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#it's like they saw the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland. the bad one. and took it as face value
constanthinople · 1 year
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Curious Cat is the worst name an equivalent of the Cheshire Cat has ever had oh my god.
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gothamslostboy · 1 year
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Jervis Tetch w/ Alternative S/O
I know he’s a bad person but I’ve kinda built this blog on bad ppl/villians
I don’t support his creepy ass relationship with his sister
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He was a bit shocked at first
He expected his Alice (male or female) to look like
well
Alice!
Light colors, long blonde hair, subtle makeup
You certainly were not that
But he knew when he first saw you
mostly black clothes
face covered in bold make up, particularly the designs made from eyeliner
Your wild hair: one part the brightest red he’d ever seen and the other a pastel pink
Every step you took making countless chains, pins, rings, necklaces, earrings, and whatever other accessories you had clink together
But you were his personal Alice
And he needed to talk to you
To have you
He was surprised at how easily you spoke to him- most people found him rather odd
He knew many ppl in Gotham dressed like you, but they didn’t live in this part of the city
Maybe that’s why you were so friendly
Jervis and you can be odd together
Before he even had the chance to consider well he did think about it a bit hypnotizing you, he had already been asked to go to the local movie theater with you tonight
You told him it was a movie you’re sure he loved by his “vibe”
He didn’t fully get what you meant, but he was fairly certain it was a positive thing
Jervis was delighted you had already been thinking about him, much more so that you could pick up on his tastes so soon
He said yes, hopefully not too quickly for his dear
He had already decided you were more than his Alice, you were his soulmate, future spouse, his Y/N
He was so nervous getting ready that night
He knew you didn’t care he was the Mad Hatter, being as perfect as you are you had figured it out early in the conversation that morning
not exactly hard to figure it out since he had just fled the scene in his full outfit
But he was nervous about someone else telling that murderous Officer Gordon where you two were
He couldn’t have his last shot at love be stripped from him again
So he hypnotized hired some guards
Arriving at the theater, his breathe left his body when he saw you
You had on a white skirt, reminding him so much of the dress Alice wore in the original story
But you’d also made the outfit so very Y/N
A black T-Shirt torn into a crop top, safety pins attached across a rip on the shoulder, your make up featuring the same blue from the Disney version of the tale, black combat shoes, little designs painted on in white that he couldn’t discern yet, and black ribbon earring dangling from your earrings
And his favorite part, embroidered on the skirts hem, was many different things from the story: a pocket watch, a bottle with “drink me” written on it, mushrooms, the Cheshire Cat, and several other little details
Somehow he fell even more infatuated with you
If that was possible
Even though he could tell from your outfit, he was still giddy when you confirmed you’d be watching Alice in Wonderland that night
The night was wonderful and the two of you began your relationship very soon after
You did all the stuff he imagined for the relationship, with a slight twist
Tea parties were had with black dish ware instead of white
Instead of calling you darling you seemed to prefer “love from darkness”
Movie night tended to be horror movies
Or
of course
Alice in Wonderland
you were so perfect, you even helped get revenge on Jim Gordon, though you did talk Jervis out of the murder
No
his Y/N was to merciful & sweet to kill
You just had the beautifully cruel plan to turn those close to him into his enemies
With a little hypnosis here, a little of you playing an innocent shoulder to talk to, and a little help from others Gordon wronged, you two had managed to leave Jim with no one to love him
Jervis couldn’t be prouder of his vengeful Angel
And you did it all just for him? Someone call the church bc I hear wedding bells
The 2 of you introduced each other to new bands and artist to listen to
Jervis even hypnotized convinced one of your favorite artist to give you a private concert on your birthday
Oh, and there is one more thing he LOVED about having an alternative partner
The hair
No matter what you did to it
Shave it? How wonderfully easier it is to see your face and the artistic make up you apply
Dye it? How many colors? What a surprisingly brilliant color combination! He’d of never thought those shades could look so perfect together
Any hairstyle you try has him giddy
And he LOVES when you ask him for help with your appearance; clothes, hair, accessories, makeup, all of it
Eventually he works up the courage to ask you to style him one day
It’s the best idea he’s ever had
It make his Dark Love so happy, practically skipping as you dragged him to your bedroom
Combining some of his clothes, some of yours, and making a small list of things you’d want to buy him to complete the outfit
You were absolutely radiant
He particularly enjoyed how close you got to him while doing his make up
Jervis only got nervous at the hair part of it all
He trusts his Y/N, of course, you always had his best interest in mind
But he didn’t know if he could rock outgoing hair like you could
So he created a compromise
No cutting, and only spray on or pastels could be used to color his hair
You happily agreed, and once you were done, Jervis was surprised at how much he fit the style
So much so he actually let you buy real hair dye
You began to give him trims, and later full hair cuts
The two of you working together became Gotham’s number one power couple
Any one who got in the way or gave you a funny look was hypnotized and had their dirty laundry aired to all
Occasionally the ppl who said especially rude things to you mysteriously vanished
But Jervis Tetch denied any involvement
I mean, all he did was swing a pocket watch at someone
If they happen to get the urge to kill the idiot who had the audacity to insult his Angel
that’s on them
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thesilverlock · 1 year
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Some friendtuals got me into giving this series a try! <3 I just finished the most up to date (I think) ''episode'', and here’s what I thought~
HOLY SH!T.
anyway, to properly begin;
I wasn’t expecting to attach much at all to the first chapter, I hadn’t remembered enjoying Disney’s version of Alice In Wonderland and none of the characters popped out at me at first - But oh my gosh, the lads!! They grew on me! 🥺 And Riddle — I had liked his design anyway but he’s such a brat (affectionate And derogatory) and his backstory really took me off guard. Definitely a half Blorbo at the least!
Chapter 2 wasn’t so much my taste but it was fine, saw more of Riddle and got a first look at the fae crew 👀
The 3rd Chap was so fun and hilarious? Some of my favorite moments from the series thus far happened in there. I can see and appreciate where the hype for sleazy octo and the shrimp obsessed twins stem from agshdj
I also did enjoy chap 4, definitely see why certain friendtuals like it so much <3 Solid story. Kalim was a sweetie and Jamil was a great redeemable baddie for the chapter.
Chap 5. Once again, liked this one more than I was expecting! I was a bit nervous where they were gonna go with Epel’s story and his views on ‘beauty’, but I really like the conclusion and arc for his character 💜 He’s probably a fav too! BUT GOOD GRIEF it was long.
Chapter 6. What. The. Actual. F*ck. For real tho this chapter felt more like a fever dream. How did it escalate so quickly and yet also drag on for ages. The ‘Astro Boy’ plot twist took me out. ortho,,,
Chapter 7 (ongoing). Okay, I hate to be cliche and let preferences fall to the mysterious untouchable bad boys, but gosh dammit Sleeping Beauty was one of my top childhood movies! And their twst characters are so !!!😭 Lilia and Silver are standouts to me, for absolute sure. Super excited to see where this chapter goes! 💗🖤💚🤍 If Lilia dies, I s w e a r -
Other than that… 10/10! The twinks all knocked it out the park for me. Very happy to be in-the-know now. Already wanting to doodle some of my favs xD
Also.
I am gonna call it now; In the end, the player is returned to their original world. They have no memory of the events of twisted wonderland. But, they find the ghost camera - which miraculously transported back with them - look through the pictures, and see everyone again. The story ends with them saying something along the lines of, “Oh. I feel like I knew them, once..."
“...Once upon a dream."
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survey--s · 11 months
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550.
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What is in the back seat of your car right now? Just the hammock that’s on there for the dogs.
What was the last thing you threw up? Probably just water. It was when I had that awful bug back in February and was basically in bed for three days. It was horrendous and I felt so unwell.
Menthol or regular cigarettes? Neither.
What is your favorite episode of Friends? The One Where Ross Got High.
Does anyone have any blackmail on you? Nah, I don’t think so, my life really isn’t that interesting lol.
If you could marry any celebrity today who would it be? Nah, I’m good.
Have you been to a strip club? No.
Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you? My toenails are painted pink.
Are you wearing socks right now? No, it’s really warm and humid still.
What was the last thing you had to drink? Iced Coffee.
What are you wearing right now? A black sleeveless jumpsuit.
Last food you ate? Chicken Ramen.
Have you bought any clothing items in the last week? No.
When is the last time you ran? Yeah, I don’t run lol.
What’s the last sporting event you watched? I have no idea, probably football.
Last person’s house you were in? Aside from my own, Sarah and Ella’s.
Last movie you saw? Alice in Wonderland - the original Disney cartoon version.
Who is the last person you sent a message to on Facebook? Susie - we’re planning on going out for breakfast tomorrow and we’re just organising the timings.
Ever go to camp? Yeah, day camp as a kid - I absolutely hated it.
Were you an honor roll student in school? We don’t have those here.
Do you like sushi? It’s okay but it’s not something I’d go out of my way to choose.
Do you have a tan? Yeah, from working outdoors in the heatwave for three weeks.
How old do you want to be when you have kids? I don’t want children.
Have you ever drank your soda from a straw? Sure, all the time in restaurants etc.
What is your age? 34.
Are you someone’s best friend? Personally I find it really strange when adults have best friends.
What are your siblings’ middle names? I don’t have any siblings.
Where is your dad right now? I assume he’s at home - probably eating or showering after his daily run.
What was the last thing you said? “I won’t be out all day”.
What color is your watch? I don’t own a watch.
What do you think of when you think of Australia? My family.
Ever ridden on a roller coaster? Yes.
Favorite gemstone? Rubies, emeralds, amethysts, sapphires.
Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive thru? It depends on how long the lines are and how much parking there is.
Do you have a roommate? I live with my husband, two cats and a dog.
Do you have any bad habits? Yeah, drinking too much caffeine, spending too much time online and being addicted to my phone/the internet in general.
What is your favorite number? Thirteen.
Do you know anyone named Lori? Nope. That’s not really a very common name over here.
What color is your mom’s hair? Grey nowadays, but it was brown.
Do you have a dog? Yeah, a beagle. He’s upstairs snoring his head off after an 8-mile hike yesterday.
What happened to you in 1993? I turned five and started school.
Does your first memory involve your dad? It does, actually.
Do you remember singing any songs as kids? All the time. I used to put on plays and concerts for my parents ALL the time hah.
When was the last time you went swimming? Last summer at the beach.
Has your luggage ever gotten lost? Yeah, twice. Once it was only delayed by a few hours and I got it the same day, just later on, and the second time it arrived maybe 3-4 days later. 
Biggest annoyance in your life right this minute? The humidity is really annoying.
Have you ever thought it would be cool to smash a guitar? Nope.
Do you like watching a bonfire? I love bonfires.
Are you allergic to anything? Nickel and aspirin.
What is one thing you miss about your past? Not having to worry about bills or money or responsibilities.
Do you ever get flu shots? No.
Favorite shoes that you wear all the time? I practically live in Skechers for work as they’re so comfortable.
What is one thing you’ve learned about life recently? People are generally pretty decent, all things considered.
Are you jealous of anyone? Not really.
Is anyone jealous of you? A lot of people have said they’re jealous of what I do for a living. They probably wouldn’t feel like that if they joined me on a day where it was howling wind and pissing it down with rain lol.
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harmofud · 2 years
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Pinocchio (1940) Review
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Alright, second movie by Disney. Pinocchio, published in February of 1940. Despite being one of Disney's most well-known films, as well as the direct successor to the fantastic Snow White, Pinnochio was originally a box office flop. Not due to people not liking the movie, of course, but there did happen to be a little disagreement in Europe at that point that seemed to be getting everyone's attention. It was rereleased in 1945 to great acclaim.
Unlike Snow White, which is based off of an oral tradition written down by the Grimm Brothers, Pinnochio is based off a book called The Adventures of Pinocchio written in 1883 by a Carlo Collodi. Apparently, book Pinocchio was a little shit. He wanted to become a real boy, but oh man, that little puppet supposedly acted inhuman. That makes sense, given that he's a puppet, but what a change! Disney's little Pinoc (what a cute nickname by the way, good job Jiminy) is a sweet, if gullible and naïve, very human puppet. The Disney-fication of things start early I suppose.
Relatively speaking, Pinocchio has a significantly more complex storyline than Snow White does. Actually, I would argue that it's almost a little confusing. It leads you to the right spots, but it feels very Alice in Wonderland-y at times, with a hint at the dark story and world that the original Pinocchio came from. To summarize: Gepetto the carpenter builds a little puppet boy and wishes upon a star for the puppet boy to become a real boy. A fairy comes down, gives the puppet all the effects of being alive without the actual heartbeat, and claims that to be a real boy Pinocchio needs to be brave and kind, etcetera. Guided by his conscience, who is a somewhat horny creature that claims to be a cricket (more on that later), Pinocchio goes out into the world and hijinks occur.
Honestly speaking, there are some intense themes presented here. This is not the modern animated movie, scared to say that someone died. This movie is down to show a toned down version of human trafficking (Pinocchio getting captured, told to perform, and when he finally failed he'd die), slavery (the donkey boys being sold to salt mines and the circus), and starvation (Gepetto being stuck inside Monstero and discussing his imminent death). I'm honestly pretty excited to see when animated movies get sanitized for any intense themes, if that ever happens or if I've just assumed so. I'll keep an eye out for that. The story is fun and describes themes of morality for kids, and for adults it seems to tell how people can be taken advantage of. It's not like Pinocchio knew smoking or drinking or… playing pool I guess? Was bad. He literally was only born yesterday.
His lack of a conscience isn't shown very well, in my opinion. Jiminy Cricket is honestly terrible at his job. I don't know why he got that medal at the end. For the entire movie, Jiminy keeps saying, "Oh well, guess that Pinocchio knows better than I do, whatever, guess I better move on. Since when does he listen to his conscience anyways?" Since never. Since he became sentient yesterday. Which you saw. I know it's supposed to be symbolic, but I kind of lose the symbolism and appreciation for somebody ignoring their conscience when we, the audience, know that the main character is literally about 1 day old. It's a source of frustration for me. Also, side note, why was Jiminy Cricket so awkward and horny around inanimate objects the entire time? My man saw a wooden marionette in a dress showing a lot of leg and went insane. Anyways. His animation style was also a bit of a choice to be sure. He is a cricket only because it's in his name and he can jump pretty high. Otherwise, he's just a strange little green egg man.
The other characters were certainly there. Gepetto loves his son and is a great carpenter. Fantastic bit of background storytelling by the way, I liked how they showed that Gepetto enjoys making little things by how fantastical his workshop is. It's delightful. Honest John is not honest (surprise). The caravan man is the devil I guess? I'm not entirely sure what his deal is, but they did make him look quite demonic when he was talking to Honest John. Also not sure what the caravan man's workers at Pleasure Island are supposed to be. Demons, I suppose. And of course, the Blue Fairy who granted the wish. There's not much about her, but she grants wishes and lives in stars. I think.
Boy, I sure hope Stromboli being a racist stereotype isn't going to be a trend Disney will follow for a while!
