Walk of Fame Animals Godzilla, Muppets, Kermit the Frog Big Bird

Hollywood Walk of Fame Animals
Godzilla, The Muppets, Big Bird & Kermit

Animals on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Featured on this page are Godzilla, Kermit the Frog, Big Bird and the Muppets as a group. They're sometimes live-action and not exclusively animated. This is the second half of a two-part series.
 
The only actual animals with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame are three dogs: Strongheart, Rin Tin Tin and Lassie. Links to other pages at the end of this article.

Godzilla Posters, Cases, Shirts
Retro/Contemporary, Customize

Godzilla
6925 Hollywood Blvd.

Godzilla Hollywood Walk of Fame: Godzilla (Gojira) is a daikai, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishiro Honda's 1954 film Godzilla.

The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games, novels, comic books, television series and an American remake. 

Where Godzilla is from: With the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki still fresh in the Japanese consciousness, Godzilla was conceived as a monster created by nuclear explosions and a metaphor for nuclear weapons in general. As the film series expanded, the stories took on less serious undertones portraying Godzilla in the role of a hero, while later movies returned to depicting the character as a destructive monster. ....

I read that the name Godzilla comes from the Japanese words for gorilla and whale. Do you know a BrideZilla, a BossZilla, Mom-in-Law-Zilla? What character started it all?

Attributes

Godzilla's appearance has changed over the years, but many of his characteristics have remained constant. His roar has remained the same, only changing in pitch. Godzilla's approximate appearance, regardless of the design of the suit utilized for the creature, remains the same general shape, which is instantly recognizable: a giant, mutant dinosaur with rough, bumpy charcoal-gray scales, a long powerful tail, and jagged, bone-colored dorsal fins.

Godzilla's iconic character design is a blended chimera inspired by various prehistoric reptiles, gleaned from children's dinosaur books and illustrations from an issue of Life magazine: Godzilla has the head and lower body of a Tyrannosaurus, a triple row of dorsal plates reminiscent of a Stegosaurus, the neck and forearms of Iguanodon and the tail and skin texture of a crocodile.

Godzilla's dorsal plates have themselves altered in size and appearance over the years. A Tokyo mall had a huge lighted Godzilla-shaped holiday tree recently that was a social media sensation. 

Godzilla Costumes aren't that common but they are really varied. You can find dinosaur or dragon costumes, gorilla or sea creature costumes more easily. Put them all together and have a really fun event. The adult onesie costumes, such as the dragon, dinosaur Kigurumi are Snuggie-like and really popular.


Godzilla movie trailer 1954


Godzilla's coloration has been debated. Early on when the black and white films were produced, Godzilla was thought to be green. Artwork, toys and the Hanna-Barbera cartoon showed him this way. Later his color changed in different depictions to having a greenish hue to being "his classic charcoal gray" in films in the Millennium series starting with Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack.

Although his origins vary somewhat from film to film, he is always described as a prehistoric creature, who first appeared and attacked Japan at the beginning of the Atomic Age. In particular, mutation due to atomic radiation is presented as an explanation for his size and powers. The most notable of Godzilla's resulting abilities is his atomic breath: a powerful heat ray of fire from his mouth.
--  Wikipedia

Ellie Shoes, Zilla Wedge w/Coil Trim
also available thru
Sole Boutique Velvet Bootie

Godzilla got his (its?) star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 29, 2004.
Artists, dress and shoe designers use these iconic characters for inspiration all the time. 

The Zilla shoe has a hidden platform of nearly 2" and silver coil trim. Are you into ruffles?

Jeffrey Campbell, known for his incredible design sense, has done a wedge shoe named after the Little Shop of Horrors character of Audrey II. Like many of these shoes they sell out fast and can be hard to find.

The larger-than-life carnivorous Venus flytrap plant's teeth are referenced with zig-zag detail. The ones that are embellished with spikes and studs are that much better.



Kermit the Frog

Kermit Disco Dancer

6801 Hollywood Blvd.

Kermit the Frog is puppeteer Jim Henson's most famous Muppet creation, first introduced in 1955. He is the main protagonist of many Muppet projects, most notably as the host of The Muppet Show, and has appeared in various sketches on Sesame Street, in commercials and in public service announcements over the years. 

Kermit was performed by Henson until his death in 1990. Since then, Kermit has been performed by Steve Whitmire. He was voiced by Frank Welker in Muppet Babies and occasionally in other animation projects.

