#and consider. that the songs are very catchy. and consider. that my boy frank knows how to Craft A Melody™.

[musical-chick-13]

It is such weird experience to go, “From an artistic standpoint, this piece of media is Not Good, but I truly, unironically love it.”

[music-flavor-autismm]

Top 100 songs of all time (c. 2024)

While I do claim to be an avid music listener, there is no possible way to take into account every song that has been released or will ever be released, which is why I plan to make another ranking like this with songs released from any time period that I consider deserving of a place on this in the moderatley far future, perhaps around new year 2028.

TL;DR, here is the playlist

100. Tommy Richman - "WHITNEY"

Powerful and floaty synths, cryptic and enamored lyrics, and well compesed and produced drums make this one of the best modern synthpop tracks of all time, I originally had ranked this track much higher in the list

99. JVKE - "golden hour"

A Balladesque track with a catchy and heartfelt piano hook and a powerfully driven chorus. It also has beautiful poetic lyrics that are convey the song's message of a woman's beuaty and tastefully minimalistic trap drums. They're barely noticable that give it a modern feel, but enough that if you don't like them they are very minor

98. Mario, Enya, Diddy - "I Don't Wanna Know"

Inspired by The Fugees "Ready or Not," which it shares an Enya sample with, "I Don't Wanna Know" has beuatifully produced boom bap drums and keys under an Enya sample, and heartbreaking and crative lyrics from both Mario, and to a lesser extent Diddy.

97. Kendrick Lamar - "King Kunta"

"King Kunta" is a about Kendrick's position as a succesful musician relative to his to position as a Black man from particularly difficult roots. embracing early funk music. including a guitar solo, and flexing his wealth to those in his hood, "King Kunta" absolutley slaps.

96. Frank Ocean, John Mayer - "White"

A light alternative jazz track with a booming bass track, and a mellow lead guitar. This short interlude could have been so much more, but is still a masterpiece.

95. OutKast, Erykah Badu - "Humble Mumble"

With outstanding vocal performances from Andre, Big Boi, and Erykah, beautiful production and composition of all the instruments, this is an OutKast's best songs

94. Frank Ocean - "Pyramids"

Floaty production, a catchy synth hook, and two great choruses in two movements tonight make this one of the best songs on Channel Orange.

tw: offensive lyrics

93. Tyler, The Creator - "Tamale"

A staple of Tyler, The Creator's shock rap era, which main appeal is unique production, and offensive lyrics like, "I'm back like I'm Rosa Parks fare on the same damn bus like, 'You're going to jail now.'" Tamale is produced very uniquely with horns, an interesting snare melody

92. Chappel Roan - "My Kink is Karma"

With compelling storytelling lyrics and Dan Nigro's signature style of production, taking ispiration from 1970s pop and incorporating his and Chappell's own style into his music. This track also takes full advantage of Roan's impressive vocal range

91. Chappell Roan - "Good Luck, Babe"

This track has many of the same good qualities. Some ways this track is better include the drums groove and control over the song, and the catchy strings in the chorus

90. Frank Ocean - "Nights"

This track from Frank draws me like many others to enjoy it due to it's catchy guitars and floaty second movement. The vocals on the second movement are also very compelling in delivery and in lyricism

89. P.M. Dawn - "Paper Doll"

A niche track from a band I first heard on Jack FM. Paper Doll is a mellow hip-hop jazz track that embraces P.M. Dawn's style of combinig singing and rapping (before it was cool) and floaty production with breakbeats.

88. Childish Gambino, Jhene Aiko - "Pink Toes"

This tropical and drien synthpop bop has wondefully designed synths, catchy vocal and string hooks, and and moving, rythmic drums. A standout for both Gambino and Aiko.

87. Lemon Demon - "Touch-Tone Telephone"

A nonsensical rant about having discovered an interconnected network of fantastical forces wotking in tandem set to a synthpop beat with a catchy violin hook. It makes a perfect introduction to narrative of Spirit Phone and is a wonderful taste of that project. An Absolute Masterpiece.

86. Kendrick Lamar, MC Eiht - "m.A.A.d city"

Speaking on life in Compton, "m.A.A.d city" is a tragic introspection on Kendrick's past over a absolutely diabolical string driven trap and a quality jazz rap beat. It masterfully samples 1000 MILAN's "Ridin' Rollercoaster."

85. Madvillain - "Accordion"

An absolute classic from MF DOOM, the God of jazz rap. "Accordion," like many of Madviilain's tracks like is defined by MF DOOM's unique style of rapping and Madlib's excellent jazz rap production. This track's beat in particular is based on a sample with an accordion

84. Madvillain, MED - Raid

Like "Accordion," "Raid" is defined by MF DOOM's unique flows and Madlib's production. "Raid" is much more upbeat than "Accordion;" it's main sample is a jazzy piano. MED, the the songs guest rapper, also performs very well.

83. Metallica - "The Unforgiven"

"The Unforgiven" is a tragic tale set to aggresive and somewhat symphonic metal. It is defined by an arpeggic acoustic guitar riff that plays at the beggining between the chorus and verse and and electric underlick that plays during the verse and under another lick in the bridge.

82. Busta Rhymes, Janet Jackson - "What's It Gonna Be?!"

On "What's It Gonna Be?!," Busta Rhymes uses his signature fast flow over a sexy R&B track with lots of scatchy guitars. Janet sings the chorus, which is very sexual. Overall the song is very soft and flowing.

81. Prince - "I Wanna Be Your Lover"

Prince's breakout single "I Wanna Be Your Lover" has a catchy guitar hooks, a wonderfully simple, stabilizing drums, classic pop lyrics, a great chorus, and a great take on 70s style pop.

80. The Notorious B.I.G - "Juicy"

"Juicy" compares The Notorious B.I.G.'s past spent in poverty to his present as a succesful rapper, but instead of considering how his present can reconnect to his past, like in "King Kunta," but simply takes a moment to reflect on how far he's come over a peaceful, yet lively Diddy beat.

79. The Jackson 5 - "I Want You Back"

Michael Jackson's breakout single, "I Want You Back" is a late 60s pop soul masterpiece. It has an amazing ensemble of piano, string, guitar, drums, and more all spread across any stereo player. I normally don't particularly enjoy stereo effects, but they're done tastefully on this record.

78. Tyler, The Creator - "EARFQUAKE"

A heartbreaking synth ballad on denial of a boyfriend leaving. The different vocal styles including Tyler's singing voice, Playboi Carti's feature, and Tyler's speaking and rapping voice keep different parts of the song fresh/

77. The Fugees - "Killing Me Softly With His Song"

"Killing Me Softly With His Song" is an R&B ballad about Lauryn longing for a stage performer, sang over a jazz sample beat. It has soulful, poetic lyrics and minimalistic verses. The verses only only have drums, and the chorus and bridge add bass.

76. Nelly, Kelly Rowland - "Dilemma"

One of Nelly's most famous tracks, "Dilemma" tells the story of a wife and man in an affair, but in a sweet way, because Nelly is both the artist and the person in the affair, and the wife loves him. This plays over a R&B beat by Bam and both Nelly and Kelly perform excellently in terms of vocals.

75. Kendrick Lamar - "euphoria"

I believe this track may be the greatest diss of all time, because most of the most brutal things said about Drake can be proven easily, as opposed to simply calling Drake a pedophile. euphoria is mostly a drum-based trap song, but it begins with a calm jazz sapmle to show Drake that he's unfased. Kendrick also writes with a high degree of meaning and raps at an impressive rate.

74. Stevie Wonder - "Visions"

The mellow title track off of Stevie Wonder's Innervisions, "Visions" has a catchy guitar hook and poetic lyrics describing people cooperating in love in a perfect world, and recognizing that this is an improbable ideal.

73. Tyler, The Creator - "ARE WE STILL FRIENDS?"

The outro to one of Tyler's most experimental albums, the fan-favorite IGOR. This track also has a catchy guitar lick in the verse, but is also a lot more dynamics introducing synths and samples in the bridge, chorus and intro. It backtracks from the end of IGOR's themes of Tyler's relationship stating that Tyler "Doesn't want to end the season on a bad episode." Overall a great track.

72. JPEGMAFIA - "Baby I'm Bleeding"

One of my favorite rappers' breakout single, "Baby I'm Bleeding" starts with a repetitive noise, which is the main part of the beat once the drums. Peggy spits absolute bars being incredibly agressive both in content and in delivery, and the beat is incredibly creative. Words cannot do this track justice in the context that I'm trying to be brief.

71. Tyler, The Creator, Lil Wayne - "HOT WIND BLOWS"

A catchy japanese jazz sample flip, dynamic drums, and witty lyrics and hypnotic flows from both Tyler and Wanye make "HOT WIND BLOWS" the best track off of the original Call Me If You Get Lost and earns it it's place on this list.

70. Daft Punk - "Aerodynamic"

With it's creative mechanical sampling noisy distorted guitar solo and chill beat switch, "Aerodynamic" is a staple of classic Daft Punk. It has a catchy melody, does it's drums in two compelling different methods throughout the song, and helped solidify Daft Punk as the Pioneers they're known as today.

69. Madvillain - "All Caps"

This track is probably DOOM's most iconic. It features incredibe jazz rap production from Madlib, and iconic flows and lyrics from MF DOOM like, "And you like a poet, like baby doll. She she tried to give her all she played ball." and "The beat is so butter. Peep the slow cutter as utter the calm flow. (Your Mother) Don't talk about my moms, yo. Sometimes he rhyme quick sometimes he rhymes slow"

68. Silk Sonic - "Fly As Me"

A soulful guitar underlick, an amazingly complex yet simple beat and bragadocious, flirty lyrics make this one of both Bruno and Anderson's best tracks. Nice.

67. Frank Ocean - "Lost"

"Lost" is a slow 70s style yet timeless romantic pop track detailing some sort of affair a woman is on with Frank . The lyrics are very cryptic, but still very romantic and mature. It's also built upon a great subtle synth melody

66. Silk Sonic - "Skate"

A gimmicky and themed love song, "Skate" is reminiscent of classic stringed disco tracks like "The Hustle" or "September." It has catchy, dynamic strings, a rythmic rythym guitar part, and is Bruno's most prominent vocal performance on An Evening With.

65. Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock - "Money Trees"

"Money Trees" is an introspective on life in Compton written after 2010 from from the perspective of Kendrick in 2004. It shows Kendrick refldcitng on the motives behind his day-to-day actions and starting realise that his greedy, crimeridden lifestyle is might not be a good direction for him. Its production is wonderfully poppy, synthy and driving.

64. Tyler, The Creator - "DOGTOOTH"

This track is in a way the the anti-"Money Trees," in the sense that it's a big-picture view of Tyler's life at a certain point in time. Instead of reflecting on his past, he shares his perspective of his present and his goals for his life, instead considering how he could gorw emotionally and change his actions, "DOGTOOTH" shares Tyler's perspective on others, simply calling himself "Mr. Peculiar," and instead of reflecting on an impoverished lifestyle, he brags about his lavish lifestyle. It's also very similar to "Money Trees" from a production standpoint, it has a soulful piano hook and is very synth driven with powerful drums.

63. OutKast - "Red Velvet"

From one of OutKast's best records, Stankonia, "Red Velvet" features absolute bars from both Big Boi and Andre, wonderful synth and guitar based production. Lyrics describe OutKast fear of some violent people.

62. Genesis - "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight"

An absolute banger of a ballad. It shows just how Phil Collins' voice can be. It's composed, played and produced very well, It's lyrics are vague, still carry an immense amout of emotion. Overall one of The best ballads ever.

61. Justin Timberlake, Timbaland - "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around"

A pop music diss track directed towards toward Justin ex-grilfriend Britney Spears, "What Goes Around Comes Around" has two movements each with beautiful production, an impressive vocal performance, and devastatingly petty lyrics. In the second movement, "Comes Around," Timbaland absolutely cooks on the beat using powerful synths, horns, and repeating "What Goes Around Comes Back Around "

60. Kendrick Lamar, Wallie The Sensei, Siete7x, Roddy Ricch - "dodger blue"

"dodger blue" is a chill pop track off of GNX with many features. It's prodution is very poppy and it's are very critical in anyone who doesn't like Los Angeles as a city. All four vocal performances and production are superb .

59. Kanye West, Rick Ross - "Devil In A New Dress"

Absolutely godly production sampling Smokey Robinson and mixing Mike Dean's guitar solo. Kanye raps very well, and Ye's lyrics beautifully a sense of love and passion between him and a woman who didn't succedd at abstaining from realtions. While Rick's verse is shallow and bragadocius; Easily my least part of the song.

58. Genesis - "That's All"

A groovy, emotional rock track with a catchy piano hook and vocals, a dynamic structure that contastanly builds on an amazing concept, and moving, heartbreaking lyrics detailing a toxic relationship. "That's All" is one of the best tracks on Genesis and very deserving of a spot on this list.

57. Red Hearse - "Half Love"

"Half Love" is a dynamic indie pop track. It it has lyrics detailing a toxic relationship, but contrary to "That's All," Dew declares he's "just too good for that half love." This track is produced superbly by the two other members of Red Hearse: Jack Antonoff and Sounwave, just like all their other tracks.

56. MF DOOM - "Hoe Cakes"

Sampling JJ Fad's "Supersonic," "Hoe Cakes" is a divergence from DOOM's traditional jazz rap sound. It has a simple piano soul feel and witty lyrics describing a dreamy woman and DOOM's experiences with her.

55. Tyler, The Creator, Vince Staples - "STUNTMAN"

Like many tracks on Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale, "STUNTMAN" does not have incredibly specific subject matter and is mostly about how great Tyler is. Both Tyler and Staples rap with dynamic flows. The production on "STUNTMAN" is very dynamic featuring both dynamic aynths in the chorus and a variety of percussive sounds and alarms in the verses.

54. Kendrick Lamar - "heart pt. 6"

A narrative of the beginning of Kendrick's career over an angelic and orchestral g-funk beat, "heart pt.6" features Kendrick describing his emotional connection to fellow rappers and labelmates current and past such as Jay Rock, Dave Free, Top Dawg, and ScHoolboy Q with meaningful lyrics and excellent flows.

53. JPEGMAFIA - "HAZARD DUTY PAY!"

"HAZARD DUTY PAY!" features a soul flip over agressive trap drums and blown out and yelly vocals, but it's still blends simply with with it's sample from The Winans "Ain't No Need To Worry"

52. Kanye West - "Dark Fantasy"

The choral, orchestral, introduction and title track to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, "Dark Fantasy." Kanye's flow is superb and his lyrics are deeply inspiring. The production is great and handles both the jazz rap sample and the choral section with total mastery. Absolute masterpiece

51. Yachts On Fire - "Argentina"

An electronic yacht rock jam, "Argentina" is credibly unique in concept. Its guitar melodies and production are funky and resonant, Its bass parts add great drama, and it manages to have complex that aren't very noticeable, because the rest of the song is also very complex, but really changes the feel every time the beat changes.

50. Busta Rhymes, Eminem - "Calm Down"

"Calm Down" is a shock rap song with aggresive lyrics and flows from both Busta and Eminem, and a simple chop of the intro of "Jump Around" by House of Pain. Despite ery aggresive lyrics, "Calm Down" doesn't seem to be directed at anyone in particular and seems to be a simple release of anger and show of strength.

49. Tyler, The Creator, GloRilla, Sexyy Red, Lil Wayne - "Sticky"

Not quite shock or gangsta rap, but still violent in nature, "Sticky" is a marching band inspired rap track by Tyler, The Creator with lots of features. It's production is very unique and well done, in it's mixing of Tyler's traditional floaty synth-based style and marching styles. It's flows are mostly very well done, especially from GloRilla. It's lyrics are violent and bragadocious and violent, but aren't in any way affiliated with gang culture. It is in that way similar to music from Ludacris, Busta Rhymes and DMX.

48. Kanye West, Dwele - "Flashing Lights"

One of the best Kanye songs of all time. It's production is dynamic, executing creating advantage of making both a catchy string section and synth chord chops. It's lyrics depict Kanye's remorse of a relationship that's ending, describing their differences and things that they did. (or maybe not, I'm confused with the timeline), and begging her not.

47. Childish Gambino - "Redbone"

A soul track insprired by Bootsy Collins' "I'd Rather Be With You," "Redbone" is an explorative music venture from Childish Gambino, and it absolutley goes hard. It's production goes from calm to energetic very quickly, featuring a distorted synth solo close to the end, and is supported by lots of synthesizer licks

46. JPEGMAFIA - "either on or off the drugs"

Using artificial intelegence to remake a Future sample into a soul track an flip it, Peggy absolutely cooks near the end of the greatest album ever made with "either on or off the drugs." Rapping with decent flow about his experiences and vices, arguing his excellence, and using a downtempo change to introduce a heavenly guitar solo. Brilliant.

45. Kendrick Lamar - "i"

The best thing about "i" is that it's composed and produced with unmatched creativity. It features Kendrick rapping over an incredibly energetic guitar and Latin-style piano. It also features an amazing breakdown where guitar begins to stratch. It narratively acts as an end to To Pimp A Butterfly, adressing the current state of BLM and enforcing Kendrick's self-love and his victory over his depression.

44. OutKast - "Ms Jackson"

A heartbreaking, yet hopeful perspective on unplanned pregnancies, "Ms. Jackson" is produced dynamically, using a drum loop, synths, pianos and guitars in a creative way in terms of both production and composition. Both Andre and Big Boi with excellent and moving lyrics. Andre even sings decently.

43. Lemon Demon - "Spiral Of Ants"

A depressing and relatable take on the monotony and ratrace-like qualities of lower-to-middle class life, comparing it to an incredibly bleak natural metaphor that when the queen of an ant colony and the ants no longer have a leader, the ants simply follow each other in a circle, hence the name, "Spiral Of Ants." It's very thematically different from the rest of Spirit Phone, most of which is about fictional monsters or phenomena. It's produced very well with a variety of synths, and few real instruments like bass and horns. It's jarringly bouncy for it's dark subject matter and minor key and tone.

42. P.M. Dawn - "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss"

Primarily sampling Spandau Ballet's "True" and The Soul Searchers' "Ashley's Roachclip," "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss" is about about reminicising a past relation and all the emotions that come with it, including most importantly, acceptance. It is lyrically conveyed through both rapping and singing. The drum beat is sampled from "Ashley's Roachclip" and layed on top of the the hook from "True." It also samples Bob James' "Meet Me At The Mardi Gras." Great Song.

41. Lemon Demon - "No Eyed Girl"

A love ballad dedicatd to a cryptid with no eyes, "No Eyed Girl" has great production featuring reverberant, almost Phil Collins style drums, a great string section in the pre-chorus, a beautiful showcase of Neil's 80s style vocal style, and great synths throughout. The lyrics are nonsensically dedicated, revealing that Neil's Character caused a sort of apocalypse in which more of the No Eyed Girl's kind enter our world stating that he'd "do it all again."

40. Tyler, The Creator - "Like Him"

A beautiful ballad about Tyler's fear of being like his absent father, and spiraling when he's told he looks like him. The lyrics are very moving and poetic. The production is absolutely amazing going from from a simple piano piece, to a more synthesized and full version of the original chorus, to a Daft Punk style version, and Tyler's mom telling him that she wouldn't let him be present even though he wanted to be.

39. Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna - "LOYALTY."

From Rihanna's rap era, "LOYALTY." is a smooth pop rap track with lyrics that ask sometime to spend time with them highand questioning if they're really loyal to them, but very cryptically. It samples Bruno Mars' "24K Magic" and puts it on top of a mellow trap beat.

38. JPEGMAFIA - "JIHAD JOE"

A rap metal track with a suspenceful intro, "JIHAD JOE" has violent blown out vocals and scary production. Guitars, vocal rises, alarms, and drum fills come out of nowhere. Ambient noise plays in quiet pats of the parts. JPEGMAFIA spits hypnotic flows, arguably even when he's screaming at the top of his lungs.

37. Vince Staples - "Etouffee"

A chilled out rap song with sung vocals from Vince. It's lyrics describe Vince's perspective life in inner LA, but adds fantasy elements like Vince being a martian and landing there to symbolize not belonging there. It's production is amazing, using a variety of synths in a variety of ways. The song briefly scratches into a cowbell driven 808 beat, and promptly ends, great song.

36. JPEGMAFIA, Denzel Curry - "JPEGULTRA"

Featuring marching band style composition and witty lyrics from both Curry and Peggy that brag criticise all the JPEGMAFIA haters. Halfway through the song an acoustic guitar plays a classicalesque melody and Peggy raps over it calmly. It's production makes this track sound more metallic than "Sticky," despite being composed in a similar style.

35. Kendrick Lamar, U2 - "XXX."

A commentary on the hyposcrisy of Lowerclass-on-Lowerclass violence as a concept. The first movement is a trap-driven poemabout violence in poverty, a story about someone getting roped into gang violence, and a rant to a friendadvocating vengeance against some whose killed his son. The second movement with U2 takes a big-picture at America as a whole, and how all the violence was intentionally or unintentionally set up by the upperclass.

34. Kendrick Lamar, Busta Rhymes - "Look Over Your Shoulder"

Sampling John Cameron's "Sympathy" and Michael Jackson's "I'll Be There," this track is a testament to the production skill of a relatively unknown producer called Nottz. Both Kendrick and Busta Rhymes have very hypnotic flows and decent bragadocious lyrics. THis was My 2nd most listened to song of 2024.