Why'd the room go silent?
Anyways, onto the acting! It's Disney. The acting was fantastic. While I might complain about Jiminy Cricket's character, his voice actor did an amazing job for this role! Gepetto was also a stand out, and Pinocchio does a great job as well, especially for his voice actor being a kid. It's not easy finding convincing voice actors now. I can't imagine how difficult that would have been when voice acting was a relatively (at least to my knowledge) new industry.
Speaking of new industries, Pinocchio was a direct switch up from Snow White in background music. Like I said in my Snow White review, that movie seemed closer to an animated music video for an orchestra. While Pinocchio had some elements of that in there, the movie had more emphasis on the storyline than Snow White did. Not an unwelcome change either. That emphasis on the story is quite possibly the only thing that allowed Pinocchio to get away with how disjointed the plot feels. Regardless, the background music doesn't entirely end at all either, but it does get more atmospheric in some places, like when Gepetto is trying to find Pinocchio in the thunderstorm. I wonder if this trend is going to keep up. Granted, next movie I'm watching is Fantasia, which is legitimately just a bunch of classical music videos (I think. I haven't seen it before but it's reputation proceeds it). I guess I'll see when Dumbo rolls around.
Timing wise, the story moves at a nice clip. I don't think there's really a part in the film where I was going, "Dear god, move on to the next scene" or, alternatively, "Dear god, what just happened?" I don't have much to say here other than they did a good job on it!
And now here's the real thing I'm going through all these old movies for: how the animation has changed. It's subtle, but if you watch Snow White and then watch Pinocchio, you'll notice all these new things they're trying out. The camera angle when Honest John and his little cat friend are dragging Pinocchio down to Stromboli's is very unique and cool when compared to what they were doing and what they could do with Snow White. It looks as though the camera is hung from the jutting rafter of a building, and it's following Honest John and Pinocchio (and the little cat friend) down the alleyway in a semi-top-down view. That's absolutely astounding if you remember that in Snow White they didn't have many shots that weren't either face front or side view. The only one I can think of is when the Dwarfs are looking up their staircase, but even still I might be misremembering that scene. Regardless, the angles that they use for Pinocchio are pretty amazing, and how rain and water is animated in general here is incredible. Watching Monstero's rage sequence is looking at a marvel of animation skill. I'm not an animator, so I don't know how difficult it is to animate water. I assume it's pretty difficult though. (Edit: I just asked my animator friend. He says it's incredibly difficult.)
The facial expressions were also a massive step up! My favorite scene has to be when Lampwick is turning into a donkey. It starts off humorous, then turns surprisingly horrifying. I think that scene would have given me nightmares had I been a kid when I watched this. I digress. Pinocchio's face when Lampwick starts getting ears and a tail is just a delight to watch. I don't think I've seen the confusion and disgust of, 'What the hell did I just take?' epitomized so well in a cartoon before. Pinocchio's face alone got a few giggles out of me.
All in all, I liked it! Solid A-tier film. I enjoyed Snow White a little more, but Pinocchio was good too. I don't think I really liked Jiminy Cricket all that much, and that ultimately brought the film down for me. In general though, I enjoyed the darker vibe of Pinocchio!
Previous: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Next: Fantasia
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purplesurveys · 3 years
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1279
Are you and the last person you kissed in a relationship or just friends?  I don’t keep contact.
Has anyone ever pointed out that your laugh was unusual?  Hmmmm, I don’t think so. I feel like that would be the type of comment that would get to me so I definitely would’ve remembered it.
Would you get a lip piercing?  I don’t plan on getting any piercings.
Nose piercing?  Nopes.
What are you currently waiting for?  For this fucking day to end so I can be closer to Thursday and to the weekend.
Do you have feelings for anyone?  Nah.
Have you ever run over an animal?  Nope. I’ve had extremely close calls with animals who suddenly dart into the road, but fortunately these have all been situations wherein I got to hit the brakes with nobody behind me.
Have you chewed gum after someone else already has?  That’s disgusting, no.
When people sneeze do you say ‘bless you’?  Sure, out of habit and just to be polite.
When was the last time you were on a bouncy castle?  I don’t think I’ve ever been on a bouncy castle, but I’ve been on a lot of bouncy other things haha, like inflatable slides, soccer balls, Anpanmans, etc. The last time would probably be a nearly a decade ago; I definitely haven’t been near one in a while.
Have you ever went on a bouncy castle whilst drunk?  Well no, because the ones I’ve been on were situated in school fairs, which is the last place I would want to be drunk in.
Have you ever entered an art competition?  No, I have no justification to join one haha.
What is one thing you will never do? Try hardcore drugs. < Same. 
What is one food that you detest?  Pineapples.
Did you have a rebellious phase growing up?  Yeah I was a bit of a handful to raise, but I’m in firm in my stance that it had a lot to do with the way I was raised. I grew up mostly without a father figure because my dad worked abroad and I felt neglected by my mom who had her own shit to deal with. There was no stable support system to lean on, so I ended up lashing out a lot in my puberty years. Unfortunately everyone else just saw a rebellious child and not a plea for help.
These days when I show off my achievements on social media, I’ll see congratulatory comments from my mom’s friends and she’ll usually go on about some “late bloomers grow with time” narrative and it pisses me off because nobody knows how much I’ve had to grow and mature and learn how to be happier all by myself, all from scratch. If I had just received the proper care and attention early on, I wouldn’t have had to do any catching up to begin with.
What religion were you brought up with? Roman Catholic.
Are you still that religion?  Jesus no. I darted out of there as soon as I gained the consciousness to think about these sorts of things.
Do you often find yourself questioning your future?  Sometimes, but I do my best to not let it get to me.
How many friends do you have on Facebook?  Over 670.
What sort of music did you listen to when you were in high school?  I started with punk rock in the first half of high school, so I had my Rancids, H2Os, Against Me!s, Cro-Mags, etc on my iPod. It evolved a little bit towards more indie, folksy sounds towards the latter half - Banks, alt-J, Hozier, Twenty One Pilots - which I largely attribute to the crowd I was part of at the time.
What pet names do you use with your significant other?  I’m pretty straightforward so baby works out for me. Other, more specific pet names just grow naturally with the relationship, I think.
What’s the name of the store you usually get your groceries?  S&R.
Have you ever seen a theatre show?  Yeah. Most of them have been required.
What’s your favourite vegetable?  Broccoli or bell peppers.
Have you ever missed a flight?  Never. I’ve experienced several delayed flights, though, which is always such a hassle especially if the delays happen in provincial airports since they never have any recreational offers to keep passengers from getting bored other than TVs that run the same damn five ads.
Do your neighbours have any pets? Have you ever met them?  Yeah, a lot of have dogs. I’ve met some.
What color is your bedroom door?  Brown.
If you were ever to become famous, would you grow annoyed at fans?  Only towards obsessive ones who wouldn’t give me time to breathe or would go so far so as to stalk me or my loved ones. But I am a fan too, so I imagine I would actually be understanding of those who would ask for pictures or whatever as long as they were polite and not at all intrusive.
Have you ever met your favourite band/singer?  Nah. I am terrified of meeting celebrities HAHA so I’ve always shut down the chance. I’m pretty sure I would actually turn down the chance to meet BTS if I hypothetically suddenly got the magic keys to that door.
Are you embarrassed by any of the songs/singers/bands you like?  No. I feel like that sort of thing just happens in like high school, when your friends are still a bit judgmental. Nowadays I don’t see why I should be embarrassed of anything I like, especially if it’s not hurting anyone.
Have you ever written a story?  I’ve made attempts but was always terrible.
Think of the last poem you wrote: What inspired you to write it?  My homework that required me to write said poem hahaha.
Do you have a chance with the person you like right now? 
What’s the weirdest thing you were scared of as a child?  Watching commercials at night. It’s still a slight fear of mine but it’s mostly dissipated now.
Are there any embarrassing stories your family tells about you?  About me? No. I don’t have a lot of those since I was a really shy kid who barely moved a finger anyway.
In your opinion, what is the funniest TV show?  I have a *really* soft spot for Perfect Strangers, which I actually revisited yesterday :) The show was never super popular so it’s near impossible to find clips online, but when I checked YouTube I did see a slight increase in short snippets from the show so I had a really fun time binge-watching yesterday.
What is the maximum number of children you’d ever have?  Three, but that’s pushing it. Ideally, I’d have two so my first would have company.
Have you ever been concerned you had a serious illness?  Mental ones, yes.
Are you comfortable with who you are?  For the most part, yes.
Would you date someone even if you knew you’d get made fun of for it?  No. Why would it be any of their business?
Does popularity matter to you at all?  I mean, yeah in the sense that I honestly aspire to be well-liked by as many people as possible. But I don’t necessarily want to rub shoulders with popular kids.
Would you ever consider homeschooling your children?  Continued from sometime this week ider. No. I don’t think I’m capable of teaching, and generally I’d want them to be able to learn in a more open environment where they can have regular contact with different kinds of people.
Who told you about the band/singer you are currently listening to?  Well Angela got into them first and since we’re best friends, there was a certain point where she just decided to loop me into conversations that involved them. I was impossible to sway for a long time, but then one day a video compilation of them showed up on my feed, and for some reason I actually watched it, and I watched all the way through, and I was immediately intrigued – particularly by J-Hope haha. I then asked Angela to tell me more about them and the rest was...financially irresponsible history HAHAHAHA
Do you ever read fanfiction?  OMG yes. Funny you should mention that because my favorite author uploaded a brand new fic this morning, which I obviously couldn’t get to all day because I had to go to work. I’ll be reading it in all its 44,000-word glory tonight :D
Would you rather die in a plane crash, ship wreck or fire?  Plane crash. Instant and mostly painless.
What are your top five favourite TV shows?  Breaking Bad, BoJack Horseman, Friends, The Crown even though I was never able to continue it since...andddd that’s all I got.
What is your favorite superhero movie?  Not a fan of superhero movies.
If you died next week, what would be the cause of death?  Stress from overworking. I’ve FINALLY started to consider taking a leave for the first time this year because I’ve just realized just how fucking exhausted, burned out, and overwhelmed I actually already am from having no rest at all in the last 13 months.
Have you ever taken a break from Facebook or other social media? Why?  Yes, I do mass deactivations when I’m severely depressed. These days I can’t really afford to that anymore, though, since my work is closely tied to social media.
Who is the most talented person you know?  Probably Andi.
Are you currently platonic friends with anyone you’ve had sex with?  No.
Where did you and your current interest go on your first date? 
Have you ever experienced two people fighting over you (physically or mentally)? What happened?  Nah. I’ve had two people like me at the same time, but there was never any tension to watch out for since they mostly didn’t know each other.
Have your parents ever thought you were gay? What happened?  I think they know I dated Gabie and that we broke up because they’ve stopped asking about her. Everyone knew we were best friends, so the fact that they’ve avoided her as a topic for a whole year is able to tell me something.
Are your parents more liberal or conservative?  Dad’s on the liberal side, mom dances around on the spectrum a little bit. I know she’s fine with things like tattoos and having LGBTQ+ co-workers, but she’s also conservative especially towards matters like religion.
What year are you going into at the beginning of the next academic year?  No longer in school.
How far away does your closest family member live?  A few footsteps away.
If you’ve seen both, did you prefer the Disney version or the Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland?  It’s not my type of movie/genre to begin with.
Would you have sex before marriage? Why or why not?  Yes. I don’t see the big deal; I’ve already done it anyway.
Are you more liberal or conservative?  Liberal.
Who is your favorite Harry Potter character?  Ooh not sure. I haven’t gone back to the books in a while, so I don’t remember if there was anyone I had an attachment to.
What’s the worst that could come out of letting gays marry?  Nothing.
What’s the most sexual thing you’ve done?  Had sex...I guess? And a bunch of stuff that comes with it.
Name something that you are against.  Racial discrimination.
Why are you against it?  Because it is infuriating to see, and it shows me the very same treatment can happen to me or my family as well and that scares me, especially since some people turn particularly violent towards people of color.
Have you ever played the Tomb Raider games?  No.
Do you like it or hate it when your partner is clingy?  I imagine I wouldn’t enjoy it if I’m not as into whoever my next partner would be.
Beatles or Rolling Stones?  I don’t listen to either.
When was the last time you changed your opinion on somebody?  Not so sure about a whole change in opinion because that hasn’t happened in a while, but I grew more grateful for my manager today because I finally mustered the strength to tell her that I’m begin to struggle mentally with work and she not only encouraged (read: begged) me to file a damn leave for once, but she also got sushi delivered to my place.
What was the last thing that made you feel proud and why?  Andi was telling me about their day today and how they handled being misgendered by a prof, who then proceeded to throw a fit when he got corrected, and how they, again, maturely handled said fit. I was proud of them because there are a million ways that incident could’ve turned out, but they dealt with it in an extremely mature and calm manner considering they were the one who was wronged.
Do you feel uncomfortable when people you hardly know confide in you?  If it was about an extremely personal problem I would probably be taken aback at first, but I still would definitely make some time for them and help in however way I can, since they apparently trust me enough to confide.
What was the last thing to fascinate you?  The music video for My Universe! Super cool to watch and I love that they made a short film out of it too.
Is there a certain noise/sound which scares you?  Doors being slammed shut, because that’s what my mom does when she’s furious. She did that when I was a kid and she does it to this day, so I get extremely nervous when I hear the sound, even if it happens by accident.
Do you have a favourite microorganism? Nope.
Out of the people you know, whose birthday is next?  My cousin Bree.
If you have pet fish do you bother to name them?  I did when I had them as a kid.
Do you keep your eggs in the fridge?  Yes?
Have you ever owned chickens?  Nope.
When did you last listen to music?  Like five minutes ago. I tried to have a jazz playlist on but I realized I wasn’t in the mood for music so I changed my background noise to have a random VLive on instead. 
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thewickedmerman · 3 years
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The Swan Princess Live-Action Remake: What I’d Like to See
As many of you who follow me are aware, there is going to be a live-action remake of The Swan Princess. I know many of you are tired of these remakes but this one has the potential to be one of the greats because of the fact that the people working on it not only are the ones who worked on the original, but also people who interact with their fans and listen to their ideas. This is a good thing because of how the public has seen so many live-action remakes and have complained about them either being too different from the original (Maleficent and Alice in Wonderland for example) or too similar to the point of being pointless (The Lion King), so the fact that they listen to their fans is very much a good sign. Besides, despite the results of the universally hated CGI Swan Princess movies, a live-action remake is promising, especially since this is a passion project for them and not just a way to make a quick cash grab. That’s what brings us to this post of mine. These are some things I’d love to see in the live-action remake of The Swan Princess. Keep in mind that this is just my personal opinion on things I would love to see, therefore not everyone is going to agree with me.
