Sweet Dreams, Daydream Believer

First, Whitney Houston, now, this? 2012 is not off to a good start so far. This year, as you know, is a leap year, but this is not how I wanted to mark the occasion. I, of course, am talking about the passing of Davy Jones of the Monkees due to a heart attack this past February 29. Davy and the rest of the Monkees had lots of hit singles and a fun TV show. I'll spare the old "Davy Jones' Locker" jokes (because I respect him) and just sum up by saying that Davy, you will be missed.

V For Valentine

Tom Ruegger, senior producer of "Tiny Toon Adventures" and "Animaniacs", recently posted on his blog fun Valentines cards in honor of Valentines Day: A group of cards from the Tiny Toons and a special "Hello, Nurse" from Yakko and Wakko Warner. I still have "TTA" and "Animaniacs" Valentines left over from over a decade ago or so, but don't have them scanned in for the time being, so, I can't really show 'em off. So, for now, here's hoping you have a happy and fun Valentines Day!

We Will Always Love You, Whitney Houston

Those of you who read this blog regularly may recall when I posted about Michael Jackson's death back in 2009. Now, we've lost another beloved singer. Whitney Houston had been found dead yesterday (February 11). The cause of death is still unknown, but she had been one of my favorite artists growing up and shall greatly be missed. Let's all take a moment of silence for what many believe to be (if you'll pardon the pun, though it seems appropriate here) "the greatest love of all".

Crushin' on Cartoons

In my previous two posts, I mentioned that Yakko Warner of "Animaniacs" was my second cartoon crush. So, you must be wondering who was my first. Well, he happens to be a real stinker. Yes, my first crush is none other than Pepé Le Pew!

(Image from a Google search.) This French skunk (who just turned 67 this past January 6th) won my heart years before "Animaniacs" came to the TV screens, when I would frequently watch "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies" cartoons on my CBS affiliate and later, on Nickelodeon and ABC. Being French, Pepé was always giving romantic lines to the object of his desire which was usually a black cat with a white stripe painted on the back, but Pepé didn't know that. (Luckily, those cats were female, in most of the cartoons, anyway.) And Pepé was always determined to keep his lover, usually chasing after her with that bouncing prance of his. And although he may be a skunk, he does look quite handsome (at least, to me). And his voice, as given to him by the late Mel Blanc, was very soothing to the ears, French accent and all, especially when he sings. I still remember that one scene in the cartoon "Scent-imental Romeo" when he sings "Baby Face" to his "beloved" while both were walking across that brick fence. The cat may not have wanted to even get close to him, but I sure swooned over his serenade. And now that all 15 of Pepé's cartoons are on DVD (along with a couple bonus 'toons), I can see my favorite skunk work his charms on his femme fatales whenever I want. (You online shoppers can get your copy through Amazon by going here.)

Pepé Le Pew was my first crush, but like I said before, Yakko Warner is my second. He, too, is handsome himself. And his voice, as provided by Rob Paulsen, is attractive as well, whether he talks or sings. Yes, he's real clever, being able to talk his way through any situation. He always seems to be in control, especially when leading his younger siblings, Wakko and Dot. Yakko's got a great wit, that's for sure. And as I mentioned in my earlier post on him (hyperlinked in the first paragraph of this post), he's a very talented musician, especially on the piano. Sure, he may not be the most well behaved around attractive women (such as Hello Nurse and Minerva Mink), but it doesn't make me love him any less. (Screenshot from a Google image search.)