33. Madvillain, Viktor Vaughn - "Fancy Clown"

Featuring heartbreaking lyrics about a failed relationship and the different emotions that come with it, and hypnotic flows from DOOM and production from Viktor Vaughn and Madlib. "Fancy Clown" samples ZZ Hill's, "That Ain't The Way You Make Love," and adds it's own drums, It's produced very well

32. Daft Punk - "Veridis Quo"

An emotional yet repetive instrumental, "VerIdis Quo" contains a synth orchestra and electronic drums. it features a catchy flute melody that plays the entire track add synth elements in and out.

31. Gustav Holst, Berliner Philharmoniker - "Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity"

The only classical piece on this list, Jupiter is a dynamic piece featuring a very fast and bouncy lead in to in. It's of the most famous orchestral performances to one of the greatest melodies of all time, with great accompaniment too. Masterpiece.

30. JPEGMAFIA - "OG!"

Featuring a superb sample flip of "Gangster of Hip-Hop" by Just-Ice and Human DMX, and bragadocious lyrics set to a unique flow, "OG!" is one of Peggy's best tracks. The bass adds an unexplainable sense of motion to the track, which I really appreciate.

29. JPEGMAFIA, Kimbra - "TIRED, NERVOUS AND BROKE!"

A synthy, electronic and messy masterpiece that features a sample of the xbox startup sound and a unique range percussive and synths sounds. There are a number of different drum grooves, including, traditional trap, sidechain, and a sort of simple drumline beat. The production is masterful. The flow is very shouty, but also very hypnotic, The lyrics are very bragadocious, violent, and witty. Good Tune.

28. Prince - "Purple Rain"

A love ballad begging a woman to take him back, and maturing thought learning to leave the woman to her husband. The drums are very echoy and the ensemble of strings, bass, drums, piano, and guitar work very well together. The show of Prince's vocal range is very appealing, the lyrics are very heartfelt and loving, and the guitar solo is absolutley heavenly.

27. Mariah Carey - "Honey"

Featuring a funky bassline and drums, a catchy piano lick, and filling strings, "Honey" is an absolute R&B pop masterpiece. All of this is mixed absolutely perfectly, and serves as a great testestament to Mariah's absolutley god-tier range. This song is absolutley amazing.

26. Kendrick Lamar, Drake - "Poetic Justice"

A romantic rap track from two of the 2010s biggest rapper, each in their prime, "Poetic Justice" masterfully samples Janet Jackson's "Any TIme, Any Place," and the drums both mold the track to fit the song to good kid m.A.A.d citty's sound and Kendrick's rapping in itself. Both Kendrick and Drake's vocals and lyrics are absolutley beautiful, but Kendrick's first verse is definitley the best one.

25. Tyler, The Creator, Daniel Ceasar - "St. Chroma"

A masterpiece with a unique ensemble, including whispering vocals from Tyler, marching, various synths, electonic or sampled drums, and beautiful and layered vocals from Daniel, "St. Chroma" is the crown jewel and title track of Tyler's lastest album, CHROMAKOPIA. The music not featured in the music video is absolutley is amazing, featuring Tyler rapping in his regular and a more calm version of Daniel's chorus. Amazing.

24. Kendrick Lamar - "Rigamortis"

A jovial and hypnotic track off of Kendrick's first album, "Rigamortis" features a jazzy horn hook, and celebratory lyrics set to a hypnotic flow. The lyrics are not only celebratory but jump from jump from topic to topic. This on top of the fact that raps quickly with a complex rhyme scheme, make it very hard to follow the lyrics beyond the fact that hes's the G.O.A.T.

23. OutKast - "B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)"

Featuring lyrics reflecting on Andre and Big Boi's present in a fragmanted and hard to understand way. Featuring absolutley banging production, this track is moslty driven by a chopped up breakbeat, an organ, and features great synths and guitars in specific parts.

22. Donkey Kong Country 2 OST - "In a Snow-Bound Land"

A floaty track composed for Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, "In a Snow-Bound Land" has amazing production that uses lots of subtle synths and very well-mixed drums. The melody is also amazing.

21. Eshrack_, [kyle davis] - "RUNTZING"

From one of my favorite gem producers, [kyle davis] absolutley in both the production and rapping areas. Both the beat from Kyle and both of the pairs' flows are amazing. One of the best touches is the harsh snare fills. Absolutley amazing.

20. Childish Gambino, Chance The Rapper - "The Worst Guys"

Featuring a hypnotizing synth hook, a great structure, witty lyrics set to great flows, amazing and a Ludwig Gorransson guitar solo. It pairs really well with its interlude, "Dial Up." It's nearly perfect, but almost too perfect.

19. JPEGMAFIA - "Exmilitary"

With a menacing sound that goes from metal guitars to choral backing vocals and everything in a snap, "Exmilitary" is easily one of the most menacing diss tracks of all of all time, presumably agaisnt Drakewith lyrics refrencing his allegations like, "Is you Harvey, Jeffrey, R. Kelly or is you Opposite," and more. Perhaps it's maybe refrencing a less obvious feud that I'm unaware of.

18. Metallica - "One"

An anti-war metal anthem, "One" is one of the best metal songs of of all time. It's written with both symphonic and thrashy section, both of which are very iconic. It's production is infamously lackluster for making the bass very quiet, but aside from this, the production is somewhat normal, and the writing and instrumental performace full well makes up for this.

17. Childish Gambino - "Life: The Biggest Troll [Andrew Aurenhimer]"

A futuristic synth piece that Childish Gambino happens to be rapping over. Gambino has meaningful lyrics, and impressice flow. The beat is amazing, but it doesn't necessarily need rapping over it because of it's amazing underlick.

16. Genesis - "Mama"

A floaty ballad driven heavily by Tony Banks' synth work, of Rutherford's best guitar solos, and one of Phil Collins' most iconic drum parts. It's lyrics call to either Phil Collins wife or mother, begging for affection and aid in a momentof desperation. The intro features electronic drums that deceive the listener into think the first beat is differnt than what it actually is. very creative, very moving, very well done.

15. Kendrick Lamar - "The Art of Peer Pressure"

While not my favorite track for casual listening right now, "The Art of Peer Pressure" is a beautifully produced track with great writing rapping broken by short spoken skits over the beats, all about you geussed it, Kendrick doing despicable thing with his friends that he wouldn't have done otherwise. It has two great beats, but one of them is very short.

14. Tyler, The Creator, Daniel Ceaser, LaToiya Williams - "Take Your Mask Off"

Either an introspective on Tyler's past, or a diss track against Drake combined with advice to a self-abusive mother, "Take Your Mask Off" is a chill mellow track about being true to oneself. It's production is very mellow, but allows to let the lyrics when the low horns become more prevalent. Amazing.

13. UGK, OutKast - "Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You)"

Flipping Willie Hutch beautifully and adding 2000s trap drums and bass. Andre, Big Boi, Bun B, and Pimp C all rap beautifully. The appeal of this song is very simple, the Willie Hutch sample that was used is very orchestral, and the trap drums add a unique yet familiar element, and that's the perfect mix of familiarity to build the song upon, and to add amazing rappers to.

12. Tyler, The Creator, Kanye West, Lil Wayne - "SMUCKERS"

An absolutley amazing rap song with three of the greatest rappers of all time, and a beautifully produced beat. Another appeal of this track is the conversation style in the second part of the track. Along with the second verse in general; Tyler made yelling, "HOLD YOUR FUCKING HORSES," go absolutley hard.

11. TOTO - "Georgy Peorgy"

A heartbreaking rack soft rock track about leaving a women due to having messed up in some way. With a beautifully composed piano, string, bass and guitar parts and dynamic, well played drums, "Georgy Porgy" just barely got edged out of the top 10.

10. Kanye West - "Family Business"

A beautifully produced look into Kanye's good relationships within his family. Featuring an original piano so good that I thought it was sampled, a chorus that's beautifully sung, and euphoric lyrics that highlight the potential joys of spending time with extended family

9. Kanye West, Pusha T - "Runaway"

Making a symphony with a simple E major melody and a few samples, "Runaway" is considered one of the essential tracks for one of the greatest artists of all time. It's lyrics describes Kanye's struggles with his relationship in the most vulnerable yet poetic yet blunt way possible. Pusha T's verse is great, but still holds "Runaway" down, because Runaway was already so good. After 5 minutes, the song returns to the piano hook and adds a string ensemble and distorted humming vocals in the best part of the song.

8. Tyler, The Creator, Doechii - "Balloon"

A beautifully produced symphonic rap track about with bragadocious lyrics with a quirky synth hook. It's giving healthy self-confidence. All the backing vocals and synths are amazingly full. Both Tyler and Doechii's flows are absolutley godly. Words can describe how good this track is even less than they can describe "Honey."

7. Daft Punk, Paul Williams - "Touch"

"Touch" is a very dynamic track, to say the least. It goes from an ASMR-esc noise, to a disco section about some sort of sentient computer who is feinding for the sensation of touch, to a lovely balland telling us that, "Oh. Hold on. If love if the answer you're home. Hold on." It's produced very very well, the drums are very powerful, but don't overpower the rest of the track, all the noise is ver different from the rest of the track, there's a synth solo, and a disco piano. Absolutley amazing

6. Kanye West - "I Wonder"

Banging drums, inspring lyrics, make the track the 6th best song of all time. It's also one of Mike Dean's first production credits on a Kanye West project. The sample cuts out for amazing breakdown, which adds strings and lets the drums go. Amazing.

5. Donkey Kong Conutry 2 OST - "Forest Interlude"

Another frutiger aero track from a DKC2, "Forest Interlude" is one of the best produced tracks ever conceived. It has a wonderful flute parts on top of all the synthesizers, and there's great call and response in the chorus. The drums are dynamic, like one's you'd expect in a Donkey Kong game. I don't know why they made the soundtrack so good for this game.

4. Kendrick Lamar - "Sing About Me, I'm Dying Of Thirst"

A two-in-one emotional jazz rap track from good kid m.A.A.d city, "Sing About Me, I'm Dying Of Thirst" looks at life in compton from a big picture sense. It has beautiful production in both the first and second halves, which are very different. The first half, "Sing About Me" is a mellow yet sorrowful set of messages to Kendrick from old friends from compton. The second half, "I'm Dying Of Thirst" is a chorally driven, jarring and dark reflection on life and death in Compton. The song in full ends with Kendrick and his friends giving up violence and repenting to God.

3. Tyler, The Creator - "GONE GONE / THANK YOU"

An orchestral art pop piece in two parts by Tyler, The Creator with a great mastery over synth design and production in general, creative production like adding graniteblock percussion, acoustic guitars, and gunshot sound effects. Absolutley heavenly production. "GONE GONE / THANK YOU" tackles the difficult of a faded love in a relationship and all the emtions that come with leaving.

2. Baby Keem - "16"

A sorrowful yet comforting yet barely decipherable love song that shows the pinnacle of Baby Keem's surprising ability to sing well. It's production very futuristic with various moving synths and glitchy drums. The lyrics are very heartfelt and poetic, yet very down to earth. Wonderful.

Donkey Kong Country 2 OST - "Stickerbrush Symphony"

With a unique and amazing synth kit, a decent beat, and very lyrical composition of said synths, an amazing backing synth that fades in and out of the song, and a catchy meoldy with a catchy synth to play it. "Stickerbrush Symphony" takes risks like not having lyrics, or instruments that are hard to draw parelells to or being released in a video game, but it simply feels safe in structure and melody, Absolutley and amazingly brilliant.

[heloflor]

Ducktales S2 episodes thoughts

So I finally caught up with Ducktales, since I stopped watching in the middle of season 2, right after “Whatever happened to Della Duck”; and I’ve decided to share my thoughts on each episode of the post-hiatus S2 and the episodes of S3 we have so far. So here is season 2 for those who are interested, and yes, this post is going to be long (this is definitely not the most practical way to do it but I don’t want to make one post per episode) :

“Treasure of the Found Lamp!” : not much to say on this one, aside from the fact that this is probably an ‘’’excuse’’’ to show more of the Beagle Boys (when you think about it, these guys barely show up after S1) and that the character of Djinn is pretty cool; I like him.

  “The Outlaw Scrooge McDuck!” : still a delight to see Scrooge and Goldie interact and see how these two are genuinely attracted to each other but their desire for gold prevent them from being together. Though honestly, you can’t convince me that they didn’t date at some point, unless one of the creators (*cough* Frank *cough*) says otherwise. I mean, in season 1, when Goldie is introduced, not only does Scrooge immediately calls her his ex but Goldie is also willing to kiss him 5 minutes into their first meeting in years. Seriously, in season 1, you can tell that these two know they are attractive to the other, they know the effect they have on each other, and it wouldn’t be surprising that they acted upon those feelings at some point, before betraying each other again. Hell, remember the best quote from this episode ?

“You love gold more than you loved me.”

“And that’s why you loved me.”

They’re literally admitting that they’re in love with each other, or at least loved each other at some point.

  “The 87 Cent Solution!” : this episode did not age well. AT ALL. But this aside, the scene with Glomgold showing up during the funeral was one of the most hilarious things this show has done. And speaking of Glomgold, I really like how threatening he was in this. It shows that when he has a plan in mind and the right tools, he can really pull it off. We need more of Glomgold being clever like that (though I’ll admit he is pretty hilarious the way he is and in season 3 we have our lot of serious/threatening villains).

  “The Golden Spear!” : And they were roomates ! But more seriously; speaking of threatening villains : Lunaris is amazing as a strategist villain ! I absolutely love the way he’s able to pass himself as the good guy and manipulate everyone to get what he wants, whether it be Della by asking her for the ‘blueprints’ or his own people by making Della a traitor to their eyes. Hell, even Penumbra is at a loss by the end of the episode and doesn’t seem to know whether she should obey or not. And speaking of Penumbra, her evolution throughout the episode is really great. I especially like how Della is just so oblivious to the hatred Penumbra has for her. Honestly this episode alone is definitely enough justification for the Penny/Della shippers.

As for the “B plot”, it was nice to see a bit more of Donald being a dad, especially with the kids starting to realize the impact their actions can have on him. Though, they made Donald such an interesting and tragic character in this show that I’m not that big of a fan of seeing him get hurt for laughs.

Oh and one last thing about Della : for some reason, that shot of her in the rocket, seeing the earth and crying while saying “mommy’s coming home” gets me very emotional every time I watch it. I think it’s because we know that she spent 10 years trying to get home to meet her kids, facing failure after failure; and finally, after all these hardships, she’s going back with nothing to stop her.

On the same note, Donald’s hope when seeing the rocket and his accidental launch were pretty heartbreaking.

  “Nothing can stop Della Duck!” : Ok, first off, that intro. It is waaay too early in the episode for such feels and I love it ! Although, on one hand I’m a bit disappointed that the boys accept their mom so quickly (I expected a bit more heartbreak) but on the other hand it works because they all have a different reaction that truly fit with their personalities.

Secondly, the way Della is in this episode. It’s perfect. She’s not a mother, this is something the fandom had realized ever since “The Last Crash of the Sunchaser!”. Della had children too early, at a time when she was too immature for such responsibility. And her ten years on the moon, most of them in total isolation, didn’t help making her wiser. So now she’s back, still as immature, but now she has three kids to take care of; and she has no idea what she’s doing. Also, like some people already pointed out last year (or at least it probably was last year), Della doesn’t immediately know about Donald leaving the mansion for a decade. To her, the triplets grew up exactly like she did, hence why she doesn’t think her scary story would terrify them that much.

I also really like how Louie was and how Scrooge and Beakley handled the situation. I like how one of the kids wasn’t completely sold at the thought of their mom being back, and Louie works as the insecure triplet there. As for the adult characters, I love how they both knew that Della needed to learn how to be a parent but at the same time she just arrived, so they kept their distance to let her be with her kids while at the same time being close enough to act if something goes wrong.

Finally, it’s sweet to see how Della is truly willing to learn how to be a good parent, although the road is still very long, even in season 3.

  “Raiders of the Doomsday Vault!” : Nothing much to say about the plot with Glomgold. It’s just Glomgold being Glomgold while Owlson and Scrooge are just done with his shit. As for Della and Dewey, it’s a great plot. We see Della trying to bond with her kids by doing what they like, and it was pretty obvious that Dewey would be the first on the list. After all, he was the first to wonder about his mom and they both share the same thirst for adventure. And it’s great to see how Della doesn’t know her kids’ abilities. So at first, she’s completely fine with putting Dewey in stressful situations; but by the end of it, she realizes how dangerous things are and what she could lose, while Dewey started to believe too much in himself due to what his mother told him, only realizing too late in which situation he put himself in.

So yeah, it was great to see Della discover what her kids are able to do during their adventures, especially their limits.

  “Friendship Hates Magic!” : So, when I watched in 2017-2018, I didn’t really understand where the whole Lena/Webby came from; but seeing this now, I was definitely blind (and it didn’t help that I used to ship Webby and Dewey until I discovered Ace Att//orney and the ‘found siblings’ relationship between Edge//worth and Fran//ziska). Also I’m a bit split on Violet. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a good character and I do like how she got interested in studying magic and her personality in general. But at the same time her personality kind of rub me the wrong way, not in a “she’s evil” way but more a “I don’t like her” way. It’s weird.

As for the rest, it’s sweet how Webby tried to be more normal because she’s afraid to lose a new friend, and her reaction to seeing Lena again was adorable. Lena was also really sweet in how much she cares for Webby and wants her to be safe.

As for the B-plot, it was nice seeing Beakley and Launchpad get along, and it’s pretty clever how what brought them together was their liking for heroism.

  “The Dangerous Chemistry of Gandra Dee!” : Firstly, the kids are still shippers, which is a nice touch.

Secondly, that scene with Beaks and the lasers was amazing. If the scene at Scrooge’s ‘funeral’ is the best Glomgold scene, then the scene with the lasers is the best Mark Beaks scene so far.

Thirdly, I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say that Launchpad is pansexual. I mean, if a person can date anyone regardless of species, then gender shouldn’t be much of an issue. Also Launchpad mentions in his ‘list’ a wereduck and a ninja, which are often considered as male (by that I mean that, while werewolves and ninjas can be both male/man and female/woman, when you think of one of them you’ll have a tendency to see them as masculine, because that’s how they are represented in media most of the time). He also mentions a clone of himself, so another same-sex relationship; and a talking cloud of energy, which I’m pretty sure doesn’t have a gender to begin with. So yeah. Pansexual Launchpad. Or at least non-straight Launchpad. And speaking of Launchpad, I like how he can tell that Fenton isn’t smooth at all and puts some music on to prevent the duo to be forced to talk; it’s a pretty sweet gesture. Honestly it’s great how Launchpad is often seen as a complete idiot but then you have those specific ‘fields’ in which he knows and lot and can really shine (*cough* the next episode *cough*).

Update after lurking on Tumblr : apparently there’s an LGBT+ Ducktales event and a member of the crew made an art about Launchpad and all the people he dated (including his clone and the cloud of energy and I love this person for adding this); and given the appearance of several of them, it’s clear that this guy is pan. By the way if you want to see the art just time “Ducktales love is like a hurricane” on Tumblr and you’ll find it.

Fourthly, the “It’s a date” song is great and catchy.

Fifthly, the fact that DR. Atmosphere feels insulted by Fenton not giving much effort really works with him being a reference to Doofenshmirtz. After all, in Phineas and Ferb, we see that Heinz is just a lonely guy who truly likes Perry and takes their relationship seriously, between writing his monologues to making big musical numbers to complain when Perry isn’t there at the right time (and yes, by season 4, being evil is more of a job to him than an actual wish to dominate the Three-State Area).

Finally, the heart of this episode : Fenton. This episode worked well in how it develops how Fenton views his new role as a popular hero. We especially see how he struggles to balance his two lives and his relationships, wishing to be liked for who he is as a person instead of as a hero. It’s also interesting how much work he does as a hero, to the point of not really caring anymore about being dramatic and saying catchphrases and all that yada-yada. His relationship with Gandra is also pretty nice, although it is very predictable and by the end of the episode, I’m not even sure if they do end up together ? Like, Gandra talks about a second date but it’s just a trick to get Fenton to say the code thing; and though she does help at the end and give Fenton the right ‘formula’ (she draws a molecule so yeah, formula) for his invention, she still leaves without much words and seems to have taken the original ball (I think ?). Though, the idea of them dating could be very interesting in regards of her afflictions with F.O.W.L.

  “The Duck Knight Returns!” : so, first off, I never saw an episode of Darkwing Duck before seeing the recent fanart of the dt17 fandom. I more or less knew the show existed as a kid (there was a channel with old Disney shows in the early 2000s) because I remember there was another show than Ducktales that had Launchpad in it but I didn’t like his character at that time so I never watched. But I recently started watching and I have to say, the most surprising thing about it has to be the fact that Drake has a girlfriend because holy shit this show is gay ! Seriously ! Two guys, living together and raising a child together, having tons of domestic moments. Whoever wrote this show had no gaydar whatsoever ! And honestly this makes the whole thing hilarious. But shipping aside, the show’s pretty good. It has different villains with different goals and personalities, they decided to make the action cartoonish, which works well, and the show has some pretty good and hilarious quotes there and there. But what really makes this show a great one has to be the domestic moments, especially the relationship between Drake and Gosalyn. These two are adorable and their father/daughter relationship is both wholesome and feels realistic. On the same note, it’s great to see how a show from the 90s was breaking the gender norms not only by making a single father character (or, if you see Launchpad as a father figure too, you could say making two men be parents) but also by having a girl be a tomboy without it being seen as an issue by anyone (except for like one episode). So yeah, Darkwing Duck’s a pretty good show and if you like the duckverse and haven’t seen it yet, you should give it a watch !

