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pinkpinkstarlet · 23 days

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some of my favorite YouTubers! Some of these are coquette but some of them are not, so I’m still going to tag the coquette tag but it won’t apply for all of these

CZsworld, a horror themed channel that focuses on the intricate histories, theories, characters and stories of many horror movies, books, and sometimes tv shows. He also talks about people/figures from real life in more parody-esque horror history videos. He’s extremely cool and an amazing channel to watch to get into the Halloween mood during October, but watching him at any other time is enjoyable as well

glamourdaze, a collection of different videos from the 20th century, such as beauty and healthcare videos, or just videos of people from different decades in this century living out their lives. What makes this channel one of my favs is that they revive the clips of people from decades such as the 1920s to color them and slow them down (to make it look less choppy and more realistic in how the people move) and it really gives a whole new different perspective on these eras and makes us realize that this wasn’t too long ago.

Erin Parsons Makeup, a very talented makeup artist and vintage collector who’s really cool and someone I love seeing talking about makeup and fashion from history. She’s very similar to glamourdaze except she mainly focuses on vintage/antique fashion and recreates retro looking styles in her looks and it’s just really neat :>

Schafrillas Productions… yeah he’s just very neat and I like watching his movie/tv show reviews. Though his content where he’s passionate and excited about a piece of media is enjoyable, watching him rip apart something he genuinely despises with an infinite amount of rage is funny as all hell

Micarah Tewers, a very talented, artistic, and funny seamstress who makes different types of dresses and outfits in her videos. I love how much dedication and detail she puts into her work to make it stand out and look amazing whenever she wears it, and I also really enjoyed her prom dress videos. She’s also really funny and I love all the extra hijinks she shows herself getting into in between making her project and the video itself lol

Nylijah Myeesah, aka the channel of @/lovesickbrat is a really great coquette channel, and she also has some very good points on different parts of the coquette community and how some aesthetics (such as traumacore or doelet) need to be criticized more because of what they promote.

Colin LooksBack, a Disney based channel that focuses on the characters and movies/other media from Disney, as well as the behind the scenes details of how classic Disney films were made, especially the animated movies made during Walt Disney’s life/career

Karolina Żebrowska, a history fashion themed channel that you probably have heard of. She makes a lot of historical videos as fashion videos and she’s just very talented and intelligent and you should check her out.

Finally, Lavendertowne, the channel I have the fondest YouTube memories of as she was the one who inspired me to start art. I used to love her creepydrawstas and her videos where she drew different stuff as people, as well as her art tutorials. I wouldn’t have gotten to my point in my art journey if it weren’t for her, and overall she’s very cool and sweet.

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twistedtummies2 · 9 months

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For Any Anthro-Lovers in the Audience Tonight...

While most of my fanbase on Tumblr prefers anime bois (partially because that's the fanbase I've primarily worked to foster here), I know that - like me - there are some folks here who like more "furry-friendly" characters: anthros, ferals, and the like. And, since I also know a decent portion of my fanbase likes superheroes, figured I'd talk a bit about a show I recently rediscovered.

"Loonatics Unleashed" was a TV series made in the early 2000s. It was an (ill-advised, or at least not-perfectly-executed) attempt to bring the Looney Tunes characters into the "young and marketable TMNT-esque superhero" genre. The show focuses on a team of six anthro superheroes, all based on classic Looney Tunes characters (although they aren't the original characters themselves; similar to TW's cast that way). They go through the usual rounds of fighting monsters and supervillains and so on in a futuristic city, in-between bouts of slapstick shenanigans.

The show was not received well in its time (and it's pretty obvious why, to be quite honest), but it did and still does have a small but loyal fanbase. I remember liking the series as a kid, and I've recently been on a Looney Tunes kick (largely in light of this being the 100th Anniversary of WB, as well as Disney), and decided to revisit a few episodes.

Without going fully into my feelings about the show as a whole (which are...somewhat complicated), or the episodes I saw, I do want to say...I legitimately want to write a few stories in this universe, with these characters. More specifically, I think it would be fun to write for Slam (based on Taz) and the duo of Tech and Rev (based on Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner). The latter two I actually genuinely think are a REALLY fun pair: they're by far my favorite characters in the show. I ship them like you wouldn't believe, and I think a story or two focused on their relationship (with some voraciousness or hints at it included) could be a lot of fun. As for Slam...he's basically superhero Taz, and why THAT appeals to me should go without saying. It helps that both the Coyote and the Tasmanian Devil are two (admittedly fairly minor) crushes of mine, and I've actually wanted to write for them both for a while. This seems like a fun universe to try out with. I have a couple of ideas floating around in my noggin, but I'm always open to more. So if anybody has suggestions, let me know. :)

#looney tunes #loonatics unleashed #random post #story suggestions welcome #slam tasmanian #slam #tech #rev #tech e. coyote #rev runner #road runner #wile e. coyote #taz #regarding story suggestions #kink-related #non-kink related #both are welcome

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synergysilhouette · 4 months

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I swear, they approached Disney's 100th anniversary film all wrong.

The best part about "Wish" were the easter eggs, and even those were hit-or-miss. The plot didn't scream fairy tale or Disney--and neither did the music; if I never knew this film was a Disney film, I'd say it was a company's first attempt at an animated film. As a first attempt, it's not bad, but as Disney's 62nd film and an ode to 100 years of business....I was heavily disappointed.

I've made posts about how this could've been another epic Disney film, but for this post, I wanna try another angle, with two different ways Disney could've approached this celebratory film.

Option 1: A parody. Looking at "Enchanted", AKA one of Disney's best live-action films, the movie makes fun of classic Disney tropes as well as paying homage to renaissance-era films, which at the time this movie came out, was Walt Disney Animation Studio's biggest successful period. A film about a naive animated soon-to-be princess who is banished to the real world discovers what she wants out of life, all while charming those around her. I'm not saying "Wish" needed to include the real world aspect, but having a parody about a princess (or prince) who comes off very early-Disney while still feeling modern and giving us Disney-esque tropes and a fun story would've been a great vibe. Imagine if Asha is naive and easily taken advantage of by King Magnifico, who teaches her magic and manipulates her into harming others, seeing her youth as a weakness ("Well, you're young. You don't know anything, really."). Imagine the story actually having her BE a fairy godmother, albeit in training, and she has to learn the price and limitations of wishes (very "Cinderella"-esque) and learning when to help and when not to help others. It'd be mature and magical at the same time! Plus I imagine Magnifico being a cross between Narissa and Gaston. Amaya would probably be non-existant or an admirer Magnifico uses.

