Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Lewis Carroll’s Birthday

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Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Born: January 27, 1832 Died: January 14, 1989) was an English author better known under his pen name, Lewis Carroll.  His most famous book was “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and the sequel “Through the Looking Glass”.

In 1856, Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) became friends the Liddell family.  This friendship became an important part of his life and he enjoyed taking the children (Harry, Lorina, Edith and Alice) on trips into the English countryside and he would tell stories to entertain the children.   It was on one of these trips in 1862, that Dodgson came up with a story about a little girl who falls down a rabbit hole into a wonderful fantasy world.  Later, little Alice Liddell begged Dodgson to write the story and so he presented her with a handwritten, illustrated book called “Alice Adventures Under Ground” in 1864.

Dodgson eventually took the book to Macmillan Publishers, who promptly rejected the original name of the book.  Under the pen name of Lewis Carroll, the book was finally published in 1865 as “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and the sequel, “Through the Looking Glass” was published in 1871.  It is believed that Dodgson used Alice Liddell as the inspiration for the books, even though Dodgson denied that he based the character on a real person there are in fact many references to her hidden in the pages of both books.  With the commercial success of the first Alice book Dodgson’s fame overwhelming grew as Lewis Carroll.  Queen Victoria enjoyed the first book so much that she wanted him to dedicate the next book he wrote to her, this never happened.  The Alice sequel sets a darker mood then the previous book and these changes reflect Dodgson’s life and the deep depression that he felt at the death of his father.

Dating back to 1923, the Walt Disney Company has had a long association with Carroll’s Alice books.  When the 21 year old Walt was working in Kansas City for the Laugh-O-Grams he produced a short film combining live action and animation called “Alice’s Wonderland”.  Eventually Walt moved to Hollywood and partnered with his brother to create the Disney Brothers Studio.  From 1924 to 1926 their new studio began producing a series of “Alice” short films.

These short films proved to be very successful and established Walt as a major film producer and the newly named Walt Disney Company began making feature length animation films.  In 1951, Disney released a new fully animated version of “Alice in Wonderland” that was based on both of Lewis Carroll’s Alice books. Focusing on the whimsy and fantasy of the story, the film cleverly sets Carroll’s prose into wonderful songs and is artistically designed with Mary Blair’s wonderful and very colorful backgrounds.  Originally the film was a financial disappointment and received criticism from the British fans of Lewis Carroll but Walt’s version was intended for a large family audience and not literary critics.  Several years later, in 1974, “Alice” became Disney’s first re-released animation film into movie theatres and it proved to be very successful the second time around.  With the introduction of the home video market, in 1981 Disney once again chose “Alice” as their first animated film release.  (This wonderful Disney animated film is probably the version of the Lewis Carroll story that we remember from our childhood!)

In 2010, the Walt Disney Studio released another version of “Alice in Wonderland”.  Directed by Tim Burton, this computer-animated and live action film stars Johnny Depp as the infamous Mad Hatter.  Using Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” poem as the main focus and inspiration, Burton hoped to create a cohesive story instead of a series of disjointed events of Alice wandering from one strange fantasy character to another.  The live action exterior Victorian scenes were filmed in England and the “green screen” special effects scenes, which are 90% of the film, were filmed at the Culver Studio in California.  This new Disney version proved to be very successful becoming the twelfth highest-grossing film of all time as of 2012.

A. A. Milne’s Birthday

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Alan Alexander Milne (Born: January 18, 1882 Died: January 31, 1956) is the English author who wrote the books featuring the famous characters Winnie-the- Pooh and Christopher Robin. He wrote “When We Were Very Young” in 1924, “Winnie-the-Pooh” in 1926, “Now We Are Six” in 1927 and “House at Pooh Corner” in 1928.   I purchased these classic children books for my son, Christopher, when he was a child for the obvious reason that he shared the name of character in the book. When my daughter was born her Great Aunt also bought her the books. I have always loved the stories and they make an excellent gift for a baby shower. It is never too early to build a child’s own library of books!

