THE CHICKEN BOO BACK STORY Written by Sylvester Fox Based on 'Steven Spielberg Presents: Animaniacs', the television programme. Any character appearing within that is not trademarked by Warner Brothers is copyrighted by me. Any character such appearing does so unauthorized by Time- Warner Inc. and should not be seen as a challenge to any existing trademarks, copyrights, or patents. This story (C) 1997 Sylvester Fox. While watching 'Animaniacs' one day, I started thinking about each group of characters, and their respective 'back stories'. After all, almost every set has their own beginnings ... The Warners and Slappy are both 'understood' to have been in existence since the early 1930s, maybe as early as 1925, working for Warner Brothers. The Hippos, the Goodfeathers, and Rita and Runt have their 'origins' detailed in various shorts ('A Moving Experience', 'Goodfeathers: The Beginning', and 'When Rita Met Runt'). Buttons and Mindy need no 'back story'. This leaves Chicken Boo and Mr Skullhead as without prior history. What follows is one theory as to how Chicken Boo came to be. This is pure conjecture: WBA might have their own story ready sometime. Anyway, on with the show ... --------- An excited commotion arose from the chicken coop that morning. James Benson was shocked out of his bed by it. He muttered a few things about noisy chickens, got into something to keep the early morning chill out, and clomped out the door. He reached the chicken yard. As he looked around, his bleary vision soon saw ... nothing. The yard was still as a calm lake. Even at this time there should have been a few hens scratching. Even Old Tom, the rooster, should have crowed by now. Benson walked through the empty area and entered the coop proper. As he looked inside, he saw why no chickens were in the yard He also saw the reason there was such a loud squawking earlier. And why Old Tom was silent. Not that he didn't succumb to it as well. He, and his chickens, including a very exhausted and tired hen, were staring at the largest egg they had ever seen, almost fifty centimetres long and half as high. --------- The chickens gathered around the monster egg. The hen who laid it sat atop it, squirming around a bit. Her feet could barely reach the nest, let alone her feathers. During the last few months, several hens had to help to keep the egg warm. Now it was time, time to see what sort of chicken was within the enormous egg. The other hens sat back, staring as the egg started to crack. After a few more developed, a section of the egg fell away, then the entire egg collapsed, dropping the hapless hen. She looked at her child ... and fainted. Sharing the nest with her was the largest chick she had ever seen. While most could fit in one hand, this one would overflow two. It cheeped a few times, then looked down at its mother. James Benson was also among those watching. He took a few steps toward the enormous (relatively speaking) chick and lifted it to the scales. Normal weight, if chicks were normally this big. Benson then checked the chick out. Other than its size, it was perfectly normal. He shrugged, then set it back in the nest. The chick's mother looked back upon her child, then tried to sit on it to keep it warm. Eventually she invested in a space heater. --------- James Benson lugged another twenty-pound sack of chicken feed to the coop. The chick was maturing fast, and growing even faster. Once Old Tom saw the chick was to be another rooster, he ran off for the hills. After all, he was no match for the sheer size of the new arrival. Still, Benson didn't mourn the loss overly, nor did he begrudge the monster chicken's appetite. He knew soon his investment would pay off once the chicken, which he named 'Boo', fully replace Old Tom as the chief rooster. Egg and meat marketers were already calling him. --------- A loud scraping sound awoke Chicken Boo from his nest. Nervously he went to the window of his coop -- the other one was just too small, he needed his own -- and looked outside. He gasped at the sight. James Benson sat at his grinding wheel sharpening his axe. He sighed heavily ... all the feed did no good, Boo's hens only produced normal-sized eggs and normal-sized chickens. Still, he could recover something from his investment. If nothing else, his family would eat well that night. Chicken Boo saw all of this, and thought hard. His body was not the only abnormally large part of him -- he was about as smart as any other person. He saw the chickens that Benson would lead to his shed. He heard the loud whacks. He saw the stains on the sack Benson carried to his house. And he smelled the odours from the kitchen. Now Benson was walking toward the coop. HIS coop. Boo panicked. He was human-sized, true, but still, he could not fight a human. Not one armed with an axe. And not here. But what could he do? Hiding a six-foot tall chicken was futile at best. And fleeing only begged the question of hiding again, plus another: how would he survive? Maybe if he wore some sort of disguise, but what could effectively hide his chicken-ness? Benson was almost at the door. No time! In desparation, he upended his nest on his head. As if that would work, he thought ... but there was no time for anything more, the door was opening, the axe was coming for him, it was all over ... 'Hey! You!' Boo looked up at Benson. 'B'garwk?' Benson raised the axe menacingly. 'Where's my chicken?' Boo looked up, confused. What was he thinking? Benson angrily advanced on Boo. 'Listen, gimme my chicken back, you thief, or I'll call the cops!' Boo was completely at a loss ... couldn't he see? And why was he calling him a chicken thief? Wait a minute ... Boo raised his wings. Benson relaxed slightly. 