Option 2: A cutting, modern take on a classic. While I'd rather have "Kingdom of the Sun," "The Emperor's New Groove" is a funny and irreverent story about a selfish Inca Emperor who's turned into a llama by his power-hungry advisor and must return to the palace while learning to care about others along the way. Kuzco, in contrast to most Disney protagonists (or most protagonists in kids/family films in general) starts off petty, untrustworthy, and self-centered, but these qualities also give way to cleverness and humor, something that most Disney heroes lack due to either their innocence, kindess, or seriousness. Kuzco continually comments on things around him with quips and remarks that go unnoticed by the general populace (thanks to breaking the 4th wall), and it got me thinking, what if Asha was like this--or better yet, Magnifico? What if Magnifico wasn't a villain per se, but a selfish and mean king who continually had pessimistic comments to make about this fantasy-esque kingdom he created and his airheaded inhabitants. Their growing dependence on him--as well as their happy-go-lucky attitudes make him constantly patronize and devalue them, and his attitude accidentally causes destruction for the kingdom. When Asha challenges his perspective and goes on an adventure to bring back his love for others (trauma does run deep for him), he learns that everyone has a wish worth granting, and that he shouldn't be so quick to look down on others because they still have the joy and innocence he lost. Plus the people of Rosas learn not to take advantage of others and appreciate the things they have. Magnifico being like a cross between Yzma and Kuzco would be a sight to behold, while Asha takes on more of a wise Pocahontas-type role.

I can't be the only one who thinks this was a better approach to "Wish" if they didn't want to do a typical epic film.

#disney #disney animation #the emperor's new groove #wish #enchanted #giselle #kuzco #disney princess

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digic300 · 5 months

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Man I wish Disney did more with the muppets than what they are doing now... which is nearly nothing, maybe a seasonal special or two. They're literally sitting on a gold mine of possibilities, such as retellings of their classic catalogue with Muppets.

I know like live action remakes are incredibly fatigued at this point. What I'm saying is... muppet remakes...

Honestly I just want a remake of Beauty and the Beast where Bell, Maurice, Gaston, and LeFou are the only human actors. Everyone in the village are human-esque muppets, and everyone in Beast's castle are the animal/monster muppets but also turned into furniture puppets so you only know who is who by their voices. Gaston would be a muppet hunter and all the heads mounted on the wall are various random animal/monster muppets and complain about there being a draft of have a headach or feeling an out of body experience.

The Beast could be played by Sweetums and in the climax where he transforms he just stays the same. Maybe a bit more trimmed up, but otherwise unchanged while everyone else goes back to normal. Whenever Bell runs out of the room/camera due to him yelling, he apologizes to Kermie-Lumière and Kermit has to reassure him he's doing great before the movie picks back up.

Beast could also be Fozzie too and the witch only cursed him because she found his jokes annoying, and when the transformation sequence happens he's also unchanged but fully believes he's become incredibly handsome only for Kermit to tell him he's still the same.

I know we'll never get the old muppets again, as much as I love them, but man do I want something like this

#the muppets #muppets #rambling

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kevinsreviewcatalogue · 4 months

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Review: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

Rated PG for action/violence, rude humor/language, and some scary moments

Score: 5 out of 5

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a movie I missed last year, which made it kind of annoying to hear so many people praising it to the heavens as one of the best animated films in years, not least of all because I'm the kind of guy who does not like spoilers. Flying down to Florida just in time to share a house with three little kids over Christmas break gave me the perfect opportunity to check it out, and the only thing I'm disappointed about is not seeing it sooner. It doesn't reinvent the wheel or have any pretensions of being a particularly revelatory movie, but it's still an outstandingly well-put-together one in everything from the animation to the characters to the humor to the mayhem. Putting it side-by-side with Shrek, the film that put DreamWorks Animation in the spotlight and which this one is a sequel to a spinoff of, shows just how much the studio has evolved in the twenty-plus years since then, going from mischievous, Looney Tunes-esque pop culture spoofs with barbs aimed directly at Disney to a kind of family-friendly, character-driven adventure comedy that's clearly inspired by the Mouse but still has enough unique style and dramatic edge to stand out. I don't really have much to add to the conversation on this one except to say that it's easily one of the best films that DreamWorks has ever made, especially given what I thought of the movie they released just eight months before this, and one that I expect to stick around as a classic just like Shrek itself.

Set in a fantasy/fairy-tale version of Spain, our eponymous protagonist is an intelligent cat who has exploited his nine lives to become an adventurer who doesn't fear death... at least, not until he loses his eighth life thanks to his carelessness fighting a monster attacking a town. Suddenly, he no longer feels so invincible, especially once he encounters a mysterious wolf bounty hunter who seeks to claim his ninth and final life after watching him squander his previous eight. Going into retirement in an elderly cat lady's home after burying his sword and gear, Puss is dragged back to the world of adventure when Goldilocks, the thuggish leader of the Three Bears Crime Family (guess who her "enforcers" are), seeks to hire him to find the Wishing Star, a magical rock that would grant one wish to whoever discovers it -- and she won't take no for an answer. Puss decides that this star is his key to regaining his nine lives, and with help from an old flame named Kitty Softpaws, he sets out to find it himself, staying one step ahead of Goldilocks, the evil businessman "Big" Jack Horner who wants it for his own ends, and of course, the Wolf.

The look of the film is one of the most immediately striking things about it. While it's not the first film to use cel shading to make computer animation emulate the look of hand-drawn animation while being distinct from both (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and The Mitchells vs. the Machines did something similar recently), it's going for a different set of influences than those films, its look instead resembling a mix of the fairy tale artwork that the Shrek movies have always spoofed and anime in the action scenes. The settings feel lifted almost from a highly stylized painting or storybook, while the action looks downright sublime, the film's characters doing battle, chasing one another, and facing various treacherous foes on their quest for the Wishing Star in all manner of awesome ways. Even as cats, Puss and Kitty came across as credible and cool adventure heroes, especially with Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek Pinault leaning heavily into their live-action screen personas, Banderas playing Puss as a riff on Zorro where the only real "parody" element comes from his species and Hayek playing Kitty as the cool femme fatale who has history with the hero that they'll inevitably have to settle. Florence Pugh was hilarious doing her best gender-flipped Ray Winstone impression as Goldilocks, especially with the real Winstone himself voicing one of the three bears (alongside Olivia Colman and Samson Kayo), while John Mulaney made Horner into an absolute bastard who I couldn't wait to see get his well-deserved comeuppance. At first glance, with three separate groups of characters all racing for the Wishing Star, this film can feel sprawling, and yet it always manages to tie these three stories together in a way that feels organic.

The key to doing this was the Wolf. From the moment we're introduced to him, he's presented as a metaphorical representation of death itself, an impossibly skilled fighter who trounces and nearly kills Puss in their first encounter and who is seemingly unstoppable from that point onward, every meeting he has with Puss feeling like it could be their last. The film's comedy stops dead cold whenever the whistling announcing his arrival starts up, Wagner Moura's performance lending him an almost demonic menace without going over-the-top into cackling supervillainy. He is one of the best villains I've seen in any animated film in a long while, a no-nonsense monster whose evil combines the most terrifying elements of an unstoppable force of nature and somebody who hates you personally, the closest thing that a family film could come to an outright slasher movie villain. There have been many jokes made about this film having one of the most realistic depictions of a panic attack in any animated film, but watching it, it was no joke: I understood immediately how this guy completely disarmed Puss' suave, arrogant demeanor and left him a trembling wreck running for his life. The Wolf wasn't just scary, he was a perfect villain for Puss, a representation of how his wasted life is finally catching up with him, and watching Puss reach a place where he can finally confront the Wolf and turn the tables on him was immeasurably satisfying.

