I hope you enjoy this chapter as we look ahead to a brighter 2021!


Episode 33: Magical World Auditions

"So, what exactly did you call us here for, Oswald?" Gabriel asked as they entered the Main Street Cinema.

"Is it important Dream Keeper business?" Jasiri asked.

"Eh, kind of," Oswald replied, leading the two to the front row of the theater. He pulled out a remote control and pressed a button, lifting the screen up and revealing a line of characters on the other side. "This is the Auditions for the 2021 season!"

"Wow, the year is almost over, isn't it?" Gabriel said in surprise. "So, we're interviewing new people coming to the Magical World, huh?"

"You got it, kiddo!" Oswald nodded. "These are just a handful of the new characters we'll be welcoming into the Disney family, or debuting their own stories. Mickey and I split these auditions up over the course of a week, and I figured that as the Dream Keeper you'd like to meet some of these guys."

"Sounds like fun to me," Jasiri said, Gabriel nodding in agreement.

Oswald clapped his hands, then pulled out a clipboard and slapped it down on the table. "Alright, first up is the new animated programs. Calling up Molly McGee!"

Stepping to the front of the stage was a perky girl with brown hair done up into a ponytail, with a grumpy blue ghost lingering behind her. "Hello there, judges!" the girl, Molly, exclaimed. "Say 'Hi,' Scratch!"

The ghost looked to the judges, then rolled his eyes and huffed. "Hello, judges."

Gabriel grabbed his own clipboard and then said, "Molly, why don't you tell us a bit about yourself?"

"Well, I just moved to a new town, and when my family got to our new house, I met Scratch here and we quickly became Best Friends Forever!" Molly happily said.

"She's supposed to be cursed to be haunted by me forever, but that clearly backfired," Scratch muttered.

"Any special talents we should know about?" Jasiri asked.

Molly snapped her fingers. "Oh, right! We're going to try and do a musical number in almost every episode!"

"Sounds a bit derivative to me," Scratch quipped.

"Derivatively fun!" Molly corrected.

"We wish you the best of luck, Molly and Scratch," Oswald said. "Sorry about delaying your premiere into next year, by the way."

"Oh, sure, no skin off my back," Scratch rolled his eyes. "I'm already dead."

As the girl and the ghost who was cursed to be with her left, Oswald called up the next audition. Roller Skating onto the stage was an African American girl with confident air about her, followed by booming footsteps as a red T-Rex with horns stomped onto the stage.

"Hey, I know you!" Gabriel said. "Lunella Lafayette, right?"

"Yep, that's me," Lunella smirked. "You can call me by my hero name, Moon Girl. And the big guy here is Devil Dinosaur."

Devil Dinosaur gave a grunt, lowering himself to lovingly nuzzle Moon Girl.

"So you have a pet dinosaur?" Jasiri asked.

"Devil is more than a pet, he's my crime-fighting partner," Moon Girl corrected. "We have a psychic link to each other, so with his strength and my scientific, know-how, there's no problem we can't overcome."

"Do you think we'd be a better team if we had a psychic link?" Gabriel asked Jasiri.

The hyena giggled. "Even if we don't know what the other is thinking the all the time, we always seem to be in sync on our plans."

"Here's to seeing more of your adventures next year," Oswald said as Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur walked off. "Up next, Tylor Tuskmon." Lumbering onto the stage was a purple monster with big horns and short blonde hair. "Huh, you looked a bit different the last time we met, Tylor."

"Yeah, I went through a bit of redesign since you asked me to become a star," Tylor scratched the back of his neck.

"It says on your form that you'll be staring in "Monsters at Work,"" Gabriel read off the clipboard. "How do you feel about working with top Monsters Inc. employees like Mike and Sulley."

"I think it's amazing that I get to work with top Scarers like them," Tylor said. "Although it was a bit of a shock to find out that they're switching over to Laugh Power right after I graduated from Monsters University. I'll just have to make the most of it and be the best Monster I can be!"

"That's a great attitude to have," Jasiri nodded.

"And if you ever run into trouble, we'll make sure to come and help out if we're in the neighborhood," Gabriel assured.

Tylor gave a nervous nod and walked off the stage, with Oswald flipping the page on his clipboard. "Alright, let's switch over to some of our theatrical releases next."

