SCARY Links of CREEPY Interest

Welcome to what is effectively the Year Without a Halloween.  Stupid pandemic.  I'm determined to keep the spooky season alive even if I can't pass out candy or keep a running tally of what costumes I see most often, always a fun pop-culture barometer.  Here are some mostly Halloweeny (or not) links for you.

*  Boundless Realms - I don't think I've met a single foolish mortal, Disney Park geek or otherwise, who doesn't adore the Haunted Mansion.  Foxx, of the fantastic Passport to Dreams website, has just written a gorgeous book on the Mansion and it is a must-have. 

* Staying in the Disney Parks world, the always excellent Defunctland released a fantastic documentary about the original EPCOT plans.

* You're Wrong About is my new podcast obsession that goes over historical events, famous figures, and urban myths that, it turns out, we got all wrong.  It's fascinating, if not exactly light listening.  Get ready to scream in anger at various decibels at least once.

* If you need some cuteness after that, I suggest Kyra Kupetsky's creepy-cute "Chickn Nuggit" short-shorts.

* No stupid pandemic is going to stop the guys at Sludge Central from doing their annual Halloween special.

* I am so, so happy that people are starting to rediscover "Michael Jackson's Halloween", if only because it proves I didn't hallucinate all those years ago.  Have a podcast and a video essay.

*You want more Michael Jackson Halloween specials and putting "Thriller" on an infinite loop isn't enough?  Channel KRT just reminded the world of the truly insane "Ghosts" which is... a thing... that exists...

* "Into the Spiderverse" is that rare movie that gets better and better every time I watch it and the latest Film Critic Hulk documentary goes into a deep dive as to why. 

* Saturday morning and weekday morning cartoons are coming back thanks to MeTV, who will be airing blocks of classic theatrical cartoons starting in January.  Consider this your early DVR alert.

* For the first time in decades, the Peanuts holiday specials are not airing on broadcast TV, which is even more upsetting than it looks on the surface according to Emily VanDerWerff's report.

* Spectember is well in the past but I'd be remiss if I didn't share Alphynix's fantastic series of spec creatures and the history of Speculative Biology.

* "Eli Roth's History of Horror" is back for another season and I'd be very happy if we got to do this every year please and thank you.

* And if that wet your appetite for horror movie docs, I also love The Kill Count, which, while it is exactly what it sounds like, is also a surprisingly good kind of a Cliff Notes of gory horror for wimps.

* As far as horror movies of a different sort, Xiran did an excellent tweetmenary of the "Mulan" remake, effectively saving us all thirty dollars.

* The Halloween Jukebox is back!  Without a shuffle feature, sadly, but with 250 songs for your Halloween!

* Finally, Glen Keane has a new movie out and he sat down for an interview to talk about it, "Tangled", "Treasure Planet", and more.

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Art of the week!  A little Fairy Dragon.

Let's Ask Walt Disney World Tourists in 1993 About Their Favorite Attractions!

Hailing from the same year (or thenabouts) as "Journey Into Magic", this video was a trip-planning instructional film put out by Disney and Delta.



There's a lot of great footage of then-new and currently-gone attractions (that shot of Horizons got me right in the feels). There are also some pretty candid interviews with guests and cast members.  And there's a great deal of regrettable 90's fashion.

Sidenote: Again, the more I see/hear about Adventurer's Club, the more deeply sad I am that I never got to experience it myself. Tell me it wasn't as fun as it looks. Look into my little face and lie.

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Sketch of the Day

For a Given Definition of "Special"... - "A Special Sesame Street Christmas"

From all I've heard about it, I was expecting "A Special Sesame Street Christmas" to be the "Star Wars Holiday Special" of the Muppets. It isn't quite that bonkers (honestly, it's too boring), but it's close. Real close. It's weird in the very specific ways that 70's variety holiday specials are.

Also, it was apparently not *quite* authorized by the creators of "Sesame Street", who made the classic "Christmas Eve on Sesame Street" the very same year. There are few better demonstrable arguments why we need PBS then this.

Anyway, it's Christmas on Sesame Street and Oscar's trying to ruin it for everyone by being a jerk. Random people try to get him to stop, Michael Jackson shows up for about a minute (this is maybe the only reason people know this show even exists), and it's always nice to have people singing "Just One Person" to a Muppet (but this wasn't for the first time). Gets me every time, it does.

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Sketch of the Day!

More doggies!