Now, onto the actual Ducktales episode. It’s really great. I won’t talk much about it because pretty sure it’s been talked a lot already but yeah, it’s a great way to introduce Drake and give a backstory to Negaduck. Though my favorite thing about this episode has to be Launchpad. I love how he knows from the beginning that Jim’s plan is bad but still feels like he should roll with it because the guy’s his idol. I especially like the detail of Launchpad covering the eyes of the Scrooge logo while breaking into the studio. Also the “I’m trapped in a prison of guilt !” line. I also really like his interactions with Drake, especially at the end when he inspires him to become Darkwing. It really shows that, while Launchpad’s an idiot most of the time, when he’s truly passionate about something, a much more smooth and clever side of him shines (seriously during that part when he inspires Drake to become a hero, he sounds so smooth and yet it seems to come so naturally. And you can tell how much respect it makes Drake have for him with the way he looks at Launchpad when putting his hat on).

One last thing to say about this episode : there’s that scene right before Jim tries to trap Drake in which Dewey and Launchpad talk about how things are currently going for them; and when Dewey talks about how excited the whole ‘making a movie’ thing is for him, for some reason I absolutely love the animation of Dewey jumping into Launchpad’s arms while Launchpad tries not to drop him. I don’t know, it just feels really ‘fluid’ or something (I have no idea what’s the language for animation) but yeah, props to the animators for that moment.

  “What Ever Happened to Donald Duck?!” : First off, the highlight of this episode is definitely the speech about Donald going to a therapist to control his anger. It’s simply amazing to have a children cartoon show a character having issues and deciding to deal with them in a healthy way, and it’s great to see Dewey realizing how much Donald does for him and his brothers and being touched by it. It’s also a great lesson about how you can’t make your anger magically disappear but you can work to deal with it in the best way possible.

As for the scenes on the moon, between Lunaris being extremely manipulative and planning everything, Penumbra trying to do what she believes is best and Donald’s determination to go home and parental instincts shining through, it was a really enjoyable episode. Not much to say about Dewey and Webby though. It’s just Dewey and Webby being Dewey and Webby.

  “Happy Birthday, Doofus Drake!” : Doofus is still as terrifying as before, Goldie is still the same gold-driven robber as usual, Louie is still looking for an easy way to get rich, Glomgold is still doing weird schemes and Beaks is still relying on technology too much. So overall, not much to say aside from it’s a great and fun episode; the scene at the end with Scrooge and Louie is sweet and Boyd is a precious baby. Also I still love Goldie’s character and it’s great to see Doofus’ parents finally be free from their son’s creepy bullshit. Also also, seeing Della bond with Huey was really sweet, especially how she was willing for a while to stay with him and his garden despite how boring it was to her.

  “A Nightmare on Killmotor Hill!” : again, not much to say. We get to see more of Violet’s character, along with what the kids dream of, which is a good way to reinforce their personalities but also their desires and fears (I especially like Dewey’s dream having him cry on the moon, it’s a great touch given that he spent an entire season trying to find more about his mom). And obviously, we get to see more of Lena and how afraid she is to be a bad person. I also like how it’s unclear by the end whether or not she can control her magic, which left room for season 3 to expand upon. It’s also great how by the end of the episode, her biggest comfort didn’t come from her friends but from seeing by herself the state in which Magica currently is. I don’t know why but I’d say it makes the whole thing more realistic ? Like, there’s only so much friends can do to help you, but seeing your abuser being in a terrible state is a much more direct proof that there’s nothing to fear.

  “The Golden Armory of Cornelius Coot!” : again, not much. It’s a classic fun episode with the kids trying to solve a mystery while some bad guys are on their tail. Though, I really like the whole thing with Webby trying to be more like Della, with Della starting to be a bit of a mom to her. I also liked seeing Della and Launchpad interact more and it’s still funny to see how the ship that so many people liked in season 1 is slowly fading away as we see Della having a hard time accepting Launchpad and as we have Tumblr remember how much it likes gay ships with the introduction of Penumbra and Drake (by the way, I’m not saying that Della/Launchpad is a bad ship; it’s just that I find it funny to see how quick a fandom is to change their opinion on shipping, especially when ‘gay options’ are created).

Although, Della felt a bit uncharacteristically cold and aggressive towards Launchpad, especially when compared to how she was with Dewey in “Raiders of the Doomsday Vault!”. But I guess it has to do with how she felt like Launchpad replaced her, making her more protective over her plane and her talent as a pilot.

  “Timephoon!” : so I have no memory of Bubba (the caveman duck) from the old Ducktales so I can’t compare him. But from what I’ve seen in this episode, he’s fine. Not the best character but he works as a one-off character and I wouldn’t mind a cameo or two in the future (as long as it’s not an entire episode focused on him because that would get boring pretty quickly).

Now, for the rest of the episode, I want to talk about Della, because she’s clearly the most interesting part here. Della was gone for a decade, she barely knows anything about her kids, especially the mischiefs they can get into, and that’s what the episode plays into. Della discovers that her kids don’t just get into danger from adventuring, they can put themselves in danger, more or less voluntary. And the way she reacts to it (along with the season finale) makes it feels like Donald and her never or rarely got into these kinds of situations, although Beakley’s line near the end of the episode might say otherwise. And speaking of which, I really appreciate how Scrooge and Beakley were when Della scolded Dewey. At first, Beakley was ready to step in when Louie made the comment of Della not being better than him; but Della made it clear that she needed to do it on her own. And afterwards, we see both Scrooge and Beakley respect her decision and staying silent as Louie is pleading them to step in. They know that Della needs to learn to be a good mother so they respect and support her decision. Though, if you search the name of the episode on Tumblr, there’s a post about how Della went too far given her current relationship with Louie, though it isn’t her fault as she doesn’t know him enough. You should try finding this post, it’s definitely worth giving it a read ! And yeah, there’s also a lot of other posts talking about the issue with much more analysis than I do so if you���re interested, go read the discourse on Tumblr.

  “GlomTales!” : first off, they used the takeover as the intro and I love every second of it !

Secondly, Della….yikes. Yeah. Grounding Louie was the right decision to make but forcing him to stay trapped in a room with a dangerous robot guarding him and ‘taunting’ him with recordings telling him about how much he fucked up, all the while the rest of the family is in vacation in a place he dreamed of visiting…I think you get the point. They went way too far with the punishment, so it’s no surprise when Louie wants to join the bad guys who let him do all the scheming he wants. And while Della accepted his personality more by the end of the episode, these two still need to connect more.

Speaking of the bad guys, they were pretty fun in this episode. I like how their different personalities and knowledge led them to act with each other. I especially liked Magica trying to get back her former glory and overstepping on Glomgold for the role of leader, Glomgold who is still as dramatic and dumb as ever while having actually smart schemes and I love it.

  “The Richest Duck in the Word!” : while the structure of the episode was pretty cliché (character suddenly has tons of powers but doesn’t realize the responsibilities that go with it), the ending with Louie and Scrooge was really sweet and satisfying. Honestly the season is supposed to be about Louie having a company and yet he and Scrooge didn’t have that many interactions (they still had some, but they could have more) so it’s really sweet to see them solve an issue linked to Scrooge’s company together.

And let’s not forget that Owlson finally stood up for herself and quitted (good for her honestly, she deserves a job where she can be happy and get what she wants done) and that Launchpad actually managed to land a plane without crashing (and it’s not even acknowledged !).

  “Moonvasion!” : the season finale, aka the one that should have its own post. You know what ? I’ll put the review here and, eventually, I’ll split it into its own post if it’s requested.

So, Moonvasion. Where to start. Ok, first off, it was an amazing episode. Just like the first finale, this was possibly the best episode of the season (depending of your point of view though, tastes and expectations are different). It was great to see so many characters come together and fight together, all with different fighting methods. I especially like Fenton’s mom being a protective badass, Beakley being a total badass and Gyro with his clone army (I especially love his line when everyone is debating on what to do and he’s like “Simple. Clone. Army.”. I just love the delivery here).

Secondly, I really like how they expended on Della there. As we’ve seen in previous episodes, Della still doesn’t know her kids and their abilities; so in the face of danger, she’d rather flee to protect her. On the other hand, Donald trust the kids to defend themselves and immediately starts strategizing with them. And speaking of Donald, I love how they acknowledge how much and how well he took care of the kids with the line about Della’s lullaby. In general, that entire sequence on the island with the twins and their kids (no incest intended) was probably the best part of the episode, along with the big fight with everyone and that “Hey kids.” line from Scrooge near the end. Oh yeah, and also the space fight with the moon theme playing and the family working together with the twins fighting and Scrooge being happy to have his angry babies back. This entire sequence was also amazing. And when Penumbra shows up, I love how she’s using the original spear of Selene. Again, just like last finale, the crew outdid themselves.

Another thing that I can praise here is Glomgold. I really love how they made his weird schemes work out. I also love how not only did he do this to help but he also used the situation to spite Scrooge by trolling him. Also earth baby jail. Just earth baby jail.

And speaking of strategists, I absolutely adore Lunaris in this episode. This guy was truly prepared for anything Scrooge could send him and it’s great.

Another character that I’d like to mention in this episode is Drake. Basically, watching the episode again, I’m pretty sure that guy has no fucking clue on what to do. I mean, we see him show up at Launchpad’s place at the beginning of the invasion, then he’s at the meeting with the others and gives ideas that show he’s much more on the theatrics parts of being a hero, which is fitting with him being an actor (side note that I forgot to mention earlier : I really appreciate that they made Drake an actor. It really fits with how overly dramatic he was in the old show; and it could play with his ego as well, though DT17 Drake doesn’t seem to have that big of an ego). Then, before the giant fight, he’s on a car with Launchpad and once Scrooge takes his place in it, Drake still holds onto it. And by the end of the second act, he’s trying to fight with Launchpad helping him. In other words, Drake spends the entire episode glued to Launchpad. So personally, I interpret it as Drake not really knowing what to do so, since Launchpad is the one who inspired him to be a hero in the first place and is the only one taking him seriously, Drake is going to try to stay with him and have him as support. And yeah, overall, the joke about nobody knowing who the fuck Drake is was pretty hilarious.

Finally, because no episode is perfect, here’s a few details that, while not making the episode any less amazing, still bother me a bit.

- When Della left Duckburg on a gigantic plane, how come no Moonlanders tried to follow her ? Hell, we know they came to her specifically and we see later that Lunaris was able to see her position; so what gives ? And even when they’re in Egypt, though I can understand why they wouldn’t try to follow since they only have one ship. But still, Della was able to fly for possibly hours before getting attacked, and they only got attacked because they landed on a place that was about to be invaded !

- What happened to Drake after he fainted ? Like, don’t get me wrong, I understand while we stop seeing him. After Scrooge see the landing of the ship, we get into the third act, which seems to take place a few hours after the previous scene (given that several characters changed clothing and it started freezing). And I know that, since it’s the third act, they only wanted the main characters to play a role. But still, one minute we see Drake faint into Launchpad’s arms and the next Launchpad arrives alone saying everyone was captured. So what happened to Drake ? I see three possibilities, all with a few flaws : A) Launchpad ditched Drake/the two split up. Let’s be honest, this didn’t happen. Launchpad would never let an injured person behind, especially not someone he admires so much. B) Launchpad tried to find a safe place to hide Drake so that the guy can rest; but given that they’re in an invasion, finding such a spot could be very hard. C) During the time between the two acts, they got attacked by Moonlanders and either Drake was too weak to fight and got captured or he basically sacrificed himself so that Launchpad can go try to find Scrooge; with a “He needs you more than me” move. But, again, it would feel weird for Launchpad to abandon someone but then again, if it’s for the sake of everyone by trying to find his boss, I guess it could happen. This scenario would even fit with the “everyone got captured” line. Though, if Launchpad and Drake got attacked which led to them being separated, then we were robbed of a perfectly good action scene !

- There’s a shot at some point where you can see Doofus and his family and I have two questions there : 1. Why are the parents still wearing the maid outfits (and why do they keep doing it in season 3) ? and 2. Can’t Boyd do anything to help them ? Like, I know he believes he’s a real boy but that doesn’t stop him from having some pretty powerful defense mechanisms.

Update (before the post was made; I know) : so I ended up wasting 4 hours of my life reading all of Frank’s answers that I hadn’t seen yet (the things asperger makes you do…) and apparently Doofus burned his parents’ other clothes. Still doesn’t explain Boyd tho.

- During the fight in space, when the Duck family started to lose, they took a few damages before finding themselves behind the rocket. So, if they were to take damage anyways, why couldn’t Della immediately pull them on the side to get out of the way instead of heading to certain doom ? And yes I completely understand that it was a very stressful situation so she did the first thing she had in mind. Honestly that last flaw is the one that bothers me the less in a characters’ standpoint, though it still feels like plot convenience.

  So that’s all for season 2 ! Again, I could put the finale on its own post if requested. As for season 3, it’d be in a second post. This one is long enough. The post for season 3 will most likely be split in half, with the last episode talked about depending on which episode airs last before the post is made.

[ducktracy]

167. sweet si*ux (1937)

disclaimer: the review you’re about to read entails racist content and imagery. i, in no way, shape, or form, condone or endorse any of the ideals depicted below—i find the content gross and wrong. however, it needs to be talked about. to gloss over it like nothing happened would be just as insensitive and tone-deaf. PLEASE let me know if i say anything wrong, it’s absolutely not my intent to say anything hurtful or offensive, and i want to take accountability for my actions if i do. thank you for understanding and cooperating.

release date: june 26th, 1937

series: merrie melodies

director: friz freleng

starring: mel blanc (coach, hiccup sfx, mohican)

another typical festival of dehumanizing caricatures and stereotypes, there IS one aspect of this cartoon that is rather atypical--this is the first cartoon to debut a little known song by the name of “the merry go round broke down”. the song is the second anthem for the looney tunes shorts, officially debuting as the theme song with rover’s rival, just a mere 4 months after this cartoon. with “merrily we roll along” already instated as the merrie melodies theme, implemented with boulevardier of the bronx in 1936, the merry go round broke down preface cartoons in the looney tunes series, later prefacing every cartoon after 1964 with the bill lava version instead. it would also be the song number for daffy duck and egghead (sung by daffy), as well as being sung by daffy AGAIN with substitute lyrics in boobs in the woods. needless to say, this song has its fair share of history, and has made quite a name for itself.

the cartoon itself is another parade of demeaning gags, caricatures, and stereotypes, as well as remaining relatively plotless: we get a glimpse of native american life, complete with celebrity caricatures, song, and dance performances.

i will give credit where credit is due--the opening sequence of the cartoon is executed very nicely, with some beautifully painted backgrounds, accompanied by a tranquil (and appropriate) underscore of “indian dawn”. we open to the silhouette of a native american perched on top of a mountain. as the sun continues to rise, marked by changing backgrounds, it’s revealed that the silhouette is merely a statue. 

wipe away to a pan of the village, lulling us into a false sense of security as things are uncharacteristically quiet. one of the “teepees” (looking more like a circus tent) reads CHIEF “RAIN IN THE FACE”, a take on warchief rain-in-the-face, noted for his crucial contributions in defeating general custer during the battle of little big horn in 1876. sure enough, a jerk of a pan reveals a stereotypical stoic native american sitting in front of the tent with a small stream of rain designated just for his face. the build up and reveal of the gag is clever, but the gag itself is tired and difficult to laugh at. 

more teepee gags after--one native pushes his teepee up like an umbrella, sitting contentedly beneath it in a lawn chair. the most elaborate gag, however, serves as a callback to a merrie melodies cartoon dating all the way back to 1932. from the top of the teepee pops out a bespectacled, cap wearing college student toting a ukelele. he bursts into a rousing rendition of “freddy the freshman”, a callback to the cartoon of the same name 5 years prior, directed by rudolf ising. seeing as friz himself received an animation credit on the short, the gag isn’t totally out of the blue. the song itself would become a favorite of stalling’s, used in many a cartoon. once more, stereotypes prevail as the song is broken to allow a war-chant interlude before resuming. overall, the timing is well executed, but, along with everything else in this cartoon, is diminished in appreciation on account of being so tone-deaf. two more brief gags follow--a hen giving a war-cry after laying an egg, and a hitchhiker hopping into a woman’s papoose as she strolls by. nothing remarkable, more uncomfortable than anything. the gags feel a tad bit forced and directionless in my opinion.

next, a fade out and in signifies some momentum in the story as we spot a native american on the lookout, his entire upper-body rotating 360 degrees as he keeps a sharp eye out. suddenly, he spots something--a wagon crawls into view. a closeup shows two cows lugging along a covered wagon, emblazoned with TRADER DRUM on the side in big, red letters, serving as one of the more amusing gags as we see it towing a modern camper from behind. 

particularly tashlin-esque camera angles pop up in this cartoon, especially during this sequence as the native american dashes over hill and dale, zigzagging in and out of the foreground. a good sense of audience immersion as we merely see his legs and the side of the cliff when he dashes alongside the foreground--frank tashlin would also utilize this camera/layout technique later on, this scene here particularly reminiscent of an angle used in now that summer is gone just a year later.

the native starts to write a telegraph--in the background, there’s an EASTERN ONION sign decorated on top of a counter advertising “90 words for 90 wampum”, the eastern onion sign a pun on the telegraph service western union. i’m more sympathetic to corny puns such as these, but the gag has definitely become rather obsolete and lost to the sands of time (since when was the last time anybody sent a telegraph?) the native hands it to a man behind the counter, who shoves the note outside of a hole in the tent and shows it to another native on the lookout. after reading the letter, he grabs a pipe and delivers the telegraph via morse code through the pipe. the sound of the pipe DOES align rather nicely with the underscore of “the sun dance”. and, of course, to top it all off, just as we’ve figured the telegram has ended, we get a topper of “shave and a haircut”, a hiccup sound effect by mel blanc capping it.

many a warner bros cartoon dons the catchphrase “calling all cars, calling all cars” from the 1933-1939 police radio drama of the same name, and this one is no exception. instead, however, the native american on the lookout drones in the same monotone voice “calling all braves, calling all braves, pick up a covered wagon at cactus canyon and red gulch. go get ‘em, boys.” 

thus sparks some much needed energy--natives run out and (shocker) perform some war cries, the sequence cut short in favor of one (of a few) dance sequences. i do believe bob mckimson gets an animation credit for this cartoon, and while i’m not certain, his hand would certainly explain the solidity and fluidity of this next sequence as a native dances in time to a drum beat, getting progressively faster and faster as the tempo picks up, eventually transforming into a mere whirlwind. again, credit where credit is due--the animation and the technique behind it is very well crafted. it’s a shame such talent had to be used on such caricatures and stereotypes. 

more high energy and more intriguing foreground camera angles as the natives dance around a fire. one woman beats both her stomach and her butt (makes me wonder about the hays code), another carrying her son in a papoose doing a war cry. eventually, the son carries the mother on HIS back, also doing a war cry. i wonder, did audiences then find the war cry gags as taxing as i do now? racism aside, it definitely serves as a crutch gag. 

and, of course, time for a celebrity performance: a busty caricature of martha raye, living up to her nickname of "the big mouth” as indicated by her giant caricatured lips, singing “goombay drum”. the song number is catchy and fun, but her caricature is certainly... questionable at best. cultural appropriation much? sexualized much? she would have only been 20 here. nevertheless, animation is fun and the song is very lively, but, as always, difficult to appreciate to its fullest potential. 

after her song number, animation of the natives dancing around the fire is reused as a segue between scenes. this time, two natives dance the hopak (because why not?). carl stalling’s score is certainly a highlight--his transition between music styling is wonderful as always. more fire dancing animation as another segue, this time used to fade out and back in. 

the next scene of the natives charging on horseback would be reused a year later in cal dalton and cal howard’s breakout cartoon porky’s phoney express. the natives cross the creek to get to the trader’s wagon (once more some nice foreground overlapping and animation, all things considered), where the trader begins to shoot at them while they circle the wagon. the scene (as well as underscore) is very much reminiscent of the equally (if not more so) deplorable 1936 jack king cartoon, westward whoa. 

an all out shootout occurs, the trader perching on a stool and shooting rapid fire as he spins 360 degrees, whereas a native fires back, spinning around his horse from the impact. there IS some rather unique and fun animation as a native fires his rifle, stars and sparks trailing behind. the novelty of the entire battle is lost rather quickly, however--it’s stretched too thin, too repetitive, too tired to be continually encapsulating. i will award points for creativity as the trader shoots at a line of canoes in the style of a carnival duck shooting game, but again the content of the gag is cringeworthy and uncomfortable. 

