#List of Disney Channel original films

[courseyoulovemeyoudontknowme]

Return to Halloweentown (2006, David Jackson)

13/01/2024

Return to Halloweentown is a 2006 television film with Sara Paxton, Judith Hoag and Lucas Grabeel, fourth episode of the Halloweentown series of films.

Soundtrack of the film is the song by Jesse McCartney Right Where You Want Me.

It is the only film of the Halloweentown saga where the protagonist is not Kimberly Brown, but is replaced by Sara Paxton.

[evertomorrowart]

Best of YouTube 2023

Yes, I did spend the first week and change of January on this. I wish I could have had it done for New Years, but too many people came out with incredible work in December, so waiting turned out for the best.

What these creators do are a huge influence on my life, I would honestly have difficulty doing what I do without them. That isn't to say that my favorites of the year are *only* on this image--It was almost impossible to narrow down my favorites. Many creators I wanted to include couldn't fit on a single page, and too many of them made more than one video I wished I could draw too!

But, to all of you, thank you for what you do. You're an inspiration.

For those who don't know, further is an explanation.

At the bottom center is an artistic masterpiece by Defunctland: "Journey to EPCOT Center: A Symphonic History." Over the last several years, Defunctland has risen from delightfully-entertaining commentary on decommissioned theme park attractions to occasionally dropping profound statements on the creation of art itself. "Journey to EPCOT Center: A Symphonic History" is worth treating like the cinematic experience it is: No second screen, you sit your ass down in front of a TV, set down the phone, and then you *watch it.* Any Disney, theme park, or independent film fan needs to pay attention to this one.

Bottom left is Caelan Conrad with their piece "Drop the T - The Deadly Consequences of Gay Respectability Politics." While I do think they've done more visually or artistically-daring pieces before, "Drop the T" is one of the most important videos released on YouTube in today's current climate of hate. We as queer folk (and our allies) need to understand how integral every identity of the queer experience has been since the start of the Civil Rights movement (and before!). While we are not identical, we *are* inseparable, and we deserve having our real history easily accessible.

TERFs and other conservative mouthpieces need not reply. Your opinions are trash. 😘

I cannot stop watching and rewatching this video by @patricia-taxxon, "On the Ethics of Boinking Animal People." It's not just a defense of furry fandom and its eccentricities, it's a thoughtful and passionate analysis of what the artform achieves that purely human representation can't. Patricia goes outside of her usual essay format to directly speak to the viewer about the elements that define furry media (the most succinct definition I've ever heard) and just how *human* an act loving animal cartoons really is.

As an artist who can draw furry characters, but never really got into erotic furry art, this video is a treasure. Why did I choose to have her drawn as a Ghibli character, hanging out with one of the tanukis from "Pom Poko?" Guess you'll have to watch, bruh.

Philosophy Tube continuously puts out videos that I would put on this list--I'm not even sure that "A Man Plagiarised my Work: Women, Money, and the Nation" is the best work she released in 2023. However, this video got many conversations going between myself and my partner, and the twist on the tail end of the video shocked us both to such a degree that I had no choice.

At the very tail end of the year, Big Joel released "Fear of Death." On his Little Joel channel, he described it as the singularly best video he's ever done, and I'm inclined to agree. However, for this illustration, I ended up repeatedly going back to a mini-series he did earlier in the year: "Three Stories at the End of the World." All three videos are deeply moving and haunting, and I was brought to tears by "We Must Destroy What the Bomb Cannot." While it may be relatively-common knowledge that the original Gojira (Godzilla) film is horror grappling with the devastation America's rush to atomic dominance inflicted on Japan, Big Joel still manages to bring new words to the discussion. Please watch all three of the videos, but if, for some reason, you must have only one, let it be "We Must Destroy What the Bomb Cannot."

Y'all. Let me confess something. I hate football. I hate watching it, I associate seeing it from the stadiums with some of my worst childhood experiences, I despise collegiate and professional football (as institutions that destroy bodies and offer up children at the feet of its alter as a pillar of American culture)--

I. L o a t h e. Football.

But.

F.D. Signifier could get me to watch an entire hour-plus essay on why I should at least give a passing care. AND HE DID IT. I might think "F*ck the Police," the two-parter on Black conservatism, or his essay on Black men's connection to anime might be "better" videos, but this writer did the impossible and held my limited attention span towards football long enough to make a sincere case for NFL players--and reminds us that millionaires can *in fact* be workers. That alone is testament to his skill.

Sit down and watch "The REAL Reason NFL Running Backs Aren't Getting Paid." Any good anti-capitalist owes it to themselves.

CJ the X continuously puts out stunning, emotional videos, and can do it with the most seemingly-inconsequential starting points. A 30 second song? An incestuous commercial? Five minutes of Tangled? Sure, why not. Go destroy yourself emotionally by watching them. I'm serious. Do it.

Their video Stranger Things and the Meaning of Life manages to to remind us all why the way we react to media does, in fact, matter. Yes, even nostalgia-driven, mass-media schlock. Yes, how we interact with media matters, what it says about us matters, and we all deserve to seek out the whys.

Folding Ideas has spent the last few years articulating exactly why so much of our modern world feels broken, and because of that his voice continuously lives rent-free in my brain. While the tricks that scam artists and grifters use to try to swindle us are never new, the advancement of technology changes the aesthetics of their performances. Portions of Folding Ideas' explanations might seem dry when going into detail of how stocks work in This is Financial Advice, but every bit of it is necessary to peel back the layers of techno-babble and jargon and make sense of the results of "Meme Stocks."

Jessie Gender puts out nothing but bangers, her absolute unit of a video about Star Wars might be my new favorite thing ever, but none of her work hit so profoundly in 2023 than the two-parter "The Myth of 'Male Socialization'" and "The Trauma of Masculinity." There's so much about modern life that isolates and traumatizes us, and so much of it is just shrugged off as "normal." We owe it to ourselves to see the world in more vivid a color palette than we're initially given.

Panels drawn after Kate Beaton and "Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands."

"This is Not a Video Essay" is one of the most intense and beautiful pieces of art I've ever put into my eyeballs. Why do we create? What drives us to connect?

I don't even know what else to say about the Leftist Cooks' work, it repeatedly transcends the medium and platform. Watch every single one of their videos, but especially this one.

The likelihood you are terminally online and yet haven't heard of Hbomberguy's yearly forrays into destroying the careers of awful people is pretty slim. Just because it has millions of views doesn't mean that Hbomberguy's "Plagiarism and You(Tube)" isn't worth the hype. Too long? Shut up, it has chapters and YouTube holds your place, anyway. You think a deep dive into a handful of creators is only meaningless drama? Well, you're wrong, you wrong-opinion-haver. Plagiarism is an *everyone* problem because of the actual harm it creates--the history it erases, the labor it devalues, the art it marginalizes--which you would know if you watched "Plagiarism and You(Tube)".

Watch. The damn. Video.

In fact, watch all of them!

Thanks for reading this if you did.

[the-kestrels-feather]

I know I'm SO late to the party, but In light of the hbomberguy video, I wanted to drop a list of some of my favorite video essayists on here who are all great. Some are well known, some of them not, but all deserve a lot of love thrown their way!

Any creators I know are Queer will have a * next to their names if that's what you're looking for! (Note some of them might not have a star that should, that's not me trying to invalidate anybody I just didn't know, please feel free to correct me!)

Dominic Noble- book content! Has a series called Lost in Adaptation that judges how faithful movie adaptations of books were to their original source material, but also does some reviews/summaries as well. Very publicly denounced JKR after she was revealed to be a TERF and stated he will no longer review anything by her on his channel. Also deleted ALL of his HP videos after finding out she was a TERF (which were his most popular videos), so I have a really deep respect for him tbh. Former Channel Awesome member who publicly denounced them on several occasions, and an all around swell guy.

*Overly Sarcastic Productions- channel run by 2 people who go by Red and Blue. History and Mythology/Literature content, as well as analysis of tropes and media! I've been told their History content can be a bit... Iffy, but I'm not a Historian so I don't know, however if they get something wrong they're good about correcting it for what that counts for. Very interesting to listen to, I've watched Red's Videos roughly 100 times each. Also has a podcast.

*Strange Aeons- fandom/Tumblr history mostly, as well as some history, and weird businesses too. Reads a LOT of cursed content for her channel.

*Lindsay Ellis- Media/film analysis. obviously not as unknown as some of the others on here, but I absolutely adore her content and will forever be sad that she isn't on YouTube anymore.

Cruel World Happy Mind- MLM/explanation of controversial figures. I'm not sure how best to explain her content, but she seems genuinely lovely and is interesting to listen to. Also a victim of Illuminaughtii's ire and deserves some love. The video she made on Blair is a bit outdated since she made it at the start of when this all came to light, but imo it's definitely worth a watch. Her talking about her interaction with Blair genuinely broke my heart.

*Night Mind- Analog horror/Unfiction/ARG content! Analyzes and explains various internet horror pieces, and also has a very nice voice to listen to.

*Lola Sebastian- Film/Media Analysis!

Li Speaks- Deep dives into various nostalgia, mainly flash games!

*Princess Weekes- Media/film/literary analysis!

abitfrank- summaries and analysis of various "darker" children's content such as Coraline (book and movie), Nightmare Before Christmas, and various dark fairy tales

Hello Future Me- writing advice and world building information!

Curious Archive- deep dives into the various bestiaries of video games and the animals in real life that they're similar to, I love his Subnautica video!

In Praise of Shadows- Horror media analysis! Will often focus on specific franchises, but also covers things like horror comics and tropes as well.

