Theme Thursday Castle

I have decided to channel my inner Cinderella, Briar Rose and Snow White to reflect on the theme, castle.

As do most young girls, I lived in a fantasy world of my own creation.  Those were the days before home movie rentals, computers, cell phones, etc. and my world derived from the books I read and the movies I went to see.  As such, I was influenced mightily by Disney films, identifying primarily with the put-upon princesses hidden away from the public for reasons that vary according to each story.

My favorite princess will always be Briar Rose, of "Sleeping Beauty" fame.  I loved her beuatiful long hair, her animal friends, her cozy thatched cottage in the woods, her fairy godmothers and her Handsome Prince.  I had a little cooking stove in my room.  It was electric with a heated oven.  I would dress in an apron, take a wicker basket and go out to the front yard where Mother's fifty red rose bushes lined our circular drive to collect rose petals, pretending they were berries.  I'd bring them in the house, dry them in the oven and serve them to my dolls...I mean, godmothers.  I did this over and over, all the while playing the movie soundtrack on my tiny 33 1/3 LP portable, powder blue record player.  I had a "Sleeping Beauty" board with stick on characters I'd move from one room of the castle to another.  The board itself was a beautiful reproduction lifted from the castle interiors by the Disney artists.  It was fantasy itself because you used the little stick on pieces to create your own story.  I loved communing with the animals in the forest.  I was often in the forest (of my mind as I lived in the suburbs) talking to the birds, squirrels, racoons and so forth.  I could do this with our chickens and our dog.  We had five hens and a rooster and one doggie.  It was sweet!

As for the castle, again, all in my mind.  My greatest concern was the chamber where I'd lie until "love's first kiss" rescued me from a deathless sleep.  It was all about draping...the chamber draping, that is.  Sleeping Beauty and Snow White lay still on a raised bed, the folds of their gowns trailing over the sides and down the bedside, beautifully draped.  When the prince would kiss them, their eyes would flutter and they'd awaken to the most handsome man ever, the love of their life, and off they'd go to live "happily ever after" in a castle.

That was my fantasy too!  I'd better remind my husband.  He still has time to make this up to me.  LOL!!!

Happy TT.

The Wind in the Willows or How Disney Wanted Toad to Skateboard

My husband sent the followingexcerpt to me this morning. It's from the web site Rotten Tomatoes. The article is about Guillermo del Toro, the director of "Pan's Labyrinth" who was, apparently, offered the director's job for a Disney remake of "The Wind in the Willows".

But one of the projects del Toro spent time on in 2003 was a Disney adaptation of Wind in the Willows that was to mix live action with CG animation, and the director explained why he had to leave the helm. "It was a beautiful book, and then I went to meet with the executives and they said, 'Could you give Toad a skateboard and make him say, 'radical dude' things,' and that's when I said, 'It's been a pleasure...'"
I dunno. I can't see it either. Toad on a damn skateboard? Why don't they just fly him to the moon? Oh, no, that's "Toy Story".

They might as well take Winnie the Pooh and make him a glue sniffer. The hell with honey!


Original illustrations for "The Wind in the Willows" and "Winnie the Pooh" by e.h. shepherd.