nevertheless, this is where history is made, following in the carnival theme. the natives circling the wagon suddenly lift up and ride their horses like a merry go round, underscored of COURSE by “the merry go round broke down”, marking this the first cartoon to debut the future theme song. funnily enough, tex avery would reuse this exact gag in his 1953 cartoon homesteader droopy. friz freleng’s gag has the advantage of using “the merry go round broke down” to further the gag, whereas tex at MGM had to use “man on the flying trapeze”. this isn’t the first (nor last) time tex would take inspiration from friz. coincidentally, the cartoon reviewed before this, freleng’s streamline greta green, served as the basis for tex’s one cab’s family. his 1950 the peachy cobbler is also spoofed from friz’s 1946 holiday for shoestrings. 

after the merry go round gag, the shootout resumes. we spot sidelined natives, “freddy the freshman” popping up as an underscore once more, observing the “game” as the coach paces back and forth, complete with a cheering section and everything. one native is shot right in the butt, prompting the referee to blow the whistle. the chaos screeches to a halt as two natives toting a stretcher, taking the injured “player” off the field. the minor key rendition of “freddy the freshman” does accentuate the gag rather nicely. stalling’s scores are probably the best thing about the cartoon, aside from the notoriety spurred on by the merry go round sequence. 

the coach enlists in the help of one of the sidelined players, switching from broken english (sigh) to yiddish? another gag that, at least for me, has been lost to the sands of time. the native american he’s enlisting in gives a drawling catchphrase of “ooooooohhhh yeaaaaah,” coined from tony labriola’s character oswald on the ken murray show, used in quite a few 30s warner bros cartoons (porky’s spring planting is the first example that comes to mind.) maybe a riot back in 1937, but the entire gag sequence is too dated (and again, the stereotypes of it all) to get a rise today. 

another tashlin-esque technique is employed as various footage is overlayed and reused to further the drama of the entire sequence. for me, however, this comes off as more of a tactic to fill up the time slot then to convey urgency and theatrics. this WAS the depression, so if you can reuse animation to save a buck or two, then by all means go for it, but this cartoon in general feels rather directionless and hollow, as if there was too much time left to fill and they had to think of a way to fill it up. and, of course, the overarching unpleasantness of the racism contributes to my unfavorable review. we get almost 20 seconds exactly of overlayed footage before things finally settle down.

at last, the shoot out has subsided. the animation is commendable for how fluid it is as two native americans pop up amidst the rubble, both crossing their arms. the first native is obviously surprised to see he has company, exclaiming in broken english (sigh) “who you?” the entire sequence is bogged down by cringeworthy, stereotyped dialogue. “me mohican. who you?” “me mohican.” the second mohican, obviously unpleased, grabs his tomahawk and socks his companion right over the head. i could be wrong, but the first mohican sounds like the vocal work of tedd pierce, the second one obviously mel blanc. the timing of the punchline is rather nice, i will concede, as the final line of the cartoon is “me last mohican.” an unarguably clever gag, soured by racism and stereotypes.

so, as you can obviously (or hopefully) tell, this cartoon is far from a favorite. it’s bogged down by dehumanizing and insulting stereotypes and caricatures, stereotypes and caricatures that have been done before and are awfully tired (as are all.) friz has worse entries under his belt, but he certainly has much better entries as well. this cartoon felt a bit loose and cobbled together for my liking, lots of extended scenes, reused animation, and directionless gags. it’s not quite a spot-gag cartoon, but i wouldn’t say it exactly has a concrete storyline either. it just seems to exist. there are, of course, some good qualities: carl stalling’s musical technique is creative as ever, and brightens up the monotony of many of the scenes. the animation was rather fluid in some parts, but the content being animated sours the appreciation for the full technique. not enough to save the cartoon, it at least does tote some notoriety and history with it being the debut of the looney tunes theme song (being instated as such only a few months later.) however, i can’t in good heart recommend this cartoon. too cringeworthy, too racist, too monotonous, too routine.

but, as always, i’ll provide a link. obviously view at your own discretion. 

[imagitory]

D-Views: Mary Poppins

Hello, everyone, and welcome to another installment of D-Views, my on-going written review series where I dive into and analyze movies from Disney’s extensive film library, and even occasionally those influenced by that library. For other reviews in the series for movies such as Frozen, Enchanted, The Little Mermaid, and Lacewood Productions’ The Nutcracker Prince, feel free to consult the “Disney Reviews” tag! And as always, if you enjoy any of my reviews, please consider liking and reblogging them!

Today, thanks to the votes cast by @karalora, @banana-9-pancakes, and @aceyanaheim, we’ll be looking at the story of a magical woman -- one who is prim, proper, and practically perfect in every way...Mary Poppins!

Production-wise Mary Poppins is in some ways the culmination of everything Walt Disney learned in his thirty-year-long film-making career. It adapted a classic, whimsical story as an charming, emotion-heavy screenplay, like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs -- it featured a fresh-faced, but extremely talented young singer in the title role, like Sleeping Beauty -- it seamlessly combined animation with live action, like Song of the South -- it had state-of-the-art special effects, like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea -- and it featured music by two songwriters who later went on to write Disney film scores for decades. But all of that started with a tiny, little spark. As a little girl, Walt’s daughter Diane had started reading the Mary Poppins books, and when Walt read along with her, he was absolutely enchanted by them and knew he wanted to adapt the stories for the silver screen. All the way back in 1938, one year after the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Uncle Walt had his first meeting with Mary Poppins’s creator, P.L. Travers, but as anyone who has seen Saving Mr. Banks knows, the two did not see eye to eye. Uncle Walt spent the next twenty years trying to convince Travers to give him the rights to her stories, but unlike in the film where they had a sincere meeting of the minds, Travers recalled their final meeting where she gave him the rights as being more like Walt “holding up a gold pocket watch and dangling it tantalizingly in front of [her] eyes.” Admittedly one factor in the situation was that Travers herself had been having some financial trouble, and Uncle Walt’s payment for the rights to her books, as well as a portion of the gross profits for a film adaptation, was a boost that Travers severely needed. Despite the rights being given to Disney, however, Travers retained script approval rights, and for the next few years of production, she had quite a few complaints about the product. Even at the premiere of the film -- which, incredibly, she had not originally been invited to until she shamed a Disney executive into action -- Travers was very vocal about how much she disliked the film. The animation, done by some of the best in the business? Had to go. The story, which created such memorable and likable characters? Lacked teeth. The score written by the young Sherman brothers, who later went on to win awards for both Poppins and their other works? Left her cold.

Now, here’s the thing...do I agree with Ms. Travers? No. Do I like her as a person? No -- one would be hard-pressed to really admire a woman who decided to adopt half of a pair of twins from a poor family, raise the boy thinking he was her biological son, and then try to prevent her son from seeing his twin when the twin came to see him. (Yes, she really did that.) Do I think she was a malcontent who probably wouldn’t have been satisfied with anything? Absolutely. But at the same time, I must acknowledge, as a writer myself, it can be very difficult to share your creations with others. It can be hard even letting others read your works, given how personal and emotionally resonant the things you create often end up being, but it’s even harder letting others add onto your work. In a way, it’s like giving your child to a babysitter, except that unlike babysitters, most filmmakers who aim to adapt books don’t have a great track record in respecting the author or their vision. And in regards to Walt Disney specifically, his studio has never exactly been very interested in “staying true to the original story” -- the Walt Disney Company adapts the heck out of anything it touches. Even more modern Disney projects based on books like Ella Enchanted and Tuck Everlasting are great examples of this (if you’d like to delve into those films as adaptations, please look up Dominic Smith/The Dom’s wonderful Lost in Adaptation episodes for them -- they’re both fabulous!!). And in a way, Travers never saw her magical nanny as something light and cheerful -- this was an immortal woman who in later books once took the Banks children up into the Heavens on Midsummer’s Eve. Like the famous 1939 film adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, there was definitely some dry wit and edge lost in translation from book to screen...and just like with The Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins the film has largely taken the place of the original novels in the public consciousness.

But you know something? For what it’s worth...I think that, just like The Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins succeeds in being a well-written, well-directed, well-performed, classic film, even if it’s so different than the book it was inspired by. And honestly, the world seems to agree. Mary Poppins grossed over $28.5 million at the box office, making it the most profitable film of 1965, and completely won over both critics and audiences alike. Even now at Rotten Tomatoes, it still boasts a rare 100% Fresh rating. It was nominated for 13 Academy Awards and won five (including Best Picture, which made it the first and only film Walt ever produced to win that honor) and also earned both a Golden Globe and two Grammys. Not only that, but the profits for the film were so high that they helped Uncle Walt fund his “Florida project,” which would eventually become Walt Disney World Resort. Mary Poppins later went on to inspire both a Broadway musical and a sequel, Mary Poppins Returns, and even today you can still meet both Mary Poppins and Bert in the Disney theme parks. So yes, “I recognize Ms. Travers had her opinion, but given that it is a stupid-ass opinion, I’ve elected to ignore it.”

PFFT, I’M KIDDING, ONLY KIDDING. Let’s talk about Mary Poppins.

Perhaps it’s appropriate that from the very beginning, the overture embraces us with the melody that will become the story’s main theme, Feed the Birds. The overture, like all the best Sherman brother overtures for films like Bedknobs and Broomsticks and The Sword in the Stone, is just a smooth, glamorous kaleidoscope of music. I also have to applaud the special effects team right off the bat with their overlaying of Julie Andrews as Mary onto the mat painting of London underneath our opening credits -- even now, when one can more easily guess how the trick worked, it’s still rather neatly done.

In this opening sequence, we also meet Bert, played by Dick van Dyke. The character of Bert was actually a compilation of several figures from the books, but that results in a very interesting, almost transient sort of character. This cheery, optimistic Jack of All Trades may have an accent that wouldn’t convince anyone, but is nonetheless unbelievably charming, and van Dyke’s physical comedy is so ridiculously on point. My mum and I have had a soft spot for Dick van Dyke for a long time because my late grandfather, although he was quite a bit older, resembled him quite a bit not just in appearance but also in attitude. Even now I look at Bert and fondly remember going to see the Broadway production of Mary Poppins with my grandparents, who ended up loving it and its music just as much as I did. It all the more makes me lament the end of the Soundsational Parade at Disneyland, which always concluded with a Mary-Poppins-inspired float covered in chimney sweeps and merry-go-round horses, one of which was ridden by Bert.

One of the changes that Ms. Travers was most disdainful of was the idea that the Banks family -- especially Mr. Banks -- had flaws that needed to be addressed and fixed by Mary Poppins. The flaw in the parents’ case is that they’re so focused on their own work and goals that they neglect their children’s emotional needs -- a plot point that would eventually get beaten into the ground in films that came later, but is not done half bad here. After all, the film doesn’t try to frame Mr. Banks’s job or Mrs. Banks’s activism as unimportant or bad in any way -- it’s just that the parents are solely focusing on those things. Mrs. Banks’s activism in particular, which is something that doesn’t appear either in the books or in the Broadway production, is something I really like. Sister Suffragette, which actually helped bring Glynis Johns on board to play Mrs. Banks, is just such a ridiculously fun song to sing. Although I wouldn’t ever say it’s the best song in the film by a mile, it’s still insanely catchy and entertaining, and I sing along to it every single time. WOMANKIND, ARISE!

David Tomlinson, who plays Mr. Banks, is easily the weakest link singing-wise, but fortunately he gives an acting performance that more than compensates for his poor vocals. From the very beginning, he comes across as incredibly pompous, self-centered, detached, and sexist, and yet he’s never shown to be an inherently bad person. He can be very cheerful, and even the way he’s framed makes it clear that a lot of his bluster is a front for his actual feelings, such as the way he falters when he realizes that Katie Nana has left the family. In the wrong hands, this role could’ve been despicable and shallow, but Tomlison handles it carefully enough that one can always see the emotion and suppressed softness in his eyes even long before he has his change of heart.

After an excellently paced entrance that involves effortlessly blowing away the line of nannies outside 17 Cherry Tree Lane, we are finally fully introduced to the magical lady herself, Mary Poppins. It is unbelievable when you remember that this was Julie Andrews’s first film role ever -- she’d previously only been a stage actress, but after finding success in both My Fair Lady and Camelot on stage and being denied the role of Eliza Doolittle in the film adaptation of My Fair Lady (which was later given to Audrey Hepburn), Julie accepted the role of Mary Poppins. Interestingly Julie was the only actor in the movie that P.L. Travers actually expressed some approval for, and honestly, I don’t blame her -- Julie is just flawlessly cast here. The role combines all of her performing strengths -- a great singing voice, expert dancing, inherent charm, sophistication, intelligence, pride, grace, and a touch of sass -- together in a cohesive, memorable character. Mary’s first song, A Spoonful of Sugar, really showcases Julie in her prime, spotlighting her flawless falsetto and precise pitch (as well as her impeccable whistling), and beautifully accompanies some of the at-the-time-revolutionary special effects. Although yes, it’s easy in the modern day to see how the effects were done, they’re never out-of-place or distracting, which is a testament to how much better practical effects can sometimes age in comparison to computer-generated effects. The things that tend to stick out most to my eyes are the green-screened stuff, simply because of how much that particular technique has been used in film and television since Mary Poppins’s release, but the nice thing is that it’s only one of many effects used, which helps in distracting the eye away from getting too used to one effect. Sometimes the effect will be stop-motion; sometimes the effect will be reversing the film; sometimes it’ll be green screen; sometimes it’ll be combining separate shots together. It makes it so that you would have to watch every scene several times and very carefully in order to pick out specific techniques, rather than just being able to go, “That’s fake, that’s fake, aaaaand...that’s fake,” the way you can while watching movies using only CGI.

Speaking of special effects, we have to talk about the sequence that made P.L. Travers the most upset -- the Jolly Holiday segment, set in an animated, living chalk drawing. Not only is the song just excellent, but the colors and energy of the piece are...well, practically perfect! It only serves to plus a song that was already pretty great and turns it into something amazing. Something else I like about Mary and Bert that I actually have to thank P. L. Travers herself for is that they are not romantically involved. Ms. Travers specifically indicated that that should be the case, and for a film made in the 60′s when male and female characters were almost always neatly paired off, it’s really neat that the two characters, despite some faintly teasing, flirty affects, never act like a couple. And really, having had both male and female friends since I was a kid, I really enjoyed seeing an attractive leading woman and man as friends. On the note of Mary, Bert, and songs I love singing along to, I would be very, very amiss if I didn’t also bring up Supercalifragalisticexpeliadocious. It’s really a very short number, but packed into it is so much energy that it feels like it never takes a breath. It’s like a sugar buzz, written into song form -- exuberant and big and loud and energetic...at least until the inevitable decrescendo as the rain wears away Bert’s chalk drawing and Mary, Bert, and the Banks children sadly return to the real world.

Our next adventure with Mary takes us to dear old Uncle Albert’s, where the aforementioned uncle, played by Mad-Hatter-voice-actor Ed Wynn, is rolling in the air laughing. This scene in particular showcases the various practical effects used in the film, whether hanging the actors on wires, putting them on one side of a seesaw, or even flipping the entire set on its side or upside down. Admittedly it’s very obvious that Katie Dotrice and Matthew Garber, who play Jane and Michael Banks, are having a harder time laughing convincingly than Dick van Dyke and Ed Wynn, which honestly is unsurprising given how many times they had to film this particular scene so as to get different shots. One story from the set of this film centers around Matthew Garber, after getting tired of recording the scene, receiving a nickle every time he had to go back onto the wires and in the end earning an “absolute fortune.” For child actors, Katie and Matthew aren’t awful, but it’s fortunate that they’re almost never the sole focus of a scene, as the more talented adult actors understandably overshadow them. And before you try to tell me it’s unfair to hold child actors to the same standards as adult actors, I grant that that’s true, but child actors can still give good performances that make them stand out as individuals...take Georgie Henley in The Chronicles of Narnia or Kirsten Dunst in Interview with a Vampire, for example. And as much as I’ll give Katie Dotrice and Matthew Garber credit for their performances, neither of them quite stands out that way. It’s admittedly a little harder for me to be that critical of Matthew’s performance, though, given that ten years after he retired from acting, he sadly passed away of pancreatitis at the age of 21. It’s very fortunate that thanks to his performance in Mary Poppins, Matthew will be remembered fondly for generations to come.

Walt Disney’s favorite song is frequently cited as Feed the Birds, and honestly, it’s little wonder why. As I touched on earlier, the song sort of sums up what the film Mary Poppins is trying to say -- that the smallest, seemingly insignificant gestures can mean so much. And isn’t that so integral to Disney, or even movies and entertainment in general? We all know of a character in a movie or TV show -- a line in a book -- a song someone wrote -- a simple smile from a stranger -- that somehow brightened up our whole world, that inspired us in ways we could never have imagined. And all of that comes back to sincere, gentle feelings, and how we can share those feelings with others. Mary Poppins, in short, is about compassion...and isn’t it little wonder why such a message resonated with so many people?

After an absolutely disastrous visit to the bank, the Banks children run out into the streets of London alone, where they’re fortunately found and walked home by Bert. Accompanying the jaunt back to Cherry Tree Lane is the Academy-Award-winning song Chim Chim Cheree, which is definitely catchy and, if I may say so, very fun to whistle. I admittedly am a little sour with Mrs. Banks that she doesn’t get a bit of a reality check when she ends up choosing to leave Michael and Jane alone with someone who’s effectively a stranger to her to go help her suffragette friends. It’s just fortunate that the “stranger” ends up being Bert and that Mary Poppins ends up coming back despite it being her day off, as otherwise Mrs. Banks’s negligent parenting could’ve had serious consequences. But the leap in logic does end up leading us into one of the best parts of the movie -- Step in Time!

Step in time, step in time, come on, matey, step in time! Hahaha, yes, this sequence easily has some of the best dancing ever recorded on film, right up there with the choreography in West Side Story and Singin’ in the Rain. It’s especially remarkable when you know that prior to Mary Poppins, Dick van Dyke had had no formal dance training, and yet he keeps up seemingly with ease with dozens of professional dancers. It blows me away every time. And despite the unending repetition of the song, it miraculously never becomes annoying due to the variety of the dance breaks and the high level of energy with which it’s performed. And really, despite the insane length of the song (it running over eight minutes all together), it amazingly never feels like padding. Perhaps it’s because the talent on screen is just so on display and integrated so perfectly with the building orchestrations and well-chosen special effects that it only serves to plus the musical action more and more and more until it finally culminates in the chimney sweeps escaping down the Banks family’s chimney and dancing off into the street.

As fun as everything has been with Mary Poppins and the chimney sweeps, however, Mr. Banks is now in danger of losing his job at the bank, and Tomlinson’s talent is made very evident once again in how, even after seeing all of his character’s mistakes and faults, we still feel very sorry for both him and for his family. Mr. Banks at first feels the impulse to blame Mary Poppins for his change in circumstances, but thanks to some pointed guidance from Bert and some compassion from his children, he comes to see the cracks in the foundation of his world view. And this goes back to the entire family needing help -- Mr. Banks is a very, very flawed man, but at the same time, as Bert brought up to Jane and Michael, he feels he has to handle absolutely everything on his own, and it’s largely thanks to the support of his children that he’s able to face the threat of losing his job with his head held high. Something I love a lot about the part where Mr. Banks makes his way to the bank alone is the Feed the Birds instrumental that accompanies his walk and that comes to a head when Mr. Banks reaches St. Paul’s, only to see the bird woman no longer there. Whether you choose to read it as the bird woman simply having left or having died or whatever else, it’s clear that every opportunity for charity and kindness we are offered is fleeting. Compassion is and will never be a passive thing.

Fortunately everything turns out for the best. Mr. Banks makes up with his children and he, Michael, Jane, and Mrs. Banks go fly a brand new kite in the park, alongside the film’s final song Let’s Go Fly a Kite. Mr. Banks even ends up getting his job back thanks to a joke that he told Dawes, Sr. the night we sacked. Even despite the cheer, however, it doesn’t feel completely saccharine and lacking of substance to me because Mary Poppins does still leave in the end. She doesn’t achieve the same kind of happy ending that she gave the Banks family -- instead she simply takes off into the air, presumably to give some other family help, with a faintly sad smile on her face. It’s remarkably mature of an ending for something that P.L. Travers thought was “all fantasy and no magic.”

Mary Poppins is not that much like the Mary Poppins books originally written by P. L. Travers. Perhaps at some points it sanitizes or misses out on what inspired Ms. Travers to write the books in the first place...but for all that is lost, I’m confident in saying that a lot was also found. There is a lot of heart in this movie, from a family growing and improving through the intervention of a wise, magical woman to finding deeper meaning in the seemingly insignificant things in our everyday lives. This movie is ridiculously fun to watch, but it’s not like the book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, where there was never supposed to be a point and it was just there to entertain children. There are lessons one can learn here, and they’re not heavy-handed or pretentious in their delivery. One can learn the value of a sunny disposition, resilience, and empathy in less than stellar circumstances and see how a family full of love is the wealthiest and luckiest of all. And the best part? Those are lessons that both children and adults could stand to learn and re-learn through watching this movie for many, many years to come. Mary Poppins is an immortal figure, and even if this film was made by human hands and so couldn’t possible recreate P. L. Travers’s vision of her, the film is just as eternally relevant itself.

[ridingbensolooooo]

Thanks for the tag @discordiavonsin it’s just what I needed to forget about stats for a little bit :) 

Put your music on shuffle and answer the questions about each artist.