Yakko is indeed my second cartoon crush, but he isn't the last. "You mean there's more?" I hear you asking. Well, as of right now, there's only one more and he's more of a video game character than a cartoon character:

It all started as I was getting back into the "Sonic the Hedgehog" games from watching the "Sonic X" anime. (Sonic just turned 20 last year and I neglected to mention the milestone. Sorry, Sonic. Read about his 17th and Garfield's 30th here.) One game I added to my collection was "Sonic Adventure 2 Battle" (for the Nintendo Gamecube which I had at the time) and it was that particular game that introduced me to one Shadow the Hedgehog. Yes, even I have a thing for bad boys, or in this case, bad hedgehogs. And boy, was he bad! He thinks most humans are pathetic and he doesn't hang out with Sonic and the others very often. But he has his reasons: He was created as the ultimate life form by Professor Gerald Robotnik (Eggman's grandfather) aboard the space colony ARK. His closest friend was the professor's granddaughter, Maria Robotnik. Then, one day, the ARK was being invaded and Maria sacrificed her life so that Shadow could survive on the Earth below. That's enough of a reason to keep to himself. I'm smart enough to keep my distance from him (his ability to use Chaos Control and his powerful Chaos-based attacks are beyond compare), but I'll always admire the dark hedgehog. (Image from a Google search.)

Shadow is my third and most recent crush. Doesn't mean he'll be the last. As time marches on, there will be other male cartoon characters that will catch my fangirlish attention someday. And no, Goofy and Strong Bad don't count: Goofy is more like a father figure to me and Strong Bad, while being super cool and all (at least, he thinks so), doesn't seem like boyfriend material for me no matter how many times my mom (who I live with) teases me about it! And yet, out of the three crushes I just mentioned that I have thus far, I don't seem to see myself hooking up with any of them anytime soon: Pepé will continue chasing female skunks (even if they're really cats with white stripes painted on them) and Shadow is just not willing to have any girl cling to him (or anybody else for that matter), which leaves Yakko free, but I'm not gonna take my chances since he's got his eyes on a certain fan character (namely, Kikko Aulstar, as created by Keshia Anders a.k.a. Sony-Mae on devaintART). So, for now, I can at least settle for watching these three cartoon crushes do what they do best, even if I'm not looking for an actual boyfriend. (Sorry, fellas, this gal plans to stay single for a long, long time.)

Yakko Tickles the Ivories ...and the Funny Bones

First of all, my apologies for not updating my blog as often as I used to. Real life kept me busy. ...as well as surfin' the web, playin' video games, watchin' TV, etc. Now, for the first post of the new year:

Following up on my previous post on "Animaniacs", I want to highlight my favorite trait of my second ever cartoon crush, Yakko Warner. (Image found on a Google search.) As those of you who've seen the show know, he's named "Yakko" because he's able to talk a lot without missing a beat (thanks to his voice actor, Rob Paulsen). But what I like best about him is that he's able to sing and sing well. ("Yakko's World" is positive poof pf that. Rob still performs that song live.) Yakko's also a talented musician as seen in various "Animaniacs" episodes. He can play just about every musical instrument in the northern hemisphere. (At least, as far as we've seen.) But there is one instrument I always think of to associate with Yakko: The piano!
(Screenshot by me.) He has been seen playing the piano to accompany his brother, Wakko, during "The Great Wakkorotti" segments and his sister, Dot, while she's singing to Beethoven in "Roll Over, Beethoven" (the "Animaniacs" cartoon, not the Beatles song). However, of all the times I've seen Yakko at the piano during "Animaniacs" run (it was 99 episodes long, by the way), I've never seen him singing as he plays the piano. Yakko is a talented singer and musician and the piano is one of the few musical instruments to allow the player to play and sing at the same time. Because of this, I've had to imagine Yakko singing while playing piano whenever listen to certain songs on my iPod such as Elton John's "Crocodile Rock" or Jamiroquai's "Virtual Insanity". (Yes, I want to hear Yakko sing this, it suits him, being an "Animaniac" and all.)

There were times he came close to singing while playing the piano. The first instance was by the end of "Piano Rag" when he and his siblings were playing the piano and singing... well, Yakko was at the piano singing a verse, but Wakko and Dot seemed to be doing all the piano playing, both singing a respective verse while playing. Dang. What a wasted opportunity for Yakko.

