Chapter Thirteen: Time Zone – 2010
(After Temporal Displacement)
It’s the time of your life
you don’t want him to stop
on right here and now!
you don’t want him to stop
on right here and now!
There’s so many reasons why
you don’t wanna stop
it’s your chance, live it up!
you don’t wanna stop
it’s your chance, live it up!
And everything you do
celebrate you!
celebrate you!
The upbeat music rang through the speakers built into each of the floats that resembled giant gift-wrapped packages and passed through
(Pop Culture Note: By fan perspective, the very first time the Muppets had ever visited Disney World was in The Magical World of Disney television special "The Muppets at Walt Disney World," which aired May 6, 1990 - ten days before Jim Henson's death.)
“When
did they add all of this?!” Gonzo
exclaimed, observing the entire scene with Scooter and Fozzie from the heart of
Main Street.
Fozzie
concurred with Gonzo’s puzzlement. “Yeah, where are Mickey, Donald, and Goofy?”
“I
don’t know, but we have more important things to focus on, like finding that
beast!” Scooter reminded them, holding the “Mind Control Spray” canister up high.
“When we find him, we’ll spray this stuff right into his face and take him back
to the Theater with us.”
“How’re
we supposed to find a big, hairy beast in The
Magic Kingdom, Scooter?” Fozzie inquired.
Suddenly
the three Muppets were greeted with surprise, when a man wearing a “Goofy Hat”
approached out of nowhere, accompanied by his two children (a boy dressed as a
pirate and a girl dressed as a princess). He tapped Gonzo on the shoulder and
asked, “Excuse me. Would it be okay if my kids and I got a photo with you guys?
We are huge fans!”
Scooter
wanted to tell the man that it was not the right time, but Gonzo and Fozzie
seemed too ecstatic to turn him down. “Why, sure! We’re always happy to please
our fans!” Gonzo said on their behalf, right before he and Fozzie started
posing with the children. Scooter just stood by and watched, shaking his head.
That
was when the gofer heard a familiar voice calling out to him from the distance.
“Scooter! Scooter!” He immediately turned his head and spotted Joanie stepping
out from underneath a stone archway with Kermit, Robin, and a few other
unfamiliar characters, including the crazy spaceman he met earlier. Needless to
say, Scooter was very delighted in seeing them there, meaning that they had
more help in finding and obtaining the escaped beast.
However,
Scooter was not the only one happy to see them, as several tourists took notice
of the sudden appearance by Kermit the Frog and Buzz Lightyear and began
crowding around both of them. Buzz grinned at all of the public attention he
was getting from the adults and children in the weird hats, glasses, and
costumes. Each of them seemed to have known his name, as well as Kermit’s, and
it made him feel somewhat giddy – although he was not absolutely certain why.
Turning to Kermit, he said, “My reputation certainly seems to get around on
this planet. These humanoids worship me as much as they do you, little frogman.
Are you their official leader?”
(Real World Note: Buzz's entry into the park would not have been allowed looking the way he does, despite being the real Buzz Lightyear. Outside of Halloween events, it is against regulation for park guests to dress up as Disney characters while visiting the Disney Parks. Guests wearing costumes will be asked to change clothes before being admitted to the park or escorted from the park if they change while inside.)
“Er…yeah…you
could say that,” answered Kermit, as he took an autograph book from a kid and
signed his name.
Pepe
and Rizzo shook their heads at the lack of attention they seemed to be getting
from the greatly enthusiastic crowd. “Well, what’re we? Chopped livah?” Rizzo
muttered in anger.
“No
one respects de new remix, okay.” Pepe added in his own frustration.
Ignoring
the crowd, Joanie walked away from them with Sean, Ciciley, Robin, Pepe, and
Rizzo at her side, approaching Scooter. As she approached, the gofer expressed
his surprise in seeing her there. “What happened to you? We thought you were
gone forever.” He then noticed the two young humans and the two unknown Muppets
accompanying her and asked, “And who are they?”
“They’re
friends I met on the other side from this time.” Joanie said.