Wait in the Wings- theatre! Deep dives into the back stories behind the production of various musicals! His video on Rogers the Musical that he did for April Fool's last year is comedy fucking gold

Weird Reads With Emily Louise- conspiracy theory/cult/weird thing analysis! Looks at things from an objective and skeptical view, and is very in depth. Recently served as a consulting producer on an HBO Max documentary on the Love has Won cult.

Ask a Mortician- death content! Covers various historical events and darker stories of death from the view of a Mortician.

*Izzzyzz- deep dives into fandoms, as well as well as different video games and kids' virtual worlds.

Disney Dan- Disney content! Covers the history of different mascot costumes at Disney and Disney-like parks! Has collaborated with Definctland in the past too!

Yesterworld- theme park content! Discusses history behind rides and parks, as well as some Disney movies. I think has also collaborated with Defunctland and Disney Dan?

Legal Eagle- legal content! Breaks down news about ongoing legal cases in a way that feels approachable. I like him because both my parents are paralegals and his videos have helped me understand what they mean when they're talking about work a little bit

Super Eye patch Wolf- media video essays! Mostly about anime/manga and video games, but also covers things like influencer scams and pro wrestling. His "what the internet did to Garfield" video is SO GOOD

*Jessie Gender- Media Analysis, loves Star Trek

*Laura Crone- Media Analysis video essays, her videos on the Swan Princess are fucking great I highly recommend!

*Lady Emily- Media Analysis, did a whole video on Spuder-Man turn off the dark that is SO good. Co writer for Sarah Z

Tale Foundry- covers different forms of fiction, their xenofiction video is great, as is their Angelarium one!

Defunctland- Theme Park ride and Children's TV History channel!

Jenny Nicholson- one of the sort of "big three" commentary channels with Lindsay Ellis and Sarah Z imo, covers all sorts of stuff but her most recent one is a 3 hour video on the theme park Evermore Park!

*Sarah Z- Fandom history and Media analysis! I really enjoy their content, the Johnlock Conspiracy and DashCon videos are my favorites!

Li Speaks- Flash games/virtual world analysis mostly! She has a very soothing voice to listen to, if you played like. Any MMOs or virtual worlds growing up I Highly recommend. I've watched her video on Horseland SO many times.

*Codex Entry- Video game coverage! Her videos on Pathologic are great if you're like me and wanted more after the Hbomberguy video!

Wendigoon- ARG/Spooky content! One of the early proponents of the Mandela Catalog and best known for his conspiracy theory iceberg, but has also covered things like various weird/unsolved crimes, Assassination conspiracies, and other things. His videos on Faith, Blood Meridian, The Mandela Catalog, and his Religion/Cult iceberg are some of my favorites

Dino Diego- Dinosaur fiction, like movies, video games, books, short stories, etc. his 2 videos on West of Eden and Winter in Eden are two of my favorites!

Haley Whipjack- I don't know how to describe her content really? She does a lot of deep dives (her Shrek one is my favorite), currently doing a recap of Once Upon a Time by season that is very fun. She's an elementary school teacher by day (that's not me dozing her she talks about it on her channel), and so she has fun unhinged teacher energy!

Other channels that are a sort of collection of different people talking about different things rather than 1 or 2:

TEDx

PBS

The Exploring Series

[phoebepheebsphibs]

Hide & Seek references compendium

I put so many little easter eggs and hidden things in my Hide and Seek fic, so here is my little ongoing list of references I purposefully put in the fic for those of you who like this kind of thing idk man

Chapter 1, Disney's Hercules: "Hey, Mack! Ya wanna buy a sundial?" Disney's Jungle Cruise: “Trader Sam’s! Come shop at Trader Sam’s! He’ll give you a great deal on shrunken heads! Two of his heads for one of yours!” the Holmes Hotel, Hugh's Pies is a reference to Nickelodeon's Jimmy Neutron series, Lilo's Stitches and Embroidery is a nod to Disney's Lilo and Stitch, "Crusty the Crab" is a nod to Spongebob Squarepants, Chell's Portal Stop is a reference to the game series Portal, and the final scene is from the ROTTMNT episode "Hidden City's Most Wanted".

Though this is not technically a reference or Easter egg, I wanted to add this note… I made a point of referring to Splinter as Lou Jitsu when he was mad or angry or selfish, and as Hamato Yoshi when he was scared or sad.

Chapter 2, Leo's determination to have Raph call him "the world's greatest ninja" is a reference to the film, Leo's quote "Land safely!" is taken from the episode "Mystic Mayhem" as well as the episode "The Evil League of Mutants", Leo's complaining to be leader is a nod to his future role, Raph referring to his father as a "sewer monster" is a reference to the episode "Man vs. Sewer", Splinter has a flashback from the episode "Goyles, Goyles, Goyles" and the line "OW! Why, you little--!" is also taken from that same episode.

Chapter 3, Mikey's dream is obviously a nod to all that he will do in the future.

Chapter 4, The origin of Lace Face from the episode "Man vs. Sewer".

Chapter 5, Phineas and Ferb "Escape from Phineas Tower": "That's some mole!" The line "Raph! Your enormous body is crushing me!!” is a reference to Disney's Lilo and Stitch, "sweater town" is a reference to the Gravity Falls episode "The Hand that Rocks the Mabel", the line "I didn't want to believe it, but... *sigh* science." is taken directly from the ROTTMNT film as well as a moment when Leo mentions that Donnie was wrong, Donnie uses two really's, a reference from the episode "Breaking Purple", Donnie gives Leo the comic seen in the episode "Jupiter Jim Ahoy!"

Chapter 6, Splinter's tv flips through several channels which include clips from media. These include a Thomas Sanders vine with "Weatherman Al", the quote "My leg!" from Spongebob Squarepants, part of the Fairly Odd Parents' theme song, Mrs. Cuddles' catchphrase "Let's be friends forever!", "I've got bad feeling about this" is a quote from Star Wars, the fake show about "Goosey" is an easter egg to @gooeseyleo and her Gooseyleo series. When Leo goes onstage, he does "a few improvised dance moves", which is a nod to Ben Schwartz and some dance moves he did in the Netflix improv comedy special "Middleditch and Schwartz”. The Lou Jitsu play the boys perform is a parody of the Godzilla franchise and the Pacific Rim films. Donnie's line "I strive for accuracy" is a reference to @sleepis4theweak 's comic (which I think about every gosh darn day), Horsebot-3000 and Splinter's line "I liked Horsebot-3000" are references to the show Community, season 3 episode 7: "Studies in Modern Movement".

Chapter 7, in the illustration Leo and Donnie are wearing Transformer and Decepticon t-shirts, respectively, and in the background you can see spray paint that spells out "Atomic Lass", as well as a drawing of the turtles' weapons.

Chapter 8, a young BEBOP AND ROCKSTEADY make an appearance, as does a very young Harvey Hokum from the ROTTMNT comics. When Bebop tries to sell Leo, he calls him “Shelly”, a reference to my pet turtle of the same name. In the illustration you can see a goldfish on the shelf, which is meant to be Piebald.

Chapter 9, How It's Made, APRIL O'NEIIIIILLLL, Harvey Hokum, Warren Stone and Kendra are referenced, "Operation Blue Suede Shoes" contains the title of a song, a reference to how in the show there are several similar code-names used for the characters ("Purple Rain" for Donnie, "Yellow Submarine" for April, etc.) Leo says that Mikey has empathy amplified, a reference to the fanfiction of the same name written by @filsa-mek on AO3.

Chapter 10, the boys watch "Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit". Leo promises to never leave Raphael alone and to always find him. Raph offers several scenarios that actually happen in the future where Leo searches for Raph - sewer monsters (a reference to the episode Man Vs. Sewer), getting captured by bad guys (the episode Bug Busters), and aliens attacking (the events of the film). The chapter as a whole is also based off of a few sketches I made - one of which shows the boys watching the film with Splinter, and one where Raph has a bad dream and wakes up to seeing he hurt Leo, who offers to help and gets the bros together for a turtle pile.

Chapter 11, the episode is heavily inspired by an episode of the audio drama series Adventures in Odyssey, specifically the episode "Mandy's Debut". The line "Wow, the shortcake of death" is a reference taken from said same episode! During Leo's flashback, a reference to the meme "She knocked that smug look off my face, but fourtunately I had a smaller smug look underneath" when Leo takes off his sunglasses to reveal a cooler pair of sunglasses underneath. Leo and Raph make a note to the fact that Leo is not the eldest in this universe.

Chapter 12, Raph, Leo, and Mikey teach April a game they play in the episode "Late Fee". When using sign language, Donnie tells Leo to "Stop yelling at me", which is inspired by a moment in Spy Kids 4. April introduces Raph to Ghostbear's starting career. Mikey repeats a line from the episode "Bug Busters", which is "Remind me not to ask questions anymore." Mikey uses the phrase "hydrate or die-drate", which is taken from a meme but is also something I say constantly as well. When in the Hidden City, Splinter hears people calling out to customers, one uses the lyrics to the Fairly Odd Parents' theme song, another is selling Mary Poppins' umbrella, a third is selling the three mystery journals from Gravity Falls, the fourth is selling Cinderella's glass slippers, and the last one is selling the Stanley Parable bucket of reassurance. Ochimizu is a Japanese mythical elixir of eternal life. The introduction and origins of Loathsome Leonard and the Mud Dogs. Malicious Mickey uses the "creepy doctor" line from "Stuck on You".

