#also mod wowf

[undergroundbillions]

I have a new favorite Russian Rag Dolly fact! Courtesy of Mod Wowf I'm just pulling it all together.

Bear with me because first I have to tell you about a completely different character.

Buratino is a Russian children's book character based on Pinnochio, and it's ubiquitous pop culture in that area of the world. The most popular designs are based on the 1975 movie The Adventures of Buratino, and similar to older live-action adaptations of Pinnochio (and Rag Dolly!) it's full of fun campy costumes. Buratino himself is known for his long nose (of course) and red striped cap!

What does this have to do with Rag Dolly? Well, just like how in the USA a generic marionette is likely to end up with lederhosen and a feathered hat, or a generic rag doll with red hair and a blue dress, he's become a recognizable and familiar design! Which is where you get Rag Dolly costumes like this:

Saratov Academic Kiselev Youth Theatre: Rag Dolly (2014)

Yes, that's Andy, and yes, that's also undoubtedly Buratino!

I have another one for you!

Sorry for the bad quality, but this is from the International Slavic Institute's Rag Doll (year unknown) and that stand-in for Baby is clearly Pierrot!

There's more, like a Red Fang that is likely inspired by the poodle Artemon in his big curly wig, and several clown costumed Andys that may take inspiration from the clown Arlekin! I just think it's so interesting to see other culture's iconic characters and the way their recognizable designs are so commonly used.

-𝕸𝖔𝖉 𝕲𝖊𝖓𝖊𝖗𝖆𝖑 𝕯.

#apparently the creation of buratino was also encouraged by Natalya Sats! #i've got a big board covered with photos and red yarn #thank you mod wowf for most of this info #and some of the photos #im obsessed with this #russian rag dolly #rag dolly musical #rag dolly broadway #raggedy ann revival effort #buratino #the adventures of buratino

[undergroundbillions]

Mexico sung by Scott Schafer & the 1985 demo cast of Raggedy Ann, programmed onto a New Rock Afire Explosion Looney Bird, window version.

go check this the HELL out seriously i'm obsessed that people can just. do this.

#raggedy ann musical #raggedy ann broadway #animatronics #rockafire explosion #rock afire explosion #looney bird #also the creator livestreamed them programming on reel to real #and im obsessed #mod general d #mod wowf you know more about this feel free to add more tags lol #raggedy ann revival effort #raggedy andy #Youtube #edit: thats a new rock afire mech lol - mod wowf

[undergroundbillions]

Musical Andy for character bingo!

the fandom makes him too nice. he's an asshole!! he's at his peak when he's mean >:)

- mod wowf 🐾

#let my mans be the asshole with a heart of gold that he deserves to be #also i project on to him so much like its something to do man #hes my guy! funkinge.......... guy #silly silly boy #character opinion bingo #raggedy ann #raggedy ann musical #rag dolly #raggedy ann broadway #raggedy ann revival effort #andy #raggedy andy #mod wowf #thanks for the ask!

[undergroundbillions]

IT'S FINALLY HERE!! THE RAGGEDY ANN FANFIC THAT WE'VE BEEN RAVING ABOUT BEHIND CLOSED DOORS!

Raggedy Ann and the Corridor of Light

finally we can talk about how much we adore this fic here on tumblr! it is so funny and creative and heartfelt and insane and a million other things all at once! corridor is truly an experience :)

and it's not just a raggedy ann musical fanfic! it combines the canons of the books, movie, and musical, while also featuring cameos from characters across the raggedy universes!

just a fair warning though, it is rated mature for a reason. i'll put a list of content warnings under a read more.

Edit 2: Content warnings have been added to the fic itself! Be sure to read them.

CONTENT WARNINGS

Genitalia talk

Transphobia/internalized transphobia

Homophobia/internalized homophobia

Death (corpse description)

Violence & mild gore

Drugs (weed)

Alcoholism

Dirty jokes

#mod wowf #also mod general d im filling out tags #the author is a friend of ours too! #headcanon #fanfic #raggedy ann revival effort #raggedy ann musical #rag dolly #raggedy ann #rag dolly musical #raggedy ann broadway #raggedy andy #wolf #bat #yum yum #red fang #general d

[undergroundbillions]

Reblogged the post again about people wanting to make a new Raggedy Ann show, and boy do I have more thoughts!