Kermit performed the hit single The Rainbow Connection in 1979 for The Muppet Movie, the first feature-length film featuring Henson's Muppets. The song reached #25 on the Billboard Hot 100. Kermit's iconic look and voice have been recognizable worldwide since and in 2006, the character was credited as the author of Before You Leap: a frog's eye view of life's greatest lessons, which is an "autobiography" told from the perspective of the character himself. ....

Awards and commemorations

Kermit was awarded an honorary doctorate of Amphibious Letters on May 19, 1996 at Southampton College, New York, where he also gave a commencement speech. He is also the only amphibian to have had the honor of addressing the Oxford Union. A statue of Henson and Kermit was erected on the campus of Henson's alma mater, the University of Maryland, College Park in 2003.

Kermit was given the honor of being the Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade in 1996.

Kermit/Muppets Postage
With current postage rates

On Kermit's 50th anniversary in show business, the United States Postal Service released a set of new stamps with photos of Kermit and some of his fellow Muppets on them. 

The background of the stamp sheet features a photo of a silhouetted Henson sitting in a window well, with Kermit sitting in his lap looking at him.

In 2006, on Kermit's 50th anniversary, Kermit, Texas was taken over by the frog during their homecoming week, ending with Kermit himself crowning the homecoming queen. The city of Kermit's main water tower was then painted with the face and signature of the frog. 

Musicians who play left-handed: Kermit the Frog plays the banjo. Jim Henson was left handed. Like Paul McCartney, Dennis Wilson, Jimi Hendrix and Tony Iommi, Kermit plays his banjo left-handed.

Kermit also grand-marshaled Michigan State University's homecoming parade in 2006.
-- Wikipedia  

Muppets Kermit disco dancing (seen above) posing by Disney; The Muppet Shop is just one of the Disney specialty selections. Get designs on clothing and different products.

Kermit got his star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 14, 2002.

Jim Henson and some Puppet Trivia

Jim Henson, Muppets creator, also has a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame, 6631 Hollywood Blvd. He posthumously received his star on September 24, 1991, which would have been his 55th birthday. He isn't the only puppeteer on the Walk. 

Shari Lewis is one of a select group of puppeteers or ventriloquists who have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Remember Kukla, Fran and Ollie? Jim Henson, Edgar Bergen, Paul Winchell, Fred Rogers and Fran Allison are other puppeteers or ventriloquists who have been honored with stars.


First Emmy Award 1949

On January 25, 1949 the first person to win the Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality was Shirley Dinsdale and her puppet Judy. Dinsdale was a ventriloquist for the children’s show Judy Splinters. 

So the first Emmy winner was not only a woman but a ventriloquist on a kid's show, to boot.  It further shows the importance of the art and children's programming.

Kermit Costume : Kermit the Frog Toddler Costume : Infant Costume Kermit the Frog costumes for adults, kids, toddlers and infants Your little one can sing and dance along to the Jim Henson's The Muppet Show with our Kermit the Frog toddler costume. The Muppets Kermit the Frog Infant costume is an officially licensed The Muppets product by Jim Henson.

Lady Gaga costume

In 2010, Lady Gaga went on German television wearing a coat made of hundreds of Kermit the Frog dolls. It was designed by Jean Charles de Castelbajac.  She wore a headband featuring a Kermit head shimmering with crystals.

"My friends and I in New York ... we believe in vanity," Gaga says, her Kermit headband staring down at her face. "I dress this way all the time because it inspires my life. I dress this way because my whole life is art and my whole life is performance." She also said, "You don't need money to live the way that I live. You just need a good idea and creativity."

The outfit was said to be a statement in honor of wearing something personalized and to call attention to the need to not wear fur and animal products.
-- quote from New York Magazine


Lady Gaga Kermit Costume : Adult Lady Gaga Frog Costume She rocks, she's eco-friendly - She won't wear real animal skin, she wears something else.....

2 piece Adult Lady Gaga Frog Costume
Comes with frog boa with lots of frogs. Would you use it as a Halloween costume? For the cocktail party at the local aquarium? Also includes frog headband. When you need a green costume, when you need to wear frogs or get noticed by the costume judges, when you want to be covered in amphibians for reasons of your own. One size. Wig and glasses are not included.

This was among the costumes featured when the characters on Glee did an homage to Lady Gaga (and Kermit?). 

Union Bay Women's U149 Sunglasses, Three colors
"Encrusted with sparkling "diamonds," logo-scripted ear pieces, and gorgeous gradient lenses with 100% UV protection."

