#Mufasa Re-Do

[artist-issues]

Mufasa Re-Do: Zazu

For my first adjustment; Zazu! Zazu and his interactions with the rest of the cast.

In the Mufasa We Got, Zazu is supposed to be young, and comedic relief, because he is following Sarabi around like he’s on her staff somehow, because the rest of her pride was scattered by the villain. He doesn’t interact directly with Taka or Rafiki beyond flying in the same traveling group as them, and he has one interaction with Mufasa where Mufasa tells Zazu that he can save the day by using his bird wings to cover their tracks so the villains don’t find them. 

They’re inconsistent with Zazu’s characterization, and with what he’s doing in the story. At first, he seems to be dedicated to Sarabi as part of her honor guard, though she mentions he’s just her scout. That’s supposed to be funny, because he’s like a 1lb-bird claiming to protect a 200+lb lioness. But any time there’s trouble while they’re in the traveling part of the movie, he turns into a coward and darts into the sky with a one-liner about how he didn’t sign up for this danger. Even though he had no trouble “confronting danger” when it was Taka and Mufasa. Then, even later in the climax, he seems to lose all cowardice (inexplicably) and has to be rescued because he’s trying to fight three evil lions at once.

None of which has anything to do with the Zazu we know and love from The Original Lion King. 

He has one line at the end where he seems to be a stickler for tradition, which would be in-character for the Zazu we know—he tells Mufasa that he must banish Taka for betraying them. But uh…where does that tradition come from, and how does Zazu know it? He just got to this kingdom ten minutes ago. Also, THIS young Zazu has not demonstrated any personality-bent toward tradition until this moment. Basically what I’m saying is, they just needed someone to suggest banishment in that moment, and Zazu was luckily nearby and they could give him that line. It only fit his adult-characterization by accident. 

In the WHOLE movie, they should’ve been showing that he was a stickler for rules and pomp and circumstance. They should’ve been showing how he was THRILLED to be part of a royal lioness’ staff, and wasn’t going to let anyone take that away from him. 

In the movie, however, I love one moment with Zazu, which was totally inconsistent and never gets addressed again, but they should’ve been focusing on it much more and it could’ve been great:

It’s when Mufasa encourages Zazu to use his wings to cover their tracks. 

This scene accomplishes 3 things:

1 - It gives Zazu a moment where he can be validated, and feel useful, as a young bird in the company of royal lions. That could be a real character beat that shows us how he got to the majordomo we know & love in The Lion King. 

2 - It shows Mufasa’s “superpower” as a character; he “respects all creatures in the Circle of Life” and can not only empathize with them enough to see how they can be useful—but he can INSPIRE them to work together for the greater good. He can make a plan, see how someone else can be delegated-to to put it into action, and then inspire them to get it done. You know. Like a good leader.

3 - It shows all the characters around Mufasa, from Sarabi to Taka to Rafiki, that there’s a different way to think; animals of all species can be useful. For Taka, he needs to learn that to become the evil-genius who thinks of allying himself with hyenas. For Sarabi, she can admire the way Mufasa trusts others, and see that they CAN be trusted.

The problem is? The Movie We Got doesn’t lead up to it well. Zazu acts insecure and uncertain, in this ONE scene, until Mufasa believes in him and gives him a pep talk. But earlier, Zazu seemed to have no problem with confidence and self-importance. The other characters’ interactions with Zazu don’t lead up to this moment well either. Actually, they’ve barely interacted with him at all. He’s just flying around saying one-liners to himself.

So! Here’s what I would’ve done.

Young Zazu:

Instead of being all-over-the-place with his characterization, I would’ve made Zazu an intensely loyal bird who thinks he can be useful to the Grand Scheme of Things. Unfortunately, he has way too much confidence in being able to do anything, when actually, he needs to learn that he;s just a bird. He can do some things well, but he won’t fit into ANY place in the Circle of Life—he needs to find HIS specific place. A place where he can be of the most service. (That’s a recurring theme in my idea for the movie.) So, first he thinks he can be a bodyguard for Sarabi, then he almost gets her and himself killed and loses all confidence—then Mufasa gives it back to him by showing him that he can be more useful in a smaller way. Like covering their tracks.

Zazu and Sarabi:

Sarabi’s father did leave Sarabi in Zazu’s care. But it was a panicked, spur-of-the-moment decision. It went like this:

Sarabi’s father heard there were Rogues hunting in his territory and, like a good King should, interrupted their illegal hunt and tried to chase them out. They happened to be toying with young Zazu at the time when Sarabi’s Dad burst in and fought with them. But he was overpowered, underestimating their numbers, and Sarabi’s Dad realized that his kingdom was about to be taken over. So in the middle of what became his last stand, he commanded Zazu, who was still nearby,  to go find his daughter, the Princess, and warn her to run away. But Zazu actually found her after she already escaped, on her own, and insisted that “your father left you in my care!” Then he won’t leave her alone.

And in my concept, she hates that.

 In The Movie We Got, Sarabi was very inconsistent, too, just when it came to Zazu. She’s like, “I don’t need anybody’s help— and nobody’s WOULD help me, anyway.” She acts that way with Mufasa & Taka, she acts that way with Rafiki, and she eventually acts that way when Mufasa wants to get help from elephants. BUT. She does NOT act that way with Zazu. Which is not only inconsistent, but ridiculous, because he is, again, a 1lb-bird, and making her consistently annoyed by his offer of help would have strengthened the story and given Mufasa more of a spotlight, by contrast, because he DOES value Zazu.

Anyway.

Sarabi should find Zazu bothersome, especially because she CAN’T get rid of him. He flies out of her reach whenever she tries to scare him away, but he never goes far, and he won’t shut up. At first. He’s convinced the King, her father, condescended to save his life and entrusted him with something important, he’s thrilled to have that mission in life, and he doesn’t (at first) care what she or anyone says to the contrary.

For most of the movie, Zazu and Sarabi’s relationship is one-sided. Eventually she softens her dismissal of Zazu into seeing him more like an “annoying little-brother,” (because they bond over Zazu’s brief connection to her late father + they spend more time together + Mufasa sets a more empathetic example and it rubs off on her.) 

Then they have one tense moment where Zazu’s bad-fit as her bodyguard really leads to bad consequences for Sarabi, and he loses all confidence, until Mufasa fixes that.

By the end of the movie, Sarabi and Zazu are friends and she’s come around to Mufasa’s way of thinking—all animals in the Circle of Life should be respected in their own right, and Zazu is their first example of why.

But at the beginning, it’s pretty tense. He insists he can be useful and she demonstrates how much she refuses to need help by wishing she could eat him.

Zazu is introduced to the rest of the group like this:

While Sarabi is slinking through the bush, trying to put as much distance between herself and her fallen kingdom as she can, Zazu won’t stop flying overhead, yammering. He’s talking about how danger can come from anywhere, and pontificating on what a good Royal Escort’s policy should be to watch out for it, and she’s shushing him but he’s taking no notice.

 Taka and Mufasa spot him flapping and monologuing above some bushes as they are making their own escape, and when they get closer, THAT’S how they find and meet Sarabi.

Taka thinks Sarabi is beautiful at first sight and tries to pounce on Zazu as soon as he gets the opportunity, kind of to show off and make an entrance. Zazu protests that he is Sarabi’s Royal Escort, and should not be eaten. Sarabi wants him to shut up—she doesn’t know if these two strangers are part of the Rogues that she’s running from, and she doesn’t want them to know who she is (more on that in my Sarabi-focused post.)

But Mufasa? 

Zazu and Mufasa: 

Mufasa hears that Zazu is Sarabi’s Royal Escort and he thinks that’s a great idea. He admires that she works with a bird, immediately. (Remember, in the great Lin-Manuel/Lebo M. Song, “I Always Wanted a Brother,” Mufasa admires birds for their freedom and ability to see more than he can?)

He shows how Zazu can be useful, and eventually convinces Sarabi that Zazu IS useful. This can happen more than once, but the best moment I’m thinking of is Zazu flying to get help when Sarabi is knocked out by the elephants. (That’s scene was almost strong, so I want to keep it.) 

Zazu does this without thinking, even though a moment ago he was downhearted and feeling useless after his Big Mistake Moment. But Mufasa takes notice, after getting Zazu’s message and saving Sarabi. He reminds Zazu of  his helpfulness as a messenger later on, when they need him to cover their tracks, and that convinces Zazu that he really is believed-in by the lions. Then Zazu goes to Mufasa for orders in the climax, further hitting the nail-on-the-head that Mufasa’s True Place in the Circle of Life, where he serves others the best, is as their natural leader.

Because he can see the respectable nature of all creatures, from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope. And it starts with Zazu!