Staying True but NOT Shot-For-Shot
As I’ve mentioned, bad remakes usually fall into one of too categories. They are either so radically different that they aren’t faithful to the spirit of the source material or are just pretty much shot-for-shot the same to the point where they are pointless. This is the difficult thing with adapting any work of fiction, especial one that is a beloved property, especially into a different medium. You have to know what iconic moments to do but also try to make it different enough to where it can be its own thing and justify its existence. I don’t want it to be afraid to try different things. The live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast was great and just as good as the original but I don’t feel like it made enough changes, not to mention some other problems. I hope it takes the same turn that remakes like Cinderella, The Jungle Book, and 101 Dalmatians took by staying true to the source material but also being different enough to where it’s not the exact same thing. We don’t want to see it be 100% the same because that’s boring and it would have no real point when we’d have the original.
One thing that they could do is maybe take deleted scenes from the animated film that are alternative versions of certain scenes. For example, the scene of Derek in the library and Uberta telling him about the ball. It’s different and helps to show the relationship between Derek and his mother. It shows how quick witted (When he’s not doing things like saying, “What else is there?” lol) and energized Derek is. It’s very fun and is able to show us how Uberta can be a mother that uses guilt to get what she wants from her son. Besides, there is no way for the live-action to capture the amazingness that is Uberta’s lip thing. That’s something that can only be captured in animation and attempting to do it in live-action would just be disappointing.
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That’s just one example of using an alternative version of scenes from the movie, which are different but still charming in their own way. Another thing they could do is incorporate more elements from the original ballet, Swan Lake. I’ll get more into certain elements connected to that a little later, but it would show how it’s not only trying to respect the animated film but also the source material that lead to the beloved animated film. In the original ballet, if the vow of everlasting love failed, Odette actually wouldn’t die but instead she and the other swan maidens that Rothbart had cursed would become swans forever come daybreak and never be able to change back into humans again like they were able to before. Odette decided she would rather die than be a swan forever, so she and her prince (Named Siegfried in the ballet) committed suicide and that act of love was strong enough to destroy Rothbart and all his magic. This lead to the swan maidens being able to become human forever and the two lovers dance off to heaven together.
Let me be VERY clear about something, I’m not suggesting that they do this ending for the live-action movie because that really wouldn’t go over well with audiences. However, something they could consider doing is that instead of Odette dying if Derek makes his vow the the wrong girl, have her become a permanent swan. I don’t just meant have her physical form stay that of a swan but also have her end up losing her human mind. Before this, she still had full control of her human mind in her animal form but with Derek’s vow of everlasting love failing, she’d revert to that of a dumb and witless animal. It would have her die in a different sense and maybe it would help represent Derek realizing even more what he loved about her. It would be painful because she’d be gone even though she was still alive, which can sometimes be even more devastating than death. Now, this is just a suggestion and I wouldn’t mind if they decided to just have her die like she did in the original movie. Besides, there would be a happy ending anyway. That’s what is important lol.
An advantage that live-action movies have over animation is that they can be longer than just an hour and a half, so they can expand upon certain elements. We could see Odette and Derek maybe meeting secretly over the course of a few nights (After Odette manages to get reveal the swan spell to Derek, of course) to help their relationship and chemistry feel more organic and natural. The romance in the original is great but everything can be improved.
Other elements could be expanded upon like actually showing Odette’s mother and her giving birth to Odette, as well as King William and his wife longing for a child. Live-action remakes from Disney seem to have a thing for actually talking about the deceased mothers and even showing them interacting with their child. True, Odette’s mother would’ve died after childbirth but it would add something with how protective William is of Odette and even adding a song for the queen to sing, which I’ll elaborate on further when I talk about the music. Odette’s swan necklace could also have originally belonged to her mother rather than being a gift from Derek when she was an infant. It would help give her more of a connection with her dead mother and wanting to be a strong and kind leader like her mother was.
It should also show more of Odette’s sorrow and trauma from her father being killed by her kidnapper and not being able to hug him, say goodbye, or tell him that she loved him one last time. Her love for her father, as well as her people, would give her strength whenever Rothbart would try to break her down. She’d stay strong and wouldn’t back down. They should also try to make it more clear that Derek isn’t really shallow but rather he just has a hard time expressing himself into words. That’s the way I always saw Derek and I think to help audiences identify more with him that they should do a better job of making that clear. They should also show more subtle hints of Odette and Derek liking each other as kids but not being mature enough to admit it to others or even to themselves.
Overall, this remake shouldn’t fall into the same trap a lot of remakes do of basically just being a shot-for-shot remake. Don’t be afraid to make changes to justify its existence but also stay true to the spirit of the original.
Music
With this being a musical, it’s important for me to talk about the music for the live-action remake. A complaint the musical live-action remakes from Disney get are that they aren’t energized enough and aren’t as big and grand as they were in the animated movies. In certain musical numbers I can see where they are coming from. Musicals are a very stylized medium, which require big dance numbers and a chorus with a lot of energy, especially in numbers like “No More Mr Nice Guy”, “This is My Idea”, and “Princesses on Parade”. When making the original movie, they used a lot of choreography that was Broadway-styled. That’s something they should do with the musical numbers in the live-action remake. I don’t mean to copy the exact choreography from the animated movie but still put in a lot of energy. Look at musicals like Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, The Greatest Showman (Apart from the lack luster choreography of “Rewrite the Stars”), Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (With Whitney Houston and Brandy Norwood), Moulin Rouge, Newsies, and any musical with THE GREAT dancing talents of Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, and Dick Van Dyke. They have a lot of energy in the musical numbers with elaborate dancing that gets the audiences pumped and excited. They are fun and vibrant.
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Now, big dance numbers aren’t something required for all the musical numbers, like “Far Longer Than Forever”, which is more romantic and intimate, but should still have stunning visuals, which I’ll get more into when I talk about the visuals of the film.
It could also take certain songs and make them different. The song “Practice, Practice, Practice” for example, which is played as a comedic number, could be a song for Uberta. It could be used to show she’s concerned about her son and how he’s just obsessed with practicing and trying to find Odette, which everyone (Herself included) considers an endless path because Odette is believed to be dead. It would help show the relationship between her and her son. She’d be questioning what she should do and what her late husband (Who was likely MUCH less pushy and more understanding than her) might’ve done if he were still here. True, it would also require the song to have more lyrics to it and be longer, but it would be a welcomed change. While the song is great and a lot of fun, it’s utterly pointless when you think about it. This would be taking a song that was short and comedic and making it different, meaningful, and adding something to both the characters of Uberta and Derek. Showing Uberta’s love and concern for her son as well as Derek’s stubbornness and determination, not to mention his skills.
Another song that could be used differently is the song “No Fear”. When I discuss the tone of the film, I will elaborate on why the animal sidekicks shouldn’t be in the live-action remake (Even though I love the animal sidekicks). In the live-action movie, it could go one of two ways, either a solo for Odette showing her courage as she sets off to find Derek or could be a duet for both Odette and Derek as they set off to find each other, as well as Derek’s hunt for The Great Animal.
Something important to discuss is the song “This is My Idea”. Apart from “Far Longer Than Forever”, it’s the most iconic song in the movie that people just adore. What definitely needs to be made clear is that they NEED to get child actors that not only look like the actors that are playing the adult versions of Odette and Derek, but can also actually act and sing. I don’t want any lame excuses that they are kids and we shouldn’t expect great acting from them because there are PLENTY of amazing child actors that give it their all. Besides, one of the things that made the song so awesome was that the the younger versions of the two leads were full of so much energy and personality. They really need some strong child actors that can capture the spirit of the song. Not to mention make sure that they can sing, which is something they need for all the actors in general.
With “No More Mr Nice Guy”, with the tone I have in mind for the film (Which, again, I will get to soon) probably would make the jazz styled song feel out of place. I mean, I still want it to be energized but also to fit with Rothbart’s character. I’m thinking maybe a style that is similar to the overture of Phantom of the Opera or “In The Dark of the Night” from Anastasia. Those are musical styles that are more serious in tone but are still fun and energized, which will help bring the song to life in a new way, as well as show that they are growing with their audience. It would show him causing chaos but not so comedically but also not entirely serious. Odile should also be allowed to sing a little in this song, in fact, I have one particular moment in mind. I’m imagining with the line, “Who’s a real dead ringer,” that at first it’s Odile’s real voice but she holds out on the word “ringer” and her voice is transitioning to Odette’s voice. That would be fun and creative.
Of course, with this being a live-action remake, it will need to add more songs to the film, especially since you gotta think about that “Best Original Song” nomination. However, it needs to be careful about where the songs are placed. They can’t be too soon after the previous song or feel like they came out of nowhere. One song I think they could add is a lullaby that Odette’s mother sings to her infant daughter as she slowly dies. I think it should have lyrics that foreshadow the events of the film and the journey that Odette will have in the same way the song “All is Found” did in Frozen II. It should also add a solo for Odette, maybe a song for her to sing when she’s escaping from Rothbart’s prison and flying to the ball that is similar to the song “Speechless” from the 2019 live-action remake of Aladdin. Another song could be a short one that is meant to be Odile just vocalizing like a siren to scare the carriage drivers. The way I see it is that she’s flying around in her animal form (A black swan) singing to give them a feeling of unease and catch them off guard while also occasionally flying fast close by to scare them for fun. All leading up to the reveal of her human form and then the attack of The Great Animal (Which should remain in shadows until the climax). Maybe even a possible duet between Odette and Odile, to show how opposite and similar they are. Just a few suggestions.
The last thing involving the music that I want to talk about is the instrumental music. I want them to have the movie mix three types of music; the music from the original movie, the music from the original Swan Lake, and original music like in the live-action concept trailer. Something the film is criticized for is not using any of Tchaikovsky’s music from the ballet when the film is based on the ballet. I do agree with people that it’s very strange, especially since even products of lesser quality and budget have even used music from Tchaikovsky. However, there are iconic instrumental music moments from the movie that I can’t imagine the film being without, especially the music for Odette’s transformation. Disney also seems to have a thing for adding new instrumental music to their remakes like in Cinderella, Mulan, 101 Dalmatians, and The Jungle Book while still including music from the original animated film. So it would be amazing for them to use all three types of music for the remake to show them respecting the animated film, showing respect for the source material that led to the creation of the beloved animated film, and doing something new. True, it will be hard to make sure they all mess together naturally but it’s not impossible.
Tone
This is one of the most important things about a film, especially when adapting a beloved property, particularly into a new medium like live-action. I do want the tone for the film to be more serious than the animated film but I DON’T want it to be so serious to where it’s too dark, too grounded in reality, and would feel out of place as a musical. Being too dark and serious seems to be a trend with some childhood properties that really have no real understanding of the source material, as proven with shows like Riverdale, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and the upcoming disaster that is Fate: The Winx Saga. Trying to be all serious limits them too much in “reality” and therefore can’t go too far with being stylized and aren’t able to be as memorable. This is also something that goes hand in hand with the visuals, which I will get to later on.
However, there are some things in the original movie that should be taken out for the live-action remake, the main thing being the animal sidekicks. Don’t get me wrong, I love those characters dearly but their style of humor wouldn’t work in a live-action setting. Their style of humor is similar to that of the Looney Tunes, which works in animation but not in a live-action remake. They’ll feel out of place and cause the tone of the film to feel unbalanced. This is also why I don’t think The Hag (Later named Bridget) would work in the live-action remake, but I’ll get to that later.
Jean-Bob, Speed, and Puffin are iconic and beloved characters that do help progress the plot and don’t feel like needless comic relief, but they wouldn’t work in live-action. They’d feel out of place, come off as if they are hijacking the film, would likely look weird with CGI (Especially Jean-Bob), and removing them would allow them to have more time to expand upon other elements.
The film should still have humor but it should come from things like Rogers’ dry wit, Uberta’s pompous and flamboyant personality, Chamberlain playing off of Uberta with his nervous and silly character (While still not feeling too silly), Derek being charmingly humorous and playing off of Rogers, Odette’s savage comments to Rothbart in the way she rejects him and stands up to him and her wit in general, Rothbart’s dark humor, and Odile being a major sass master with a lot of sarcasm and clever lines.
This film should have a balance of romance, being serious but comedic without doing too much of either, having fantasy, being like a fairy-tale, stay true to the original while being its own thing, and just being what the film needs to be. It needs to appeal to the fans while also trying to win over people who aren’t really a fan of the original movie. It basically needs to do what a good remake needs to be, which can be done when you look at the example of the 2015 version of Cinderella. Also, DON’T do make any pop culture references like the CGI movies, which instantly date the movie.
Odile/The Black Swan
Many of you are already aware of how I’m really crazy about the idea of Rothbart’s daughter from the original Swan Lake, Odile, being in the live-action remake. It honestly would be a welcome change for so many reasons. A lot of the fans are wanting to see Odile appear in the live-action remake, so that is one reason to include her. There’s just so much potential with her.
However, before I get into her potential, I need to discuss why it makes much more sense for her to be in the movie instead of Bridget. The Black Swan is supposed to act seductive and also give Derek some hesitation to show that he has a feeling something isn’t right. It shows how he isn’t only interested in Odette because of her looks. This makes more sense with Odile because her behavior and mannerisms should be more like her own rather than like Odette’s, which doesn’t work with Bridget. In all the scenes that Bridget is in, she’s very comedic, wacky, silly, and over-the-top in her behavior and mannerisms. That makes her entertaining, but it doesn’t make sense in the context of The Black Swan trick. It kind of hurts Derek’s character by having him so easily fooled and not hesitating enough. Don’t get me wrong, he does hesitate but it could’ve been better a lot better. Just an observation of mine.
Now for her potential, which she really has a lot of. She’s a seductive and sensual woman that is also a sorceress. I imagine her being very clever, sassy, sarcastic, and just has a badass aura about her. Her personality would basically be Shego from Kim Possible. She should really go one of two ways, either a full blown villainess or an anti-hero with a redemption arc. She’s a fascinating character that would help bring a layer of depth to Rothbart by having a great love for his daughter, and while he is motivated by greed and power, he is also motivated by his love for his daughter and wanting her not to struggle in life like he did.
If they made her an antihero with a redemption arc, it could be because she slowly grows a bond with Odette and relating to having a loving but protective father and never really knowing their mothers. She’d think men were all the same and would be confused why Derek would hesitate when she’s disguised as Odette because she was unaware of genuine romantic love due to always using her looks and sensuality on men to get what she and her father want. Maybe she could take the place of Bromley by helping Derek with defeating her father.
When she dances with Derek, it should feel different for him compared to how it felt when he danced with the real Odette. Both should be elegant and vibrant but done differently. When Derek dances with the real Odette, it should be more intimate while with Odile disguised as Odette, it’s more sensual and makes Derek feel like something is off about “Odette.”
Either way, she’d make for an incredibly compelling character that would help add an element from the original ballet to the film and be something different. Odile is a popular character in the world of fiction, especially for those fascinated with ballet. She’s meant to be Odette’s opposite and yet they could have a connection the same way that Mulan and The Witch did in the live-action remake of Mulan. I also have made it VERY clear that the ONLY real choice for Odile is Bella Thorne. She has the right look, she’s sexy and seductive, she’s gorgeous, she’s an amazingly talented and versatile actress (She’s even getting some Oscar buzz for her performance in the movie Girl), she can sing (Listen to the songs she did for Midnight Sun if you don’t believe me), has experience playing villainess characters, really puts her all into her craft, and everyone who has worked with her has just raved about what a joy she is to work with.