The character of Christopher Robin was named after the author’s son, Christopher Robin Milne, who had received a stuffed bear as a first birthday gift.  This stuffed bear purchased in Harrod’s Store in London inspired one of the book’s main characters and was originally given the formal name “Edward”.  Later the real Christopher changed the bear’s name to Winnie for a bear in the London Zoo.  The story goes that there was a real bear cub that was bought from a hunter by a Canadian lieutenant.  He named the bear “Winnie” after his hometown of Winnepeg, Manitoba.  The bear eventually became the regiment’s mascot and was brought to England during World War I.  When the regiment went to fight in France during the war the bear was officially given to the London Zoo and quickly became the zoo’s most loved attraction.

The real Christopher Robin had a collection of stuffed animals and these inspired the characters in the storybooks, such as: Tigger, Eeyore, Kanga and Roo.  The other characters named Owl and Rabbit were added later in the Disney animated movies.  These original stuffed animals of Christopher Milne are now on display at the New York City Public Library.

Ashdown Forest in Sussex, England was the inspiration of many of the locations in the Milne’s book.  The footbridge where “Poohsticks” was played by Christopher Milne actually exists and is a tourist attraction where people play the game with sticks gathered from the nearby forest.  E.H. Shepard’s wonderful illustrations were drawn from this real place and his sketches of the beautiful forest scenes are in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

In 1966, Walt Disney Studios released the first of a series of Winnie-the-Pooh animated featurettes, “Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree”, followed by “Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day” in 1968 and “Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, Too!” in 1974.  These three featurettes were combined into one movie in1977 appropriately called “The Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh”.  Disney continued to produce more animated movies and television shows featuring the characters of Winnie-the-Pooh but one of our favorites is the 2005 movie, “Pooh’s Heffalump Movie”.

      

There has been quite a bit of controversy considering the legal rights to Milne’s Winnie the Pooh.  Milne was very liberal in granting his rights to the book’s characters to more than one entity.  In the United States, Dutton Publishers acquired the exclusive rights to the books.  Stephen Slesinger also acquired exclusive rights and beginning in 1930 he created the distinctive colorful images of Pooh wearing a red shirt.  In 1961 the Milne estate, now known as the Pooh Properties Trust, licensed exclusive film rights to Disney.  Over the course of the following years Slesinger filed suit and a court battle began.  Eventually the district court found in favor of Slesinger as did the U.S. Court of Appeals.  In 2006 the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case and sustained the Appeals Court ruling.

In 1991, Kenny Loggins released a wonderful album of children’s songs called, “Return to Pooh Corner” featuring a lovely song by the same name.  I bought this album when my daughter was born and played it for her almost every night at bedtime and she would go to sleep listening to the CD.  She loved the songs and still remembers them!

SPECIAL NOTE:  If you are looking for a special baby shower gift this album by Kenny Loggins would make a sweet present.  I would suggest combining the “Return to Pooh Corner” CD with the DVD of “The Many Adventures of Winnie- the- Pooh” and a beautiful four book set of the A.A. Milne books.  Put all the gifts into a basket along with a stuffed Winnie-the-Pooh bear – what an amazing gift that would be!!

Danny Kaye’s Birthday

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Danny Kaye (Born: January 13, 1913 Died: March 3, 1987) was born David Daniel Kaminsky.  He was a great actor, singer, dancer and comedian.  In his professional career he was known for his physical comedy and silly songs.  He made 23 Hollywood movies from 1935 to 1969.  He had his own radio program from 1945 to 1946 and television variety show from 1963 to 1969.  Danny Kaye was a talented performer and has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in radio, film and music.

Danny Kaye was also known for his charity work for the United Nations and in 1954 he became the first ambassador of UNICEF.  As an example of his varied interests, from 1977 to 1981 he was part owner of the Seattle Mariners baseball team.   He continued to work in television with several guest starring roles and hosted TV specials in 1980 for Disneyland’s 25th Anniversary and in 1982 for the opening celebration of EPCOT.  In 1983 he was knighted by the Queen of Denmark for his portrayal of Hans Christian Andersen in the 1952 film.  In 1984 he was the Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade and also received the Kennedy Center Honor for his work in radio and film.