Zazu and Mufasa are fast friends, from the beginning. This is obviously because Mufasa does more than tolerate a bird traveling with them, he actually laughs at Zazu’s jokes and treats him civilly—but he also stops Taka from eating Zazu.

Zazu and Taka:

The running gag for much of the movie is that Taka finds Zazu annoying, as one of his maneuvers to have something in common with Sarabi. Also from an early age, Taka believes other animals are only as useful as they are tasty, or maybe as entertainment. 

Zazu dislikes Taka’s presumption to always be walking alongside Sarabi. He keeps getting in the way every time Taka tries to put the moves on the Princess. Sometimes Taka comedically menaces Zazu, but once or twice at the end of the movie, to show how violent and bitter Taka is getting as Mufasa gets the spotlight, Taka really tries to smack Zazu around. 

Mostly, Zazu serves as a way for Taka to demonstrate how differently he and Mufasa think…and Sarabi is caught in the middle of the two worldviews.

Zazu and Rafiki:

Zazu starts out skeptical of Rafiki and even being a little jealous of him. He sort of unconsciously liked that he was the only non-lion traveling companion of Sarabi—it gave him a sense of special-importance. He also likes things to be proper, and Rafiki seems a little crazy, so their personalities don’t exactly mesh. 

But then I’d hint every now and then at the idea that Rafiki, in their travels, is teaching Zazu about the traditions of the Great Kings, and how lion prides have been run in the Pridelands. Zazu likes that, because in his mind he’s part of Sarabi’s nonexistent court, and now he has rules and regulations to insert into conversations with her.

This way, by the end, if Mufasa needs someone to suggest punishment for Taka, Zazu can believably be the one to do it. And it won’t come out of nowhere. It’ll feel like this was always where Zazu was headed, because now we’ve seen where he came from. 

[abdy-18]

Yor is very grateful to Loid and Anya because thanks to them she can now go out to more places to have fun, so when she found out that there was going to be a re-screening of the movie “Bambi” at the movie theater, she decided to return the favor and invite them to watch the movie.

Everything was going well until they had to leave the movie theater while Loid was carrying Anya because she started to cry inconsolably at the scene of Bambi's mother's death.

Yor's eyes become moist seeing Anya so sad and Loid so worried , she really was a fool, this was all her fault.

The death of the “real” Mrs. Forger must have devastated them so much to the point that the only way Loid and Anya can move on is to not mention her at all.

Poor Loid, he has no siblings, no parents and Franky seems to be his only close friend, before her, Franky was her husband's only support, and when he wasn't available, then Loid was alone (Sometimes she's curious about Anya's maternal family, but that's none of her business.).

So she had to have a conversation with Yuri in which she asked him to please not bother Loid by questioning him about his past.

“Please, Yuri, leave him alone. Loid is not a bad person, if he doesn't talk about his past or doesn't show pictures it's not because he's hiding things, it's because it hurts him and Anya, it's not nice to ask a widower about his past wife.”

She imagines Loid the first days after his wife passed away, having to take care of a 3/4 year old girl by himself and having to explain to her why her mom is not coming back, she understands, Yuri was around the same age when their mother died, and although she tried to stay strong, she could not keep her voice from cracking when she explained that “mom was very tired and fell asleep…forever.”

Yor had heard of people who after being widowed focus on work so they don't have to think about their loss, maybe, that's why Loid works so hard and comes home so late, deep down he must still miss his wife a lot, even more so considering that Anya looks nothing like Loid so he must look a lot like her.

And now here she was, a failed attempt at a wife that made his daughter cry.

After Anya calmed down they returned home and Loid and Yor read her a bedtime story.

Children must be very perceptive because Anya seemed to notice her distress and decided to try to reassure her by saying that “it's not mama's fault that Anya is sad” and that she's sorry she couldn't finish the movie because she was loving it and was having so much fun watching it.Anya is such a sweet girl, Yor could not help but hug her.

Loid and Anya (and Bond) have only been part of her life for a short time but Yor loves them and would do anything for them.

This was a mini idea I had for a one-shot but I don't know if I ever finished writing it so here it is 😊

I think Yor secretly must compare herself to (her idea of) the “real” Mrs. Forger, but obviously she would never say that to Loid for respect.

Anya is lucky that the lion king movie was not released until the 90s because if she sees the scene of Mufasa's death, she would cry uncontrollably because it would remind her of the future Bond showed her in which she found Loid's corpse.

damn, now I imagine Anya in this future telling Loid “papa, come on...you got to get up, we got to go home” just like Simba

[yuurei20]

hello there! so sorry for how vague this question is but: do you have any idea as to why EN won’t give us the tamashina event? :’< we got the stitch event before tamashina 💔

Hello hello! ^^ Thank you for this question!

It is true that the EN server seems to have shuffled the order of release for Tamashna Muina (this is the spelling of the event music from the official soundtrack, which I have never seen anywhere else before 👀 Interesting!) but EN has a history of rearranging events, putting Halloween before Vargas Camp, Tsumsted before Harveston, Port Fest after Vargas Camp 2, etc ^^

We do not have any precedence for EN skipping something altogether so I think it is safe to say that EN will receive Tamashna sooner or later, and we might be able to guess when 👀

The 30th anniversary of the release of the animated Lion King movie is coming! ^^

As it was originally released in June in the US it seems that a June release would have made more sense than the Stitch event for this month. There is a chance they are opting for the Japan release date, instead? Maybe?

And there is another event up and coming!

The new "Mufasa" movie is coming out this December, but it was originally slotted for a July 5th release 👀

Is it possible that Aniplex USA timed their 2024 schedule around Mufasa coming out in July, and were not able to adapt to the sudden change that came from the writer's strike?

This would not be the first time that the EN server has tied in-game content to a live-action theatrical release, with a "release celebration" and Octavinelle Training Camp timed with the The Little Mermaid! (And this was unique to EN! JP received a log-in bonus but no training camp.)

In conclusion: Based on past release patterns, there is a good chance that Tamashna is on its way! ^^

A July release would be curious due to its proximity to Leona's birthday, but it would also not be the first time that EN has released multiple SSRs of the same character curiously close together (re: Phantom Bride and Clubwear Ace, Dorm Malleus and Birthday Malleus, Tsum Azul and Birthday Azul, etc.).

Only time will tell! 🦁

[weclassybouquetfun]

I thought we'd get no Luca Marinelli after the festival showings of his upcoming series M – IL FIGLIO DEL SECOLO / M. SON OF THE CENTURY, but thankfully mans has things to do; like attending the Italian premiere of MUFASA: IL RE LEONE / MUFASA: THE LION KING (directed by Barry Jenkins).

At least when Marwan Kenzari go baggy, it's a more fitted baggy. Never go full baggy Luca!

MORE LUCA AT THE MUFASA PREMIERE.

Buts from their panel courtesy of YouTube channel Madrog Cinema and Twitter account Rebelle Vague. Costar Elodie mentioning her favourite villain is Ursula and Luca divulging that Ursula was voiced by his aunt; Luca talking about doing Disney voice work.

[daily-good-omens-hcs]

Get to know me better!!

thanks for the tag @look-at-you-you-re-gorgeous !

Last Song: I think the last song I listened to was “I Always Wanted A Brother” from the new Mufasa movie. It’s been stuck in my head for absolutely no reason.

Favorite Color: PURPLE!!!

Last Book: I’m reading a book called “The Center of the Universe” rn, and it’s interesting, but I don’t really love it, yk?

Last Movie: Last movie I watched was uhh Moana 2?? I think?? I liked it :))

Last TV Show: I’m currently watching Brooklyn 99!!

Sweet/Spicy/Savory: I like them all, but I have a HUGE sweet tooth

Last Thing I Looked Up: “brooklyn 99 season 4 episode 14 imdb” 😭 I was trying to find the name of an actor I recognized

Current Obsession: Legends of Avantris, specifically Once Upon a Witchlight!! If you don’t know what that is, it’s a channel of like.. 7 (?) people who play DND, and OUAW is one of their campaigns!

Looking Forward To: The last performance of the play I’m in. It’s been fun, and I will most definitely cry, but I’m tired of the rehearsals 😢

People I’d Like to Get to Know Better: If you’re interested, you can do this to! :) No pressure though! @inezrable @incorrect-upon-a-witchlight

[gemsofgreece]

10 best animated movies to watch in Greek

One of the best ways to practice a language is by watching a movie. Even more so, watching an animated movie dubbed in your target language can be really fun and useful, as these movies tend to include jokes (even inside jokes specific to the language) and songs. So, without further ado, here is my personal list of 10 best animated movies to watch in Greek.

10. Shrek 2

The reason I am recommending Shrek 2 instead of Shrek is just because I have the - maybe not standard, but certainly not unpopular - opinion that Sherk 2 is overall a funnier movie than Shrek. The Greek dub maintains successfully all the witty and somewhat adult-oriented humour. The voice casting done for characters like Donkey, Puss in Boots and Gingy is memorable and accurate.

