Pheaturing Squire Fridell

 

Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Thursday. How are you? Moms get shamed, judged, and chastised for all kinds of reasons... from the choices they make while pregnant, to the way they choose to raise their kids. Of course, bad moms do exist. But in many, many cases, moms are criticized for ridiculously petty reasons about things that would actually have zero negative consequences for their children's health and happiness. Mother-of-two and popular mom blogger Caitlin Fladager says she has been criticized for buying her kids' clothing at Walmart. "'Your kids only wear clothes from Walmart, while you get dressed up a lot. Not a good look for you as a mom..,' That statement is something I get a lot," the Canadian mom wrote in a now-viral Facebook post. Fladager defended her choice to dress herself in more expensive items while buying cheaper clothes for her kids, explaining that children put a lot more wear and tear on their clothing. Kids' clothes have to be changed and washed much more often, or even thrown away. And also of course, they outgrow them. “I am not constantly spilling food and dirt all over my brand new clothes. I am not outside running around in the dirt for hours on end," she writes. "I am not tripping and ripping holes in brand new clothes.” She goes on to explain that choosing to buy cheaper clothes for her kids is part of her parenting approach of celebrating her kids being messy. And ultimately, "they love it." "I will not feel bad for buying my clothes for them from Walmart," she says. Of course, it's important to point out that for many families, buying cheaper clothing is the only option they can afford. But whether buying discount clothing for your kids is a choice or not, it's the parent's choice. And certainly no reason to shame or criticize them. Fladager included a photo of her kids eating ice cream as a reminder to herself and others of why it doesn't make sense to buy expensive clothing for children. In the comments, people overwhelmingly agreed that dressing kids in cheap or discount clothes makes the most sense. And also, there's nothing wrong with Walmart clothing... for kids OR for adults! 

A Winnie the Pooh fan on Twitter went viral with security camera footage of her Karen of a neighbor complaining about her Tigger flag. The flag in question...

"Karen" showed up on TikToker Ambrosia's (@tizzybizzy92) porch to issue her unsolicited opinion about the décor. "I want to talk about this Tigger flag. I don’t like it," Karen said, as if her opinion mattered. Karen said that while she approved of the "real nice" American flag, and passive-aggressively noted that she was not going to even mention the shrubbery. "We have rules... don’t want to have to go find out what they are, but I don’t like that," Karen insisted. "I’m just saying I don’t like it. It makes it look tacky... it makes the neighborhood look tacky." "It doesn't [break any rules], but that's okay," Ambrosia politely replied. "You're allowed your opinion." "Tigger" trended on Twitter as people expressed their support for the flag and disdain for the Karen. Karen should read Winnie the Pooh to learn how to be a good and respectful neighbor. 

Scarlett Johansson is one of the pioneers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and when you think about it, she's the last person you would expect to have problems with Marvel Studios and Disney. However, things took a shocking turn when the Natasha Romanoff actress sued Disney, the greatest company to work for ever, claiming that the company violated their contract by making Black Widow available via Disney+'s Premier Access when the original deal was to have it screen exclusively in theaters. Scarlett's lawsuit was made public just days after it was revealed that Black Widow suffered a major loss at the box office with its revenue significantly dropping following its debut weekend. The actress' camp blames Disney's release model which according to them hurt the film's chances of hitting a much higher box office return. Both camps have gone back-and-forth over the last couple of weeks and it doesn't look like they'll be able to settle their differences anytime soon. Now, according to a new scoop from Giant Freakin' Robot, Disney has officially ended its working relationship with the 36-year-old actress, and all future projects that would have involved her are no longer on the table. One of the alleged reasons that led to Scarlett filing a lawsuit against Disney was the lack of plans for Black Widow in the MCU. Does this mean that Disney was actually toying with the idea of bringing her back before the lawsuit was filed? I don't know what the future holds for Johansson but there's no doubt that Disney and Marvel Studios cutting ties with her will affect her career big time. Sure, she'll most likely land projects in other production companies in the future but let's be honest, Disney is a huge deal. Still, I'm hopeful that they'll be able to mend the fences and talk things out. 