In February of 1983 Danny Kaye had a quadruple bypass heart surgery and died in March 1987 from a heart attack.  He is buried at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.  At his gravesite is a special bench carved with symbols to show his varied interests, such as a piano and musical notes, an airplane, a flower pot and a baseball, bat and glove inscribed with his name and dates of his birth and death.  It is a fitting tribute to his multi-talented man.

As a child of the 1960s, I grew up watching Danny Kaye movies and when my children got older we watched them together.  My three favorite movies are “Hans Christian Andersen” (1952), “The Court Jester” (1956) and “White Christmas” (1954).  The first two are wonderful movies to watch with the family and “White Christmas” is a holiday classic that we watch every holiday season.

      

I highly recommend these three movies as a wonderful example of Danny Kaye’s acting and musical talents.  As I mentioned before, these movies are great entertainment and would be great to watch with the family especially little children.

Charles Addams’ Birthday (Addams Family)

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One of my favorite shows growing up in the 1960s was the quirky show, “The Addams Family”.  I loved all the strange characters, such as Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester, Lurch, Wednesday and Pugsley but my favorite characters were Thing and Cousin It. Doesn’t everyone remembers that finger snapping theme song!  We now own the complete series on DVD and my daughter enjoys watching the shows.

Charles Addams (Born: January 7, 1912 Died: September 29, 1988) was a freelance artist who created the humorous, dark cartoons called the Addams Family that began appearing in the New Yorker magazine in 1938.  The eccentric, wealthy Addams family delighted in the macabre and they were considered a satirical version of a normal American family.    The members of the Addams family were completely unaware that their behavior, attitude and even their home were both bizarre and frightening to other people. The Addams family has been adapted over the years into a television series, animated cartoon, films and even a Broadway musical.

The Addams Family television show

The television show, “The Addams Family”, is based on the characters from Charles Addams’ New Yorker cartoons.  The original 64 episodes aired for two seasons on ABC from September 1964 to April 1966.  The show was 30 minutes in length and was filmed in black and white.  The Addams home was a gloomy mansion on 0001 Cemetery Lane next to a cemetery and a swamp.

The cast of “The Addams Family” –

Gomez (played by John Astin) is a very wealthy man who never seems to go to work and spends a lot of time with his family.  He is passionately in love with his wife; in fact his passion greatly increases when she speaks French to him.  His hobby in model trains and he enjoys seeing them collide with each other or dynamiting them and watching them explode.

Morticia (played by Carolyn Jones) is often the calm center of the chaotic household.  She is beautiful and loves the arts, raises flesh-eating plants and spends time trimming her roses by cutting off the rose buds and arranging the thorny stems in a vase.

Uncle Fester (played by Jackie Coogan) is Morticia’s uncle.  He frequently places a lightbulb in his mouth and lights it up.

Lurch (played by Ted Cassidy) is the butler.  He is summoned by a hangman’s noose bell pull and when he arrives he always says, “You rang?”

Wednesday (played by Lisa Loring) is the daughter.  She is the youngest member of the family and is a strange but sweet little girl.  She raises spiders and her favorite pet is a black widow spider named Homer.  She also likes to play with her beheaded doll, Marie Antoinette.

Pugsley (played by Ken Weatherwax) is the son and older brother.  He enjoys engineering and playing with his blasting caps.  He has a pet octopus named Aristotle.

Grandma Addams (played by Bloosom Rock) is the mother of Gomez.  She is a witch and likes to tell fortunes.

Thing is a detached hand that appears out of boxes and can go instantly to any box or other container in the house.  Obviously he doesn’t speak but he communicates with his hand.

Cousin It (played by Felix Silla) is Gomez’s cousin who is rather short and covered completely from head to toes by long hair.  He speaks very fast gibberish that the family seems to have no difficulty understanding.