9. Lion King

The voice casting is really good. Adult Simba has a sympathetic voice, Mufasa has a superb kingly radio voice, the hyenas are hysterical, Zazu is funny too, Nala's voice is warm and womanly. I also love Scar's voice. Scar has a sinister voice but it's a weaker, not as “thick” a voice as Mufasa’s, just like Scar relied on the evilness of his mind and not his muscles. Timon and Pumba's dub is iconic. Greek Can you feel the love and Be Prepared are fantastic versions of the songs. And Greek Mufasa just steals every scene vocally, especially those when he appears in Simba's memory.

8. Monsters INC

Another amazing voice casting for all characters but we all (Greeks) know that this is one man's show. Christos Hatzipanayotis just KILLS it as Mike Wazowski. I believe Greek Wazowski is much funnier than the original. Also let's remember "Fovízume yatí sas frondízume" lol the Greek "We scare because we care (for you)"

7. Finding Nemo

This dub did something special with the casting. It casted as Marlin and Dory two actors that had already worked together in a super famous comedy series as a couple. As a result, their chemistry is off the roof and Dimitra Papadopoulou's voice is incredibly accurate for Dory's character. Dory's whale language is hysterical and I also love the incredibly relaxed voice actor they found for that turtle reincarnation of Bob Marley. All other casting is good too, except I want to slap the extremely nasal Nemo.

6. Sleeping Beauty

Although I love this movie dearly and I really like its Greek version, I actually place it that high because I have found it to be really popular with foreign people. Some say they like Aurora's song better in Greek, which I find interesting as I really love the original. It is surely a masterful work though. It is an old movie and the Greek actors speak more elegantly, more sophisticatedly like people tended to, back then. The voices suit properly an aethereal princess and her dreamy prince, the fairies have these warm, elderly, ladylike voices and Maleficent also is imposing and very cold.

5. Aristocats

This is a perfect example where it is clear that both the voice casting directors and the actors worked their asses off. Every actor chosen is simply ideal for their character, including the kittens, Edgar the evil servant, the diva, the super SUPER old lawyer, the tomcats, Lady is so prim and proper, Uncle Waldo and the goose nieces with their Britsh accent Greek lol BUT. I have no idea how it dawned on them to make the dog couple have a comedic Heptanesian island accent but whoever that was, they were a bloody genius. Not only it's impeccably performed, it's twice as hilarious when you see them in an old Parisian environment speaking some really strong Heptanesian out of nowhere. The dogs in the original do not have any particularly heavy accent to my understanding, so if you watch the original after you have watched the Greek, you won't even understand they are supposed to be funny. I love that the Greek directors took the uneventful speech of the dogs and were like "Clearly, we 're gonna make them speak extreme Heptanesian" XD

4. Spirit: The Stallion of the Cimarron

Spirit has mostly narration and songs, it has very few dialogues. Its songs are amazing though and they really make a difference in the movie. In the Greek dub, both the narrating and singing role was given to singer - actor Yannis Savvidakis who is very talented. Not only he performed those songs wonderfully but I liked how well it maintained the feel of rock ballads coming from America, despite being sung in a language from a place that has nothing to do with any of this.

3. The Emperor's New Groove

Okay, we reached the Golden Triad. The Emperor's New Groove is, simply put, the best Disney comedy to date. If we consider that the Greek version is funnier than the original, as I strongly believe, you get a comedy for the ages. The voice casting is PERFECT. Every voice chosen is like it was created for the character, the characters get life and personality through the vocal performances. Kuzco sounds blasé, egocentric, sarcastic and you want to slap him silly, Kronk sounds like a soft dumbass himbo which is what he is, Pacha is your everyday good-hearted peasant, Yzma is killing it as the old ambitious narcissist. The humour is awesome and tranferred ideally into Greek comedy. It just works on every level. I can't explain it more, it's just perfect. While this movie is unfairly obscure and underrated on a global level, in Greece it was a hit and people still remember quotes by heart, exactly beause the dub was so god-tier level.

2. The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Okay. The dub of dubs. The Dub of Notre Dame. Seriously, this is a masterpiece on every aspect. Again, this is better than the original. Esmeralda has a sensual, really beautiful speaking voice and an outstanding singing one (Alcestis Protopsalti y'all), Frollo has an ideal casting in that he sounds like a bad person but in a totally realistic way (as he is also a very realistic villain) and he sounds so very sophisticated, very elegant. Sinister and elegant, which makes total sense as in the Disney version he is the supreme justice minister of Paris. Quasimodo is voiced by Sakis Rouvas (a sexy singer with a soft voice), who a few found like a somewhat odd pairing but it works perfectly since Disney's Quasimodo is soft, sensitive and considerably sophisticated as well. Clopin's singing is done by tenor Konstantinos Paliatsaras. The songs in the Greek version are in my opinion better performed than in English. Hellfire is quite possibly the most loved villain song in Greece. A small example to understand the level of perfection; the intro song "Bells of Notre Dame" has an extremely difficult ending note that only a few versions globally managed to hit. Even the original singer struggles with the note, he hits it but a little weakly, he is very supported and almost covered by backing vocals. In other versions, even this is not possible at all and singers just skip the note. The Greek version by Paliatsaras is one of the very few where the note is hit correctly, he essentially rips it apart, but I think it is also the only version (unless something escapes me) where the lyrics were different in a way that it made a difference to the singing. All versions I have heard are a variation of the original "bells, bells, bells, bells" which prepares the crescendo / raise of the pitch and then, "of notre DAAAAAME". Greek is the only version I have listened to where a full sentence is delivered effortlessly, without a repetition of "bells". "Ke ihún pandú kambánes stin karthyá tis panaYAAAAAS". It's a full sentence instead of a convenient one-syllable word over and over. Of course, it had to be done because the word for bells in Greek (kambánes) wouldn't work but it still was a harder thing to deliver than the repetition and it was accomplished even better. Okay, in short, Oscar worthy dub. Perfect in every way. I am in love with it, you can tell. The only reason it is not first is because the first spot had to be saved for the obvious one.

1. Hercules

The obvious first spot. Of course, it doesn't take it without deserving it. Greeks really made sure to give this one even more attention to detail. So, it doesn't only feel like it's natural, it also IS the most natural one, as contemporary languages go. All voice casting is once more ideal. Hercules, or Heracles as he is of course in Greek, has a sensitive, warm, sympathetic voice. They did a great thing with Megara when they gave the role to Evridiki who has a more mature, seasoned voice which fits Megara's character and not like a girly, princessy, out-of-place voice. Famous comedian Lakis Lazopoulos steals the show in all his scenes and they are MANY, since he plays Philoktetes and Pain AND Panic, all three of them! But he can't steal the scenes where Hades is in, as Konstantinos Tzoumas is in reality the big star of the movie. First and foremost, you watch this movie for Hades. One more fantastic detail in my opinion is what they did with the Muses. So you know, the original movie Muses are singing a liberal style of American gospel. Instead of ditching it as unfitting and entirely inaccurate, the Greek directors played along with it. Most notably, one of the Muses is voiced by Julie Massino, a vocal coach and singer born and raised in the US (I don't know if she has Greek descent) who lives and works in Greece, so she has a natural and strong American accent in her Greek! I just found this so cool. It is a really cool dub. They knew the stakes were very high and they delivered down to the very last detail.

*We really had to title this: Heracles - Beyond the Myth...!

[ultraericthered]

Whitewash Fit For A King

Somewhat related to the post I just made.

It's quite ironic given King Magnifico's cult leader-like status in the film that there exists a small but still sizeable (for this site at least) amount of Wish viewers who make up a cult following of Magnifico stans. And when I say this, I mean they're all that kind of villain stan.

Oh no no no no no...

Yeah, it partially gives me more cause to resent the filmmakers of Wish including both scenes with the burnt tapestry of Magnifico's sad childhood trauma-related past that spurred him towards creating his kingdom in the final cut ("If only I'd known magic back then...", "so THAT doesn't happen again!"), but at the same time, I feel like even without those moments, these people would've found some way of woobifying and saintifying the character and act as apologists for his villainy. After all, this has happened with virtually every fictional villain in existence in the history of ever. These kinds of stupid, immature simps who don't want to look in the eye the reality that their faves are problematic to the point of being literal evil villains have always existed, and a character like Magnifico is hardly the most perplexing case of this. I recall long ago reading the opinion pieces of someone who was an apologist for Scar from The Lion King, trying to paint him as a lifelong victim and Mufasa as the real villain (can't wait for the upcoming Mufasa movie to re-ignite THOSE takes!). On Xitter I once came upon someone who actually simped for and woobified fucking Ghetsis from Pokemon, projecting all sorts of mental illness and disabilities onto him while insisting that the character had some redeemability that has never once been shown to exist in canon. Even on here, there are people who stan Phillip Wittebane/Emperor Belos from The Owl House, to the point where they maliciously trivialize the religious trauma that Dana Terrace had to grow up with so that they can act like she's petty for "vilifying" the literal villain of her own goddamn story. And I don't even need to get started on the "Magneto Is Never Wrong" subgenre of villain apologism that you can find all over social media. These stans are all absolutely koo-koo!