Style and safety without the big designer price tag. Similar to a style worn by reality stars such as Kim Kardashian. Budget friendly but look great and real UV400 protection included.

Are Kermit and Miss Piggy Married??

"In The Muppet Movie, she has just won such a contest (Miss Bogen County) when she first meets Kermit and joins the Muppets.

In The Great Muppet Caper Piggy proves she has a talent for tap dancing, seemingly without knowing it. She and Kermit also kiss (on the lips, yet slightly covered) while Miss Piggy is a prisoner in jail; Miss Piggy ends up wearing Kermit's fake mustache, while Kermit has X-marks on his upper lip.

Eventually in the films, Kermit started returning her affections and (unwittingly) married her in The Muppets Take Manhattan (though subsequent events suggest that it was only their characters in the movie that married, and that their relationship is really the same as ever.)"
-- From Miss Piggy's Wikipedia entry



Kermit the Frog serenades us with Rainbow Connection





What's My Line?  November 16, 1952
First guest is a is a frog catcher, Then a woman who hand paints men's shorts.
Walter Winchell is the mystery guest

Can you do a Kermit the Frog impression?

Big Bird

7021 Hollywood Blvd.

Gund Soft and Shaggy Big Bird doll

Big Bird is the main protagonist of the children's television show Sesame Street. Big Bird, like many of the other Sesame Street characters, is a Muppet character. He is sometimes referred to simply as "Bird" by his friends.

Officially performed by Caroll Spinney since 1969, he is an eight-foot two-inch tall bright yellow bird. He can roller skate, ice skate, dance, sing, write poetry, draw and even ride a unicycle. ...

He lives in a large nest behind the 123 Sesame Street brownstone (which he had to completely rebuild in Season 32 after it was destroyed by a hurricane). 

He has a teddy bear named Radar, after Walter "Radar" O'Reilly of M*A*S*H, who had a teddy bear and was also lovably naive and innocent. Radar was given to Big Bird by Gary Burghoff when he guest starred on the show. Later on, however, it was said that Big Bird got the bear as a gift from Mr. Hooper. ....

What kind of bird is Big Bird?

It is believed that Big Bird is probably a giant canary. However, in an episode of Sesame Street Big Bird was asked if he was related to the cassowary, he replied, "I'm more of a condor." On a 1976 episode of Hollywood Squares, he said he was a lark. 

In the film, Don't Eat the Pictures, Osiris calls Big Bird an ibis. Zoologist Mike Dickison hypothesizes that Big Bird or Grandicrocavis viasesamensis, is a type of flightless crane.
 -- Wikipedia

The Colbert Report Finale




In September 1970, Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch were among the guests on the premiere episode of The Flip Wilson Show. Running on NBC, it is the first successful network variety series starring an African American.

October 2012, Big Bird has appeared on Saturday Night Live (at least once with Seth Meyers). He didn't appear on SNL alongside Paul Simon when he wore a turkey costume and sang Paul Simon still crazy after all these years November 20, 1976.

He also appeared on The Colbert Report and on the finale of Stephen Colbert's The Colbert Report in December 19, 2014, singing We'll Meet Again. Here's a list of those who appeared courtesy of the LA Times:

"Barry Manilow shared the stage with Gloria Steinem, Ken Burns and Doris Kearns Goodwin, James Franco hummed along with Henry Kissinger, Cyndi Lauper, Big Bird, Tom Brokaw and the Cookie Monster. 

"Mandy Patinkin was there and Bryan Cranston, singing along with Michael Stipe, Yo-Yo Ma, Mike Huckabee, George Lucas, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Katie Couric to name just a few. Pussy Riot showed up on tape as did former President Bill Clinton."

Cookie Monster must've appreciated the fact that Stephen Colbert had a C-shaped desk and "Cookie, Cookie, Cookie starts with C."

Big Bird was added to The Walk of Fame in Hollywood on April 21, 1994.

Big Bird Gets Political in 2012

Big Bird Costumes were popular in 2012 partly due to the mention of Big Bird and the funding of public broadcasting in a presidential debate.