I will. I admit. Sort of vague posting about specific ideas I've heard but at the same time I mean this to be a general statement and not criticism of anything in particular. It's just a trend that frustrates me.

What I see in a lot of suggested adaptations is a wide departure from not only superficial ideas of the characters and plot, but core themes that made up the very idea of the franchise. They were always, from the beginning, a little girl's toys brought to life with the imagination of her and her father, and when I see many concepts removing Marcella or any form of family from the story altogether, it makes me sad.

Because it marks the shift from the Raggedies as dolls who are alive, to the Raggedies as characters who also happen to be dolls.

In my personal opinion, that is one of the main issues plaguing the raggedy media that released post-70’s. People saw the two siblings themselves as the marketable entities, and the rest didn’t matter. It contributes to the flanderization of the characters and the stories as a whole, each generation of media getting us farther and farther away from the original concept as they pick only the most marketable bits. Natural selection via capitalism. Diluted into abstraction. Raggedy Ann is a franchise running on fumes at this point, all it has is that vague sense of nostalgia that gets fainter and fainter each passing generation.

It’s a similar thing to what has happened to the Winnie the Pooh franchise, they completely removed Christopher Robbin and most portrayals of the characters don’t go to any lengths to show that they were originally stuffed animals. But at least Pooh and his friends live in their own little fantasy world where removing the humans doesn’t make much of a difference. Raggedy Ann lives in our world.

And I’m not someone who thinks things always have to be exactly the same, I’d love to see new adaptations that play around with the setting!!! And the characters!!! And designs!!! And sure, the later books are more fantastical and usually take place outside in the Deep Deep Woods. But most people don’t even consider them in their plans.

It's clear many people's idea of the franchise is based on the movie, which is fair!!! The movie is in my opinion one of the better adaptations which manages to get the feel and charm of the characters being dolls and follow the themes of Camel With the Wrinkled Knees while still being it's own thing. Just like Gruelle's book it's wandering and nonsensical and goofy and the siblings get thrown from one wacky interaction to the next. It's a piece of raggedy media through and through, but I don't see much attention towards what makes it that way.

And I have to say, unfortunately, that many of these proposals remind me of one infamous piece of raggedy media, the 80's CBS cartoon. And I know the CBS series is bad for other reasons, of course. The writing sucks, the animation is worse, and the voice acting is grating. But. On top of all that, it doesn’t feel like a piece of Raggedy Ann media to anyone familiar with Gruelle’s work. There’s nothing that connects it to any of the franchise besides the existence of these characters, you could just swap them right out and it wouldn’t make any difference.

Same with the Chuck Jones specials. Sure, there are personality traits that follow, but they aren’t anything unique. You could put any characters in there.

Making a piece of raggedy media with no knowledge of what made the original books so timeless, I feel at best, you're going to make something like the Chuck Jones specials, and at worst, the CBS animated series. And to quote mod wowf: "and you're not Chuck Jones".

So. Idk. If you're going to make a proposal for a new piece of Raggedy Ann media, I think one should ask themselves why Raggedy Ann. We've had plenty of adaptations where the answer to that question was "they're popular", and I don't put much more trust in "I like them". It's not a criticism of anyone's specific ideas, I just don't think anyone is going to bother if the thing you're giving them is what they've already grown tired of. The siblings go on silly adventures, sure, but wasn't this originally about a little girl and her poppa who loved making up stories about her dolls? Is that not compelling anymore?

-𝕸𝖔𝖉 𝕲𝖊𝖓𝖊𝖗𝖆𝖑 𝕯.

P.S. I say this out of affection. I want people's projects to succeed and I want them to be well appreciated by people outside the fandom and I want them to change the public perception of Raggedy Ann for the better! And that's why I have Opinions.

P.P.S. This is about efforts to make an honest-to-goodness licensed Raggedy Ann TV show or similar media. Not fanworks. Make more fanworks always and regardless and don't listen to me.

