Howdy Doody’s old friend Paddle the Gnu starts his physical therapy under the skilled hands of master puppeteer Scott Land. Many thanks to Scott and Lisa Land for making this happen. Lisa shot the video, too!

More about Paddle the Gnu. When the marionette arrived he was not in terrible shape, but definitely in need of a cleaning, restringing and some expert craftsman TLC. As often happens, finding the right people to work on Paddle became one of those “I’ll get to it someday” tasks, and years went by before I gave it any serious thought. A couple weeks ago, as we now have loads of hobby time in quarantine, I decided to haul out Paddle and have a look at him. He had gotten a crack or two, and his strings had become so tangled I had no idea where or how to start to free him up again. As she often does, Misty Lee had the perfect solution. Her friends Lisa and Scott Land are two of the greatest marionette masters in the world. You’ve seen their artistry in such movies as “Team America: World Police”, “The Princess Diaries 2” and dozens of other movies and TV shows. You can see a small sample of their magic here: www.thepuppetman.com If you ever have a chance to see Scott perform with his creations live at the Magic Castle or in Las Vegas, by all means go. He’s wonderful. Misty contacted Lisa and Scott, briefed them on the Paddle situation, sent some photos and they very graciously agreed to get the old boy up and working again. They received Paddle yesterday, and under their care and expertise, he’s well on his way to looking good as “gnu.” Scott and Lisa sent the video below detailing their progress, and they have kindly allowed me to post it here. More updates about Paddle and his restoration to come soon.

Some years back I was lucky enough to purchase one of the original Howdy Doody show marionettes. This was not Howdy himself, or one of his notable co-stars like Flub-a-dub, but a later supporting critter named Paddle the Gnu. As very few of the Howdy episodes survive, I have not found any show footage of Paddle. There are a handful of publicity photos that feature him, one of which is posted here. As you can see he is an odd-looking ungulate, pretty much a gnu in name only. My hunch is he was originally built as a donkey as his operating control has the name “Candlewick” on it, which the name of the boy in the story of “Pinocchio” (renamed Lampwick in the Disney movie) who is turned into a jackass. The puppet’s creators were Rufus and Margo Rose, a famous puppeteering team, and one of their signature live marionette productions was in fact a version of “Pinocchio.” As the Roses also sculpted the other animal characters for Howdy, it makes sense they might recycle a few from old shows. I don’t know if that is precisely Paddle’s origin, given those few clues it seems logical.

Wednesday April 1st…The Adventures Continue.

That’s fun to write: 2020. 2020. 2020.

Okay, enough of that. I got monsters and superheroes to write.

For all inquiries regarding employment, Paul Dini is represented exclusively by:

Jo Volpe
President
New Leaf Literary & Media, Inc.
110 west 40th Street, Suite 2201
New York, NY 10018
newleafliterary.com

Please note that any written correspondence
for Paul Dini should be sent to:

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Please do not send books, toys, artwork or any other items to sign.
Owing to strict legal reasons, any and all story material, including
premises, pitches or scripts must be destroyed unread.

As it says in my appearance schedule on this page, I will be doing no conventions or signings in the forseeable future.

So GOTHAM CITY SIRENS, a DC series I started and wrote with a number of other talented folks, has been collected into one nice, big volume. Now retitled
HARLEY QUINN AND THE GOTHAM CUTY SIRENS (Marketing, I suppose) it tells tales of Bat-Villains Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy and Catwoman gone semi-straight
and sharing a living space together.

It was a fun book and I’m glad to see it collected. Rather than write an actual introduction, the ladies said I might help them with a new
roommate ad writen in the spirit of the book. Naturally Harley had some changes…

My nephew Pete and I did a fast vacation to Disney World. A few highlights…

Waiting for takeoff.

A stowaway.

Great entertainment on this flight.

“How’s that burger? Can I have a bite? Ha, ha. No really, can I?”

I didn’t think to snap a picture of our hotel, so here’s a stock shot of the Polynesian Village Resort lobby.

“Yeah they’re prescription…prescription for FUN!”

Chatted Mickey up about a favorite cartoon, “Lonesome Ghosts.” Then he suggested we do the Hitchhiking Ghosts from “Haunted Mansion.” As we said good bye, he chuckled “Hurry baaaack!” The Mouse is a million laffs.

We tried this place for breakfast. I was dressed for it, anyway.

Is this…food?

Two Cheshire Cat Tails and a cold brew coffee later, we were sugared up, over-caffeinated, incoherent…

…And suffering from nightmarish hallucinations.

“But absolutely no wait for my man, Jaaaahhn Smiiith.” (Google search “SNL Disney Characters Taran Killam Cut For Time” and watch. It’s funny.)

Worth it.

Eating Dole Whip in the rain, after a rousing show at Country Bears. Life is good.

My dad’s favorite Disney cartoon. We videoed the ride’s big audioanimatronic finale (salvaged from the much-missed “Mickey Mouse Revue”) and sent it to him.

The finale.

Popular with the Princesses.

More my speed. I told Donald he was my favorite character and he hugged me. Then I gave him a Mickey Mouse pen for an autograph and he was all like…

“Really?!”

Adventureland. We could take the Jungle Cruise or see the Tiki Birds, or ride Pirates, or just bum around the Orange Swirl stand. The choice is obvious.

Winne-The-Pooh is fine, I guess? But I really miss the dual track Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. Here’s my genius million dollar idea — haul Mr. Toad out of mothballs and put it in the England section
of Epcot’s World Showcase. Might put in an Alice In Wonderland ride or maze (a la Disney Paris) for good measure. Both based on English classics, both guaranteed to give that area a much needed boost.
You’re welcome.

“Is that carving for sale? Because my wife would absolutely…it’s not? Dang.”

Queen Elsa inviting Misty to visit Arendale, or, how I came home to find all my stuff tossed out on the lawn.

This one actually wanted to put us to work helping her boyfriend deliver ice. What for? Her sister makes glaciers. Man, royalty…

Overall, a very happy trip, with only one casualty. Some birds just can’t hold their juice.