From this, we get a fairly simple moral that largely boils down to a celebration of living life to the fullest rather than either wasting it on hedonism or remaining stuck in an idealized past. It's nothing revolutionary, but not only is it exactly the kind of thing that the fairy tales this movie is sending up have long embraced, it's well-told enough that I fully bought into it. If the original Shrek was a deconstructive parody of fairy tales that sent up their moral messages while offering a few of its own, then this film serves largely as a more faithful, straightforward throwback to them, amped up with a swashbuckling action/adventure plot and some jokes for the parents but otherwise falling squarely within the modern, post-Kung Fu Panda DreamWorks wheelhouse.

The Bottom Line

It's a very straightforward movie once you get past the stylish animation, but hardly to a fault, as it's still a riotous, heartfelt, and just plain awesome ride that delivers exactly where it counts and doesn't overstay its welcome. Easily one of the best family films of the last ten years.

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vintagecandyshop · 5 months

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SO LET ME TALK ABOUT THE VILLAIN FROM WISH

Spoilers (barely) ( I haven't even seen the movie just the music video )

I need to rant about this ok

The problem is obvious at a glance, right? How did they manage this I don't understand-- I really feel like the most damning issue with Disney's modern art style is that they are petrified... of making someone look ugly. Ugly by their standards. Or the 3D art style limited their ability to, at least. Like, what always made the villains in classic Disney so much more iconic than just a background character or sometimes even the protagonist is that they were willing to cut loose and make "extreme" body types and facial shapes, since they had the freedom of making a character you weren't supposed to like. Dr Facilier being what most consider the last classic Disney villain, had an incredibly oddly shaped face, he was spindly and lanky in a way that made him expressive but conveyed that he was not soft or warm. Gaston, another character meant to be comically attractive, had a massive cleft chin, sharp little eyes that could be charming when happy but turned ice cold when angry, and this exaggeratedly triangle-esque upper body. But look at him? Magnifico?? Eyes much too big and bubbly for a villain design, they can't convey anger at all, completely mundane and forgettable features, ( it doesn't even scream "cartoon man that is handsome" to me except maybe the unusually long eyelashes?) they did absolutely nothing memorable with the shape of his hair, his body type, even his clothes offer nothing totally unique to his silhouette like say-- Malificient's dragon wing cloak. And I blame the 3D animation department for this, honestly I do. How much do you wanna bet that he had some amazing concept art design and the second he had to be translated to 3D he lost all his personality and iconic shapes? Its this obsession with pretty, soft roundness and realistic facial structures that have to logically move on a rigged 3D model that just sucks the life out of their villains istg.

And his villain song? Ugh.... yknow its not..... terrible? My first response was " I could listen to this without being annoyed " but the thing is-- I can listen to it because its just a normal pop song. A pop song about an unusually aggressive and narcissistic man, but its not a musical number. It doesn't convey anger and spite and entitlement and cruelty-- not without stopping itself with a self aware joke. Its bland and inoffensive and overly modern just like his design, just like the way he talks, just like everything about the film.

#ok i'm done #back to art commissions pfft #chatter

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xxgothchatonxx · 1 year

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So.. I think Jude Law might be my second favourite Captain Hook now.

I said it recently - Jude Law has never given a bad performance, in my opinion. So my thoughts going into this were “ok if the writing is crap, at least Jude will be fun”. But thankfully the writing was really damn good. I’d go so far as to say this Hook succeeds where so many attempts to make live-action Disney villains sympathetic and complex have failed. And the reason why this doesn’t bother me as much as, say, Maleficent or Lady Tremaine, is because of all the villains that should have sympathetic backstories, it should be Captain Hook. So the fact that Disney even allowed this is a huge win in my book!

What I loved the most is that these writers understood that while Hook is a villain, he should also be written with some sympathy. Don’t get me wrong, I love the classic animated version and Dustin Hoffman is an absolute delight, but the other Hooks I consider to be the best have that extra layer of complexity and tragedy. Jude chewed quite a bit of scenery at the start which was wonderful, but then reality comes in and he gives one hell of a powerful, emotional performance. It actually made me cry.

The “twist” on his relationship with Peter is predictable (yep it’s a very popular fan theory on here - a theory I really like) but I thought it was a good predictable. It made sense and it didn’t cross the line into being stupid. He’s not suddenly hugging Peter and the Lost Boys and giving the Darling children a first-class escort home. No no no. I love that they left it ambiguous in the end as to whether he’s changed or not. That last smile could mean anything.

So, while it’s not exactly how it is in the book, that doesn’t bother me. Because the writers understood the basics - Captain Hook is a bitter old man who has wasted his life over a pursuit of revenge, and he feels it’s too late for him to change. Add an dash of an OUAT-esque (seriously there is one part that made me go “oh so he’s Baelfire!”) twist on his relationship with Peter, and you’ve got a pretty interesting version of Captain Hook.

#peter pan and wendy #captain hook

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harpagornis · 1 month

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Iwaju review

Whereas Kikzazi Moto did explore a few dystopian scenarios, Iwaju as an afrofuturist work takes a very real problem, that of class divide, and makes it a core theme in the series. With even the protagonist's father having prejudices and the main villain the result of unfairness and poverty, there is a layer of cyberpunk-esque moral gray area which deeply enriches the series, though of course it is still mostly child friendly.

The animation is where Iwaju struggles a little. It is your classic Disney/Pixar CGI, and would be rather bland if now for the vibrant cultural motifs. I also do like that some characters speak native languages without being translated.

Overall a must watch

#iwaju #animation #anime #disney #cartoon #review #afrofuturism

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batmannotes · 1 year

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MAX FLEISCHER’S SUPERMAN 1941-1943

Warner Bros. Discovery has scrupulously remastered Max Fleischer’s 17 animated Superman shorts from the original 35mm source elements. Now available on Blu-ray, this set is more than worth its asking price. If you've never seen the animated series you're in for a treat. Think of old classic Disney animation meets the Super Friends. The animation is smooth looking and is pure eye candy for the viewer. I've heard many complaints about the DNR scrubbing too much of the film grain away, for me though, the overall presentation here is nothing short of excellent ... even though not perfect.

Warner Bros. took the 16-bit scan of Fleischer’s original 35mm successive exposure negative. Staying true to the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.37-to-1, the highest quality raw image was then scanned and then entered into the recombine process – utilizing special proprietary software to merge the successive exposure Technicolor negatives into a single RGB color image.

The set comes in with above average sound and extras (listed below).