Chapter 13, Donnie delirium is directly based off of my own experiences with delirium, as well as his and Leo's conversation about whether or not Leo would miss him when he dies (which was an actual conversation I had with my mother when I was sick with croup as a little girl). The second half of that conversation was adapted from a scrapped fic called "The Kids Are All Dying". Donnie references the song "Big Yellow Taxi". The seven-tailed fox comes from Japanese folklore, but specifically this one was a reference to Naruto! Mikey sings the first line of the "Wonderfilled" song by Owl City. The secret ingredient being a discontinued soda was inspired by the ending of the musical "Be More Chill". The toad yokai becomes Heinous Green.

Short story, in the illustration you can see several signatures and sketches on Leo's cast, such as Raph signing "Mad Dawgs" and Mikey drawing his stickers. On the wall behind Leo is an eye exam that has the words "RISE" and "PHOEBE" on it. There's also a computer monitor in the back with Leo's vitals on it, as well as a notification about the trackers, and a list of all Hamatos Donnie tagged.

I will update more when I post new chapters... ;)

[twistedtummies2]

Top 10 Appearances of Cruella De Vil

Last year, to the date, was the 100th Anniversary of the Walt Disney Company. That makes today their 101st Anniversary. I’d say that means there’s no better time - given this is also the spooky season - to talk about one of their greatest villains: Cruella De Vil, the nasty “devil woman” from “101 Dalmatians.” Cruella is one of the most interesting villains in the Disney canon, because of how…well…ordinary she is. In the original film, at least, she’s not someone who has massive amounts of magical, political, or warrior-savvy power; she’s a very normal, mortal woman. What makes Cruella such a great villain is her wild personality: she is utterly despicable, downright repulsive, in her goals and desires, but she’s so entertainingly bizarre in her mannerisms and appearance, it’s hard not to be entertained by her. She’s both glamorous and wretched at the same time, and you find yourself laughing both with her AND at her throughout her time onscreen; she’s thoroughly insane, thoroughly over-the-top, and it’s hard not to say she’s memorable. Top it off with a catchy song all about her vile ways, and it’s not surprising she’s stuck in the popular consciousness as long as she has. Over time, Cruella’s star has only grown, for a lot of reasons. She’s widely regarded as one of Disney’s finest baddies, and hardly any gathering of Disney Villains feels complete without at least REFERENCING Cruella in some way. So - much as I’ve done in the past with three other great Disney Villains (the Evil Queen, Maleficent, and Scar) - I felt today we should pay homage to everyone’s (least) favorite fur fanatic, and talk about some of her greatest appearances BEYOND her initial movie. Park attractions, spin-off films and TV appearances, books, video games…if Cruella has appeared, it can count. So, let’s not waste anytime, daaahlings! Here are My Top 10 Favorite Cruella De Vil Appearances!

10. Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.

You’ll be seeing this entry pop up a lot of times, whenever I talk about the appearances of great Disney Villains. (Not always, but a lot.) I mentioned it before on my list for Maleficent, but for those who don’t remember or just haven’t heard of it: “Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom” is an interactive attraction at Walt Disney World, wherein guests are sent on missions by Merlin around the Magic Kingdom. Hades, it seems, has come up with a new scheme to try and - of course - take over the world, and he’s summoning various other great villains to help him with his scheme. The players must battle these villains and retrieve pieces of a magic crystal to stop Hades and his evil allies. Among the villains featured in the experience is Cruella, who makes a deal with Hades to help him find part of the crystal; in return, he will make sure she gets all of the dalmatians. The pair arrange to work under cover of the fireworks spectacular that evening, so must race against time to help the Dalmatians and Merlin before Cruella and Hades can enact their devilish plot. This results in a boss battle against Cruella, where she uses the most logical method of defense against the players: GIANT FREAKING CARTOON BOMBS. Yeesh, I know Cruella can have an explosive temper, but this is ridiculous!

9. April Winchell, from 101 Dalmatians: The Animated Series.

Also kudos to Tress MacNeille, who took the reins for Cruella in two episodes when Winchell was presumably unavailable. Influenced by the success of the live-action films with Glenn Close, but set in their own universe unique from both the animated feature and the aforementioned live-action ones, this cartoon show softened up Cruella in a lot of ways. While her personality remained as flamboyant and deranged as ever, her obsession with furs and desire to kill the titular dalmatians was removed. Presumably, this was because it was considered too “politically incorrect” for a children’s show, aired in the mornings, on the Disney Channel, at the time. The series also changed the location from England to America. In the series, Cruella - much like in the Glenn Close movies - is depicted as the head of a fashion design company, “House of DeVil,” and her goal was to try and find a way to get the land where the Dearly family now live with their one-hundred-plus dogs, presumably for business purposes. This Cruella was a more comical villainess than ever before; a sort of female Dick Dastardly whose schemes were constantly loused up by a combo of her minions’ bungling, and various slapstick shenanigans. She was also given a somewhat sympathetic side, the first time I think anyone attempted this with Cruella; there’s even an episode that parodies “A Christmas Carol,” revealing a tragic past behind Miss DeVil’s diabolical nature. While this version of Cruella was and is a lot of fun, I personally prefer other versions - both from before and after it - a bit more, so it gets a lower ranking.

8. House of Mouse.

For those who don’t already know, “House of Mouse” was a series that Disney used as a vehicle for various short cartoons, most notably the Mickey Mouse Works series it had going on at at the time. It was a bit like Disney’s version of “Shining Time Station,” with the actual story of each episode, and the premise of the show itself, acting as a framing device to allow the cartoons to be shown. The series took place in a Toontown nightclub, the titular House of Mouse, run by Mickey and the gang. Here, every night, various animated characters from all across the Disney pantheon would come to hang out, have dinner, and watch some shorts. Cruella was one of the most frequent guest villains to pop up in the show. Her appearances were usually accompanied by humorous gags about her obsession with furs, such as her considering turning the Beast into a coat, or jokingly threatening Pluto. One of my favorite jokes was in the episode “House of Crime,” where a mysterious villain (later revealed to be the Phantom Blot) is stealing and kidnapping anyone and anything they could get their gloves on. At one point, Pongo and Perdita accuse Cruella of stealing their puppies (again), to which Cruella huffs: “One movie, and you’re labeled for life!” Probably her most noteworthy appearance was in the Halloween special, “Mickey’s House of Villains,” where Cruella was featured as one of the leading antagonists, helping Jafar and some of the other villains take over the House of Mouse. Overall, while Cruella rarely had a ton to do, her moments were always highlights for me, and while she may not have had as big a role in this show as she did in our previous entry, it’s more than earned strong points here in my book.

7. Divus Crewel, from Twisted Wonderland.

Well, I can’t make a list related to Disney Villains without bringing up this game, can I? In fact, I bet a lot of you who know about this little number probably expected Divus Crewel to rank higher. For those who came in late, “Twisted Wonderland” is a mobile game, originally made in Japan, wherein the main POV character gets “zapped” into an alternate universe. They find themselves at Night Raven College: a School of Dark Magic, inspired by seven of Disney’s greatest villains. The place is populated by characters all inspired by (and sometimes descended from) these villains, and even other antagonists. Cruella is NOT one of the Great Seven in the game, but nevertheless, a Cruella-inspired character does appear in the form of this rather handsome fellow. Divus Crewel is the resident science expert at Night Raven College, and is the youngest and newest professor on the campus, in charge of teaching potions class. The best way to describe Crewel is a combination of a military drill sergeant and…well…Cruella DeVil! He is a strict, commanding, almost soldier-like character, but he also has a passion for fashion, loves to drive fast sports cars, and has a flair for the theatrical. A scientist with the soul of a supermodel, and the bearing of R. Lee Ermey…I don’t know HOW they got this combination out of Cruella DeVil, but the end result is probably my favorite member of the NRC staff in the game. The main reason (though not the only reason) why “daaahling” Divus doesn’t rank higher is because, like most of the staff members, he’s not really THAT major a character. Professor Crewel has very little influence on the Main Story of the game. He has, however, appeared more prominently in Events (in fact, he’s even got a boss fight in one of them), and also has a couple of noteworthy moments in Vignettes for the other characters. I would argue he’s probably the most focused-on teacher at the school…and considering how popular his inspiration is, I guess that’s not a big surprise.

6. Michelle Gomez, from 101 Dalmatian Street.

Unlike the much earlier 1990s Animated Series, this show didn’t hold back with the darker elements of Cruella’s character. In fact, if anything, this series REALLY pushed making Cruella as unsettling and scary as possible. The series takes place in the same continuity as the original animated film, but much later down the line. Cruella is a latecomer into the show: for much of it, the main antagonist was actually her nephew, Hunter, who is working for evil aunt. However, Cruella eventually enters the plot properly, deciding to take the matter of revenge against the dalmatians and their owners into her own hands. Miss DeVil is much older now - even more skeletal and emaciated than ever - but she’s just as deranged and, generally speaking, just as spry as she ever was. She’s also just as determined to get those darn dogs! Her cruel and twisted nature makes for an interesting parallel to Hunter, who eventually redeems himself and becomes a friend to the Dalmatians. While she’s framed and depicted as particularly horrifying in this show, Cruella still has a lot of humor to her, as you would expect. Top it off with the voice of Missy from Doctor Who herself, Michelle Gomez, and it’s pretty clear why this is a triumph among Cruella’s post-1961 pop-ups.

