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Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 2: Hi, my name is Robert Lamman. This is The Monster Fact,

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Speaker 2: a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind,

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Speaker 2: focusing on mythical creatures, ideas, and monsters in time. Previously

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Speaker 2: on The Monster Fact, I talked about the evil Gomork

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Speaker 2: from The Never Ending Story, So today I like to

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Speaker 2: talk about what is essentially his opposite, the Luck Dragon Falcore.

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Speaker 2: In the nineteen eighty four movie, Falcore rescues a tray

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Speaker 2: you from the swamp of sadness and near death at

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Speaker 2: the jaws of Gomork. In the nineteen seventy nine novel

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Speaker 2: that it is, of course based upon a tray You

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Speaker 2: instead meets him within the layer of Yigrimoule, the mini

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Speaker 2: the Horror of Horrors, a vast swarm of insects with

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Speaker 2: a collective intelligence. In the novel's original German language, Falcore's

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Speaker 2: name is actually something like fukor, thought to be an

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Speaker 2: adaptation of the Japanese fukuiyu, meaning crouching dragon. The name

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Speaker 2: change was apparently to prevent the character's name in English

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Speaker 2: from sounding like an expletive. Author Michael Inda describes the

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Speaker 2: Luck Dragon as long and graceful, with pearly pink and

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Speaker 2: white scales, a lion like head, and ruby red eyes,

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Speaker 2: very much in keeping with Eastern dragon motifs. The nineteen

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Speaker 2: eighty four film famously incorporates soothing dog like elements, which

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Speaker 2: have of course become iconic. It's such a beautiful design,

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Speaker 2: practically realized on the screen, and I also love how

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Speaker 2: it stands in opposition to Gomork's appearance. On one hand,

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Speaker 2: we have the wild wolf and on the other hand

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Speaker 2: a synthesis of fearsome but serene celestial dragon and the

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Speaker 2: friendly domestic dog, best friend of humanity. He is wise, patient,

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Speaker 2: but also a little fierce and powerful in his own right,

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Speaker 2: naturally in line with Eastern dragon motifs. Falcore has no wings. Okay,

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Speaker 2: how does he fly? Then? Well, for that answer, you know,

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Speaker 2: we largely have to look to Eastern traditions, the Eastern

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Speaker 2: traditions that inspired Falcore's creator. In the foundational nineteen thirteen

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Speaker 2: text The Dragon in China and Japan by Marinus Wilhelm

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Speaker 2: de Weiser, the author generally stresses the connection between Eastern

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Speaker 2: dragons and the sky, and also with weather, either innate

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Speaker 2: or via magical parts or items. Such as a pearl.

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Speaker 2: The dragon is able to fly through its given domain,

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Speaker 2: and sometimes they're described or depicted as using a cloud

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Speaker 2: as a vehicle. So the cloud is this thing that

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Speaker 2: they are resting upon or immersed within, and they're traveling

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Speaker 2: around because they are in the cloud. I think as

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Speaker 2: outsiders to these traditions, it's easy to miss this detail.

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Speaker 2: Though at the same time, this is also just a

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Speaker 2: way of usually depicting the power of the dragon. Its

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Speaker 2: power its domain again, is that of the storm and sky.

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Speaker 2: I think we can easily compare as well the implied

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Speaker 2: movement of such wingless sky serpents to the smooth observe

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Speaker 2: twisting movements of sea snakes and eels, as well as

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Speaker 2: of course terrestrial snakes. We can never discount the human imagination.

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Speaker 2: Look at a snake, watch its movement, and then imagine

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Speaker 2: such a thing swimming through the sky. And finally we

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Speaker 2: have the connection again to weather and storms, with the

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Speaker 2: form and movements of the Eastern Dragon, sometimes resembling lightning

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Speaker 2: cutting across the sky. So all of this kind of

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Speaker 2: comes together into that classical Eastern Dragon motif. Again, I

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Speaker 2: think all of this is what makes the film Falcore

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Speaker 2: so memorable, especially because he combines the might and power

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Speaker 2: of the Eastern Dragon with the friendly, comforting charm of

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Speaker 2: a family pet. After all, the story is very much

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Speaker 2: about the power of books, and books outside of a

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Speaker 2: dog are of course, man's best friend. Falcore is a

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Speaker 2: fitting companion for a child in a world of human fantasy.

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Speaker 2: Just imagine the power of raw creative thought, though largely

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Speaker 2: domesticated in the best sense of the word. He empowers

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Speaker 2: a tray you. He grants him nearly infinite mobility across fantasia,

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Speaker 2: and even an enduring, if not absolute, protection from the

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Speaker 2: creativity destroying hunger of the Nothing. Tune in for additional

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Speaker 2: episodes of The Monster Fact the Artifact for Animalius to

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Speaker 2: Pindium each week. As always, you can email us at

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Speaker 2: contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.

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Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For

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Speaker 1: more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

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Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite os.