…umm, no thanks, Clem
The Doclopedia #407
The Alphabet, Again: E is for…Elephants, Pink
In the Tooniverse, Pink Elephants appear whenever a character gets drunk or is having a case of the DTs. Sometimes they just hang around, but often there will be a bunch of them doing a musical number, usually about the evils of drink. Sometimes they will actively mess with the drunk, playing pranks or changing shape. Whatever the case, the drunken character is usually scared into swearing off booze, at least for a short while.
Pink Elephants can range in size from mouse sized (often with wings so they can fly) to enormous. They can all change shape, color and size. Many of them can speak, often in a spooky voice. When not messing with drunks, most Pink Elephants live pretty normal lives by toon standards. An important thing to note is that no Pink Elephant ever actually drinks alcohol, since it is a phenomenally potent laxative for them and nobody wants to clean up pink poop.
The Doclopedia #408
The Alphabet, Again: E is for…Elks, Dancing
“The Dancing Elks? Hell yes I remember them! Look, I was running five theaters in New England that were on the Orpheum circuit back when vaudeville was at the top of the entertainment heap. I met all the greats…Hope, Burns & Allen, Jack Benny, Al Jolson…you name ’em, I knew ’em, but those elks, they blew everybody else off the stage!”
Max Maxwell, theater owner
“Oh sure, I knew them. They were really big stars when I was just starting out. Not being human meant they could play the Negro vaudeville circuit, too. And man, did they ever! They always topped the show, but afterwards, they would go out to the lobby and put their hoofprints on photos for folks. I heard somewhere that those photos go for two or three thousand dollars each now. Anyway, they were really sweet and when they made that movie “Dancing Through Canada”, they got me a part where I sang a number while Olaf and Hilda danced to it. That role launched my film career.”
Patsy Samuels, singer & actress
“There were six of them. Olaf, Hilda, Greg, Monty, Evie and Phyllis. Came outta Canada back in 1921 and headed straight to Broadway in New York. Started dancing up and down the street, really cutting a rug. Drew a helluva crowd and snarled traffic for two hours. By that evening, they were signed up with old Jake Sherman and he was getting them primed for hitting the circuit. After that, the story is pretty well documented. Vaudeville, movies, world tours, USO tours, early tv appearances…hell, they were everywhere. Then, in 1952, they just walked away from it all. Nobody knows why, but they were last seen heading back to Canada. Maybe they had to migrate or breed or something, I dunno, but I do know that we’ll never see their like again.”
Oscar Olowicz, entertainment historian
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