If you thought this here website was going to make a list of rats and not include the animated one voiced by PAUL FUCKING LYNDE then you do not know this website nearly as well as you thought you did. I've spoken of the childhood trauma of the 1973 animated version ofCharlotte's Web before -- this is the movie that taught me about death, ha! -- but it also taught me about being a selfish homosexual glutton, and for that I can only express gratitude.
Templeton the Rat, gay icon! I know textually Templeton has a pile of rat children, but he'd hardly have been the only homosexual to have lead a double life in the 1970s. Just think about what his signature number "A Veritable Smorgasbord" is all about -- him sneaking off to the dark corners of the fairground at night to gobble up all the "gorgeous goop" and "candy found all around" where nobody can see him -- that's some closet queen cruising if I ever heard it. I mean...
... I just do not think...
... that I am being crazy here.
People hired Paul Lynde for a reason in 1973 -- they knew what they were doing when they hired Paul Lynde in 1973. And consider the fact that the original person they hired to voice Templeton was Tony Randall, who, although heterosexual in real life, was also usually coded as a little loafer-light back in the day. (Randall's line-readings were deemed "flat" so they redubbed the film with Lynde, who would never ever in his life be deemed "flat.")
The meta-joke was of course just in having a Fancy Man voice a ravenous slob -- there was a very narrow idea of what a gay man was in 1973 and "ravenous slob" did not fit within those parameters. Thank goodness then that Templeton came along and broke down barriers for all the ravenous gay slobs like myself!
4 comments:
Pierce
said...
Jason, I taught Charlotte's Web every Spring for 25 years and in the book Templeton does not have children at the end of the story. Only in the movie version does this happen.
Wonderful! Does this mean we're going to get an entry in this series for "The Secret of NIMH"? It's one of those movies that everyone I know who saw it as a child (including myself) found it strangely creepy, or downright terrifying.
The trouble with the film The Secret of NIMH is that the book it's based on, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, another book I taught yearly for 25 years, is an astounding book, a very complex story of a group of experimental rats who have raised their intelligence and are trying to create a utopia where they can live without relying on humanity. It's a remarkable novel, and a great read for this time of year!
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4 comments:
Jason, I taught Charlotte's Web every Spring for 25 years and in the book Templeton does not have children at the end of the story. Only in the movie version does this happen.
This was an absolute treat for Halloween 🎃. Thank you.
Wonderful! Does this mean we're going to get an entry in this series for "The Secret of NIMH"? It's one of those movies that everyone I know who saw it as a child (including myself) found it strangely creepy, or downright terrifying.
The trouble with the film The Secret of NIMH is that the book it's based on, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, another book I taught yearly for 25 years, is an astounding book, a very complex story of a group of experimental rats who have raised their intelligence and are trying to create a utopia where they can live without relying on humanity. It's a remarkable novel, and a great read for this time of year!
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