The second time he almost sang while playing the piano, almost being the key word here, was in "Hercule Yakko". Here, Yakko was a detective called Hercule Yakko (in case you didn't know by the cartoon's title), trying to figure out who stole Marita Hippo's diamond. (Marita and her husband, Flabio, a.k.a. the Hip Hippos, were among the cast of "Animaniacs".) He asks Flabio and Marita if they had any enemies to which they said no. Yakko then asks if they had any creditors and they said no to this, too. Then, as part of the gag, Yakko, dressed as a lounge singer (Wayne Newton, I assume) and at the piano, asks if they had any requests. At first, he seems to be playing the piano, but when he picks up takes the microphone and sings "Down Upon The Nile River" (a parody of "Swany River"), the hand he does have free (since he's holding the mic with one hand) doesn't touch the piano keys (as seen in the screenshot, captured by me), although piano music is heard as he sings, so, it counts as the cartoon's musical score.

(Screenshot by me.) The last time Yakko's officially seen playing the piano was in the last episode of "Animaniacs", in the cartoon "The Scoring Session". The whole "Animaniacs" cast is the studio's orchestra to score a cartoon while being conducted by guest conductor, a rhino named Neivel Nosenest. (Tee hee, "Nosenest".) During the session, Wakko bangs on a gong which makes Neivel scold him. Neivel proceeds to tell Wakko that the score says "piano" since piano means "soft". So, Neivel says to play piano and this prompts Yakko to play the piano as part of the joke (since the instrument is commonly called a piano which is short for pianoforte). It would've been cool to see Yakko sing while playing the piano (preferably Irving Berlin's "I Love A Piano"), but just seeing him play instrumental jazz on the piano works well. The cartoon used to be on Youtube, but now, we'll just have to wait 'til the WB releases episodes 76-99 on DVD as "Animaniacs Volume 4".

Rob Paulsen mentioned in episode 20 of his podcast that he doesn't play a musical instrument himself (so much for seeing him accompanying himself on the piano while singing "Yakko's World" among other songs), but it doesn't hinder Yakko's musical abilities any. Still, since "Animaniacs" is no longer on the air (and with no new episodes), it's a shame we'll never get to see Yakko singing while playing the piano, but it does open up that possibility since he does both so well. But at least I still can imagine Yakko singing while playing the piano. Here's a list of songs I'd like to see Yakko sing while playing piano (in no particular order):

I Love A Piano (written by Irving Berlin)
A Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On (as performed by Jerry Lee Lewis)
Great Balls Of Fire (another Jerry Lee Lewis standard)
That's Just The Way It Is (as performed by Bruce Hornsby and the Range)
Virtual Insanity (as performed by Jamirroquai for the reason listed above)
Crocodile Rock (as performed by Elton John)
I'm Still Standing (another Elton John favorite of mine)
As Time Goes By (from the movie "Casablanca", made by the same studio that produced "Animaniacs")
Piano Man (written and performed by Billy Joel; you knew this song had to come up sometime)

Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?
(Screenshot not captured by me, but found through a Google image search.)

Feelin' "Zany to the Max"

Sorry I haven't been updating this blog very often, I was busy surfin' the web. I figure now would be a good time to post my latest thoughts.

It seems I've finally got off my Disney kick for a while now. The reason? A show I was obsessed with since 1993 called... wait for it... "Animaniacs"!

Yes, that show. And get this: it's from the same studio that brought us the "Looney Tunes" cartoons, namely, Warner Bros. It stars Yakko, Wakko, and Dot - the Warner Brothers (not the studio this time) and the Warner Sister - among others, but the siblings are my favorites (with Yakko being my most favorite... and second cartoon crush). Back then, I didn't live in Portland, Oregon. As such, I didn't have the WB (long before it became the CW) once "Animaniacs" moved there from FOX in 1995. I made do, of course, recording the episodes before the network switch and whenever I visited relatives who had the WB and Cartoon Network (when the show aired in reruns there). I was even lucky to get the direct to video movie "Wakko's Wish" (VHS only) for Christmas of 1999!