While everyone’s favorite faraway galaxy expands on Disney+, with upcoming shows such as "Star Wars: Visions," "Ahsoka," "Andor," "Obi-Wan Kenobi," "The Book of Boba Fett," "The Bad Batch Season 2," and "The Mandalorian Season 3," it looks like Disney and Lucasfilm aren’t neglecting the more cinematic side of that universe either. While we know that Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins will be directing Rogue Squadrons, which is set for release in December 2023, in a recent interview with WIRED, director Taika Waititi discussed his own upcoming Star Wars movie. Waititi is no stranger to the Star Wars universe, having played hunter droid-turned-nurse droid IG-11 in "The Mandalorian Season 1," and also directing the finale episode “Chapter 8: Redemption." Now, the Thor: Ragnarok director is set to leave his own mark on the Star Wars movies. Waititi’s lesser-known works include The Hunt for the Wilderpeople (which starred Sam Neill from the upcoming Jurassic World: Dominion) and What We Do in the Shadows, in which the director also appeared. It wasn’t until 2017's Thor: Ragnarok that Waititi really made himself known on Hollywood’s star chart. The Thor threequel was a complete reinvention of the God of Thunder and proved that Marvel’s need to venture more into wacky comedy territory is sometimes necessary. In a recent interview with WIRED, the New Zealand filmmaker discussed the new Ryan Reynolds movie Free Guy and Thor: Love and Thunder, the fourth film in MCU’s Thor-centric series. However, he also alluded to a new Star Wars movie, which he is set to direct. “It’s still in the ‘EXT. SPACE’ stage”, the director said, before adding, “But we’ve got a story. I’m really excited by it because it feels very me." While of course, these few words are little to go on, the prospect of another Star Wars movie fills me with joy. The sequel trilogy might not have gone down well with many fans, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want more cinematic entries from the faraway galaxy. Since their inception in 1977, Star Wars films have had the tendency to be somewhat hit-and-miss. It’s really the overall franchise that is beloved, but more often than not, a new film has the habit of splitting the fanbase down the middle like a clean lightsaber cut. The original trilogy is still very much adored by fans, but the prequel trilogy that started in 1999 and concluded in 2004 was something of a mixed bag. While it has gone on to become more appreciated in recent years, owing thanks to hit animated show "The Clone Wars," the sequel trilogy remains widely hated. Spin-off movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was an instant hit both critically and financially, while Solo: A Star Wars Story remains the center of much debate, despite being mostly harmless (the trouble is that it’s also quite pointless). But fans will always salivate at the mouths when a new movie is mentioned. After all, it’s Star Wars, and nothing quite says cinema like the opening text crawl (even if the two spin-off movies didn’t feature those iconic blurbs set against a starry backdrop). So, Taika Waititi’s script remains in its very early stages, but it sounds like, at the very least, the filmmakers have some direction, which is more than what I can say about the sequel trilogy. Looking at his previous works, which are extremely comic and somewhat alternative in nature, it’s possible that the director will bring some of that flavor to the Star Wars cosmos, which might prove a much-needed ingredient to reinvigorate fans’ interest in the film side of things. Either way, it’s fair to say that Waititi has a lot on his plate, as he’s also set to be directing Thor: Love and Thunder, a live-action version of anime classic Akira, an animated remake of Flash Gordon, and two animated Roald Dahl movies for Netflix. Nothing is known about the film's premise at this stage, but here's to hoping we get some brand new characters, although we wouldn't complain if we got to see the likes of fan-favorites Ahsoka and Darth Maul on the big screen. I won't hold our breath for the likes of Jar Jar, though, but with Taika Waititi, you just never know... In the meantime, there's plenty of Star Wars material to enjoy and look forward to, whether it's one of the many upcoming TV shows, the ongoing comic books, or the upcoming open-world game from Ubisoft, in which we hope to be able to explore the faraway galaxy. Who knows... perhaps we'll see Taika Waititi and his film crew there.