5. Emma Stone, from Cruella.

When this movie was released, it was advertised as basically being “Disney’s Joker.” This is a lie: if anything, I would argue this is “Disney’s Moriarty the Patriot.” (And if you don’t know what THAT is, look it up; I don’t have time to be your SparkNotes here.) Many have compared this to the earlier “Maleficent” movies, starring Angelina Jolie, both of which took classic Disney Villainesses and reimagined them as more sympathetic and protagonistic figures. Between the two, I would say “Cruella” is more successful in that regard. It’s clearly not setting itself as a “true story” in the way it presents things, instead becoming its own unique thing, and therefore it’s a bit easier for me to swallow the less villainous take on the character here, in terms of story. It’s also just a very stylish sort of film (fitting for the character), and I think stands on its own two feet much better than the Maleficent movies do. In this universe, Cruella is reinvented as an anti-hero; an aspiring fashion designer who seeks vengeance against an evil Baroness, who becomes a rival of hers in the fashion world. The Baroness, Cruella believes, murdered her mother. Through various means, the black-and-white-haired mad genius tries to undermine and ruin her enemy, riding a fine line between a criminal mastermind and a heroine. Emma Stone plays the character brilliantly, and there’s a lot of good stuff in this reinterpretation. It’s not a perfect movie, but it’s not a bad one, either. However, I think I prefer Cruella when she’s…well…Cruella, for lack of a better way of putting it. Still, I’d say the film is worthy of a space in Top 5, after some consideration.

4. 101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure.

In my opinion, “Patch’s London Adventure” is one of the few really good Disney animated sequels. While I still prefer the first film more, I’d say this a decent follow-up: it updates the humor in some fun ways, has great voice acting, captures the artistic style of the original film in an interesting way, and takes a fresh look at things while sticking true to the continuity of the original picture. One of the most fun parts of the story, of course, is Cruella’s role. In here, Cruella is the main villain, but actually only the secondary antagonist: for much of the movie, her role in things is peripheral, but after a certain point, she re-enters the main plot, and does so with a vengeance. It’s revealed that Cruella has gotten out on parole, but for various reasons, her already unstable sanity has begun to slip further than ever. She’s denied buying new furs, her car is completely totaled, her henchmen are imprisoned, and it’s hard to tell how much of her fortune she even still has access to. In short, she’s at the lowest point of her entire life. Things change, however, when an artist named Lars (played by Martin Short) falls in love with her. This is a result of Cruella taking interest in Lars’ work, which involves - what else? - black and white spots. However, their relationship begins to tank when Cruella starts to lose interest, and to try and rekindle things - and find what it is that’s missing - Cruella once again decides to kidnap the Dalmatians, with Jasper and Horace’s help. The reveal of her evil scheme in this film is arguably even more insane and horrifyingly twisted than her plan in the first film (I won’t say what it is here), and it’s clear by the end of the picture that Cruella has completely gone off the deep end. Thankfully, I think that’s where all of us like her to be.

3. Glenn Close, from the Live-Action Dalmatians Films.

Well, I can’t do a list about Cruella DeVil and NOT rank this one highly, can I? While Cruella was always a popular rogue in the Disney canon, I think most people would agree her popularity SKYROCKETED after Glenn Close took the reins in the live-action remake of “101 Dalmatians.” This was the movie that first reimagined Cruella as the head of a fashion design firm, with Anita as her ex-employee rather than an old school chum, and it really amped the lunacy of the character. Close doesn’t just chew the scenery in the first movie, she gorges on it in huge chunks, hamming up Cruella to an utterly ludicrous degree, but also still giving her the necessary menace required. Some have argued she’s a bit TOO over-the-top, but I kind of love how far they pushed Cruella’s melodrama here, as well as her madness. The second film goes even further: in “102 Dalmatians,” Cruella is sent to an insane asylum, where experimental procedures seem to cure her, transforming her from a psychotic animal killer to a kind and charitable soul. However, a freak incident reverses the process, and Cruella returns to her old ways, plotting revenge against those she deems responsible for her earlier incarceration, as well as seeking to recreate her plans for a Dalmatian fur coat. While the second film is not very good, overall, I felt that Cruella was just as much fun there as she was in the first movie, and Close is still highly lauded and recognized for the role to this day. It’s honestly hard to tell how many people like her more or less compared to the original animated version, at this point, which is high praise when it comes to Disney’s live-action remake output. Close has always spoken highly of the part, and so respected the character that she actually helped to produce Stone’s “Cruella” movie years later. That shows you, doesn’t it?

2. Evil Thing.

“Evil Thing” is part of a series of books, written by Serena Valentino, which go into the origins of many famous Disney characters (most of them villains), and show their sides of the stories they were in. Out of all of them, I think “Evil Thing” might be my favorite so far. It seems to be one of the most praised and popular, even receiving a graphic novel adaptation! The book tells us the story of how Cruella came to be the villainess we see in the original animated movie, and her story is…interesting. While Cruella is not depicted as a “bad seed” who seemed to just be evil from the start, she’s certainly not an angel; even from the very beginning of her life, Cruella is depicted as having a dark side, mostly due to her aristocratic upbringing. She seems to see other people as not only less than human, but less than REAL; she’s brought up to believe that her wealth and her status make her more valuable than any other human being without those things, and animals? Pffft. Forget it. They exist only to be food, furs, and so on. However, despite these darker aspects, Cruella doesn’t just start off as a wicked person; it’s a descent into madness and darkness that takes a while to fully germinate. The book is also told from Cruella’s POV, unlike other novels in the series, which are written in third person, creating a particularly unique perspective. It’s not only a great take on Cruella, but a good book in general, bringing us into the mind of a madwoman in a way that is frightening, fascinating, and at times wickedly funny…just the way Cruella DeVil should always be.

1. Victoria Smurfit, from Once Upon a Time.

While others may first think of Glenn Close or Emma Stone, when I ponder live-action Cruellas, this is the one I imagine and love first and most of all. In my opinion, Cruella is one of the best villains to appear in “Once Upon a Time,” and this reimagining of the character honestly rivals the original animated film for my favorite interpretation. Played by Victoria Smurfit (who, beyond this, I mostly know for playing the main villain of NBC’s “Dracula” TV show, of all things), Cruella is here has the power to control animals, emitting a green smoke that puts them under her thrall, in reference to her bad habits from the original. This power was given to her by The Author - a man with the power to control and change people’s stories - who fell in love with Cruella while traveling through the universe. In her origin story episode, we’re actually led to believe that Cruella was once a good person who somehow went bad; a sort of contemporary Cinderella or Rapunzel, kept under the firm heel of her domineering mother, who supposedly murdered her father. All of this, it turns out, is a sham: Cruella is depicted here as a truly rotten-to-the-core person. A psychopath from birth, who loves nothing more than killing. Her great goal in the series is to get back the thing she loves most, which is the ability TO kill people. That is so messed up, and I LOVE it: most of the other major antagonists in the series are depicted as sympathetic characters with tragic backstories. Several of them even eventually redeem themselves and reform. Cruella, however…she’s just bad news from day one, and LOVES her own wickedness. This version made Cruella equal parts scary and kind of hilarious, as she’s one of the most consistently funny characters in the show…yet the fact she is literally a blood-hungry psycho means there’s always a sense of danger when she’s around, and the moments where her inner steel shows can be quite startling. I don’t know how many other people would place this take on the character so high in the ranks, or what other people - fans and laypeople alike - think of this interpretation…but for me, there’s no doubt Victoria Smurfit in “Once Upon a Time” takes the cake as My Favorite Appearance of Cruella De Vil. “Cheerio, Daaahlings!”

Honorable Mentions Include…

Kingdom Keepers. (Cruella is one of the main villains in these books, first appearing in “Power Play.” She is the lieutenant of the Evil Queen, and - like in “Once Upon a Time” - has the power to control animals.)

Villains Tonight! (Cruella shows up to put on a fashion show during this now-defunct Disney Cruise Lines stage show.)

Escape from DeVil Manor. (A PC game based on the live-action films, but with the characters designed to resemble the original animated versions. I used to play this a lot as a kid. Cruella is mostly a peripheral figure in the story, but it makes the moments she shows up more special, and her specter - as it were - looms large throughout.)

“Disney Villains: Cruella De Vil” Comic Series. (One of the Dynamite/Disney crossover “Disney Villains” comics. Not as good as the others of these comics I’ve read, but still interesting.)

[bookclub4m]

Episode 195 - Pop(ular) Culture Non-Fiction

This episode we’re discussing the topic of non-fiction Pop Culture books! We talk about cult classics, the Disney channel, the futch scale, and being Eldritch Millennials. 

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jam Edwards

Join our Discord Server!

Things We Read (or tried to…)

Street Unicorns: Extravagant Fashion Photography from NYC Streets and Beyond by Robbie Quinn

Poisoned Chalice: The Extremely Long and Incredibly Complex Story of Marvelman by Pádraig Ó Méalóid

Part 0: Introduction

I Am the Law: How Judge Dredd Predicted Our Future by Michael Molcher

And Don't F&%k It Up: An Oral History of RuPaul's Drag Race by María Elena Fernández

The 2000s Made Me Gay: Essays on Pop Culture by Grace Perry

Note: Anna didn’t have the Disney Channel because she lived in the woods in Alaska. It also did not exist in Canada until 2015.

The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel by Jenny Nicholson

That's So '90s!: A Pop-Cultural Guide to the Raddest Decade by Jo Stewart and Lisa Gillard

The Bizarre World of Fake Video Games by Super Eyepatch Wolf

Junk Film: Why Bad Movies Matter by Katharine Coldiron

Other Media We Mentioned

Attack of the New B Movies: Essays on SYFY Original Films edited by Justin Wigard and Mitch Ploskonka

Introducing Postmodernism: A Graphic Guide by Chris Garratt and  Richard Appignanesi

FRUiTS by Shoichi Aoki

Wikipedia

Miracleman: The Silver Age by Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham

RuPaul's Drag Race (Wikipedia)

The Pit Stop S16 E01

Glee (TV series) (Wikipedia)

Euphoria (American TV series) (Wikipedia)

Abbott Elementary (Wikipedia)

The Simpsons is Good Again by Super Eyepatch Wolf

Taskmaster: Series 17, Episode 1

Plan 9 from Outer Space (Wikipedia)

Every Frame a Painting

Links, Articles, and Things

Follow our Twitch channel!

