Colonel Stonesteel and the Desperate Empties story
A young boy and his friend Colonel Stonesteel combat the end of summer doldrums by engaging in an elaborate hoax involving an ancient mummy that whips the whole town up in a frenzy. Directed by: Randy Bradshaw. Story by: Ray Bradbury.
10 total · 2 choice · 5 major · 3 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| boredom | choice | Colonel Stonesteel came up with the idea to pull a prank on the town, to combat his and Charlie's end of summer doldrums. |
| friendship | choice | Young Charlie had a special friendship with the elderly Colonel Stonesteel. |
| creative writing | major | Charlie, a 12 year old boy, resolved to be the world's greatest writer when he grew up. The story concluded with Charlie, now an adult, having realized his dream. In the introduction, Ray Bradbury shared with the viewer the wellsprings of creativity that inspire his writing. |
| human aspiration | major | Charlie, a 12-year-old boy, resolved to be the world's greatest writer when he grew up. The story concluded with Charlie, now an adult, having realized his dream. |
| human childhood | major | The story follows the adventures of a 12-year-old boy, who, bored over summer vacation, became a participant in an elaborate hoax that whipped his whole town into a frenzy. |
| malicious hoaxes in society | major | The 12-year-old boy Charlie and the titular old man Colonel Stonesteel perpetrated an elaborate hoax involving an ancient mummy that whipped their whole town up in a frenzy. |
| undead mummy | major | The whole town was made to believe that an Ancient Egyptian mummy was alive and on the loose. |
| journalism | minor | There was a media scrum about the escaped mummy. |
| law enforcement | minor | The local sheriff scoffed at notion that reading the hieroglyphic characters on the mummy's breastplate would bring it to life. But he was left shaking in his shoes when just that appeared to transpire. |
| the nature of creativity | minor | In his introduction, Ray Bradbury gave his viewers an intimate window into his writing room, and some of the self-professed sources of creativity that lay about within it. |