Ella - The World According To A Disney Doll

Chapter 10 - "Tongue Tied !" - 7th September 2012.

Everyone is excited about movie night, but why is Rocky looking all nervous and on edge thie evening ?  And more to the point, what is he trying to tell me ? ...

You can find the FULL story on my facebook blog here ... https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.151027865051922.35132.150797015075007&type=3

You can check out the music slideshow to this chapter on Youtube here ... http://youtu.be/gIe916nKl3w

Chapter 10 - "Tongue Tied !".

Tonight was ‘Movie Night’, supposedly every now and again when Holly is not using the big tv of an evening a few of the dolls get together to watch a film. This was my first time and I have to say that I was a little excited by it. We extended half of the reclining sofa to get us closer to the screen and gradually the dolls started gathering, in great anticipation of what tonight’s movie might be ?

I had sat myself next door to my good friends Jem & Rio, Jem was becoming very dear to me and had been so kind, supportive and warm in my brief time with the group that she almost felt like the sister I never had! Ok, I know I do have a sister, several infact, but this was different, display dolls and play dolls don’t really spend much, if any, time together and I had not seen either of my sisters in quite a while. Jem however, I had seen almost every day since we first met, we had such a strong bond that for a brief moment I almost wished that I were a Jem doll so that I could really be her sister.

As my adopted sister and I chatted quietly, Rocky arrived and sat himself down next door to me. Rio immediately leaned forward to greet him across us, with a smile and a friendly nod of the head, followed by a rather teasing wink and eyebrow wiggle. I did not see Rocky’s response as I was looking the other way but whatever it was it made Rio smirk and glance in my direction. It got me starting to wonder what the big joke was between these two ? And what did it have to do with me ? I really wanted to ask Jem about it but decided that maybe now was not the best time with everyone else listening in so we continued our chat about Movie Night and I tried to put their odd behaviour out of my head for the moment.

Our conversation turned to the subject of what movie we would be treated to tonight and I was quite fascinated to learn that a different doll picked the film each time and tonights choice would be made by Calamity.

As I was asking Jem what kind of Movies did our favourite cowgirl like? I was interrupted by Rocky

“We already know what she’s going to pick” he proclaimed, sounding rather confident in his voice.

“Oh?” I replied, my interest suddenly piqued by his self assured statement.

“Come on, its Calam we’re talking about here” I found his reply to be somewhat confusing, after all I had never been to movie night before so how was I supposed to know what kind of films Calamity was partial to?

He must have seen by the look on my face that I neither understood nor was convinced by his comment and so he elaborated.

“She’s a Cowgirl doll, she’ll pick a Cowboy film”

Rio then chimed in with “And my money’s on her namesake film”

Rocky chuckled at Rio’s statement and nodded his head in agreement. He then tuned to me and explained

“Calamity Jane … the Movie?” I still looked blank and confused, was there a film about my good doll friend ? Or is there something else here that I wasn’t getting ?

He continued with “She was named after the main character in the film. Its her all time favourite film”

“And she makes us watch it almost every time its her choice” chuckled Rio in reply.

At this point I felt the need to jump in and defend my good friend Calam. After all she might be a bit quirky and country but she was such a kind hearted soul and in my limited experience could often be quite surprising. And I told Rocky just as much finishing with

“Don’t underestimate Calamity, Rocky, she may just surprise you!”

He looked a little touched by my defence of my dear friend as he glanced down and almost slightly nodded his head in reply. The he looked me straight in the eyes and proclaimed

“You’re a loyal friend Ella” and then his face broke into a smirky smile as he jokingly continued “But she’s GONNA pick that film, you just wait”

By this time Jem & Rio were engaged in their own separate discussion and I had hardly noticed that it was just me and Rocky having this conversation alone.

Calamity finally appeared from the DVD shelf with tonights movie pick and as she brought it forward for all to see there was a distinct groan within the group. Apart from Millie who seemed extremely enthusiastic and bounced on her seat a little while clapping her hands and said “Yay” in her usual high pitched squeaky tones.

I sat there and held my hand to my mouth to try and stop myself from giggling out loud and Rocky tried holding his lips close together but could not stop from smiling about it.

Just as they had all predicted Calamity had picked the film that she was named after for our evening entertainment. It was the 1953 musical Calamity Jane, starring Doris Day. She said that it was because I was new to the group and wanted me to see it, but the others knew that wouldn’t have made a difference. She was just Calam, she may be unpredictable in many ways, but it appeared that in movie choices she was not. And her friends knew it too, but loved her all the same.

