Donkeys in the Neighborhood

Mr. Rogers as some are wont to say was "some serious whack shit". Years ago our little family watched Fred's Hood as often as PBS would air it which was pretty often and I still marvel at how head-scratchingly weird it was, what with the quick wardrobe change/piano bar intro and the completely unfunny visits to The Kingdom or whatever the hell it was. (I could Wikipedia Mr. Roger's Neighborhood but I'm not sure I really want to go there. Do you? I mean, if you want we could drop a little orange sunshine and make a day of it. If we're lucky we might end up permanently altered! )

Mr. Rogers also possessed awesome powers. Namely, the power to get small people to believe that inanimate objects, usually puppets in the form of animals, could talk. And who's to say that he didn't have the power to actually make inanimate objects talk! Sure, that old owl in the tree has a twisted backwoods twang that young Fred probably picked up working after hours in the fishing camp, pleasuring the crackers and their walleyed cousins. It was probably during those moments that young Fred started imagining that the hunting trophies on the wall were talking to him, telling him everything was going to be all right and that someday he would be able to walk normally again. You can't help but feel sorry for the late, great Mr. Rogers after those brutal summers in the Ozarks but as so often happens great art is born of great pain. Ow. Hurts just to think about it.

Just as it hurts to think about Eddie Murphy what he has done to talking donkeys all over the world. I know for a fact that not every donkey is an obnoxious, rude, uncivil, flatulent butt waggler like Eddie's Donkey. How do I know? Take a look at this rare video of the incredibly shy and reclusive Donker as he politely shares in the evening meal of a hungry house pet.

There is a good chance that without Fred Rogers and Eddie Murphy this video could not have been made! Wow. Think about that for maybe 10 seconds. Or not.