EPISODES (AND PREMIERE DATE):

Superman (Mad Scientist) – 9/26/1941

The Mechanical Monsters – 11/28/1941

Billion Dollar Limited – 1/9/1942

Arctic Giant – 2/27/1942

The Bulleteers – 3/27/1942

The Magnetic Telescope – 4/24/1942

Electric Earthquake – 5/15/1942

Volcano – 7/10/1942

Terror on the Midway – 8/28/1942

The Japoteurs – 9/18/1942

Showdown – 10/16/1942

The Eleventh Hour – 11/20/1942

Destruction, Inc. – 12/25/1942

The Mummy Strikes – 2/19/1943

Jungle Drums – 3/26/1943

Underground World – 6/18/1943

Secret Agent – 7/30/1943

SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE:

New Featurette – Superman: Speeding Toward Tomorrow – Superman’s exploits in the Fleischer series modernized the monomyth of the Greek godlike hero and expanded and romanticized the prevalent themes of sci-fi and fantasy. It was this combination of heartfelt storytelling, relatable heroes and amazing visuals that has endeared the Fleischer series to fans as one of the greatest superhero stories of all time. This featurette explores the visual storytelling as the lavish animation, with special attention paid to all the atomic age technology, pushes science fiction closer to becoming a powerful social and pop culture force.

Featurette – First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series – The Origins and Influence of This Groundbreaking Cartoon Series – A gathering of contemporary animators, comic book & animation historians, and legendary Fleischer artists examine these beloved shorts, focusing on the animation and the breakthrough techniques that created it, as well as studying the title character’s place in history.

Featurette – The Man, the Myth, Superman: Exploring the Tradition of Superman Heroes on the Page and Screen – A fascinating study of Superman-esque characters throughout history – in ancient myth, literature and film – that bring forth imaginative, super-human qualities, captivating audiences and enduring the test of time.

Order on Amazon. Direct link here.

#batman #superman #review

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my-chaos-radio · 5 months

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youtube

Release: November 26, 2001

Lyrics:

Here I stand alone

With this weight upon my heart

And it will not go away

In my head, I keep on looking back

Right back to the start

Wondering what it was that made you change

Well, I tried, but I had to draw the line

And still this question keeps on spinning in my mind

What if I had never let you go?

Would you be the man I used to know?

If I'd stayed, if you'd tried

If we could only turn back time

But I guess we'll never know

Many roads to take

Some to joy, some to heart-ache

Anyone can lose their way

And if I said that we could turn it back

Right back to the start

Would you take the chance and make the change?

Do you think how it would have been sometimes?

Do you pray that I'd never left your side?

What if I had never let you go?

Would you be the man I used to know?

If I'd stayed, if you'd tried

If we could only turn back time

But I guess we'll never know

If only we could turn the hands of time

If I could take you back would you still be mine?

'Cause I tried, but I had to draw the line

And still this question keeps on spinning in my mind

We'll never know

What if I had never let you go?

Would you be the man I used to know?

What if I had never walked away?

'Cause I still love you more than I can say

If I'd stayed, if you'd tried

If we could only turn back time

But I guess we'll never know

Songwriter:

Benno De Goeij / Vera Ostrova / Armin J J D Van Buuren

SongFacts:

"What If" is a song by English actress Kate Winslet recorded for the animated film Christmas Carol: The Movie (2001). Winslet provided the voice of Belle in the feature film, based on the classic 1843 novel by Charles Dickens, which also stars Nicolas Cage, Jane Horrocks and Simon Callow. “What If” was written by Wayne Hector and Steve Mac, with production directed by Steve Mac. The song is a ballad that follows the film's theme, in which Belle laments the end of her and Scrooge's relationship and wonders what might have been. It was the only song released from the official film soundtrack.

It was reported in the Daily Mirror that Winslet secretly recorded the one-off single to compete for the number one spot at Christmas 2001 in the UK. The song eventually peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart, its peak. Elsewhere, “What If” was released to even greater success; It became a number one hit in Austria, Flanders and Ireland and also reached the top ten in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The critically acclaimed song won the 2002 OGAE Song Contest.[3] At Winslet's request, proceeds from the single were donated to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and Sargent Cancer Care for Children.

Can't Stop the Pop described "What If" as a "ballad of epic proportions" and a "huge, soaring, Disney-esque ballad". Barbara Ellen of The Observer said it was "a sweet, lilting little Céline ditty". The British magazine Music Week wrote that Winslet could sing the title well, but noted that her divorce from Jim Threapleton would make the lyrics less "poignant".

An accompanying music video, directed by Paul Donnellon and produced by Chris Horton, shows Winslet walking through an old Victorian house haunted by the ghost of a girl, along with clips from the film.

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trickstercaptain · 11 months

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Can you elaborate on the "Disney Princess" Jack? Cuz I honestly feel he is one but I can't articulate in words how or why he is one, but I firmly believe the title fits him xD

ahhhhh anon i ABSOLUTELY WILL elaborate on my Jack is a disney princess agenda, i adore you so much for asking as it gives me the perfect excuse to wax lyrical about this whole topic for a bit. because admittedly disney princess Jack is a sort of crack type thing, if we're being technical he's nothing like a disney princess — however i feel like there is a genuine argument to be made that he is disney princess coded, at least within his own narrative. you are right, he gives off those vibes. ( and we're not the only ones who think this — tumblr will not let me hyperlink the video but https://www.tiktok.com/@some.emmagination.huh/video/6961180862117367045 — the fact that Jack is so often seen with or around the princesses in the disney parks says a lot i think lmao ).

it's possibly because he's assuredly not your classic white knight disney prince, he's not "bad" enough in own his narrative to be villain-coded, and his effeminate characteristics ( the famous story about disney execs thinking that JD was playing Jack as gay in the first film and absolutely freaking out about it ) play into that whole idea. I also think it's always fun to take a character like Jack, who belongs in a hyper masculine environment but consistently challenges those stereotypes, and consider him occasionally in terms of the feminine. Jack being a trickster archetype also helps with this; gender expression is inherently very fluid to him. plus potc plays with this too — Elizabeth is made the Pirate King, after all.

but he does also fit some classic disney princess tropes! defining a disney princess is kinda tricky now because over the past twenty years or so that definition has (quite rightly) diversified from the more traditional princesses of older disney movies, but i wanna highlight some of the fun ways in which Jack fits into that vague category.

he talks to animals! maybe not uhhhh... in the nice way that princesses generally do lmao, but he has his god-tier rivalry with Jack the monkey, openly admits that he'll have Cotton's parrot on board the Black Pearl in AWE because "at least I'll have someone to talk to," and in TPOF starts telling his new horse Caesar sea stories because he gets bored waiting for Ayisha. as a child, I am sure he also had very animated conversations with Tim the dog, too. he also sings, canonically. Elizabeth teaches him the song from the ride in CotBP and Jack continues to sing or hum that on two more occasions in the trilogy. he descends from almost literal pirate royalty, effectively already making him a princess. Jack might be the black sheep of the family but he comes from a familial line of very rich, very influential pirates within the Brethren Court. and calling him a prince just feels wrong, so princess it is. also if he gets together with Elizabeth post-AWE he "marries" into royalty and becomes the queen of the Brethren Court, true facts.

another is that he has the most fairytale esque, romantic dynamic in the entire franchise with the Black Pearl. I've said it again and again, but if Jack's ship were a human and Jack still talked about her the way he does, he'd be the most romantic bastard in the fucking movies lmao. in TPOF, it was literally love at first sight, Jack stared at her on the dock when he first saw her ( and she didn't look her best, she was a ship that had been neglected for a while and Jack spent weeks sprucing her up and getting her shipshape ) and completely fell head over heels. he gets an entire paragraph in that novel about what it is to finally know what love is after hearing sailors talk about it for so long. he dies for her, gives up his immortal soul for her.... Jack is motivated by love in the trilogy ( no matter how difficult, or twisted, or toxic that love becomes ), I won't accept any arguments.

