HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC — a program in VOA Special Englishabout music and American life. And we answer your questions.
(THEME)
This is Doug Johnson. This week, we answer a question about apopular American television show. And we play music from the singerand songwriter known as Seal. But first – birthday wishes to theworld’s most recognizable rodent.
Mickey Mouse at 75
HOST:
Mickey Mouse has celebrated his seventy-fifth birthday. He firstappeared in November of nineteen-twenty-eight. The Disney Companyhonored his birthday with a big party in Orlando, Florida. SteveEmber has more about the mouse and the man who created him.
ANNCR:
Walt Disney was born innineteen-oh-one. As a young man he hoped to become a movie produceror director. But he could not find a job. So he decided to makeanimated movies. In traditional animation, cartoonists draw eachimage by hand. They draw picture after picture, each one a littledifferent from the last, to create movement.
Walt Disney believed animated characters could be just as popularas real actors. He decided he needed a cartoon hero. So he createdMickey Mouse. The mouse had big eyes and ears. He stood on two legslike a human. On his hands he wore white gloves.
Mickey Mouse first appeared in nineteen-twenty-eight in the movie”Steamboat Willie.” He was known then as Mortimer Mouse. Innineteen-thirty-two, Walt Disney produced the first cartoon filmedin the full-color process called Technicolor. This movie was called”Flowers and Trees.” It starred Mickey Mouse. Both the mouse andWalt Disney became famous.
Over the years, children read Mickey Mouse comics in newspapersand played with Mickey Mouse toys. They watched the “Mickey MouseClub” on television. People checked the time of day on their MickeyMouse watches and used Mickey Mouse telephones.
Mickey Mouse has had a lot of cultural influence. Too much, somesay. But these days, products with another Disney character, Winniethe Pooh, sell better than Mickey.
In two-thousand-four, the Disney Company will release the firstfull-length movie starring Mickey Mouse and other characters. Then,the next year, Mickey is to appear in his first computer animatedfilm. Both movies will be released only on video.
And, next summer, the United States Postal Service will start tohonor Disney characters with postage stamps. Guess who goes first.
Smallville and Metropolis
HOST:
Our VOA listener question this week comes from Vietnam. DongPhuong asks about a program on Vietnamese television — the Americanshow “Smallville.” That is the name of a town in the show. Peoplewho live there sometimes talk about a big city, Metropolis. Ourlisteners asks, “Where are these two places?”
The answer is, nowhere. At leastnot on a map. Smallville is the hometown of Clark Kent, better knownas … Superman.
The story of Superman goes back to nineteen-thirty-three, duringthe Great Depression. Jerry Siegel was a high school student inCleveland, Ohio. He came up with the idea of an action hero namedSuperman. He asked his friend, Joe Shuster, to make a series ofpictures to tell the story.
They also formed a business, called DC Comics. The companypublished picture magazines for children. These comics were apopular form of entertainment during the Depression. The imaginaryheroes helped people forget the poor economic times.
In nineteen-thirty-eight, DCComics published its first Superman magazine for just ten cents.Within two years there was a Superman radio program. That led tobooks, television shows and movies. Superman comics are sold in morethan thirty countries and in many different languages. People canbuy Superman clothes, toys and other products. And lately there isthe TV show “Smallville.” This is where Superman grew up, a small,imaginary town in the state of Kansas. The show is about his life asa young man. During this time, he discovers who he really is andwhat superhuman powers he has.
Superman is from the planet Krypton. When he was a boy, hisfather sent him to Earth to save him from an explosion thatdestroyed their world. John and Mary Kent, a couple in Smallville,discover him and raise him as their own. They name him Clark. Intime, Clark Kent learns that he must move to the big city,Metropolis, to discover his true purpose in life.
In Metropolis, he works at a newspaper — that is, when he is notfighting evil as Superman. The woman in his life is Lois Lane,another reporter at the paper.
Superman stands for “truth, justice and the American way.” He hasbeen a part of American culture for seventy years. He holds a placeJoe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, those two boys from Ohio, neverdreamed possible.
Seal
HOST:
The singer and songwriter known as Seal has received praise frommusic critics and fans since his first release innineteen-ninety-one. Now he is out with his fourth album. PhoebeZimmerman tells us more.
ANNCR:
Sealhenry Samuel was born in London, to Brazilian and Nigerianparents. The forty-year-old singer calls himself a citizen of theworld.
His first album was called “Seal.” His second album was alsocalled “Seal.” It was released in nineteen ninety-four. It includedthe hit song “Kiss from a Rose.” That song won three Grammy awards.
(MUSIC)
His third album was “Human Being.” And now his fourth release iscalled “Seal IV” [Seal Four]. Fans had to wait five years for thisCD. Seal says he wanted to make the album as good as it could be.Here is “Waiting for You.”
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Seal combines popular music with soul, rock and other forms tocreate lively dance songs. His songs deal with social issues;”Prayer for the Dying” was about AIDS. And they tell about love.From “Seal IV” we leave you with “Get It Together.”
(MUSIC)
HOST:
This is Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed AMERICAN MOSAIC todayand will join us again next week for VOA’s radio magazine in SpecialEnglish.
This program was written by Jerilyn Watson, Jill Moss and LawanDavis. Paul Thompson was the producer. And our engineer was Andrius Regis.