Time passed and now, I've got the first three volumes of the show on DVD as well as all three volumes of its spinoff "Pinky & the Brain" featuring the two titular lab mice who plan every night to try to take over the world! I'm still waiting for the WB studio to release volume four of "Animaniacs" (which includes the final episodes) and "Wakko's Wish" on DVD. Come on, guys, we're not gettin' any younger here! However, Tom Ruegger has a blog which you can visit and comment on called "Cartoonatics". And Rob Paulsen, who voices Yakko and Pinky, has a website of his own and a twitter account just to see what he's been up to. (He's been a very busy voice actor.)

Might as well end this post with this article from "Entertainment Weekly". Looks like I'm not the only one nostalgic for the show. On that note, allow me to quote Yakko by saying: "Goodnight, everybody!"

(Oh, and Homestar Runner hasn't updated his website since Decemberween last year. So, I got him beat there.)

Not Fair for the Fair

I was in WDW for my birthday (Feb. 16th) and thus, was there on that last night that Mickey's Toontown Fair was open (Feb. 11th). Not much happened to commemorate the event for us guests, but I did see some cast members dancing with some guests joining in at the County Bounty store. I took some pics of some of the buildings and got a chance to ride the Barnstormer with my mom one last time (before it becomes "The Great Goofini"). Although there's still a Toontown in Disneyland U.S.A. and Tokyo Disneyland, and Mickey and Minnie have got new meet and greet spots in Tomorrowland, Frontierland, and the Hall of Presidents at Liberty Square (mostly Mickey on his own here) before Exhibition Hall is ready for them, I feel there will never be another Toontown experience in WDW for a while. There was a ceremony for the cast members on the last night which you can see here on YouTube. (Courtesy of crushinator.) So, for my first blog post of the year, I'd like to dedicate this moment to what will become the Storybook Circus. Toontown Fair, you will be missed. June 18, 1988 (as Mickey's Birthdayland) - February 11, 2011.

Happy Decemberween! ...finally!

After waiting half a year, Homestar Runner's website has finally updated! For reals this time and not just for the online store. If you've been following the site as I have, you'll notice there's a new 'toon up, just in time for Decemberween (Free Country USA's version of Christmas)! On top of that Telltale Games released "Poker Night at the Inventory" earlier last month which, as you know, features Strong Bad as one of the card sharks you'll be playing against. (I mentioned the game on my Labor Day post here.)

While on the subject of Holiday cheer, check out the December Fan Favorite 'toon on FredtheMonkey.com: "Santa Sceb is Coming to Town"! I'm not the only one who voted for this 'toon and it still shines as bright as a star on top of a Christmas tree. (You'll see my name, Marci Cameron, and comment on the page. Bonus props to JKR for including that.) In this 'toon, Sceb (short for Space Chicken's Evil Brother) attempts to cage St. Nick himself so that he can give Sceb what he wants: A red and black DS lite, a new PC, world domination (of course), and a "My Little Pony" playset, which seems too sugary sweet for Sceb and he tries to hide that by claiming that Pip (the sickly blue space chicken) wanted that. Will Sceb succeed in his plan to capture the jolly old elf? See for yourself and find out.

I've been busy with Halloween and Thanksgiving to post up to now, I have a real life, too, you know. I'll also be plenty busy with Christmas coming up, so, there may not be many posts on this blog after this one, just to give you a heads up. So, in case I don't post any more this year, I wish all of you who read this blog (if anyone is reading this): Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

7 Years of the Monkey

If you haven't caught the reference in this post's title, then, you haven't been to FredtheMonkey.com. It's been seven years since this fun little website launched and now, the entire site just got a facelift. It's not that this hasn't happened before as seen in the "3, 2, 1... RELAUNCH!" parts 1, 2, and 4 (note that part 3 is missing) in addition to this brief 'toon before part 4, "Closed for Repairs", but this recent upgrade has got me excited. How about you? In fact, I just updated my previous post on the site so that future readers don't go to dead links. I even saw the 'toon to mark the seventh anniversary of the site and both Fred and S.C. have never looked better! But don't take my word for it, go see the site for yourself!

