Griffith, Cornelia And Firewall: From Pinball Wizard to Majestic Griffith

Over the past few weeks, I have been listening to lots of music from the Sixties and Seventies.  A particular favorite of mine is The Who's 1969 song "Pinball Wizard."  I thought, "I'll be clever and make my own Pinball Wizard character."  Then I Googled Pinball Wizard and discovered that had been done already (a lot of times---A LOT).  With that Wizard in mind, I started thinking of other mythical type characters I could make into human characters.  The other logical choices were a griffin, unicorn and a dragon.

I'm not exactly sure what it is that Griffith, Cornelia and Firewall do, but I think that it involves money, and collecting treasure, and being funny.  Details, details...

Griffith (based on a griffin) is the main character here and is kind of a grouch.  I don't know much about mysterious Cornelia (based on a unicorn) except that she sounds like a horse neighing when she giggles.  Bold and brash Firewall (based on a dragon) needs a voice that is intimidating, cool and booming: so Keith David ("Goliath" in Disney's Gargoyles) would be perfect to play him.

I came up with a name, a logo and more characters for Griffith to interact with.  Majestic Griffith could also be called Majestic Griffith: Middle Ages.

Griffith is a divorced, middle-aged dad who is also an action hero/adventurer security guard.  Griffith's ex-wife is Harper (inspired by a harpie), and I created her with the idea of Annie Potts playing her.  Griffith and Harper have a son named "Izzy" Izzard (voiced in my head by Derek Richardson from Anger Management).  Izzy is based on the "Pinball Wizard" character idea that started all these characters.

Firewall is the focal point of the world of Majestic Griffith and he is definitely inspired by Benedict Cumberbatch's Smaug from The Hobbit (as well as Disney's Scrooge McDuck).

Writing characters that are flawed and bitter is fun, especially when they are whimsical, too.

Though they are divorced, I think Griffith and Harper are still in love.  Maybe because they can be brutally honest with each other.

Griffith has a lot of conflict in his life, including a cocky, pelvis-swiveling rival named Gus (a character inspired by a Pegasus and Conrad Birdie from Bye Bye Birdie).

 The "innocent" power-hungry Cornelia is his partner in crime.

Mannox is a bullish guy with a personality the size of Texas.  He is based on a Minotaur.

Dr. Ojo Rojo, O.D. is a diabolical eye doctor based on a Cyclops (additional inspiration came from a sun-burned bald spot I got a couple years ago).

Nestor McLoch is boxer (based on the Loch Ness Monster).

Blaise is a pyromaniac firefighter, based on a Phoenix.  Before settling on the name "Blaise", the character was also known as Pyro Byrd, Fireman Byrd, and Ashton Phynixx.

Uncontrollable Underbridge is based on a Troll.  In my mind, Underbridge is voiced by Ty Burrell (from Modern Family).  This character went through many, many different design ideas and was originally going to be "Comptroller Underbridge."  I was worried that nobody would know what a Comptroller was (I'm not even sure what it is, really).

Lawnmower Nomad is based on a Gnome.  A Lawn Gnome (get it?!).  These hooligans are always up to no good.

Top Secret Agent Proto (Triceratops/Protoceratops), Tyrell (T-Rex) and Dax (Pterodactyl) are "plot twist villains" based on dinosaurs.  Tyrell also happens to be based on someone I know who used to work for a country club golf course.

It may seem totally random to have dinosaur-based characters in Majestic Griffith, but it is not.  Dinosaurs can be seen as the inspiration for stories of dragons and griffins.  Bones of the beaked Protoceratops, for example, fueled the tales of the mythical Griffin.

I Am Pete's Dragon, Hear Me Roar Like Helen Reddy

There's a port on a western bay and it serves a hundred ships a day.  Lonely sailors pass the time away and talk about their homes.  And there's a girl in this harbor town and she works layin' whiskey down.  They say "Brandy, fetch another round".  She serves them whiskey and wine.  The sailors say "Brandy, you're a fine girl (you're a fine girl!)!  What a good wife you would be (such a fine girl!)!  Yeah, your eyes could steal a sailor from the sea!"

Brandy wears a braided chain, made of finest silver from the North of Spain.  A locket that bears the name of a man that Brandy loves.  He came on a summer's day, bringing gifts from far away.  But he made it clear he couldn't stay.  The harbor was his home.  Yeah, Brandy used to watch his eyes when he told his sailor stories.  She could feel the ocean foam rise.  She saw its ragin' glory.  But he had always told the truth, lord he was an honest man.  And Brandy does her best to understand.

At night, when the bars close down, Brandy walks through a silent town.  And loves a man who's not around.  She still can hear him say: "Brandy, you're a fine girl (you're a fine girl!).  What a good wife you would be (such a fine girl!).  But my life, my lover, my lady is the sea."---Elliot Lurie, writer and composer of the 1972 Looking Glass song Brandy (You're a Fine Girl).

It's fitting that Brandy was written by someone named Elliot, because whenever I hear this song, it reminds me of Nora (Helen Reddy) in the 1977 Walt Disney Productions film Pete's Dragon.  Nora, of course, lost her man to the sea.  And she spends time with drunks in a bar, including her dad Lampie (Mickey Rooney).  Nora adopts Pete (Sean Marshall) and Pete's animated dragon, Elliott.

Elliott was a big deal in the late 1970s and early 1980s.  In the Disney universe, he is widely known because of his appearance in The Main Street Electrical Parade at Disneyland in California and at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida.

Pete and Elliott have many foes.  Luckily, Elliott can breathe fire.

Pete's Dragon is full of wild characters like abusive matriarch Lena Gogan (Shelley Winters), a potential dragon-murderer named Dr. Terminus (Jim Dale) and tipsy henchman Hoagy (Red Buttons).

There's some great songs here, including Brazzle Dazzle Day and Candle on the Water.

Thankfully, Elliott saved the day in Pete's Dragon with his pyromaniac tendencies.  He also reunited Nora with her fiance, Paul.  No such luck for Brandy.

Elliott has appeared on quite a bit of groovy merchandise.

Canadians found Pete's Dragon character prizes in boxes of Nabisco Shreddies Cereal (there were different color toys of Elliott, Lampie and Pete).

In Pete's Dragon, the horrible schoolteacher dismisses Pete's idea of having a dragon by saying "Dragon Wagon!"  This phrase was actually used in a (non-Disney) 1977 "C.B. Iron On" promotion for Honeycomb Cereal.

These days, the characters from Star Wars are now part of the Disney universe.  And proving it is a small world after all, Helen Reddy is part of the Star Wars universe.  She appeared in the 2007 "Blue Harvest" Star Wars episode of Family Guy.  Red Buttons is there, too!