Puppet of B K from Mr Magorium. Can you see it?My response was enthusiastic pride that a Buster Keaton sighting is automatically reported to me by my friends. I sent back a message of thanks and love. Naturally, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium got an immediate addition to my Netflix queue.
The Buster Keaton puppet has a small cameo about 12 minutes into the movie. However small, the scene is, in more ways than one, magical to Keaton enthusiasts. In its cameo, the Buster Keaton puppet has life, and finds itself tangled up in the very strings meant to control it. Without expression (of course), the Great Stone Face inspects the strings and seems to be assessing its situation and how to overcome it.
Here are some screen caps:
The scene is quintessential Buster Keaton: A quiet moment while chaos ensues around him, facing an obstacle with calm curiosity, and undoubtedly about to conquer it.
The scene also resonates with anyone who is familiar with the story of a young Buster Keaton who was fascinated with a vaudevillian ventriloquist dummy named Redtop. After "talking" with Redtop one day, and having few friends, Keaton decided to steal the dummy. The dummy's owner, however, had caught on to Keaton's plan and surprised the young boy just as he was about to steal the puppet by bringing it to life to warn Keaton away. It frightened the living daylights out of the child. This incident is remembered by Keaton in Steamboat Bill, Jr.; during the hurricane sequence, when he is "caught on stage," there is a moment where the wind animates a dummy sitting on a table next to Keaton and startles him. And now, almost a century later, Buster Keaton is himself the animated puppet.
Indeed, there were many aspects of magic and the surreal throughout Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium that seem quite in the spirit of Buster Keaton's work. I have a feeling that the core of the movie would have resonated deeply with Buster Keaton.
Because of that, I cannot help but enjoy the movie, as uneven as it may be.
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