Sesame Street characters are iconic, nostalgic characters for young and old
Find Big Bird Halloween Costumes Including the:
Big Bird Plush Vest Toddler/Small Child

Muppets Star on Walk of Fame

The group star for The Muppets received their group star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Tuesday, March 20, 2012

6834 Hollywood Boulevard in front of the El Capitan Theatre


 
Emcee was Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, President/CEO Leron Gubler

Guest Speakers: Walt Disney Studios President, Rich Ross; The Jim Henson Company CEO, Lisa Henson and Writer/Actor Jason Segel How cool that families were able to attend the ceremony



Related articles of interest: 

Animals on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Part One

Animated Characters on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Part One

Celebrity family members who have Hollywood Walk of Fame stars next to or near one another

Raymond Burr Rear Window to the Senate floor : Burr remembered for playing Steve Martin (not THAT Steve Martin) in Godzilla, King of the Monsters

Contemporary Pop Rock Country Memorial Songs: Pop, Rock & Country Tribute, Memorial Songs, Inspiration from Paul McCartney, the members of Monty Python, the friends and colleagues of Jim Henson, more

Shari Lewis Lamb Chop, Las Vegas and Outer Space

There's a Skeleton in My Love Story; Love Your Local Paleontologist 

To Catch a Prince Grace Kelly Costume Barbie Princess

The Bride, The Movie Star: Grace Kelly Costume Mattel Barbie Doll :

May 1955, Grace Kelly was working on the Alfred Hitchcock movie To Catch a Thief with her costar, Cary Grant. She visited Prince Rainier at his palace in Monaco.

Mattel Grace Kelly
The Romance Silkstone
Barbie Gift Set

The Barbie Doll, Barbara Millicent Roberts, made her debut on March 9, 1959. There is, however a debate about Barbie's birthdate. *More about this below. The Ken Doll, Barbie's boyfriend, was introduced in 1961.

The 60th anniversary of the film is fast approaching. Interest in the film, any of Mr. Hitchcock's films, and of course in the legendary Princess Grace, never wanes. Do you remember where you were when you first saw the film? When you saw the wedding?

This collectible doll wears a gorgeous floral print dress just like the one Miss Kelly wore when she first met her future husband.

Mattel tells us that the dress was from an "easy to sew" pattern the actress modeled for McCall's magazine.

Many of Grace Kelly's signature dresses had a similar simple and very attractive silhouette. This dress features details taken from the actual dress she wore, including a fitted bodice and full skirt that flares out.

As is customary with Mattel's best Barbie dolls, she's further styled as Miss Kelly was on that romantic day. Her hair is just right, her headpiece and navy pumps are just as Grace wore herself. A true lesson in couture, in that 1950s to 1960s, fashion through the decades, costume. How fun this doll will be.

Sometimes we can't afford actual movie memorabilia, actual costumes or props. Maybe we want to add to a collection. I like finding something like this that's pretty and movie-related and will fit in a small space. 

Mattel's Barbie Princess Grace Kelly Bride in Silkstone

Grace Kelly married Prince Rainer III of Monaco on April 19, 1956. Their civil ceremony had been held the previous day.

Another Silkstone Collector Barbie, this doll wears a special replica gown just like the one Grace wore on her wedding day. Details of the real wedding are there:

She carries a small ivory prayer book, the bouquet. Collectors of film memorabilia or bride dolls will both adore this beautiful item. She will be passed down.

There are more pieces of clothing with this doll. A now iconic deep navy blue coat and dress, white, wide-brimmed hat and matching scarf that so many fans saw on theater newsreels, the outfit that Miss Kelly wore as she arrived in Monaco for her wedding to the Prince.

As you'll notice in one of the videos, as she gets off of the boat, she is carrying Oliver, the poodle given to her as a gift from her friend, Cary Grant. The Prince picks up the leash as they get into the car.

The doll is sculpted in Grace Kelly's likeness. Silkstone body. Silkstone, popular among collectors and used for many fashion and celebrity dolls, is made of a very hard plastic that is intended to mimic porcelain. She's a doll to build a dream on.

A crossover collectible as film, celebrity, history and fashion collectors just as a start would love to have her Grace their shelves.





Grace of Monaco, 2014. A film starring Nicole Kidman as Grace Kelly, Tim Roth as Prince Rainier III, Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Alfred Hitchcock.



To Catch a Thief, 1955 Trailer, Grace Kelly, Cary Grant, Jessie Royce Landis. Alfred Hitchcock, director.


Grace Kelly arrives in Monaco, you see the famous hat and coat. She gets off the boat carrying the poodle given to her by Cary Grant. The prince kindly picks up the end of the leash as Grace gets into the car appx 3:10 on video



Exhibition at the Victoria & Albert museum pays homage to the style of Grace Kelly throughout her life and in her films. (Exhibit has now closed.)


