Passamaquoddy

As any good travel agent knows, theres 2 things you always tell someone whose come to you for travel advice. First, tell them things they should pack for their trip and second, tell ‘em to stay away from Buford by the front door no matter how asleep he looks. Teeth or no teeth, that dog can get a hold of your arm something fierce.

So, since Buford ain’t coming to no Mousefest (he don’t chase no mice, that’s a job for our cat, Ole Miss Puddles.)… Anyway since, Buford ain’t coming; I thought I’d tell you what to bring to Mousefest. But since I is my own travel agent, I forgot to tell me what to brang so here, in advance, I got a list of things I forgot to bring next week.

First, theres the obvious stuff. The right clothes. In fact I recommend having clothing available almost year round. It can get cold out in public and you can get dirty looks. For Disney World, you may consider a couple changes of clothes for each day, you never know. Florida during that time of year can be hot almost all day and drop into the thirty’s later at night… Also, bring potential raingear. Since all my clothing is raingear, I didn’t forget this, but you big city folk may come without some. Everyday about 3 O’clock it rains a bit. And a hat will come in handy to keep out the constant sunrays.

Second, be sure to bring your tickets for any and all attractions you’ll be attending. If you don’t have any, consider taking care of them in advance as there sure is a lot of other stuff going on. I wouldn’t want you to miss out on a Dole Whip while you’re in line for entrance tickets.

Next, you’re gonna run into several authors and podcasters who write Disney themed books. You’ll be able to buy many of them while you are there, but if you have them already, be sure to pack them. I for one, know my Disney World Trivia book has not been signed by Lou Mongello and my Realityland by David Koenig, the same. Also, I got some gifts for some friends. Those gifts are back on my night table and my friends no longer talk to me.

Next, you got a lot of tech gadgets that are becoming part of everyday life that may slip aside if you take an extended weekend. This includes your cameras, ipods and SellYouLer phones. Even more likely forgotten? Your SellYouLer Phone Char Jer.

You’lls gonna be spending lots of money while at Walt Disney World, so hopefeully, you’ll avoid the extra expense of buying something that you have at home collecting dust.

While a review of a book by Steve Martin may seem off-topic in a blog dedicated to Disney, a quick glance at his past deems it appropriate.

Full disclosure, I have always been a great fan of Steve Martin. Not so much his vast film work, but rather his comic sensibilities apparent in his early stand-up days and his more recent forays into literature and theatre. A very private man, this auto-biography puts a spotlight on Martin’s stand-up comedy period. It is delicate and precise and when it is over, his early career is significant and well documented. At the end, Martin remains an enigma, his personal life a mystery. As a fan of his stand-up work, I found the work enlightening and it filled in holes I didn’t know were there when I listened to his comedy albums.

But what may be most interesting to all of us is Martin’s recollection of Disneyland. He worked in various capacities from 14 years old through college. His detailed stories fill a large segment of the book with a great description of working at Disneyland. His experiences have him selling guide maps in the mornings, spending his days traversing the park, occasionally going on a ride if he was lucky enough to find an “A” ticket on the ground. The Diamond Horseshoe, on the other hand, was always free so he spent most of his time there, learning his comedy from Wally Boag and others from the revue.

Martin hones his craft working in one of the two magic shops in Disneyland, and his recollection is one of much fondness. He easily creates a sense of nostalgia for me of a time I never experienced.

It’s a short read, and a good one, especially for fans of Martin’s early work. The story tapers off by the time he finishes the movie THE JERK. Maybe there will be a second part of his funny, poignant memoir in the near future.

At this writing, the book is available in hardcover, or for a few dollars more, you can get an audiobook version read by Steve Martin himself.

As most Passamaquoddians know, April through December are always used to honor Kevin Corcoran (and sometimes the other months too).  To keep the theme of these “Moochie Months” alive, we’re bringing you a review of one of the features where our little moffet carries the picture.

Of course we’re talking about “Toby Tyler or 10 week with a circus”. The story follows a young man who, in a very Dorothy Gale fashion, runs away to join the circus as to no longer be a nuisance to his Aunt and Uncle.  Don’t worry that Toby doesn’t have a Toto-like animal for company as he’ll make plenty of animal and human friends on his journey.  He joins the circus when an opportunistic peanut salesman realizes Toby can help him expand his own financial health easily.  But gradually, Toby makes other friends in the circus and eventually, becomes a featured performer in a trick horse riding act.  Through his journey he learns to love a trouble making chimpanzee but more importantly he learns… wait for it… there’s no place like home!

Toby Tyler is not the most popular film in the Disney canon, although it has all the trademarks of other Disney films like “Thomasina” and “Pollyanna”:  a youngster has a great effect on the newly joined community.  Corcoran himself is very young in this film, so the story comes across much simpler and less ambitious than those.  His performance is typical Moochie though; his interaction with animals trumps his line readings every time.  And this film ends with an extended scene with Toby Tyler doing rather difficult horse tricks that seem to have been done without a stunt person or stand-in.

There is one catchy song, Biddle-Dee-Dee that appears throughout the film.  But beyond that, the film is not a musical.

One big note of interest is that the film features 2 personalities from the Zorro television show which was off the air because of legal woes between Disney and ABC.  Henry Calvin and Gene Sheldon both receive plum roles and make the film even more enjoyable.

So, once again, we explore the career of Passamaquoddy’s favorite son, Kevin Corcoran… and remember, In Mooch we Must!

Here in Passamaquoddy, the community theatre puts on some excellent stuff.  We work hard to keep everyone informed and nobody misses a show.  Today we’re looking at one of the shows that ran for a short time. This was, of course “Dick Tracy starring in Diamond Double Cross”.  Before arriving in town it had played at the Theater of the Stars in the Disney/MGM studios from June 1990 until Sept. 1991.  People in Passamaquoddy will remember that nobody in town could find any paint in primary colors for six months as they were all bought out by the set designers.

The show ran just over 20 minutes and included variations on a few of the songs featured in the Warren Beatty film “Dick Tracy”.  Plot wise, we meet “Big Boy Caprice” and his cohorts in crime, “Flat Top” and “Mumbles” as they plan a diamond heist.  But the heist gets confused and nobody know for sure what happened to the diamond.  Time for

“Calling Dick Tracy”.

Say that over and over again.  His sleuthing brings him into the company of the dangerous “Breathless Mahoney”.  Through song and dance, our yellow coated detective solves the crime and even proposes to his longtime girlfriend “Tess Trueheart”.  The diamond was stolen by a villainess wearing a cigarette girl costume and a brown wig to cover her bald head…  Yeah, nobody in the audience figured that one out either, especially since the cigarette girl only took to the stage for brief moments.

The show was entertaining but, like the film, didn’t cater to the youth of the day.  Face it, Dick Tracy harkened back to another time that may as well be the Jurassic period as far as kids are concerned. Kids grew restless and didn’t stick for the finale.  But the musical arrangements were pretty impressive for a “theme park” show, as were the colorful, moving set pieces.  One clever design allowed for Breathless Mahoney to run across the New York skyline, up to scale the larger buildings, down for the small.

We all remember the Diamond Double Cross fondly, even with its short run.  Like most shows put on in the theme parks, compressing it to a reasonable “attraction” length, takes away time needed to build tension and character growth beyond 1 dimension. Disney may have been trying hard to redefine their newest park as more adult fare with the show.  That didn’t last very long… neither did the show.

If you search for “On the Boards” in the right column, you’ll access other theatre reviews.