The "Then" portion of the puzzle is pretty self-explanatory. Portraits of the five most popular Disney cartoon characters based upon their earliest known or most iconic early appearances. I actually really love this puzzle because it's a lot more challenging than you'd think. All those bright colors get very confusing after a while.
Now, that big empty spot is where the "Now" comes in. Let's start with America's fun couple:
Our old friend Mickey is rocking his iconic "Costume I stole from James Spader while he was filming 'Pretty in Pink' / Bright Red Chuck Taylors" ensemble. This is what Disney thought would make Mickey look cool to us 80s kids with our Mtv and our Nintendos and our British bands and our Hula Hoops and our piercings and our Bullfrogs and our children's card games...
But hoo boy, take a look at Minnie! No matter how crazy this image gets, know that there was a considerable upshot: Minnie Mouse became a far more interesting character than she'd ever been after fifty years of being "Mickey's girlfriend". As a matter of fact, she had her own "Totally Minnie" album, her own television special, and...
And very quickly and sadly devolved back into her boring old self once this was all scrapped and Disney fired up the cutesy-poo "Minnie and Me" merchandise line. She once again donned her polka-dot dress and giggled over Mickey. Sigh...
But moving right along...
Pluto's hip and current outfit is a little more subtle than the others. For that, I suppose, we should be grateful.
But I don't know what the hell is going on with Goofy back there. Is he meant to look like a fighter pilot? A la "Top Gun"? Remember, it was around 1987 and Tom Cruise was still every 80's kid's cool uncle.
And then, there's Donald.
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No, really. I don't know what I could add to this to make it funnier.
Here's the full "Now" image (this time from the puzzle's box for a clearer view). It's funny how, while there have been some costume changes, these are essentially the "default" designs for the characters even now and they haven't changed much. You may even see images Mickey and Minnie the way they look here floating around the Internet.
And anyway, this isn't half as silly as "Mickey Unrapped".
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Garden Update!
Hoo boy, I wore myself out before Noon yesterday. I decided to start work on a project that I had worked on for hours and finished multiple times in my imagination. (As I get older, I realize that the only thing more annoying than finishing a big project in your sleep and then waking up to see that it still isn't even started is getting into an argument with a Twilight fan.)
I eventually bullied myself into digging. Five feet of rocks, roots, and other (I like this word) stressors later, I gave up. I had realized that this was silly because I was lacking the proper tools for this job and hadn't even really thought this plan out and I hit a wall. A very cold wall made out of wind. I really just wanted to extend the main line of rocks out one foot. That will give me enough room for the many, many spring bulbs I have to plant.
You will probably have some fun stories about these bulbs in your future...
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On the offhand chance I have any readers in England, apparently there's some kind of Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy 30'th anniversary convention in London this weekend. Looks like fun if you can make it, even though it looks like the real impetus for this event is the release of And Another Thing.
Now that I've brought it up: I don't even know what to think or how to feel about And Another Thing...
