In this photo released by Disney World, singer Jessica Simpson poses with Goofy, Mickey and Donald in front of Cinderella Castle at Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Simpson was on hand to tape the finale performance for the 24th annual ‘Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade,’ which is scheduled to air Dec. 25, 2007.

To promote sanity in our world, we got to have some insanities from time to time.
And today, Wednesday, Dec. 5, there are at least four online news items that remind us that we do live in a whacky world.

INSANITY 1: Tweety and friends get court summons

In Rome, Tweety has finally been given the chance to take the witness stand and sing like the true canary she is.

An Italian court ordered the animated bird, along with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and his girlfriend Daisy, to testify in a counterfeiting case.

In what lawyers believe was a clerical error worthy of a Looney Tunes cartoon, a court in Naples sent a summons to the characters ordering them to appear Friday in a trial in the southern Italian city, officials said.

The court summons cites Titti, Paperino, Paperina, Topolino — the Italian names for the characters — as damaged parties in the criminal trial of a Chinese man accused of counterfeiting products of Disney and Warner Bros.

Instead of naming only the companies and their legal representatives, clerks also wrote in the witness list the names of the cartoons that decorated the toys and gadgets the man had reproduced, said Fiorenza Sorotto, vice president of Disney Company Italia.

“Unfortunately they cannot show up, as they are residents of Disneyland,” Sorotto joked in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “It certainly pleased us that the characters were considered real, because that’s what we try to do.”

“Let’s hope the characters will not be prosecuted for failing to appear,” Disney lawyer Cristina Ravelli said.

INSANITY 2: 42-foot-tall inflatable snowman stolen

In Tyler, Texas, authorities are searching for “Frosty” the snowman after he has been kidnapped. The 42-foot-tall inflatable holiday decoration was taken from a tree farm. Officials at Dixon Farms say Frosty, worth about $10,000, was last seen Friday night.

So far no arrests.

Lot owner Royce Wisenbaker believes Frosty was hoisted over a fence.

A $1,000 reward has been posted for the safe return of the towering decoration.

Frosty is described as a white male, sporting a red hat and scarf, with a pipe in his mouth.

INSANITY 3: Red Bull pulls Nativity ad

In Rome, an angry Italian priest has persuaded soft drinks company Red Bull to withdraw an advertisement setting its product in a Nativity scene on the grounds it is disrespectful to Christianity.

Father Marco Damanti, from Sicily, wrote to the makers of the caffeinated energy drink denouncing their commercial as “a blasphemous act” and said on Monday he had received a prompt reply promising to remove it from Italian television.

The advert depicted four wise men, instead of three, visiting Mary and the Baby Jesus in Bethlehem. The fourth wise man bore a can of the soft drink.

“The image of the sacred family has been represented in a sacrilegious way,” Father Damanti told Corriere della Sera. “Whatever the ironic intentions of Red Bull, the advert pokes fun at the Nativity, and at Christian sensitivity.”

The priest also objected to the company’s slogan, “Red Bull gives you wings,” said by angels in the animated advert.

INSANITY 4: Man caught for stealing talking love-doll

In Madison, Wisconsin, a man was accused of stealing several blow-up dolls from an adult novelty store.

A criminal complaint filed in Dane County says Jose Sandoval, 26, smashed through the front door at Naughty Novelties in Burke last month and stole a talking love-doll with a $270 price tag, along with other dolls and items.

The complaint says Sandoval denied committing the burglary, then began to cry and led detectives to an abandoned trailer behind a motel where the stolen items were recovered.

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