Underappreciated Disney Characters Part 2

Welcome back to our ongoing tribute to Disney's most overlooked supporting players. Last week, we focused on Col. Hathi and Alice's Horn Ducks. Today, we've got another unjustly ignored pair of troupers.

JOANNA

Bursting onto the scene in The Rescuers Down Under, Joanna the goanna (I used to think she was a komodo dragon) is the funniest villain sidekick in Disney history. She doesn't speak a word, but her brilliant animation will delight you--and make your skin crawl at the same time.

She's incredibly important to the film, because this movie's villain, McLeach, is one of Disney's most hateful and frightening scumbags. There's no way to lighten up an eagle-killing kidnapper who thinks nothing of tossing a human child to crocodiles. Enter Joanna, who--even though she's on McLeach's side--provides some welcome comedy during the film's darkest moments.

APPEARANCES OUTSIDE THE FILM: None

Joanna has pretty much vanished in the company's eye, and that's Disney's loss. Can you imagine how many Joanna plush or rubber lizards they could sell every day in Adventureland? How about a Joanna hat? And wouldn't she be a natural at Disney's Animal Kingdom? By the way, if you've never seen the excellent Rescuers Down Under, it's streaming on Netflix right now!

Next up, we've got man's--and woman's--best friend...

BRUNO

This image captures my favorite moment in Disney's Cinderella. Look at it from Bruno the dog's perspective:

1) He's just been through a humiliating night as a human.

2) He had to hike home after Cindy forgot the one thing the Fairy Godmother told her to remember.

3) His well-deserved slumber is now rudely interrupted by over-caffeinated birds who only serve to remind him that Cinderella never sewed any clothes for him, oh no sirree.
 
Everything--Cinderella's future, Gus-Gus's life, the fate of the Kingdom--depends on how quickly he can wake up. And, once he does snap out of dreamland, he delivers justice like only a true-blue dog can do. Bruno is the real hero of this film. Okay, the mice get some credit, too.

The moral of Disney's Cinderella has nothing to do with wishes or magic: If you're nice to people, you increase the odds that, someday, your friends just might come through for you when you need them most. All that's summed up perfectly in Bruno.

APPEARANCES OUTSIDE THE FILM: Rare

Bruno's gotten the occasional merchandising nod: I once owned a fun little PVC statuette of the ol' hound. Being a dog has its advantages when it comes to product potential. Of course, there's also the two video sequels, but the less said about them the better.

Join us next time for part 3. In the meantime, who are your favorite underappreciated Disney toons?

Reviewing the Competition: How Peter Pan Might Hold a Clue to Adventure Time's Success

Have you ever wondered what an average day in Neverland is like for Peter Pan? Sleep late, fry up some crocodile eggs, fight pirates, play games, visit mermaids, fight pirates, have lunch on the volcano, fight pirates....

In a nutshell, that's the drawing power of Cartoon Network's smash hit animated series, Adventure Time: Its hero, Finn, lives every boy's dream of the perfect treehouse-based life. Blend Neverland with the post-apocalyptic world of Ralph Bakshi's Wizards, add heaps of Mad-Libs random craziness, and you've got a show full of endless story possibilities.

If you're an Adventure Time fan, think about it a moment:

A DCA Moment: Slinky Dog

This is why the parks rule: There simply aren't enough giant, good-humored, stretchy pull-toy canine hind legs high-fiving people in the real world.

Corn Dog Castle (and Fish Heads & Crumbs)

Word's getting around; Disneyland Resort features the best corn dogs on the planet. They're delicious, crispy, and cooked just right. Disneyland Park sells them from the Little Red Wagon on Main Street, while Disney California Adventure fries them up at Paradise Pier's Corn Dog Castle.

Few seem to mind that Corn Dog Castle retains the deliberately gaudy decor of Paradise Pier's first years. Now that most of the rest of the pier has been made over, the little hold-out looks kind of cute (believe it or not, this billboard's a lot more subtle than the one CD Castle started with!)

There's only one problem: The place does not open until lunch time. My sister caught my brother-in-law (the tall one) and me staring forlornly through the windows, realizing we were too early. No matter how much we stared, the place just wouldn't magically open for breakfast for us. Go figure.

And now, Fish Heads & Crumbs....

Click to Enlarge

WDW 1993: World of Motion

In this installment of WDW 1993, we're back in Epcot for a look at World of Motion, one of four grand, high-capacity omnimover-style attractions operating in Future World back then -- and that's not even counting the Living Seas' seacabs!

Our group loved World of Motion's humorous approach to edutainment. In the tradition of classic Disney cartoon shorts, a mock-serious narrator (Gary Owens this time) gave a calm, jovial tour through the history of transportation, completely unaware of the chaos breaking out in the scenes he was describing.

World of Motion was a shutterbug tourist's dream, and so there are many photos on the internet of this attraction's inhabitants. My paltry collection can't compare to the amazing wealth of shots found in Disney Tourist Blog's tribute, so be sure to check it out if you haven't already. The above scene is certainly well-documented, but the world can't have enough chickens, so here's my shot of the ruckus.

Another view reveals one of my favorite gags: Manhole Guy With Vegetable on Head.

World of Motion was an incredibly good-natured adventure the whole family truly could experience together. It also had the catchy theme song, "It's Fun to be Free." Long before our trip, I'd memorized that song via the great original Music of Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Epcot Center CD (odd title, considering Epcot is part of WDW). Based on the song alone, World of Motion was a "Must-See" on that first trip, and it did not disappoint.

More WDW 1993 coming soon.

Screamin', Swingin' and Waiting for Corn Dogs

You trek from Cars Land to Corn Dog Castle, only to remember your favorite Paradise Pier food stand doesn't open until 11:00. What do you do? You take pictures! This end of California Screamin' doesn't get much photo-love, but that banked, swoopy twist is one of the best parts of the ride.

This early in the morning, nearly everyone's in Cars Land, leaving Paradise Pier full of wide open walkways and very short lines. In true Anaheim weather fashion, those clouds will soon give way to blue skies and bright sunshine -- just in time for corn dogs!