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Visuals
There is a lot of things to talk about here. The costumes, the effects, camera work, the sets, the atmosphere, and so on. I’ll try to be as clear and organized about this as possible.
The costumes are a major part of the movie because they help to establish the characters personalities and the journey they go through. I do think the outfits should be as similar to their animated counterparts as possible but also not look too similar to the point where they just look like cosplays. Something live-action remakes often do is change the look of the outfits to the point where they are completely different. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing because it can help the film stand out, especially when you look at the outfits in the 2015 version of Cinderella. However, it can just as often be a bad thing, such as with Belle’s yellow dress in the 2017 remake of Beauty and the Beast, which didn’t even do very good jobs with her pink and green dresses either (But her blue dress and her wedding dress were good). I can understand why changing the design of the costumes happens because some things that look good in a drawing don’t translate well into live-action. However, when done well, they can make them look similar enough and add details that are too expensive and time consuming to put into animation. A good example of this is Jasmine’s turquoise outfit in the live-action remake of Aladdin. It looks similar enough while also being a good translation to the real world. Although, I do think they should take more liberties to Rothbart’s outfit to make it look more badass. Not to mention they’d have creative liberties with Odile, but should make sure there is a contrast with her appearance and Odette’s.
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Another thing about the costumes is that I want the characters to have a variety of outfits to wear. It’s true that Odette would be wearing the same dress for a majority of the film because of how she’s been kidnapped and wouldn’t give Rothbart the satisfaction of her accepting any outfits he might offer her. However, considering that the major characters are either royalty or well off enough to afford some good clothes, they should really be wearing more than just one outfit. Queen Uberta in particular would be wearing a large variety of outfits (Not just the same outfit in a different color) and maybe even different hairstyles. It would go with her flamboyant personality and style. The younger versions of Derek should also be wearing different outfits and have different hairstyles like Odette did. It shows how people grow and change as they get older. Maybe even make Derek have his awkward phase as a teenager the same way Odette did as a preteen. However, definitely don’t have his younger versions wear the same outfit because it’s weird that he never changed his style at all growing up. Plus, I think the entire fandom agrees that Derek’s weird haircut has GOTTA GO! I’ll get more into the costumes when I discuss diversity because what I have left to say about costumes has to do with “Princesses on Parade”.
As for the effects, I’m hoping that they do their best to mix practical effects and special effects together. Hollywood is too reliant on CGI and people often call it out as fake looking. There are movies that mixed those together like Lord of the Rings, Hocus Pocus, Jim Carrey’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and the first Jurassic Park movie. The effects in those movies are still praised because they aren’t reliant on just CGI. It can be helpful but it shouldn’t be the only thing that is used.
Something important about the visual look with this movie, at least to me, is Odette’s transformation. A problem I have with the concept trailer (Although, I will give it leeway because it didn’t have much of budget for the effects) and the CGI movies is how Odette’s transformation lacks color, which makes it less magical looking. People love Odette’s iconic transformation with the gold glowing light where she stands (Or floats in the case of her swan form) and her getting surrounded by the pink and purple water (Along with some purple sparkles). It’s such beautifully animated scene because of the vibrant colors that pop in the night time setting that is full of different shades of blue. By making the transformation have normal colored water just makes it not as memorable or imaginative.
The look of Odette as a swan (As well as Odile in her literal black swan form) should still be expressive and slightly stylized like the animals in The Chronicles of Narnia movies, the 2016 live-action remake of The Jungle Book, the live-action Stuart Little movies. It’ll make her feel more human and if they were to use the idea about Odette losing her humanity if Derek makes his vow to the wrong girl, it would show her looking and feeling more like a real dumb and witless animal. But definitely make sure that there is texture to her with the feathers and bill. Basically make sure she doesn’t look fake but not too realistic to the point she can’t be stylized a little. Basically DON’T make the same mistake that the pointless “live-action” remake of The Lion King did.
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Something else important to talk about is the look of The Great Animal. First of all, I think that the way The Great Animal looks should be kept a secret up until the climax when Derek is fighting Rothbart. This includes commercials and trailers because it’ll make an even bigger impact if no one has any idea what it looks like until the very moment they see it. As for the design of it, the original movie had a very interesting design with it being a combination of different animals. The head of a wolf, the wings and snout of a bat, the talons of a falcon/hawk/eagle, the tail of a lizard, and torso of a bear. Not sure if this would work in live-action (It might if done right) but if it can’t, they could get creative with a new design. Making it look either like some demonic creature or something. Either way, I’m sure it’ll be awesome.
With the sets and such, I want them to be absolutely MASSIVE! As I mentioned before, some live-action remakes don’t have things on as big a scale as they were in the animated movie. When you compare the ballroom scene in Beauty and the Beast, the live-action remake doesn’t look nearly as grand as the original did and was much smaller in scale. I hope that they go all out with the sets to make it feel big, grand, and epic. It will especially help with the “Princesses on Parade” scene. Even with Rothbart’s castle, which would look more decayed, should have an eerie feel to it with a lot of dark colors to contrast with Uberta’s castle and the castle from Odette’s kingdom.
The visuals also shouldn’t be afraid to not be vibrant enough because just earth tones are boring and not as eye-catching. The look of the live-action concept trailer has a good look, at least for the night scenes. The visuals and colors weren’t too dark, had a mysterious atmosphere, it was pleasant to look at, it would make Rothbart and Odile’s magic really pop because of how their magic has warm colors to contrast with the cool colors of the setting, and would show a contrast to the world that Odette was used to before she was cursed. How she could feel the warm sun on her skin and that refreshing daylight breeze blowing through her hair. It’ll make when the spell is broken all the more meaningful because she’ll be able to experience those senses she missed so much from when she was a human that could enjoy the daylight. They definitely need to take advantage of the landscapes as well, since many scenes take place outdoors.
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As for the camera work, it’s very important to have a lot of interesting angles, dynamic movements, and pleasant shots. They shouldn’t go too crazy with the camera work to the point where it is annoying and messy, but they should have fun with it. Such as when Odette is flying in the air, they need to take advantage of that. The musical and dance sequences need to have some fun camera work. With something like “Far Longer Than Forever”, they should keep it intimate but also creative and interesting. Not to mention have it look visually stunning with the stars, the moon, and how in some scenes that Derek is inside where there is light to contrast with the nighttime setting where Odette is. The action scenes should definitely be creative, like when Derek uses his bow and arrow. Not to mention have the climax be epic.
A particular camera work I want them to do is to slowly reveal the face of The Black Swan at the ball when she arrives. Yes, we know it’s Odile disguised as Odette, but playing with the camera to not reveal her face until she’s close enough to Derek will make it more exciting. Similar to the way that Cruella De Vil was slowly revealed during her introduction in the live-action remake. That just helps with great storytelling.
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Diversity
First of all, listen to me before you pass judgement. I’m not saying for them to racebend characters, especially since many people of color are seeing through that as a, no pun intended, skin deep gesture just for brownie points. However, I want the background to have a lot of diversity with races the same way that movies like the live-action remakes of Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella did. One of the great things about the original animated film was that, even though it was about white people, still had racial diversity with people from the background. They weren’t just with servants and peasants but also with royalty and nobility. There were people that looked black, Hispanic, mixed, and it was just for the heck of it, which I love. It shows that the movie is stylized and acknowledges that people of color do exist (Something certain movies fail to do).
However, I want them to take it a step further by not only having the background characters/extras to be racially diverse (Only include more than just blacks and Hispanics) but also show diversity in culture at the ball. What I mean is that the princesses at the ball attending the ball in the hopes of winning Derek’s heart should be racially and culturally diverse. The live-action remake of Cinderella did this, particularly with this one Hispanic princess that had a very cultural looking dress. There were some princesses in the animated movie that were people of color but they were just wearing European clothes. They need to show some diversity for different racial cultures, even if it is only for a the ball/”Princesses on Parade”. After all, the first line of the song did say, “Every single princess on the planet pray to be invited to the ball,” so it should be showing different cultures around the world with these princesses. I mean, Uberta would definitely be inviting princesses from kingdoms far and wide in the hopes of Derek finding a wife. Besides, she never does anything without it being absolutely BIG and GRAND.
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Not only should there be diversity on screen, there needs to be diversity behind the scenes. The Swan Princess tried to show some cultural diversity in the movie Kingdom of Music and it was clearly made by people who knew nothing of these cultures. They had racial stereotypes and stereotypes of people of different nationalities. I’m sure that their heart was in the right place and had ZERO intention of being offensive but the result was pretty offensive. This time, I want them to have experts of the cultures to make the outfits, hairstyles, jewelry, and make up be as accurate as possible. Besides, as much trouble as actors that are people of color have of finding work, people of color that work behind the scenes have an even more difficult time finding work, especially those who are women. I’m sure the people working behind The Swan Princess are willing to listen to this because they love their fans and hearing their ideas and concerns. So I’m sure they’d be willing to do all they can to be as inclusive as possible on screen and behind the scenes.
Organic Feminism
Okay, this is something that will be a bit difficult to talk about, due to it being a bit controversial. First of all, Odette was already a strong and feminist character. She was kind but had her limits, wasn’t afraid to stand up to Rothbart but could still show her vulnerability like any normal person, and actually was deconstructing fairy-tale cliches long before Elsa in Frozen ever did. In most fairy-tales, once the characters fall in love, they just get married and all that jazz. However, Odette, despite falling in love with Derek, wasn’t just going to jump into marriage right away. First she wanted to know what he loved about her besides just her beauty, which is very reasonable. She wasn’t just gonna let herself be seen as a prize to be won or someone who was just supposed to look beautiful. She wanted to be admired for her mind and personality, as well as to make herself be heard. You see the disapproving look her father gave her after she asked Derek if beauty was all that mattered to him, but she still didn’t back down, despite her father basically telling her to stop. She cared about her father’s legacy and the people of her kingdom, which is why she wasn’t going to give into Rothbart and would rather die than give him her father’s kingdom. It wasn’t just because she hated the man, even though she clearly hates Rothbart, she was thinking of others. During her year of being under Rothbart’s captivity, she never relented or lost her strength.
Some may say that she just waited around to be saved and could’ve just left to get help/find Derek. However, this statement is absolutely WRONG! She was in a situation where she really couldn’t do much. As soon as the moonlight left Swan Lake, she’d turn back into a swan and it didn’t matter where she was. She had no idea where she was or how to get back to Derek’s kingdom. If she were to try to run away, she’d get lost and turn back into a swan. Even if she were to use her ability to fly in her swan form, she’d be exposed to hunters that could kill her before she could find any help. In both her human and her swan form, she’d be vulnerable to predators, especially in her human form. She lived in a time where women, particularly a princess, wouldn’t be trained in survival skills, especially with her father being so protective. She was out of her element. Not to mention that she could only turn back into a human when she was on Swan Lake and the moonlight touched her wings. If she was lost enough, she’d have a difficult time trying to find her way back to Swan Lake and would have no way to protect herself from the dangers of the world.
She wasn’t someone who just had the mindset of waiting around in the hopes of being saved. She’s way too smart for that. She was just in a situation where she was trapped and didn’t have many options until she and Puffin thought of trying to steal a map from Rothbart’s castle. If she saw a way to save herself, she’d take it but she’s smart enough not to just rush into it without a plan that would just get her killed. In the hand-drawn sequels, she’s shown to take action when she had the resources to do so. She’d rather be making herself useful instead of just waiting around, she just had very little resources to help her in her situation.
This is all leading to the subject of organic feminism. The Disney live-action remakes have been trying to make their female characters stronger, even if they already were strong. For the most part it works but then there are some issues that come along with it. You have Emma Watson (Who I love) refusing to wear a corset and that resulted in the disaster of her yellow dress (Which isn’t feminist if you look as your costume history), Mulan already being incredibly skilled and pretty much magical, Nala losing all of the likability and emotion of her character (She doesn’t even act happy when she sees Simba is alive), Alice being made as a warrior and lost her interesting and curious personality, and the disaster that is the Maleficent movies that just are anti-men. Apart from the dress thing, Belle was well-done in the live-action remake and Jasmine was done very well too.
The point I’m making is that while I’m open to trying to make Odette appear even stronger than she was in the original, I don’t want it to be in a way that butchers her character. One of the reasons that many people hate the character of Alise in the CGI movies (Myself included) is that she’s a major Mary Sue. She succeeds at things too easily when she has had no training, seems to know no fear which makes her feel less human and hard to identify with, and she feels so forced and cringe-worthy. She says things like, “I don’t wanna be a PRINCESS princess! I wanna be a MODERN princess!” That’s so forced and sounds like something a middle school fanfic writer that hasn’t had much experience would write. They need to stay true to the character of Odette. They can improve upon her but make sure she’s flawed and has depth like a real person. Not just generically nice all the time and not perfect at everything.
Letting Fans Help Make the Film
One of the best things about the people that work on The Swan Princess movies is how they never forget to appreciate their fans. They interact with them in real life and online. They even follow me on Instagram, which is AWESOME. They do a lot for their fans, which is something a lot of companies don’t really do unless it means they can make money.
Anyway, something I think that they should do is allow the fans to be part of the making of the film. One example of what I mean is even allowing them to design the costumes, particularly the fans by the name of Nephi and Bethanie Garcia (Who are married to each other). They have made some incredible cosplay outfits that aren’t just good by the standards of cosplay but also by the standards of a big budget movie. They manage to make outfits that look accurate to the animated movies but also updated enough to translate well into real life. They would be the perfect team to work on the costumes of the movie. It would help them get more recognition and maybe get work in Hollywood as costume designers. Here are links to their social media.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Thedesignerdaddy
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/designerdaddy_/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7bIF8t4eBP-zXhwmh8SDIg
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Another thing is that they could include them as extras in the background, including as dancers and singers. It would show how they know they wouldn’t be anywhere without their fans and are showing their appreciation. I would personally love to be one of the directors (Movies can have more than one director) and writers of the film. I know that’s unlikely but if they are willing to let me, I would accept without hesitation. After all, I know that Richard Rich was a new comer when making the original film and I know that he would want to do all he can to help new talent make their dreams come true, especially when they are fans of what was his passion project known as The Swan Princess.
Casting
First of all, this is NOT me telling you who I would cast in the film. I have already done a post explaining that right HERE.
What I want to talk about with this is that I want them to try to cast actors that look as much like the characters as possible. While talent is what is most important, with a live-action remake of animated property we want actors that look like the characters as well because we want to see the characters brought to life. Don’t just choose actors based on bringing in the box office numbers, even though that is important as well. But base the casting on looks, acting talent, being able to capture the essence of the characters, sing talent, making sure that the two leads can handle the vocal demands of their respective roles, and that they are the right age or at least look the right age. They should also include cameos from people like Liz Calloway, Howard McGillin, and other cast members from the original animated movie. It would just be a fun thing to do for the fans and a way to honor these actors for helping to bring the original movie to life.