TRIVIA – TELEVISION SERIES

  1. The Addams Family and its rival series, the Munsters, both debuted in September 1964 and both were canceled the following year.
  2. Gomez was originally engaged to Morticia’s older sister, Ophelia, in an arranged marriage.  A few days before the wedding, Gomez meets Morticia and they fall in love and get married instead.  Carolyn Jones played both characters and to differentiate one from the other, Ophelia was blonde with daisies in her hair.
  3. The interior of the Addams Family house was inspired by the real Manhattan apartment of Charles Addams.  Just like the television show, the décor included suits of armor and other oddities.
  4. Ted Cassidy (Lurch) usually was the hand of Thing, unless they were in the same scene together then someone else played the part.  Thing was mostly a right hand and sometimes had an arm when it reached outside the box for something.
  5. Wednesday Addams name is a reference to the nursery rhyme, “Wednesday’s child is full of woe”.

Mark Twain’s Birthday

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Samuel Clemens (Born: November 30, 1835 Died: April 21, 1910) was an American author better known under his pen name of Mark Twain.  He is best known for his novels “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and the sequel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”.  The first was written in 1876 and the other in 1885.

Clemens life is forever link to the Mississippi River and he grew up in Hannibal, Missouri and later used it as the setting for his books about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.  He held several different jobs, such as a typesetter, a printer, a writer for his brother’s newspaper, a riverboat pilot and even tried gold mining in California.  While he was working on the newspaper he wrote a humorous story called “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”.  This story became one of Twain’s first important works and was published in 1865.  Later books included Twain’s first historical fiction “The Prince and the Pauper” published in 1882 and later “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” in 1889.

In his life Mark Twain achieved great success as a writer and public speaker. He became friends with presidents and European royalty and was known for his wit and satire.   A year before his death he is quoted as saying, “I came in with Halley’s Comet in 1835.  It is coming again next year and I expect to go out with it”.  This prediction came true and Twain died of a heart attack in 1910.

GIFT SUGGESTION:  If you are looking for gift idea for a teenage boy, I would suggest any of Mark Twain’s books – Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Prince and the Pauper or Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.  These four books would make a wonderful birthday or Christmas present.  Look for special, beautifully illustrated editions and they may cost a little more but would be a great way to start a young man’s book collection.  Be sure to write a lovely inscription on the title page and these books will become treasured literary heirlooms.

    

In honor of Mark Twain’s birthday, I would like to recommend a wonderful movie called “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court”.

“A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” Movie Synopsis

The movie begins in 1912 in England where Hank Martin (Bing Crosby), a mechanic from Connecticut, is taking a tour of the Pendragon castle.  He seems very knowledgeable about the castle and the former residents.  Eventually he winds up talking to Lord Pendragon (Cedric Hardwicke) about an accident where he loses consciousness and awakens in medieval England at the time of King Arthur.  He is befriended by Sir Sagramore (William Bendix) and challenges the great Merlin’s magical powers by using modern technology and information gained from a Farmer’s Almanac that was in his pocket at the time he was transported back in time.   Hank falls in love at first sight with the beautiful Lady Alisande (Rhonda Fleming), but it seems she is betrothed to Sir Lancelot.  When Sir Lancelot returns to Camelot to find that Lady Alisande has fallen in love with Hank, he challenges him to a joust.

Later, a young peasant girl comes to Hank to ask for help with her sick father and he goes to their house only to find that the father has died from the plaque.  He is appalled by the living conditions and treatment of the lower class in medieval England.  He gets King Arthur and Sagramore involved and they set off on a tour of the country disguised as peasants so the King can see what is really happening in his kingdom.  While the trio is gone, Merlin plans to steal the throne from King Arthur and Lady Alisande goes to warn them but they are captured and sentenced to death.  Suddenly, Hank is sent forward in time and finds he is back 1912 England.  Lord Pendragon tells him out to the castle balcony where he finds a woman who looks exactly like Lady Alisande.

I would definitely recommend this movie if you are looking for something to do on a Sunday afternoon or need a great family movie to watch.   Gather the family around in front of the TV, make some popcorn and enjoy a fun and entertaining movie!!