Wilt's Stitches
 

I hope this thread is okay to start here, since I didn't want to just add this to Wilt's main thread, which is already several pages long and this is a very specific topic anyway.

Why do you think Wilt still has his stitches, after all these years?

My own opinion is, he may not have had them removed because perhaps he can't, like maybe he would just bleed again or something. A bit dramatic for the show maybe, but I can't figure any other reason. It's very intriguing if you ask me! (Because as we know, stitches often fall out on their own or can be removed within weeks to months.)

Are we certain that those are actually stitches? Perhaps what we're looking at is discolored scar tissue, which I don't think is removable. It's a possibility, if nothing else.

I think you're right, Cassini. Some people scar a very different color from the rest of their skin, and MOST animals do. I still have visable scars on two fingers of my right hand from where those two fingers were actually severed in a freak accident 17 years ago, and had to be surgically reattached! I can still make out the lines from where the sutures were, even after all these years, and I'm a very light-skinned person. The more pigment people have in their skin, the darker their scars tend to be. I don't think that there are actually sutures still left in Wilt's skin, since suture material is either made to eventually break down and dissolve, or it will actually cause an infection and "rejection" immune response from the body.

pitbulllady

I just thought he was supposed to look like a basketball.

Or maybe they're imaginary stitches that never dissolve, or something. I'm sure you could imagine up a stitch-friend.

NO. Wilt was NOT created the way he is now.

Yes, you could, but I'm sure Wilt wasn't created with those stitches. I think SOMETHING caused them to appear, (possibly when losing arm, eye) but we don't know what that SOMETHING is.

But HEY-! On ALL of the Foster's house photos, Wilt's head is cut off on every one. Maybe Wilt DIDN'T get those stitches on him when he lost his arm/eye. Maybe he had gotten them like, in the last few years or so. Maybe his head was cut out of every picture for a reason.

Correct me if I'm wrong. :D :goo:

We'll know for certain in less than eight days. :D

Interesting subject to say the least.

Normally stitches either disolve on their own, or need to be surgically removed as we all know. Wilt though, seems to have had these stitches for quite sometime. It's a good question as to why, but it also matters on how he got injured on his frills (that's what I call em anyway) in the first place. Were those pieces of his face basically severed off at some point, like pbl's fingers?

If that is the case, he wouldn't need them now after so long of having them. His flesh wound have mended. But maybe imaginaries heal differently to humans? Maybe he can't heal, or maybe it's still mending and every few months behind the scenes he has to have the old stitches removed and new ones put in.

That was actually a plot point in one of the role play sessions I've shared with Fala in the past. Wilt avoiding the nasty business by hiding up a tree.

But in the show? Who knows. The same deal goes with his arm too. But maybe we'll never know.

I think that the whole "headless Wilt in every picture" has nothing whatsoever to do with his amputated arm and "wonky" fake eye, but is more of a running joke having to do with him being so tall, AND being so sensitive about it. It's sort of a rehashing of that nearly-identical running joke in Monsters, Inc., where Mike Wazowski's face is always obscured by something every time he appears in a photo, or on tv, or whatever, only unlike Wilt, Mike isn't quite sharp enough to figure that out and have an issue with it! He's just such an attention hog that the mere fact that he was on tv, period, is enough to make him ecstatic! Wilt must feel like he's being descriminated against for his height, by his face always being cut out of the picture, and he's not too happy with that.

pitbulllady

As made evident in the picture episode when he finally asks if he could just sit lower down. He certainly didn't like Bloo's tall jokes either. Seems to be his height is the only sensitive subject Wilt has.

HOLD IT! I just had a really freaky thought, as to HOW Wilt got those injuries. Know how sometimes when basketball players shoot a hoop they manage to break the glass behind it? (Considering it WAS glass, which I'm not sure they still use anymore but did in the old days.) What if Wilt was playing, say one-on-one with the basketball-head guy, when his rival throws the ball hard, trying to make a score, and he ends up shattering the glass, with Wilt right underneath it???

:wiltshock:

Hmmm....

Woah, ouch. That could work, it'd explain a cut up face. Kinda gruesome for cartoon network though.

I feel silly, I never even thought about where his arm went. Basketballs don't have arms. They don't even have stitches, footballs do. Durrrh.

Ooh. Yeah. Ouch. I think that'd be a bit too violent to even recollect on in an episode. We shall see if we learn how he got his injuries or not; a tough thing for any cartoon made for children especially to handle.

