1985
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Muffy
Muffy is out at her cousin Mort's farm. But this isn't a social visit. She is there to write her autobiography, "The Story of Muffy." Seated near the cow pasture, she is typing it on her tiny typewriter. She decides to start with a chapter about how she lost her old home and came to live at the department store.
(Flashback to "Our Story, Part 1" From "A Mouse Without a House" to Muffy's arrival at the store)
"So that's the end of Chapter One," says Muffy, "Now my adventures have begun. Oh! But how can I write Chapter Two when all I hear is moo, moo, moo?" she complains. She decides she'll have to find another spot to write. She has already decided what to write next. "Chapter Two I'm sure will please, it's all about my love of cheese."
(Flashback to "Dinosaurs," the "Cheese" song).
Muffy has found a new place to write. She has set up her typewriter and put up a little umbrella for shade. She even has a piece of hay between her teeth.
"Now, let us start on Chapter Three, about the time I tried to see the stars at night - Oh, they were charming! - But what happened then was most alarming!"
(Flashback to "Space," the arrival of XL7 Zed ("Fred"), a mouse from outer space)
"My friends did not believe in Fred. They thought it was a trick instead. They laughed at me, thought I was cute, and each one dressed in a space suit. The more they laughed, the more I said that I would go along with Fred. Soon I would ride to outer space and leave the store without a trace!"
("Flashback to "Space," when Jeff, Jodie and Sam realize that there must be a Fred and they think Muffy has gone with him, to the end when they sing "Across the Sky.")
"I couldn't go to space, you see. I love my friends, and they love me." she explains. Just then, a buzzing fly ruins her idyllic writing spot. Trying to swat it, she accidentally hits her typewriter keys, typing Chapter glu pty g#@Goo. "They told me writing would be tough!" she says in frustration. Just then an apple lands on her head. "But does it have to be so rough?"
Next we see Muffy with a wheelbarrow, apparently helping out by moving some hay. She fantasizes about her coming fame as an author, but realizes this can only happen if she can find a peaceful spot to write in.
She finally chooses the henhouse, unwittingly sitting on some eggs and scaring away the hens. Unaware of this, she settles down to write Chapter Four, where she talks about the time she had a very sore throat and had to go to the hospital and have an operation.
(Flashback to "Hospitals" as Muffy lays in bed and tells us how sore her throat is.)
"My throat got worse and worse and worse, Sam tried to help, just like a nurse. But his first aid backfired instad, he put the bandage on his head. But when the doctor came to see, she thought that Sam was sick, not me!"
(Flashback to "Hospitals," when the doctor examines Muffy and sings, "I'll Operate on this Mouse.")
Suddenly, Muffy feels something tickling her feet. Now she realizes she has been sitting on eggs, and that the chicks have hatched - and think she's their mother! She decides to leave so that their mother will come and take care of them.
Her new writing place is the pig sty. "Well, I've found another place that's swell, provided you don't mind the smell!" Unfortunately, she takes a tumble into the mud. It doesn't dampen her spirits, however.
"Muffy Mouse will not give in, although there's mud up to her chin! I'll wash it off until I'm adorable, and write about that Mr. Horrible. Remember him, that dirty louse! He tried to kidnap Muffy Mouse!"
(Flashback to "Lost and Found" Herman T. Horrible telling Muffy why he has captured her to be in his amazing carnival, singing "I've Never Had a Talking Mouse Before.")
"My friends they found me just in time. That villain paid for his nasty crime. And by the way, I washed my face, and found another typing place." She's now sitting on a pile of hay. Next, she decides that Chapter Six will be about the time she accidentally turned Sam and Jodie into mannequins, and then shrunk Jeff when he was trying to reverse the spell.
(Flashback to "Pianos" in which a tiny Jeff plays the piano with his feet to reverse the spell).
"The final chapter's now in sight. But I'm not sure what I should write. Perhaps the best way I should end, is with a song about my friend." She's talking about Mort, her cousin.
(Flashback to the song "A Friend Like You," from "Sharing.")
Suddenly, we hear an engine start up. "Did I feel this haystack move?" Muffy says. "Oh, my place to type is moving, yipe!" It turns out the haystack is on a truck and the truck is driving away. "This rumbling my suspicions prove. Oh! I forgot to look around. I thought this hay was on the ground. Oh, I hope we're going to the store! Meanwhile, I'll just write some more. For now I know just what to say, with all the adventures we've had today."
Off the truck goes, with Muffy in the back, typing away.
Quizzes:
Nursery Rhyme:
Notes:
- Like "Jeff," "Muffy" had some revisionist history. In the middle of the flashbacks from "Space" Muffy says that the teasing of her friends made her think of leaving the store and joining Fred on his home planet. Actually, Muffy would have only gone with Fred if he had allowed Jeff, Jodie and Muffy to come with her. The scene they show, of Muffy rushing upstairs, makes it look as if Muffy was rushing to join Fred on the roof, when, in actuality, she was only rushing up to give him her picture and a piece of cheddar cheese so he could prove that he had found life in outer space. Muffy's friends only thought she was leaving.
- The idea that Sam had accidentally bandaged his own head in his attempt to help Muffy is another inaccurate one. Sam accidentally bandaged his head while playing with the bandages left over from when Jodie was practicing her first aid on Jeff. This happened before Sam even knew Muffy was sick.
- All in all, however, "Muffy" worked well. Because she was writing her autobiography, there was a logical reason for all the flashbacks.
- Muffy's comments about the pig sty were right on the mark. Though pigs are not really dirty, merely wallowing in the mud to keep cool, they do smell, especially to a city person's nose.
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