Jam and Matthew will be streaming Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp on Saturday, June 8th at 3pm PT/6pm ET. 

Jam made an image to promote it.

Jam’s Top Ten Video Essays About Media They Haven’t Experienced

Mood board (Wikipedia)

Blockbuster (Wikipedia)

Walkman (Wikipedia)

Milk caps/Pogs (Wikipedia)

Tamagotchi (Wikipedia)

Webring (Wikipedia)

Which Pokémon are the most goth?

20 Pop Culture Non-Fiction Books by BIPOC Authors

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib

Indigenous Celebrity: Entanglements with Fame edited by Jennifer Adese & Robert Alexander Innes

The Male Gazed: On Hunks, Heartthrobs, and What Pop Culture Taught Me About (Desiring) Men by Manuel Betancourt

Carefree Black Girls: A Celebration of Black Women in Popular Culture by Zeba Blay

The Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love With Me by Keah Brown

She Memes Well by Quinta Brunson

Can't Stop Won't Stop: A Hip-Hop History by Jeff Chang & Dave Cook

Producing Sovereignty: The Rise of Indigenous Media in Canada by Karrmen Crey

Wannabe: Reckonings with the Pop Culture That Shapes Me by Aisha Harris

Leslie F*cking Jones by Leslie Jones

K-Drama School: A Pop Culture Inquiry into Why We Love Korean Television by Grace Jung

Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart by Jen Sookfong Lee

Indiginerds: Tales from Modern Indigenous Life edited by Alina Pete

Nerd: Adventures in Fandom from This Universe to the Multiverse by Maya Phillips

The Dead Don't Need Reminding: In Search of Fugitives, Mississippi, and Black TV Nerd Shit by Julian Randall

Not Your China Doll: The Wild and Shimmering Life of Anna May Wong by Katie Gee Salisbury

First Things First: Hip-Hop Ladies Who Changed the Game by Nadirah Simmons

Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop by Danyel Smith

Making a Scene by Constance Wu

Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now by Jeff Yang, Phil Yu, & Philip Wang

Give us feedback!

Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Instagram, join our Facebook Group or Discord Server, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday, June 18th when it’s time once again for One Book One Podcast as we each pitch a book we think we should read and you (the listeners) get to vote!

Then on Tuesday, July 2nd we’ll be discussing the genre of Law/Legal Non-Fiction!

[tillman]

ok actually complete list of my favorite arthurian works that arent med lit:

anything by richard hovey literally anything. im partial to the wedding of guenevere cus i have a physical copy i open just to reread the galehaut bits sometimes.

ea robinsons lancelot. i truly believe this to be the best arthurian tale outside of med lit. hes kind of just the best. his other arthurian poems are standout as well but lancelot is famous for a reason.

hector de marais by an anonymous 1859 poet. i think the ending is whatever but everything before the last stanza kind of makes me insane.

and finally the disney channel original movie avalon high. dont need to explain this one you should have already seen it and understand my high praise of this film.

[courseyoulovemeyoudontknowme]

Halloweentown (1998, Duwayne Dunham)

12/01/2024

Halloweentown is a television film, the first in the Halloweentown saga, whose world premiere was dated 17 October 1998.

Doris Roberts was initially offered the role of Aggie Cromwell, but had to give it up because she was busy filming Everybody Loves Raymond at the time.

Halloweentown kicked off the Halloweentown saga which is made up of 3 other episodes: Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge, Halloweentown High and Return of Halloweentown. In the last film the protagonist role was played by Sara Paxton.

[acaplaya-musings]

Voiceplay-adjacent Visuals: Saddle Up

From one Thurl song to another!

This song is so old and obscure that if you google "Thurl Ravenscroft Saddle Up" or something similar, Geoff's cover and stuff about Geoff's cover are some of the first/top things to appear in the search results!

Saddle Up (sung by Thurl Ravenscroft) originally featured on a very old album (idk what year) called "Walt Disney Presents: This Was The West (The Story and The Songs by Stan Jones)". (Fun fact: Stan Jones was the original writer of Ghost Riders In The Sky!) It then later featured on the album "Walt Disney Records Archive Collection: Volume 1". This isn't a video I watch all that often (though I've listened to the cover a fair few times via my Spotify playlist), but I would've felt bad for not doing a post about it, even if it only ends up being a short one, so here we go!

Oh, and starring Layne as Slightly Tired Best Friend 😝 (or as Geoff says in the description: "Layne Stein played by Layne Stein (as only Layne Stein can)" 😁)

"Scoot over, my show's on!"

I'm assuming this is just a prop/fake TV?

Pfft

(Also a bit of a role reversal from the Aca Top 10 videos on Voiceplay's channel, where typically it's Layne being the silly one and Geoff being more of the "straight man", as opposed to here, where it's vice versa!)

Appreciation for the editing!

Layne: *moves a little further away from Geoff on the couch*

Geoff, like 6 seconds later: *moves closer to Layne on the couch* 😂😂😂

(Who needs personal space when you've known each other for 25+ years? 😋)

Time for the actual "show"/cover! Got some fun transitions and split-screen styles (and the blue flannel is kinda nice too!)

Split-screen example! (Also necklace spotted!)

"the list is long, you'll hear the names" (Layne's reaction is perfect 😆👌)

There are 6 buttons on that polo shirt, but Geoff only has one (1) of them actually done up 😝 (never change, Geoff, never change)

(Also I only just noticed that the shots of the song performance are in a different aspect ratio to the shots of Geoff and Layne on the couch!)

Different shirt, same button situation! (This one you can see the pendant of the necklace just peeking out!)

Boy this must have been fun to film 😂

I like this splitscreen! Very creative! (But also very brief!)

Geoff never does anything by half, does he? Why stick to simple stuff when you apparently have better ideas?

Oh that was a clever little added touch! 👀

Geoff: "So what did you think?" :D

Layne: "Wasn't that just you in four different shirts?"

Pfft, well what can I say; the song is a bop and a jam, and the video is just good silly fun! And of course shoutout to Layne for being involved with this one, and him and Geoff being an accurate representation of my friends and I when I show them Voiceplay/Geoff videos 😝 (I'm joking - they think Geoff and Voiceplay are really fantastic too, and why wouldn't they? 😁)

[marklikely]

listening to the long form story break episodes rn but do you have any recs for the short ones?

Well here's the episodes that I go back and relisten to the most. because i'm me it tends to be the horror ones but some of them also just have the funniest moments or they made a good movie.

TOP TIER BEST EPISODES:

111. What's Eating Gilbert Grape - Genuinely my fave episode and the movie i want to exist the most, where they make a gay gothic romance set in the vineyards of napa valley. tw for like child death and cannibalism and general gothic horror elements.

109. n o t h i n g - The funniest episode, i've listened to it dozens of times and still have parts that make me laugh til i can't breathe. i don't usually relisten to the actual movie part though because tw for a lot of talk about cat death, but the preamble to them settling on their final idea and their detour through weird penis and/or death related art projects are one of the funniest bits of podcasting i've ever heard and matt arnold is obviously the comedy god of this entire crew.

and then just some really good episodes that I've relistened to:

70. Heaven Heist - maybe the most iconic episode and if you're listening to the long form episodes then i assume you already know it but the one where they originally break the story is just so good that it must be listed here.

76. Tearjerker - Probably the best one for dndads fans since it 1. has Beth May as a guest and 2. tells a horror story about the cycle of bad fatherhood. tw for discussions of abuse and toxic masculinity

90. Bird Box - Them trying to crack their own version of bird box when they realize none of them have seen it. tons of funny bits and a pretty interesting final product about family. tw for child endangerment & some minor mentions of animal death

102. Sensory Deprivation Horror Movie - another one with a lot of funny bits, they try to create their own quiet place or bird box movie focused around one of the other major senses.

104. First - where they make a movie about inheriting a youtube empire because you commented first on a video, but it somehow becomes a sci-fi thriller

106. Disney Endgame - they're tasked with laying the groundwork for the next big step: an entire disney-owned cinematic universe. really wild especially the elevator pitch which is one of the funniest that they've done.

122. Pixar's Shoes - where they create an inspiring and formulaic pixar film about a random object, with some bits that almost put me in tears laughing

123. Halmark Movie Bonanza - just trying to use their hour runtime to quickly make as many hallmark christmas movies as possible which is absolute gold if youre as intimately familiar with the hallmark channel as i sadly am

139. Disney Channel Original Movie Marathon - Another one that i might just like because of my extreme familiarity with the source material, but this is a really funny one where they look at DCOM posters and try to make up the movie that it must be with no extra information. one of the movies they make is a ghost based lesbian surfing movie that i desperately wish was real.

and there's honestly a ton of other really funny episodes but these are just the ones i go back to the most. i do recommend being liberal about skipping episodes though like there is no shame in deciding to go to the next episode if they start the "full 5 act structure plan" phase of the episode and you're not into the story. that's the beauty of this being an episodic show lol

[nickmaghighlights]

Nick Mag Highlights - #118 February 2006

Welcome back to Nick Mag Highlights! Would you believe it: Two of the greatest Nickelodeon shows crossing over in one half-hour special? For the second time? It’s a kid’s dream come true! Again! So let’s read all about it.

So yeah, sorry for the wait on this one. A couple of IRL setbacks plus taking on a volley of different big personal projects at once resulted in quite a hit towards my motivation. But hey, we’re here now, and I’m happy to get back into it.

