Destiny, Valor and a lizard named Louie
By Michael Ambrosio

     Take Harry Potter mixed with Simba of “The Lion King,” cross him with an orphaned prince named Louie, mix in some life lessons and vocabulary/reading comprehension lessons, and you get the delightful Destiny, Valor and a Lizard named Louie by Michael Ambrosio. What “Finding Nemo” did for fish, Louie does for lizards. There is a strong father-son relationship, minus Harry Potter’s connection to his mother Lily Evans Potter.

     Why is it that mothers are always absent from fairy tales and fables? Disney didn’t invent the disappearing mother, either. Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm often removed the mother from the picture, although ARABIAN NIGHTS included a mother for Aladdin. Much like Louie’s story, the Disney version of Aladdin concentrates on the father-child relationship. Also, in Louie’s story, a young lizard named Marie gets saved from death by her father’s sacrifice, and Marie and Louie later help rescue another father figure, Talis, from the chameleons. In addition, Louie’s foster father is killed as part of a chameleon plot to make Louie vulnerable so that the chameleons can set Louie, the true prince, up as an ersatz chameleon king.

     One wonders if this emphasis on the role of the father is intentional. The resemblance to the French Revolution, with names such as Louie and Marie, may also be intentional. After all, the principles of the French Revolution led to many of the philosophy of the American Founding Fathers. Speaking of politics, as we approach Decision 2004 and deal with incessant whining about no WMD, adults and kids may appreciate the marvelous political commentary about “chameleon deception…that had you believing you were a chameleon…that seems so real, so rooted in truth, that most believe it. It’s hard to explain, but the deception plays to the victim’s weaknesses. It has a power all its own. It can separate the best of friends, and it can fool the smartest of lizards.”

      Which brings a troubling thought: who are the chameleons in our midst? Better listen to our mothers, our fathers, and our own valor. We, like Louie, can discover the brave blue-belly within and embrace our destiny.