Name of Artist:  Panic! At The Disco

What genre are they ? um honestly who actually knows at this point. 

How long have they been active ? since 2004 I believe

Have you ever heard them on the radio ? yeah high hopes still gets played every now and then around here 

Have they released any new music within the last year or two ? Yeah, Pray for the Wicked! Love that album to death, I’ve decided “Hey look ma I made it” is going to be my graduation song when I finish uni at the end of the year!! 

Do they have a male or female vocalist ? Male - Brendon Urie aka Beebop

Name of Artist: BTS

Would you recommend them ? Fuck yeah they’re my favourite band kids

What is your favourite lyric of theirs ? “The dawn right before the sun rises is darkest” I’m gonna get it tattooed when I save up enough money. I’ve wanted that as a tattoo for nearly 5 years now so I’m sure of my decision lmao just need money. 

What are their album artworks like ? Pretty but never over the top which is nice. The last few album sets have made a pattern if you buy all 4 versions and line them up which I have to saw I am a big fan of. 

If they stopped making music, would you be sad ? I would be absolutely devastated. They’re my favourite band! They said in an awards acceptance speech not too long ago that they were considering disbanding at the start of last year and I honest to god burst into tears right then and there. I’d be crushed. 

If you didn’t know what they look like, based off their music, what you guess they looked like ? I’d just have a stereotypical picture of pretty idol boys in mind. Which isn’t far off tbh but they’re so much more than that too. 

Name of Artist: Twenty One Pilots

How popular are they ? Depends on who you ask. They’ve had some very popular songs but people seem to forget about them when they’re not releasing new stuff? 

Have you ever seen them perform live ? I’ve seen them twice actually! Which is surprising, because I live in Australia and not a lot of bands make the trip here very often, so I’m very glad I’ve got to see them as many times as I have. They have an incredible energy when live, Tyler commands the space and Josh is fucking awesome on drums irl too.  

How did you find out about them ? I heard about them ages before I actually got into them, back in 2013 when my friend showed me this cover he was super obsessed with, and it was top’s cover of Can’t Help Falling in Love. 

What is their sexuality, if known ? They’re both in relationships with women so I’ll say straight but who knows really. 

Is their music easy to dance to ? Most of it is! They’ve got some really good beats in most of their songs, but also some of them are very slow and you just want to feel the music, not really dance. 

Name of Artist: GOT7

What instrument is the most prominent in their music ? Umm they’re a kpop band so computer?? Idk how pop music is made. 

Does your family listen to them ? Not at all, I’m the only one in my family who listens to kpop. They only listen when I make them lmao. 

Are they still making music today ? Yes! They’re coming to Australia to promote their new album which is fucking awesome because kpop bands barely EVER come here. Like I thought American and British artists didn’t come here often, but it seems like they’re here every 2 weeks compared to kpop artists TT.TT

Would you want to meet them ? I would love to! I’ve been learning korean but I’m not very good, but they have 3 members who speak fluent english so I’m sure we could manage a chat

How represented is this artist in your saved music / collection ? All of their albums are spread over like 4 or 5 playlists lmao 

Name of Artist: My Chemical Romance

When did you discover them ? I was very young, my mum is super into them and she used to play the black parade album all the time when I was a kid. I literally can’t remember when I heard them for the first time lmao. 

How many albums do they have ? 4 :( 

Which member of the band is closest to your ‘type’ / do you find the most attractive ? Frank Iero could punch me in the face and I’d thank him and tell him his tattoos look really nice that close. 

Have they gone through any line-up changes ? Um, fuck Bob. Enough said. 

Is their music more fun or serious ? The first 3 albums of theirs were very angsty and serious and like rock opera-y but Danger Days has very different vibes. More like, let’s make fun of how shit the world can be instead of wallowing in a pit of despair. 

Name of Artist: Fall Out Boy

Is the type of music / genre they play something you would typically enjoy or is their sound different for you ? Yeah man, I’ve never left my emo phase and I love their sound even as it continues to evolve. 

Based off of their sound, what would a human version of their music look like ? Hmm, depends which era you’re talking about. Early fob is emo Pete Wentz at his peak, but now their sound sort of reminds me of this instagram model I like, Vanja Jagnic.

Could you see yourself getting along with the members personally ? I feel like I would get along with them all very easily! I have it on good authority I’m a nice person, so hopefully that would carry through. 

Did somebody recommend this band to you ? Does my mum count? She likes fall out boy too and used to play them when I was younger as well, so I guess she recommended them to me in a way. 

Name of Artist: BLACKPINK

How many people are in this band/group ? 4 

When did they start making music ? 2016, I didn’t realise it’s been so long already! 

Do they have any well known songs, if so, which one(s) ? Umm not sure in western countries, maybe Jennie’s solo song? They’re pretty popular in Korea though. 

Do you listen to this artist regularly ? My housemate is obsessed with them so yeah I do listen quite a bit. 

How would you describe their music ? Pretty typical of kpop, they’re way more “edgy” than most girl groups though which I like. I’m not a fan of the cute/sexy/infant vibe that a lot of other girl groups have going on. 

Name of Artist:  Seventeen 

If they use a stage name, what is their real name(s) ? Wow this is really the wrong band for this. Okay so, S.Coups is Seungcheol, Jeonghan goes by Jeonghan, Joshua has a korean name but Joshua is his birth name so idk if it counts (it’s Jisoo though), Jun is Junhwi, Hoshi is Soonyoung, Wonwoo is Wonwoo so that’s easy, Woozi is Jihoon, DK is Seokmin, Mingyu is just Mingyu, The8 is Minghao, Seungkwan is Seungkwan although people do call him MC Boo (not sure that counts as a stage name), Vernon also has a korean name but Vernon is his birth name (Hansol is the korean name though) and Dino is Chan. Phew.

Do they regularly make pop charts ? They do in korea! They’re mid range popular, but they’re steadily getting more popular each year. 

Have you ever met them ? No, I wish lmao.

If they toured in your city, would you go see them ? I would! They did come to Australia, but I’m broke and couldn’t afford to go all the way to Melbourne to see them. 

Name of Artist: Red Velvet

Are they known for anything else besides music? Not really sure, maybe being from one of the big 3 companies in Korea? 

What is their nationality ? Korean! 

Are they a guilty pleasure ? A bit yeah lmao, I don’t listen to all of their stuff because a lot of it is not my taste at all, but the songs of theirs I do listen to fall into the category of annoyingly catchy. 

Which age group is this artist most popular with? My age and a bit younger I would say.

Has this artist ever toured in your country/state/city? Nah, SM artists don’t come here. 

Name of Artist: Falling in Reverse

Do you think it’s necessary or important to know about their personal life to ‘understand’ their music ? I feel like some of their songs are directly related to things that have happened in Ronnie’s life, so yeah to a certain extent, but a lot of the time you can get it from the vibe of the song. 

Have they ever gone on hiatus and did they return ? I’m not sure actually, I don’t follow them that closely. 

What instruments do they use ? Guitar, drums, bass, vocals, synth/keys.

What city are they from ? Las Vegas

What are your experiences with fans of this artist? I don’t really know anyone who has them as their favourite band so I’m not really sure what die hard fans are like, but everyone I know who is a causal fan seems super chill. 

I don’t really have that many people to tag lmao so I’ll just tag people in my activity recently @samanddean-winchesthair @unfade @blue-roses-and-red-rubbies @classylaughs have fun if y’all decide to do this! 

[xyloophones]

hi! :) music anon here - i just read your reply and pls give me allllll the (gay) music recs!!

this is gonna be a long list anon pls buckle up. also note that im not gonna link anything bc theres a lot but all of these songs are on youtube/spotify 

🌈 xylo’s super gay, super incoherent music rec list 🌈

the basics / the popular ones

troye sivan. i know. I KNOW. half the playlist was already him but listen ive been a troye fan since he put out happy little pill & let me tell u all his songs have such a VIBE. blue neighborhood???? an iconic album. got me thru my last 2 years of high school. to this DAY i cannot listen to suburbia without thinking about driving to watch the sunrise on my first day of senior year w my best friend, sitting in the parking lot in her car n holding hands over the center console bc we were so scared of growing up. he just EVOKES that kind of MOOD u know??

listen to: fools–– talk me down–– heaven 

frank ocean !!!! a bi ICON. i waited so long for new music n he blessed us with TWO ALBUMS. not only is his music spectacular and literally lyrically genius (”see both sides like chanel?? c on both sides like chanel???“ as a metaphor for bisexuality???? BEAUTIFUL. INCREDIBLE. LITERALLY AMAZING.) but he also just has sUCH an aesthetic. 

listen to: thinkin bout you if ur feelin soft;  ivy ––chanel–– nights if u want his newer stuff

lesbian jesus herself hayley kiyoko. anon. ANON. listen to me when i tell u that her music will change ur life. she is so RELATABLE and her songs are SO CATCHY. the girls like girls music video single handedly raised my gpa and cleared my acne. 

listen to: everything uhh girls like girls–– palace–– gravel to the tempo

kehlani. im literally so obsessed. shes again another #bi icon. her gf is really cute. im in luv w her. sweetsexysavage is her latest album n its honestly??? driving my life force???? her voice is also just so lush & smooth while also bein slightly gravely in a way that makes me blush in public a lot like how can i be so gay for just her voice??? shes also just so charming n has the cutest smile and, again, i’m gay

listen to: honey is my fav song bc it reminds me of my gf (AGAIN: IM GAY) but distraction is v cute n flirty n a longtime fav. listen to in my feelings if ur ex is awful. also: keep on –– piece of mind –– the way feat. chance are all really good. just listen to her entire discography honestly

DODIE. ive been a dodie fan since i, a repressed baby gay, stumbled upon “she” on youtube and was filled with such immense love that i immediately stanned and here we are, 2 EPs later. nothing more relatable than pining for ur str8 best friend. pls listen to “she” it literally kickstarted my gay awakening

listen to: ill say it again, she –– also sick of losing soulmates–– her cover of somebody else by the 1975 

against me. i dont know if ur into punk anon but even if ur not, consider checking out against me. lead singer laura jane grace is a super badass trans woman & trans dysphoria blues is an album with. suCH EMOTION. 

listen to: black me out , a song to plan a revolution to. im here, im queer, im angry and its a midterm election year #registertovote 

lesser known artists + singles + lgbtq+ artists that i know but am not a big fan of under the cut

let me go by tunde olaniran. i regularly cried listening to this song after a break up. if u wanna be emotional n gay this is a good one. 

somebody loves you by betty who. ok not specifically gay (i dont think???) but it was used in a rlly cute gay marriage proposal (look it up on youtube im begging i guarantee u will be smiling for the rest of the day) and they are. ALWAYS. playing this one at pride. a bop. 

boyfriend by tegan and sara. ok i know theyre technically popular but no one talks about their last album and boyfriend is a good song ok?? ok.

jenny by studio killers. another song about pining after ur best friend. can u tell i went THRU SOME STUFF in high school 

ok aGAIN i know that halsey is also technically mainstream but i didnt wanna write a whole paragraph about her. listen to strangers feat. lauren jauregui. #unpopularopinion but her last album was just “ok” dont @ me

HEART ATTACK BY LOONA. do u like k pop??? do u like gay girls???? do u like cute music videos???? my friend do i have the song for u

mary lambert. she did the hook in that macklemore song. pls listen to her other stuff its so good n soft n  “i cant think straight / im so gay / sometimes i cry the whole day” #relataBLE

everyone knows who sam smith is right?? anyway prayers is good. his entire last album is honestly so good but hes not a particular fav of mine.

elton john. a LEGEND. he’s like 150 years old but im hoping the sheer love of the gay community will keep him alive for another 150 years

ANGEL HAZE. ive been a long time fan.  v emotional n the lyrics r heavy but honestly?? so important??? one of my fav rap artists

i know a place by muna. i listened to this on the way to pride n almost cried in front of my mom, my friends, and an entire BART station full of pride goers. its a v upbeat song, im just emotional 

zolita. uhh not a big fan tbh, just not my musical style

girls/girls/boys by p!atd. ok also not technically gay (?? maybe??? there are some Bi Rumors but thats not my place to say) but anyways def a bi anthem. dont watch the music video its very “lets have two girls kiss for views” which is like. not the msg of the song but whatever i aired my salt about that in 2013 n im not going back now

idk what kina grannis’s sexuality is (again, not my business) but she does a lot of good covers and never changes pronouns. i like sweater weather and shut up and dance with me a lot. 

oh !! ben j pierce !! 2 v good songs about how gender roles r bullshit n heteronormativity is awful. hes also like my exact age n i luv his makeup tutorials. 

there are honestly so many more. also a lot im forgetting. im so sorry you had to read thru this long incoherent post w my awful typing 

anyway if u want my full gay playlist on spotify just msg me off anon and ill give u a link (this goes for anyone btw !!) im currently adding + taking things out n its a constant work in progress but u know, its at least not the same 8 songs over and over again (no shade at 8tracks tho….ha …) 

[black-arcana]

KRYPTERIA – AND THEN SHE CAME

Interview with AND THEN SHE CAME

Interview conducted Feb. 28, 2021 by Dan Locke

AND THEN SHE CAME Ji-In Cho (lead vocals), Olli Singer (guitars), Frank Stumvoll (bass guitar) und S.C. Kuschnerus (drums).

Ji-In, you are German-Korean. What is your upbringing?

JI-IN: Hello Dan, thanks for having us. My parents are both from Korea. They met in Germany where they married and started a family. I was therefore raised in a Korean manner in a German environment. You can imagine that this did not make for an easy upbringing or childhood. But it gave me the benefit of getting to know both cultures and maybe even the opportunity to combine what’s best of them.

How did you discover music?

JI-IN: I don’t remember a specific moment in my life. I remember our home as a home of music. My parents liked to sing or play guitar or piano and I remember dancing a lot to their favorite music. I am also told that I was singing all day long to songs I heard on the radio or tunes that I made up myself. So I guess that was the time where music became my inspiration.

How did you start to write music?

JI-IN: I wrote my first song when I was six years old. I always loved animals and I couldn’t understand why my father went fishing. When he came back with his haul I was very sad and refused to eat the fish. So I wrote my first song about not hurting fish.

Describe your music.

JI-IN: Well, I definitely didn’t write any more fish songs (laughs). On a more serious note, I can’t sit down and plan my songwriting ahead of time. Instead, I am more the spontaneous type who gives in to impulses, emotions, and inspirations from all around me. I try to channel those ideas, pictures, tunes, and feelings into my songwriting.

What was your first performance like?

JI-IN: If you mean my very first performance in my life, I played Maria, the mother of Jesus, in elementary school. I remember my first stage fright. After it was over I was very proud and I knew that I wanted to be on stage again.

What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?

JI-IN: It was called “I go fishing”. And no, I did not record it back then as a young girl but today I wish I had. It would be a nice memory to share with my future grandkids.

You started off in Become One a German Boy/Girl pop band, and then you were cast onto the German reality television show “Fame Academy”. Tell me about the time on the show?

JI-IN: Right after my studies at the Cologne University for Music and Dance where I was trained as a classical musician I suddenly got tossed into the pop business. As a participant in the German television show ‚Fame Academy,’ I endured three competitive months of singing, dancing, and acting. Every week we had to prepare live acts for the elimination show that was recorded and broadcasted from a studio set every Saturday night. In the end, I won the competition together with five colleagues of mine. We formed the band Become One and went on tour for a year. This is how I received my very first recording contract with a major label. It was a very stressful and emotional time in which I learned a lot about the reality of the music business.

You have appeared with the likes of Phil Collins, Sarah Connor, B3 and Ricky Martin. Did any of these artists give you any words of wisdom about the music business?

JI-IN: There were so many things to learn and to experience during the show. The personal time with the visiting stars was too brief for any chitchat or personal talk, though. However, I did spend some time with Lionel Richie during a show event that featured all ‚Fame Academy‘ winners from many participating countries. He said to me then that we should never give up if we really feel the need to be an artist. I think about his words every once in a while and to me they still ring true.

Let’s turn our focus to And Then She Came now. Guys, describe the band’s music.

KUSCH: It’s hard-driving drums, heavy guitars and intense singing galore. It’s Rock, it’s Metal, there are quite a few alternative vibes but also some pretty catchy hooks involved, too. Lyrically we tend to steer clear of your traditional boy-meets-girl topics, but rather go for a more sociopolitical approach. Let’s say there’s not a whole lot of stand-by-your-man stuff with this band.

How does the songwriting process work between the four of you?

KUSCH: Well, everybody chimes in with different creative ideas as we are lucky to have four very imaginative musicians in this band who all write and arrange. We try not to limit ourselves and instead toy around with all our combined influences and delusions. But apart from that, there is no clear-cut recipe as to how we create our songs. In Shecameville there’s a new adventure every day (laughs).

Do you belong to any to songwriters’ organizations like the International singer-songwriter association?

FRANK: We do. All four of us are members of GEMA which basically is the German equivalent to your ASCAP.

What makes a good songwriter?

JI-IN: In my opinion, there is no strict recipe. I know there are some songwriters who have fixed methods and procedures but that approach does not work for me. I have to feel free in the creative process and do not like to be limited in any way. In the end, the only thing that matters is the outcome. I think a good songwriter is able to somehow touch the listeners with his or her music.

KUSCH: I agree in the sense that a good songwriter knows how to connect with his or her core audience first and foremost. So even though the songs may not be all that good you’re obviously still doing something right and are considered successful at your craft. Now, a great or even transcendent songwriter is able to touch people beyond any genre confines. That’s when the likelihood we deem it ‚good‘ music increases significantly. But you can’t underestimate the importance of the performance itself and also whether a given song gets a chance to be heard. If „Bohemian Rhapsody“ hadn’t been a hit, would it be a lesser song? I don’t think so. There are probably thousands of gems out there that never got a proper forum.

You used to be in the band Krypteria. Why did you change up the band?

KUSCH: In 2012, following a killer Asian tour, Ji-In was about to become a Mom so we unanimously decided to put Krypteria on hold for an indefinite time. Then one day our bass player Frank was asked to create the soundtrack for a German-American movie. But instead of taking on this task all by himself, he brought in Ji-In, Olli, and myself. The creative process took on a life of its own, and all of a sudden we found ourselves working on songs for a full-fledged Rock album. Now, even though And Then She Came started out as just a movie soundtrack project, we just had to go on. Why? Well, I guess we’re just unable to get rid of each other even after all those years, aren’t we?

How did you first establish your band back in 2004?

KUSCH: The three original guys in Krypteria first had a band together in the Nineties and despite not working together all the time we never quite lost contact. So when the idea of starting something new came up in 2004 all we needed was an outstanding vocalist. Preferably a vocalist with a knack for energetic performances while not showing any signs of lead singers’ disease. Ji-In, who we had met during a studio session a year prior to that, fit that bill just perfectly so we asked her if she was interested in jumping aboard, and fortunately, she was. Then Olli was brought into the fold in early 2010 so the four of us have been working together for more than a decade now albeit under two different names.

Krypteria’s single “Liberatio” was used as part of a charity campaign to aid the Tsunami victims in Southeast Asia. What is the musical difference between Krypteria and And Then She Came?

JI-IN: And Then She Came is much rougher and it’s more about the synergy of organic rock instruments and electronic elements. We like to think that we still have good melodies, though. That’s really important to each of us.

KUSCH: The main difference between Krypteria and And Then She Came might indeed be the edgier and less theatrical touch that is particularly evident in the arrangements and our individual performances. I guess thanks to said more organic approach we were able to again turn it up a good notch in terms of sonic intensity, depth, and the overall vibe right off the bat compared to our prior releases.

What else did you change compared to your time with Krypteria?

JI-IN: We consciously made the choice to release our albums by ourselves. Yes, it may be tough sometimes because of the extra work and responsibility this kind of independence and freedom entails. Especially for a lot of stuff that, at least on the surface, has little to do with making music. That said, it’s a tremendous opportunity to shape our future as a band as we see fit. And as Kusch likes to say, if we screw up, then at least we’ll die by our own sword.

How did you come up with the name?

JI-IN: Actually, we chose And Then She Came because we wanted people to think, to find their own interpretation as far as the meaning of the name is concerned. Just as there is never only one point of view or one universal truth, there are many possible interpretations for this name. Sometimes it’s very funny how just one headline can lead to different background stories in one’s head. Even with all the information out there you still have to come to your own conclusion. That’s why we found And Then She Came as a name very interesting. For instance, I naturally think about the name in a totally different way than some men do (winks).

Do you think that your old fans will follow your new band?

JI-IN: I really hope our fans from back then continue to find us and are happy that we are back even though it’s with a different kind of music. And I really, really hope that they like our new sounds and songs.

Tell me about your debut album?

OLLI: You could call it the beginning of our creative rollercoaster ride. It felt like all the unused creative energy was suddenly breaking through. This and the fact that ATSC actually started as a studio film score project is probably the reason for the enormous amount of different colors in our music. Now, after the release of our second album „Kaosystematic“ and being in the middle of the process of writing new material for our third album, I can clearly say that starting this journey is the best thing we have ever done so far.

How was it to work with Arch Enemy’s Alissa White-Gluz and guitarist Jen Majura of Evanescence?