I've seen this whitewashing/apologism garbage for villains spewed out ad nauseum and the Magnifico simps all sound the same as what I've seen out of those other villain simps - "He deserved better, he wasn't at fault for his mental downward spiral that Asha, the citizens of Rosas, and even his wife drove him to, how dare Disney vilify the mentally ill and victims of trauma like this, blah blah blah blah." And yet there was still one in particular with takes that made me go:

To be specific, it was the very same "Rainbow the Clown" take that this post gave a mention to. The person in question felt the need to mention that they're a Christian (and I hate that in the Trump era, that has become almost a red flag for me), and that as such, they believe that all black magic/dark magic has demonic roots and that they can recognize a demonic possession when they see one. Their interpretation of the film's events, which had absolutely zero basis in anything that was made the least bit explicit in the film itself, was that Magnifico reading from the tome of forbidden magic gave some anonymous demonic entity that progenerated that magic access into Magnifico's soul, mind, and body, and it overtook him. Therefore, everything Magnifico went on to do cannot be blamed on Magnifico himself, as he was "possessed" at the time, not in his right state of mind and not truly aware of the reality around him anymore. And this is why it was so cruel that he ended up punished rather than saved.

Yeah, about that. In the actual movie, there's zero mention of demons or otherworldly entities tied to that spellbook. The black magic itself that is conjured out from the book once the pages are read from and is able to make the spells and curses described within the book work is its own natural force. Its capabilities are destructive and once it bonds with its caster, it poisons their mind with an unbreakable addiction to using it, so that's why it was considered "forbidden" to start with. Magnifico unseals the tome and reads from its pages during his grievance-laden villain song, and we see this:

The magic comes out like green arms or ropes that coil around both of Magnifico's hands, and once they do, we see that green magic juice flow right inside of Magnifico, which briefly makes his eyes glow green as well. This is not "possession" - this is amalgamation. This magic binds itself to Magnifico like a symbiote, and in turn Magnifico is one with the magic now, committed to wielding it and making it manifest as awesome power to service his whims and desires. The literal next thing that happens after is the green fading from the king's eyes as he goes "Where was I? Oh yeah." After the process has be done, he shakes it off and resumes his singing, only now with the green dark magic at his disposal to freely use however he pleases. The magic and the destabilizing effect it has on Magnifico's mental state as he uses it to break and ingest magically contained wishes was not the cause of his turn to evil: it was the consequence of it.

And let's say that the book did contain a demonic entity that made the magic happen and it went into Magnifico to influence him from within a la Myotismon with Yukio Oikawa. It was still Magnifico's own damn fault because he chose to go back on his word to his wife and open up the forbidden book. He's no more absolved of calling out the demon than Mok Swagger is for deliberately summoning a demon to devour his own concertgoers. And no, "but he's just so traumatized!", "he's mentally ill with anxiety issues and was having a breakdown!", or "Asha and those selfish, ungrateful citizens drove him to it!" don't erase Magnifico's agency and capacity for making choices that he did, even in a limited time, think through and decided to go for it anyway. I'm not into the discourse over whether or not Magnifico could be redeemed or if he "deserved redemption" or not, but if you'd like to see a character's redemption, they need to have done some unjustifiable wrongs or else there's nothing to "redeem" them for!

(There was another Magnifico cultist who was a little more on point and likened the book and its magic to a substance abuse metaphor, drawing parallels between Magnifico and the character of Jack Torrance from Stephen King's The Shining. But they specifically paralleled his situation with King's Jack Torrance, when in the actual canonical narrative of the actual movie, Magnifico is Kubrick's Jack Torrance - the alcohol addiction isn't there to draw his inner demons back out so that a demonic entity can better use him and ultimately possess him, it's there to reveal who he always truly was deep down, which is what he becomes when he discards anything and everything in him that beforehand was reigning him in and holding him back.)

Another argument for the demonic possession theory? This part here in the climax, cited as the moment the entity was exorcised from Magnifico, leaving him confused and afraid of what he awoke to find himself currently facing before getting oh so wrongfully imprisoned.

....Folks, that's literally Sakina's wish, the first wish he broke and absorbed into himself through use of his newly acquired dark magic, coming back out from him. The green glow is there because, as just stated, it was that green dark magic that was used to eat the wishes in the first place. The green eyes and green glow fade from Magnifico to signify his power weakening. All the wishes that he absorbed after Sakina's come out from him following this. And if he'd really snapped out of a possession and was back to being his true "good" self at that point, why would the first thing out of his mouth be "NO! THOSE ARE MY WISHES!"? And if the demonic dark magic entity was gone, then where do the green magic hands that drag Magnifico into the tip of his scepter come from? The magic did not leave him because it cannot leave him; it's a part of him, he's a part of it. Reading from the pages of that book even once made him committed to the magic. It's a symbiotic bond and there's no breaking it. That was the point!

Last argument for this crackpot idea I saw from this person was that "high on green-colored dark magic" Magnifico cannot possibly be a valid representation of the king's true character because....his face when we first met him looked so handsome and kind! Look at him!

It's the same ol' "Hans' Twist Villain reveal was bullshit because he was not set up like a villain at any point beforehand, meaning he was not a villain until that very moment, and we can tell this because he never LOOKED evil!" argument, the one that usually relied on a single moment of Hans giving a sweet looking yet condescendingly fond and amused grin to himself after having met Anna that ignores all context, and is based on the idea that only cartoon caricatures of delightfully foul and obvious evilness have to exist to play the villain in place of realistic people in a Disney animated movie, as in real life, evil people aren't easy to identify just by looking at them. The thing is that some Disney villains, arguably all the way back to the likes of Stromboli and the Coachman in Pinocchio, serve as reflections of the dangers of people that have existed and still do exist in the world. King Magnifico is that for the covert narcissist in a position of authority that they're prone to abuse. Yeah, he won't always have EVIL BASTARD written all over his face, but there's context for why that is. In that first image, he's just talking to another person when that person is applying for a job working for him, and as such he plays the part of the kind, charming, generous and benevolent king. In the second image, he's looking at the wishes. The beauty within those magic wish orbs and the splendor their magic gives off make him very happy; that's part of why he hoards as many as possible.

That is King Magnifico.

^ And THAT is ALSO King Magnifico.

He's a villain. He visibly enjoys being a villain. He is valid as a villain. Let villains be villains and love them for that, dammit!

[starlover2]

More HCS because my FOP hyperfixation kicked into overdrive

Re-names Schnozmo's actual name is Sagittarius in my au, Anti-Schnozmo's name is Oberon(No way in hell am I typing out the name backwards) Blonda's actual name is Wendy Bc Wendy and Wanda sound great together Goldie Goldenglow's new name is Amber Sunsprite, I don't like the og name so

More Orion/Omsoc

Orion and Oberon's relationship is like Mufasa and Scar, like "Oh I should practice my curtsy.." "Do not turn your back on me, Oberon!" "OH no Orion. Maybe you shouldn't your back on me" Furious cat growling and hissing "IS THAT A CHALLENGE?" "Temper, temper.. I wouldn't dream of challenging you"

Since regular Schnoz/Sagittarius is an evil conman with a fake nemesis, I pretty much went: What if Oberon is also an evil conman but is actually a threat and has enemies Oberon actually tried to kill Orion via hitmen multiple times and Orion has scars bc of them. And he knows its his brother behind them Oberon thinks Irep is the only good thing to come from Orion bc the little shit caused so much chaos the day he was born Irep on the other hand hates him

Orion is not only the king of the dark fae but also a historian. And he searched every nook and cranny to restore any dark fae history that was unbiased and thought to be lost to time Once he was able to restore enough of it, he decided to teach the next generation of dark fae himself, and it obviously includes his son And unlike Ms. Powers, Orion makes sure his son feels included Irep He eventually warmed up to the idea of taking over the Realm of the Fae as a family, and his father making him feel included contributed to that

[my-book-list]

When the Lights Go Out

Two races later, in Spain, Harry and Louis are racing in P4 and P5 during lap 35. Harry is using the turn to pass, sneaking past Louis as he takes the turn slightly wider. Louis cuts in as they go around the curve, and Harry is forced off the track as he pulls ahead and takes P4 from Louis.  He pulls away from Louis during the second half of the lap, until he hears from the team radio during lap 36.  “Harry, you have to give the position back.” “What?!” “You were not ahead at the peak of the turn, so going off the track was illegal to do while passing” Steffan says.  “That’s bullshit,” Harry says. Aston Martin must have challenged his pass. “We have to give it back.” Harry does, but he isn’t happy about it.  After the race, Harry stays after his press conference with Max to hover and watch the next one, which includes Louis.  “You seemed pretty outraged by Harry’s pass,” a Dutch reporter asks. Harry mentally makes a note to seek out the footage from Louis’s team radio from the race. “At that moment, were you confident that it wasn’t legal?” “Immediately yes, I was ahead at the peak and knew it wasn’t right.” Harry doesn’t wait to watch the rest of the press conference and leaves.  The incidents continue, small altercations during the races that are building up more and more. When Harry is set to win his first ever grand prix in Canada, Louis’s car breaks down and he doesn’t move it off the track before the power unit fully dies. Between these aggravations on track, and Harry’s persistent crush on Louis, he finds himself less and less confident of how he should act around the other driver. While they used to celebrate after races and run in the same circles, Harry now hangs out with Niall alone. Louis does the same.