Little sneak preview while I’m here: One of the things I’ve been working on is a new NMH Side Issue post! One that’s covering a mag that’s ostensibly part of Nickelodeon history thanks to its connection to a very prolific creative figure at the studio. Very wordy book though, so naturally both reading it and my analysis of it is gonna take longer than normal. And then I gotta do the research and fact-checking and yadda yadda, it’ll be ready when it's ready. In the meantime I’ve always got Nickelodeon Magazine to come back to.

Read along if you’d like, I think it’s the cool thing to do!

Neopets was still Viacom (parent company of Nickelodeon)’s latest big purchase at the time of this mag’s release, with them having bought it eight months earlier back in June of 2005, so it’s not surprising seeing the new blockbuster Neopets thing getting a big ‘ole two page spread right at the beginning of the magazine.

While Neopets is famous for originally being financially supported by scientology, it was Viacom's stint with the brand that actually got me to give the site a try for a short time (thanks to a Burger King promotion of all things, if memory serves me correctly). If they don't delete old, inactive accounts then I hope my T-Rex Neopet has been doing well for itself. They can’t die, right?

I love this ad. I’m not sure what kind of vibe they were going for here but it almost feels kind of dystopian with the polluted-looking air and all the TV screens weirdly protruding out every which way. Adding to that feeling for me was that I initially thought all that shrubbery down below was a huge audience of adoring viewers. Feels like something out of The Running Man. Super cool.

Always important to check out what Nickelodeon itself was doing around the time. I remember being really excited for Drake & Josh Go Hollywood, and seeing how it went on to gross more than 5 million viewers, I guess I wasn’t alone. Really bothers me to find out it’s just called Go Hollywood and not Go To Hollywood like I thought it was all these years, but I guess I’ll live.

And speaking of millions of viewers, this section also mentions the then-upcoming SpongeBob SquarePants special “Dunces & Dragons” (oddly not actually referred to here with an actual title), which grossed more than 8 million viewers.

Oh, and it’s Black History Month. Y’know just kind of a footnote slotted in the middle there. You'd think that'd get an article or interview, I don’t know. I’m sure Kyra appreciates the shoutout at least.

Woah. Imagine living in a pre-High School Musical world. Nowadays High School Musical is the made-for-TV-movie that baby made-for-TV-movies want to grow up to be. Now we’ve got two sequels, a TV spinoff (a TV spinoff that won five Kids’ Choice Awards apparently, funnily enough), and a mountain of films that tried to cash in on that success. Mostly from Disney Channel themselves. Camp Rock, anyone?

Funny to see the not-Jumanji family classic Zathura listed as Josh Hutcherson’s big recognizable role when he’d end up co-starring in the critically lauded cultural touchstone The Hunger Games just a few years later. And now he’s starring in that Five Nights at Freddy’s movie coming out this year. What a career.

There’s gotta be some irony to me sitting here and enjoying what I probably called the “boring parts” of the magazine back when I was a kid. C’mon though, this is pretty neat! I’ll run through all the topics real quick if you’d like to learn more.

Notes From Underground - The Great Stalacpipe Organ

Still standing to this day, the instrument has been refurbished a couple times since it was featured in this magazine. In 2012 a band by the name of Pepe Deluxé composed and played the first ever song exclusively for the Stalacpipe Organ, called “In The Cave” and featured it in their album Queen of the Wave. Give it a listen, it’s a creepy kind of beautiful. Must’ve been hard to record, too!

Playing With Their Food - The Vienna Vegetable Orchestra

The orchestra is still active and has even done a couple of performances this year! I doubt they still make soup from their instruments though. But to be honest even without having to worry about viral diseases I’m not too interested in soup made exclusively of vegetables that have been blown into for several hours.

Talk About Slow Jamz! - Organ²/ASLSP

Miraculously the performance is still on track. They didn’t play a note this year but the next one is scheduled for February 5th. The second slowest performance of the piece lasted 16 hours and took place last year.

World’s Hottest Tunes - Fire Organs

I can’t really find much about this one online, but I guess it speaks for itself, doesn’t it?

Take a look at a performance and try not to think about how hot it must be in that auditorium whenever he plays that thing.

Alright, it’s time for a confession. You ready to hear the horrible truth? …Okay, here goes:

I don’t know very much about music.

I guess it was probably a bad choice for me to write about a magazine themed around music. I got pretty far without having to disclose my lack of knowledge though, right? And in my defense, Nickelodeon lured me in with that Jimmy Timmy Power Hour cover. 

And I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like music. I love a bit of jazz now and then*. But still, none of the names here really ring a bell, so I don't know if any of these answers are ironic or out-of-character or so in-character it’s adorable or whatever. At least I can appreciate they spared no expense, they never usually have this many interviews. There’s even a third page with even more of them if you want to check it out. 

*My top jazz favorites are Kim Scott (Spotify) and Pieces Of A Dream (Spotify). If you were curious.

It’s really cool to see something encouraging kids to make their own mix CDs. I do kinda wish there was more than one cover though. Not everybody wants to chill.

Aw man, come to think of it, is Gen-Z the last generation to do personal mixtapes and CDs? Or is that still a thing? Regardless I kind of wish I had gotten into doing that when I was younger, it seems like a fun thing to do between friends. Plus my knowledge of music would probably be way stronger than it is now. What do kids do nowadays, send each other Spotify playlists? I guess that's a bit more convenient.

I think I've talked about these Pop-Tart ads before. They were in these magazines all the time so they must’ve come up already. I think I even gave them some credit. But as attention grabbing as they were I really still don't understand the intention. What's so appetizing about seeing these little guys just get absolutely destroyed all the time? Are kids supposed to think about how they’re snuffing the life out of their morning Pop-Tarts?

A very awesome and adorable cover we have here, courtesy of Vera Brosgol (author and illustrator of the award-winning Anya’s Ghost, plus Head of Story on Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio). You can check out her website to see more of her work here.

Nice little comic by Greg Cook. And wouldn’t you know that guy’s Wikipedia article has Nickelodeon Magazine mentioned in its first sentence? That’s cool. Also I feel like the man himself might’ve written his own Wikipedia article. The lack of citations and the way it’s written like the “About Me” page for a blog gives me that kind of vibe. If so, thanks for remembering us, Greg!

Now here’s some of that Jimmy-Timmy content I was promised! I was starting to get worried.

I find it interesting how well Jimmy and Timmy bounce off of each other, but I guess now that I think about it their shows weren’t that different really, at least in terms of subject matter, were they? In broad strokes they’re both kids with big egos whose imaginations tend to get them into trouble. And seeing those big egos clash is naturally gonna lend itself to some good comedy.

In regards to the art, I love the warm colors utilized here, it’s very cozy. The art throws me off just a smidge though. Absolutely no disrespect to Scott Roberts of course, writer and penciler behind this comic (and also creator of Patty Cake, a recurring comic for Nickelodeon Magazine that we… haven’t actually encountered yet on this blog unfortunately), he’s got some great work under his belt, and Timmy and his fairies look as to be expected here. But I do think it was a weird choice making Jimmy look like a Rugrat though. That’s not just me, right? The second page in particular has him pulling off some serious Rugrats-faces. Maybe Roberts was just doing what he knows, because he actually did tons of work on a Rugrats newspaper comic strip just a couple years before this.

Aside from that, Jimmy’s lab is a bit weird. It’s not the usual cave, instead being a regular room with windows and a checkerboard floor? And the exterior shows it to be a wooden cabin? Maybe it’s supposed to be the shack that’s built above the lab Jimmy uses as a secret entrance. Doesn’t really matter, I certainly didn’t notice as a kid, but it does make me wonder if the artist wasn’t provided that much reference material.

I love that snail comic so much like you wouldn’t believe.

Throughout the years I always managed to miss out on LEGO’s constant edgier reinventions of itself, y’know like Bionicle or that one about the ninjas. I guess it helps that I was never really into the toy itself. Unlike those previous examples though, Exo-Force here isn’t ringing any bells for me, but I do find it noteworthy how they were trying to go for a more anime/gundam vibe with this one, what with the Japanese affixed to the bottom of the logo and the faux-anime designs of all the main characters. Surprised to see this one didn’t even warrant its own cartoon, instead having its epic storyline played out through a series of commercials. And while I may like an overarching commercial narrative as much as the next guy (anyone remember those Goldfish Cracker commercials that did the same thing?), I bet you any fans of this line were sore it never got the whole TV show package like Bionicle did.

Oh right, Valentine’s Day is in February, isn’t that right? How many more years do you think that holiday has, you reckon? Nobody likes it. It’s just a reason to buy more greeting cards and do nice things for people that you probably should just be doing anyway and not need a holiday to tell you to do. Eh, still though I guess if you were in a small class at school this would be a pretty useful sheet of cards.

Skyland, huh? Can’t say it rings a bell, but it certainly looks cool. How did this slip by me? I even had this issue as a kid and watched Nicktoons, so I must have just completely tuned it out. I wonder why?

Oh, that’s interesting, it seems like it's all done with motion captured 3D animation. That’s fine, I guess, but that illustration in the magazine had me thinking it’d look a bit more like The Last Airbender. I’m impressed that they spared no expense on the story at least. This intro here can barely keep down its exposition to forty seconds!

So, does anyone remember this one? Apparently it was a French production that was licensed to different channels across the world, airing on Teletoon in Canada and CITV in the UK. I’d love to know if it was any good!

Pretty good smorgasbord of facts in this month’s calendar. And I guess a blanket theme is good as any other theme. Ooh, National Pancake Day! What a great month.

The Jimmy-Timmy quiz is fun, but I wish we could’ve gotten an interview with someone a part of the production of the episode or something. Obviously they’re not going to just interview some random part of the staff (although I’d find that interesting personally), but a voice actor would’ve been cool. I like how Jimmy’s answer considers Sheen a responsibility. Maybe all of Jimmy’s town-threatening inventions were just to distract Sheen from causing any real damage. We all know what kind of terror he’s capable of.