Scooter
got caught on the last two words in her statement. “This time?!”
Joanie
seemed a little surprised from his confusion. “Didn’t Bunsen tell you? We’ve
been sent to the year 2010.”
The
gofer did a double take. “Say what?!?!”
“Hey,
Scooter!” The voice of Gonzo snapped him out of the state of shock he was put
into upon hearing the revelation, and he looked to see the weirdo and Fozzie
standing next to the beast…or at least a tamer
version of him in the form of a costumed character. Gonzo and Fozzie had him by
the paws, appearing to be holding him down while the character just looked on
in confusion. “We got him, Scooter!”
“Yeah,
spray him just like you planned!” Fozzie excitedly added.
(Authorial Note: This was Livingston's favorite joke to write in this scene, as it felt like a classic example of what the Muppets would do in the situation they were in with a once-animated Disney character trapped in a Disney World theme park.)
Watching
the two “brave” Muppets take on the “beast,” Scooter again shook his head in
despair. He could hear Pepe behind him as he had done so, telling him, “Dis is
why jou have us here.”
RRRRAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!!!!
The
roar echoed throughout every section of the theme park and, for the first
time ever, every living soul stopped, stood, and fell silent. Not a sound was
made anywhere – save for some thrill rides that were still in motion. Another
roar followed and everyone realized that it was coming from the top of
Cinderella’s Castle. All heads turned in the direction of the majestic icon of
the park and a collection of gasps were a better expression than the mixed
reaction amongst the park guests, as they saw a beastly figure crawling around the roof of the castle, looking like
a reminiscent of King Kong. It was the same beastly
creature that Joanie and her friends were currently seeking after.
(Authorial Note: The allusion to King Kong with the Beast atop of Cinderella's Castle is inspired by the reference made at the end of the 1933 film with the classic line "It was Beauty who killed the Beast.")
Joanie
quickly turned her attention to Buzz, who was still surrounded by his “adoring
fans” that were also enthralled by the beastly
creature atop of Cinderella’s Castle. “Buzz! Time to bust a groove!”
Buzz
seemed a little perplexed from her strange command. “I beg your pardon?!”
Joanie
rolled her eyes and clarified her words to the space ranger. “Get to the top of
that castle and take care of the beast!”
“Spray
him with this!” Scooter added while
tossing the “Mind Control Spray” canister over to him.
Buzz
flawlessly caught the item and held it firmly in his right hand before
directing his attention to the people around him. “Stand back, everyone. You
don’t want to be in the way when my boosters go off.”
(Pop Culture Note: Toy Story fans will recognize this line from Buzz as a play on that by him from his introductory scene in regards to his laser.)
After Kermit and the
tourists acknowledged his order and gave him plenty of space, he looked to the
heavens and activated the wings to his suit. A loud hum came from within it as
streams of white smoke poured out fast and heavy from the bottom of the wings.
It was a sight that Ciciley, Kermit, Robin, and Pepe all recognized during
their visit into the Beauty and the Beast
realm. All that was missing was the space ranger’s iconic “battle cry,” which
soon followed afterward once he exclaimed, “To
infinity and beyond!!!”
The
space ranger then took to the sky, soaring high above Main Street, U.S.A.
It
was that moment when he was reminded of an alternative way through the castle,
which he quickly shared with Joanie. “There’s another way to get up there, but
to do it, we’ll have to be real
sneaky.”
“How
do ya think Gonzo, Fozzie, and I were able to get in?” Scooter inquired.
The
gofer made that inquiry at the exact moment he heard Fozzie complimenting
the other “beast.” “Wow, your fur is
so smooth and soft! Where do you go to get your grooming handled?”
Scooter
cringed and told Sean with a sense of desolation, “Forget I said anything.”
A
large crowd of riders exited out of the Fantasyland 3-D attraction known as
“Mickey’s PhilharMagic,” dispensing their 3-D glasses. Amongst them were
Kimberly and Meagan Thomas, the latter of whom did not seem to enjoy the
attraction that much. She wiped her blue eyes and blinked repeatedly before
expressing her dissatisfaction into words. “Okay, now I remember why I hate 3-D
rides so much. They are serious murder to the eyes, dude. Aw, man!”