The next person called was a bald man in a river expedition uniform, whom with had a build that wouldn't look out of place in an action movie.

"It says here your name is Frank Wolff, and that you run a jungle cruise expedition," Gabriel read off the clipboard. "Sounds like we've got an upcoming SEA member in the works."

"I can only hope to become as famous as some of those guys, kid," Frank said, tipping his hat.

"He sounds familiar to me," Jasiri said, tilting her head. "Like that Maui guy we met once."

"Similar voices happen all the time in showbusiness," Oswald explained. "Ever had Winnie the Pooh and the Cheshire Cat in the same room? It gets confusing, I'll tell ya."

Next to the stage was an excitable Italian boy that looked ready for the summertime.

"This is Luca, from one of the upcoming Pixar titles of the same name," Oswald introduced.

"I'm always up for a new Pixar movie, even if it doesn't always interest me," Gabriel said. "So then, Luca, what can you tell us about your story."

"Well, I can't reveal everything yet, but me and my friend are going to have an unforgettable summer together," Luca said with a smile.

"Hopefully we'll be able to see it play out in theaters as well," Gabriel nodded.

"Is there something going on in your world where you can't do that?" Jasiri asked.

Gabriel sighed. "It's not that we can't go to theaters, it's more like it's been 'heavily suggested' that we don't do that. Part of the reason I've spent most of my time here in the Magical World this year is because everything is still open." The raven then looked over to Oswald. "Off-topic question, but do you think I'd be able to bring Jasiri over to my world one day?"

Oswald shook his head. "You humans may be able to cross over between the worlds, but us that live here have to stay in the Magical World. Remember what happened when Ralph left his game? Imagine that but way worse."

"Oh, I won't want that happening, that's for sure," Gabriel said.

"Anyway, I think we're at the last person for today," Jasiri interrupted, looking down at the bottom of the list.

Flying onto the stage was a purple dragon, confetti popping out of nowhere as we appeared. "Figment is here for the final big announcement for next year!"

"Hey there, Figment!" Gabriel said, giving the dragon a high-five. "Do you have a show that you're getting?"

Figment shook his head. "No, but I am here to preview some big announcements we've got for the big 5-0 anniversary of Disney World next year!" He spun around and pulled out a model of the Magical World. "We'll be debuting the new and improved EPCOT, opening Avengers Campus to the public, and having plenty of new shows and entertainment for guests."

"Sounds like a big year," Jasiri said. "50 years is a long time to be around."

"I hope you two will enjoy it along with everyone else," Figment cheered. "It's a party where everyone's invited!"

Once Figment left, Oswald picked up his clipboard and gestured for Gabriel and Jasiri to follow him. "Thanks for the help you two. To be honest, Mickey is better at introductions than I am, and I wanted to have some company while I did the interviews."

"No worries, Oswald," Gabriel assured. "We weren't doing anything today anyway."

"It was fun getting to meet some new faces as well," Jasiri added.

"To make it up for this, I've got something to give you," Oswald said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a brochure. "I had a reservation to Ratatouille that I wasn't able to use- Ortensia and I have to take care of the kids when one of them sprained their ankle- so I want you two have this as a thanks for today."

"You didn't have to do that," Gabriel said.

"But I insist," Oswald said.

"We'll make sure to have a great night there, then," Jasiri nodded.


Author's Note

A short chapter, but I wanted to highlight some of the upcoming characters and stories from Disney for next year. I know 2020 has been hard on all of us, but I hope that this story and others like it have made your year a bit brighter. Also, I am planning to end this story by the end of the year, so this will be my chance to talk about some of these characters before the end. I will be making a new Disney story later next year, though, so Gabriel won't be gone for long!

As for my opinions on these new characters, "The Ghost and Molly McGee" looks fun, especially if it's going to have songs like Phineas and Ferb. "Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur" will be a fun show and a nice change of pace from having only Avengers and Spider-Man Marvel cartoons. "Monsters at Work" will be interesting, as both Mike and Sulley's voice actors will be returning for the series. "Jungle Cruise" isn't my kind of movie but looks fun, and we don't know much about "Luca" yet, though I am interested in learning more.

Next Time: Gabriel and Jasiri go on a crazy date!