Wow, Bill Clinton! BC himself! Pretty impressive guest for an issue of Nickelodeon Magazine, I must say. ‘Course they got him talking about eating vegetables and exercising instead of something cool, though. It is good to know that being on the receiving end of the most widely-reported-on gobbling in the United States wasn’t enough to get you disqualified from having a spot in Nick Mag.

Another neato guest in theory, Tommy Tallarico is a pretty big name in the video game music space. He’s known for having a hand in loads of different soundtracks over the years and also allegedly being a pathological liar and taking credits for lots of other peoples’ work, which isn’t as nice as the former thing I listed. If you’re interested you can check out more info on the topic in this video here by hbomberguy, which basically runs through a lot of the lies Tallarico has told throughout the years, made as a response to him using legal pressure to get a sound effect he claims to have made removed from the online game Roblox. Oof.

But yeah, to give him some credit, this interview is better than ‘ole Clint’s was. At least Tallarico’s talking about the thing he gets paid for instead of vegetables and dieting. And that “What’s on Mario’s iPod” section is pretty good, but considering Tallirco’s track record it makes me question the legitimacy of his answers… I always thought Crash Bandicoot was more of a Dead Or Alive fan.

Oh god, not QZ again. I did not miss seeing this freak, I’ll tell you that. Why was anyone encouraging this guy with any more questions? He was getting kids names and addresses and we all sat idly by! I like how he sidesteps half the questions too, only giving a direct answer when it concerns protecting a kid from bullies. Maybe he’s not such a bad guy after all…

…Nah. Screw him.

If you remember these guys, you qualify for an Apple Jack’s discount!

I’m willing to admit as a kid I was more than willing to buy into whatever brands wound up on my TV as long as they had a funky mascot and even funkier commercials (and having a website that sported a suite of Flash games and cartoons certainly helped), but the hijinx of this Rastafarian cinnamon stick and goblin-looking apple particularly stick out to me as some rather memorable marketing. I’d say chalk it up to the distinct claymation style the commercials sported (which I’m pretty sure got replaced with 3D animation at some point, which kinda stinks). I found it funny how the character known as “Bad Apple” here eventually got redeemed and just became a friendly competitor that races Cinnamon to the bowl as opposed to the villain he’s presented as here. Did the marketing team really not see from the get-go that people might have a problem with a commercial depicting cinnamon and sugar as the good guy and apples as, well, “bad”?

Still, as much as I loved the commercials, I never actually had a single bowl of Apple Jacks as a kid. Shocking, I know, but my friends told me they sucked and I remember reading one particularly nasty long-winded online review that basically said the cereal is garbage, so I stayed away. I eventually did have a bowl or two of the stuff many years later, and… they’re alright. I will agree with this comic on one thing, Apple Jacks definitely do not “taste like apples”. In fact, they don’t really taste like anything.

And that’ll do it for this edition of Nick Mag HIghlights! Thanks for sticking around, and I hope you had a fun time going through this issue with me. It had tons of fun stuff (that article on the strange and interesting instruments and that Jimmy-Timmy Power Hour comic were my personal highlights) and hopefully some of you can get more entertainment out of all those musical interviews than I did. We even got a Billy C cameo! It doesn’t get more engaging than an old president, does it?

As well, I’d like to reiterate my apology for the time it took to bring this to you all, and I’m hopeful I can pick the pace back up and rebuild my motivation now that I’ve gotten this finished. I’m looking forward to finalizing my aforementioned new Nick Mag Side Issues post, I think that’ll be pretty interesting and add a little spice of variety to the page. Guess we’ll see!

Keep on reading, and maybe listen to your favorite song while you’re at it. I’ll catch you next time!

[ciaossu-imagines]

Favorite Disney movies for Tsuna and his guardians please?

Of course, my dear! This is such a cute ask and I enjoyed writing it so I hope you’ll enjoy it as well!

Tsuna watched most of the classic Disney movies growing up, just because Nana is a huge Disney fan and she wanted Tsuna to grow up with the same love of those movies as she has. Oliver & Company and Mary Poppins are probably among the ones he’s watched the most and the ones he enjoys the most.

Gokudera loves all of Disney’s ‘scary’ movies, especially the Disney Channel Original films. He’s such a huge Halloweentown fan and has watched all the movies, and also loves Hocus Pocus, Don’t Look Under the Bed, Mr. Boogedy, and The Haunted Mansion.

Yamamoto actually hasn’t watched a lot of Disney movies. He didn’t watch much television at all growing up and he won’t really see any Disney films until later on in his life, when he’ll watch them just because he’s curious. Disney is such a big thing and he’s wondering why people love them so much. I do think he definitely prefers the non-animated Disney films to the animated ones, enjoying films like Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey and Tomorrowland.

Overall, Ryohei, though he pretends to hate most Disney movies, really does enjoy the more action-packed Disney films. He’d be glued to the television during Mulan (the songs also get very stuck in his head), Brave, Big Hero 6, and Aladdin. When asked to name his favourite Disney movie though, he’d put White Fang at the top of the list.

Lambo really, really, really loves Winnie the Pooh and all the movies having to do with Pooh and his friends. He’ll pretend he doesn’t because of course he’s not interested in baby stuff like that. Lambo’s a grown-up and much too cool for Tigger and his antics. But he’s not moving away from that television if a Winnie the Pooh movie is on, though he might fall asleep in front of it.

Hibari has never, and will never, watched a Disney movie. For one thing, he’s really not a movie and television guy. They just don’t hold his interest in the least and he’d rather read or find more productive uses of his time. For another thing, Disney movies sound incredibly stupid to him, with idealistic views and unrealistic happy endings.

Mukuro honestly doesn’t watch a lot of Disney films. They hold no interest to Mukuro, who also has a lot of issues with just how much control over the entertainment business Disney has. However, I do see him as a huge Nightmare Before Christmas fan, though he doesn’t really realize that that is a Disney movie.

Chrome watched a lot of Disney movies when she was young, just because her mother preferred Chrome to be in front of a screen or out of her sight in some way. She really has a soft spot for the Disney princesses and as a kid, she dreamed of someday having her own happily-ever-after like all the princesses had. I feel like, out of all the Disney Princesses, Cinderella was probably her favourite and the one she connected to most.

[brinnanza]

mark yesterworld listed off like fifty disney original movies to please the "but what about" crowd in the comments AND YET he still did not mention my personal two favorite disney channel original movies, tower of terror, the ORIGINAL "based on the theme park ride" film and escape to witch mountain, which I scanned the tv guide for CONSTANTLY in the hopes of seeing again and only very rarely (I haven't seen it in literal decades but I was obsessed with the twin powers as a kid) (it's actually a remake of a 1975 movie apparently, which I should look up sometime) (I'm also pretty sure there was a theatrical remake? am I making that up? the rock was in it?)

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Physical media lovers rejoice...

This week, we got some rather bombshell news from Disney's home entertainment division...

First up is PREY, the Dan Trachtenberg-directed PREDATOR film, getting a 4K and Blu-ray in October. That's *big*. PREY was one of the movies that Disney sent straight to streaming last year, among many other fellow 20th Century Studios titles like THE PRINCESS and ROSALINE. PREY had actually had actually tested very well before release, and many were puzzled as to why it never got a theatrical release... and why it seemingly had no future as a title outside of Hulu.

Even some recent theatrical 20th Century/Searchlight titles - confusingly - never made it to disc, like BARBARIAN - a surprise favorite of mine last year - and SEE HOW THEY RUN. The former was also thought to be a Hulu-only exclusive, but great test results bumped it to theatrical. And thankfully so, that was a movie - what with its one or two hard-left turns - worth experiencing in a theater. I certainly hope those movies come to 4K/Blu-ray very, very soon.

But even better... More physical media of streaming-exclusive stuff! Disney is now putting three Disney+ shows on physical media, on 4K and Blu-ray. WANDAVISION, LOKI's first season, and THE MANDALORIAN's two seasons... Obvious that they'd go with the MCU shows and the STAR WARS content, but it's a start... And it was strongly implied for quite some time that Disney+ was going to be the *only* place where you could watch the Marvel shows...

Well, demand can be quite a persuasive thing to these companies... Being loud works!

I don't know if this will lead to any other shows or movies getting the disc treatment. Disney heads had sort of implied that they'd put a greater emphasis on physical media releases in North America (meanwhile, pulling the plug on physical media releases in Australia, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 being the final title) post-Chapek... But I can easily see this being applied to popular stuff and not everything that's been released.

My hope is that all those 20th Century films eventually make it to disc, along with the Disney+ original movies and shows. HOWARD, in particular, is at the top of my wish list. Especially the ones they inexplicably removed, too, like CRATER. No work should be erased and unavailable to see. Like, ever. When something's made and released, and I don't care how good or bad it is, it's the public's from there on out. It should always be available, especially in a post-Disney Vault world.

It's funny because Disney themselves, back when the home media division was called "Walt Disney Home Video", released a truck-TON of various live-action movies on video and DVD over the years...

In the early 1980s, 90% of what was available on video from Disney was live-action stuff, due to the company's hesitance to release the majority of the animated features on video. So you had almost all the live-action movies, from well-known films like MARY POPPINS and THE LOVE BUG to things like... THE NORTH AVENUE IRREGULARS, SNOWBALL EXPRESS, GUS, etc. By the late 1980s, several other films made it to video, such as 2-parter movies that were aired on Disney's anthology program... Ever hear of SMOKE? BLACK ARROW? MY DOG, THE THIEF? Even some of the first-ever Disney Channel movies saw video releases back then, such as TIGER TOWN and GONE ARE THE DAYES.

