More Color Me Purple: Entertainment Quiz

Answer: Superman

Bizarro first appeared in Superboy #68, (October 1958). He lives in Bizarro World and is an imperfect duplicate of Superman, but opposite. Superman has heat vision, freeze breath, and X-Ray vision (blocked by lead), whereas Bizarro has arctic vision, flame breath, and the ability to see through lead but nothing else. There have been multiple versions of Bizarro. Although he originally wore a blue-and-red outfit like Superman's, in the 21st century he has donned shades of purple and violet, with a gold belt and shield. He is sometimes a supervillain and sometimes more of an anti-hero, but always a thorn in Superman's side.

A floorless roller coaster, painted purple, is named for Bizarro at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey.

Answer: Cheshire Cat

In "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (1865), the Cheshire Cat is a puzzling and snide yet wise guide for Alice. He appears and disappears at will; in fact, sometimes the entire Cat disappears, leaving only his enormous grin behind. The saying "grin like a Cheshire cat" first appeared around 1770, but nobody is quite sure of the origins, and it was rather common by the Victorian era.

In the original illustrations by John Tenniel, the Cheshire Cat is a ginger-brown tabby with a rather terrifying grin. In the film "Alice in Wonderland" (1951) however, the Disney animators gave him a pink coat with purple stripes, with a less-threatening, cartoonish grin, and he is always well-lit rather than shadowed.

Answer: Barney

Sheryl Leach of Dallas Texas created Barney in 1987 on behalf of her son. Her original intention was to create a series of home videos, but eventually the purple dinosaur debuted in 1992 on US public television on "Barney & Friends". The "I Love You" song was used to end the program (most episodes). The anthropomorphic Tyrannosaurus Rex had enormous appeal, and he appeared in several TV specials and in theatrical releases, video games, etc.

On the other hand, many older children and adults despised Barney, and there was an entire genre of anti-Barney humor in books and videos, a "Saturday Night Live" sketch, and "Mad Magazine". Even "Animaniacs" parodied the purple dinosaur (whose producers doubtless cried all the way to the bank).

Answer: Ursula

This nasty, twisted character likes to "help" merfolk reach their goal, usually with some twist that ends in a grim fate, like being turned into a polyp. Ursula steals the voice of mermaid Ariel in the animated musical fantasy feature "The Little Mermaid" (1989), based on the Danish fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson. The Disney animators modeled Ursula after the hefty drag queen Divine, who often appeared in independent filmmaker John Waters' films, including the original "Hairspray" (1988).

Answer: Yuh-Gi-Oh!

'Yu-Gi-Oh!' was a Japanese manga series about gaming (1996-2004) published in 'Weekly Shōnen Jump' magazine. (Manga are comics or graphic novels drawn in a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century.) An anime adaptation called 'Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters' in Japan (or just 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' everywhere else) led to various video games and a trading card game, or a collectible battle card game.

The game is played by laying drawn cards in particular ways to combine monsters, spells, and traps to defeat one's opponent.

The game was first launched in Japan in 1999. By 2011, Guinness World Records named it the top-selling trading card game in history, as it had sold 25.2 billion cards worldwide!

Answer: Magenta

Frances Kane, girlfriend of Wally West (Kid Flash), first appeared in "The New Teen Titans" #17 (March 1982). After undergoing bizarre experiences, she discovered she had the power to generate and manipulate magnetic fields. By "Teen Titans Spotlight" #16 (November 1987) she had donned the persona Magenta. Unfortunately, the stress of being a superhero and breaking up with Kid Flash led to a split personality. Eventually she developed homicidal tendencies and joined the group of supervillains called Rogues (though they disdained the term "supervillain") and later the Injustice League. Magenta also appeared in The CW network's series "The Flash", a spin-off of "Arrow.

Magenta, Lombardy, Italy was the site of the Battle of Magenta (4 June 1859) during the Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Franco-Austrian War. The color magenta was named for the purplish-red uniforms worn. All of the remaining answer choices are shades or tints of purple.