Jack is surrounded by loveable sidekick type characters. potc is a great franchise for this anyway just in general, but Jack's crew fit a lot of those archetypes that you find in many disney princess movies. from the mice in Cinderella, to Scuttle/Sebastian/Flounder in the Little Mermaid, to the furniture/servants in Beauty and the Beast, there's a lot of overlap — and while you can also say that Jack, being a side character, also fits that role, as he becomes subject to main character syndrome in the franchise, he gradually becomes more and more at the centre of it instead of being with them on the sidelines. disney princesses, particularly from the older movies, are also frequently in need of rescue, and rescuing Jack from the Locker is the major plot point of the first hour of AWE. he might mockingly call Elizabeth the damsel to Will, but he is in fact the damsel put in distress in that movie.

then there are the somewhat more angsty ones. disney is renowned for its absent mothers, particularly within its fairytales, and Jack is no different. I may have my well-developed headcanons about Jack's mother but in terms of the strict canon, we know nothing about her ( beside the shrunken head ) and that is on purpose, considering that the house of mouse would not let anyone, including the author of TPOF, write about Jack's mother or even hint as to her existence. Jack is also subject to the controlling influence of his single parental figure, Teague, in his early life, which is a classic plight disney princesses find themselves in, whether the dynamic is outright abusive like Jack and Teague's is, or less so. Jack — at least earlier in his life, less so in the trilogy itself — is easily manipulated by the "villains." the plot of TPOF hinges on Jack being manipulated and betrayed by Christophe, and then the plot of CotBP hinges on Jack being betrayed by Barbossa during the mutiny on the Black Pearl ten years prior.

lastly and, a bit of an odd one maybe, but something I want to include, is that Jack is often coveted by others. it's most obvious in Jack's dynamic with Beckett which, whether you read into it sexually or not on Beckett's side, I personally think it's entirely up for interpretation, is very driven by Beckett's desire to possess Jack. he wants to control him and use him in the same way that he uses all material things, and is pushed to very extreme lengths when Jack resists that control and tries to assert his autonomy. I think Jack being such a free spirit, as well as the fact that he's a pretty boy and is unapologetically sexual ( the second not being a disney princess trait lmao ) he invites that kind of attitude from other people. he invites people to try to challenge that aspect of his character and put him in a box, or control him, or break him.

#anonymous.#&. depths few had ever begun to glimpse ( meta tag. )#&. don’t ever insult captain jack sparrow in front of me ( ooc. )#this is unhinged. there is no question about it #but also some of my proudest work on this blog lmaooo #this is what my blog is all about #arguing in nine paragraphs why jack is a disney princess :')

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astrologista · 5 months

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Just saw Wish. I know it's getting hate, but... overall... I thought it was very... meh? Like literally meh.

(whinging)

The protag was likable, though a bit derivative in her motivations. The message was... ok, I suppose. The animation was fairly good in most places.

It does definitely have quite a few big issues, exacerbated by what it's trying so hard to be. All the pieces are there for a great movie, which is what's so frustrating about it.

For me, I felt that the textures and lighting in particular had some kind of issue. They look okay in some places, but the whole thing looked like it was un-rendered on purpose. Like it looked like the behind-the-scenes draft version before they do the final render on it. This was probably to give off a sense of "storybook" quality to the 3d models by rendering them all flat and matte but tbh it looks rather cheap for Disney. All the colors in the movie seem to also be quite muted. The color palette they chose is very cool and understated which made me want to take a nap. And since much of the movie takes place at night, that exacerbates matters a lot. There's also very little variation in setting, colors, or lighting, which makes things boring.

The songs are the biggest problem imo. I can't remember any of the songs at all, they're very forgettable to me. I'm sure there are kids who liked them and I'm not aiming to undercut that, but the fact of the matter is that these songs can't hold a candle to classic Disney songs. Classic Disney songs have a showtune quality. The melodies will stay in your mind for decades after hearing them once. The lyrics are perfectly suited to the characters and story. You want to sing along with them. And... these songs ain't that, sorry. It made sense when I learned that these songs were composed by musicians whose main background was writing Top 40 hits, not Broadway musicals. It sounds like the assignment was to try to be Lin Manuel-Miranda without paying for Lin Manuel-Miranda. They failed spectacularly at that. If there was one movie to get Lin Manuel-Miranda for, it would be this one. Had they done that and had a few absolute banger songs in this, it would have made a HUGE difference in this film's staying power.

As it is, I can't remember much about the music, so it's hard to comment on it. It wasn't offensively bad, just a very generic sound to it that didn't feel Disney-movie-esque (or at least, not major animated feature from Disney-esque. Certainly not 100-year anniversary material). The worst song is This Is The Thanks I Get because it had so much potential and they threw it away. The animation and staging during the song is great, it's actually the highlight of the film for me. They were clearly aiming for this to be the "Let it Go" of the movie, a huge hit that people talk about for a long time. And it's been a very long time since there's been a straight-up unapologetic villain song in a Disney movie, so I was excited for this one. Here's the problem. THE SONG IS NOT IN A MINOR KEY! Why? No, seriously, what were they thinking?? It has all the hallmarks of a big, grandiose megalomaniacal villain song AND IT'S NOT IN A MINOR KEY! The tone of the song is clearly meant to evoke fear as evidenced by the animation and clearly the storyboard artist was aiming for a big, frightening number. The song doesn't match that at all. Instead it's kinda happy? Playful? Like a Top 40 hit that your mom might play in the car? What the fuck? The lost potential is so sad because Maginifico could've been a great and funny villain. He's got the narcissism, comedic qualities, cartoonish mustache twirling and hot DILF-ness to carry the villain role. For some reason though, the big cartoon-y bad guy stuff feels a bit... restrained by the fact that he's trapped in a 3D model. Like the over-the-top maniacal 2D slasher faces that they keep trying so hard to give him just don't translate to 3D very well. He would've looked so much fucking better in 2D, I'm sorry. His voice work is done quite well, though - actually all the voice work in the movie is. (The goat was not that bad honestly)

Apparently one of the concept arts has Magnifico's wife (does she have a name) being evil as well. What the fuck, Disney, where was that?? They could've been an evil power couple, that would've ATE. They also whitewashed her, which... ok, interesting choice. It seems they were also going to have Star take the form of a boy and have a romantic arc with Asha which I'm glad they did NOT do, adding romance to a film like this probably would've served to make it even more generic.