Episode 1 of "Marvel’s What If..?"gave us a whole new perspective about the First Avenger and it introduced a different hero with Peggy Carter taking up the shield and suit. However, her story took a sharper turn than that of Steve Rogers’ that even when they met the Fury after 70 years, the circumstances were not the same, at all, so, here is the ending explained. Warning! This portion may contain spoilers for "Marvel's What If..?." Read at your own risk! The pilot episode of the canon show, "What If... Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?," took everyone with familiar characters meeting a different fate as it goes back to 1943 when Captain America was supposed to be created. The plan did not go as it was supposed to, instead, the bomb took off the moment Steve was in the chamber. As the courageous scrawny Brooklyn kid Steve is, he got up on the table but missed the shot, resulting in him getting injured and unfit for the procedure. Since the facility was already in flames and the project is still not pushing through, Peggy Carter jumped on the machine without hesitation, not even having to convince the general nor Howard Stark to do it. All they know is that the procedure must go on or they would lose it forever. Peggy Carter becomes the super soldier and since she was a woman at a time when men thought she belonged behind the desk, she had a lot more to prove than what Rogers did in the original timeline. She made them see who she is and what she is capable of, therefore, earning the reputation she has... a super-soldier. She got Zola from a Hydra convoy, single-handedly saved the 107th battalion from captivity, and she put Red Skull to where he belonged. However, it is not without a cost... herself. When the monster Hydra summoned came out of the portal, she didn’t hesitate to take her strength to push it into the portal, out of reach from everyone, even if it meant she would go through it as well. By the time the portal was opened again, 70 years already passed, and she missed the dance she planned with Steve. She met Nick Fury and Clint Barton, longing for the time she didn’t even know she lost. The story ran in the same vein as that in Captain America: The First Avenger, only with a different hero and circumstances. While Steve went under the ice for 70 years, Peggy went through a portal. If there’s a huge difference, Bucky didn’t fall off the train, and of course, wherein the universe could Peggy arrived. All these were told by Uatu, and he tells he would never interfere, as he is The Watcher.

You kids heard of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, right? But have you heard of Dwayne "The Glock" Johnson?

And you're wondering why I'm ending the Phile next month... Haha. So, today's guest played Ronald McDonald on TV, but Ronald has been retired kinda from McDonald's. There is word that he's coming back and will look like this...

Have you ever ordered a Happy Meal in the pale blue moonlight? Actually, there was a type of Ronald a few years ago...

Have you seen the McDonald's Gerber baby food? No? Look at this...

I want to try it. Haha. Okay, it's Thursday... you know what that means.

WTF?! Okay, let's have a live look at Port Jefferson, shall we?

I wonder at that truck thing is... let's have a closer look.

A stage, maybe? Hmmm. Hey, the ferry is leaving now. Look...

You could tell I miss that place. I have to go back there this year. Okay, now from the home office in Port Jeff, here is...

Top Phive Things Said By Parents Who Are Raising Teenagers

5. Nothing makes me more nervous than a text from my teenage son that says, "How soon will you and mom be home?"

4. I literally get high on not closing my teenagers bedroom door all the way so they have to begrudgingly get up and close it themselves. 

3. Hell hath no fury like a teenager who was kindly, gently asked by their loving parent, "Hey, how are you this morning?"

2. Raising teenagers is like trying to fish a contact lens out of your eye when you're drunk.

And the number one thing said by a parent who is raising a teenager is...

1. A nice thing my teenage son does to help around the house is tell us when we're out of the junk food he likes. 

Hahahaha. If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. 

Today's guest is a retired American actor, author and winemaker, known for his work in over three thousand television commercials, he is also known for his portrayal as Ronald McDonald in the McDonald's commercials from 1985 to 1991. Please welcome to the Phile... Squire Fridell.

Me: Hello, Squire, welcome to the Phile. I have to say I love your name, sir. How are you? 

Squire: Thank you. What's up? 

Me: Not much. So, how do you pronounce your last name? 

Squire: Fri-dell... like Fry Guys. 

Me: Okay, cool. I got it right. People screw up my last name but I think on purpose... it's Peverett but they say "Pervert." So, this is cool... you were Ronald McDonald from 1984 to 1991. How did you get that role? What was your audition like? 

Squire: I didn't know what the role was for. It was supposedly top secret and it was called "Operation: Red Shoe." If I was brighter than I am I probably would've gotten it. But it was for a clown like character, my agent at the time called me up and said I have an audition on such and such day and I said great. It was a clown like character and I was on my way up and I was by Hollywood Magic and I bought some juggling balls and a little flower that squirted out and couple of little magic tricks, thinking I could use them because a "clown like character" probably did some sort of slight of hand, juggling or whatever and I could juggle. So I went into the audition and there was nothing to indicate it was for Ronald McDonald, not was basically just an interview, no script I don't think and I just pulled out my juggling balls and I did the interview while I was juggling. I guess I always tried to get a handle on something and so I did, and then I forgot about it. Then about two months later or so my agent called back and said, "You remember that gig you auditioned for, the clown like character?" I looked back at my notes and said, "Oh, yeah." In those days there were a lot of auditions and it really didn't come to mind. This time I didn't have to stop at Hollywood Magic, I just brought up my juggling balls and there flower that squirted and stuff and I went in and opened up the door and there were seven guys sitting down dressed like Ronald McDonald. Then there were other actors that were auditioning and then I got it of course. Duh. 