“If you can’t take the heat, then get out of the kitchen.”

“Driving is your fuckin’ job, act like it.” on ao3 by @antidotetogo

79k

[lionessinarms]

I've seen a lot of hate from the upcoming new Lion King movie and I get it, it's the internet. I know a ton of die hard fans would have loved to see the new story done in the traditional 1994 movie. But that is not what we're getting. Personally, I loved the 2019 because it's different version of my favorite movie. More adult feeling and full of epic action! Seeing The Lion King on Broadway too helped with that.

So enjoy this nice digital fan art. Done in photoshop (my age is showing). I had fun looking at high res images from the original movie to color match even the line work. Yeah I got lazy and. copied the background or was I being efficient?

Can't wait see Mufasa! I'll probably be doing more art like this soon!

[kaythefloppa]

With The Lion Guard's 10th anniversary happening in November of next year, I think the best way they can celebrate it, and also the easiest way they can celebrate it (as in, not a fourth season, sequel series, books, or new movies), would be reruns.

When The Lion Guard was coming to a conclusion, it's viewing figures on television took a hard dip, partly due to Disney's poor distribution of the episodes. Because of this, reruns (at least here in America) did not last that long. Only from November 3rd to December 30th, 2019, and then the show was gone for good. They couldn't keep the completed show on the air during the winter holidays when kids had 2 weeks off from school and were at home likely doing nothing but watching TV. Which is - not a good sign.

Up until recently, I would've assumed that Disney would've done nothing for the show given these unflattering results. But seeing the Disney Jr. musical short, as well as people online posting merch of the show in spite of half a decade passing since the show ended, gets me thinking of some significant way Disney would acknowledge the series.

Anyways, back to the topic of reruns. The one thing that would redeem this show's unsatisfying send-off would be reruns, perhaps in the form of a marathon, to celebrate the decade anniversary of the show. Something similar happened this year when The Lion King was re-released in theaters for it's 30th anniversary (most likely to compensate for Mufasa: The Lion King, getting delayed 6 months due to the strikes).

Disney, even Disney Jr has done reruns of cancelled/completed shows, either regularly or as special occassions. Sofia the First and Tangled got reruns on World Princess Week: Jessie still gets reruns on Disney Channel, ironically increasing in quantity ever since it's spin-off Bunk'd ended. Phineas and Ferb got endless reruns on Disney Channel and Disney XD, even before the announcement of the revival. And not to mention many holiday specials/movies/crossovers such as Good Luck Charlie. And just recently, Wizards of Waverly Place got a marathon of reruns in light of next month's reboot series, Beyond.

So it would be very thematically appropriate for The Lion Guard to get this type of treatment. Reruns, from the pilot episode, all the way to the finale, marathoning all day on Disney Junior. It would give the show the mainstream fanfare and recognition, from its target demo audience, that it was robbed of when it died. Not only would it introduce kids of today's generation to The Lion King franchise, but it would potentially bring back viewers who were in the show's target demographic when it aired - who would now be adults themselves.

And it would come full circle too since The Lion Guard was pitched, created, and announced as a tribute to The Lion King's 20th anniversary itself, so to have a decade-related anniversary like this would be sweet in theory.

Do I think Disney will actually do this? No. This is all hypothetical. Logically speaking the furthest thing they'll do is probably upload some Lion Guard full episodes onto the YouTube channel, post a few Tik-Toks, make a few "happy anniversary" tweets and leave it at that. But it's a do-able/possible-ish idea for a way they can give tribute to the show's decennial. I will not hold my breath on that idea, or be surprised if they do viritually little to nothing for the anniversary (I'd actually be surprised if they did anything more than the abovementioned logical factors such as happy anniversary posts and tweets).

[artist-issues]

Mufasa Re-Do: Sarabi

So! I thought that the good thing about Sarabi in the new movie was:

She is characterized as not believing anyone can help her, and not believing anybody will accept help from herself. She has to learn to ask for help and risk helping others.

She sees what’s special about Mufasa and clues him into it—he’s the one she learns trust from, and she’s the one who kickstarts his confidence.

But! The characterizations were incomplete. Like I said in the Zazu post: for “romantic tension” and “Grrrl Power” she is introduced in a scene where she bizarrely trusts and accepts help from Zazu. A 1lb-bird. Even though her whole characterization is supposed to be “other animals can’t help me” and “I can do everything myself.”

So that’s Problem 1. Problems 2 and 3 that were going to solve are:

2. Sarabi Feels Out-of-Place in the Conflict - Sarabi seems to have no real reason to be in the movie aside from being the love interest of Taka and Mufasa. She got her pride scattered by the bad guys, but that never really matters later. She, Taka, and Mufasa never even have conversations where they bond over shared loss, and she has no interactions with the villain until the final battle.

3. Sarabi Isn’t Believable As Taka’s Motivation - If Sarabi is going to be the reason Taka turns bitter, feels a chip on his shoulder for the rest of his life, and ultimately believes Mufasa not only stole his girlfriend, but his “WHOLE DESTINY”…then Sarabi needs to actually be connected to his “destiny.” And we need to know why Taka even likes her.

So! Let’s kill two birds with one stone. Now, Sarabi has a Reputation. And, the way she is introduced gives us more background on her, plus more show-not-tell time with our villain. Let me show you:

Sarabi, the Sunset Princess

Sarabi is known in the “Valley of Kings.” Her name gets passed around because she’s an exemplary huntress as well as royalty. She’s also stunningly beautiful, you know, by lion standards. She’s like the complete package. And she knows it. Her “I don’t need anybody’s help” vibe comes from that confidence, that “I’m at the top of the food chain, I’m the greatest huntress in this valley, and nobody needs to give me anything.”

But! The thing that makes Sarabi attractive to both Taka and our Villain is just that—she’d make an excellent trophy. That’s what Taka really wants. He has just lost his own kingdom and heritage—when he meets Sarabi, having her on his arm would gain him the respect of any new would-be subjects.

Of course, he can also believe she’s beautiful and be attracted to her, too. It doesn’t have to be all-shallow. But, remember, Taka is genuinely all about himself. He eventually turns into Scar, a character who only sees the world through a lens of “How Does This Orbit Around Me, and How I Want to Be Seen?”

So he would never just be interested in Sarabi because she breathes and is a pretty lioness. He would be interested because who else would perfectly match the Magnificent Prince Taka? He wants to be “seen for the wonder” he is. He wants Sarabi, The Sunset Princess, to be the first one to do that.

And he’s not the only one!

How Sarabi is Introduced:

After our villain is alluded to (more on that in the Villain Post) by a refugee-herd of wildebeest, we follow their trail back to the land they’re fleeing. It’s Sarabi’s father’s territory.

Our villain is seen laying on top of the carcass of an entire elephant, while already chewing the leg of a zebra. He’s surrounded by his gang of hungry-looking lionesses who are noticeably not eating. They’re all standing on guard over the members of Sarabi’s pride—who have been defeated. Our Villain is gloating to these unfortunate lions about how everything in their land already belonged to him—they just didn’t know it until now. Just like how all of the Savannah belongs to lions, and every animal will learn it sooner or later. He’s telling them they still have a choice: join him or join the pile of bones he leaves behind.

Enter Sarabi! She’s hauled forward by the Villain’s lackeys, a bristling ball of fury. The bad guy can say some overdramaric, kind of creepy line, like, “Finally, I get to meet the famous Sarabi! I hear you’re called the Sunset Princess. Tell me, is that because you really can time a kill just as the sun is going down…or is it because of the color of those eyes?”