KUSCH: Well, we’ve known Alissa for a number of years now, and not only is she a killer performer, but she is an amazing soul as well. See, she’s a pro’s pro. She’s a warrior, she has to be. But as a friend, she is super sweet and she doesn’t mind going that extra mile. When we asked her if she was interested in adding that signature beast mode intensity of hers to our song „Five Billion Lies“ she didn’t even blink. Now, Jen, we have known for way over ten years, and it’s always great meeting her at a festival, a show, or a music fair. She’s such a sweetheart and an awesome guitarist, and we’re so proud of her for hitting it big with Evanescence. Her guitar solo on our song „Spit It Out“ is nothing short of spectacular. It’s amazing musicianship, creative cleverness and a fistful of good-natured cheekiness all rolled into one. Beautiful!

What is your favorite video of all time you have created?

FRANK: My favorite ATSC video is our 2018 tour movie „As The Lights Go Down“ in its entirety. It brings back great memories of a fun tour.

KUSCH: Good call! Aside from that for me, it’s a close call between “As The Battle Rages On“, “Sick Of You“ and “Public Enemy #1“. That said I like the respective messages behind „Perfect As You Are“, both the video and the tour version.

OLLI: Definitely “Perfect As You Are“. Actually, we did two videos for this song. It was an extremely demanding shoot, cause I literally switched positions constantly. Between performing and directing there was no minute of rest. But it was absolutely worth it. I really enjoyed Ji-In’s playfulness in her role as ‚Korean Marylin Monroe‘. Yet the second version is my favorite. It takes the original message of the song and projects it onto the ATSC team as a family. It is still heartwarming for me to see our crew’s performance in front of the camera during the whole video. We love you guys!

What are your feelings about streaming music?

FRANK: While streaming is very convenient and fast, for us musicians there is no significant advantage in my opinion. Granted, your work is available to more potential listeners, but the net is being flooded with new digital content ever since streaming took over, so making a name for yourself is even more difficult than it used to be. Also, the artists merely receive breadcrumbs for creating the fuel these platforms run on. You simply cannot support yourself through streaming. That’s why all the bands have to make their money on the road. It’s a vicious cycle. The author and performer should get a fair share of the profits when their music is being streamed, similar to what we had in the past with mechanical releases. The only winner in this so far is the big media companies.

If you couldn’t do music what would you like to be doing?

KUSCH: Too scary! So in true Rock musician’s spirit, I’d probably choose denial and stick with something along the lines of ‚damn the torpedoes‘ or ‚the best is yet to come instead.

Digital vs. vinyl?

FRANK: That’s a good question. It depends on your preferences and maybe your age. Back in the days I really liked listening to one side of vinyl on constant repeat while closely studying the sleeve. It made me feel like I was a part of it. Digital made everything easy, you can carry the whole world of music and movies on your cell phone. But can you really develop a deeper connection to the work a musician put so much time and dedication into? Maybe that’s why vinyl has been making a steady comeback recently?

What is the mental health situation of the World?

OLLI: Over the years we met a lot of people all over the world. And with many of them, we became close friends. It is heartbreaking how they all tell the same. Egoism seems to be overtaking everywhere. And this started already long before the pandemic. There are so many challenges for us as a species in order to build a better and safer future. For us, for our children, and for our planet and its entire ecosystem. But unfortunately, people always find reasons why they themselves don’t have to act. Ultimately this egoism leads to most of our problems we as human beings have to deal with these days.

What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what does that song mean to you?

OLLI: “Where Do We Go From Here?“ from our first album. Not only because it was the first song we ever played in front of an audience. But also because it sounds like a good headline for every single day of the last year.

KUSCH: In times of turmoil it can’t hurt to put on „What a wonderful world“ or John Lennon’s „Imagine“. With so much deception, aggression, and us-against-them in the world right now a healthy dose of positivity is what we need. And even if you don’t agree with everything Lennon said or did you really must be an all-out asshole to not share the hope that someday the world actually will live as one.

Do you feel the Covid-19 virus is going to affect the music business in the future?

FRANK: No doubt about it, as it is currently killing the whole industry. All touring activities unexpectedly got frozen, and there’s no telling when we will be allowed to return to our every day’s work. Nobody knows what will happen and who will still be in business when it finally starts to return to some sort of normalcy. But there will be a very different musical landscape for all of us, I fear. More like a “new normal” similar to what transpired after the 9/11 attacks.

What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?

OLLI: Learning. A lot about myself and my very own abilities to stay strong in order to be there for my family. It has been a tough year and it still is. But love and hope keeps me going. My thoughts are with the people who lost a loved one. But in the end I am sure that we can come out stronger than we have been before. For sure that will be the case with ATSC. Somehow we are growing together even more. But I guess that is what artists are like. Make them eat shit and they deal with it in their own ways. Nonetheless it’s a tough fight for our and our families’ existence. I can already say that this is obvious when you listen to our new material.

Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?

FRANK: I’ve been running a lot lately, more than ever before actually.

OLLI: Not a new one. But I had much more time for my biggest passion besides the music. I am an outdoor guy. I even live between lakes, forests and mountains. So whenever I can, I just grab my backpack and vanish into the wilderness for a couple of days. You can’t find me at home, in a tourbus or in a studio? Try looking somewhere in the wilderness. But maybe you wanna bring a thermal imaging camera. Stealth as stealth can be!

KUSCH: For me it’s more and more long walks in nature, minus the vanishing. Also I had the chance to follow the NFL season more closely than I had been able to recently. Plus, the lockdowns we’ve had over here allowed me to work on some old gear I still had sitting around. And while this is all nice I can’t wait to go on the road, meet people and enjoy the overall experience again. I really miss it.

95% of people said that they have changed the way they watch television. This includes people who don’t have television and use their computers to do streaming of programs and movies. Which is your favorite streaming channel?

OLLI: I am a huge movie addict. So streaming platforms became a good alternative to me. Especially since I am spending a lot of time on the road. Carrying a DVD collection wherever I go wouldn’t be realistic at all. But to be honest I don’t have a favorite channel. Each one has its strengths. And yes, I have subscribed to probably every one of the known platforms (laughs).

How can bands keep their fans if they cannot play live in front of the fans and sell merch to them at the show?

KUSCH: Well, doing an interview with UnRated sure is one excellent opportunity to reconnect.

What about Holographic concerts in our living room?

KUSCH: Do we really need less incentive to get out of the house and interact with actual human beings? Or even more technology for that matter? Take Autotune or what CGI does to movies. What was created as tools to support the arts is now dominating them. For example, given the choice between 1982’s ‚The Thing‘ and what was supposed to be its prequel from 2011 I’ll pick Carpenter’s movie any day. Same with real-life concerts in actual venues with actual people on, behind, and in front of the stage.

How do you stay healthy while touring?

FRANK: Living on a tour bus and in venues for weeks at a time is obviously very different compared to being home. You need to get ready way before you go on tour and there surely are many ways to prepare.

My personal one is I run every other day. Now once a tour has started there’s always a big party happening on the bus after the shows with great loud music and you get your booze for the night. Come to think of it, maybe this is my personal way to stay not-so healthy while touring (laughs).

Is pay-to-play still a thing? Now pay-to-play also means things like playlist on the internet?

KUSCH: Well, I don’t know about the internet but in the touring business it is. That said, in Europe, it’s more that you pay your share of production, transportation or catering costs, things you actually benefit from. So it’s not like you dole out cash just to be allowed to perform in a support slot. At least we never had to.

Any new music coming up in the new year?

FRANK: Due to the situation surrounding the pandemic everything’s in limbo. But as soon as scheduling any concerts and tours make sense again, our third album will be out right away, be it this year or early in 2022. This band is never short on inspiration, after all within the first three years of our existence we’ve released two studio albums, a live album, a live DVD, and a tour movie. So naturally, we are writing all the time, exchanging ideas. If this Covid thing lingers on any longer we may end up with a total of 500 new songs. Good luck to us trying to decide which of these will make the record (laughs).

Anything you would like to say in closing?

KUSCH: Enjoy life cause it might well be the only one you have. And stay safe and sane out there cause we want our friends and fans to be healthy, so we will get to see you on tour at some point. For those of you who haven’t listened to And The She Came go and give our music a shot, you might actually dig it. And come and see us live if you can, but make sure to stick around after the show cause we’d love to get to know you better. And bring a friend or twenty (laughs).

JI-IN: Yes, we can’t wait to get out and meet you guys, and feed off your energy on stage. In the meantime take good care of yourself everybody!

[crosswhenandwhere]

Top 30 Most Underrated Albums!!

My top 30 favorite albums that I think are lovely and should be praised WAAAAY more than they are! Everything on here is great and I recommend all these albums!

30. Bon Iver - 22 A Million

Bon Iver takes his sound to the most experimental. Vocoder passages are super dope, 715 Creeks is an insanely underrated tune.

29. Siriusmo - Mosaik

Great kitschy synth music. Catchy, lighthearted, sweet and playful.

28. Bones - Useless

Best underground soundcloud rap album in my opinion. Cavernous, edgy, loud and depressing.

27. Mellowhype - Numbers

For an album with what I consider to be one of the best Frank Ocean features ever I hardly see it talked about in hip-hop circles. Great album.

26. Justice - Audio Video Disco

Grossly overshadowed by it’s monolithic older brother Cross, Audio Video Disco still serves bangers. Civilization is one of my top 10 songs of all time but On’n’on, Helix and New Lands should not be overlooked!

25. Gesaffelstein - Aleph

If I had to describe Aleph in a single word it would be brooding. Runners up include expensive, violent and scary.

24. Duck Sauce - Quack

If anything proves that we are long overdue for a full length A-Trak solo album, it’s this.

23. Yung Lean - Unknown Memory

Cloud rap pioneer Yung Lean’s opus. Volt, Sunrise Angel, Sandman and Blinded are all incredibly ahead of their time.

22. Playboi Carti - In Abundance

This one comes with a bit of a caveat considering it is a fan-compiled mixtape and not an official album but many of the songs on this project in my opinion stack up against highlights from S/T, Die Lit and WLR.

21. Dead Can Dance - Within the Realm of a Dying Sun

Referring to this album as moody and ambient don’t do it justice but for the sake of keeping  this list concise it will have to do. Dead Can Dance deserve the highest order of praise for this medieval epic.

20. Porches - The House

A melancholy and personal look into Porches frontman Aaron Maine’s experiences with social anxiety and depression. It’s groovy and will have you dancing with tears in your eyes.

19. Oni Ayhun - Oar003

Only two tracks long which makes it the shortest album on this list, Olof Dreijer of The Knife, under the pseudonym Oni Ayhun, makes curious, twinkling techno on Oar003.

18. Amnesia Scanner - Another Life

Abrasive and glitchy, german electronic duo Amnesia Scanner’s first album is not for the feint of heart but anyone who decides to keep an open mind (and the volume knob sitting lower than usual) will find some truly captivating moments of electronic brilliance on this record.

17. Mr Oizo - All Wet

Absolutely fucking hilarious album. With features from Skrillex, Boys Noize, Peaches and even Charli Xcx. All wet is modern dadaism and if you don’t believe me make sure you check out No Tony and Chairs in particular.

16. Crystal Castles - Amnesty (I)

I do not understand why this album isn’t  considered more when talking about Crystal Castles’ discography. It sounds related to their self titled trilogy but takes the band’s style in a less dance oriented, more experimental almost instrumental hiphop direction. Edith Francis’ vocals are great and the songs Ornament and Fleece stand out in particular, not to mention that the bonus track Kept may be one of the group’s best.

15. Simian Mobile Disco - Murmuations

Very low-key electronic music from Simian Mobile Disco, Murmurations features some flooring choral pieces backed by soft dance patterns. Great relaxing listen for fans of Caribou, Jamie XX and Chrome Sparks.

14. Mdou Moctar - Ilana (The Creator)

Where to even begin with this one! Mdou Moctar is a guitarist from Niger and Ilana (The Creator) is in my opinion his best work. Fuzzy rock music that sounds like it’s being played from 50-foot monitors in the middle of the Sahara.

13. Chemical Brothers - Further

Chemical brother’s second sleekest album after born in the echoes, Further has glamour that you’re seldom able to find elsewhere.

12. Boys Noize - Mayday

Absolute fucking rager of an album. Featuring Policia, Remy Banks and Hudson Mohawke among others, Boys Noize is in your face and doesn’t give a shit on Mayday. The remix of Birthday released after the album with Danny Brown is priceless.

11. Nico - Desertshore

Break out the tissues if you plan on listening to Desertshore today, this album is unrelentingly melancholic. Nico’s vocals sound almost ghost-like at times and the instrumentals on here are gorgeous.

10. The Newcomer - Earth Motivation

Sopping wet with OPN influence, Earth Motivation is glitchy but retains an emotional quality that will sit with you for a while after your first listen. Perfect for fans of Autechre, Oneohtrixpointnever and Venetian Snares.

9. Tami T - High Pitched and Moist

High Pitched and Moist is definitely not for everyone, but if you like your pop smeared with autotune and in-your-face sexuality then Tami T’s 2019 album is perfect for you! I recommend this one for any fans of Fever Ray and GFOTY.

8. Ryuichi Sakamoto - Async

From the jump, Japanese avant garde classical composer, pianist, electronic musician and synthpop legend Ryuichi Sakamoto hits you where it hurts on Async. The first tune Andata is one of the most beautiful and soul crushing instrumental songs I have ever had the pleasure of hearing, but the quality remains consistent throughout the entire record.

7.  Blanck Mass - World Eater

Holy. Fuck. Drop whatever you’re doing right now and listen to this album. I don’t care if you’re in a business meeting or getting lunch, World Eater demands the utmost attention. After hearing the transition from the end of Rhesus Negative to Please my life was never the same. I can’t sing Blanck Mass’ praises enough so you’re going to have to check this one out yourself but I guarantee you will NOT be disappointed.

6. Jean-Michel Jarre - Oxygene

French synth deity Jean-Michel Jarre’s intergalactic journey Oxygene is a record that soars above and beyond its compatriots (namely Mort Garson’s Plantasia and Jean-Jacques Perrey’s Moog Indigo) and will take you on an extra-planetary voyage from which you may never return. I recommend listening to this album with the best sound system you have available to really get the most out of it.

5. The Knife - Shaken-Up Versions

Technically The Knife’s last album before their retirement (not counting the Terminal 7 Live album), Shaken-Up Versions sees Karin and Olof Dreijer metamorphosing songs from all across their discography into dancefloor fillers. Electronic musicians retooling their material into more danceable, DJ set ready tracks is nothing new (See Alive 2007 and All Across the Universe) but the Knife’s catalog is already so impressive that hearing classics transmogrified like this is a phenomenal experience that I don’t want any dance music fans to miss out on! They reworked Silent Shout for christ’s sake how can you not love this.

4. Geinoh Yamashirogumi - Ecophony Rinne

Katsuhiro Otomo famously tapped Geinoh Yamashirogumi for the soundtrack to Akira, but what some of you may not know is that, while working on the Akira manga, Otomo was listening to this record in particular which inspired him to collaborate with the collective for the Akira film. Ecophony Rinne is like nothing I have ever heard before or since. It’s got a tectonic quality to it that makes you think you’re witnessing an extinction event or the birth of a new universe while listening which is an experience I highly recommend, ESPECIALLY for fans of the Akira manga and film; this album sounds like how Akira looks and Akira looks damn good.

3. Buy Muy Drugs - Buy Muy Drugs

Slept on in every regard, Buy Muy Drugs is a triumph of experimental and industrial hiphop. The duo made up of rapper Denmark Vessey and producer Azarias are welding together grime, bass music and afro-cuban percussion into a dystopic and pummeling listening experience that gets better and better with every listen. To quote JPEGMAFIA, “Death Grips can’t do this shit”.

2. Susumu Hirasawa - Technique of Relief

This album is jaw-dropping. It’s pop, ambient, traditional-Japanese experimental choral synth music delivered with soaring, regal grandiosity. One of the closest things to musical perfection I can think of, Technique of Relief is an album that even now I am having a difficult time describing. Intensely emotional yet hopeful; groovy but substantive, Susumu Hirasawa penned an oeuvre with this record.

1. Daft Punk - Human After All

The number one spot goes to the black sheep of the world’s most beloved electronic music making androids’ discography. Panned on release for being “spread thin” and “too minimal”, (The Village Voice went so far as to call the album “ a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought “) Daft Punk’s third album Human After all is definitely different from it’s rhinestone studded predecessor but in the absolute best way possible. It’s groovy, dark, emotional, tragic, minimal, distorted and it yields some of the robots’ best tracks (Human After All detractors seem to forget that Technologic, Robot Rock and the title track do not actually stem from the Alive 2007 Coachella set but rather find their home on this album). Sleeper gems like Make Love, Emotion, Television Rule the Nation and Prime Time of Your Life range from introspective and moody RnB that would not feel out of place on a Sebastien Tellier record to blown out, gravelly rock oriented tunes that remind the listener of Daft Punk’s roots as french garage rockers. Phenomenal album, criminally underrated.

[daydream-pixie-princess]

My Top Ten Songs

(I'm cheating a little because,in actuality,my top ten of almost anything changes all the time with one or two few exceptions so this is actually my top ten for the time being and some have been for a bit now. I'll give a brief comment on each selection.)

I was tagged by @neversatisfiedgirl (thank you for thinking of me and also check your DMs! Wrote you awhile ago,but don't know if you haven't had time to answer yet or if the site messed up and didn't notify you! If you're busy right now,no biggie...just wanted to give you a head's up! :) ) But,anyway,I am also eclectic in my tastes and like all types of artists and songs,genres and eras so some of these go way back! This is also in no particular order:

1) Thank You For Loving Me-Bon Jovi (Love Jon and love this band! One of my all time faves and I honestly love most of their songs so you can substitute this song for almost any other Bon Jovi song and it would still apply. My love for this band goes back to the beginning and,yes,I feel old now! LOL!)

2) Can't Help Falling In Love With You/My Way-Elvis Presley (See above for reason--except the from the beginning part (I'm not THAT old! LOL! ;-) ) --I also couldn't decide between songs to mention so I picked two (told ya I would cheat!). While Frank Sinatra's My Way version was good and I liked it,IMHO,Elvis' just seemed to have more passion in it and I liked his better. The other song pick is a classic love song and I think very romantic and my go-to!)

3) All Of Me-John Legend (Another romantic song and I think it's beautiful. Always makes me think of a special someone. I think it gives hope that there's someone out there for everyone and that someone will love you no matter what.IMHO,deep lyrics.)

4) Last Christmas-George Michael/Wham (While I do love George and most of his songs and I think this song,while a little sad,is very pretty,I think it made it to the list because it's embedded in my brain now because it plays constantly over the loud speaker where I work! LOL!)

5) I Got The Boy-Jana Kramer (She's a newer one for me so I'm not sure what you would classify her as if you wanted to. Pop,country,country-pop,pop-country,something else entirely? Don't know. Just know I think she's got a rich,melodic voice in this song and I enjoy the song tremendously. Makes me think of first loves and what they are like now. Glad I stumbled on to this song!)

6) Bad-Michael Jackson (Always liked him and thought he was a tremendous talent. Hard to pick a song again because I usually like most of his work.but I really like the beat on this song although,like before,you could probably substitute it with another Michael song and it would apply.)

7) Welcome To The Jungle/Sweet Child O' Mine-Guns N' Roses (These two songs from them are probably the two I play from this band constantly. Think they have a kiss ass beat--Jungle especially--and in Child,I think Axel showed that he could be an under rated singer even with his "scratchy" voice! LOL!)

8) Thunder-Imagine Dragons (This song also plays a lot where I work so it may have something to do with my picking it! LOL! I really like it though and think it's pretty catchy! I know it stayed in my head for awhile once I first heard it!)

9) Save The Best For Last-Vanessa Williams (Another one of my favorite romantic songs and a go-to. So beautiful and she has a beautiful voice and gives hope to people,I think. Again,makes me think of a special someone.)

10) Greatest Love Of All/All At Once/One Moment In Time-Whitney Houston (One of my all time fave singers from way back from the beginning! You can probably replace these with almost any other Whitney song and it would still apply,but these are the ones I'm still listening to the most right now. Once is a sad song too,but so pretty and melodic,Love I believe teaches an important lesson and Moment is empowering and her vocal range and prowess is just impressive and memorizing and it's such a hopeful song that makes you think you can achieve anything!)

Honorable mention: Outlaw You-Shooter Jennings (Catchy song--though considering what the song is about,he might not like me saying that! LOL! ;-)--and he reminds me of the older country artists but with his own twist...especially reminds me of his Dad. Fun fact: this/he was recommended by Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns...so when two giant pro wrestlers tell you it would be good to listen to someone,it might be a good idea to pay attention! They just might know what they are talking about! LOL!)

So...there's my list and already I'm thinking of all the others I love that I didn't include (Oh to be able to go back and rediscover Poison and Warrant again!)! I listen to so many different kinds of music though that it would be impossible to list them all. Everything from old-school,to boy bands to hair bands to rock to metal to pop to country and even dabble in some R&B,instrumental,opera,rap and gospel and pretty much everything else in between (even theme songs! LOL!)! Anyway,I'll tag @mrkittyinmytree @sjwrites22 @i-kneel-for-king-loki @therealfivefeetoffuckingfury @basicdeanstan @dirtydeedsdean and anyone else who would like to do it! Thanks again to my girl @neversatisfiedgirl for the tag!!!