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Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope you guys like it and let me know what you think. Also, did you guys know that The Swan Princess has an OFFICIAL Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube?
Tumblr: @theswanprincessofficial​
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swanprincessofficial/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm_Q3k32sEVQbrANS7-vSjA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/official.swanprincess/
You can even send an email to [email protected] where you can ask a question and it might be chosen for the monthly Chamberg Daily News (Chamberg is the name of Derek's kingdom).
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Survey #455
“but you didn’t have to cut me off  /  make it like it never happened and that we were nothing”
Are you and the last person you kissed in a relationship or just friends? We're besties! :') Has anyone ever pointed out that your laugh was unusual? No. Would you get a lip piercing? I already have a vertical labret. I've considered getting spiked snakebites (they might be called devil bites?) too, though. With a vertical labret, it looks sick as FUCK. It might be a bit much too close together for me, though, idk. Nose piercing? I want my right nostril re-pierced. What are you currently waiting for? Girt to message me back. I've decided what I want out of our relationship and just want to see him. Do you have feelings for anyone? Hit me pretty hard through a lot of examination of my feelings that yeah, I do. Have you ever run over an animal? Oh my god no, I would be DESTROYED. Have you chewed gum after someone else already has? bro what the fuck When people sneeze do you say ‘bless you’? I do only out of expectation. I don't want someone to think I'm an ass or something for not saying it. When was the last time you were on a bouncy castle? A few years ago for my niece's birthday. She was scared of how loud it was and was very reluctant to get near it, so my fat ass got in there with everyone else to show her it was fine lol. I can't remember if she eventually got in. She loves them now, though. :') Have you ever went on a bouncy castle whilst drunk? No, but thanks for the idea, ha ha. Have you ever entered an art competition? Yes. What is one thing you will never do? Try hardcore drugs. What is one food that you detest? Asparagus. Did you have a rebellious phase growing up? Not really. What religion were you brought up with? Roman Catholic. Are you still that religion? GOD NO. Do you often find yourself questioning your future? That's my full-time job. How many friends do you have on Facebook? 124. What sort of music did you listen to when you were in high school? The same I listen to now. What pet names do you use with your significant other? I'm single rn, but usually, I go for "sweetie/sweetheart," "hunny," "love," "dear," stuff like that. What’s the name of the store you usually get your groceries? Wal-Mart. Have you ever seen a theatre show? Yes. What’s your favourite vegetable? Broccoli. Have you ever missed a flight? Yes. I was SO fuckin upset because it was on Sara's birthday and planned in secret, and I was supposed to wake her up. It still wound up being a big surprise to her when she walked into her room and I was chillin' at her desk, ha ha, but I still wish it coulda gone as originally planned. Do your neighbours have any pets? Have you ever met them? Yes; they have a yappy-ass dog that doesn't shut up. I haven't met them. What color is your bedroom door? White. If you were ever to become famous, would you grow annoyed at fans? This may sound very ungrateful, but I have heard A LOT of celebrities say it: it would get old, being stopped constantly in public for signatures, pictures, etc. Like yes, I still WOULD be grateful, but I'd miss just being off the radar and able to go outside carrying out chores and stuff like a normal person. Have you ever met your favourite band/singer? No. :( Are you embarrassed by any of the songs/singers/bands you like? Nah, not nowadays. Have you ever written a story? Yes, a kinda short one when I was little. Think of the last poem you wrote: What inspired you to write it? The breakup with Jason and the fact we're just strangers again. It was really short, but I like it a lot, honestly. Do you have a chance with the person you like right now? I think so. What’s the weirdest thing you were scared of as a child? A skeleton in my closet, lol. Literally. Are there any embarrassing stories your family tells about you? alkdsjflakjwle yes In your opinion, what is the funniest TV show? That '70s Show. 3rd Rock From the Sun is high up there, too. What is the maximum number of children you’d ever have? HYPOTHETICALLY, two, but I'm pretty damn serious about having none. I just always feel kinda bad for children without a sibling, but three would make me pull my hair out. Have you ever been concerned you had a serious illness? Yes. I overreact to even minor symptoms to ANYTHING. Are you comfortable with who you are? No. Pretty much everything about myself embarrasses me, even if it shouldn't. Would you date someone even if you knew you’d get made fun of for it? Yes? Others' opinions don't affect how I feel about someone. Does popularity matter to you at all? No, outside of trying to be a successful photographer. Would you ever consider homeschooling your children? If they really wanted that and it would benefit them, yes. Who told you about the band/singer you are currently listening to? I discovered them myself. Do you ever read fanfiction? Nah. Would you rather die in a plane crash, ship wreck or fire? Jesus. A plane crash, I guess, because in a lot of cases, it would be an immediate death. What are your top five favourite TV shows? Meerkat Manor, Fullmetal Alchemist (and Brotherhood; shut up, they go together), That '70s Show, Ginga Densetsu Weed, and Deadman Wonderland. What is your favorite superhero movie? Logan. If you died next week, what would be the cause of death? Uhhhh idk... I guess maybe a heart attack? Judging by doctor appointments, my heart is just fine, but the fact still remains that I'm technically obese, so that's always a risk. Have you ever taken a break from Facebook or other social media? Why? Facebook, yes. It was just depressing me. I was playing the comparison game REAL hard. Who is the most talented person you know? I dunno. I know many people talented in a lot of areas. Are you currently platonic friends with anyone you’ve had sex with? No. Where did you and your current interest go on your first date? Bowling. Have you ever experienced two people fighting over you (physically or mentally)? What happened? Jason and Juan pursued me at the same time. They'd known each other in the past, and Juan hated him for "winning" his ex-girlfriend. Then when Jason and I got together, Juan wasn't the happiest for sure. Have your parents ever thought you were gay? What happened? Before I actually came out as bisexual, I don't think so? Are your parents more liberal or conservative? Conservative. Mom is more open, but still conservative. I think. What year are you going into at the beginning of the next academic year? I'm not in school. How far away does your closest family member live? I live with Mom. If you’ve seen both, did you prefer the Disney version or the Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland? I actually strongly prefer Tim Burton's. Would you have sex before marriage? Why or why not? Yeah. I just want to be in a long-term, serious, healthy relationship to reach that point and be as safe as possible about it. Are you more liberal or conservative? Liberal, but I do have some conservative beliefs, too. Who is your favorite Harry Potter character? I don't have one, given I never got into that franchise. What’s the worst that could come out of letting gays marry? Not a goddamn thing. What’s the most sexual thing you’ve done? Done "the thing." Name something that you are against. I'll go with an unconventional one that's a problem as of the late: making owning reptiles illegal. Why are you against it? Because reptiles are perfectly capable of being brilliant pets and, most importantly, can tame people's fears of them. I think that it's very important to see the worth and beauty in all animals, and reptiles are one of the most unappreciated families out there. :/ Have you ever played the Tomb Raider games? I played some of either the first or second one. I could never beat it. Old games are hard, man. Do you like it or hate it when your partner is clingy? I absolutely believe that it can get to an extreme that I don't like, but for the most part, I don't mind a clingy partner because hey, I am too. Beatles or Rolling Stones? Stonessss. When was the last time you changed your opinion on somebody? It'd been on my mind for a while, but I *officially* realized that I really do like-like Girt a couple days ago. And since then it's gotten a bit hardcore and all I wanna do is talk to him bc fuck me and how attached to people I get. What was the last thing that made you feel proud and why? Every single time I go to the gym, I feel proud of myself because it REALLY takes a lot out of me. Do you feel uncomfortable when people you hardly know confide in you? Nope. I'm willing to be a shoulder to cry on for like... anyone. If you're hurting, talk to someone. I'll be there as an easy option. What was the last thing to fascinate you? It was... INCREDIBLY disturbing and almost nauseating even for me, but I saw a video of a dead whale explode. It was GRUESOME. Guts just kept coming and coming and coming and :x Is there a certain noise/sound which scares you? Hmmm... I'm sure there is, but what, it's not coming to me. Sudden, loud noises are an obvious answer. Do you have a favourite microorganism? ... No, I can't say I do. Out of the people you know, whose birthday is next? Girt's, actually. It's in October. If you have pet fish do you bother to name them? I did when I actually had them as a kid. Do you keep your eggs in the fridge? Ye. Have you ever owned chickens? No, but that'd be cool. Fresh eggs from a properly cared for chicken taste SO much better. When did you last listen to music? Currently. NOW I'm obsessed with Melodicka Bros & Violet Orlandi's cover of "Somebody That I Used to Know." It's done in a gothic metal style and is amaaaazing.
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I saw you reblogged a Peter Pan gif set; what are some of your favorite older Disney animated movies?
Ooh thank you for the question! I really love that you asked this since I just got Disney+ last weekend!
I think it depends on what your definition of “older” movies is - like I know that some that may seem “old” to me aren’t actually that old compared to other Disney films. Like some films from the 80s and 90s might not be considered that old but they seem that way to me since they were made before I was born!
The Golden Age (1937-42): I wouldn’t say these are my absolute favourites, but I do like Snow White and Bambi!
The Silver Age (1950-67): I LOVE Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland - 2017-2019, my family and I went on holidays each year to Disneyland Paris, and all three years I met Peter and Wendy, and then for both 2018/2019, I met Alice and the Mad Hatter as well! (To be honest though, my Wonderland love is mostly because of the mature video games by American McGee!) I also absolutely adore Lady and the Tramp and 101 Dalmatians to be honest - I’m a sucker for dogs! (Also I had Lady and Tramp plushies when I was young so that’s lovely!)
Bronze/Dark Age (1970-1988): So these are seen as the bad ones but honestly? I love the Fox and the Hound so much, I even still have my Todd plushie on my bed from when I went on my school’s French immersion trip to Disneyland Paris when I was 15! I also really loved The Black Cauldron growing up - I know that that’s probably an unpopular thing to say because I know now that there’s books and the film apparently did no justice to them (I got the whole series for Christmas so I’m hopefully going to start reading them soon!), but I honestly really liked that film as a kid. I really think Eilonwy is an underrated princess, and I already like the relationship between her and Taran (also Gurgi is cute in the film!), so hopefully I’ll love the books even more!
Renaissance (1989-1999): these probably aren’t classed as “old” but I’ll include them anyway! I love pretty much every one of the films made in this period, but my ultimate favourite - and it’s my ultimate favourite Disney movie to this day - is Beauty and the Beast. I remember being so happy and excited as a kid watching it because Belle was a princess who loved to read, and I loved to read so much as a kid (I still do when I have time), and it’s such a beautiful movie in every way - the story, the songs, the animation... I love it so much. I also really love Tarzan (I used to do that knuckle-walking thing when I was little and so the Tarzan cry, plus I had a Terk plushie), The Lion King (I had a Simba and a Nala as a kid), Mulan, Hercules (the fact her name is Meg is icing on the cake, plus it gave me the idea to use her full name “Megara” for my Skyrim/RPG characters!), Hunchback of Notre Dame, Little Mermaid... I absolutely love this era of Disney.
I’ll end the list there since 2000 onwards is definitely considered “modern”, but there’s quite a few ones from 2000 onwards I enjoyed! (If you do want to hear about my favourite Disney films from 2000, just ask!)
Speaking of Peter Pan though, while I love the Disney Peter Pan, I acknowledge that its depiction of Native Americans (I.e. the Indian tribe) is not okay. Even in the book, the depiction is really bad and offensive. I happen to just love the idea and story in general of Peter Pan though, the whole flying away to Neverland and Lost Boys stuff (and obviously Hook/pirates). I just love Peter Pan in general! I even have a Peter Pan tattoo that’s a silhouette of Peter and the Darling children flying, and it’s the Disney one - not just because I love Peter Pan, but because my Nan used to take me to see Peter Pan at the pantomime growing up (I saw other pantos of course but the Peter Pan ones were my favourite), and I wanted to get something in memory of her that she wouldn’t haunt me for (because I’m 100% certain she’d have haunted me for life if I’d gotten her name or something similar tattooed on my body). It’s a subtle nod, and it’s not just because of her, but it’s still a nod nonetheless. I feel I should add though that the Disney adaptation isn’t my favourite adaptation of Peter Pan (though I do love it, don’t get me wrong - I love meeting Peter and Wendy at Disneyland, and I have Peter AND Wendy dolls on my bed): my absolute favourite version of Peter Pan is the 2003 one (which isn’t Disney but still). The Disney version, however, is more easily recognizable as silhouettes, plus it’s easier to get merch for Disney stuff than anything else!
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(PS: if you ever get the chance, I highly recommend going to a Peter and Wendy meet and greet - they’re so much fun and they give great hugs! There are pictures somewhere on this blog but I look awful so I won’t add them here 😅 the pictures are there though, and I tag everything so you could probably easily find them by looking at the Peter Pan or Disneyland tags on my blog. Also Alice and Hatter are a riot as well - we mimed having UnBirthday tea and they asked if my flower tattoo spoke to me!)
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remywrites5 · 5 years
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15. Jegulus?
           James had only come to the stupid party in order to try and chat up Evans and she hadn’t even had the decency to show up. James had heard from Peter that Lily had gone to a party with Marlene Mckinnon instead. It was probably for the best. It had been years and Evans still wanted nothing to do with him. James was stubborn but he wasn’t stupid. Maybe it was time to throw in the towel where Lily was concerned.
           Besides, James had been so preoccupied with Lily that he’d barely gotten off with anyone throughout Uni and that just seemed a damn shame. That was what university was for after all and it wouldn’t do to keep a stud like himself off the market.
           James was scoping around the party for someone new to chat up when a hand rested against the nape of his neck and he was pulled into a kiss. He hadn’t expected things to work so fast! After all, he’d just decided to try and have it off with someone.
           “Hi babe, sorry I’m la-“ the guy who had kissed him began before stopping in horror. James blinked his eyes open, not even realizing they had closed during the kiss. “James?”
           James smiled. “Oh hey, Reg,” he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. “When did we start calling each other babe? Not that I mind.”
           Regulus looked slightly mortified. As Sirius’ younger brother, James and Regulus had met a bunch of times over the years. Regulus was always awkward around James and a bit standoffish. James never knew if that was just how Reg was or if deep down he didn’t really like James all that much. But James Potter was not one to be dissuaded by someone not liking him – as evidenced by his years of chasing after Lily Evans - who couldn’t care less if he fell into a ditch and stayed there.
           “I-I thought you were Benjy,” Regulus said, a blush forming from his cheeks down to his neck. James tried and failed not to find it adorable. “He told me he’d be dressed like Jon Snow. I saw your cape and I just assumed.”
           James raised an eyebrow. “You and Benjy, huh?”
           Regulus shrugged. “He’s nice.”
           “Nice?” James echoed with a chuckle. “Don’t go setting the bar too high there, Reg.”
           Regulus scowled at him. “Sorry I kissed you. Enjoy the party.”