She just snarls. He just recently killed her father in an unfair fight, and he’s clearly over-hunting the territory he’s stolen. He moves on to mentioning all the things I said above—how she should be at his side, because of how great and powerful he is, and how it would actually be better for the lions he conquers, because they’d follow her without resistance. It’s setting up the power that would come with being Sarabi’s King, which foreshadows Taka’s disappointment when she doesn’t choose him.

Sarabi, of course, refuses and escapes—she almost doesn’t, but her pride sisters slow her pursuers down, and Zazu flaps in out of nowhere claiming to be her escort sent from her father.

Then when Zazu’s loud mouth attracts hungry refugees Taka and Mufasa, Sarabi has a reason to be prickly. She’s feeling weirdly guilty that her father and her pride sisters gave her her best chance to escape—and she’s covering that up with resentment toward them “they didn’t need to help me, I can take care of myself.” And she’s taking a lot of that out on Zazu, who won’t leave her alone or stop reminding her that her late father’s last decree was for a little hornbill to warn her about the Villain.

Taka sees how pretty Sarabi is and pounces on Zazu immediately, kind of to make an entrance. Zazu insists he can’t be eaten—Sarabi tells him to shut up, but he’s not listening to her—because what kind of ruffian would dare eat the Escort of the Sunset Princess?

Taka is immediately impressed, because he’s heard of the Sunset Princess. So that further solidifies and sets up why he likes her. From there, Sarabi does decide to travel with them…but only because Rafiki shows up and outlines a land where they can seek shelter from the Villain under the rule of the Great Kings.

Sarabi & Taka

Sarabi initially seems warmer toward Taka than she does Mufasa. This is because Taka flatters her reputation right off the bat—he says, “this is THE Sunset Princess!” And offers charming sympathy for the loss of her kingdom, since he just lost his own, too.

That’s contrasted with Mufasa, who’s like, “what’s a Sunset Princess?” And Taka scoffs at him and rolls his eyes and says, “you must forgive my brother, he’s not of royal blood like us, he doesn’t keep up with the heights of the food chain.” And he rattles off how Sarabi is the most feared Huntress in the Valley of Kings, making Sunset a time of terror for all the herds.

Mufasa acts a little amused—he’s a humble guy, he’s always sort of shrugged off pomp and ceremony whenever Taka waxes on about it—and Sarabi takes this the wrong way and immediately demonstrated her skill by tracking nearby prey. This turns out to be Rafiki, kind of like in the Movie We Got, which is how he’s introduced. But suffice to say, Sarabi and Taka get off on the right foot.

When Zazu tries to “defend” Sarabi from danger and winds up leading the Villains right to them, Taka kind of helps heap the blame on the little bird, and is indirectly the reason Sarabi shouts at and has a falling out with Zazu. Then Taka makes pretense to comfort her after their narrow escape, while Mufasa tries to understand how to make peace between her and the bird by talking to Rafiki. So it seems like Taka and Sarabi are actually closer at the beginning of this remake.

However, it becomes increasingly clear, as Sarabi learns what a Great King is like, that Taka doesn’t exemplify those traits. While they bond initially over their shared annoyance toward Zazu and shared pride, the turning point comes when Mufasa saves her from the elephant stampede (like in the Movie We Got.)

Sarabi & Mufasa

And he saves her by listening to Zazu, even after Zazu’s big mistake, then getting the elephants to divert their path. Even though Sarabi caused the stampede by believing no elephant would ever help a lion.

So that’s a big gut-check for Sarabi’s way of thinking, and she does owe Mufasa. From there, she definitely does begin admiring Mufasa for the traits she sees lining up between him and the Great Kings.

I’ll add more to this later—when I talk about how I’d re-do the climax!

[breserker]

my writing advice for the day is to re-evaluate instances of using "nearly, almost, practically" in your sentences. save them for things that don't actually happen, in particular things that have no debate over happening or not. you cannot un-crack an egg for example, so you can almost do so, or practically break the eggs on the way home from work, or nearly do so.

but if you got like, "he ran, practically sprinted" what you want is either "he sprinted" or "he jogged". my guess is you want the former, and the reason for nixing "practically" is that practically bloats the snappy tension. that's it, really; especially in a moment where sprinting would be understandable (a medical emergency, a vase falling, stampede, in the gorge, simba's down there) you don't want something fluffing your tension with an extra word for the reader to pass over especially one that may instill doubt or debate over what action is being taken. ok they're running, but not sprinting? is it that much of an emergency? must not be.

"Mufasa ran, practically sprinted to the gorge"

vs.

"Mufasa sprinted to the gorge"

and chewing on how those two sentences differ despite getting the same information across.

and i'm saying this because i do this all the fuckin time and i have to nix it from my drafts and all that, this is as much a bonk on my head as anyone's.

postscript: if you think of what you're writing in a visual manner, literally turning the words and sentences into a visual affair (how they look, the amount and shape of the words as strokes of paint on a canvas), the shorter snappier strokes can speed up the feeling of reading it (if we're going with the sprinting example above). does that make sense? it's not something you Have to take into account but if it helps it helps.

[w1ld-wr1t3r]

i have a lot of lucky numbers 🫣😆

#56, #64, #21, #18 & #77 with norrix? for the wrapped drabbles

pls feel free to split this up into different posts HAHA thank uu

The more lucky numbers, the better! I'll definitely split this into multiple posts, I'll include the first two requests in this one then do the next three separately.

And speaking of the first two . . . I almost started cackling when I scrolled through the list and realized what they were. You really couldn't have picked two more Lando-related songs than these if you tried!

56. Friday (feat. Mufasa & Hypeman) - Dopamine Re-Edit

Martijn was usually the one putting on a show in a club. But tonight, he was out in the crowd, dancing to the music with hardly a care in the world. And it was especially fun, seeing as the whole weekend was still ahead of them to have even more fun.

Of course, F1 usually fully occupied weekends. But not this one. Summer break had just started, and as soon as he'd could, Martijn had booked a ticket to the one place he wanted to be, and the one person he wanted to spend it with.

Lando.

They had found a fun, bright, loud club to kick off their vacation at, where they could dance and party to their heart's content. And Lando was making the most of it, out on the dance floor. He moved to the music with infectious energy, and Martijn found himself drawn to him.

In this place, they were free to enjoy themselves. They could celebrate past accomplishments and toast new ones. They could be together and closer than they had been in ages.

Martijn never wanted this night to end.

---

64. Lando Norris by Maxx Power and Carte Blanq

By the time Lando crossed the finish line, Martijn was completely hoarse.

He mentally patted himself on the back for not agreeing to do a post-race performance tonight. It was kind of hard to hype up the crowd and praise his boyfriend's achievement if he had no voice.

Man, he wished he could praise Lando right now.

He pulled into parc ferme and parked the car, rising out of the vehicle and reaching a triumphant arm to the sky. The crowd roared for him, cheering his win. He had conquered the field, beaten everyone else out on the track, opened up the championship lead by a wide margin. He deserved the applause.

In this moment, he was greater than everyone.

And Martijn had never been prouder of anyone.

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 11/01/2025 (Doechii, Mufasa: The Lion King, Lil Baby/Young Thug/Future)

For a seventh week, Gracie Abrams’ surprisingly consistent “That’s So True” lands at the top of the UK Singles Chart. The mind boggles, but otherwise it’s an average winter week so welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

content warning: language, discussion of sex and therapy

Rundown

Of course, as we’re back to normal on the charts, we actually do start our episode with the notable dropouts, those being songs that exit the UK Top 75 – which is what I cover, check the FAQ – after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. This week, we bid adieu to some heavy-hitters like “Guess” by Charli xcx featuring Billie Eilish on the remix, “BACKBONE” by Chase & Status and Stormzy, “Cruel Summer” by Taylor Swift, but also “365” by Charli xcx, “Indestructible” by Andy C and Becky Hill, and obviously the very small selection of Christmas songs that held on – you know the ones.

As for what takes their place, we have a few re-entries, firstly a residual gain for Morgan Wallen – more on his new track later – as “Love Somebody” returns to #74, then “Slow it Down” by Benson Boone bumbling back onto the billboards at #72, “squabble up” by Kendrick Lamar at #71, “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan peculiarly propelling as high as #22, then thanks to some TikTok virality, the classic story of an older song gaining memetic status and coming back to the charts, a trend 2024 continued that won’t be leaving us anytime soon. This week, it happens to be a former #1, “La La La” by Naughty Boy featuring Sam Smith at #33. A fine song to my ears but nothing too remarkable, it debuted at the top and stayed there for only a week in 2013, but spent many a week on the chart that year and the next anyway, and now it’s back but hopefully not for too long.