[ducktracy]

163. clean pastures (1937)

disclaimer: this is the third entry on the censored 11. while there are more cartoons out there that are just as vile, if not moreso, than the cartoons on this list, this is a good indicator of what we’re about to see. this review contains racist content, imagery, and ideals. i do NOT in anyway endorse any of the depictions here. they are gross and wrong. however, it would be just as wrong to gloss over them like nothing even happened in the first place. these cartoons need addressing. i hate reviewing these just as much as you hate seeing them, but these cartoons need awareness. PLEASE let me know if i make any mistakes or say something wrong or hurtful. it is NEVER my intention to do so, and i want my mistakes to be known so i can correct them and own up to them accordingly. thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

release date: may 22nd, 1937

series: merrie melodies

director: friz freleng

starring: the four blackbirds (vocal groups), danny webb (various), mel blanc (satan)

not a fun time in looney tunes history--the cartoon released right after this one, uncle tom’s bungalow, is another censored 11, so we have 2 back to back. nevertheless: phil monroe receives his first animation credit (he would have been only 20 at the time), one of my favorite animators. he traveled around quite a lot, working for friz, bob clampett, frank tashlin, chuck jones, and so on, even directing his own cartoon the iceman ducketh alongside maurice noble. the title is a parody of the 1936 film green pastures, and footage from this cartoon would be traced over in yet another censored 11 entry, bob clampett’s tin pan alley cats in 1943. many elements borrowed from friz’s 1934 goin’ to heaven on a mule, clean pastures chronicles the struggling economy of pair-o-dice, and what can be done to ensure hades inc. doesn’t prevail.

to give credit where credit is due, the opening montage is hardly anything less than impressive. harlem is bustling with night life, as displayed by the blinking neon lights of various clubs, ballrooms, restaurants, etc. the animation of a line of dancers is absolutely to be commended: very complex, very high energy, very fun with a lot of energy. stereotypes are, unfortunately, perpetuated as we see the hand of a man shooting craps and snapping in frustration as he misses his shot. another shot limited to just hands, this time preparing cocktails. the use of just hands, no faces or anything else identifiable, is certainly clever directing on friz’s part, adding an air of mystery and excitement. more dancing from a happy (and stereotyped) couple as we get a variety of overlays--the women dancing at the beginning, the couple dancing, and the word HARLEM in big bold letters for all to see.

more very clever animation as the HARLEM spins away, revealing the surface it’s on to be a globe: the earth. the earth gets smaller and smaller as we zoom out into space, complete with details such as shooting stars and other planets. the opening is wonderfully executed in approach and is undeniably very well thought out, though the stereotypes and content itself obviously cannot go unnoticed.

segue into a musical number provided by the four blackbirds, an original titled “half of me (wants to be good)”. the vocals are too wonderful and lovely to belong to such a nasty cartoon. i digress--a horizontal pan takes us further into space, where we spot a trail of empty milk glasses. a wonderful take on the milky way that only took me two watch-throughs to get. above the milky way are the golden gates themselves: pair-o-dice. pair-o-dice was referenced in the moral monstrosity that is goin’ to heaven on a mule, another friz cartoon from 1934.

hone in on a forlorn, elderly angel, saint peter himself, reading the newspaper: pair-o-dice preferred hits new low as hades inc. soars. sure enough, a glum glance at the stocks assert the newspaper’s credibility: the line representing stocks on the board literally goes out of bounds and onto the floor. saint peter checks his ticker tape: results are bleak. the underscoring song comes to an end as he decides to make a call.

and, of course, we are greeted with yet another insulting stepin fetchit caricature playing a trumpet. he’s more concerned about the foul notes he occasionally blats from his trumpet instead of answering the off-screen phone. saint peter on the other end loses patience, angrily pressing the buzzer in conjunction with the underscore. there IS some clever animation as the fetchit angel’s wings pick up the phone and tap him on the head. he answers and gives the affirmative (the whole time speaking in a cruelly stereotypical dialect), a sudden burst of energy prompting him to run to whatever task he needs to tend to.

friz certainly seemed to enjoy the lingering suspension brought on by this cartoon, with the introduction of the segmented hands gambling and pouring drinks and now the confidential phone call prompting the fetchit caricature to plummet down to earth off of a diving board. the animation is very fun, loose, and weightless, all things considered. while the fetchit angel plummets down towards the earth, saint peter places a pin on the globe in his office, right on the spot marking harlem.

more overlays of the bustling harlem nightlife we saw at the beginning, dissolving to focus on the fetchit angel peddling in the streets, trying to get more people to come to pair-o-dice, indicated by the sign on the platform he’s standing on: COME TO PAIR-O-DICE — BE CONTENT. to boot, there’s another sign à la uncle sam with the elderly angel pointing at the audience. “PAIR-O-DICE NEEDS YOU!”, as well as listing a number of commodities promised at the venue. most insulting on the list is the promise of watermelon. very tasteless, offensive, and deplorable. while the angel struggles to properly advertise, we’re met with an interlude of a random passerby tap-dancing. the synchronization between animation and sound at least provides some benefit.

another one of the passerby’s is mister al jolson himself (the blackface caricature of him, anyway. remember, jolson WAS white), singing “i love to singa” while he strolls down the street. as he mentions about wanting to sing about “a sonny boy”, a little ventriloquist puppet randomly plops down from the sky, right on jolson’s knee, the puppet greeting him “hello, stranger!” “sonny boy” was a popular al jolson song, whereas the “hello, stranger!” was taken from jack benny’s radio show. the same catchphrase and i love to singa song were both used in, of course, tex avery’s i love to singa just a year before.

as jolson wraps up his routine, he strolls into a nightclub (named the kotton klub :wince:), much to the fetchit angel’s chagrin: “you can’t go in there! i’m supposed to keep you out of those places!”

back to pair-o-dice, where saint peter and a variety of celebrity caricatures watch from above: fats waller, jimmie lunceford, cab calloway, and louie armstrong. cab calloway would be caricatured in a number of looney tunes cartoons, perhaps most memorably in porky at the crocadero, and fats waller would be rechristened as “cats waller” in tin pan alley cats, which traces over animation from this cartoon. as always, the caricatures are grotesque and one dimensional. there are so many other fascinating aspects to caricature, like fats waller’s eyes, and yet it’s always the lips that get the most exaggeration. 

what engages next is a wonderfully catchy musical number—as deplorable as this cartoon is, the music score is wonderful and doesn’t deserve to be in such a hateful cartoon. the celebrities all chastise saint peter for his poor business practices, and how rhythm in your soul, rhythm in your feet, etc. is the way to properly recruit more people. the patter song, the snappy, lilting tempo, the energy, it’s all wonderful and is certainly one of the better musical numbers we’ve heard in merrie melodies thus far. it’s a shame it has to be dampened by such grotesque imagery. the animation is rather nice though, all things considered.

the angels all go down to harlem where they play the big jazz number of the cartoon, “swing for sale” (this is footage from the cartoon itself, so be warned), on the platform the fetchit angel had just been peddling on, with cab calloway providing the primary vocals. calloway’s closeups and animation in general is very smooth, flowing, and fun, and the call and response aspect of the entire song between calloway and the angels is a lovely touch. the backup angels have their own soft interlude, gathering around a microphone, making the mouth trumpet noises present since the harman-ising days. 

fats waller provides a double piano solo, reused from goin’ to heaven on a mule where his angel wings play on the piano behind him. the close-up of waller after another scat solo from cab calloway would be recycled in tin pan alley cats.

after waller, calloway points to louie armstrong, who sings a few lines of the song and launches into a trombone solo. once again, the animation is very nice, thinking in technical terms. whoever does the celebrity impressions are quite good at them. a nice little detail is louie’s face turning purple and his eyes bulging as he pushes to get the notes out—i can only imagine the extremes this would be pushed to if the cartoon were made 5 years later. 

the song ends, allowing a transition to pair-o-dice, where the golden gates open to let the angels back in. a lovely up-shot of the gates, as well as the constantly moving background as the angels, still performing, traipse along the starry trail and prepare to enter. they’re not alone—a whole line of new recruits follow, wagging their fingers and dancing. the animation of the lead couple was reused from sunday go to meetin’ time, another deplorable freleng piece from 1936.

now, pair-o-dice is bustling. lovely choice on friz’s part to be looking inside pair-o-dice from outside the gates, the golden gates partially obstructing the view of the busy streets. angels line up to get their halos, distributed from a machine. saint peter contentedly places a NO VACANCIES sign on one of the doors, beaming with pride.

suddenly, a knock. he opens the little door window at the top to peer at his visitor. mel blanc’s gravelly voice grunts “may i come in?” saint peter disregards his own sign. “sure. there’s always room for one more!”

with that, satan himself marches inside, prim and proper, hands clasped together, providing a knowing side-eye to the audience as we iris out.

this cartoon is much livelier than the previous censored 11 entries, and its musical score is undeniably fantastic. with that said, this is a terrible, offensive, grotesque cartoon that parades a number of stereotypes and caricatures. it’s not in my place as a white person to decide what is racist and what isn’t, but this is a slight step above from the previous entry, sunday go to meetin’ time, which was just plain cruel. this cartoon is slightly more light-hearted, if that’s at all possible, but still lacks any sense or compassion. 

there are a few things that do deserve praise. the animation, again, in technicality terms, is very nice. lots of closeups, lots of flowing animation, lots of intricate hand movements. cab calloway’s animation during the big jazz number and fats waller’s animation playing the piano with his hands and wings are both to be commended. the music score is wonderful, fun, and lively, much too good for the cartoon it’s in. the layouts are also stellar, especially the scenes in pair-o-dice. but still, there’s no way in good conscience that i can recommend this cartoon. you’ll be fine without watching it. it’s certainly polished, but it still remains inexcusable. 

yet, like always, if you want to watch this for educational or historical purposes, here’s the link. obviously view this with discretion.

[newgeekcity]

New Geek City is Live Blogging MST3k The Return

Once a upon a time there was a bored kid. He just moved to a new place where he didn’t know anyone. Hair was coming in weird places. His face looked like it came from a rare Garbage Pail Kid card.

Other things were changing for the kid, namely his tastes. To him everything started to be so childlike. His books, Full House, even Saturday morning cartoons. There wasn’t anything that really appealed to him anymore.

Except for Batman the Animated Series, that was still awesome.

So one day while trying to avoid the Smurfs or some shit, the kid flipped on Comedy Central. Gamera was on. Everything sucked, but he wasn’t too big for Toho movie monsters. 

Just look at it...

And see those guys on the bottom? They were cracking jokes, making astute observations. Then they would do silly musical numbers. It was the best, and for years after, no matter what, the kid would tune in to see what crazy schlock the boys of MST3k would do next.

And yeah yeah, the boy was me. Twist ending, M. Night Shyamalan style. Blah blah.

Since MST3k came into my life so early, sometimes I wonder where it started and I begin in the soup of neurons and my memories. Am I sarcastic and love terrible movies because it brings me back to my safe space? Or am I drawn to MST3k because I am sarcastic and I love 1960s Godzilla movies.

I don’t think there’s a real answer to that question. However, after a long long departure. MST3k is back and on Netflix... so lets dive into the first episode which is called... episode 1? Seriously guys? Way to be descriptive.

We got movie sign after the jump

00:00 - Hold on I need more coffee. 

00:00 - Alright, back. Lets see what’s up. I’m really curious about the opening. If I remember right the opening song was sung by Mike Nelson. So lets see how this stacks up. 

I’m not looking for a perfect recreation, but something in the same spirit.

1:39 - People? There’s other people in this universe? I thought there was like 10 tops in the entire world in the original series. Then there’s Wil fucking Wheaton. I don’t mind the people, but I do mind Wil Wheaton, that fucking guy. The DIY effects and models are really great though.

In what looks like the Gizmonic mission control, the staff are puppets. I love that.

Wait I know that lady... She’s Erin Gray. Colonel Deering from Buck Rogers. When I was 5 I wasn’t sure if I was going to marry her or Princess Leia. 

Hey it could have happened, I was a cute kid.

But seriously, Fuck. Wil. Wheaton. 

2:00 - I have to admit, I’m sort of liking Jonah. He has the same affable quality as Joel and Mike. 

4:30 - Gypsy could talk? Like for reals? Weird.

I also did like the opening sequence, a lot. Its different. It feels like that’s what the sequence should have been for the movie. But I really liked it. Great work Joel. 

8:00 - Invention exchange is back. Patton Oswalt is perfect as TV’s son of TV’s Frank. Although I was doubting Felicia Day, I have to admit she is charming here. 

The movie doors are different, you could tell they used a computer for this one. Not sure if I like that, But whatevs its minor. 

The bots voices are actually pretty good too. Crow sounds like Crow. Tom sort of sounds like Tom. I do have to get used to Jonah though.

9:00 - Its not skin, its beef. Just saying.

Delicious ground beef.

10:30 - Tom can fly! He can fly!!

13:15 - We have Super Dragon reference! Also one of the best MST3k songs 

14:00 - “You know an aquarium is just a pet store that doesn’t sell anything.” Made me lol.

14:41 - Gypsy showed up and made a quip. I already forgot what it was. I wonder if it’ll be a thing.

16:35 - I’m hoping the movie picks up. I doubt it because its MST3k. But they did a “commercial break” just now. They repeated the name of the movie and showed I guess would be the Deep 13 House Band. 

I think a skit would have worked better. Its not like they have to fit in actual commercials. But they’re probably trying to keep as close to the original format as possible.

18:30 - Scientist 1: “I envy that young man.”

Scientist 2: “He will be busy now.”

Me: Yeah with your daughters, you Dane weirdo.

20:00 - Who just keeps an electric eel in a tank in a hallway? Nothing is gonna go wrong there. Nothing at all....ARRRRRGHG 

22:00 - I’m having a really hard time picking up who’s speaking. Particularly with Tom / Jonah. 

But Jonah’s Monster Mash / Reptilicus cover was definitely out of the Joel Robinson playbook. 

25:00 - Can someone tell me if that Dane blonde, scientist daughter has a single daughter along the R line? And that wound looks like pudding. Just saying it looks like delicious reptile pudding.

27:00 - Ok the skit break is this kaiju monster rap. The bots, particularly crow are more animated. He’s able to move his arms around now.

The song itself is way different from the original series. Which I’m giving it a thumbs up. It fits well into the original ethos. Its catchy, fun. Its a good update. Nice work modern MST3k writers.

32:00 - One thing I’ve noticed is the actual filmic quality of the movie. In the old MST3k’s you could still see the scratches and dust, and the warping. It looks like that this is a restored film. 

Its not awful or really a distraction. But its just something I noticed as a long time fan.

35:00 - Dickweed. It makes me laugh every time.

36:00 - Of course the goofus stuck his hand in the electric eel tank. You know comedy. It had to happen. Like the sun rising, and the rain falling in the amazon.

38:00 - I wish netflix would have some way that it counts up instead of down. It would make my life easier here.

Another “commercial break” I was wrong, in the new series its Moon 13 and Patton Oswalt gave a fun fact about the doors. The house band is playing at the same time. Its very Svengoolie.

39:00 - Xanadu reference. Not sure how many youngin’s would get it. I barely do because my dad had a bootleg VHS tape. 

It was awful.

41:00 - I was about to say a lot of the jokes are falling flat, but when that scientist “screamed” and one of the guys dubbed it with Opera, that was brilliant. 

43:00 - I get that MST3k was never really about plot when it came to the host and bots. But they seemed to jump into the riffing really quick. I was expecting some sort of intro for Jonah, like he’d ask questions about why he’s there throughout the movie and the bots would fill him in and he’d grow into the host role. 

I think it would have added some sort of dimension to it. But I would get why they would just jump right into it. 

45:00 - Also I’d expect the Mads would show up more by now. Maybe in the next skit sequence?

47:00 - No Mads, but the cloning of Tom Servo in the “genesis tank that’s conveniently off camera” was real classic MST3k. 

So far, Jonah I would say earned his spot. He nailed it. 

Crow, yup classic Crow. 

Tom, well. He’s not awful. He’s funny but I just can’t get past the voice. Kevin Murphy really owned the character. I hope its just matter of getting used to it. Like when Kevin originally took over in Season 2 (I think) of MST3k.

51:00 - Hold on I need a gif of that.. give me a few minutes.

Ok, I couldn’t get a gif. I’ll have to check into that. BUT I did grab a screenshot.

Single handedly this is my most favorite special effect ever.

54:30 - Although another stray observation, when the people are in frame, the film is alright. Like no scratches (for the most part) but when the monster is up it looks like someone went through it with sandpaper. 

Which lazy bastard only did half a restoration?

55:00 - It feels like Tom should have had that ability to fly all along. His bottom always reminded me of a hovercraft.

56:00 - Yup the commercial breaks definitely is reminiscent of Svengoolie, Paton Oswalt should just show up on that set one day as TV’s Son of TV’s Frank. 

It would be some great cross promotion.

BTW, go watch Svengoolie. Its not as funny as MST3k, but it’s really charming and fun.

Occasionally they show a good movie. Which I guess defeats the point, but whatever.

60:00 - We’re about at the halfway point. So far, I will admit the new MST3k is... I don’t want to say a worthy successor but Joel Hodgson really did something special. This definitely feels in place with the originals. Almost like it never went away. 

I do want more Mads for this episode. Where are they?

62:00 - How did they get letters? This is like the first episode in almost 20 years. How many 8 year olds could sit still long enough to watch reruns? Aren’t they making methlabs and sexting? 

63:00 - Just a note, I know nothing about modern children.

71:00 - Have you ever wondered why Kaiju are impervious to tank shells? Think about it, they’re designed to punch through concrete, steel plating, etc. I don’t think they’d have a problem with reptile skin, prehistoric or otherwise.

74:00 - Another thing I noticed is that the guy and the bots are more animated compared to the originals. They’ll move around, fly by, bring in barrels to interact with the screen. 

I know the originals did similar, but it seems to be more frequent here. Its not unwelcome. Its actually nice.

77:00 - Another commercial break. Its a TV seal of quality with the Moon 13 house band. I’m still liking them.

Patton talked about how Kinga established some TV group, probably to make profit. 

Its not so much how the joke was clever, I just liked how they used that to add some background of the world of MST3k. Because we really don’t know much about it, besides the SOL and Deep 13 and such. 

I never thought it was missing, but now that I’ve seen some glimpses into the surrounding world I am interested in learning more. Does the world know about the Forresters? Have they always run in secret? Or they make their intentions known and the government is powerless to stop them. Who is the government there anyway?

Are they considered brilliant or total fuck ups? Are they part of something bigger? Like SMERSH or the illuminati or something?

78:00 - They’re freaking out about getting a gallon of some sort of lizard knock out drug. Do Danes know how much a gallon is? It’s not that much, if it was like an oil drum’s worth then you got problems.

80:00 - The gallon is really just a beaker. So I guess Danes don’t get the imperial system after all.

83:00 - Seriously the guy playing Crow is really good. If I close my eyes I’d have a hard time telling the difference between him and Trace Beaulieu.

Although I noticed the mouth movement on Crow isn’t as pronounced as it was in the originals. Its a little detail, but it went a long way in figuring out who was talking.

85:00 - Monster’s dead, yay I guess.

86:00 - “Push the button Max” doesn’t have the same cachet as “Push the button Frank.” But I’m glad they brought that back.

87:00 - The end credit song sounds like it was made with a real orchestra. It gives it some gravitas. Its rather lovely. 

88:00 - They’re repeating the monster rap. Not bad, still cute. 

89:00 - Wait, in the end credits, They gave the proper name for the Moon 13 House Band, they’re called “The Skeleton Crew.”

I like Moon 13 house band better.

90:00 - Nice touch--

And of course--

The end tag. Its nice to see some old standbys come back.

Final Thoughts - 

I suppose if you really wanted to you could say its worse or better than the originals. I guess its like how you wanted to fight over Joel vs Mike. 

They’re different. They had their own styles, and they were very funny in their own way. 

MST3k The Return is a lot like that. There’s enough elements of the originals that it feels familiar, but stylistically its been updated. I personally think its a good thing. 

With the bigger budget, and more modern delivery I feel a lot of the fun, DIY, anarchic, lo-fi qualities that was so mind blowing about the original show is very much here. 

I like the new cast, except for Wil Wheaton (fuck you Wesley Crusher), and I think they’re as charming and clever as the previous casts. Just... different.

So if you loved the originals as much as I did, I definitely think its worth binging with your kids. Personally I plan to make this a Saturday morning thing like I did way back when.

One last last thing. From what I saw of the preview for the next episode it looks like Pearl, Bobo, and Brain Guy are visiting. Hopefully Mike shows up too.

I. Can’t. Wait.

[placetobenation]

The Three Caballeros

Release Date: February 3rd, 1945

Inspiration: N/A

Budget: N/A

Domestic Gross: $1.595 million

Worldwide Gross: $3.335 million

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 82%

IMDB Score: 6.5/10

Storyline (per IMDB): A large box arrives for Donald on his birthday, three gifts inside. He unwraps one at a time, and each takes him on an adventure. The first is a movie projector with a film about the birds of South America; Donald watches two cartoons, one tells of a penguin who longs to live on a tropical isle and the other about a gaucho boy who hunts the wild ostrich. The second gift is a pop-up book about Brazil. Inside is Jose Carioca, who takes Donald to Brazil’s Bahia for a mix of animation and live action: the two cartoon birds sing and dance with natives. The third gift is a piñata, accompanied by Panchito. A ride on a magic serape takes the three amigos singing and dancing across Mexico. ¡Olé!