Ignoring
Meagan’s complaints, Kim pulled out the park map from her purse and glanced
over the detailed layout of the Magic Kingdom Tracy
“Haunted Mansion for the fiftieth time today?”
Meagan said with a grin.
“You
know it!” Kim exclaimed, sharing a high-five with her sister.
(Authorial Note: This Haunted Mansion reference is an inside joke to Kimberly Nicole and Meagan Forney's involvement in Livingston's Disney Ghostbusters series, which at one point was planned to feature the actual "Haunted Mansion.")
Before
the two girls could start moving, a tall blonde woman in her mid-forties rushed
up to them, coming from the direction that they were only seconds from moving
into. “Hey, hey! I’m glad that I found you two!”
Kim
and Meagan both seemed surprised from her sudden appearance. “Tracy
“And
I’m glad you didn’t, because the grooviest show is happening right now at
Cinderella’s Castle!” Tracy
Meagan
scoffed her cousin’s words. “What is it? Story time with the Disney
Princesses?”
------------------------
RRRRAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!!!!
The ferocious beast clung onto one of the towers of
Cinderella’s Castle, roaring to the heavens. He was angry because he was
confused of all that was happening around him. No longer was he within the safe
haven that was his own castle. The particular one he was roaring over greatly
resembled it, but at the moment he realized that it was not his castle, he grew
angrier. Neither did it help that several people standing around the castle
were staring at him in amusement.
(Pop Culture Note: Between 2011 and 2014, the Fantasyland section of the Magic Kingdom park underwent an expansion that saw new attractions and restaurants, including an area themed to Beauty and the Beast featuring Beast's castle with a sit-down restaurant and Belle's cottage.)
Come to see the
monster, have you? Well, go on…TAKE A LOOK!!!
RRRRAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!!!!
(Authorial Note: Another enjoyment Livingston had in writing this chapter was the perspective of the Disney characters in the real world setting. Beast's particular inner thoughts were an interesting aspect to examine with his authentic transformation exposed in a public venue, unaware of his own popularity.)
This roar came much fiercer than the last, forcing some
of the audience of observing tourists to stand back a little.
“That’ll be enough for today, hairy creature!!”
Coming out of nowhere, the voice completely took the
beast by surprise, as he searched all around for it, until his eyes locked with
a very peculiar figure that stood atop a tower across from the one that the
beast was clinging to. The figure put on a heroic pose while glaring at the
beast. More than before was the beast confused, and because he was so, he grew
more ferocious and angry. He roared at question at the unusual visitor, “Who
are you?!”
“I am Buzz Lightyear of Star Command! And you are
committing a Code 17 – disturbing the peace! Now if you just come quietly, I
won’t be forced to…”
RRRRAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!!!!
(Authorial Note: Livingston had fun with this interaction between Buzz and the Beast, taking a realistic approach to how the two would respond to each other, since they are from completely different worlds. In another interesting twist, Beast is perceived as the villain, while Buzz is the hero.)
Without warning, the beast suddenly charged at the space
ranger, leaping off from the tower and soaring over to the one Buzz was on.
However, Buzz proved to be much faster than the beast anticipated, jumping out
of harm’s way just in time and executing a perfect somersault before landing
onto another rooftop. The beast clasped onto the adjacent tower, inadvertently
causing its lower half to crack under his extreme weight. Unbeknownst to the
two characters, portions of the were not exactly made out of real stone as they believed it to have
been, leaving their confrontation to take a dangerous turn at any moment.
Buzz aimed his laser at the head of the beast and warned,
“Don’t make me use this, creature.” He then indicated the canister that he was
still holding and added, “Because I really
want to use this…whatever it is.”
“You will not be using anything on me!!” The beast declared, before lunged at the space
ranger again with another fierce roar.
(UP NEXT: The castle confrontation continues!)
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