The Golden Stone Age Family

Thank you, Google, for reminding me of an important cartoon occasion: The 50th anniversary of the Flintstones TV show!

The Flintstones and their neighbors, the Rubbles, brought their modern Stone Age lives onto our TV screens on this day in 1960. The late William Hanna said that "The Honeymooners" was the concept for TV's first ever prime time animated series. And cartoon voice legends Alan Reed and Mel Blanc (most famous as the voice of most of the male Looney Tunes like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig) voiced Fred and Barney, respectfully. And here's an article from Cartoon Brew, marking the occasion. 50 years and looking fabulous! Now, that's a modern Stone Age turned Golden Age!

You're Invited... Again

Last year, Tokyo DisneySea held their first ever Halloween theme, a Masquerade party, if you will. (I even remarked on the event as seen here.) And guess what? They're doing it again! Yay! Though I can't be there myself (since my mom and/or I couldn't afford to go to Japan which was the case last year, too), I'm so glad TDS decided to bring back this fun Halloween theme. This year, they added a Mexican Fiesta hosted by Chip, Dale, and Clarice, the chipmunk singer who caught Chip and Dale's eye in the classic cartoon "Two Chips and a Miss".

The "MOUSEquerade" is back and Daisy joins the fun this year. (Last year, it was just Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Chip, and Dale.) And another thing you'll notice is that the main gang are wearing masks throughout the entire dance. Other than that, it's pretty much the same as last year.

...so is the "Mysterious Masquerade" stage show at the Tower of Terror. Most of the show is left unchanged, but at the happy ending, the whole gang has masks on instead of just Mickey. I once explained my vision of the show should it be brought to the U.S., however, there's another version reeling in my head. It goes like this: Most of the cast is the same, but I've also included Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, and the aforementioned Clarice. Like in my original vision, Goofy doesn't turn into an evil pirate and Minnie doesn't become a possessed Egyptian queen. Instead, Horace is the pirate and Clarabelle is the Egyptian queen. This leaves Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy left to save the day by getting eveyone to dance with them, even the unsure Clarice. Vidia, the fast-flying fairy rival of Tinker Bell, would teach the audience the dance. Another variation has Goofy's son, Max, in Clarice's place. What do you think of my recent idea?

You can see vids of both shows (from both this year and last year) on YouTube by searching "MOUSEquerade" and/or "Mysterious Masquerade". Hope they do all this again next year, too, 'cause it might still be a while for the U.S. Disney Parks to get this Halloween theme.

UPDATE 10/28/10: The Disney Parks Blog just posted a look at not only Tokyo DisneySea's Halloween celebration, but also Tokyo Disneyland's Halloween theme this year. Check it out here and let them know how much we want this in the American Disney Parks.

Todaybor Day is a Labor Day!

...and Strong Bad won't be checking emails on this day (as seen in sbemail #83). Homestar leads his "Homestarmy" makes sure nobody or their brother does any work at all today (as he reminds The Cheat, seen here). While the main site itself is still non-updated, you can still peruse the site for past cartoons to watch again (unless you're watching some of them for the first time). Doesn't mean Strong Bad's not active though: Earlier this month, Telltale Games annouced "Poker Night at the Inventory" which has Strong Bad playing, obviously, poker with Tycho from the "Penny Arcade" webcomic, Max (the rabbit) from "Sam & Max: Freelance Pollice", and the Heavy from the video game "Team Fortress 2". Telltale has worked with Strong Bad before to create the ever popular, super fun "Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People" (or, if you wanna get in on the ground floor of abbriviations, SBCG4AP), but hey, I'm just psyched Strong Bad's still around. How about you? Are you excited about this game as I am? Hopefully, this will be a sign that the Homestar Runner website will be updated soon. Please, oh, please, oh, please!

