I didn’t really watch the big game tonight, but what I did see of it was the commercials. And what I saw of those were commercials with talking animals. I was pretty surprised – talking animals? That’s so Superbowl XXIX.

This year, the animals were talking about beer and fast food. Again. So congratulations, animals – you have now become just as boring to me as most people I could encounter at a lame frat formal.

I believe that among this year’s Superbowl commercials was also an ad for another forgettable animated movie featuring talking animals. I don’t recall what this one was called, but if they never make another movie with talking animals, I won’t miss them.

Maybe this seems out of character for someone who adores stuffed animals and, to some extent, real animals. But we humans seem so intent on dragging animals into our most cliché conversations, which really shouldn’t even be happening among humans. I guess the idea is that, if a talking fish paraphrases something from Pulp Fiction, then it’s new and clever all over again, and that’s one less writer we need to hire.

That’s one reason I find Hayao Miyazaki‘s animated films so enchanting – most of the time, animals and other creatures keep their thoughts to themselves, and they leave the gabbing to the humans (who also tend to be more reticent than their Disney/ Pixar counterparts). Even when his animals talk, such as in Spirited Away (which is great, by the way), they aren’t overly cute or precocious, they repeat no despicable catch phrases, and they certainly never bother to argue over how to pronounce words in Spanish.

Here is my finished elephant – I must admit, I’m pretty happy with how it came out. It’s always a little distressing to see the small, shriveled-up pieces come out of the dryer (and often with one or two missing – I’ve really got to stop putting them in loose), but when I begin sewing on the eyes, it’s amazing to see how quickly what looks like less than nothing can focus into something with personality. So it was with this little elephant. (And it is little, easily sitting on the palm of my hand.)

I think the trunk is pretty cute, but a little difficult to photograph. It’s basically a tube worked in the round, with the end tucked in a little and sewn into place.

The side view. I haven’t chosen a name yet. I haven’t chosen a gender yet, either.

And here is some elephant-inspiration. I picked up this elephant in Tokyo, and gave it to my husband (boyfriend at the time), who named it Trunky. Then about a year later, John re-introduced me to Trunky, and said that he couldn’t remember who gave it to him! Sheesh.

By the way, this guy is one of the adorable characters by Dick Bruna, who did Miffy. Like the other Bruna characters, he’s so perfectly compact.