Fiction author Robin Brande talks about writing, reading, and other vital matters

Thanks to Lady T’s tip, last night I watched It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Usually on Friday nights I like to get all enraged by watching The News Hour and Washington Week in Review, but sometimes you just have to cleanse yourself with some Snoopy and the gang.

For those of us who write children’s and young adult fiction, holding on to our childhood memories and personalities can be a very useful thing. A few years ago I read an interview with actor Jack Black during the filming of King Kong, and he had this to say about the director, Peter Jackson:

“He decided somewhere along the line in his career to only do things that were interesting to him as a kid, and this was no exception. It was sort of genius.”

Sort of genius–exactly. Peter Jackson also brought us Lord of the Rings, because the kid in him remembered the books and dreamed of how they might look on the screen one day. The great thing about being an adult is you have the power to give the kid in you what it wants. Ice cream? Sure, let’s hop in the car. A nine-hour film version of your favorite epic fantasy? Okay, let’s get crackin’.

Even if you’re not a writer or director or someone making your living from make-believe, you still deserve to treat yourself to some childhood shows every now and then. Listening to Linus last night telling Sally that the Great Pumpkin would HAVE to appear in Linus’s pumpkin patch because it was “the most sincere pumpkin patch around” reminded me how sweet those shows truly are. And don’t we all need a dose of that after some of the wicked bunny abuse we’re subjected to in our regular lives?

When I was little, my favorite shows were those Rankin/Bass Christmas specials–you know, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, The Little Drummer Boy, etc. I loved watching the puppets’ mouths move. I loved the songs–especially Rudolph’s girlfriend Clarice’s “There’s Always Tomorrow”. I loved Hermey who wanted to be a dentist, the Burgermeister with his broken foot that everyone kept bumping, the Snow Miser and Heat Miser. Didn’t you love it when Jessica, the future Mrs. Claus, was standing by the fountain in her prim school-marm outfit, and the birds came and undid her bun, so that her hair fell across her shoulders and she looked so beautiful?

I think maybe this is the year we all need to recommit to our Rankin/Bass childhoods. Politics and the war and the economy will have to do without our worrying for a few hours while we cuddle up with Rudolph and Frosty. And while you’re at it, maybe a little Charlie Brown Christmas and It’s a Wonderful Life–what could be wrong with that?

What do you like to watch to pull you back to your childhood?

Technorati Tags: Peter Jackson, Jack Black, King Kong, Rankin/Bass, Rankin/Bass Christmas Specials, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Year Without a Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, The Little Drummer Boy, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Snoopy, Writing, Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, Young Adult Novels

Posted on Saturday, October 28th, 2006 at 9:22 am under Movies & TV, Writing . Subscribe to responses: RSS 2.0 Comment Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.