Still Cool for Five Years

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Cool Tapes, a band formed by Marzipan, Strong Mad, and The Cheat. In honor of the occasion, I posted a new fanfic on Fanfiction.net. Check it out here. So, let's all raise our bags of four grapes (if you have any, I sure don't) and toast the Cool Tapes' five years of non-breaking up! See the 'toon where the Cool Tapes got their start here.

A Monkey Helps Me Cope

While waiting for updates to the Homestar Runner website, I figured I might as well watch the cartoons on another website: FredtheMonkey.com. Created by JKR (yeah, that's his name), this site has fun cartoons featuring Fred the Monkey (of course), Space Chicken (mostly known as S.C.), and Sceb (short for Space Chicken's Evil Brother), among others. I even watch the mailbags which has Sceb answering E-Mails from viewers (usually against his will). It resembles sbemails (Strong Bad Emails), but unlike Strong Bad, Sceb talks directly to the viewers instead of typing a response. And some of the cartoons feature music videos by and starring JKR revolving around video games. The most recent one is about E3 2010. But this site also has comics. Those are funny, too. Although the cartoons aren't updated on that site either, JKR does have a blog there that is updated as a way of letting us know he's still around. So, give FredtheMonkey.com a look-see for yourself. At least until Homestar Runner's website is updated. ...eventually.

Belated Birthday Greetings

Man! Have I been neglecting toons' birthdays or what? It's not that I forgot their b-days, it's just that I never bothered to post them on the blog here. So, to make up for it, I'm listing all the birthdays I missed these past couple of months.

June 9, 2010: Donald Duck turns 76 this day. Not as big as his 75th last year, but Disney didn't make that big a deal about it then either. Sorry I took so long to mention it, Donald, but please, don't be too angry with me about it. ...again. (See my posts on his 74th and 75th.)

June 23, 2010: Sonic the Hedgehog keeps running in his 19th year in existence. I neglected his birthday last year, but this year, I'm really a heal with Sega of America's contest in honor of Sonic's 19th b-day which offered a trip to Sega of Japan as the grand prize. Needless to say that Needlemouse: the Musical (courtesy of FierceDeityYS) won for the U.S. while Blue Sky Dreams (courtesy of Purplespikeyjoe) got the grand prize on the U.K. side of the world. I wouldv'e entered, but didn't because 1. I don't have a YouTube account and 2. even if I did, I missed the deadline to enter. I did like Needlemouse: the Musical though. I even downloaded the mp3 provided in the vid's description. Congrats, guys! You deserve it. (See my post on Sonic's 17th birthday here.)

July 27, 2010: Bugs Bunny reaches the big 7-0 on this day. However, I spent the day celebrating my mom's birthday since she shares the day with Bugs although she was born years later. That, and it's kinda hard to celebrate the wabbit's milestone knowing that soon, Cartoon Network would be showing this. (Courtesy of Cartoon Brew.) Man! That pic is hard to digest. And don't get me started on that promo vid. (Another link from Cartoon Brew.) Yikes! Hearing Daffy's voice makes me upset that Joe Alaskey isn't doing the voice for this series. And seeing what the characters look like in motion... Forget it! I prefer my Looney Tunes looking classic like they did in the late 90's-early 2000's, thank you very much. (See my posts on Bugs' 68th birthday and belated 69th.)

That's pretty much all the birthdays I forgot to post. Mostly because I'm lazy. Sorry 'bout that. Hope I can be able to overcome my laziness and post the birthdays for next year as they come up.

Sweet Soundsation

The Disney Parks Blog just announced that a new parade is coming to Disneyland USA next year. It's called "Mickey's Soundsational Parade"!

I've seen the concept art they posted (displayed above) and I couldn't be more excited. Floats based on "The Little Mermaid", "Aladdin", "The Princess and the Frog", and the upcoming "Tangled" featuring Rapunzel? You know I can hardly wait. 2011 can't come soon enough! More info here.