In terms of our notable gains, we see plenty of boosts for SZA with “30 for 30” with Kendrick Lamar at #68 and “BMF” at #20 off of the debuts (more on her later as well), as well as Tyler, the Creator with “Sticky” featuring GloRilla, Sexyy Red and Lil Wayne at #57 and “Like Him” featuring Lola Young at #30. Additionally jumping up the charts are “Favourite” by Fontaines D.C. at #65, “Headlock” by Imogen Heap at #44, “Indigo” by Sam Barber featuring Avery Anna at #41, and finally, “PUSH 2 START” by Tyla at #24. This is the week where we really get to see what’s shaping up to be big hits during the winter, and I’m not sure if there’s much to complain about here at all, honestly.

This week’s top five consists of “Who” by Jimin up big to #5, “Sailor Song” by Gigi Perez at #4, “Messy” by Lola Young at #3, “APT.” by ROSÉ and Bruno Mars at #2 and of course, Ms. Abrams at the very top. Now, we get to see what our first normal week on the UK chart for 2025 has in store for us.

New Entries

#75 – “Scorsese Baby Daddy” – SZA

Produced by Michael Uzowuru, Tyler Johnson,

Well, naturally, a third song from SZA’s disappointing sequel-turned-reissue LANA has debuted, and I won’t reiterate my more in-depth opinions of the project as a whole from last week, with this being a pretty run-of-the-mill leftover like most of it. The link to acclaimed film director and Shark Tale star Martin Scorsese is not too deep, it’s little more than simply a word used here to describe the drama of her relationship – I’m not too familiar with his films, so there could be subtle parallels I miss but this is a SZA B-side, she’s never been that cryptic as a writer either. The bedroom pop guitars feel oddly dry on this one considering that this is one of those tracks I was talking about when I said that SZA sounds underwater; the vocal mix is legitimately horrendous. I’m not an expert but, come on, she’s really unclear and difficult to make out when she’s not doing incredibly obvious punch-ins that sound like distorted phone recordings. Despite this watery sound, she’s still breathy and loud, overwhelming a very stock indie pop instrumental that should not have taken this many producers. It’s inoffensive, especially in the content and the vaguely pleasant “vibe”, though much of that is disturbed by the uninteresting and shoddy vocal take being so amplified and unavoidable, it’s really frustrating.

#69 – “No One Noticed” – The Marías

Produced by Josh Conway and Gianiuca Buccellati

This is technically one of those cases where I can say that I was “a fan before they were cool”, except not really. Years before California indie pop group The Marías had their breakout with this sleeper hit and its connected album, Submarine, I took the time to check out the group’s 2021 album and thought very little about it. There were a few tracks I liked from this debut and I could tell their Latin- and jazz-influenced brand of indie pop was something smoother and different compared to what was coming out at the time, but I had no idea or suspicion that they would be as big as they currently are, the success they’re enjoying coming as a surprise to me as I’d forgotten about that album entirely, just one of the many non-mainstream records I listened to that year and wouldn’t expect to start a considerable chart run anytime soon.

With that said, “No One Noticed” has been doing well globally since last year, especially in North America, and it's finally found itself in the top 75 in the UK this week. Undoubtedly, much of the appeal of this song is in atmosphere and “vibes”, with this song’s light guitars and weightless drums, as well as an airy vocal from lead singer Maria Zardoya, curating an aquatic track not far from the album’s cover art, it really fits. Lyrically, there is actually little to the song, quite literally in terms of how repetitive it can feel, particularly with that mantra of a bridge, but the spiralling loneliness that this exacerbates just hit pretty effectively when the song functions as much as a drone as that feeling can. There are even moments of swell in the post-chorus that go nowhere once the verse comes back in, with glimmers of hope reverting into a disappointing normality. The allusions to a long-distance relationship also help this song situate itself in between denial and acceptance, with the overlapping vocal takes panning across in that wonderful build-up, leaving “without a trace” as the lyrics entail, then barely cropping back up as a murmur amidst a completer mix, being a subtly suffocating structural idea, it’s really brilliant. The song at just below four minutes is full in itself, but unlike most pop songs with “extended versions” that seem like cheap excuses to release chopped-up TikTok bait as the original or add a pointless intro, this has a nearly five-minute version in both English and Zardoya’s native Spanish that add to the circling progression of the track, with the additional outro verse being filtered amidst the song’s closing trail of ambiance. It could seem unnecessary or tedious, but that’s what her devotion to this relationship has turned into, and it stings. It’s definitely not the kind of song I’d typically hope to get big, but it seems like a running theme of this year may be that I adore slow ballads popping up from lesser-known artists more and more… or at least I hope it’s a running theme, these are great songs.

#52 – “Smile” – Morgan Wallen

Produced by Charlie Handsome

Morgan Wallen releases yet another loose single that will end up featuring on the next 30-song album he puts out, it’s a familiar tale, and I’m somewhat impressed by how he and his fanbase have mastered an exceedingly lengthy rollout in the streaming era. The songs I tend to be much less impressed with, however, though as long as he sticks to his familiar country and doesn’t do another embarrassing crossover like his last single “Love Somebody”, it should be inoffensive enough. Given Mr. Handsome is on production, that does not seem probable, though in this case, it’s not awful – those harmonies in the main vocal loop, especially when they end up pitch-shifted later on, remind me of Bon Iver and Justin Vernon’s frailer, minimal touches, and Morgan Wallen actually commits to the subtlety here… as much as he can, at least! The lack of drums and the reverbed, echoing mix with twangy guitars, Wallen’s softer falsetto in the chorus, it all captures the idea of  “pretty little moments” that he finds with his partner amidst a struggling period in their relationship, and discovering genuine solace in the fact that at least he saw her smile, regardless of why she did so, whether it was real, it just makes him happy. He knows the relationship has gotten to a stale numbness that he doesn’t excite her, but seeing her have fun at the bar doesn’t jolt energy into Mr. Wallen here, it just means he can smile back. For once in his career, it appears that Morgan Wallen of all people has chosen mature acceptance of a relationship’s imperfections as the way to go. It’s an empty, temporal song that took quite a bit of a risk in its production by stripping so many elements but once again, the slow ballad wins me over. It’s the little things in life, and one of them is being pleasantly surprised by a Morgan Wallen and Charlie Handsome song. Hey, it’s a sweet track, leave me alone.

#48 – “Constellations” – Jade LeMac

Produced by Jason “JVP” Van Poederooyen

A debut single from an artist relatively unknown prior debuting at #48 would be more of a shock if this weren’t originally released back in 2021. This is the official debut of Vancouver singer-songwriter Jade LeMac, part of the crop of young, TikTok-famous songwriters in the wake of Olivia Rodrigo that will have a viral breakout hit, it just happens that this came over four years late, at least onto the mainstream charts. LeMac provided vocals on Monstercat dance tracks when she was only 14, so she has been active in the industry for longer than you might expect, though that does not necessarily mean her debut single will chalk up to much, especially in 2025, now that she’s two full-length albums in, and none of those records have made much noise – it’d irritate me if I was an artist actively promoting new music. This should especially bother Ms. LeMac over here, whose 2021 single charting in 2025 sounds like snap-beat, murky alt-pop from 2017, with a typical vocal you’d expect from that era, perhaps with better enunciation but much less character, it’s not even got the smoky rasp texture of, say, a Lorde, which is a big issue for me because this is a sex song, a drunk sex song at that. There should be more intimacy, but if we want to go for one of those drearier, miserable alt-R&B sex songs, there should be either more in the lyrics to aim for that or less of a Eurovision sheen to the production. The lyrics emphasise alcohol and constant physical touch, so why does this sound so cold and packaged? If she’s going to sing about the smell of her partner’s body after they left, I would expect the song to at least try and sound that gross and sweaty, but no, it sounds like Daya. Do you remember Daya? We don’t need to remember Daya. Skip this.