Yeah, that IS going to be "touchy", especially as we've already seen proof a-plenty that Wilt originally had both arms and both eyes and no scars. I doubt that they will show anything too graphic, but will most likely just hint at what actually happened to him, stopping just short of showing it. I'm just sorta worried at this point that they will go with something "hokey", like some "evil spell" sort of thingie that turned Wilt's creator kid into that Basketball-headed Dude and caused Wilt's disfigurment as some sort of punishment, and then he will do something in the movie that will reverse it, "magically" returning his creator back into a cute little kid and replacing Wilt's lost arm and eye. The reason I came up with that, absurd as it sounds, is because Lauren told us that the scene with Wilt and his creator was "totally the ending of the movie", which means that either he's going to be remembering, finally, what life was like with his creator and that was basically a flashback scene, OR something like what I thought of will take place, Wilt will remain with his creator forever more, and leave the show. I sure hope I am totally missing the boat on that and just subjecting myself to "stinkin' thinkin'" to quote Little Lincoln!

pitbulllady

But how could they have Wilt leave the show?? Especially when they're greenlit for the next season and it just wouldn't seem right without Wilt-man there. :( I sure hope you're wrong and that IS "stinkin' thinkin'".
Personally I think it's what you said beforehand, they'll just hint at it, so as to avoid anything which may not be suitable for children.

No, it would NOT seem right without the Wilt-Man there, for sure! Given how popular he is, and the merchandising potential he carries, it would indeed seem ridiculous to write him off, even if that did mean giving him a fairy-tale happy ending and having him be adopted by his original creator after all these years. That would be like turning the proverbial cash cow into hamburger patties, something that can only be enjoyed once, then it's gone. And while there are probably many fans who would like to see Wilt somehow restored to his former physical appearance, with both arms and both eyes, I don't feel that way. It's not that I want Wilt to be handicapped, but because I don't think he IS handicapped. His scars serve as a reminder of what he has overcome and what other people can overcome, and to show that people with amputations or other "disabilities" are just as capable of doing things that the rest of us are if they don't dwell on their differences, which Wilt never has done. As he is, he's more of a role model and an inspiration than if he had both arms and both eyes, and I'd wager that he's probably helped to make a lot of the really younger fans more comfortable and more accepting of people who have such differences, since young children are usually a bit freaked out by people who've lost limbs, or who are blind, or use a wheelchair, or whatever.

pitbulllady

I swear, if they got rid of a character in any way I think I'll start hating Foster's...I mean, COME ON! They get rid a REALLY popular character??? That'll just make the show "jump the shark". It'd be OVER for Foster's.

The way I HOPE it'll end is that Wilt's creator DOES visit him on the next creator picnic, with Wilt the way he already is now.

I shudder at the very thought. I hope Foster's doesn't "jump the shark", in a sense, and go with that whole "magic" thing. It just doesn't seem "Foster's" to me.

Wilt looks neater with the crazy eye anyway. He's like Mad-Eye Moody! I hope they won't pull some random deus ex machina to explain it like a magic spell.

Just curious, what proof that he used to have two arms/eyes/etc. are you talking about, pitbulllady?

Two sources, though I will only reveal ONE at this time, since the second one was basically an unauthorized "leak" that briefly appeared on an official CN/Turner Broadcasting site recently. Lauren Faust came on and explained that it was NOT supposed to be shown, since it was a "spoiler", and it was soon taken down, Out of respect for her and the whole Foster's crew, that's all I will say on that.

The other source, though, is Craig's blog, for which there is a link on this forum. If you go back to the April archives, you will see some sketches Craig made of Wilt as he was trying to come up with a design for that character. Some show Wilt still in bandages, others look very little like the Wilt we now know and love and some are even downright disturbing, but there are also two sketches of Wilt as we know him now, what I like to think of as a "Before" and "After" drawing. One shows Wilt as he appears on the show, with the exception that he has BOTH eyes and BOTH arms and no scars, and the other, of course, shows him exactly as he is now-missing his left arm and left eye, with those scars on each side of his face.