Answer: Grimace

The Evil Grimace debuted in 1971 with two pairs of arms with which to steal milkshakes and sodas. The "Evil" sobriquet was soon dropped, and Grimace was reintroduced as a nice fellow in 1972. Then in 1974, Grimace had only two arms. Grimace's role continued to grow, and by the mid-1970s, he had become a major character in McDonaldland--a well-meaning klutz and comic foil to Ronald McDonald. In 1985, he transformed from a giant purple blob with a pink mouth and small pupils to a cuter creature with movable eyebrows and eyelids, a black mouth, and a pink tongue. Many characters were dropped in the 1980s, but Grimace stayed on, and even had relatives introduced, like Uncle O'Grimacey in 1986, and he appeared in several McDonaldland home VHS tapes.

McDonald's had turned to Sid and Mary Krofft, producers of the American Saturday morning TV show "H.R. PufnStuf", and at first wanted to partner with them. But instead, after getting to see some of their work, McDonald's decided to do it on their own, a move which cost the Kroffts a lot of money. In 1973, the Krofft brothers sued McDonald's for plagiarism. The courts awarded the Kroffts over a million dollars, and ordered McDonald's to stop producing and airing many of the characters (hence the streamlining in the 1980s). Lennie Weinrib, who also voiced the title character in "H.R. PufnStuf", spoke the original voice of Grimace.

Answer: Prince

The artist who will forever be known as Prince released the album "Purple Rain" with his backup band The Revolution in 1984, with its two hit singles "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy", which videos were played often on the still-young cable-TV channel MTV. (The songs were ubiquitous on the radio, too, and became concert staples.) The movie did not fare so well, but the stunning purple jacket became an icon of 1980s pop culture.

The designer Louis Wells worked with Vaughn Terry and Marie France to create Prince's distinctive purple trenchcoat and ruffled shirt, along with other costumes. The trio appeared at a time when Prince was struggling for a signature look, and their six-year run with Prince helped to define his image and extend his international influence. Wells also worked for many other acts, including Earth, Wind & Fire. Wells died of lung cancer in 2018, two years after Prince had passed away.

Answer: Roosevelt Franklin

This Muppet is the reason why I argued with my nursery school teacher that there was no such person as Franklin Roosevelt; it was Roosevelt Franklin! He was voiced by Matt Robinson, who also played Gordon on the children's educational TV series "Sesame Street" for the first three seasons (1969-1972). Roosevelt Franklin released an album called "The Year Of Roosevelt Franklin, Gordon's Friend from Sesame Street", reissued in 1974 as simply "My Name Is Roosevelt Franklin". When this character appeared on the U.S. children's educational program "Sesame Street", he often entered to a jazzy opening, exited to a cool drum riff, and spoke in rhyme or scat.

Roosevelt Franklin was meant to be a positive, smart character, a precocious boy could teach his own elementary school class about anything from Africa to safety--someone that the target audience, African-American children of the inner city, could relate to. But it was felt he perpetuated stereotypes, and he quietly disappeared from the program (although he turned up in books for another 20 years). His vinyl album, nonetheless, was classic Sesame Street--simple, empowering, and fun! You might catch clips of Roosevelt Franklin rapping in classic skits and maybe singing from his album on YouTube. (In one skit, Hard Head Harry turns to the camera and says, "My man sure can teach!") My personal favorites are "Bad Luck to be Born a Duck!" and "Morty Moot Mope". As Roosevelt Franklin would say, "I can teach anything I want!"

Answer: Count von Count

Also called simply The Count, Count von Count appears to be a purple vampire à la Bela Lugosi, but much friendlier. He premiered in 1972 on the fourth season of "Sesame Street". Obsessed with counting, he will count almost anything, and then follow it with an mock-evil or triumphant laugh, accompanied by thunder and lightning. (In the early days, sometimes werewolves would howl, too.) The Count was originally operated and voiced by Jerry Nelson (1934-2012), who also originally did Mr. Snuffleupagus, Dr. Strangepork on "The Muppet Show", and Camilla the Chicken.

The other answer choices are also purple or lavender Muppets. Splurge was created in 1965 and was Jim Henson's first full-body Muppet; the purple gentle giant made only a few appearance on "Sesame Street". Bip Bipadotta sang the earworm "Mah-Na Mah-NAH (doo-DOO-da-doo-doo)". Herbert Birdsfoot was a lavender Muppet with nerd glasses, curly hair, and a mustache, and he often found himself the frustrated straight man to Grover's comic antics. One of his last appearances was in "The Muppet Movie" (1979).