           James, who was bored and enjoyed teasing Reg, made up his mind to follow him. He linked his arm through Reg’s, laughing at Reg sputtered at him indignantly. “So babe, I’m thinking of a June wedding.”
           Regulus scoffed. “God Potter, are you always this obnoxious or am I just special?”
           James grinned mischievously. “Do you want to be special?” he whispered in Reg’s ear.
           Regulus pulled back and shoved James away. “Y-you’re such a wanker.”
           James stood in the middle of the party a little bit dumbfounded. He had just been teasing. He didn’t think Regulus would take it so hard. He watched Reg’s retreating back, wondering just what he’d done to make him so angry. It couldn’t be about Sirius, could it? It wasn’t exactly his fault that he and Sirius had come best mates. Whatever it was, James had to fix it, because he couldn’t go his life having his best friend’s brother hate him.
           He followed after Regulus, running into Benjy on the way. “Oi James, same costume!” he said, grinning broadly. Regulus was right, Benjy was nice.  James had no idea why he suddenly despised Benjy down to his very core. “Have you see Regulus? He’s supposed to meet me here.”
           “Nope, haven’t seen him,” James lied before heading in the direction Regulus had disappeared to. He found the kitchen window open that led out to the fire escape. He didn’t see anything down below so he started the climb upwards. When he got to the roof, Regulus was sitting on the ledge with his feet dangling over, looking up at the stars. James sat down next to him facing the opposite direction. “I know I can be a prat sometimes.”
           “Sometimes?” Regulus huffed out a laugh, raising an eyebrow at James knowingly.
           James chuckles and ran his fingers through his unkempt hair. “Okay, fine, a lot of the time. But I’m really not so bad.”
           Regulus turned his face towards James and looked at him for a long time as if trying to find out if he was sincere. “Is this the kind of stuff you say to Evans to convince her to date you?” he teased, taking off James’ glasses and cleaning a smudge off them before placing them back on James’ face. “If so, I can see why she hasn’t gone for it yet.”
           “Oi,” James said, playfully punching Regulus softly on the arm. “I can be downright charming when I want to be.”
           “Oh I know,” Regulus said quietly, tilting his face back up towards the sky. You couldn’t really see the stars from the city but it seemed like Reg was trying all the same.
           James wasn’t really sure how to respond to that. He glanced down at his hands and hated the way his heart was racing just a little bit faster. “I like your costume,” he said dumbly, placing a hand on Reg’s thigh. Reg was dressed like the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland, but the Disney original version, not the shitty Tim Burton one. “Why didn’t you and Benjy dress to match? “
           Regulus rolled his eyes. “Because I abhor couples costumes and they’re incredibly lame?” he informed James haughtily.
           “Couples costumes are awesome as long as you do them with the right person!”
           Regulus glanced down to where James’ hand was still resting on his thigh. “Besides, Benjy and I aren’t even really a couple. This was only our second date.”
           James smirked. “So you just throw out babe willy-nilly?” he asked, mocking offense by clutching his chest with his spare hand, not wanting to remove his other one from the warmth of Regulus’ thigh. It was an experiment to see how long Reg would tolerate James touching him.”Babe is sacred!”
           “I don’t want to be with Benjy,” Reg admitted quietly, placing his hand on top of James’. “But the person I want is into someone else and even if he wasn’t he wouldn’t be into me.”
           James licked his lips, his mouth having suddenly gone dry. “What makes you so sure?”
           Regulus managed to meet James’ gaze. “Because he just thinks of me as his best friend’s kid brother,” he said with a heavy sigh. “And he’s never noticed the giant crush I’ve had on him for years.”
           James swallowed thickly. “He sounds like an idiot,” he managed to joke, turning his hand over so he could lace his fingers through Reg’s.
           Reg shook his head. “He’s actually quite clever. I think maybe he just didn’t want to see it.”
           James reached out with his free hand and cupped Reg’s cheek. “If he’d seen it he would have done something about it,” he told Regulus resolutely. He left his thumb caress Reg’s cheek, dragging over the soft stubble there. “And their first kiss wouldn’t have been an accident.”
           James slid his hand back to Reg’s nape and tugged him forward until their lips met. James kept the kiss gentle and unhurried, giving Regulus a chance to pull away if he wanted. He was surprised when Reg’s tongue slipped into his mouth and deepened the kiss. He hummed approvingly and scooted closer, sliding his fingers up into Reg’s short black hair, and taking control of the kiss.
           Regulus moaned, a deep guttural sound that made James double his efforts. Regulus pulled back and James involuntarily whined in protest. Reg chuckled and pressed their foreheads together. “Just wait a moment,” he said softly.
           “Nope, no more waiting,” James said, noticing that his glasses had fogged up from the incredible snog.
           “Before things go any further I should probably go break things off with Benjy,” Regulus reasoned, cupping James’ face in his hands. “After all, he is very nice.”
           James scoffed. “Nice is boring,” he growled, kissing Reg again.
           Regulus laughed into the kiss and broke away again. “Nice is nice,” he said, sliding off the ledge and dropping down onto the roof. “But who wants nice when they can have James Potter?”
           James dropped down on the roof next to Reg and pulled him close, capturing his lips yet again. Now that they’d started he couldn’t seem to stop. Reg tasted so good and his lips were soft. He wrapped his cloak around the two of them for warmth and also to trap Reg close to him. Regulus, of course, saw through it immediately and snorted in amusement.
           “Don’t go,” James whispered between kisses. Christ, it had been too long since he’d had a proper snog.
           Reg tilted his head back to break the kiss and James took the opportunity to kiss the long column of his throat. Regulus sighed happily and dug his fingers into James’ biceps. “James,” he groaned in a mix of exasperation and arousal. “I’m not a cheat.”
           “You said it had only been two dates,” James reminded him, licking along Reg’s collarbone. “You can’t already have talked about being exclusive.”
           “Fuck, you’re a terrible influence,” Reg said, shivering in James’ arms with want. “S-still, I came to the party to meet Benjy. I owe him an explanation.”
           “Fine,” James said, stepping away and releasing Reg. He took in Reg’s appearance, his pink cheeks and his kiss-swollen lips. He looked practically depraved and James couldn’t wait to finish him handiwork. “To be continued?”
           Regulus smiled and held out his hand to James. “I’m only telling Benjy so I can shag you tonight with a clear conscience.”
           James bit his bottom lip to hold back a moan. “Little Regulus Black. Who knew you were so wicked?”
           Regulus pulled James forward by their entwined hands and kissed him fiercely. He didn’t stop until James was breathless, his toes curling inside his shoes, and his mouth wanting nothing more than to stay permanently attached to Reg. He looked up at James through lower lashes and he looked so god damn sexy that James wondered how he had never noticed it before. Regulus grinned. “I didn’t spend the last three years fantasizing about you just to have a nice, quiet evening at home.”
           “Mmm,” James hummed, kissing Regulus again. “Nice is boring. Oh, and next year? We’re doing couples costumes.”
           Regulus rolled his eyes and started down the fire escape. “Over my cold, dead body, Potter.”
           “We’re doing it!” James said, following after him gleefully. “I’ve an entire year to wear you down.”
           Regulus turned on the fire escape and pushed himself up to meet James’ lips. A few pedestrians on the sidewalk that could see them were cheering and hollering. Regulus broke the kiss first and grinned. “Never gonna happen.”      
           James matched his grin – already oh so up to the challenge that was Regulus Black. “We’ll see about that.”
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takaraphoenix · 4 years
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Hey! What are your favorite fantasy/fairytale books, shows and movies?
Well, that is a very broad question. So... let’s structure this and tackle it.
Phoe’s Favorite Fantasy Books!
I don’t read much, so that’s a very short list. Seeing as you’re on my blog, I assume you know I read and loved Percy Jackson and the Olympians so that. However, there are fantasy series that I love way more than that.
For one the Wicked Years by Gregory Maguire, my favorite author who I adore and worship. Takes the Wicked Witch of the West from Wizard of Oz and goes “but what if she was actually a restistance fighter trying to overthrow a corrupt government under their dictator, the Wizard?”. It’s amazing, I love it. Hardest recommend for the first two books. Been not too big on the third and fourth though, but that’s what happens when these things aren’t born out of being intended as a series but rather just... sequels... happening.
Golden classic that seems silly to even mention but I love these books - Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. I. Love. Them. I love Alice, I love the world, I love the fantasy. One of only three books that I personally allow to classify as modern fairy tales (Peter Pan and Wizard of Oz being the other two. I just... I do think that there is a difference between “fairy tale” and just general “fantasy book(s)”, but these three I do think deserve a place in the canon of fairy tale classics). Also, fun fact: my above mentioned favorite author wrote a third installment for this series for the original book’s anniversary, it’s called After Alice. (I own a signed copy. I squealed very loudly when I opened it.)
My favorite fantasy book series though is the Bartimaeus series by Jonathan Stroud. I adore these books. Yes, if taken as a singular book, the first installment of the Wicked Years, which works as a standalone too due to the series’ nature of having sequels instead of being an intended series, takes the crown, however as a whole, coherent series, including all books in the series, no fantasy franchise beats Bartimaeus for me. It is sarcastic, snarky, fun, filled with heart, totally lacking unnecessary forced romance, has a fascinating world, the writing is a great read. I love this series to bits and pieces.
Now, since you specifically said fantasy/fairytale, I’d be a fool not to mention William Joyce’s Guardians of Childhood, the book-series that Rise of the Guardians is... let’s say a sequel to? While not necessarily fairy tales in the traditional sense, having the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, Sandman and Santa as its main characters, it does go very much into fairy tale elements. It’s a really fun read, I personally think that Joyce has a delightful and enjoyable style.
So, that’d be the five book series that I’d recommend for fantasy.
Unless you meant actual literal fairy tale books - then I will have to disappoint you, unless you’re German. Because being German, my fairy tale collection is... well... German. I got this one. Mainly, I admit, for the illustrations - Tony Wolf worked on the majority of them and I love his illustrations, he was the author and illustrator of my favorite children’s book series when I was a kid. Which, talking about fantasy, fairy tales and books, I will absolutely also recommend here. Their English name is The Woodland Folk and it is very adorable and also very scaring for small children because fairies die in it. I was very traumatized as a kid but I still loved it a lot.
Phoe’s Favorite Fantasy Movies!
Now, movies are... it depends on what movies you want; live-action or animated. I do feel that those are vastly different categories that set vastly different expectations. And then there’s the overlapping between fantasy and supernatural in many such movies.
Let’s start with live-action, which is going to be a very short list because I am really not huge when it comes to movies - I barely watch any movies and if, then they are animated in 80% of the cases.
Lord of the Rings. Yes, I know, book-people would have filed that in the category above, but look... I am not a huge reader. And the movies have pretty blonde Orlando Bloom. But I do truly love these movies, I try to rewatch them regularly but consider I less see them as a trilogy and more as one 12 hour movie, it’s always quite the time-commitment.
And, with this one I am never quite sure whether to count it as a movie series or as a mini TV series, but the way they were released on TV, they were a movie series - so The 10th Kingdom, which is basically Once Upon a Time before that came out and without the Disney. It’s about the grandson of Snow White ending up in modern day New York and getting the help of a waitress and her dad to take down his evil stepmother, who is trying to take over the 9 fairy tale kingdoms. I love this series so very, very much.
Also The Librarian, which is a fun fantasy relic hunting movie series. But more on that when we get to TV shows, because the trilogy has a tie-in series.
I do realize that actually the majority of movies in my fantasy/supernatural section are... in fact... more supernatural than fantasy. So, pathetically enough, that is... kind of it.
Now, animated movies is harder because I quite literally have a list with 360 animated movies I saw and liked to various degrees of which the majority would qualify as fantasy due to the nature of most Western animated movies. So I’ll try to “best of” as narrow as possible (seeing as I once successfully managed to narrow my favorite animated movies down to 65...). So, a shorter version of that.
Now, when it comes to fairy tales and animated movies, Disney goes without saying so I’m not even going to say it because it’s very obvious, we all know the movies, seeing the tales. I love most of them, especially their princess movies, with one huge exception. So let’s only name-drop Sleeping Beauty because I adore it, and assume you’ve already seen all other Disney animated fantasy and fairy tale movies and move on from that.
I am also morally obligated to say “Barbie movies” here, because they did a ton of fairy tale adaptations too and the majority of them are fantasy - but to keep it brief, here is a link to my ultimate Barbie movie ranking for more individual recommendations from the Barbie canon and let me also only name-drop my favorite - Diamond Castle.
Don Bluth’s Thumbelina, as well as his Anastasia are two absolute must-sees when we’re talking fantasy (and fairy tale in Tumbles’ case).
DreamWorks wise I love and adore Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, The Road to El Dorado and Rise of the Guardians.
Now we’re getting into what I like to think of as “deep dive” territory because they’re not mainstream, they’re not big names. But I still love them.
Naturally have to say Swan Princess (1994) - the first three movies anyway, I ignore those 3D animated chep looking sequels. But the OG trilogy is a very perfect trilogy, I adore it so very much.
Another total classic would be The Last Unicorn (1998).
FernGully (1992) is a beautiful tale about fairies and one of my absolute favorite movies of all time.
A newer entry here would be Epic (2013), which is also about fairies and was written by William Joyce!
And, even if it may sound silly. The original Care Bears movies. The three from the 80s. I love them a lot, I think they’re great fantasy fun, who doesn’t love a Care Bear they are adorable, seriously.
Phoe’s Favorite Fantasy Shows!
And we move on to our last segment of this ask. I like a lot of TV shows, so I will try to keep this to my actual favorites.
My absolute favorite is Relic Hunter, it is and always will be my favorite TV show. Even if it’s cheesy at times and only has three seasons. I love it a lot. It’s... very much as it says on the tin; hot archeologist and her nerdy assistant search for magical relics.
If you like that genre, you have to also watch The Librarians - the tie-in sequel series to the movies. More librarians! More magic! More artifacts! More fun. I really love this and I mourn that they cancelled it.
Naturally Once Upon a Time - fairy tales and fantasy and I just love this TV show. Skip the last season though.
And all-time classic for me is the original Charmed - three witch-sisters discovering magic together. This was... the first ever show I actually... really consumed, with everything around it. I was totally obsessed with this, I love it. Which is why I won’t touch the reboot at all, because there’s “I loved this thing. Now there’s a new version of it! Fun!” but there is also “I loved this thing, as it is, there is no need to make a new one, why are you touching this?” - and this one was so very near and dear to my heart growing up that it is definitely the second category for me.
Definitely gotta mention BBC’s Merlin, even if it’s very, very, very flawed. It’s still fun, the characters are lovable. It has a scary fandom... in that it’s still alive and thriving, even so many years after the show’s end.
Also Grimm, though more supernatural than fantasy, it is a fairy tale show. In a way. It’s dumb but fun, because the Grimms were actually not just scholars, they were monster hunters and now modern day descendants of them are still out there hunting the same Big Bad Wolves (who aren’t all bad). I don’t know, I love it, despite the occasional cringe.