As a movie for little tiny children I think this film is okay. For the Disney fans this was supposed to be a love letter to, let's all go watch Aladdin, Mulan, Lion King (THE ORIGINAL), Beauty and the Beast, and all the other films that weren't created in a boardroom lab. Wish has a generic look, a generic sound, a generic message, and as much as I support those who enjoyed it, I can't help but commiserate with the fans who are disappointed in the less-than-stellar Disney flicks of the past few years. It's like they are allergic to taking risks, hiring creatives and letting them work, or keeping greedy corporate hands out of their projects. Hopefully their revenues keep tanking until they get the message but it looks like Iger is still drinking pure copium based on his recent comments that "audiences don't want films with a message anymore". OK. Yeah, that's what you should take from this, Iger. Have fun continuing to censor your films, gotta get those bucks from the Russian and Chinese markets, pal.

#disney is creatively bankrupt. more news at 11 water is wet

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twistedtummies2 · 9 months

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Top 10 Looney Tunes Characters

This year is truly an auspicious one indeed. It marks the centenary of not one, but TWO of the greatest film and animation studios that have ever been. One of them, as many are doubtless aware by now, is Disney, and I do have some things planned for later this year to celebrate that. However, another studio that’s been getting less attention than I think it deserves for its own 100th Anniversary is Warner Bros.! WB started the same year as the Disney studio, and they’re still going strong. When one thinks of WB Animation, chances are good the first characters and cartoons that come to mind are the Looney Tunes. These cartoon classics were a staple of theatrical animation from the 1930s all the way into the early 1960s…and since those days, the characters have continued to pop up in all sorts of places. Movies, TV shows, video games, comics…you name it, the Looney Tunes have been there. These toons are some of the most recognizable characters in the history of animation, more than on par with Mickey Mouse and his allies, and I’ve always loved them. So, I decided it was time to pay them proper tribute! With that said, what better way than to talk about some of my personal favorites? That’s what we’re here to do today. So let’s waste no more time! Mind you don’t slip on any banana peels or similar slapstick cliches: here are My Top 10 Looney Tunes Characters!

10. Speedy Gonzales.

Speedy is one of a few Looney Tunes characters who has sort of faced some controversy over his career (I refer you to Pepe Le Pew, for example). Some people have complained he’s a negative stereotype, but thankfully, the majority of people seem to really love the character. I think the reason why so many love him is because Speedy is one of the most positive and genuinely good characters in the Looney Tunes canon: he’s a character whose able to be heroic while also genuinely being really funny and interesting to watch. The self-proclaimed Fastest Mouse in All Mexico loves to race, loves to play, and isn’t afraid to shoot down the absurdity of some of his more bonkers co-stars, just as he isn’t afraid to outrun and outsmart any cat that tries to harm him or his friends. He’s a lot of fun himself, and he loves to have fun, and that’s probably the best type of cartoon hero there can be.

9. Sylvester the Cat.

Sylvester is one of several characters on this list notable for his sheer versatility. Most of his cartoons do focus on the same basic setup, mind you: Sylvester is hungry, and trying to catch something to eat…but inevitably gets foiled at every turn. Sometimes his prey is the aforementioned Speedy, who - in Coyote-and-Road-Runner-esque fashion - Sylvester is just never quick enough to slow down. He’s also occasionally gone after a kangaroo named Hippety Hopper, whom Sylvester somehow keeps mistaking for an oversized rat. (My comments on him “not being quick” stand here, too.) Most famously, of course, he’s the “Bad Ol’ Puddy Tat” constantly trying to gobble up Tweety Bird…who you will NOT be seeing on this countdown. (I’ve never actually liked Tweety, save for a few appearances. I WANT that super-cutesy little PSYCHOPATH to be cat food someday, and I don’t care how heartless that makes me sound.) While all of these did follow some similar patterns and formulas, each of these opponents offered a different kind of conflict for Sylvester to overcome, and therefore a different set of gags that could be utilized, and a lot of different scenarios to allow for comedy to happen. He also popped up in a few cartoons with Porky Pig, which brought a new dimension to the character: in these appearances, a mute Sylvester is depicted as Porky’s pet cat, who constantly has to save his oblivious master from all sorts of dangerous situations. Whether he’s a well-meaning scaredy cat or a greedy predator, he’s always fun to watch.

8. Yosemite Sam.

One of the most renowned villains in the Looney Tunes catalogue. I like to think of this loudmouthed little cowpuncher as the WB equivalent to Disney’s Pete. Both are characters who are versatile in how they have been fitted into just about every sort of time period and setting imaginable, with just about every antagonistic role you can think of. He’s most famous as being a Wild West outlaw, naturally, but Sam has also played a Black Knight, a Hessian Soldier, a Space Invader, a Crooked Politician, a Pirate, a Prison Guard, and many, MANY other things. Each time, his personality is the same: wild, hysterical, ornery, scheming yet somehow gullible, and eternally frustrated, usually due to the efforts of “that lowdown, long-eared, carrot-eatin’ varmint,” Bugs Bunny. Sam’s personality is just such an easy one to handle, and so fun to play with, you can put him into just about any type of situation, and without needing to change him much, he can work just as easily. I actually feel really bad placing him so low on the list, but hopefully those above him won’t disappoint.

7. Elmer Fudd.

Elmer is another character, sort of like Sylvester, who can play either protagonist or antagonist just as easily as the other. In fact, he’s been both more often than Sylvester has! We know him best, of course, for his many attempts to hunt down Bugs Bunny (and Daffy Duck), and these stories already have plenty of fun reinventions, twists, and overall moments. Everything from putting Elmer in different time periods (like the Stone Age), throwing him into different settings (like chasing Bugs into an opera house), or just changing up his role in some crazy way (like making him a viking with a magic helmet). No matter what you do, these always end the same for Elmer: either he never gets Bugs, or he THINKS he does, and then immediately regrets it because he’s just too softhearted and slow-witted for his own good. However, Elmer’s played other parts as well: sometimes he’s not even hunting Bugs, he’s just the victim of that “Wascawwy Wabbit’s” cruel pranks. Sometimes he’s just trying to get by, and Daffy Duck starts causing chaos for him. Poor Elmer just can’t catch a break, and that’s kind of why we like him: even when he IS the bad guy, he’s far from the WORST guy. Add to that his iconic voice and mannerisms, and it’s no wonder he remains one of the most recognizable characters in this group.

6. Porky Pig.

Believe it or not, Porky was the first real superstar character in the Looney Tunes library. That’s one of the reasons the classic ending line we all know and love was given to him (it’s also why Bugs would later take it over a couple of times, when HE became a star). Much like Yosemite Sam, Porky is one of the most versatile characters on the team, but in a different way: while Sam is a versatile antagonist, Porky is a versatile protagonist. Porky is essentially the straight man to all the other totally bonkers toons around him. He’s sort of the Kermit the Frog of this universe: a guy constantly trying to keep his cool and be civil, but forever aggravated and tormented by the world around him. With that said, the way he bounces off different characters already has a lot of different ways of working: his most famous co-star is probably Daffy Duck, and even just with that one character, they’ve had a relationship that has gone in just about every direction it can go. Sometimes Porky is Daffy’s sidekick, who always proves to be more competent and level-headed than the vain and over-the-top Daffy could ever hope to be. Other times, Daffy is actually HIS sidekick, forever frustrating Porky with his goofy antics. And still other times, there’s no “sidekicking” involved, Daffy just…kind of shows up to totally ANNOY the pig until Porky inevitably snaps and goes berserk. Even Porky cartoons that don’t involve Daffy (and there are plenty of those) usually follow one of these three patterns: Porky is eternally an Alice in the Wonderland of the Looney Tunes…you know, if Alice had a stutter. And was a pig. And was no longer female-okay, that analogy didn’t work, but you get the idea.