“Its always a giveaway when she brings Dallas” said Rocky quietly as he leaned over to me. “Calam only brings her along to this one movie”

As he spoke he smiled warmly and I could tell that he was as fond of Calamity as I was, he hadn’t been judging her, or laughing as her film choices, or lack there of. He seemed to find it a lovable trait that someone who seemed so wild and free as Calamity could be so rigid and predictable which seemed somewhat at odds with her personality in general.

As Rocky & I continued to chat, Calam was wrestling with the DVD, trying to load it into the player

“Gets in theyre ya darn squirmin …. Damn!!…. Yous know thiys DVD palayer an me is nowt the beyst of frieynds …. now git” she mumbled to herself as she manoeuvred the disc into place.

Technology and Calamity were not the best of friends it seemed, even when it came to her favourite movie … hmmm this might take a while!

While we waited for Calam to finally get to grips with the DVD player, Rocky and I continued to chat. He scooched over closer to me, so as to not be overheard by the other dolls

“Ella?” he started, sounding unusually sheepish “Theres something I’ve been meaning to say … well not say exactly, I mean ask, yes ask that’s it” he was starting to worry me a little as this was sounding like it could be something important, or perhaps worrying … oh god, he’s got me going now.

“You see, the thing is ..” he continued, still sounding just as disjointed and unsure of what he was trying to say as before “.. the thing is that, well, there is something I wanted to discuss with you … this is going horribly wrong, this is not how I wanted this to sound at all …” I started to feel like we were going in circles, and so far I hadn’t even managed to take part in this whole strange conversation yet either, although considering how it was going that may have been a good thing.

He almost looked like he was about to start sweating, which was kind of odd considering us dolls don’t actually sweat. Then all of a sudden he seemed to manage to find his composure, he looked me straight in the eyes and said with clarity and conviction

“Ella, I was wondering if you might like”

And just at that precise moment he was abruptly interrupted!

 

“Scooch overs Rocky, I’s downt wanna miyss a moment o thiys” exclaimed Calamity excitedly as she promptly squeezed in between Rocky and myself. We were a little startled by her sudden entrance and didn’t quite know what to make of it.

“You’s gonna lurve thiys Ella, yous juyst waiyt” she continued, I genuinely think she had not got a clue that she had just placed herself in the middle of what seemed like, what might have been an important conversation between Rocky & I. But its not like either of us was going to say anything so we just sat there ready to watch the film.

We dimmed the lights and the film started, I have to admit that was not sure what to expect from a cowboy film but within the first few minutes I was already really enjoying myself as everyone seemed to be singing along to the songs, obviously my friends had seen it with Calam soooo many times before that they knew the words by heart. It was so uplifting to hear us all, even including Mr Solemn-Pants himself, Jackson, joining in as we all chanted “Whip crack away, whip crack away, whip crap awaaayyy” and “I just blew in from the windy city, the windy city is a mighty pretty ..”

Infact the more I watched the more I started to realise that a part of Calamity’s thick accent and the way she talked had come from this film. She seemed to know all her characters dialogue and at points did a rather impressive Doris Day impression.

As I looked over at my friend her face was beaming as she watched, she was almost glowing and sooo totally engrossed in the film that I think she would have not noticed if the house had exploded around her.

It was part way through, during one of the non-singing bits that I heard a voice coming from behind

“Psssst .. pssssst Ella?” It was Rocky leaning back behind Calamity trying to get my attention.

I didn’t really want to miss any of the film, but at the same time did not want to be rude, and so I leaned across and whispered softly, as not to disturb Calam “Yes Rocky, what is it ?”

“How are you liking the film so far then?” He replied nervously, I could not believe that he had interrupted me for something so trivial, but he was being so sweet I thought it best not to scold him

“Great so far” I said “But I’m sort of missing it talking to you” I added, then I started to wonder if that was the wrong thing to have said, after all he was just being nice even if his timing was a little flawed.

He looked a little hurt, but smiled and nodded in reply, almost to signal that he had got the message, although I was still worried that he had taken it in the wrong way, as I really honestly did not mean to offend him.

As I turned back to continue watching the film I could feel he was still watching me for a little while and I started to wonder, had i done the right thing ?

The rest of the film was silent, well apart form the obligatory sing-alongs and general merriment from watching a musical. It was an absolute blast with our whole little quirky mismatched family taking part together, and I realised that Calamity had picked the absolute perfect movie for us to watch, I mean anything that can get Jackson joining in is by far no mean feat. Infact I think Calam is much more astute and clever than the rest of the gang gave her credit for, as I had never before seen us all so as one.

On a side note, it was a great film and I would highly recommend it, if like me, you love musicals.