I thought I would try something new. Well, new to the blog. Not new to me.
This telling is based on something I began thinking of in 2008, or maybe even 2007. I conceived it as a television show. The main characters,
Old Cat and
Young Mouse, would be played by humans in costume.
Old Cat would be a man and
Young Mouse would be a woman. The show would begin with the two of them meeting and chatting. Their dialogue would be filled with innuendo and double entendre. Eventually, one or the other would begin to relate a story.
Old Cat's stories would be historical, from his past.
Young Mouse's stories would be more recent. At the point where the tales begin the show would revert to animation. The voices for the animation may, ormay not, be the same actors. At the story’s conclusion the show would return to a live action epilogue.
The post which follows is the opening for this story.
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Music to Make the Cats go Wild
Tara - Nick name 'ity-bit' because she's so tiny - just over 6 pounds. She's the most skittish of all my babies and even when being petted has the 'pet me, no don't pet me' look
Amelia - Nickname 'Bratelia' since she gets into every draw, cabinet that she can put her paws in.
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“She’s got tuna. I know she’s got tuna.”
“Shut up, Sethra. Stay on mission.”
“What’s the mission? I thought the mission was to get tuna.”
“No, you stupid fluffbrain—it’s to escape and become outdoor cats, walking by ourselves, on our wild lone, waving our tails.”
“Oh, yeah? And isn’t it you, my dear stripy sister Aliera, who keeps pushing the FEED button on the printer and waiting for tuna to come out?”
“That was when I was much younger. Anyway, she’s at the computer—yes, eating tuna casserole—so we can go into the bedroom and see if we can knock the window screen out.”
“You do it, Aliera. I’d rather mess with her stuff.”
“Will you GET OVER that fixation on her wristwatch?”
“I like the feel of the Velcro on my paws. Hey! That reminds me. We’ve been declawed. How are we going to survive as outdoor cats?”
“New plan coming up….”
“What’s the big deal about being outside cats? Even StalkerCat, who used to hang around and chat us up, is a house cat now and loving it. We’ve got it made—food, petting, toys, valet service for the litter box, and we get to sleep on her bed twenty hours a day. And we can stick our noses up to the window and smell anything interesting going on outside. Why ruin a perfect situation?”
“Sethra, have you no sense of adventure? No curiosity? No cattitude? We were meant to live wild and free, to stalk and slay our prey, to be mistresses of the night!”
“Look, we’re cats. We were meant to rule the world, but that doesn’t mean we have to WORK at it. You can if you want, but I don’t need to. After all, I’M beautiful!
“Did I mention she’s got tuna?”
At 8, you'd think Mikey would understand that he's a carnivore. But, no, he's rather fond of the shrubbery! At 20+ pounds, the veggie-enhanced diet is likely mitigated by a love for long naps on a warm comforter, wet cat food, begging at the table, and a nice lap to drape himself upon in the evening. And he drools when he's happy, which may or may not mean there's a Siamese ancestor lurking in the old dna.
What? Green teeth attract mice!
Who needs a wickerwork basket when you can hop on a cushion and bask?
Rufus is clearly a cat to be reckoned with.
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Firestar is a tough cat. He has to be, living in Minnesota. He takes care of his family: wife, husband and their son. This was recently proven by his daring capture of yet another mouse in the house. Foolish rodents. They never learn. When not engaged in derring do, Firestar naps, looks out the window and sleeps. Firestar was born in April of 2006.
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2 comments:
Well that's different! I rather like it as a story. I don't really know about that kind of performance art so I'll leave it to someone else to comment on that.
Yeah, I guess it is performance art, and not simply playing a part. My thinking was that camera close-ups could be used to emphasize certain punch lines.
The entire live action portion would be done "tongue-in-cheek", while the animated portion would treat the story more seriously.
The goal is to achieve a balance of humor in which adults can enjoy what's being said while children can enjoy the basic story.
The old "Rocky and Bullwinkle" show kind of pulled this off, but that was totally animated.
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