Trust me on this-Wilt was NOT created the way he is now, though what happened to him will have to wait for Thanksgiving Day to be revealed. I think that given Wilt's sometimes-odd behavior, and the presence of suture scars(which is something most little kids are not going to think of, even a kid who has been through surgery or injuries themselves), it would have been a major "cop out", as they said back in the '70's, to have had it revealed in this upcoming movie that Wilt had been imagined as a one-armed, one-eyed basketball player, and that everything he does now, from his compulsive apologizing to him saying he is "going to punish myself", was simply his behavior by default.

pitbulllady

PB just has Wilt down to a "T", doesn't she? X)

Yeah ya know, I was thinking today how simply MAD I would be if they "copped out", as you say, and decided to go with the "fairy-tale" version that would be all safe and nice, and have Wilt created that way after all ((which would totally make NO sense whatsoever and I would be very unhappy with Craig for that one)) or that indeed, some stupid magic spell can explain it all.

HOWEVER, to give credit where major credit is due (and deserved), I somehow DOUBT they will go in that direction. Seeing as how Lauren herself was indeed here only days ago, catching sight of the leakage, this means to me she is "lurking" the boards and reading what's going on, hoping to get clues as to what may make the fans happy. (I really do believe this, they seem to love Sparky's board!! :D ) I think they know full well we'd be sincerely pOed if they even dare go in those two cop-out directions we speak of.

Since the show is rated Y-7 or however that goes, and on the same note, since we have seen some minor dramatic incidents or thematic elements, as I believe they call it, it's not entirely difficult to believe that just before the actual accident takes place, the scene cuts, showing us none of the details but leaving enough to the imagination. Can't see at all why that would be a problem.
Besides when you watch things like "Grim Adventures", one has to wonder what ratings mean anymore, I kid you not. That show can be strangely entertaining at times (though as I've said before, I only watch it for Mandie really) it IS sick and gross, and even has sexual references that a keen adult eye could catch. I know I have, and I wasn't even necessarily looking for it.

::takes a breath:: Sooooo....that all being said, it's safe to assume Craig & Crew will do all they can to satisfy the fans, but at the same time, keep the ratings in check. For instance, it's very possible Wilt just generally gives the idea in conversation (with no actual scenes), let's just say for instance my earlier theory is correct and he got hurt by glass falling from the hoop during a game. He would just say, "Yeah well..so I was playing with (enter name of basket-ball head rival) and he did a long-distance shot and as I tried to block him, it smashed the glass and it fell....you get the idea."
No graphic descriptions there or anything, but the jist of it was made known.

Yeesh that went on for too long. I can truly ramble, yes I can. :gooblab:

Sorry. :D

I kind of like that idea. Now don't think I'm sadistic - but it makes sense to me, and it's not too awful. I've read worse (which is how I learnt not to read 'angst' fanfics).

Couldn't agree with you more. Foster's without Wilt would be like the sea without water. I hope that if he finds his creator he'll keep staying at Foster's, but keep in touch with them (perhaps). I wouldn't want the person to become a recurring character, like Goo and Cheese.

And I think what you say is true; he does not in the least seem disabled. He can do anything that most people can do. It's good for kids to see that handicapped people can have a "normal" life, AND loveable personalities.

Hm, I feel my post is getting off topic in some ways. I would like to request more posts around the issue of how/why Wilt has visible stitches. ;)

His Health care provider (If he has health care) will not pay for Cosmetic care thus without a job (Since he was not paid for holding the flag anyway) he cannot afford to pay out of pocket to get them taken out by a doctor.

Naturally, he could take them out himself, but that would be a bad example for the kids, since Fosters is a Kid show.

Monty :-/

Well, it looks like this thread isn't explained away by GWH. It's still open for discussion.

I don't have much to say on this topic, I'll let ya'll do that for me. ;) Taking into consideration that he was on his own for 8 years before coming to Foster's, any number of things could've happened.

Yeah, that's still open for discussion, but even though I didn't notice it(I'm gonna watch it again soon, though), someone else said that he had the stitches on his face as he was leaving the city in which he'd been created, after he was hurt, even though he had no visable injuries on his face(other than the eye)or any reason to, since Larry was big and heavy but not sharp and pointy! There really would be no logical explanation for the stitches already being there, with no one to put them there(suturing requires TWO hands), and no reason for them to be there at that point. I would have assumed that at the time his arm was amputated, the surgeon had to take muscle from his cheeks to graft over the bone stump for padding, which is a typical procedure. Usually, the surgical team tries to get muscle from the limb that's being amputated, but due to the thinness of Wilt's arms, and the fact that massive infection had probably set in by the time Wilt got medical help, finding enough viable muscle in that arm without cutting into what remained of the still-healthy portion would have been impossible. Therefore, it would have been necessary to harvest muscle from the sides of his face, so as not to affect the use of his other limbs.

pitbulllady

Man are YOU insightful! I never even thought of that one! (And I sit here and over-analyze everything to death! lol)

The whole "seeing Wilt's stitches as he leaves the 'hood" thing was most likely an animation mistake, since you don't see it again as Wilt actually "leaves".

