For Howard Ashman Fans

If you're like yours truly, you've been waiting for ages for "Howard," the Disney documentary about Howard Ashman. It's here--on Disney-Plus.

My husband and I watched just the beginning last night; it's immediately gripping. Ashman--as a small child--would cloister himself in his room with tiny cowboy figurines, outlaw figurines. He would add glitter and paint and new costuming to the figurines, and he would turn them into new characters, people more idiosyncratic and more complex than you might expect. (Can you draw a straight line from this to Ursula? I think you can.)

Ashman would invite his sister into his room to show off his creations.

The documentary jumps to one of Ashman's signature oddballs, Gaston:

Right from the moment when I met her, saw her....

I said SHE'S GORGEOUS and I fell....

Here in town there's only she....

Who is beautiful as me.....

So I'm making plans to woo and marry Belle....

Do you see how instantly ridiculous (and maybe slightly lovable) this guy is? The vanity ("beautiful as ME"), the absurd self-confidence ("I'm making plans to woo and marry....."), the delusional thinking (you don't even need to spend a day with an ingenue before recognizing that you're in love): There's Gaston, alive on the page.

I'm eager to keep watching. I'm away this week, so I may not write regularly. See you soon.

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