Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson for January 28, 2013

I wanna see Marigold chewing bubble gum. I bet she’d blow beautiful bubbles!

So the horse that played Mr.Ed was a female, just like all those collies that played Lassie were males. Wow.

Horses can talk just fine. They just do not use words. They communicate with gestures and expressions punctated with a variety of vocalizations. They are not hard to understand when you know what to look for. I would like to see Marigold eat a jar of peanut butter. I know giving some to our dog was always good for a laugh.

Animals are such suckers for peanut butter. …okay, well, me too. I love how Marigold takes up so much of the sofa that Phoebe has to sit on her.

She should give her a slice of warm toast with peanut butter.

@dampwaffle my favorite toast is with slices of tomato and parmesan chesse

I’m going to go reward myself with some peanut butter right now.

Glad about the peanut butter. There were a couple times I saw fishing line stretched below Mr. Ed’s jaw. Is PHE sure it’s Mr. Ed and not Francis? Whenever those ears go back something’s happening the horse doesn’t like..Mine would bob his head up and down when he was working on a gooey treat, but the ears would not go back. Laffy Taffy was his favorite.

It is often said the crew was able to get Mister Ed to move his mouth by applying peanut butter to his gums in order for him to try to remove it by moving his lips. However, Alan Young said in 2004 that he had started the story himself. In another interview, Young said, “Al Simon and Arthur Lubin, the producers, suggested we keep the method a secret because they thought kids would be disappointed if they found out the technical details of how it was done, so I made up the peanut butter story, and everyone bought it. It was initially done by putting a piece of nylon thread in his mouth. But Ed actually learned to move his lips on cue when the trainer touched his hoof. In fact, he soon learned to do it when I stopped talking during a scene! Ed was very smart.” This difference is visible when comparing first season episodes to later ones, as it is clear that early on he is working the irritating string out, sometimes working his tongue in the attempt too, and later on he tends to only move his upper lip, and appears to watch Alan Young closely, waiting for him to finish his lines before twitching his lip.

Also, the palomino that played Ed was a gelding named Bamboo Harvester. A gelding is a neutered male.

Nice try.

Actually, these days, they use cgi to make it possible for animals to look like they are talking. Also, Mister Ed was just a stage name, like some human actors have. His official name was Bamboo Harvester. His sire was The Harvester (Saddlebred) and his dam Antez (Arabian from Poland).

Mr. ed would be a neat show to bring back as a CGI/Live action movie. Reboot him, make him do more things, recycle the same plots, upgrade his tech etc Maybe have Frank Welker do the voice, or Bill Murry or some thing.

ALL OF THE PEANUT BUTTER!!!

Revive “Mr. Ed” or “Francis the Talking Mule”? Sure. All you have to do is find an actor who could replace Alan Young or Donald O’Connor. Oh, and in the case of “Francis”, a whole new premise, since the US Army hasn’t had mules, apart from a couple of mascots housed at West Point, since Korea.

The 50s, the early 60s? They were a different world. (I know. I was there.) Let the dead rest, and let us celebrate our new friends, Phoebe and Marigold.

You’d think Marigold would watch the show just to gawk at Mr. Ed! :P