More points, more inspirations...

I said it before many times in my journals and so I'll say it again: I often list my inspirations for the canine historical drama. This list is as a litany; to remind me why this story must be told.

So, here goes: "The Aristocats". Why this? It's about cats! How could this inspire a dog story? But it did, in the elegant cat named Duchess, and the stray cat named Thomas O' Malley,  'the alley cat'!* The best part of this Disney film for me is when Thomas' friends perform their jazz music for Duchess and her kittens who are used to Opera and classical music. However, the home-raised cat and her kittens swing with the rest! When Duchess plays the harp afterwards is a treat.

I mentioned "Lady and the Tramp" in a previous post. The parallels between my story and this are far more obvious: Lady is a Cocker Spaniel, born to be a housepet. Tramp is a stray mutt with Terrier in him. He is older and more worldly. And has been around... In the full sense of the word. This is a Disney film as well, but the superlative writing makes that point that Tramp is no longer innocent, but that Lady is...

We come to the end of this post with the earliest influence of these films, and that's "City Mouse, Country Mouse".

Why this Aesop fable? Well, Aesop's use of animals as symbols of human folly made huge impressions on me.
In my childhood reading, I would come across an Aesop tale now and again. Yet, the significance of these fables never rang more true than when I spent hours reading a thick volume in my junior high library. I was so inspired, so enthused, I created my own tales, penning and illustrating notebook paper before self-binding the little pages by stapler.

"City Mouse, Country Mouse" is a tale of opposites. A country cousin leaves his rural home to visit his slicker city kin.
Mayhem ensues, with the country mouse rushing back to a world that, though no less dangerous, is familiar and makes sense.

This is no simple kiddy-tale, but a profound look at how our troubles can comfort us and that we musn't envy another's life.
Their ways may appear so alien and frightening that it could render a person to flee back to their comfort zone.

Please do yourself a favor, and read "City Mouse, Country Mouse" in any adaptation, in as many variations as you can find. You will appreciate its message.

*Viewers who watched "The Aristocats" know this little ditty!

Inspiration, Disney & the Tramp

When you hear about 'gangster dogs', what is the first thing that comes to mind?
Well, for me, it all began with a tidy, little movie called "Lady & the Tramp".
I first watched this film, I think, in the New York Public Library, when they had movie time for the kiddies.

I had no idea when first viewing this classic film how much I was soaking in!

Disney's (c) Impawards.com 1955 Movie poster ?

I watched a lot of Disney films via public library, but let me focus on this story: a young, pampered Cocker Spaniel, owned by a human couple, finds herself out in the cold, cruel world and a dashing terrier-mix stray finds her and takes her under his (paw?) wing.
Lady, as she is known, finds out her rescuer is known as the Tramp, and he has quite a seedy reputation.

Upon review when older, I picked up the sheer genius and creativity of the story - that it took place at turn-of-the-century U.S., in an affluent area, and that there was still undeveloped land (when Lady and her Tramp run about town, painting it red, and later, they nap together on a grassy hill overlooking the city...the scene is SO tender and picturesque!).

Also, the romance flows so smoothly. Character development does not feel rushed.

Another important scene: Lady, after spending her time at the dog pound, and then she's brought safely home (she had a license, after all), Tramp comes by to apologize, and the offended Lady literally goes off on him! In that moment, she's grown up, from girl to woman, and basically tells the man she is falling for how much he hurt and betrayed her!
It's funny, to see dogs act in so human a manner, especially watching Tramp's contrite face and body language, and it is heartbreaking, because Lady has grown up!

Now, as I work on my latest project (is it or isn't it a novel?), I've found how much I've gleaned from Disney's "Lady & the Tramp".
Using a wide, divergent, even culturally different cast, such as the Scottish terrier and the American Southern bloodhound, etc. inspired the use of applying human history to canine-centered story.

Though one of many, I can credit "Lady & the Tramp" to a degree that, had I NOT watched the film, my current WIP would NOT have been possible, or even come to fruition.

Now, *plug* Disney has "Lady & the Tramp" out on Blue-ray! Watch it again! And if you have NEVER seen this wonderful film (where have you been?), then I implore you to get it, watch with the children, your spouse, your partner, or by yourself.

It is enjoyable at every level.

The Art of Plugging Away - Part 2

I've discovered a few insights since I officially began writing the first draft to my dog crime saga: I've found additions to previous hobbies and broadened my scope.
First, let me give you a brief history on this novel.

My first ideas and sketches were in 6th grade. I drew a lot of my own books in those days. It took place in the 1980s (Why not? That's all I knew!). I called it 'Stacey's Story'. It was a direct rip-off of "Lady and the Tramp". As I grew older and became further entrenched in history, I kept going backwards (the 70s, 60s, until I decided that the War Years and its movies were my favorite time period, the 40s). Afterwards, I kept said title until it became 'Stacey:1943'. I still had humans, but could not negotiate dog years within human history. I even did research on World War II, and this messed me up.

Finally, well, eventually, I gave up. Typing the story became a treatment when I suffered from Writer's Block (thank God, I don't suffer often). I discarded everything. I just stowed it away, taking it out every now and again, looking at all my work in a forlorn manner. I didn't want to discard all that research. I felt, 'My G*d, all that time wasted!'
What would this story come to, I wondered? Would I even make it happen?
To reuse a cliche' - What a difference a few years make!

In March 2010, I used a neglected notebook. It appeared to be a business legal pad, navy blue, almost puffy cover.
Inklings about the dog story began to crop up again. Ideas would jump into my head, drop from the sky, anything new, I quickly jotted down. It's as if the story was fighting back, fighting to survive. It removed the ideas that bogged it down, held it from full potential.

Prohibition had been peaking my interest. I was so long a fan of 40s, 50s movies, but now the Silent Era was calling to me. I began watching comedians I wasn't familiar with: Harold  Lloyd, Charley Chase, the history of movie studios and films. I bought used books as references: about the different ethnic group emigrations to the U.S., about speakeasies.
Pre-Hayes Code films, 1930-1932, Hollywood at its most irreverent, its most scandalous take in movies. These black-and-white reels made jokes about sex and poked fun at subject matters I thought only came into being in the 60s!
I couldn't believe one early 1930s movie made a point about the heroine thinking and preparing for the fact that the hero would want to sleep with her! And when the hero told her good night and took to the couch, her reaction is timeless! Could these old-time movies really talk about such stuff that make up our regular, modern films?

I removed the human beings. I gave the dogs center-stage. They owned the book.
I took them from Disney half-clothed and made them stand upright, fully-attired, even wearing lingerie and undergarments! What was good for my epic fantasy cats should be good enough for my gangster dogs!

Finally, I set it in the early 30s, when the Great, Noble Experiment is losing its grip on the rest of the nation.
By doing so, I released the floodgates of possibilities: stories of immigration, the political, cultural and ethical ramifications of liquor and how banning it changed our socio-cultural landscape...

This is/are the novel(s) I write now.