5. Taz.

Taz, a.k.a. The Tasmanian Devil, is a rare example of a character whose star has risen over time since his initial appearances in the Golden Age of the Looney Tunes. Back then, Taz only showed up in five cartoons, between 1954 and 1964; the twilight decade, many would say, of these great cartoon stars. No one would have likely guessed that Taz would take off to become one of the most iconic and popular characters in the Looney library, with tons of merchandise, a TV show with him as the main protagonist, several major video game and film appearances, and so on. For some reason, however, this wild, ravenous, spinning-and-slobbering devil just kept being used, and the public kept eating him up just as fast as he ate…well…EVERYTHING up. He went from a pure villain who would devour anyone in sight, to suddenly becoming a slightly more heroic, albeit not always terribly bright, character. He can, could, would, and WILL just as easily play the role of an ally to characters like Bugs and Daffy, as much as their adversary. It’s hard to say exactly why Taz caught on, but I’m certainly not complaining about it, since he’s a ton of fun to watch every time. And again, that’s really all a great cartoon star needs to be. (Also, for anybody who may be curious...I do have a mild crush on this guy. I’m weird, shush.)

4. Wile E. Coyote.

It was actually really hard for me to choose between Taz and the Coyote, and I’m not honestly entirely sure if I made the right choice. It was essentially a tie between the two characters; on any given day, my mind could change. But, in the moment of making this list, I felt Wile E. deserved slightly higher placement, and thus here we are. (Also, yes, much like Taz, I do have a mild crush on the Coyote. Again, I’m weird, shush.) Having said all that, I imagine this self-proclaimed Super-Genius hardly needs an introduction. Much like Sylvester, Wile E. mostly spends his time trying to get something to eat. Usually, he’s found chasing the Road Runner and trying to trap him, but on a couple of occasions he’s bedeviled Bugs Bunny, and once in a blue moon he’ll have encounters with other characters. In most of Wile E.’s appearances, he’s a silent character, communicating solely through body language, facial expressions, and the occasional random sign he pulls out of nowhere. Whenever he DOES speak, he speaks in a smooth, slick, uppercrust English or Mid-Atlantic dialect. Whether silent or speaking, this Coyote’s basic trouble is always the same: despite his own confidence in his supposed superior intellect, a combination of clumsiness, shortsightedness, and his bizarre obsession with relying almost entirely on the ACME Corporation’s clearly faulty products always leads to him getting bamboozled. Over time, animators, writers, and directors have found new ways to spin off of Coyote’s usual formula, with stories like him taking the Road Runner to court, or turning into a fat slob due to an over-reliance on his own inventions. It’s the bizarre blend of brilliance and determination against poor planning and overconfidence that makes him such a fun character to see in action. He may never win…but I think a lot of us wish he could.

3. Daffy Duck.

While Porky was the first superstar character among the Looney Tunes (and Merrie Melodies), Daffy was really the first breakthrough character that was TRULY befitting of the title “looney.” In the early days, Daffy was a wisecracking, wild character, zipping about and causing trouble; a constant trickster who was a bundle of energy, causing mayhem for various hapless boobs. Most of the characters who followed suit on this idea - including his future rival, Bugs Bunny - essentially took their cues from Daffy’s book. Over time, the character crystalized into the mad mallard we know today. Daffy is still zany, but what he’s most known for today is his ego. Daffy is practically a narcissist, selfish in just about every way, as well as frequently quite greedy. Everything he does is for either the spotlight, cash, or both. He’s yet another character who has been the villain just as often as he’s been the hero…but even when in a more protagonistic role, he’s ALWAYS a flawed character, whose self-serving attitude leads to disaster for himself, and usually for many others. Just like Yosemite Sam, he’s also a character who has played many roles: any time the Looney Tunes want to parody a particular genre, it seems like Daffy is always the character who gets chosen. Whether he’s imitating Robin Hood or Sherlock Holmes, or going on high-flying escapades as the incompetent space hero called Duck Dodgers, you can go on a lot of different adventures with him. He’s been partnered up and pitted against nearly every character on the crew, and each and every alliance, rivalry, and so on is fun to see in action.

2. Bugs Bunny.

Just as it was hard to choose between Taz and Wile E. Coyote, it was also hard to choose between Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. In the end though…maybe it’s too predictable, but I ultimately did feel I preferred Bugs SLIGHTLY over Daffy. What’s interesting is that, in the early days, Bugs was pretty similar to Daffy: in a lot of his earliest appearances, they’re almost the same character. Both were madcap tricksters who seemed to exist just to drive other characters completely insane for the sheer sake of it, and both had big egos that needed to be satisfied. (In Bugs’ case, this was most evident in encounters he had with the character Cecil Tortoise, who might be the only character in all of Looney Tunes to truly outmatch Bugs on the cartoon battlefield, over and over again.) Over time, however - mostly thanks to Friz Freleng and Chuck Jones - Bugs began to evolve. While still a trickster with a wild sense of humor, the character became more laid back, casual, collected. He was someone who went into situations with the confidence that he could come out okay, if he just thought fast and didn’t let it all faze him. And while he could be downright cruel in the ways he would trick and toy with people, the attacks became unprovoked less often: it was usually a case of others doing something wrong to Bugs, and he would finally lose patience and declare, “Of course you realize THIS means war.” That’s essentially the Bugs Bunny we know today: he still faces conflict and such, but it’s his approach and the way he reacts to situations that makes him such fun to watch. Once again, it also makes him quite versatile, as he can be anywhere and play just about any role, from the star of the show to more of a narrator or similarly peripheral character. He can be the everyman, the superman, and as long as it always sticks to the traits he started out with, it will always work. In fact, the only real question about his placement on this list is…why isn’t he number one?

1. Marvin the Martian.

I don’t know WHY Marvin is my favorite Looney Tunes character, but he is, and really always has been. He’s not by any means the funniest of the Looney Tunes, but there’s something about this little world-destroying gremlin I find endlessly endearing. Much like Taz, Marvin started out as a small fish in a big cartoon pond; in fact, just like the Tasmanian Devil, Marvin the Martian (originally called “Commander X2,” and later “Antwerp”) only showed up in five cartoons during the Golden Age of the Looney Tunes. He fought Bugs Bunny in four of them, and Daffy Duck and Porky Pig in another. And while he hasn’t become the merchandising mammoth that Taz has, he’s still got a very loyal fanbase and following, and has remained a mainstay among the Looney Tunes ever since. Just like Taz, creators just kept using him, and fans kept asking for more; somehow, this little martian never faded away. What I love about Marvin is that he’s essentially another straight man, much in the way Porky is…but now, he’s a straight man on the opposite side of the fence. He’s usually the bad guy, while Porky is almost always the protagonist: whether Marvin’s trying to abduct people, conquer worlds, or blow up the Earth (because it obstructs his view of Venus), he’s always an obstacle the other characters have to overcome. Yet he’s depicted as so loveable and so mild-mannered, it’s hard to be scared of him or dislike him. It also means the moments where his inner rage gets the better of him, and his temper flares, become all the more hilarious: seeing that pomposity and stiff-upper-lip nature get blown apart at the seams is always a ton of fun. It’s difficult to describe my reasoning, but regardless, Marvin the Martian will always be My Favorite Looney Tunes Character.

