Five Nonsense Kids Character Names Explained

JeanneSager — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:27:00 GMT

Sometimes the names they give to our kids’ favorite characters sound like they had a kid in on production. I mean, Pikachu? I say Gesundheit.

But listening to Mike Myers explain the Yiddish origins of everyone’s favorite ogre on NPR’s Fresh Air last week made me wonder – are all characters like onions? Do they all have layers? Thanks to my anal retentive side and too much time to spend in front of my computer, I offer up the first edition of children’s character names explained.

Shrek: According to his creator, his name came not from the swamp but the Yiddish word for “scary.” We’ll trust the former Linda Richman on that one – after all, if we ask too much she might get a little ferklempt.

Pikachu: I always thought the yellow Pokemon had a rodent-look to him, and no wonder. Pikachu loosely translates to “Electric Sparkling Mouse” in Japanese. Known for storing electric in his puffy cheeks and a tail that looks more like a bolt of lighting shooting out of his rodent rear, we could boogie woogie woogie with that description.

Lightning McQueen: Since we’re on the subject, lightning is an obvious name for a fast car. But the source of Cars’ sexy red racer’s surname is often mistaken. He was dubbed “McQueen” not for bad boy actor Steve who spent many a movie shifting gears but for Pixar animator Glenn McQueen, who died in 2002 from skin cancer.

Nemo: The movie that proved even a scaredy clownfish can take on the big bad ocean, Finding Nemo is technically named for “no one.” At least that’s the Latin translation of “Nemo.” We’ll take it from the seagulls – he might be no one, but our kids wish he was “mine, mine, mine.”

Winnie the Pooh: A secondhand name is just fine for a bear of very little brain. Winnie is short for Winnipeg, the hometown of a Canadian soldier who gave his black bear of the same name to the London Zoo. That’s where author A.A. Milne and son Christopher Robin (natch) met the friendly female who Milne later immortalized in print. Pooh, by the way, is also secondhand – it was the moniker of the real Christopher Robin’s pet swan.

More to come . . .

Image: Dan-Dare

Strollerderby Playdate: Why Mary Poppins Is The . . . Best . . . Kids' . . . Movie . . . Ever

Amy S.F. Lutz — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:09:00 GMT

It's hardly news that Disney movies - especially the more recent ones, from The Little Mermaid forward - are so full of scary villains, murder scenes, and orphaned babies that it's a wonder more kids aren't traumatized for life from watching them. Still, I rather enjoyed this post on Adventures With Gretchen on everything else her kids learned from The Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo, including how the only important thing in life is to find the right man and how to break your parents' hearts by telling them you hate them.

Really, I was just happy for an excuse to launch into one of my favorite rants, about how Mary Poppins is the best movie ever made for children, and my constant musing why more kids' movies don't follow that model: NO death, NO bad guys, NO scary parts. Yet the movie still manages to be vastly entertaining, due to its fantastic music and charming performances.

So I throw down the gauntlet: can anyone think of a more successful kids' movie than Mary Poppins? And by success I don't mean box-office success, I mean success in creating a product so perfectly tailored to the whimsical tastes of children I suspect my great-grandkids will love it just as much fifty years from now as my kids love it today.

Strollerderby : Finding Nemo

Five Nonsense Kids Character Names Explained

Strollerderby Playdate: Why Mary Poppins Is The . . . Best . . . Kids' . . . Movie . . . Ever