Disney was even pretty good with putting a lot of these on DVD in the 2000s, although some didn't make it past videocassettes. And I have to say, when Disney+ launched, I was quite astounded at how many titles they had on there... Outside of greed and corporations being dinguses, I see no reason for the stuff not to be on there. I get licensing/rights stuff concerning catalogue 20th Century titles... But Disney-made titles? C'moooon...

So, this news gives me a spot of hope regarding physical media and the availability of certain films/shows.

[sarah-aliterarylife]

5 Quick Reads

For our most recent public holiday in the UK, I wrote about my favourite doorstep novels (big books to get stuck into and take your time over).

Today, we’re going in a different direction, and I’ll be talking about some of my favourite quick reads.

We all live busy lives, and much as I love a big book, occasionally I crave the opposite: a short book I can read in a single weekend (or over 24 hours, if I’m on leave from work).

Here are five of my favourites:

Animal Farm by George Orwell (144 pages)

Ignore anyone who laughs at you when you tell them you’re reading this (which happened to me one day at work – it is possible the man in question thought I was talking about something else!).

Subtitled “A Fairy Story” this is actually anything but. A novella about the downtrodden animals of Manor Farm, who overthrow their human master Mr Jones and take over the running of the farm themselves, it’s a satire about totalitarian regimes (specifically Communism) and what happens when idealism is replaced by corruption and greed.

Granted, communism isn’t the most cheerful subject to acquaint yourself with on a sunny weekend, but Animal Farm is entertaining, powerful and terrifying in equal measure.

Shopgirl by Steve Martin (220 pages)

Yes, that Steve Martin. He writes books too!

I read this last year as part of a reading list. The prompt was “an author with the same initials as you”. I’m not the biggest Steve Martin fan, but I enjoyed the film version with Claire Danes and the author himself as her love interest, and so, over 3 long nights during the 2022 World Cup, I gave it a shot.

Shopgirl is a fun read, telling the story of Mirabelle, a lonely, adrift shop assistant who works in an LA department store. Mirabelle is pursued by two suitors: the older, emotionally unavailable millionaire Ray, and penniless, equally adrift Jeremy. It’s dark, funny and just a bit cool. I loved it.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (180 pages)

You didn’t expect me to write a list of quick reads without including The Great Gatsby, did you?

The quintessential novel of the Jazz Age, The Great Gatsby is one of the few novels that both myself and my sister thoroughly enjoyed. The tale of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his doomed romance with the socialite Daisy Buchanan, told by Gatsby’s acquaintance Nick Carraway, there is a reason this one regularly makes an appearance on lists of the greatest novels ever written.

It’s very readable, it’s concise, and it doesn’t meander. The characters are flawed but likeable, and most importantly they are relatable.

If you’ve never had the pleasure of making Jay Gatsby’s acquaintance, sit down this week and do so immediately. You won’t want to leave.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (104 pages)

One for a dark, cold, rainy night. I was gifted this book as a student, as part of a bound boxset of mystery and horror novels. It was part of a larger collection of short stories by Robert Louis Stevenson. Many people know what a “Jekyll and Hyde character” is, think they know the plot and hence avoid the book. Don’t be that person.

It reads like a mystery thriller, so if you’re not into horror novels (like me), there is still much here for you to enjoy.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is very much the perfect short story, an absolutely riveting thriller. The plot races along at a breakneck pace (Stevenson himself wrote the original draft in less than three days), and if you’re anything like me, you’ll wish by the end that you didn’t already know what was coming!

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (192 pages)

One night, in the days before Netflix and Disney Plus, I was bored. I was in search of something to watch on TV and began channel hopping, when I came across a film called Wide Sargasso Sea. I had missed the first few minutes, but something about it grabbed me instantly. I was riveted and didn’t move from my seat until the film was finished. I’ve never seen it shown on any television channel or streaming service from that day to this. Having searched fruitlessly for months to find a copy of the film (these were the dark days when such things were not instantly available), I decided instead to read the novel on which it was based.

A prequel to Jane Eyre, Wide Sargasso Sea is the story of Antoinette Cosway, a white heiress living in Jamaica, who meets and marries the young Mr Rochester. It is essentially the story of how their marriage disintegrates and she becomes the Madwoman in the Attic of Charlotte Bronte’s novel.

I later donated Wide Sargasso Sea to a book swap shop in Tenerife, in the hope that someone else would discover it and love it as much as I did. And perhaps one day the BBC will decide to show the film again!

What are your favourite quick reads?

[steelcityreviews]

REVIEW: Disney’s Descendants: The Musical

After three long years, Hamilton Theatre Inc. has returned in full force with sold out houses even before opening night (starting with their 64th season opener of the 1980's cult classic turned musical Heathers). The thrill of sold out productions speaks volumes to the cast, crew, band members, volunteers and, of course, audiences who have waited (im)patiently to sit back and be taken away on a musical theatre journey that HTI delivers with dedication and delight.

      Disney's Descendants: The Musical is a popular film series turned stage production combining storylines and songs from the first two films and showcases the villainous side of the House of Mouse. The teenage offspring of infamous characters such as Maleficent, Jafar, The Evil Queen Grimhild and Cruella DeVille are granted a royal opportunity to leave the realm their parents have been banished to and see what being good could do for them instead. It's a simple plot but one that speaks to audiences of all ages, especially if, like me, you believed that the villains were more interesting than the heroes anyway.

     The set design includes multiple levels, moving pieces, hidden passageways and some truly stunning stained glass windows which feature more beloved characters from Disney classics. HTI is no stranger to utilizing the stage to maximize its fullest potential and this set is no exception. Little touches and "easter eggs" let us know that the Disney spirit is truly present throughout. A huge nod to the efficiency of the stage management team allowing numerous transitions and set changes to flow smoothly.  The lighting design, for the most part, is effective, colourful and deepens the magical atmosphere of the story. There are times where the cast is only half lit or unintentionally in shadow which made it difficult to see their facial expressions and reactions. Some extra spot or warm flood lights would resolve this easily.

     Costume design is another strong element of this production, especially with so many recognizable characters from Disney's vast anthology. Designers Jenn Helsdon and Krystal Clarke blend iconic and modern, unique pieces to create original, flashy costumes for every character. Very impressive efforts from this design team who had a huge cast and multiple characters to create for.

      The cast of Disney's Descendants: The Musical is split into youth and adult members who almost always bring enthusiasm to their roles. Kudos must be given to the production team for finding a diverse range of talent with several cast members being on stage for the first time ever. There's several praiseworthy performances from both HTI veterans and first-timers alike. Taylor-Rae Scott oozes with delicious villainy as Maleficent and is, by far, the standout in terms of vocal prowess and characterization. Scott's signature song, "Evil Like Me" is a campy delight and channels the energy of the film version's star Kristin Chenoweth to near perfection. It is no small feat to hit those high soprano notes and Scott makes it seem effortless. Bravo.

      In their first HTI production, Emerie-Rose Scott (playing lead bad girl Mal) and Julian Braithwaite (as Jafar's son Jay) proved themselves time and again. Both had scene stealing moments and truly relished in their characters. Scott's "If Only" solo was a poppy Avril Lavigne-style ballad that suited her vocals well and was her shining moment. Braithwaite demonstrated a real knack for fast paced lyrics and comedy in "Goal" alongside companion Carlos (played with wicked humour by Julia Leslie) and the rest of the ensemble.

       As you can likely guess, there is an entire playbill’s worth of cast members to mention. It would be impossible to list every moment I enjoyed. A few more highlights include Mike Jensen's (in several roles) overall comedic timing, Zachary Glardine (Prince Ben)’s adorkable awkwardness, Fairy Godmother's constant sassy demeanour (what a performance by Graden Bourne!), a Snow White-Joan Rivers mashup and an especially lovely moment between best baddies Mal and Evie (played with endless charm by Rachel Kelly) in their poignant duet "Space Between." There are very few moments I found lacking and, if anything, that's the script and not the cast or director's fault. Some characters and plot points are just underdeveloped and despite that, this production ensures everyone on that stage has their moment.

    What the majority of these eager newcomers need to truly shine is confidence. It's clear that everyone is well directed, choreographed and staged by the combined efforts of Dustin Jodway and Bree McLean-Roberts but there are several moments where the lack of certainty in their vocals, projection or movements overtakes the scene leaving us feeling those opening night jitters far too frequently. I am certain that with more performances and basking in the audience's loud, continuous applause, the cast will thrive and their characters and voices will excel.

    As stated earlier, the entirety of Disney's Descendants: The Musical is now sold out (though at the time of posting this review, there's some very limited tickets available. Highly recommended hopefuls contact the box office to see if you can snag any remaining seats or be put on a waitlist). This speaks to the calibre of performance that HTI and its skilled members continue to bring season after season. It's a wicked good time for Disney and musical theatre lovers alike. Enjoy chillin' like a villain Hamilton, you won't be feeling rotten to the core after seeing this production.

For more information regarding the box office waitlist, please email:

info@hamiltontheatre.com or call 905.522.3032

The cast of Disney’s Descendants: The Musical

Featuring (L-R): Emerie-Rose Scott (Mal), Rachel Kelly (Evie), Luis Arrojo (Jafar), Lillian Goobie (Grimhild), Breann Jodway (Cruella), Taylor-Rae Scott (Maleficent), Zachary Giardine (Ben), Graden Bourne (Fairy Godmother), Julia Leslie (Carlos) and Julian Braithwaite (Jay)

Photo Credit: Bree McLean-Roberts and Kreations Photography