Gertie the Queen of the Storyland Stampede – Character Insight
Gertie is a woman who believes, with her whole heart, that she is the Queen of the Storyland Stampede. For ten glorious days each year, the city of Storyland transforms into a world of cowboys and cowgirls, and Gertie transforms right along with it. She trades in her quiet, solitary life for a pink cowboy hat, pink cowboy boots, and a spot at the Stampede grounds from sunup to sundown – because as far as Gertie is concerned, this is the only time she truly lets her hair down.
What We Know About Gertie, the Queen of the Storyland Stampede
Created: July 8, 2018
Lives in: Storyland Canada – Foothills World
Based on: Gertie was inspired by the magic of a city coming alive during Stampede season – the way an entire town can shed its everyday self and become something bolder, brighter, and a little wilder. She was also shaped by the striking contrast between a private, isolated life and a bold festival persona: the quiet woman who barely leaves her apartment versus the pink-booted queen who owns the Stampede grounds for ten straight days.
Gertie, the Queen of the Storyland Stampede’s Defining Traits:
- Believes she is the true Queen of the Storyland Stampede
- Spends all ten days of the Stampede at the grounds, living for the event
- Outside the Stampede, she is lonely, has no friends, and rarely leaves her apartment
- Emerges each Stampede in her signature pink cowboy hat and pink cowboy boots
- Gets herself into some kind of pickle every single day of the Stampede
- Never turns down a challenge and always finds one to enter
Likes
- The Storyland Stampede and everything it brings with it
- Her pink cowboy hat and pink cowboy boots
- Taking on challenges at the Stampede grounds
- The ten days a year when she gets to let her hair down
Dislikes
- The quiet, lonely stretch of the year when the Stampede is over
- Sitting on the sidelines instead of joining in the fun
Character Notes
Gertie is a woman of two very different lives. For most of the year, she is withdrawn and alone, tucked away in her apartment with no friends to speak of. But once the Storyland Stampede begins, she comes out of hiding entirely, stepping into her pink cowboy hat and boots and heading straight for the Stampede grounds. She spends all ten days there, entering every challenge she can find, because Gertie never backs down from one. Along the way, she tends to land in some kind of pickle – enough that onlookers sometimes wonder if she is a little pickled herself. But nobody minds, because everyone at the Stampede knows that Gertie is simply having the time of her life.