HONORABLE MENTIONS INCLUDE…

Foghorn Leghorn.

Michigan J. Frog.

Rocky & Mugsy.

Road Runner.

Lola Bunny.

Gossamer. “Th-The-The E-THAT’S ALL FOLKS!”

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kylesvariouslistsandstuff · 8 months

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I've been on a slight classic Disney TV Animation kick.

I'm talking mid-1980s to early 1990s era DTVA... The era of DUCKTALES, CHIP N' DALE RESCUE RANGERS, TALESPIN, DARKWING DUCK, etc. I loved these shows as a kid, as I caught the many re-runs of them on Toon Disney in the late '90s when staying over my grandparents' house during the summer days before my mum got home from work.

And the funny thing is, when reading up on these shows and their histories... If a ton of these shows were being made today? I think they'd be met with a lot of doubt and skepticism on the Internet...

Like... "TALESPIN? Wtf is this? JUNGLE BOOK characters as cargo pilots in an INDIANA JONES-esque adventure setting? Chip and Dale lookin' like Indiana Jones and Magnum P.I.? Trying too hard to be relevant and cool. So dated! A Disney cartoon about Gummi Bears??? A candy??? Disney is totally out of ideas, man-"

And yet, the fledgling division - a brainchild of the newly-arrived CEO Michael Eisner, who saw that Disney had long barely contributed to the world of episodic television animation - went through with these shows circa 1985-1993... They came out, kids and audiences watched them, they all did very well, are fondly-remembered favorites of American animation's 2nd Golden Age. The early batch of shows arguably changed the game for TV animation in the states, which was by then soaked in toy commercials and cliche kidvid stuff.

And I almost get the feeling that once the Golden Age went full-throttle with the advent of THE SIMPSONS, Nickelodeon's "Nicktoons", Warner Animation's offerings (many of which involving Steven Spielberg!), MTV's groundbreaking adult cartoons, and many more, Disney TV Animation did have some re-routing. The early '90s was a kind of weird era for them, when they put out shows like BONKERS, RAW TOONAGE, and THE SCHNOOKUMS AND MEAT FUNNY CARTOON SHOW. The game was changing fast, and soon they were wowing once more with the likes of GARGOYLES, and venturing into other territory with shows like PEPPER ANN. They'd get creators of shows that were hits on other networks, such as Paul Germain from RUGRATS, who co-created RECESS with Joe Ansolabehere, who had previously worked on another iconic Nick show, HEY ARNOLD!

Kinda makes me think of where Disney Animation has been for a bit these past few years, in an era where the mainstream feature animation game is changing fast. And how! And it's not that what they do is bad or - as largely insufferable people say - "mid". Release something like ENCANTO or RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON or even STRANGE WORLD in 2015, it'd be praised, most people would be in agreement, "Yeah, another strong entry from the revitalized WDAS." Of course, RAYA and ENCANTO enjoyed solid reviews and excellent streaming results, and STRANGE WORLD even got pretty passing grade reviews (whereas something like the MARIO movie... Didn't. Funny how that works), but large chunks of weird animation fans on the internet seem to think they're all just "mid" or whatever... It's some console wars-caliber nonsense, I think, that's reductionist. If I didn't like something, I still acknowledge the hard work put in by the filmmakers/crew (especially crucial amidst the writer and actors' strike), and go about my day. I'm not pitting STRANGE WORLD against PUSS IN BOOTS 2, for sure. There's no reason for me to do so.

I thought about how in ANIMANIACS, they took potshots at BONKERS. The same era as "SEGA does what NintenDON'T." Those extreeeeeeme aaaaattitude '90s!

I know, because I lived most of that decade.

BONKERS is a show that fascinates me (I recently wrote a little thing about it on my main tumblr), and I thought while watching it... Release this show in 1988, and *not* 1993, it's likely hailed as groundbreaking. A cartoon trying to be zany and fun like 1940s Tex Avery cartoons, visually satisfying and nicely realized, and much more original than - say - the umpteenth CARE BEARS cartoon or the new Hanna-Barbera ersatz Scooby-Doo stuff. But, post-TINY TOONS, post-REN & STIMPY, and sitting next to ANIMANIACS, it seemingly just could not compare. It also didn't help that it was heavily inspired by the amazing film that is WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, its characters and premise ostensibly being a replacement for a property Disney could no longer do stuff with because of their feud with co-owner Spielberg. (Which puts TINY TOONS and ANIMANIACS' potshots at Disney and BONKERS, respectively, into perspective.)

Similarly, Hanna-Barbera - long one of the studio names synonymous with TV animation in America - were in an odd place themselves, until they - under the stewardship of one Fred Seibert - began bringing in some incredible talent like Genndy Tartakovsky, Paul Rudish, Rob Renzetti, to name a few... We had moved away from the likes of YO YOGI!, TOM AND JERRY KIDS, and SIMPSONS-chasing "adult" cartoons like CAPITOL CRITTERS and FISH POLICE... 2 STUPID DOGS, which had been dismissed as a REN & STIMPY wannabe by some folks back in the day, was really a launchpad for those talents. And soon, Hanna-Barbera Productions was rockin' the mid-to-late '90s with all the iconic Cartoon Network shows we all know and love... Kinda makes me think of how Illumination gets looked at, they've been around for some time and they "churn out" stuff that's just "mid" or "bland" or whatever, but I think post-SING 2, post-MINIONS 2, there's a sort-of newfound appreciation for them in some circles. Somewhat. SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE got a pass from a lot of people engaging in these weird console wars, despite its middling critical reception and a lot of folks saying it actually wasn't good. (I liked it fine, but I felt it was more a "Mario's Greatest Hits" showcase than an actual movie.) But, Illumination has an adult animation division (Moonlight) firing up, some pretty dynamic side projects and shorts, too. They even got talent like Benjamin Renner, who directed the upcoming MIGRATION. They're doin' something right if they got him.

I think, more than anything, things change so fast in entertainment. Tastes change, things trend, animated movies take a while to come out and are largely determined at a stage long before a print (or digital file) of the finished film projects onto a screen somewhere. How does one know what the world looks like, culturally, five years after they have started their film? Let alone 2 years? It's why I don't pile on films like ELEMENTAL, STRANGE WORLD, LIGHTYEAR, RUBY GILLMAN, et al losing money. They seemed surefire when they signed off on them, and like William Goldman said... No one knows anything!

I dunno, I thought I'd just relate some current feature animation things to what was happening in TV animation some 30 years ago... all because I was watching TALESPIN and BONKERS and such-

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