That's what I'm thinking, too. The crew(and the computer program)is so used to Wilt having those stitches, it's almost automatic to put them there, and then later realize, too late, that he shouldn't have had them at that point. He does not have them as he's lying on the court, nor when we see him leave, just in that glimpse of the back of his head as he catches one last glimpse of Jordan.

pitbulllady

Yeah, I'm certain that was a goof. Like the pantsless Ed having pants for a sec in the Big Cheese.

Stitches in his face: Unmirrored character design makes it look interesting.

Stitches in his face while leaving the city: Animation Continuity problem, or goof, or they reused the wrong Flash symbol/group while animating.

There's tons of animation/continuity errors in Foster's, the stitch one in GWH was probbaly just another of them. :P

I'm glad he has them either way. BATTLE WOUNDS, BROTHER. >D

OK y'all here's my theory.

This summer in Philadelphia, I was getting into writing FHFIF fics and was doing some homework on Wikipedia. The article on Wilt, under the subheading "History," says that the marks on the sides of his face are stitches and that (and I quote), "It is still unknown how he got his scars, but they seem to have been acquired shortly thereafter." (Here's the link if you want to look this up for yourself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilt_%28Foster%27s%29.

From the info in that article, I developed my own fanfic. Originally, it was strictly to explain the scars, but it ended up evolving to the point of covering Wilt's life after the basketball game in "Good Wilt Hunting" to stopping just short of when he arrived at Foster's. Here's that link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3792742/...mes_of_My_Life.)

I kinda like Wilt with the scars-- they give him character and it gives people like me (who have active imaginations and crushes on Wilt-- I won't deny it!) someting to think about and toy with.

Just a warning-don't get too hung up on anything you read on Wikipedia.com, ESPECIALLY where Foster's is concerned, since there is a lot of misinformation there. Stitches either come out, dissolve, or will become horribly infected if left in, but they do often leave scars that can last forever(I've still got scars where I had two fingers re-attached over 20 years ago, visable on my pale skin), so more likely, the black marks are just scars left from stitches or surgical staples.

I, too, like Wilt with the scars, since it does indeed give him character and makes him to be a bit more of a mystery to people who don't know him or his history. To the average person, though, I guess it would also make him a bit threatening, since people meeting someone who's got all those scars would have to wonder if maybe this was a violent individual under that warm smile. Those scars have probably been a large part of what has kept him at Foster's all these years.

pitbulllady

I'm well aware of the pitfalls of wikipedia-- I've been informed of them by 2 AP teachers and a friend. However, this was (and , to my knowledge, still is) the best I could do, as cartoonnetwork.com's bio of Wilt left something to be desired when I last looked. I'm terribly sorry-- I misquoted the article. It did say scars rather than stitches. (Oops... :-[ ) (BTW, if anyone knows where some good info on Wilt or any of the other Foster's characters is on the Internet, I'd greatly appreciate it if you let me know where it's hiding!)

Like I said, I like Wilt with the scars. They seem to let you know that there's more to Wilt than a good heart and amazing optimism without saying any characters saying a thing. (And again, it gives people like me with active imaginations and a fanfiction.net account something to play with.) Although I have to admit: if I knew absolutely nothing about Wilt and bumped into him on the street, I doubt I'd feel threatened by the scars. Wilt just sort of induces those "I feel 100% safe around you" feelings. (But I'm biased.)

Also, I'm not sure that his scars are what have kept Wilt at Foster's so for long. I think it's simply because of the age group Foster's mostly caters to: younger children. Kids in that age group (I'm gonna say 6-8 years) are really hung up on shiny and new (consider their reaction to new toys on holidays and birthdays), and Wilt just doesn't fit their description of shiny and new. To a young kid, Wilt is (I'm gonna use this word even though it drives me insane) "broken," so they're gonna pass him up for a "whole" imaginary friend.

Just a theory I'm throwing out there.

P.S. Sorry about my use of "2" and "BTW"-- normally, I try to keep my spelling/grammer within the dictates of the King's English (to quote my grandfather) and not use Internet shorthand, but I'm doing fifty-two quadzillion other things right now, so I needed to speed it up a little.

I don't think those are stitches.