Barbie Collector To Catch A Thief Grace Kelly Doll
 
It was during the filming of To Catch a Thief that Kelly would meet her prince, her future husband. 

The Academy Award winning fashion designer Edith Head created Kelly's clothes for the film.

Madame Alexander 16" Jet Set Chic Grace Kelly Doll

How many people knew that Madame Alexander created Grace Kelly dolls? She has different styles, all lovely. 

This is part of the 2009 Grace Kelly Couture Collection.

The Barbie Hollywood Legends Collection
Of course there is the premiere piece, the Jean Harlow FAO Schwarz Silver Screen Barbie Doll By Mattel Exclusive Limited Edition. This one I have featured in my review of the film Reckless. (link below)

Just a sampling of others.... The 1994 introductions to the Hollywood Legends collection were Barbie as Scarlett O’Hara from Gone With the Wind in the Green Drapery and Red dresses. Perfect for this 75th anniversary of Gone With the Wind. 1995 saw more Scarlett O'Hara dolls and the addition of Barbie Doll as Maria in The Sound of Music and Barbie as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, a film also having its 75th anniversary in 2014. 

I'll never forget the amazing Lady Gaga's musical tribute to Julie Andrews and  The Sound of Music at the Academy Awards in 2015.

You'll find James Dean in his famous jacket and jeans from Rebel Without a Cause. There are two Rhett Butler figures. That makes an actor, a costume or a star iconic? There are characters such as the witch from The Wizard of Oz are represented, and Ken as the Tin Man is a favorite. They're characters we can share with generations.


Debate over Barbie's Birth Date: Toy Fair 1959 March vs February

There has been debate as to the date of Barbie's debut.

Some said the doll first went on sale February 13, 1959. Some say Barbara Millicent Roberts made her premiere on March 9, 1959. In either case, what I usually see both times with a claim that it was at the New York Toy Fair.

Going back a few years, the Toy Fair appears to have been held the second week of February. The people at Mattel and Barbie collectors celebrate her birth date as March 9, 1959.

Doesn't seem realistic that the New York Toy Fair of 1959 went on from February 13 - March 9, nearly a month.

A possible answer comes from a sort of contemporary of Barbie and Ken, GI Joe. He turned 50 in 2014.

With G.I. Joe, too there was some controversy as to whether the action figure was introduced in February or March of 1964 at the Toy Fair.

Apparently Hasbro said it was February but fair organizers say it was held in March that year. This was quoted on several blogs and news sources February 2014. No actual quote has been found to date.

If it's true, that could mean that when Barbie was introduced, the New York Toy Fair was held in March in the 1950s and 1960s and the date she went on sale, the date of her premiere could in fact be March 9, 1959 at the New York Toy Fair.

The fair has been going on since about 1903. A history was not very apparent on the web site of The American International Toy Fair. Will check again because it would have some great images.

Related Pages of Interest:

Jean Harlow is Reckless 1935 : Harlow was a Living Doll, First of the Barbie Hollywood Legends Collection

Oliver, a poodle fit for a princess, Cary Grant's wedding gift to Grace Kelly

Wedding Bridal museum shows

Piano dance Tom Hanks and James Cagney

Piano Dance: Fun with James Cagney, Tom Hanks, Liberace

Big Tom Hanks Robert Loggia
classic dancing on piano scene

James Cagney did it in 1937. Tom Hanks in 1988. Wild and Crazy Mr. Hanks has had a hankering to do it again and again. He did it with Sandra Bullock on TV in 2013. 

You can do it in the privacy of your own home. Honey Boo Boo & Mama June did it just this year. Bet you know what it is.

Can you believe how long it's been since we first saw the movie, Big? There's a 25th Anniversary Edition DVD set. It wasn't the first movie that Tom Hanks made, but it was the first one that brought him a nomination for an Academy Award. 




Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia are dancing out the song, Heart and Soul. The music by is Hoagy Carmichael and lyrics by Frank Loesser. 

Sometimes the song is identified as The Celebrated Chop Waltz, better known simply as Chopsticks. Do you play these on your piano? By yourself or with a partner, solo or duet?  In 1877 Chopsticks was written by composer Euphemia Allen under the pseudonym Arthur de Lulli. 

Liberace at his home the piano shaped pool

"Please Mr. Music, will you play?" (A little allusion to the ending of A Bit of Fry and Laurie. Hugh Laurie would play piano while Stephen Fry would make and shake his cocktail alongside.)