#raggedy ann #raggedy andy #raggedy ann and andy #raggedy ann and andy a musical adventure

[undergroundbillions]

Hii hope ya don’t mind but do you guys have any info on understudies/alternate casts in Rag Dolly?

we do!

each production of the show had slightly different casts, as some ensemble and minor characters were replaced between productions, but most of the major characters stayed the same! Ann, Andy, Baby, Camel, and Mommy/Witch were the same actors through every production (Ivy Austin, Scott Schafer, Carolyn Marble, Joel Aroeste, and Elizabeth Austin respectively). once the show was broadway-bound, about half the cast was replaced, likely because many of the actors in the original ESIPA productions were resident actors at ESIPA.

here's a history of the recasts of the major characters!

Marcella: Tricia Brooks (ESIPA 1984/85, Moscow 1986) -> Lisa Reiffel (Kennedy Center/Broadway 1986) (Tricia had aged out of the role, as she was 15 turning 16 in 1986. Lisa was 13 when she took on the role, just as Tricia had been when she first played the role in 1984) Poppa: MacIntyre Dixon (ESIPA 1984) -> Gibby Brand (ESIPA 1985, Moscow 1986) -> Bob Morrisey (Kennedy Center/Broadway 1986) Panda: Jeanne Vigliante (ESIPA 1984/85, Moscow 1986) -> Michelan Sisti (Kennedy Center/Broadway 1986) General D: Paul Haggard (ESIPA 1984) -> David Schramm (ESIPA 1985, Moscow 1986) -> Leo Burmester (Kennedy Center/Broadway 1986) (Paul Haggard was battling cancer when he played General D, and unfortunately passed away less than 2 years after the 1984 ESIPA run) Bat: Pamela Sousa (ESIPA 1984/85, Moscow 1986) -> Gail Benedict (Kennedy Center/Broadway 1986) Wolf: Tom Pletto (ESIPA 1984/85, Moscow 1986) -> Gordon Weiss (Kennedy Center/Broadway 1986)

there was also a version of the show that was staged in 1983 that had a completely different script written by a different playwright and different songs by Joe Raposo (basically a completely different show). we don't have a full cast list, but we do know that Ivy Austin still played Ann, and Mark Baker (yes the Mark Baker from the movie) played Andy, with Scott Schafer as his understudy.

for the broadway production, the understudies are listed in the playbill (which is available online), and we have a scans of the kennedy center and moscow programs in our archives! the understudies are the same for broadway and kennedy center.

i'll put the lists under a cut, but most of the understudies are raggettes/ensemble.

the only one that i'd like to draw attention to is Gordon Weiss, who played Wolf, as he was the understudy for General D during the kennedy center and broadway runs. looking at Gordon's resume, it makes sense-- he's basically a professional understudy! but within the context of the show it makes a bit less sense lol. if Leo Burmester were to be out for a show, Gordon would be bumped up to General D, Joe Barrett would go on as Wolf, and Steve Owsley would leave the ensemble to take Joe's place as a doctor. there would be a lot less shuffling around of actors if General D's understudy were one of the doctors like previous productions.

Gordon would also be bit silly visually as General D because he is quite small. All of the General Ds were very tall, each over six feet. Gordon Weiss is not. in photos you can see Gordon only comes up to Leo's shoulder!

as far as we know, from our research and interviews with cast, none of the understudies ever had to go on.

- mod wowf 🐾

Kennedy Center and Broadway (1986)

Joe Barrett - Wolf Kenneth Boys - Andy, Panda, Swing Melinda Buckley - Bat Sara Carbone - Marcella Dick Decareau - Poppa Anny De Gange - Mommy/Witch Susann Fletcher - Raggedy Ann Steve Owsley - Doctors Richard Ryder - Camel Gordon Weiss - General D Andrea Wright - Baby Helena Andreyko - Swing

Moscow (1986)

Nina Hennessey - Marcella, Mommy/Witch Joe Barrett - Poppa, Camel Scott Evans - Andy, Panda Neal Ben-Ari - General D Michaela Hughes - Bat David Bunce - Wolf

#meowydoe #thanks for the ask! #i had a lot of fun compiling all this info hehe #raggedy ann musical #rag dolly #raggedy ann broadway #rag dolly musical #mod wowf

[undergroundbillions]

What things are you collecting exactly? I myself have been getting ahold of some of the physical books, despite their readable status on the Internet Archive, so I’m interested in what you guys have!