Me: So, when did you first put on the costume? 

Squire: I went in the little side room there and got the make-up on and put on a costume and went out to do the audition and this time I think there were some little improvisational moments or whatever and again I did the same thing I did during the audition, started to juggle and bingo. About three months later I was Ronald McDonald replacing the actor who did it. 

Me: Who did it before you? Do you know? 

Squire: A fellow named King Moody who was really the first contemporary Ronald. 

Me: Oh, cool, I should try to interview him too. 

Squire: He passed away now on February 7th, 2001 unfortunately. 

Me: Oh, man, exactly a year after my dad passed away. So, there were 7 people there for the second audition? 

Squire: Yeah, I knew them all. They were guys I auditioned with all the time. In fact, one of them was David Ruprecht, still a great pal, he was the guy on "Supermarket Sweep." 

Me: Do you think you coming into the audition and interview with a "clown act" was the reason you got the job? 

Squire: Oh, sure. I wrote a book in 1980, it's in its 4th edition, it's still out called Acting In Television Commercials For Fun and Profit it's been out since 1980 and it's still in print. You can get it on Amazon.com. 

Me: Oh, man, if I would've know I would have made it part of the Phile's Book Club. I will show it here... 

Me: So, what was the book about? 

Squire: It was the first book on how to audition and get a job. A lot of people can do the job but only one of them gets the job. So that's the tricky part, being able to nail the part. One of the things is always find an angle that you don't think the other actors are going to think of. So if you get an audition say Lipton ice tea it might be a good idea in the old days anyway to stop by the store and buy a little packet of Lipton ice tea and then when you go into the audition and everyone is using pantomime for the whole thing you say, "Gee, wouldn't it be good for something delicious right now? Hey, I've got an idea..." Then pull it it out of your pocket. And everybody looking at the video tape later on would go, "Oh, my God, that's really cool." What you're doing is just making things as realistic as humanly possible in a very unrealistic audition. 

Me: So, was that why you learned to juggle? 

Squire: Two years before that we lived in Los Angeles and we built a big house on the beach and we had one of my wife's old dance partners, she danced in a dance theater for teen years. He was out from New York and he was a street clown. He would do his routine on street corners in New York City, that's how he made a living. I was looking down at the beach and he was down at the beach and he was juggling, he had three balls and then four balls then five balls and there was a whole gaggle of little kids standing around watching him. I just watched him and thought hw cool is that. We're having dinner that night and I said, "That was just wonderful what you were doing." And he said, "What?" I said, "You were juggling for all those kids." He said, "Anybody could juggle." And I said, "You know, I tried it and it's pretty hard." He said, "Nah, I can teach you how to juggle in a day." I said okay and he said we'll do it tomorrow. So he brought out some juggling balls and we went up into the bedroom because it was over there bed and we didn't have to follow the balls all over the place when they bounced and in a day he taught me to juggle. I get there biggest kick out of that because I would always follow my wife in the supermarket and I'll grab the oranges and juggle three oranges and I just thought it was kind of fun. It's fun to juggle. That is where I learned to juggle. About two years later of course I get this gig and I think it's probably because I took in juggling balls. 

Me: So, you should have given the guy that taught you 10 percent of what you earned. 

Squire: I should've but instead I gave him a cheeseburger. 

Me: Hahaha. So, do you live in the same beach house now? 

Squire: The day I signed the contract is the day we put our house on the market on the beach in Southern California and we began to move up to Sonoma Valley and we bought 26 acres of land, planted a couple of vineyards, built a winery, built a home, and that's where we are right now. 

Me: So, what was it like when you started to film there first McDonald's commercial as Ronald? 

Squire: The first commercial they were slowly replacing, or thought they were slowly replacing King Moody. He was getting older, but I looked a lot like him, only sort of a younger version. I was the back up guy, so King would go in a shoot a scene and then I sitting to the side would go in and do the same scene. I did that for the first day and I could see that it made King upset. 

Me: Why was he upset? 

Squire: Because here was this upstart was coming along and they were comparing what King did with what I did. I'm a good actor, I'm not a great actor, I'm a very clean actor. I went to them and said I can't do this, either you shoot King on one day or you shoot me on the next day but he can't watch my work and I can't watch his. It makes him nervous. I don't care because he's got the job. They said okay and the following week they did it that way and then two weeks later I was doing Ronald completely. 

Me: Did you ever keep in touch with King at all? 

Squire: No, we were not really friends. It was sort of an awkward relationship. I don't think King was ready to retire. It was certainly not voluntarily on his part. No, we just never kept up a relationship. 

