admin February 26th, 2008

520 views

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

This may come to you as a surprise or a silly joke, but it’s actually the truth. The popular CGI cartoon Shrek actually existed! Rather, his ogre-ific head was modeled after a real person; he was called Maurice Tillet, and he was actually a very intelligent person, a poet and writer who could speak 14 idioms.

Tillet was born in 1903, and as a teenager he manifested a rare disease called acromegaly, which causes bones to grow uncontrollably. As result his body was disfigured, and he turned into what people back then referred to as “freak show”; do you think that put him down? Think twice! He actually went to the United States in order to take advantage of his new condition, by turning into a pro wrestler called the “freak ogre of the ring”.

Tillet fought till the end - which arrived in 1954 when he was 51 years old - and he died with a heart attack. Not long before he died, a friend of his asked him to get a lifecast, and Tillet agreed. There were actually three casts, one of which ended up in Iowa (International Wrestling Museum); the second mask went to his friend, and the third one was sent to the York Barbell Museum, where it would allegedly be used as a model to design the popular cartoon character.

Doubtlessly, Maurice Tillet was a very brave person who refused to be put down by his physical deformity; in a sense, I think he would have liked to know Shrek was modelled after him… after all there’s a positive message to this cartoon, which closely resonates Tillet’s legacy of self-esteem and upbeat personality. He was the kind of person who learned to make lemonade, rather than complaining for getting only lemons out of life; his example should be inspirational for us all.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Show us how deep is your love, and...

Check similar slices:

• Introducing: Lemon Heart, and the lazy daze blogging days.
• Let’s make a toast! It’s the virtual toaster museum!
• I have a pretty flag, so you should know I am teh president!
• Memory lane extravaganza: Top 10 Cartoon Songs from the 80′S!
• Steve, Don’t eat that! Why do you hate your taste buds so much?

• *** THIS IS YOUR DAILY REMINDER WHY WE LIKE IT HERE! Your opinions and comments are welcome. ***