#46 – “Dum, Dumb, and Dumber” – Lil Baby, Young Thug and Future

Produced by Wheezy and Juke Wong

You don’t say. Well, Young Thug’s returned from his stint in jail thanks to a heavily negotiated deal that brings more asterisks than a censored transcription of his lyrics to the technically true statement “Young Thug is free”. Similarly, Lil Baby has returned from his hiatus, and by hiatus, I mean that he’s been consistently dropping mediocre singles that have not moved the needle in any regard and a full album release with big name features – Travis Scott and GloRilla are also on this record, to name a few – has successfully made people pay a bit more attention, even if the “comeback” has served similarly middling results to everything he’s shovelled out since My Turn. In fact, this newest record – WHAM – has landed at #12 on the albums chart despite being his most questionable release yet. Hell, I’ll go as far as to say that this is slop he could have pushed out with little effort or time, and the framing of a comeback is carrying its performance heavily, alongside star power and some Gunna sneak diss on the bonus tracks. There’s nothing in WHAM you can’t get anywhere else in trap and usually a lot better, with these cheap, thrown-together beats and some of the thinnest, stilted vocals in mainstream rap, he’s really lost whatever flow or grit he had for the vast majority of the runtime. Thankfully, this song is sort of an exception.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not close to being good – sure, there’s an anthemic beat that could be made out of those crushed, sirening synths and crowd-igniting intensity in the loops, but given it’s a Wheezy beat, the bass and percussion drowns out a lot and becomes a tad monotonous of a loop. Similarly, Young Thug comes with some first-days-out energy but the flow is very simple and so constant throughout all the rappers – I get going for the theme, but it is exhausting when all three went for the same inflection, and you can actually track in real-time the flow improving as we get “dum, dumb and dumber” – allegedly, because in reality, the progression from Lil Baby’s sloppy mumbling to Young Thug showing more restraint than you’d expect to Future running away with the track because this production sounds made for him and his MIXTAPE PLUTO project… I think we may actually be getting smarter and more confident as it goes on, which does help this not become as mind-numbing as, say, “Type Shit” with Future, Playboi Carti and Travis Scott, though the lyrical content is about as substanceless. Also, Lil Baby is supposed to be saying the name of his album, but it does just sound like he is going “wah”, like an actual little baby. Don’t call it a comeback, he’s been trash for years.

#42 – “I Always Wanted a Brother” – Braelyn Rankins, Theo Somolu, Aaron Pierre and Kelvin Harrison Jr.

Produced by Mark Mancina and Lin-Manuel Miranda

I was completely out of the loop on this release, but Disney has been – with surprising success at being completely avoidable – shovelling out even more charmless live-action or photorealistic CGI versions of their animated classics, that have been increasingly a non-presence since they started in the 2010s. This is actually from a successor to their 2019 version of The Lion King that I heard, well, nothing but bitching about, and in the case of 2024’s Mustafa: The Lion King, I missed even the mudslinging, what Wikipedia and Metacritic will call “mixed reviews”. It’s commercially successful enough regardless, and we have a new song from the cast, interestingly none of the big names starring like Beyoncé or Donald Glover on this one, debuting on the charts. I’ve said many a time on this blog that I’m personally not the biggest Disney fan outside of the Muppets, but The Lion King in its original 1994 animated version is pretty undeniable, already full of catchy and culturally-ingrained musical numbers like “Hakuna Matata” and “I Just Can’t Wait to be King”. This is not that. It is written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, which means it’s dead on arrival, and at least does commit to some of the conceits of the original soundtrack, the group vocals remind me of those classic songs, but I’m sorry, I’m completely not on board with the basic writing that fall into predictable clichés, the child actors’ cloying deliveries and the display through the instrumental still being slightly Latin-flavoured that Mr. Miranda is quite limited in these types of introductory songs. I can’t even say that I’m missing narrative context here because if I were to watch the film, the meaning of this one is drilled so much into the ground that I’d be lamenting the lack of a “skip entire scene” feature like DVDs used to have. If the clips of this film’s generic-looking lions are reflective of the overall quality, then this song may be the least soulless thing about it – you can tell the actors are sometimes trying and having at least some degree of fun with it – but also, it prompts me to imagine this coming out of those photorealistic lion mouths and that’s frankly hilarious. It’s fruitless asking Disney to try harder so I’ll conclude by saying that this won’t become a thing outside of brief virality and I’m thankful it won’t. If Mufasa ends up a massive cultural phenomenon, then I’m Nostradamus and also, I quit this show.

#39 – “DENIAL IS A RIVER” – Doechii

Produced by IanJames, Joey Hamhock and Banser

Speaking of being out of the loop, I still have not caught up to Doechii and her big mixtape last year, Alligator Bites Never Heal, which has crept up on the public over the months since its release thanks to several performances going viral on social media like the NFR Tiny Desk set and now a music video parodying old sitcoms with several special guest stars from her label TDE and outside of it – ScHoolboy Q, Teezo Touchdown, even rapper-comedian and all-time Tweeter Zack Fox, all make appearances. That may have been the last boost this song needed to rocket all the way up to the top 40 and finally force me to pay more attention past the pop single “What it Is (Block Boy)” a while back and some features I thought were energetic yet never fully convinced me to dive into her body of work. It may not go that far but it does intrigue me because for a second top 40 hit, this is surprisingly dense.

“DENIAL IS A RIVER” eschews a chorus in exchange for skits wherein Doechii talks to a therapist and tracks her life to catch them – and the listener – up with her life, expressing her theatrical sense of humour in the process and acting as a pretty great introduction = or reintroduction – to Doechii as a result thanks to the song explicitly being about self-exploration, some verses acting as a bit of a confessional and trauma dump towards the end where she discusses her drug addiction. Even then, the escalation of the content is relatively lighthearted, with the goofy therapist voice, perky East Coast boom bap beat, and how the first verse is a mundane verse about her ex being gay. Honestly, the song is much more conceptually than it works in practice, as Doechii I find is actually lacking in wordplay that’s lasting or effective, with what should be wham lines coming off as deflated, especially considering the lack of development in that instrumental. It’s a shame because there is a lot to this that I appreciate, but the actual execution of those ideas lacks in selling them – sure, she picks up the aggression in her voice towards the end of the final verse to show her feeling “loopy” but it’s still straightforward and honest lyrically with unimpressive punchlines, and the beat refuses to reflect that spiral by changing at all. The outro where her breathing exercise sounds like a Slick Rick beatbox solo is an incredible idea, and I wish the song gave more time and effort to genuinely adventurous and experimental ideas like that. It may lose some authenticity in doing so but theatricality is already so prominent in this song that it wouldn’t make for much of a difference tonally. It is still surprisingly dense and inaccessible for her second hit in comparison to the pop songs surrounding it, yet it’s not enough to interest me when I can think of ways in which this can be expanded on to great effect, with a guy like Tyler, the Creator who she’s worked with, or even SZA at her most unhinged too, being examples of where to look for that in popular rap and R&B. Basically, she’s already committed to the bit so hard, let’s go even further next time.

Conclusion

Best of the Week nearly went to Morgan Wallen, what has come over me? Seriously, he gets the Honourable Mention for “Smile” but The Marías pretty handedly take the best with “No One Noticed”, both slower reflections in a week full of, frankly, disposable shit excluding those and Doechii. That means Worst of the Week goes to Simba the lion or whoever the fuck, with a Dishonourable Mention to “Constellations” by Jade LeMac. The SZA and Lil Baby songs mostly get away with just being lazy, not outright bad. Let’s hope for better weeks for the rest of 2025, but for now, thank you for reading, hakuna matata, and I’ll see you next time!

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

2025's first box office weekend, where an all-animated feature that looks like a live-action movie takes the #1 spot after largely playing second-fiddle for a few weeks...

Yeah, MUFASA finally claimed a #1 weekend haul. This movie's really pulling through, isn't it? Despite mixed reviews, despite a lot of us online folks thinking it looks hokey... Well, at the theater I work at, it's routinely packed, and audiences are coming out of it saying how much they liked it. A real disconnect, lol.

MUFASA tumbled only 35% with a $23m est. take, SONIC 3 wasn't too far behind though. They're both neck-and-necking this. MUFASA sits at $168m domestically, and $476m worldwide. $200m stateside is all but a lock now, and it could even top $600m worldwide and pass Disney's special threshold in order to be "profitable" in their eyes. Don't be surprised when you hear that a CG LION KING sequel is in the works, it's probably already being discussed right now.

I wonder what this movie has, a prequel no less where you know how it all ends... That the ALICE and MALEFICENT sequels didn't. Maybe it's simply because it's THE LION KING. I couldn't tell ya. Maybe Barry Jenkins brought something special to this that was absent in a lot of the photoreal/live-action Disney remakes. Maybe it's Lin-Manuel Miranda's new songs. I also wonder if it is political in any way, if it has those icky "messages" that Bob Iger wants to scrub clean from Disney's movies going forward so as not to upset a certain demographic? If so, lol.

MOANA 2 remains in the top 5, dropping an est. 34%, making $12m, and landing at $425m here. Looks like it'll finish somewhere near the halfway mark. Worldwide, the picture sits at $960m worldwide, just a few inches from that big billion. Again, another new Disney release drubbed by folks online for being a hastily-reassembled-from-a-TV-series romp, but audiences keep eating it up. I guess families have to have something to do, right?

FLOW rose 19%, sits at $2m domestically, $6m worldwide. No major change in its very limited release.

THE WILD ROBOT stays the same, but a re-release is coming, on the 17th, ahead of its Peacock debut. A surefire nomination and maybe even winner at the Oscars, that is all sure to give it a nice boost. How much of a boost, we'll see, but to see the DreamWorks picture get a last hurrah is always nice.