#THE WHOLE SCENE IN PUSS IN BOOTS THE LAST WISH IN THE CAVE MADE ME THINK OF DANIEL

[warrenwaskilledbyadeer]

The knowledge that other people make aus like Milo Murphy characters as Wizard of Oz has me so relieved but so anxious

Relieved because I'm not an insane weirdo who has to hide it anymore

But anxious because now I kinda feel like I wanna talk about it??

I have a few for Amnesia that I really really like actually and I almost told a friend about one of them today but I chickened out skdjsksk

I'm shaking now gahhhh

(I apologize to my few followers who see these posts btw, I just use tumblr as a venting place because it's very easy for them to be lost in the void forever but also I got to get a little ranting/venting out of my system)

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Little Things I Dig About STRANGE WORLD

Much like the one I did for PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH, this post will be a list of unorganized thoughts on STRANGE WORLD. And as usual, if you haven't seen STRANGE WORLD and were planning on doing so but haven't really had the chance nor gumption to fire up Disney+ and watch it, there be spoilers ahead!

'They're The Clades'. This is a hit the ground running opening right here. An all-too-brief cel-shaded depiction of Jaeger Clade's adventures and exploits, and how his son Searcher was by his side but was never really the rough-and-tumble explorer type. The song would do the Mello Men proud, as it recalls the songs of various live-action adventure movies that Disney had made throughout the '50s. This whole movie, if it wasn't clear before, is a massive homage to that era of adventure stories. The scene alone is evoking an early-to-mid 20th century pulp comic. Also during this sequence, we see these really lovely paintings of the Clades on their adventures. Particularly the visuals of them encountering birds of prey and a bear. It hits all those classic wilderness aesthetics in mere seconds flat.

Avalonia itself is actually quite a cool-looking world. It being on the back of a giant turtle-like beast swimming around on an all-water planet is very much Terry Pratchett's DISCWORLD, but being someone who lived the early 2000s as a kid, it also struck me as very BIONICLE. Hey, did you know Walt Disney Animation Studios was looking to option DISCWORLD for an adaptation of MORT? That was to be Ron Clements and John Musker's movie after THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, but due to rights issues, that fell through, and they ended up pitching other ideas that would later morph into MOANA.

Continued, Avalonia in the post-Pando era: The retrofuture setting, the sortakinda steampunk-like aesthetic, very TREASURE PLANET in some ways. The graphic design recalled various decades of aesthetics of the 20th century, too. Some '30s and '50s touches on Callisto Mal's ship, the Venture, subtle and neat stuff. Loved the architecture, technology, and cruisers. The cruisers, especially the one the Clade family uses to dust the crops, in particular reminded me of the hovercraft vehicles in the JAK & DAXTER series. That was another action-adventure franchise from the early 2000s that I was very much big on back in the day (and still am!).

Legend. Just Legend. He's literally one of my dogs, but in Disney animated form. Plus he's a tripod. Disabled rep, even for a doggie! It was also nice to see a shot of a disabled Avalonian, too.

Primal Outpost reminds me of game called Heroscape, which I remember being advertised a lot circa 2004... Though my 12-year-old self never played it or got invested in it, I thought it always looked cool. The hexagon pieces and such... But yes, I liked that a role-playing/strategy game played a part in this world, it just added a depth to it: This is a game that the kids/teens play. Today I learned that Heroscape ran from 2004 to 2010, and there was a failed revival somewhere down the line. I kinda wish STRANGE WORLD came out in 2004, this would've been my *shit*. Big time.

The lighting choices are what really make the "strange world" pop. The subtle sunset-like oranges and pinks, the misty-like layers, really brings out a lovely look to everything.

There's a particular shot when the Venture is crash-landing while careening into the insides of the Avalonia turtle-beast-creature... Searcher and Legend drop off as the ship is still speeding, it's a particularly well-done shot.

What little there is of the vibe - both good and bad - between Callisto Mal and Meridian Clade, particularly when it shows up during their confrontation in the Venture cockpit.

Right before Ethan meets Splat in that cave of bioluminescent creatures, some of them are apparent in a few frames: They look kind of like glass vases with fireflies inside of them. A small but cool detail, and the framerate on them is much slower.

Splat slapping Ethan when you think they're going to do the HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON-esque connect-with-each-other moment, a well-timed send-up of those kinds of person-and-creature scenes.

The Clade men playing Primal Outpost is a standout scene to me, and I absolutely love the jab at the well-repeated "criticism" that Disney animated movies don't work without traditional bad guy villains in them.

How Searcher and Jaeger can't get the handshake/gestures right, they're preemptively doing a different one. It's a fun little character beat for both of them.

Everything about the much healthier insides of the beast after the heart is restored. A colorful, near-psychedelic set of images.

[tentacle-stylograph]

some Puss in Boots: The Last Wish spoiler points / things i didn't enjoy, mainly very surface level things, 'cause i'm so confused at myself. really, i'm trying to puzzle out why i don't enjoy the movie, even tho i'll quickly recommend it to others simply based on the overwhelming positive reaction people have toward it

(i'd adore if fans responded to this post. i want to like this movie. or i'd even adore it if people who weren't fond of it responded. i'd be interested in what didn't hit the mark for other people)

the "losing track of who you are / waiting your life out after giving up" trope is tired to me. i watched i think an official clip of that scene before seeing the movie, and it left an impression on me as "this is a clip from a TV show," not a movie. my stomach dropped when i realized, nope, that clip that made me grimace IS in this movie, and it's a whole big thing

maybe even something just as superficial as the "starry pupils" when people use the map got me to not like it???? unless it's for positive emotion or something, eye-shape-changing and pupil-changing also often get me to internally grimace (other examples i don't like usually have to do with cartoony hypnosis). but i can't imagine that'd be something that'd turn me away from the whole movie. i like plenty of content that has things that make me grimace

what was a spoiler thing i didn't want to mention in the last post? ...i think it was mainly the "Puss at the cat haven" thing, which i mentioned in the first point. but i just remembered the opening scene of the movie. the way the movie opened... i'd need to watch the movie again to say something more specific, but i had an "okay, and?" feeling from it. i didn't get any attachment to Puss and -- again, i need to watch the movie again -- maybe i didn't believe everyone's obsession with him? the opening just seriously didn't do it for me.