Now, lastly on the fantasy - Galavant. A musical comedy about a knight. Very fairy tale-y. Very hilarious and lovable. Sadly cancelled after two seasons.
There are many, many more fantasy shows I watch(ed), but those would be my favorites. Though I do have to tag on that elements such as vampires and werewolves are something I categorize as supernatural so they wouldn’t find mention here in fantasy (Grimm aside, due to the fairy tale theme).
I... hope I could provide a good recommendation or two!
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dukereviewsxtra · 4 years
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Duke Reviews Xtra: Alice In Wonderland (1985) Part 1
Hello, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews Xtra As We Continue Our Look At The Movies Of Disney...
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And On The Next 3 Shows We'll Be Looking At 2 Of My Favorite Adaptations Of The Alice In Wonderland Story, Starting With The 1985 Version Which Was Made By Irwin Allen, Who Created Both Land Of The Giants And Of Course, Lost In Space...
Let's Start With Part 1...
The Movie Starts With Alice (Played By Jenny From Oliver And Company) Helping Her Mother Set The Table For Tea Time, But Despite Asking Her Mother If She Could Join Them For Tea, She Unfortunately Tells Alice No...
This Leads Alice To Go Outside And Talk With Her Sister (Who Is Actually Played By The Actress Plays Alice's Real Life Sister)..
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I Know, This Is My 2nd Favorite Version Of The Tale And Even I Didn't Know That...
But Gets Bored Reading A Book With No Pictures, Which Leads Her Sister To Tell Her That Understand More When She Grows Up, Despite Alice Thinking She's Already Grown Up As She's Seven And A Half...
Playing With Her Cat, Dinah, Alice Spots The White Rabbit (Played By Hoagie From Pete's Dragon) And Follows Him To A Rabbit Hole That She Falls Down...
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Ok, She Doesn't Fall Like That, But Close Enough..
Eventually Landing, Alice Follows The Rabbit To A Door Which Opens To Another Door And Another And Another Until It Finally Opens To A Hall Of Doors Which Leads To The Scene We All Know...
With Alice Finding A Tiny Door She's Too Big For So She Drinks A Bottle Marked Drink Me Which Her Shrink But She Leaves The Key On The Table Which Leads To Her Eating A Cake Marked Eat Me Which Causes Her To Grow Too Big So She Starts To Cry...
But Unlike The Animated Version, The White Rabbit Appears As She Cries And Accidentally Scares Him Into Dropping His Fan And Gloves Which She Uses To Shrink Again To A Size Small Enough To Fit Through A Crack That Leads Her Outside Into A River Of Her Own Tears...
While Swimming, Alice Briefly Meets The Dodo Bird (Played By Mrs. Gogan From Pete's Dragon) The Lory Bird (Played By Cosmo Brown From Singin' In The Rain) And The Mouse (Played By Mr. Jefferson) Who Takes Us Into Our First Song As He Tells Alice Why He Hates Dogs And Cats...
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Leaving Shortly After That Song, Alice Catches Up With The White Rabbit Only To Lead Us To The Scene Where He Mistakes Her For His Housemaid And Sends Her Off To His House To Get A New Fan And Glove Set For Him...
Only To Find Another Bottle Marked Drink Me Which Causes Her To Grow Once Again...
But Unlike The Animated Version, The Dodo Doesn't Show Up, But Instead The Rabbit's Butler Named Pat The Pig (Played By Donald Trump's Number One Supporter, Scott Baio, Who I Think Fits The Role Perfectly With His New Status) Shows Up..
As We Get The Scene With Bill The Lizard Who Goes To Pull Alice Out Of The Chimney Only To Get Kicked Out Of The Chimney By Alice...
This Leads To Pat And The Rabbit To Throw Berries That Turn Into Cakes That Allow Alice To Shrink To Normal Size Again As She Gets Away From The Rabbit And Pat Who Are Still Throwing Berries At Her..
Eventually Losing Them, Alice Soon Meets The Caterpillar (Played By The Candy Man Himself, Sammy Davis Jr.) Who Takes Us Into Our Next Song Called You Are Old Father William...
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But Like The Animated Version, Alice Insults The Caterpillar By Saying That 3 Inches High Is Such A Wretched Height And He Disappears Instead Of Becoming A Butterfly...
Walking Toward A House That Is Visited By A Delivery Man For The Queen Of Hearts Who Gives A Frog Footmen With A Familiar Voice An Invitation From The Queen For The Duchess (Who We'll Meet In A Few Minutes) To Play Croquet...
And By Familiar Voice I Think You May Recognize The Voice Actor For Playing This Guy...
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That's Right, It's Robert Axelrod Otherwise Known As Lord Zedd (He Also Voiced Finster Too But He's Most Remembered For Zedd RIP)
Visiting The House, The Frog Footman Tells Alice That It's Useless Ringing The Bell On The Outside As He's On The Outside Too, But Going Inside Anyway, Alice Meets The Duchess (Played By Benita Bizzare) And Her Maid (Played By Imogene Coca) Who Take Us Into The Next Song...
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But Finding The House To Be Too Violent, Alice Takes The Duchess' Baby Away Only For It To Become A Pig..
After This, She Meets The Cheshire Cat (Played By Kojak) Who Leads Us Into Our Next Song After Telling Her That She Won't Be Able To Leave Wonderland...
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Thinking That He's A Bad Cat, Alice Attempts To Leave But Before She Does, The Cheshire Cat Points Alice To The Mad Hatter (Played By Anthony Newley) And The March Hare (Played By Roddy McDowell Who Would Later Play The Batman Villain, Jervis Tetch Otherwise Known As The Mad Hatter On Batman The Animated Series) Before He Disappears...
Walking Along The Road, Alice Finds The Mad Hatter And The March Hare Having Tea With The Doormouse (Played By Arte Johnson) And Sits Down To Join Them...
As A Little Tea Time Entertainment, The Mad Hatter Leads Us Into Our Next Song Because He Doesn't Like Alice's Version Of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star...
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Eventually Upset By All The Rudeness At The Tea Party, Alice Continues Her Search For The White Rabbit As She Meets A Fawn In The Woods Which Leads To Our Next Song...
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Finding A Doorway In The Woods, Alice Opens It And Finds Herself At A Beautiful Rose Garden Where She Meets Some Cards Who Are Painting The Roses Red, Only To Be Confronted By The Queen (Played By Jayne Meadows) And King (Played By Robert Morley) Of Hearts...
Who Arrives With Not Only The White Rabbit But A Whole Entourage Of People And Cards....
Introducing Herself To The Queen, She Asks Alice What's Going On Here Only For Alice To Tell Her That She Doesn't Know Much Of Anything As She's Only Been There For A Few Seconds Which Leads The Queen To Yell Off With Her Head.,.
But The King Defends Alice Believing That There's No Reason To Behead Her When She Doesn't Know Much Of Anything, Which Leads To Our Next Song...
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Sparring Alice's Head For Now, The Queen Invites Her To Play A Game Of Croquet, Which Unlike The Disney Version Doesn't End With Alice Getting Her Head Nearly Chopped Off...
But Is Instead Just A Game Of Croquet With Flamingos...
With The Queen Pointing Alice In The Direction Of The Mock Turtle, Alice Goes Down The Path The Queen Suggested And Instead Runs Into The Gryphon (Played By Sid Caeser) Who Takes Alice To Meet The Mock Turtle (Played By Ringo Starr) Who Sings The Next And Probably Favorite Song From Part 1 Of This Movie..
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Hearing Someone Yell That The Trial Is Beginning, Alice And The Gryphon Leave The Mock Turtle And Return To The Queen's Garden Where The Knave Of Hearts Is On Trial For Stealing One Of The Queen's Tarts, Despite There Being No Proof That He Did...
Bringing In The First Witness Or Should I Say Witnesses As They Bring In The Mad Hatter, The March Hare And The Doormouse, We Get Our Last Song For This Movie...
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They Also Bring In The Duchess' Cook As A Witness As Well But Eventually Alice Argues The Ways Of The Queen's Court Which Leads Her To Grow As The Queen And Alice Continue To Argue...
Having Enough Of Alice's BS, The Queen Shouts Off With Her Head And Has Her Guards Chase Giant Alice But She's Not Afraid Of Them As They're Nothing But A Pack Of Cards...
Returning To Her Original Size As She Runs, Alice Eventually Trips And Falls Which Leads Her To Find Herself Back Home...
Now, This Is Where Things Get Interesting...
Entering Her House, She Finds Nobody There But Hearing And Seeing Her Cat Dinah On The Other Side Of The Mirror, Along With Her Parents Who Can't See Or Hear Alice But Their Own Reflections, Alice Can't Figure Out How To Get Through The Mirror...
So, She Sits In The Chair And Reads A Poem Called Jabberwocky Which Is About A Scary Monster But Getting Very Scared As She Reads It The Room Becomes Dark And The Jabberwocky Appears In The House...
You Know, I Once Saw A Video By James Rolfe (The Angry Video Game Nerd) And He Said That This Scene Scared Him As A Child To The Point He Was In Tears...
Saying That You Spend The Last Half Hour Looking At These Actors In Goofy Costumes Where This Thing Is Huge And Scary Compared To Alice...
Of Course, He Also Said That No Other Scene With The Jabberwocky Tops This Scene In Part 1 Which I Kindly Disagree With As There Are 2 That Could Possibly Be Scary...
To Be Continued...
Tomorrow...
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starberry-cupcake · 4 years
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Read more doesn’t work again so here are the three replies under it fully instead of just part of it
@keatslesbian replied to your post “I love watching videos or reading articles on lost media people found...”
Stupid comparison but this post made me think abt the vsauce video where he talks about what is creepy especially things that were creepy as kids for no reason
I haven’t seen it but that seems very interesting! :o 
@poorlifedecisionsemily
 replied to your post
“I love watching videos or reading articles on lost media people found...”
I could never force myself to finish the Alice in Wonderland book until I was in college I think. It just creeped me out.
I am in the midst of compiling as many publicly available versions of Alice in Wonderland movies I can find for my workshop and some of them are really creepy, including the ones I was obsessed with as a kid lol I think I read the book like 10 times in a row when I was young and my dad was super tired of me re-watching the Disney version and the ‘72 version so many times. 
karmicreditplan
replied to your post
“I love watching videos or reading articles on lost media people found...”
List them! My brother was terrified of Kato in the Pink Panther movies and the way he waggled his eyebrows. And once a life size cutout of John Denver. Me? I was terrified of Carrie which seems sadly unoriginal in comparison.
The cut-out thing reminds me of my sister, she was creeped out by a Tarzan animatronic lol but I get it, it was kind of eerie looking. 
Oh boy I had a lot of them. I’m gonna list some on read more. 
The musical Cats, I saw it for the first time this year because I was terrified of it since I was 5. I’m glad I watched it though, I like it a lot now, it’s probably my top ALW musical at this point, but I still understand why I was scared as a kid, part of which was intentional by the musical so props to them.  
There’s also The Haunting remake from 1999, it’s a terrible adaptation of the book and of the ‘63 movie and everyone considers it a bad horror film, I mean yeah the horror elements are bad but those children sculpted in wood that turned their heads? That were supposed to be nice and not the Actual Scary Part of the movie? I couldn’t sleep for a week. They still creep me out. 
There was also one Gottfried Helnwein photo I came across as a kid of a girl lying down on the floor with her head bandaged, creeped me the f out for days. I know now he has ever creepier work, that one was actually pretty normal apparently, but nope, get that man away from me. 
Pinocchio was another source of fear, most of the versions of it, with the exception of the actual book, which I teach in my workshop and I’m ok with, and the Disney version which I really like, I have a Pinocchio Tsum Tsum and all. 
But then they all grow in the scale of no thank you for me. The lower the budget of the Pinocchio adaptation, the worse it is. AI was creepy and it was also a Pinocchio-based movie, but that miniature theme park underwater they created is one of my favorite miniature scale projects in film I’ve seen. The new Italian production looks like a nightmare-scape I don’t even wanna see, my cousin sent me the trailer and I’m regretting having seen it. 
I have faith in Del Toro’s adaptation though because it’s stop motion and I’m not gonna have to witness another uncanny valley nightmare realm. 
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that-shamrock-vibe · 5 years
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D23 Dissect: Emma Stone Is Cruella De Vil
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First of all I want to make something quite clear, this is going to be a slightly biased post for the pure and simple reason that Cruella de Vil is not only my favourite Disney Villain but in many regards I feel my spiritual mother.
That being said, I am still going to try and present a balanced view as to why I feel this is a bad idea not just in terms of casting and creative choices over the character, but also just the movie in general.
Background:
I made a post way back when in January 2016 when the announcement that a live-action origin movie based on Cruella de Vil first surfaced, however in the three and a half year time span between that announcement and this first look, nothing has been mentioned so I genuinely believed the idea had been scrapped.
Turns out it was either just shelved in favour of their big live-action remakes, because this at least can’t be a remake due to being a prequel to The Hundred and One Dalmatians, but I desperately wanted this to just be a scrapped idea, yet this is the reality we are now in.
Also to date the character of Cruella de Vil has had three live-action incarnations with Glenn Close, Victoria Smufit and Wendy Raquel Robinson all giving their own unique interpretations to the fur-loving socialite who was first introduced in the original 1958 novel by Dodie Smith and then made famous by Betty Lou Gerson in the 1961 One Hundred and One Dalmatians animated movie.
Cruella is also one of the most well known Disney Villains, she is up there in the top tier along with Maleficent, Jafar, Ursula, Captain Hook and the Evil Queen. So any re-imagining of these beloved characters will always be under a microscope to ensure that whoever is handling them is honouring the legacy of the character, just look at the reactions to the latest trailer for Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.
Disney Live-Action Renaissance:
Well it has finally happened, I strongly feel that everyone has a cut off point when it comes to franchise and brand loyalty and for me the Disney Live-Action Movies have finally reached saturation point for me.
Now again, I know that the remakes are technically a different category to the original movies, but when the movie is drawing inspiration from original material then you have to always compare because you can’t help not to.
Just to clarify, I love the live-action Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Maleficent and I enjoyed Dumbo, Cinderella, The Lion King and the first Alice in Wonderland. But 101 Dalmatians is the first movie to be remade for live-action back in 1996 and it was, for me, a fantastic version of the story.
Cruella:
As I said before, Cruella de Vil as a character holds a special place in my heart and has done since I can remember. So for me, this is a character that when portrayed differently to how they were when I first saw them, I just critically.
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Glenn Close is the exception for me because for me she is on the same level as the original animated version and I can almost compare the two enough to see them both as the same character in the same universe.
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Victoria Smurfit on Once Upon a Time was another good interpretation. I will admit when she was first introduced the fact she was an alcoholic magic-user who looked more like a drag-version of Patsy Stone than Cruella de Vil was an adjustment but I fell in love with the sadistic and cynical whit she had and her origin episode was brilliant.
