Dramatic Exit: A Stupid Dad Joke Short Film

I have long enjoyed sharing Dad Jokes. Heck, long before I became a father I had been a connoisseur of eye-rolling puns and stupid humor.

I'm also fascinated with adaptations of elements from one form into another.

The first example of this is a cartoon from Leigh Rubin.

My cousin sent it to me. It's a funny cartoon, but the guy in it also looks a little bit like me. (Same head and hair facial style, at least - I'm not quite so thin).

I thought it might be funny to translate the cartoon into a short video.

And came up with a new series that I'm calling A Stupid Dad Joke Short Film.

Yes, that's 35 seconds of your life that you'll never get back.

Enjoy.

Cool Inkygirl Cartoons For Writers

I found Inkygirl cartoons for writers through a friend's status update on Facebook.

Thought they were hilarious.

The first one that caught my eye was the following, called "The Deadline" and features a snowman attempting to finish his novel before spring arrives.

Photo Copyright 2006 Debbie Ridpath Ohi (Inkygirl.com)

If anyone has read my short fiction, you'll know I have a special affinity for snowmen stories - particularly looking at the various challenges of a snowman, such as the inevitable coming of spring (Ides of March) or the limitations of being a pile of snow with useless sticks for arms (That Old Silk Hat They Found - Audio).

Photo Copyright 2006 Debbie Ridpath Ohi (Inkygirl.com)

Of course, Inkygirl has many many other great cartoons, a lot of them featuring writing or writers.

But be warned - once you start browsing the cartoons, you'll be swept away and want to see "just one more."

Of Mice And Bunnies

Each year, I try to go back and read a classic novel that I've missed.

Given that there are thousands of classics I haven't yet read, and each year I perhaps read no more than a couple of them, there's no shortage of great books to choose from.

Just recently, I read John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men. 

The only other Steinbeck novel I'd read was The Grapes of Wrath which I read back in first year university and absolutely loved. So I was eager (yes, I know, it was after more than 20 years - but I occasionally display a bit of patience) to pick up another Steinbeck novel.

Set in the same Great Depression era as The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men tells the story of two migrant workers named George Milton and Lenny Small.  George is a smart and cynical man with a "plan" for the two of them.  His companion, Lennie, is a large, hulking and incredibly strong man with a mental disability. The two travel together to work on various ranches all the while dreaming of owning their own place. Though he seems to be cynical and scheming in his ways, George looks out for and cares Lennie as if he were a younger brother.

Regularly, throughout the novel, Lennie asks George to again, tell him like it will be one day. As George decribes the dream of their ownership of land, Lennie always fixates on the bunnies, on feeding them and caring for them and petting them and says things like: "Tell me again about the rabbits, George."

I was just near the beginning of the novel when I began to realize the old Bugs Bunny cartoon featuring Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck encountering an abominable snowman was making a reference to this novel. The creature, who picks up both Bugs and Daffy at different times says things like:  "Just what I always wanted. A bunny rabbit of my very own. I will love him, and pet him and hug him and squeeze him and call him George."

As soon as I thought about the snowman's fixation on calling the rabbit George, I figured it must be a reference to Of Mice and Men.

I should have known. Looney Tunes cartoons were continually referencing popular cultural, historical and  literary references. Writer Tedd Pierce and director Chuck Jones were obviously having some fun with the Steinbeck allusion.

Of course, I say obvious now, because for decades I thought the Abominable Snowman scene was hilarious, how the giant lovable monster practically crushed Bugs and Daffy to death out of an over-eager love to cuddle with them. But it wasn't until I read Steinbeck's novel that I realized and could fully appreciate the allusion that was being made in the cartoon.  And reminded myself how these classic cartoons could be enjoyed on so many different levels.

I find it interesting to reaffirm how reading a classic helps you re-appreciate other works that made subtle or not-so-subtle references to them.

Goofy Isn't All That Goofy After All

My son is into Micky Mouse Clubhouse big time lately.

Which basically means that I've been seeing a lot of Mickey and his friends.

It's a fun place to be, particularly in remembering my own fascination with the Disney Universe.

But, of course, as an adult, I tend to look at things a bit differently than I did when I was a child.

For example, I keep wondering how Mickey Mouse walks around wearing nothing but pants gloves and shoes (he seems to have forgotten his shirt), and then other characters like Donald Duck walk around with a shirt on but no pants.

Why aren't all the other characters making fun of them? Aren't they embarassed by it? Yes, I know, these are adult concerns forced upon us by Western society. Now aside from all this, wouldn't it suggest that these characters have some sort of thing going on by which they're so distracted or confused that they've forgotten to get fully clothed? I mean, in all other respects they seem to be completely "with it" -- but then there's the missing clothing option -- like they are absent-minded professors or something.

Everyone else adores them so much they just seem to let it pass. "Oh yes, Mickey's a great guy -- he forgets to put on a shirt, but he's cute and charismatic and is our esteemed leader, so we just ignore that. Oh, and Donald? Yes, he walks around without any pants on, his bare butt feathers blowing in the wind, but we feel sorry for his speech impediment and temper issues so feel it wouldn't be right to point this out."

Of course, there's one character who seems to have managed to get himself fully clothed, despite the stars being aligned against him. He's wearing not just pants and a shirt, but shoes, a vest, gloves and a hat. He's fully clothed, fully prepared.

It's Goofy.



So when you look at it, though he is clumsy and has a silly laugh, and is considered among his peers to be the least intelligent of the group, I guess that Goofy is not all that goofy after all.

HNT - The Boys Of Chorus

Usually, whenever our family is getting ready to do something, poor Francine has to contend with the antics of a couple of four year old in the house. Namely, Alexander, who is 4, and me. Yes, although I'm almost ten times my son's age physically, I have to be honest and admit that I'm just as amused by the same things my four year old finds fun.

For example, the other day when we were all getting ready to head out, while Francine was in the bathroom getting ready, Alexander and I paraded down the hallway in our underwear singing the "We're the Boys of Chorus" song from that old Bugs Bunny cartoon "What's Up, Doc?"

You remember it, don't you?

Bugs is talking about his first big gig on Broadway, and then they flash to him and three other guys doing a warm-up chorus number at the beginning of the show, and singing:

Oh we're the boys of the chorus
We hope you like our show
We know you're rooting for us
But now we have to go . . .

Alexander loves performing this song with me and we do it every chance we get.

Poor Fran.

In any case, I thought a "boys of Chorus" pic would be appropriate for this week's HNT picture.


If you want to want the entire video (it's about seven minutes long, but I swear when I was a kid I thought it was a 20 minute epic story) you can watch it online here.