Happy Kitty Bunny Pony
September 30th, 2008A Saccharine Mouthful of Super Cute
by Charles S. Anderson Design Co. with text by Michael J. Nelson
ISBN: 0810992000
This book is outrageous.
That is pretty much the point: consider the subtitle. It’s full of unreal colors, plastic, toys both super creepy and super cute, and weird portrayals of animals. It dishes out nostalgia (anyone else remember sharp-edged inflatable toys?) and it will make you laugh.
The real secret of the book isn’t the dubious pleasure of looking at the bizarre toys or oddly anthropomorphized animals, but in the captions. Oh yes, the unexpected zing of what passes for narrative amid supersaturated ultra-cuteness:
If you open an umbrella near a pony, it is likely to startle and stomp you to death. Ponies are far less enchanting when you are beneath them, being crushed by their hooves.
…and of course, Chester the 13-Striped Ground Squirrel Who Will Distract You and Then Drive a 16-Penny Nail Into the Back of Your Neck.
Well, late at night, armies of ferrets, who are in pay of the Easter Bunny, swarm into chicken houses everywhere and steal as many eggs as they can.
This book has, is cuteness that can (and does) cross the line over into repugnant, but is fascinating for it. Recommended in small doses, unless you crave a crazy kitsch factor, in which case go ahead and overdose with this.
