A low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton

January 20, 2011 9:01 AM

Well, the Poe toaster didn't show for the second year in a row (previously). Fear not, here's a lovely and disturbing animated short film of The Tell-Tale Heart from 1953, narrated by James Mason. Although nominated for an Academy Award, the UPA production was apparently the first cartoon to be rated X by the British Board of Film Censors.
posted by HumanComplex (24 comments total)

Edgar Allen Pooh
posted by shakespeherian at 9:06 AM on January 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

And a bit more romance falls out of the world.
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:06 AM on January 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

I like the idea that the Poe toaster came and went from this world. Turning him into the Dread Pirate Roberts is a romantic idea, but in a way, I'm satisfied that his work is done.
posted by Sticherbeast at 9:08 AM on January 20, 2011 [6 favorites]

.
posted by longtime_lurker at 9:13 AM on January 20, 2011

.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:23 AM on January 20, 2011

I think I buried the lede. Sorry.
posted by HumanComplex at 9:28 AM on January 20, 2011

On the same subject, here's a great essay -- with photos of four impostor Poe Toasters -- by A.N. Devers, who staked out the graveyard all night.
posted by maud at 9:30 AM on January 20, 2011

I'm guessing he found Snooki in the New York Times best sellers and immediately killed himself.
posted by K'an at 9:35 AM on January 20, 2011

One day I shall come back… yes, I shall come back.
Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties.
Just go forward in all your beliefs,
and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine.
–The Doctor
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 9:44 AM on January 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Well, I'm glad some impostors showed up at least.

Zombie Poe Needs Cognac.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 9:48 AM on January 20, 2011

Once a quaint little tradition turned into a spectacle like Groudhog Day I don't blame the mysterious visitor ( or his descendants) from abandoning it.
posted by Gungho at 9:52 AM on January 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

I think I buried the lede. Underneath the floorboards!
posted by backseatpilot at 9:55 AM on January 20, 2011 [6 favorites]

HumanComplex: My hat's off to you for remembering the good man's birthday. Thanks. And an animated short of "The Tell-Tale Heart" narrated by James Mason? Be still my heart!
posted by blucevalo at 9:55 AM on January 20, 2011

The second toaster ruined it himself. Notes rooting for the superbowl? Criticizing France for not believing in Iraqi WMDs?

That wasn't what this was supposed to be. I'm glad he stopped. I just wish he had never taken over in the first place.

Disgraceful end to a once-romantic tradition.
posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 10:21 AM on January 20, 2011 [7 favorites]

These links are too sad to click. If I lived anywhere near Baltimore I would be taking up this tradition.
posted by cjorgensen at 10:22 AM on January 20, 2011

I read the fpp, and could only think, "that's one huge toaster".
posted by HuronBob at 10:33 AM on January 20, 2011

That short was wonderfully animated and well-deserving of its Academy Award nomination. It's a bit of a shame, however, that it was merely "based on" the Poe work, and thus excised much of the evocative language of the original story, replacing it with pulpy, radio drama-style narration. What I wouldn't give for an audio recording of James Mason reading the original unexpurgated text!
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:33 AM on January 20, 2011

The second toaster ruined it himself. Notes rooting for the superbowl? Criticizing France for not believing in Iraqi WMDs?

Oh, man, I forgot about that. Ungh. Way to screw it up, duder.
posted by Sticherbeast at 11:49 AM on January 20, 2011

Soon we will live in a world where mystery will no longer exist, where there are no unanswered questions, only security-cam grabs and blunt blog revelations. It will be a sadder place, a place where secrets cannot exist, a place where people can literally buy the identities of the anonymous... uh... never mind.

.
posted by kinnakeet at 11:51 AM on January 20, 2011

Nevermore!
posted by moonmilk at 12:13 PM on January 20, 2011

I read the fpp, and could only think, "that's one huge toaster".

Funny, I read it and think, "frakkin' toaster!"
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:17 PM on January 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

The anti-French toaster was only one of the two toasters who followed the original, a reluctant scion of a lost romantic who only reluctantly took on the task.

I know something, but can only coquettishly make allusions.

A late poet has once again put me in a frustrating position.

There's a secret hidden in a clock tower.
posted by sonascope at 1:32 PM on January 20, 2011 [4 favorites]

Ugh, two "reluctants" in one sentence. Obviously I'm writing off the cuff.
posted by sonascope at 1:35 PM on January 20, 2011

I am now very disappointed..
posted by Deflagro at 2:26 PM on January 20, 2011