Liberace had a respect for the classics, including the song, Chopsticks. Unlike the amazing Jerry Lee Lewis, Liberace doesn't get his feet onto the keyboard in this performance. .... But what about Cagney?

"Johnny Boyle was, if anyone can be so credited the creator of the Cagney dancing style at once highly eclectic and uniquely street Cagney, a mix of George M.Cohan (whom Boyle had worked for), semi-ballet and down-to-earth vaudeville hoofing.

"Dancing much more than acting was in those years Jim's greatest creative joy. As he points out In Cagney by Cagey he says he considered dancing 'a primal urge to life at the first moment we need to express joy. 

"'Among the pre-language aboriginals possessing no music and the most primitive rhythm, I suspect dancing became their first expression of excitement. And an extension of that idea is embedded in my belief, quite applicable to myself that once a song-and-dance man always a song-and-dance man.'

James Cagney once said, "I have had highlights in my career like any performer, but inevitably there are some higher than others, and I am pretty sure that there is almost no greater moment for me personally than in the middle of Something to Sing About when I had the great honor, the real privilege of doing that number with Johnny Boyle and Harland Dixon."
-- Cagney by John McCabe



Ruby Keeler, Lee Dixon Ready Willing and Able 1937 dancing on a typewriter keyboard


"My mother told me I was dancing before I was born. She could feel my toes tapping wildly inside her for months."
-- Ginger Rogers

"Mother says I was a dancer before I could walk..." 
-- From the 1977 ABBA song, Thank you for the music, Featured in Mamma Mia



The 1937 film, Something to Sing About, included a routine with giant piano moment for Cagney.

Jimmy Cagney played George M. Cohan in his Oscar winning role in 1942's Yankee Doodle Dandy. 

When people think about actors who danced, the great dancers of the golden age of Hollywood, some names aren't mentioned as often as others. James

Rita Hayworth piano dance

Cagney isn't remembered as often as I think he should be. George Raft was also a dancer. We too rarely gave credit to the influence and contribution of the African American dancers in front of and behind the cameras. And of course, we should never list only male names.... But I digress, which is one of my specialties.

On a 2013 episode of the Jonathon Ross show Tom Hanks, was surprised with the giant piano. He got to do the dance with Sandra Bullock! 

Is it the biggest toy piano there is? Would you paint the floor of your hall like this? Need painted stair ideas? Black and white is a way to go.

Are there other movies where they did a dance like this? Chickens tapping out on a toy piano is really something kind of different. :-)



Links to Books, Related Pages of Interest:

The popular Winfun Step To Play Giant Piano Mat allows you and your kids to play, get exercise, have fun and make music at home.

Cagney by John Mccabe 

James Cagney the making of Yankee Doodle Dandy, George M. Cohan's life story

Remember Bosom Buddies, Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari 

In 1975, Elton John was the Pinball Wizard in the movie version of the rock opera Tommy. He wore some big boots and played a big keyboard

We have taken broken, discarded pianos, recycled and re-purposed these old instruments

Tour FAO Schwarz: A Walk-through
The oldest toy store in the United States


Cameo appearances by the Giant Piano
Lego Statue of Liberty and Batman, Saying Hi to Hello Kitty

Dressing Male Stars in Old Hollywood; Provide Your Own Clothes; Hollywood actors rebel against high wardrobe costs, The Internal Revenue Service, Tricky Tax Deductions in the 1930s ...


Wedding dolls: Mattel Princess Grace Kelly, Prince William and Kate {being revised}
Some FAO Schwarz History and favorites:
The Old Sales ledger
The big teddy bear
Pferd the Horse, the Duck
Barney Google and his horse Spark Plug
Nutcrackers, Wizard of Oz
Tonner Hollywood Dolls


Q: What's your favorite thing at FAO Schwarz?

Dolls, Wooden Dummies, Mannequins of The Twilight Zone

The Dolls, Wooden Dummies, Mannequins & Mystic Seers of The Twilight Zone

Do you have scary memories of any of these dolls? Fear of becoming a doll, or a statue or perhaps worse? What is it that science fiction writers tap into when they write these stories? Nervous about an evil puppet? There are television dolls like Mrs. Beasley from Family Affair or Kitty Carry-All from The Brady Bunch.
There will be a short series of pages on this topic. This page talks about:

• The Nick of Time
•  The After Hours

October 2nd, 1959 The Twilight Zone premiered on CBS.

There were other dolls and the like such as Wednesday Addams' Marie Antoinette the headless doll on The Addams Family or Chuck's ventriloquist dummy friend, Bob on Soap. These were maybe a little more curious but still they didn't quite fall into the realm of television science fiction. Are the Twilight Zone dolls the most fun to play with?