UPDATE 2/26/11: The Disney Parks Blog gave an opening date for "Mickey's Soundsational Parade" - May 27th! Proof is here along with the opening dates for Ariel's Undersea Adventure at DCA and Star Tours at Disneyland U.S.A. Mark your calendars because it won't be long before the streets of Main Street U.S.A. start sounding like music to your ears... and eyes!

Homestar Runs Low on Updates

Everyone loves the Homestar Runner. He is a terrific athlete. But since April 12th of this year, he's not good keeping his website up to date. The last update the site has seen was of a new main page based on Xeriouxly Forxe, an April Fools toon that appeared earlier in the month. And I'm getting worried. June is almost over and there's still no new updates. I need my fix of Homestar, Strong Bad, The Cheat, and the rest. I'd wouldn't even mind seeing Homsar at this point. Anything to let me know the cast is not dead. I so hope The Cheat (and everybody else) are not dead. (Bonus points if you've guessed the references I put in this post.)

UPDATE 7/7/10: According to this post on the forum of the Homestar Runner Wikipedia, one of the moderators contacted the creators of the Homestar Runner website (Matt and Mike Chapman) and the brothers said Homestar isn't ending, not even without adding Level 10 to the Stinkoman game. That's good news at least. Now, all we have to do is wait until they update. ...however long that may be. While waiting for that to happen, members at the Homestar Wiki forum are planning a fan flash explaining the hiatis. Even if you're not a member of the forum, you're welcome to sign up for this collaboration at Google groups. Just go here to either join in or see the progress.

A Goof of My Own

Man! End of the month already and I forgot to post about Goofy's birthday almost a week ago. Sorry, Goofy, I guess I was too busy surfin' the web to post the occasion, but that doesn't mean I didn't forget your birthday entirely. Since I'm low on material, here's a link to my previous post on the Goof's 76th b-day. Again, I apologize for not posting his big day this year. Happy Belated Birthday, Goofy!

Mickey Speaks! (at Disneyland)

There are a couple of videos posted on YouTube that I found simply amazing. Both courtesy of lrharrisjr, they feature Mickey Mouse at a meet and greet at his house in Disneyland USA, but get this: Mickey is actually talking! Yes, you read right, Mickey actually talks! I haven't been to Disneyland recently, but I've seen the vids and I'm still in awe! The first video has Mickey welcoming everyone and inviting them to have their picture taken with him as seen here. In the second video, Mickey talks to a little girl and her aunt and calls them by name here. That's right, he says their names. Proof positive that the audio of Mickey talking wasn't prerecorded. Can you say "wow"? According to lrharrisjr (who, as I mentioned, posted these videos), this is a test run by Disney, but I wouldn't mind if they made this feature permament, not just in Disneyland, but in Walt Disney World, too. And who knows? Maybe, just maybe, they'll do the same for Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and maybe even Goofy. (Please, please, please, Disney, do Goofy next!) Let's hope Disney can make this happen.

UPDATE 5/7/10: The Disney Parks Blog posted their own video of talking Mickey here.

Disney Goes Steampunk

I never imagined this could happen. And you know what? I love it! The Disney Parks Blog has announced the arrival of the new pin set called "The Mechanical Kingdom", slated to be released this April. The pin set features Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, Pete, and Professor Ludwig von Drake in steampunk outfits.(Above pic from the Disney Parks Blog.)

So, what is steampunk, you ask? Well, basically, it's a fictional universe where modern technology exists in the Victorian era, a.k.a., the 19th century. I'm not into steampunk myself, but it does look good on Mickey and the gang, especially Goofy. I wish this pin set came out while I was in Walt Disney World a few weeks ago, I'm not planning a return visit so soon just for the release of these pins. But don't let me stop you, you can get the pins yourself, although only Mickey and Pete are included in the pin set only while Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Ludwig von Drake can be purchased separately. Better hurry though, they're limited edition, which means that they won't be sold at the parks for long.