hm, maybe because it opened so high energy i had a feeling of "okay, where else can this movie go if it's STARTING like this?" or something along those lines. the opening bored me, somehow, which perplexed me even at the time because it SEEMED like it should be hitting all the things i tend to like: high energy, colorful, lots of action, and so on.

...hm. yep, i REALLY want to rewatch the movie now, because i had the thought, how accurately do the characters follow physics? i know it's a cartoon, but semi-accurate movements, speeds, and interactions often get me hyped real good. in the opening, Puss riding on the firework is most in my mind as an example of "why am i so bored??" and i'm expecting someone to say something like "it's an animation. it's a cartoon. why are you expecting such realism?" and my answer is: i'm too lazy to type the whole explanation, 'eeeeyyy. but a partial explanation is "it's only a working theory, but i maybe it's 'cause i like seeing characters and things in animation go whoosh-whoosh, ESPECIALLY in action scenes, and when the things that should be going whoosh-whoosh don't whoosh-whoosh fast enough, i get sad and disappointed."

mainly around Puss getting sent flying in the comedic circular wheel-like limbs-out pose multiple times, i couldn't tell how serious or funny something was supposed to be or how purposeful that pose was on Puss's end. like, did he END UP in that pose because of the force of being sent flying (i.e. it's intended to be funny), or was he in that pose on purpose to help himself land better? or something like that. but him getting sent flying like that perplexed me almost every time

i actually wanted to make this post because i just SO MUCH didn't care about Death, except for a few moments, like when he chased Puss out of the Cave of Lost Souls and a few moments in his last battle with Puss.

ANYWAY, connected to "i just so much didn't care about Death" and "i actually wanted to make this post because": tonight, a week+ after watching the movie and still pondering all my disinterest about the movie, i laughed and mainly i just wanted to ramble about this movie to record: i realized my impression of Death almost the whole movie was an incredulous, "who's this bitch?"

(bolded the above point only for myself because it was the WHOLE reason i did these rambles. i actually liked a lot of his final moments before he left Puss at the end of the last fight. but all his fights were still boring for me, with the exception of some brief moments)

it just... felt generic to me. (for the most part. the map changing for each person was awesome, lots of things with Goldie were handled real cool and i def teared up, and, after someone broke it down for me, i can really respect the anxiety attack scene. lots and lots of other neat things scattered throughout, too, but:) if i hadn't seen the hype beforehand, i would have wondered how the movie even got made / i would have figured it was a franchise-based cash grab

dah, and why not. i'll copy-paste some things about Death from the previous post i just made. this is just my master "The Last Wish bored me" post now.

watched a collection of clips of El Lobo [changed his name from Death to avoid spoilers] last night to see if i'd think he's any better than i did in the theater and, yeah, i just don't find him as cool as other people do. i was resting my chin in my head watching the clips. i don't find his action moments exciting

for when he first meets Puss in the bar, currently all i have to work with is "maybe i would have thought he's cooler if

"a) he didn't talk as much, or

"b) he didn't 'interact' with Puss as much?"

like, when Puss attacks him, he turns to face Puss. maybe it'd be cooler if he continued facing in the same direction as if he were that unbothered. and maybe if he didn't change his mood when he tells Puss "Pick it up," i'd like that moment more too (even tho i actually did like that moment more than the rest of the scene), like it'd be better if he continued seeming entertained instead of irritated. (for his character i can understand the latter, but i'm just rambling)

unrelated to Death, i was also confused about the Softpaws character development or whatever was going on there because she seemed to be portrayed as a can't-do-wrong character even tho she admitted to not even going to the church either. (there's more explanation, i know, but this is a long entry already) that definitely wasn't part of what stopped me from liking the movie, tho. i'm used to hypocrisy around female characters or of my not understanding things until i discuss them with others.

probably a big part was the movie getting overhyped too. i still haven't watched them, but YouTube recommended to me several videos with thumbnails along the lines of "THE LAST WISH: SO GOOD!" and "THE COOLEST BAD GUY" with a picture of Death.

i'm bummed 'cause i almost never let myself get hyped for things, especially stories (books, movies, shows, the works), but this one seemed like a sure shot, especially after i've gotten so taken in on fairly superficial aspects by Netflix's Scrooge. i was thinking, "hey, if i can enjoy a-maybe-middling film THAT much, i'll love this film." so i did let myself really look forward to seeing it. bummer

edit like an hour later: oh hECK. RIGHT. i went to YouTube and--anyway, ramble short, saw another video for The Last Wish, with the thumbnail/title combo of something along the lines of TLW being a great horror movie. i literally saw a horror movie RIGHT BEFORE watching TLW. and it was a pretty good one. so--UGH. yeah, i was looking forward to Death because of the videos that were recommended to me hyping him up, but UGH i was literally in a horror movie mindset. it would really be something if a kid's movie could stand up to those kinds of thrills. UUUUGH.

(but still baffled about my being bored by the Death clips i've watched tonight and last night. but almost definitely that timing of literally walking out of a horror movie in a movie theater to impromptu get tickets for The Last Wish didn't help)