Wendy Raquel Robinson is probably my least favourite interpretation to date and I understand she was not meant for a substantional role in Descendants but they turn her from the mad Devil Woman into simply the crazy dog lady. I loved Carlos and he was my favourite character possibly because I wanted to be him but Cruella herself wasn’t great.
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In terms of the animated version of the character, because she was the first version I saw I guess I kind of imprinted on her but in both the animated movies and the animated series she’s simply brilliant.
Emma Stone:
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Alright so Emma Stone is a marmite actress for me, but in her defence she is in a lot of either niche or marmite movies.
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My favourite role of hers is still probably Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man movies and the prospect of at the time seeing her as Spider-Gwen would have been interesting.
Her most recent movie The Favourite was a great role for her, but the movie itself isn’t too memorable. Similarly La La Land was overhyped and Zombieland I haven’t seen.
But from a completely biased judgement, Emma Stone is not the type of actress to portray Cruella de Vil.
Prominently, Emma Stone is American while Cruella is from London. now yes both Glenn Close and Betty Lou Gerson are American but put on the British sophisticate persona, but Emma Stone to me does not have that.
She tried in The Favourite, but she never made me think “Oh yes she’s perfect for Cruella”.
Cruella Origin Movie:
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Now in terms of the movie, the main things we know about it firstly are what we see in the released image from D23, where first and foremost I have to say that this looks like a drag version of Cruella de Vil...but a very bad interpreted drag styling.
Why is she wearing leather? Leather may be from a cow, but Cruella de Vil is primarily known for wearing furs rather than leathers yet here she looks like a punk goth with that really heavy eye-shadow 
She doesn’t even look like Emma Stone here, genuinely she looks like Helena Bonham Carter. The only thing about this that says Cruella is the two-tone hair because nothing else from the makeup to the outfits says Cruella to me.
Also why the dalmatians, I mean obviously this could be her having captured three dalmatians to turn into a coat but you can’t tell from this photo.
Again going back to Once Upon a Time and Cruella’s origin episode “Sympathy for the De Vil” showed Cruella as a child supposedly at the mercy of her mother who was a dalmatian dog trainer, but when she’s an adult and reveals that she is in fact a villain she turns her mother’s two dalmatians into a coat.
Emma Thompson has been cast in an undisclosed role, but if she’s playing her mother or not we don’t know.
As for Jasper and Horace, aside from the dalmatians, they are my favourite thing about this image. That’s Joel Fry on the right as Jasper and Paul Walter Hauser as Horace on the left, the latter of whom looks authentic as hell aside from the moped.
This is listed as a comedy crime drama fantasy movie, I have to say I find the fact they have comedy as a listed genre for the movie rather offensive. You’re talking about the origin of a woman who hordes furs by having innocent animals like dalmatians skinned. Jasper and Horace can provide comedy fine, but the movie should not be a comedy.
Overall I have to say I am not impressed or confident with this project at all, it is possibly the first time I can safely say I am not looking forward to a Disney movie. I will still see it to judge fairly for myself rather than not seeing it and judging without evidence, but I am not happy.
So those are my thoughts of the upcoming Cruella origin movie starring Emma Stone, what do you guys think? Post your comments and check out more D23 Dissects as well as other posts.
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amandajoyce118 · 5 years
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Agents of SHIELD S6E06 “Inescapable” Easter Eggs And References
In this week’s episode, Fitz and Simmons find themselves reunited, but sharing a mindspace while the Chronocoms want them to work out time travel. It leads to some unexpectedly therapeutic tracking through old memories.
As usual, there are spoilers. Again, SPOILERS if you haven’t yet watched the episode. You’ve been warned.
Spoilers.
Seriously.
Last warning.
The White Room
This is probably unintentional, and the white room they end up in is likely just meant to look like the blank slate it is, but… it made me think of another white room from Marvel Comics. Specifically, the White Hot Room. That’s the name of the Purgatory like space that the Phoenix Force inhabits pretty often. It’s also where Jean Grey recharges and accesses all of her memories when she and the Phoenix re-merge. It’s just a very striking similarity since Dark Phoenix was just in theaters (and the movie doesn’t use that comic book aspect at all).
Fitz’s Proposal
If Fitz’s proposal sounds familiar, that’s because we’ve heard it before. Last season, when he found Jemma, she couldn’t hear him, but he gave her nearly the exact same speech. (Edited to add: She also answered him the same way he answered her when she proposed last season. Nice. And she knew exactly how his speech would end, which means she must have asked him at some point last season how he proposed when she couldn’t hear him. Also, right before Fitz proposes, you’ll spot his bad hand twitching a bit, a nervous tick Iain has kept using since his season two injury. Love the character consistency.)
Alice In Wonderland
A hole appearing in the white room that Jemma escapes through and Fitz following her into her own childhood bedroom feels like a very intentional nod to going “down the rabbit holt” and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Jemma’s Room
I know I’m going to miss some things in Jemma’s room, but there is so much going on in here. Obviously, the book about her and Fitz, but there’s more. We see she’s a Jane Goodall fan because that photograph features prominently. There are stars on her ceiling, likely a nod to the times she spent studying the stars while recovering from surgery as a kid. She has so many samples on her shelves that I wish I could actually see what they all are. There’s a Winnie the Pooh which doubles as a nod to the Disney parent company and it being one of those very English animated properties (edited to add it is technically Canadian) for kids. Not to mention fellow MCU alum Hayley Atwell starred in Christopher Robin. Right next to Winnie is a Paddington Bear, which is a nice touch. Also, the butterfly painting on her wall that looks like it’s a little mixed media with butterfly pieces on the bottom? That was in Jemma’s Hydra apartment in season two. (I remember that odd detail because I used it in a fic.)
Edited to add that Jemma has a serious thing for butterflies that makes me curious. In addition to the butterfly print from season two, there are framed butterflies on shelves, and sample vials of other butterflies in her collection, and even butterflies on the tea set that she and Fitz have in the white room. I wonder if it’s because they were easy for her to study as a kid, or if she was fascinated by their transformation, or something else. Is that something else, perchance, something to do with Sarge’s Snowflake? She does like to go on about how people become beautiful butterflies after she stabs them. Is this just a weird bit of foreshadowing? Showing a connection between them? Is Snowflake another’s world’s version of Jemma? Oh, that would be weird. But food for thought.
Also edited to add: the book doesn’t just feature Fitz as the prince in the stars and Simmons as the princess looking for him. It also features Mack as a strong bear and Daisy as a quick rabbit, which are interesting choices. I’m assuming it’s them only because they’re the friends they call later in the episode. I mean, it could be that the animals are Daisy and Piper since they went to space together, but that would make Davis the monkey? lol
Cuttlefish
Okay, I’m editing this one in because it struck me, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to include it until I looked up the sea creature. So, I initially thought this was a nod to Jemma talking about fish in the pod at the bottom of the ocean in season one. And maybe it is. But, the cuttlefish is actually from the same taxonomic class as squids... like the symbol for Hydra. Nice nod either way.
Fitz’s Academy Dorm
Hey, Bonus mention of Anne Weaver! I enjoy her. The show should try to get her back for a cameo or two.
Okay, I’ll admit I was too focused on them processing the memory to focus on everything in Fitz’s room, but I did spot that massive Manchester banner. Just a reminder that’s Fitz’s team and Hunter is not a fan, as we learned last season. I might catch more on a rewatch, but feel free to tell me what I missed in both of their rooms.
Edited to add: Fitz is wearing the “same” dark blue hoodie that Jemma wears around the base in season three when she returns from Maveth. It’s not actually the same, but we’re clearly meant to think it’s the same one that fits her because it is far too small for Iain to be wearing it over two more layers of clothing. Also, even before Jemma mentions Fitz being manic, you can actually seen hand drawn monkeys on the wall like what Fitz did in the prison cell. Only a few before they start discussing his state of mind and then show Jemma looking at them on the wall. Also, the tie that Fitz wears when they meet Coulson is hanging on his coat rack.
Side note: I found it interesting, though I loathe the term, that Jemma says she friendzoned Fitz in that scene. That means that Jemma at the Academy must have had some inkling that Fitz had a crush on her. Or, this is just Jemma looking back on it with the benefit of over a decade of experience with Fitz and realizing it. Either way, it confirms that Fitz always thought she was the coolest, even while he was busy arguing with her.
Jemma Needs Therapy
I love that Jemma’s problems locked in a box are an amalgam of all her traumas. (Also, it’s funny to me that she has a little pink safe on her dresser that she could have locked her troubles away in, but instead, it’s the easy to open jewelry box.) This version of Jemma looks like a monster, but she’s wearing her shirt from Maveth and shreds of her Kree-slave attire, carrying the shiv from Maveth, has gold paint on her forehead from her time in the future. (Edited to add: she’s also covered in dirt with a hoarse voice, and I’ve noticed some people think that’s a nod to her emerging from a grave in the Framework, which is a good catch. I thought it was simply to make her look more like a monster, but it makes sense that it’s a nod to what she discovered in the Framework now that I’ve watched the episode again, and this “monster” only emerges after they’re faced with the Doctor.) She’s the embodiment of all the bad things Jemma has gone through, and Fitz is right that she’d be better off with therapy instead of keeping the English stiff upper lip.
Meeting Coulson
The scene where the two of them meet and get recruited by Coulson makes me wonder if it happened immediately before we meet them in the pilot episode. Why? Because they’re wearing their pilot episode clothes, though the hair, of course, is not exactly accurate. (Edited to add: Simmons telling Fitz, “yes, I’ve heard the stories, don’t be weird” is a nod to Coulson’s death being on record. They weren’t at a high enough clearance level to actual know he was alive.)
Edited to add: can we talk about how significant it is that Fitz “fights” the demon version of Jemma on the part of the quinjet where he first thought he was going to lose Jemma? It’s where he couldn’t get his parachute on in “FZZT” and Ward went to save her instead. I just found that location choice interesting. It’s not the bus from season one. It’s definitely an updated quinjet, probably because they don’t have the same exact set pieces anymore, but it looks strikingly similar. Demon-demon asking Fitz if his lungs or bones will go first? That’s a nod to the scene of she and Daisy torturing an alien this season when they were looking for Fitz. Clearly, though she saw the intimidation and torture as necessary, it left it’s mark on her.
Also, I didn’t mention in when I initially posted this, but I think them choosing Daisy and Mack to save them speaks more to how they view them than just what cast was available. We’ve seen Hunter literally pull Fitz out of prison, yet he chooses Mack to save him from Jemma. Why? I feel like he might trust Mack with Jemma’s trauma more than he trusts Hunter. Because Mack was there for most of it, and because Mack was there for his own recovery in season two before he became closer to Hunter. Likewise, Jemma calling Daisy and not May, or Elena? That’s because Daisy has had her back for a year in space. She’s seen Daisy literally take out an entire room of badguys while drugged up on puffies, so of course, Daisy is her first choice. Daisy has also already had the Doctor in her own head when Fitz had his psychotic break last season, so it’s a bit of symmetry there too.
Trapped In A Pod
Okay, so it’s sweet that they realize they don’t just have to rely on one another and call Daisy and Mack for backup against the dark parts of their minds. I enjoy that, as well as the symmetry of them both getting to see each other’s worst parts. What I really love here though is that this is the angrier version of the season one pod scene. The two of them run away from their troubles only to be trapped together in an enclosed space, yet again, to yell at one another about all the things they haven’t had the chance to argue about before. Watching the scene, I literally said that the only thing that would make it better would be if it was actually at the bottom of the ocean. Of course, they realized that and it filled with water. Of course. The arguing in the middle of the water, just as it did in season one, leads to their confessing their feelings. It’s a lovely, symmetrical, story of their relationship, this episode.
That Makeout
Leopold and Demon Jemma going at it while Fitz and Simmons argue? This just further proves that all that bantering in the early seasons was really foreplay, right?
That’s all I’ve got, for now. I’m sure I missed some things just because of the nature of the episode. It’s taking us on a walk through memories, some we’ve seen, so there are likely more that are harder to spot. Let me know what I missed!
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suburbantimewaster · 5 years
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Thanks to the Aladdin 2019 movie, I've renewed an old obsession with the classic Disney movie.  I even made each version of Jafar (at least the ones I know about) in Arabian Scene Maker by Azaleas Dolls and Doll Divine. The first one is the original cartoon Jafar which, sadly, looks better than the actual cartoon Jafar.  No wonder he went evil.  Anyway, I've always loved Aladdin but I never really appreciated the character of Jafar until Kingdom Hearts.  He was the very definition of pure evil and his magic was awesome!  I doubt Aladdin would be half as good if it weren't for Jafar.  He was the one who drove the plot and, if it weren't for him, Aladdin would still be a street rat while Jasmine would be fending off asshole suitors.  Still, I can't help but think that Jafar is a perfect example of "be happy with what you've got."  The Sultan was a complete moron and, in all reality, I doubt he was running the kingdom and I suspect that Jafar did the work.  So, in a way, Jafar already ruled Agrabah but his pride couldn't take being "second best" to an idiot. The second one is the original Hot Jafar before that became a meme, Jafar from Once Upon A Time in Wonderland played by Naveen Andrews.  It was a short lived spinoff of Once Upon A Time and, in this version, Jafar teamed up with the Red Queen to take the genie (Cyrus) from Alice and manipulate her into using her three wishes.  I won't give away too much, but we do learn more about Jafar's past and why he's so angry and bitter, yet Jafar still maintains that sick sense of humor we know and love.  When I first saw this Jafar appear, it was love at first sight!  Actually, more like lust at first sight but it still applies. The third one is the Jafar in Once Upon A Time they used when they couldn't get Naveen Andrews.  Honestly, this Jafar just bores me.  He doesn't do anything besides stand around with a staff and spout exposition.  I'll admit, Naveen Andrews was a tough act to follow so many I'm being a little hard on him, but it didn't make him anymore exciting.  I'd forgotten all about him until someone pointed out this actor in a YouTube comment. The fourth Jafar is the one from Descendant which, in all honesty, is the worst portrayal I've ever seen.  He's a caricature who does nothing but make stupid jokes and throw popcorn at the screen, losing everything that made him cool in the first place.  Jafar in this version was so cliche and awful, I kept waiting for the scene where he was in the lab making putties for his Empress Rita. Last but not least is Jafar from the 2019 Aladdin movie, the one everyone in social media calls Hot Jafar, which I greatly agree with.  Everyone complains about him and Iago being the weakest part of the movie, but I don't think so.  Jafar in this movie seems like someone who got a lot of bad breaks and dwells on it rather than focusing on the good in his life.  This Jafar may not be as charming as his cartoon counterpart, but he can be charming in his own right such as when he tricks Aladdin into helping him and pretending to sympathize.  He also seems much more politically active, such as wanting to turn Agrabah into an empire and wanting Jasmine to marry a foreign prince to form an alliance.  It doesn't hurt that this version is totally gorgeous!  Yep, I've jumped on the Hot Jafar bandwagon. So, what are your thoughts on the different reincarnations of Jafar and how they handle him?
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