All the mods collect different things!

Most of us collect dolls casually, we don't search them out but pick them up when we see a good price. Same with the books. We all collect memorabilia from the musical! I can give a proper list if you'd like of all that we have so far, but we'll buy anything musical related we can get our hands on (and is within our budget).

I (mod General D) collect cassette tapes! I only have two so far (almost got a third but there was a shipping error) but I'm keeping my eye out for more. The two I have are from a 1970 series of books with cassettes that were, from what I can tell, released to libraries and schools. Mine came from a school library. I know there were a couple made in the 80's, some were direct copies of Kid Stuff record releases and one is a re-telling of The Pumpkin Who Couldn't Smile. I'm not as invested in those or other books on tape without physical books, but I keep my eyes peeled for those 70's ones!!! I have a few special pieces of my collection which were gifts, a signed doll my aunt gave me and a signed book given to me by the organizer of the Raggedy Ann Rally.

Mod wowf collects records! At the moment they have every Kid Stuff LP (the larger records) and a couple of the book & record releases. They also have 5/6 of the 1974 Hallmark pop-up book records. Plus a later re-release of some of the 30's Frank Luther songs. I also just got them three Picturesound records!

Both of us digitize what we find and post them to YouTube. The cassettes are both on the RARE channel and a couple records are on mod wowf's channel, but I think they plan on putting more on the RARE channel eventually.

I let the others know they're free to add on anything I missed, if you're interested in hearing more about the specific items we've picked up we'd be happy to answer!

-Mod General D

#thanks for the ask! #mod general d #raggedy ann #raggedy ann revival effort #raggedy ann musical #rag dolly #raggedy ann broadway #rag dolly musical #raggedy andy

[undergroundbillions]

new footage!!!!! the first confirmed footage of the 1985 production! also includes more video of the press conference that was seen in the rag dolly in the ussr documentary, and short interviews with patricia snyder, patricia birch, and ivy austin!

- mod wowf 🐾

#raggedy ann #rag dolly #raggedy ann musical #raggedy ann broadway #rag dolly musical #rag dolly broadway #raggedy ann and andy #raggedy ann revival effort #lost media #enertainment tonight #mod wowf

[undergroundbillions]

I'll try to summarize something the gang was talking about the other night, that Gen Z is the perfect generation to advertise a Raggedy Ann resurgence to, for more reasons than one.

First, it's a fresh start for us. Of course the older gens love her, but by the time you get to younger Gen X and Millennials, there's a sort of resentment for the character. And after all our research, I can see why. From the 70's-90's Ann became a much more obnoxious and over-exposed symbol of tacky americana, and if that's what you grew up with I can understand the resentment and tendency to lean towards depictions like Annabelle.

Across the board, most of us find that we get much more of those resentful or "cursed doll" comments from Gen X and Millennials than anyone else (aside from tweens trying to be edgy, but that's going to happen regardless). For Gen Z though, Raggedy Ann is associated with thrift stores and grandparents, as well as aesthetics like cottagecore and kidcore. Retro things, especially comforting kids media, are coming back in a big way.

The original Raggedy Ann isn't about this technicolor saccharine sweetness, it's a lot more akin to Narnia or the Oz books, just targeted a little younger. Americana, yes, but a more wholesome down-to-earth picture of a little girl living during the great depression with her little rag doll, instead of a capitalist media onslaught. And Gen Z, far enough removed from her hayday to look at Ann's history from a wider lens, is ready to revive her as soon as someone gives us a chance.

#mod general d #also mod wowf #it's a collab post <3 #raggedy ann and andy #raggedy ann #raggedy ann broadway #raggedy ann musical #raggedy ann revival effort #raggedy andy #raggedy ann and andy musical adventure #raggedy ann and andy a musical adventure #raggedy ann dolls