Me: Did you watch or study King's Ronald beforehand? 

Squire: I watched believe me so many different commercials because they gave me in those days VHS commercials of all the stuff King had done. Then I alway have, believe it or not, the history of Ronald going all the way back to Willard Scott. Which you would not recognize as being Ronald. 

Me: Yeah, I think I showed that pic on the Phile before... this is Willard as Ronald... 

Squire: Yeah. He has a box of food on his head and a Dixie cup for a nose. He was sort of the prototype and we joked about that too because I shot a television series with Willard after that. He was very excited to work with the guy who is playing Ronald McDonald that he helped start. 

Me: Was it fun to do Ronald? 

Squire: I did it for seven years. Yeah, it was fun. 

Me: What kinda problems came with it though? All jobs have problems. 

Squire: One of the problems of course was when we had children on the set, which wasn't very often, but when I had children actors that I worked with it was difficult. 

Me: Difficult working with kids? 

Squire: There needed to be a degree of magic when they saw Ronald and when I had lunch with them and took my wig off it sort of destroyed that magic moment. So I asked them if they would give me a trailer so I could always after each take go into my trailer and take my wig off so the kids didn't become disillusioned. 

Me: I love McDonald's food, always did. Do you? 

Squire: Well, I was like what Ray Kroc said when they asked him about that. That have a lot of different kinds of food. You can go to the market and buy a pound of beef lard if you want and eat it. But it's probably not a good idea. You can get a big six pack of Coca-Cola and go sit out in the parking lot and drink out all and you are going to end up with diabetes and you'll end up fat and all sort of stuff. But have a salad, they make great salads. What tastes better than a French fry? But you just can't eat them all the time of course. 

Me: Did you ever make appearances at Ronald McDonald House? 

Squire: Only once, when I just became Ronald. There were a 150 Ronald's around the United States that did all the store openings and visited hospitals and things like that. And those guys really were clowns. They were not actors per say, they were clowns. That asked me if I'd like to go do one, at the Chicago Ronald McDonald House and I said sure. So I flew there and I got in costume and I got in make-up and I went in a room and they moved the little boy over to the hospital because he wasn't in great shape. I zipped over there and said hi to a bunch of children. I sat on this little lads edge of his bed and he's got tubes coming out of him and he's got no hair and I just started crying. That was the difference between somebody who was a real clown and somebody who is just a stupid actor because I couldn't do it. They hustled me out of there in a heartbeat. That was the only one they asked me to do. 

Me: Wow. I saw Ronald at a McDonald's on Long Island and knew right away that wasn't the Ronald from TV... that would have been in Kings day I guess. Okay, so, I have to ask you about the movie Mac and Me. What was that like? 

Squire: I think it started out as a project to put Ronald in sort of a spotlight and it was kind of a E.T. rip off. The closer they got to actually shooting this thing, because I got scripts from the very beginning, the less and less and less Ronald had to do in the film. It really was just eye candy, it really wasn't anything else as I could recall. I had a couple of lines or whatever, I don't know what the hell I did. I just got paid. I don't remember too much about it and I was in it. 

Me: I've never seen it, just clips. So, what were you doing before you were Ronald? 

Squire: I think I probably shot more television commercials for different products than any person on the planet. Three thousand four hundred of them. The biggest one was Toyota. 

Me: So, what was better? Doing Toyota commercials or playing Ronald what would you say? 

Squire: Believe me, that would be Toyota. 

Me: Why is that? 

Squire: That lasted for 29 years. That's got to be almost a steady job in the world of acting. McDonald's was just another set of commercials. I was also a spokesman for a lot of different products. 

Me: So, do you have any call Ronald memorabilia?

Squire: Don't tell anyone at McDonald's, they probably won't read this, but I swiped a pair of the shoes and have them. Every time we do a Christmas card we do a funny Christmas card, we do a picture postcard every year for our wine club, we have a thousand people in our wine club, and there are hysterical pictures. I'm always wearing my Ronald shoes. 

Me: Squire, sir, thanks so much for being on the Phile. This was a big deal. Thank you. 

Squire: You're welcome.

That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Squire for a great interview. The Phile will be back on Monday with Ed Robertson from Barenaked Ladies... one of my favorite bands as you know. Spread there word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.

Give me some rope, tie me to dream, give me the hope to run out of steam, somebody said it could be here. We could be roped up, tied up, dead in a year. I can't count the reasons I should stay. One by one they all just fade away...