Always been interested in ventriloquists' dummies? National Ventriloquist Week is in July. Ventriloquism gets the recognition it deserves!

Most of the dolls on this series of pages are from one show, The Twilight Zone. Some others that fit into the genre are mentioned as well.

Some are ventriloquists' dummies, wax statues, mannequins and one fortune-telling coin-operated mystic seer. Sometimes people seem to turn into dolls, dolls appear to be life-like.

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Night Gallery and One Step Beyond also had episodes dealing with dolls.

Plot spoilers are guaranteed throughout, also there are images and video clips from some of the episodes when available.

Image of Telly Savalas Talky Tina Twilight Zone Episode 16x20 Photo

The Mystic Seer


  

The Twilight Zone Mystic Seer Replica
Do you have a cafe or restaurant? 
Just right for your pop-up small business
Features a working coin mechanism. Can act as a bank It even dispenses 'fortunes.' 
Measures about 13 1/2" x 7 1/2" wide x 6" long.   

The fortune teller is featured in the legendary episode Nick of Time starring William Shatner. It comes complete with napkin holder and menu holder just like in the show. It also has a certificate of authenticity.

Nick of Time November 18, 1960 : Season Two

Twilight Zone Nick of Time Trading Cards

Newlyweds Don and Pat Carter's car breaks down in Ridgeview, Ohio. They wait for the car to be serviced in a diner, the Busy Bee Cafe, that has a fortune-telling machine, a Mystic Seer. 

They ask it questions, first in jest, to kill time. The answers, Don starts to believe, may be foreboding warning of dreadful things to come. 

He begins to quiver and quake while Pat tries to pull him away from the machine.

From the front of the fortune telling machine/napkin holder:
Ask me a Yes or No question.
Does He/She love me?
Will I become Rich?
Is My future Bright?

Don asks when should they leave. Before or after 3pm? Where should they live? They go outside and the newlyweds are almost hit by a car. Their mechanic gives them news that appears to confirm what the Mystic Seer said. What else could happen??

Shatner did several memorable episodes of the show.

Some Mystic Seer answers:
It is quite possible
It has already been taken care of
You may never know
Your chances are good

Compare some Magic Eight Ball answers:
Without a doubt
As I see it, yes
Ask again later
My sources say no

Twilight Zone #5 - 16x20 Inches Photograph High Quality

  
The After Hours

June 10, 1960 : Season One

Marsha, Marsha, Marsha. Marsha White (Anne Francis) wants a present for her mother. She's shopping in a department store. Perhaps a special golden thimble on the ninth floor?

A mysterious elevator man takes her to the even more mysterious ninth floor where she appears to be the only shopper. Need more? The ninth is a floor beyond the elevator gauge.


There is trouble with the thimble but that soon becomes a tiny speck in Marsha's situation when she's locked in the store and mannequins start coming to life around her. What is a girl to do? Think, Marsha, think. Your mom really doesn't want that thimble anyway.

Do you have a favorite mannequin-comes-to-life movie? There are several of them from the US and other countries.

The Lonely, a Season One episode takes place on an asteroid in the year 2046. Corry (Jack Warden) is an inmate in solitary confinement on an an asteroid. He's sent a lifelike robot woman to keep him company. She is named Alicia (Jean Marsh). Others in the cast include Ted Knight and John Dehner. Famed composer Bernard Herrmann provided music for this episode.

ANNE FRANCIS/TWILIGHT ZONE/8X10 PHOTO


Many TV series, dramas and comedies, featured puppets and dolls, Even Night Court


Science Fiction Old Time Radio MP3s : How much has come true?? ;-)
Science Fiction Listener Favorites Join Father Payton, Willis Cooper and Arch Oboler as they shoot through space, time, and do donuts around fleets of UFO armies. This collection includes Science Fiction listener favorites from and wide range of Old Time Radio classic series. 

From Suspense to Lights Out to favorites such as Mysterious Traveler and Quiet Please, this collection contains the best of Old Time Radio science fiction. Also included are some very rare shows Cloud Nine and Planet Man.
-- Text from the OTRCat site 
Collection of Old Time Radio Science Fiction Shows: Take your pick.

This page is part of a limited series. 

