie within a movie… and the Muppets are just the film’s players doing a comically horrible job staying in character.

"I don't need this lousy Duck Pond!"

     This type of thing was done again in films like A Muppet Christmas Carol or Muppet Treasure Island, but The Great Muppet Caper did it first, and in my opinion, best!

     And now’s the part of the show where I gush about specific moments in the movie that I love so much.

...I need to come up with another word to use besides ‘gush’. I’m starting to feel gross.

HiiiiiiiiiiYaa-ing the Fourth Wall - While I’m not entirely a fan of the term “Breaking the Fourth Wall,” I usually love whenever it happens. The same goes for a good running gag. The Great Muppet Caper is, by no means, exclusive when it comes to the Muppets and these techniques. They’re practically Muppet staples! But there’s just something about the times they’re used in this movie that I like a little more. No reason why. Charles Grodin’s character being called out by Miss Piggy on his dubbed singing voice, or Miss Piggy climbing the side of a building while demanding a stunt double are some great fourth wall-breaking moments that add to the whole movie within a movie aspect. (There’s probably a joke in there somewhere about Miss Piggy being good at wall-breaking, but I’ll refrain from making it.)

     And as far as running gags go, the whole Caught Red-Handed/What Color Are Their Hands Now routine is nothing short of cinematic poetry!

Muppets on Bicycles - Speaking of cinematic… good… stuff, the scene in The Great Muppet Caper where the Muppets all ride through the park on bicycles is one of the greatest special effects in the entirety of film history! I went to film school, worked in the field of video production for almost two decades, and watched James Cameron’s Avatar more times than any functional human being ever really should, and NOTHING get’s a bigger “How’d they do that?” from me than when Kermit and Company go peddling down that sidewalk. And while I may just be bragging about my own incompetence there, you still have to admit that Jim Henson and his team worked some pretty amazing pre-CGI movie magic with all of this!

The Pets Are Dead - The Great Muppet Caper was written by Tom Patchett, Jay Tarses, Jerry Juhl, and Jack Rose who are a bunch of dudes whom I think (SURPRISE!) did a fabulous job! One scene that stands out to me as being beautifully written is the humorously dull conversation between the older British couple played by John Cleese and Joan Sanderson. The subject of the conversation is basically NOTHING, yet the subtlety of the gags mixed with the timing of the actors manages to crack me up to this day!

The Pig Walks at Night - I don't know if he’s made it this far into this post, but in case he has, this last bit is for a friend of mine. There’s a quick shot in the film of a sad Miss Piggy walking down an empty street at night. It’s filmed from a high angle looking down and is basically just a far off shot of a person wearing a Miss Piggy mask. As brief as it is, it really creeps out a friend of mine… so… yeah. Look upon her, Jim. Look upon her and dream!

Also… Drew Struzan Poster! GUSH!!!!!!!!!!

Penguin Suits - Grimace