Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2011 April 18

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April 18

Magic teddies

I had a piece of cellophane stick to my hand the other day, and had problems throwing it away because it kept moving to different parts of my skin. As a result of this someone was telling me about something called magic teddies, apparently teddy bears made of cellophane which a person could buy and which would stick to their hand and move around. I'm guessing they were a novelty item or something like that. Does anyone remember these and can you tell me more about them? 86.135.224.82 (talk) 12:32, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

Yes I remember a "magic fish" like this: the idea was you put it on the palm of your hand, and it would curl up and roll over. According to the packet it came in, the way it did this denoted particular character traits. Most people, I recall, came out as "fickle". A load of rubbish of course. Is this the sort of thing? --TammyMoet (talk) 16:09, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

See [1] for the fish. Nanonic (talk) 16:33, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

Nifty toy. I predict that the students who correctly determine the cause of its behavior will have good promise for a career in the sciences. :) (Likewise for the mexican jumping bean.) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:00, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

I got one in a Christmas cracker recently (a fish, not a bear). I was probably fickle too. Alansplodge (talk) 22:02, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks to everyone who's replied. It sounds like a similar thing to what was described to me, but I'm not sure if they were used to predict a person's future. I think the trick with the magic teddy was that it would cling to your hand and you could move it from finger to finger, or hand to hand, etc. 81.151.54.202 (talk) 17:53, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Evil Doers with cat on the lap

Greetings! Is Blofeld the first (male) Evil-Doer with a cat on a lap? Is this an original "invention" by Fleming or is it based on an older story? Any story behind the story? (as dictators prefer dogs - they obey! - is this dictator-cat-thing an "over-construction" - as many situations in James Bond? Curious to know... Grey Geezer 213.169.161.199 (talk) 14:34, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

Although it doesn't mention the origin, TVTropes has an interesting article about this at RightHandCat. I don't think this was an purely an invention of Fleming's however - The Corpse in the Waxworks by John Dickson Carr features a villain with a white cat, and it was published first in 1932. ^Avic_ennasis @ 15:09, 14 Nisan 5771 / 18 April 2011 (UTC)

According to this site Blofeld had no cat in Fleming's novels. Seems he wasn't bald either. I don't know, if you can't trust Bond films to tell you the truth what can you trust? --Antiquary (talk) 17:52, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

You mean I can't construct a gun from a cigarette lighter, a cigarette case, a cuff link, and a pen? Lies!

Indeed, several sites state the cat was a movie-only pet. :) Good find! ^Avic_ennasis @ 18:58, 14 Nisan 5771 / 18 April 2011 (UTC)

Great answers! Thanks a lot! We also found the (cheek-padded) Godfather who had a lap cat. But Armand-Jean du Plessis, duc de Richelieu beats all (in your article the words Catholicism, Cathedral and Catechism are mentioned but not his love for Cats.. Grey Geezer 213.169.161.199 (talk) 06:20, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

In 1947, Roy Crane introduced in his Buz Sawyer comic strip a criminal spy named Harry Sparrow who was drawn with a "pearl-gray Persian cat" on his lap. Pepso2 (talk) 22:34, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

Was "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" used in a Peanuts special?

I haven't succeeded in finding a source, so everything I'm saying here is original research and can't be added to the article, but here's what I know.

A few months ago, I heard what has to be Vince Guaraldi's version of "Cast Your Fate to the Wind". I noticed something then that I didn't hear today when Jeff Rollins said the Sounds Orchestral version had been played.

At the earlier time, I recognized the music that Snoopy was dancing to in one of the Peanuts specials. Specifically, Snoopy is dancing wildly as Schroeder plays the song, and the other kids stop dancing, and Schroeder stopes playing the piano. Eventually, Snoopy stops dancing and realizes everyone is staring at him, and he slinks off, embarrassed. This music is not in the Sounds Orchestral version and has Guaraldi's distinctive style.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 18:31, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

I've only seen a few of the early Peanuts specials. This one,[2] at about the 4:35 mark is from A Charlie Brown Christmas, which somewhat fits your description, seems like part of the riff from "Linus and Lucy". But you might be describing a later film that maybe elaborated on this idea? In the video I cited, this is the rare version in which the entire show was performed on the ceiling. Somewhere, Fred Astaire is snickering. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:55, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

I have slow Internet at home, so I can't watch a video, but I'll look at it tomorrow. I knew people would say it was "Linus and Lucy", but I'm pretty sure the music I heard isn't there.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 19:19, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

In ACBC, the entire group dances to Schroeder's fast-playing of "Linus and Lucy", two or three times. Later, when Schroeder is playing and Lucy is trying in her clumsy way to get friendly with him, Schroeder starts playing a slower number and Snoopy dances to it. Schroeder stops, leaving Snoopy dancing in silence for a few seconds. Then he stops, gets red-faced, and slinks away, as close to the floor as a snake would be. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:23, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

Someone with a better musical ear than mine could go to about 1:55 mark of this "Linus and Lucy" youtube audio,[3] and compare them. I think Schroeder plays the last part of that little segment, stopping just before he would resume the main tune of "Linus and Lucy". But as I said, there could be later specials where this same idea was re-used and elaborated upon. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:31, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

I didn't have any sound where I am today, but I'll try another computer tomorrow. I guess there weren't any other kids, and it appears Snoopy was doing exactly what I said.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 14:50, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

No, that wasn't the music.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 13:17, 20 April 2011 (UTC)