Movie Trains, Travel with Powell Loy Grant and Saint

Trains in Movies

Alfred Hitchcock on Trains

The train figures in

Nick and Nora Charles
let Asta sleep upstairs

prominently in Alfred Hitchcock films such as Shadow of a Doubt, North by Northwest, Number Seventeen, The 39 Steps, The Lady Vanishes and of course Stranger on a Train.  It's a favorite of his motifs.

A couple of famous Train movies include the 1940 British thriller Night Train to Munich starring Margaret Lockwood, Rex Harrison and Paul Henreid. 

Buster Keaton's The General, a silent from 1927. It's very impressive when you consider all he accomplished in that movie and when it was created.

May 10 is National Train Day and a good time to think about favorite films that feature trains. They're fun means of travel from one place to another. They can be symbolic. Train travel is a good example of the Slow Movement, slow food, slow art, etc. 

It gives the family a chance to relax, enjoy life and enjoy one another. You can find a group of new friends and strike up a chorus of The Man on the Flying Trapeze like Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable did on their bus trip in It Happened One Night.

If you want a total springtime Hitchcock experience, May 10 is also Windmill Day. Watch Foreign Correspondent with its iconic windmill scene. And then maybe treat the family to some miniature golf? :)


"A train may be an old fashioned way to travel, but an upper berth may be a wonderful way to go .... when it's your time to go."

Have you seen The Thin Man, the movie that started the William Powell/Myrna Loy franchise in 1934? The film was made in a matter of weeks in mid-1934, the year famous for ushering in the Production Code. 

Directors, writers and actors became very adept at using symbolism in their dialogue and imagery to alert the viewers to what was going on.

The Thin Man William Powell Myrna Loy
Playing with baby & train

When the film ends, Nick and Nora Charles are headed by train from New York to San Francisco. They let their famous dog Asta have the upper bunk while the two of them take the lower. 

The terrier puts a paw over his eyes as the camera fades out. We hear San Francisco, Here I Come as the train winds its way into a tunnel. 

We would see Nick and Nora (and other couples) sleeping in separate beds. This didn't stop the pair from producing Nick Jr. of course.



California Here We Come, The Thin Man 1934

Myrna Loy and William Powell made six Thin Man films together, but they made fourteen movies together in all. 

Christmas 1940
Train enthusiast William Powell
receives train presents from his "youthful bride"
and friend Myrna Loy

In 1959, Hitchcock gave Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint the same train into a tunnel treat in North by Northwest. This couple received no high-spirited, pointed musical accompaniment on their journey.

In the post-Code dialogue, particularly the conversation in screwball comedies, the erotic is ambiguous. Like poets who find rewards in writing in the

4-Tone Pinewood
Train Whistle
For the theme birthday,
performance, playtime

forms (such as the sonnet) some filmmakers and screenwriters found rewards in the imposed restrictions. 

Working within them, getting around them, compromise, restraint and risk. It was time to pull out creativity you didn't know you had.

As they say, sensitive viewers congratulate themselves for finding the forbidden just beneath the surface. 

We listened for the suggestive, double entendres, innuendo. This is similar to an audience member at a Shakespeare play or movie who "gets" the language. 

For modern audiences, the more the viewer knows about the time a film was made, the more we can appreciate it. Who was their intended audience and why? 

 

Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest

Stuck within the confines of a train, in The 39 Steps and North by Northwest, main characters are being pursued for crimes they didn't commit.

Another pre-Code film is Shanghai Express is a (1932) with Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong and Warner Oland.

What are your favorite movies with trains in them?




The Joe DiMaggio Show featured a segment about Lionel Trains. What a special Christmas gift. A lot of families still put trains under the Christmas tree or in their holiday display each year. Watch The Polar Express with the whole family.


Films featuring train scenes:

Twentieth Century (1934) with John Barrymore and Carole Lombard. Not all train movies are capers, crime dramas, thrillers, races or suspense films. This is a favorite screwball comedy from the golden age.

The Palm Beach Story (1942) with Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Mary Astor and Rudy Vallée.

British 1965 Doctor Zhivago starring Omar Sharif and Julie Christie. It is directed by David Lean.
   
Thinking of 'Train' as a verb? How about watching a movie like How to Train your Dragon? Could you train an animal like a dragon? Could you herd cats?


Related Books, Pages of Interest:
 

Hitchcock's Motifs (Film Culture in Transition)

Asta/Skippy doesn't have a star, but what Animals are on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?

William Powell and Carole Lombard married 1931-1933; their sapphires, My Man Godfrey. Pre-Jean Harlow and Clark Gable 

Cat Agility Competitions, bonding with your pets