'You stay in here, thief, I'm callin' the sheriff!' Benson ran out the door, locking it behind him. Boo sighed heavily, then sat on the plank where his nest used to rest. Somehow Benson had mistaken him for ... a man? Boo went to a mirror he kept on the wall. The nest had some resemblance to a straw hat, but even then he just looked like a chicken with a nest on his head. And Benson should know what a chicken looks like, right? Not in immediate danger, Boo sat down to think. He could see Benson in his house, talking on the phone. Telling the sheriff about the prowler in the coop. First things first ... get out of there. Boo looked around, appraising the wood. Maybe if he kicked right *there* ... The door fell to the ground with a loud crash. Quickly Boo looked back to Benson's window. The farmer didn't hear it, his back was turned. Boo quickly rushed out the door and fled through the fields. --------- Another day dawned. Just like the others. Boo awoke from his refuge in the field, thankful for whatever fate had given him a better mind. After his time on the farm, he knew what Benson's schedule was for tending his crops, and was able to remain hidden in other areas. After his escape, there was a token search. After all, only one chicken had disappeared, and it couldn't have been as big as Benson was claiming. No chicken was that big. Boo watched, keeping away from the edge of the search area, eating the nearby corn. Boo stretched his legs out, then his wings. He climbed out of his nest, then looked up. Autumn was close, and that would be followed by winter. Cold snow would soon cover his refuge and larder. And while feathers make a nice comforter, they would be no match for a prolonged stay. Boo shook his head and started to walk away. A thought stopped him. What would a chicken do in the world? All he could think about were jobs where someone would need to dress up as a chicken, but even then, those were really humans. And what would happen once Benson heard of the giant chicken? His giant chicken. Boo gulped, trying to push images of himself roasted and serving ten out of his head. He then looked back at his nest. He remembered how he 'fooled' the farmer into thinking he wasn't himself. Would it work with others? Well, he had no choice ... either it would work, or the Bensons would be having chicken for a week. He weaved the nest into a straw hat, took the leftovers for a blond moustache, put them on, and headed for the main road. --------- Alexa Illespont looked at the job applicant before her. A rather odd-looking man, she thought, but then again, the company could always use the PR of hiring a minority. She looked again at the application. Damn chicken-scrawl. Well, how much writing would someone need to do as a check-out worker? She stamped the form. 'You're hired. You start next Monday.' 'B'gawk.' 'You're welcome, Mr Boostien.' She reached over to shake his hand. 'My, your hands are soft. What do you use for them?' Abe Boostien shrugged, then walked out of her office. --------- This was wonderful! Chicken Boo flopped back on his bed. Of all the possible outcomes, this was the one he never thought of. Even without references, without experience, without anything, he now had a job, a name, a flat ... it was just too easy! He even gave blood at the Red Cross station, and no-one said anything. He shuddered sharply, remembering. There was one who saw through him there ... It was a young child, true ... and maybe his disguise had slipped a bit. He was somewhat weak from giving blood, and was sitting on one of the chairs when the boy spoke. 'Ma! Dad! There's a giant chicken in here!' At the time, he was too weak to even think about it, much less panic. But now that he was better, he started to sweat. He still didn't understand how a hat and a fake moustache kept people from seeing he was a chicken, and now he knew that not everyone was fooled. Boo sighed and leaned back in his bed. It felt weird, but it was what humans did, even pseudo-humans. Maybe his disguise did slip somewhat. Tomorrow, he thought, he'd have to head for a good theatrical supply store. Straw moustaches are one thing, but straw will wilt ... --------- It had been a long day for Gina Maxwell. First her car broke down on the way to work, then the Petersen proposal fell through, and now her 2-year-old daughter was wailing at the top of her lungs for whatever treat was nearby. Oh well, she was done with her shopping, and could get out of this madhouse, go home, pop a few aspirin, and konk out on the sofa for a few hours. She got in the check-out line and waited. This took an eternity ... Vicki would grab at anything in an attempt to coerce her mother into buying it for her, and when Gina would put it back, Vicki would take another ... finally! She was in front of the register, and started loading her purchases on the flatbed. Vicki watched, and whined about not getting her treat. She then looked up at the checker. 'MAAAAAA!' 'What?!?' Gina was just about at the end of her rope. 'GIANT CHICKEN!' She pointed at the clerk. Gina looked at him. He wore the same uniform as the other employees, and had rather strawlike blond hair with a droopy moustache. She sighed and turned on her daughter. 'Be quiet!' 'BUT HE'S A GIANT CHICKEN!' Gina blushed at the checker. 'Sorry, um ... Abraham, but she's young ... ' She turned back to her daughter. 'Now stop calling him a chicken or I won't buy you any more candy EVER!' Vicki sat back in the seat, stunned into silence as Abraham filed away the groceries. Gina wrote out her cheque, and received her receipt. As she pushed the cart out of the lane, Vicki leaped up and pulled on Abraham's moustache hard. 'Vicki! No!' Gina reached over and smacked Vicki's hand. 'Naughty girl!' Vicki's hand jerked back, the moustache still in her grip. A rip marked when it was pulled from the face of Abraham, who sprang back. This shook him, causing his hair to move. Gina looked on as the wig fell off of Abraham, revealing ... a giant chicken? This was too much. She fainted into the shopping cart. Vicki continued to bawl, pointing at the chicken. 'LOOK WHAT THAT CHICKEN DID TO MY MOMMY!' Several guards started approaching Boo. He looked around himself, then screamed and rushed out the door, pursued by an angry mob. --------- 'Welcome to the firm, James Booson.' 'B'gawk.' ---------