Captain Eeyore and The Weirdest Disney Thing

"Captain Eeyore"... might just be one of the greatest things I have ever seen.
Never intended for the eyes of people who are not Disney Cast Member Cyborgs, this little slice of happy was created to be the highlight of a cast party. It's since become a cult favorite that has recently gained some new fans thanks to the wonderful Walt Dated World website posting it on Facebook as a tribute to Michael Jackson. It may be the best tribute I've seen so far:


It's a little bit funnier if you know the back-story (here care of Jim Hill Media), particularly the horror stories centered around that walking design flaw better known as the original Pooh costume. (Anyone in the suit was completely unable to use their arms as, unlike in the film, you are not allowed to break character for anything. Think about that for a minute.)
If you're the impatient type, skip to Part Three, which parodies most of the "Captain EO" scenes you actually remember and has Eeyore dancing.

Now, a while back, I was finding and posting several other weird Disney film and television clips from my past that I'd found online. I was hoping to eventually build to the weirdest Disney cartoon I remember seeing but it slipped my mind. Well, now is the time. Now is the best time! Now is the best time of your...
...Uh, anyway.
The weirdest Disney thing (of which I am currently aware at least) is a cartoon called "Plutopia":



Actually, I will make one comment about this cartoon, and it is specifically directed at all the "Oh noes, think of the children" types out there. I saw this cartoon a lot as a little kid. And even back then it freaked me out a little, but I was unable to put into words exactly why. (Until I watched it again in college and realized that Pluto is fantasizing about being overfed by a sadomasochistic cat.) So dark and/or adult things in cartoons will not scar a child for life or anything because it will probably go right over their head. Usually.
Also, the "bone well" is creepy if you think about it.

Moonwalking with tears in my eyes...

(Photo originally uploaded by Paulscheer)

He's gone...

He's really gone...

I didn't believe it at first. Seems I'm not alone there. It's just... there are no words.

You can really only compare this to Elvis' passing. But if you were a little kid in 1983-84, this is really more like learning Santa Claus just died. It's that messed up.

Here's hoping Heaven is either just like Disneyland or E.T.'s home planet.

Further Sketchbook and Michael Jackson auction thoughts

Let's go on another journey through the world of Sketchbooks. Which, as you may recall, are Personal Things. (See also "On Moleskines" and "New Sketchbook".)

Any time I'm in the kind of store that sells Sketchbooks, I have a hard time walking out without one.  I like to stock up on them.  Recently, I was in the Massachusetts College of Art's bookstore and, while they did not have as many Sketchbooks as I'd expect, they had an interesting variety.

In particular, they had loads and loads of Lowfat Moleskine Substitutes. The one on the right was the largest of these available (the rest were tiny) and I was apprehensive about not getting a watercolor version - Sketchbooks designed for pen tend to have absurdly smooth paper. So I wasn't up to seeing what this brand was like. They're resting atop a Sketchbook about as long as my forearm with handles, which I can't help but think is a better idea in theory.
MassArt also had quite a few hilariously impractical Sketchbooks.

I'd seen the Strathmore Circlevision 360 Sketchbook before. It's still hilarious. I can't see anyone honestly bringing that anywhere and drawing in it.
The tiny, tiny linen books are equally impractical. And expensive to boot.

And then there's this $100.00 beauty. The sucker is heavy. I guess if you never wanted to bring your Sketchbook anywhere, maybe it'd be the ideal Sketchbook for you. I'm failing to see the point myself.
So what Sketchbook filled my needs most recently? Well, I bought a larger version of the awesome Nature Sketch at MassArt. My current Sketchbook, however, the one that earns the italics, is one I had picked up at Dick Blick last year on sale.

An Aquabee Tree-Free Hempdraw. For under ten dollars I couldn't leave her. She was all set to go, I just needed to personalize her a bit.

So here's my baby. Inside, she's got my name and address label just in case (I have only mislaid a Sketchbook once ever. It was over a friends house thankfully, but it was traumatic enough.) Not every Sketchbook is so gaudy but, well, it's almost spring! And after all, she's a Hemp Draw.
(By the way, chill out. It isn't that kind of hemp..... right?)

Meanwhile, the complete catalogs for the Neverland Yard Sale are up now. My thoughts:

* Who is David Nordahl and how did he get that job? The job being, apparently, drawing and painting whatever Michael Jackson demanded. All those treacly/scary paintings of Jackson leading The Children of the World across some field? Nordahl's fault.
* Had I the finances to spare, I would absolutely put one minimal bid on those official Neverland doormats. I mean, why not?
* The "Earth Song" statue is pretty badass/hilarious in itself. It's too expensive, but it is based upon the climactic scene in the one song and video that most succinctly defines the latest, say, quarter of Michael's career (starting with the whole spectacular "HIStory" album debacle). It goes a little something like this. Brace yourself for the Narm/Bathos.