Pre-Watching Thoughts: We move onto the next film in the Disney canon which is the second of the package films released during this time, and also you could say “unofficially” the first sequel in the canon as this builds off of Saludos Amigos. Unlike the previous film which was more a behind-the-scenes look at Disney’s trip to South America surrounded by a few shorts, this one has more of a linear story behind it told in a bunch of different segments. It does also blend the lines of animation and reality as well which will be interesting to see, and hopefully this ends up being a solid film and one I end up enjoying.

Voice Cast: So for the second film in a row, we have a combination of voice actors coupled with some actors that appear on screen in live-action scenes. We have a few regulars return as Clarence Nash returns to voice Donald Duck and Jose Oliveira voicing Jose Carioca, and Sterling Holloway also returns to voice the narrator for “The Cold-Blooded Penguin” and Pinto Colvig provides sounds for the Aracuan bird. We had two newcomers in this film as voice actor Frank Graham serves as a narrator for the film along with Fred Shields who narrates the short about the flying donkey, and finally Joaquin Garay voices Panchito Pistoles and he brings a lot of energy to new character. As mentioned, we do have some live actors appear as well mainly as dancers which include Aurora Miranda and Carmen Molina, and finally we have Dora Luz in a solo performance and these ladies to a great job in their roles for the film. Considering this would be the last film to be part of the canon that features live-action scenes, those involved did a good job in showcasing the culture of Mexico and Latin America.

Hero/Prince: N/A

Princess: N/A

Villain: N/A

Other Characters: For the purposes of these reviews since I am looking at the animated canon, we won’t include any live-action appearances so all of the dancers along with the soloists will not be mentioned in this specific category. We did have a few other characters involved as we are introduced to the third Caballero in Panchito Pistoles, the wise-cracking rooster from Mexico who becomes friends with Donald and Jose. We also had Pablo the penguin from the short where he longs to leave the cold and find a warm island to live on, and while he doesn’t speak he shows his determination to find a new place to live which he finally does. Finally we have the unnamed Guachito and his new flying donkey that he comes to love, and they have a good relationship that sees them win a race only to be disqualified since the donkey can fly. While there weren’t as many characters in this film as previous ones, it worked out since this was much like Saludos Amigos as it was more about showcasing the culture of Latin America.

Songs: Much like Saludos Amigos, the songs that are featured in this film are more done in a way to celebrate the culture and customs of Latin America as opposed to being memorable in the canon of the films. We do have a fun theme song with “The Three Caballeros” which is sung in the beginning of the film and then Donald and his friends sing it during the film, and it is a good song to put over their friendship and companionship. We then have Jose singing “Baia” as he sings about Brazil and they dance as part of the samba in “Os Quindins de Yaya”, and they are both good songs and catchy tunes that makes you want to dance. Next, we have “Mexico” sung by Panchito Pistoles as he sings about Mexico in the same vein that Jose sang about Brazil, and finally we have the centerpiece song “You Belong to My Heart” sung by Dora Luz and she does a beautiful job in singing this ballad which draws Donald to her.

Plot: So much like Saludos Amigos, this film was more of a showcase of the culture of Latin America based off of Disney’s trip to the region, but unlike the previous film this was more of a look at the culture as opposed to being a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film. In this film, Donald Duck receives a bunch of gifts from his friends Jose Carioca and Panchito Pistoles, and first he learns about the different birds of Latin America before seeing a story about a penguin who wants to go somewhere warm. After watching a short story about a boy finding a flying donkey and becoming friends, he is eventually joined by Jose and Panchito as they go on a trip visiting various areas of Brazil and Mexico while participants in various events which include Donald falling in love with numerous women. It was basically a typical Donald Duck cartoon just extended to 80 minutes as opposed to a normal short and anyone who was a fan of Donald would more than likely enjoy it.

Random Watching Thoughts: Ahh, the Radio RKO Pictures logo is back after being MIA in the previous film; It is pretty cool to see Donald Duck in a full-length film as opposed to a short; Of course Donald’s birthday would be on Friday the 13th, The old gifts-within-a-gift-within-a-gift gag; Only Donald can make opening up a video screen a laborious process; A penguin that hates living in the cold, if that’s not an oxymoron I don’t know what is; Only penguins can make living in the Arctic like living on the beach; Bowling for penguins; I can’t help but feel like I’ve seen this specific short before when I was younger, but I can’t for the life of me remember when; Ahh, puns and the visual adaptations of them; I love how Pablo is so scared when his ice boat melts and he doesn’t want to get in the water when as a penguin, he can swim with ease; So Pablo finally gets to be on an island like he wanted only to then become homesick and miss the cold; I wouldn’t be surprised if this segment about the different types of birds inspired “The Enchanted Tiki Room” at the theme parks; I feel like the Aracuan was very similar to Woody Woodpecker even though they are two completely different birds; The narrator puts the Marrequito over as a skilled builder yet it can’t even make a nest; That’s a crap load of flamingos; The narrator goes from hunting wild ostrich to hunting condors; Is a flying donkey a big thing in Latin American folklore?; The way he has the donkey tied up makes it seem like he’s flying a kite; So the donkey can whistle like a bird?; I’ve noticed that they like using the word “gay” for happy a lot in these last few films; Did he really think that they could win the race without being accused of cheating due to the fact the donkey could fly?; How is the narrator able to do this narration if he hasn’t been seen in a long time?; Good to see Jose Carioca back for another film; Jose sings this epic song about Baia to Donald only to have never been there himself; That’s a lot of tracks to choose from and they just have the whole train separate; It is pretty cool seeing live-action mixed together with animation especially in the 1940s; Fun fact is that Aurora Miranda is the sister of Carmen Miranda who became well-known for her iconic fruit hat; It is a bit weird seeing a cartoon character pine over a real woman though it would be a running theme for Donald throughout this film; One slight flaw with this is you can clearly tell the live-action actors are in front a green screen as the animated scenes are obviously faded behind them, but it was the 1940s so technology was still relatively primitive in that aspect and it would look a lot better in 2020; It’s a good thing Daisy Duck wasn’t included in this film as she wouldn’t put up with Donald’s antics; The early days of a dance-off; So Jose can grow using black magic while Donald screws it up and inflates his whole body like a balloon; You figured that Mexico was going to heavily featured in this film after being absent in Saludos Amigos; Panchito Pistoles certainly has a lot of energy even more so than Jose and he’s got quite a set of pipes to hold that last note for so long; It is always pretty cool to see how different cultures celebrate Christmas; I always thought that the pinata was more synonymous with birthdays as opposed to Christmas; Jose and Panchito took great pleasure in teasing Donald by pulling the pinata away from him repeatedly; That was quite the loaded pinata to have all that stuff inside of it; As much of a history buff that I am, I never knew that Mexico City was built on top of a lake and had such a rich history and lore behind it; It’s so interesting seeing Mexico so glorified in 1945 knowing how different our thinking of it is in the current day and environment; I could only imagine what it was like for the filmmakers when they were filming all this footage featuring these old Mexican traditions and dances; Always love seeing the stylized animated maps of countries; Donald really didn’t want to leave that party and then they bring him to Acapulco where he sees plays around with the bathing beauties; Dora Luz does have a really beautiful voice; These last few minutes feel like a really strong acid trip; I wonder if the scene where Donald dances with Carmen Molina was the inspiration for having Gene Kelly dance with Jerry Mouse in “Anchors Aweigh”; Talk about going out with a bang at the end with the fireworks display.

Overall Thoughts: Overall, the second package film for Disney coming off of Saludos Amigos was a slightly better effort than the previous one though it again was nowhere near the films that preceded both films. As mentioned, it was pretty much just a Donald Duck cartoon extended into an 80-minute film while also being a showcase of the culture of Latin America, and this was the second film to be included as part of Disney’s look at the Latin American culture. We were coming to a crucial point as World War 2 was nearing its end and many of those who were drafted to help the government were about to return to the studios, and it will be interesting to see if they continue with the package films or if they revert back to the standard style of film. As for this film, it was a step up from Saludos Amigos though it was still just an average film at best even for me who has always loved Donald Duck and while it was fun, it was fairly forgettable.

Final Grade: 5.5/10

[netunleashed-blog]

Lady Gaga: everything we know about her new, sixth album, tour plans and Vegas residency

http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=23900 Lady Gaga: everything we know about her new, sixth album, tour plans and Vegas residency - http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=23900 2018 has been a busy year for the ‘Perfect Illusion’ pop icon, following a last minute emergency cancellation of the remaining 10 European dates of her ‘Joanne World Tour’ in February. Gaga- real name Stefani Joanne Germanotta- suffers from Fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition which causes extreme pain all over the body, insomnia and triggers emotional distress. A cure for the long term condition is yet to be found and treatment for sufferers remains very limited. Germanotta, however, is putting her recovery time to good use and is confirmed to be recording her sixth studio album, LG6 (a working title)  at Electric Lady Studios in her home city, NYC, as well as attending NYC Pride, filming A Star Is Born and reportedly getting engaged to her talent agent, Christian Carino. When can we expect new Lady Gaga music? As of now, no new release has been announced. However, looking through the artist’s discography you can notice a pattern of a new album being released roughly every two years: ‘ The Fame’ (2008), ‘The Fame Monster’ (2009), ‘Born this way’ (2011),’ ARTPOP’ (2014), ‘Cheek to Cheek’ (2015) and ‘Joanne’ (2016). Therefore, a betting person might suggest we can expect her new record later this year, however this theory will be challenged by the release of ‘A Star is Born’  in October, in which the six-time Grammy winner takes a leading role alongside director and writer Bradley Cooper. Although followers of Mother monster will be thrilled to see her in a lead role, this does mean that LG6 is likely to be pushed back until some point in 2019. Gaga has also confirmed that she will be providing the soundtrack for the film and footage of her conducting an orchestra has been linked to the soundtrack, another skill that can be added to her repertoire. Who is Lady Gaga working with? The American Horror Story actress’ fifth studio record saw her team up with the likes of Beck, Father John Misty, Florence Welch, Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme and Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker. Fans are eager to see who will help bring LG6 to life. DJ Whiteshadow, the producer of ARTPOP hits ‘Applause’ and ‘Do what U want’, as well as large portions of  ‘Born this Way’, has confirmed his involvement in LG6 via a now deleted Instagram post. Bloodpopm, the electropop producer, real name Michael Tucker, produced every song on ‘Joanne’ and has worked with HAIM and Britney Spears. Tucker has been spotted on multiple occasions entering Electric Lady Studios. Sophie, the Scottish avant-pop producer, had been anticipated to join forces with Gaga after the release of her debut album ‘Oil of every pearl’s Un-Insides’ Sophie confirmed the rumours when asked by fans, stating “I’m working on a lot of different things. If it comes out, then that’s cool. But yeah, she’s a cool person” okay so i met SOPHIE last night after her show and she CONFIRMED THAT SHE’S WORKING WITH GAGA OMGPLEASE RETWEET THIS SO EVERYONE KNOWS PLEASE @BraveForGaga95 @ladygaga_JWT @LGMonsterFacts @gagasyuyi @fkajack @AMENARTPOP @ladygaga pic.twitter.com/cxucufWINR — melodrama ⭐️ (@_thefamem0nst3r) July 8, 2018 Mark Ronson, the man behind ‘Uptown Funk’, Queens of the Stone Age’s ‘Villains’ and Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back to Black’ played an integral role on ‘Joanne’. In the process he and Gaga became close friends, as shown in the 2017 Netflix doc Five Foot Two, which featured Mark and documented the life of Lady Gaga during the recording of ‘Joanne’. It is no surprise that Ronson will return for LG6. Boys Noize– the German DJ revealed this surprise collab via a tweet saying Gaga had spilled water over his equipment, she later responded saying that she had “resurrected it with a blow dryer. It was a christening” This spillage mishap confirmed their joining of forces. Lady Gaga spilled water over my modular system 💦 — Boys Noize (@boysnoize) April 18, 2018 Will there be collaborations? It has been heavily rumored that Miley Cyrus will feature on LG6. The ‘Malibu’ singer has been frequenting Electric Lady Studios to record her seventh studio album. Therefore, Miley is often in the studio at the same time as Gaga and is said to be working with Mark Ronson too. A fan claims Miley told him that she could “neither confirm nor deny” a collab, adding fuel to the fire. Lady Gaga collaborations are few are far between but when they happen they are great – Florence Welch on ‘Joanne’ track ‘Hey Girl’ and Beyoncé on ‘The Fame Monster’ megahit ‘Telephone’ are a few examples. What will Lady Gaga’s sixth album sound like? ‘Joanne’ was a departure from Gaga’s signature electropop avant-garde style and took an earthier and toned down approach, incorporating piano, brass and guitar. Some diehard Little Monsters were reluctant to accept the more country and rock influenced direction and found solace in the party anthems ‘John Wayne’ and ‘Dancin’ In Circles’. What’s next for Mother Monster is a mystery. With the likes of Sophie and Boys Noize joining team Gaga, an experimental edge to LG6 is highly likely. The return of Mark Ronson promises listeners catchy and elevated songs and Bloodpop is sure to bring his unique flair. DJ Whiteshadow marked the fourth anniversary of ‘ARTPOP’ on Instagram stating “I can’t wait to introduce you to your little sister. #LG6.” This hints at a return to the arty-EDM of tracks such as ‘Donnatella’ and ‘Swine’ Perhaps the next album will mix the styles of Gaga’s earlier pop anthems to her more recent country and jazz endeavors. The current list of producers suggests a return to electropop but then again, this is Lady Gaga we are talking about, and one thing is for sure – we will be surprised. Will Gaga be touring? The ‘Born this way’ songstress has signed a two-year contract for a Las Vegas Residency beginning December 2018. Whether her next solo record will receive its own tour is unknown as the residency may very well be showcasing songs from LG6 and could counterfeit as a tour for the album. International Little Monsters will hope Gaga tours worldwide considering the vast majority of the Joanne world tour was set in North America and the European dates were postponed and then cancelled indefinitely. The Las Vegas ticket package is reportedly titled ‘Enigma and limited Jazz& Piano engagement’. The title has lead to speculation that LG6 will be called ‘Enigma’. The jazz and piano engagement sparks anticipation that she will reunite with her ‘Cheek To Cheek’ collaborator Tony Bennett. In her press release, Gaga says “It’s the land of Elvis, Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra, the Rat Pack, Elton John, Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli. It has been a life-long dream of mine to play Las Vegas.” Tickets for Lady Gaga’s Las Vegas residency are on sale now. By Kyle Campbell Source link

[ducktracy]

104. buddy’s lost world (1935)

release date: may 18th, 1935

series: looney tunes

director: jack king

starring: jack carr (buddy)

the first of the buddy cartoons that includes a shot of his smiling face (à la disney), a tradition that would be carried on with the beans cartoons and a handful of porky cartoons. though i suppose you could also count the numerous “bugs bunny in”s, too. considered the first entry of the dinosaur cartoons, a popular genre in the looney tunes universe, buddy and his dog bozo discover the “lost world”—a prehistoric haven whose novelty wears off rather quickly when its dangers are exposed.

buddy’s all set to disembark on his quest, his sail advertising “CAPT. BUDDY’S EXPEDITION TO THE LOST WORLD”. he greets a cheering crowd by shaking his fits proudly, eating up the attention. he starts the motor of his boat (meaning the sail is entirely redundant, which i love) and rockets off. unfortunately for his crowd, he forgot to untie the rope anchoring him to the dock. the entire dock plummer’s into the waters as his fanbase all try to swim to shore.

a nice back angle of buddy and his pal bozo riding in the boat, heading for land (buddy excitedly proclaiming “land, bozo! land!”). if i’m not mistaken (it’s been a few months since i’ve seen the cartoon), the same shot would be reused with porky in fish tales, another jack king short. a wave propels them to shore, the boat screeching to a halt. buddy and bozo disembark, bozo yapping happily while buddy unravels a map. he yells “oh boy, it’s the lost island! hooray! oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!” buddy sounds like an actual kid here. i‘ve seem a source or two list child actor jackie morrow as a voice credit for buddy, but i can’t attest to its validity. so, for the time being, jack carr will be a placeholder name until i figure out elsewhere (like the johnny murray/max maxwell situation with bosko and his changing voice, especially in his later WB cartoons)

elsewhere, bozo spots a pair of footprints. he sniffs them out, causing them to inch forward slightly. more sniffing, more inching. he follows the footprints through an area decorated thickly with trees, continuing on. the trees are no trees at all, but the legs of a massive dinosaur—good staging. the dinosaur angrily stalks bozo, who is stalking the footprints. only when the dinosaur snorts does bozo realize he’s being followed. terrified, bozo zips away, whirling past a woman jump roping.

in the midst of his panic, bozo comes across a caveman digging at the dirt like a dog. ...interesting. the caveman growls at his uninvited visitor, both of them circling each other on all fours. finally, the caveman dips into his hole and brings out a giant bone under his protection. the caveman runs away, and bozo, now curious, digs at the ground.

bozo finds a bone... and plenty of them. he unearths an entire dinosaur skeleton, getting trapped inside its ribs. he yowls for help, catching the attention of buddy, who had been wandering the island. he spots his shanghaied pooch and tries to tug him out, but to no avail. he meanders to the skull of the dinosaur, prying open its jaws and whistling for bozo to come to him. bozo gratefully darts out of the dinosaur’s mouth and covers buddy in thankful kisses.

back to the caveman/dog hybrid, who now has a tail? he didn’t before, which is odd. i wonder if that was an additive or a subtractive—was he originally supposed to have one and they forgot? or was one of the animators putting his own flair on things? he’s sniffing at some bushes, scratching behind his ear with his foot while buddy and bozo discreetly observe. unable to stand it any longer, bozo launches after the caveman, buddy chasing behind.

bozo and the caveman take their chase into a cave, buddy getting the short end of the stick and slamming against a rock that closes the entrance off. unbeknownst to buddy, a hungry plant licks its lips and looms behind him, a good setup as buddy obliviously calls for bozo as the plant comes in for the kill. buddy realizes he has company, but too late. the plant swallows him whole. buddy tumbles through its inside, a rather creative segue as he pops out of another plant attached to a cliff.

it’s just as well—buddy stumbles across civilization. the underscore for this scene is... confusing. it’s “lullaby of broadway”, from the musical gold diggers of ‘35 (not to be confused with gold diggers of ‘33. and, of course, the cartoon gold diggers of ‘49). it’s a catchy song, absolutely, but a song whose lyrics entail “the rumble of the subway train, the rattle of the taxis” doesn’t quite fit the mood for a prehistoric village. maybe that’s the point, though, and i’m just thinking too far into it. likely it was probably used as for advertising purposes for the movie, like a discreet merrie melody. the village is thriving, villagers playing croquet, with wishbones serving as the wickets.

buddy is mesmerized and takes a closer look, sliding down a tree trunk that actually turns out to be a happy dinosaur. meanwhile, three prehistoric caricatures of the three stooges pop up (wonderfully weird) and observe buddy. larry shushes curly, who sneezes, and the typical eye poking slapstick ensues. back to buddy, who feeds his dinosaur companion an apple.

larry devises an incomprehensible plan, sneaking away from the group. funny how larry’s the villain, you’d think moe would be the one. larry spots bozo, who’s tied up to a tree (did he escape?). larry unties him and ties him to what appears to be a giant mousetrap.

bozo cries for help, and buddy, still playing with his dinosaur friend, hears him and runs to the rescue. buddy attempts to free his pooch, but to no avail. instead, he activated the trap, metal bars enclosing the two as larry approaches his victims. moe and curly come sauntering over, larry signaling for them to push while he pulls. moe gives curly a sock in the head for good measure before pushing the cage.

who knew the three stooges were cannibals? buddy and bozo are in a boiling pot while the once happy villagers are chanting on the ceremony. we have a collection of gags to lighten the mood. after all, it is a feast! a man presses down on a dinosaur skeleton’s teeth, chimes reverberating against the ribs. elsewhere, two cavemen do a waltz, intermittently hitting each other on the head. the same gag would be reused in naughty neighbors, executed in a much funnier manner. probably the most amusing part of the cartoon (though porky’s poor attempts to harmonize with petunia in “would you like to take a walk?” is also a highlight). nevertheless, it’s still a funny gag.

buddy cries for help as the pot begins to stir, and his dinosaur friend hears his shrieks. i love the perspective on this shot. in motion, it’s a little wonky—as though they didn’t know how to truly commit to the perspective all the way through the scene. this is the best it looks in this single key frame (though i’m sure that’s also the result of a different animator for the inbetweens). i applaud them for trying. jack king’s cartoons aren’t my favorite, but i do like that he has an eye for cinematography, like a predecessor to frank tashlin. the dinosaur approaches the crowd, grabbing a caveman (who i think is supposed to be larry) and tossing him towards the camera, much to the delight of buddy and bozo. he tosses another identical caveman, a random rock appearing and disappearing from the scene.

the dinosaur dips its head into the pot and scoops up both buddy and bozo. buddy slides down the dinosaur’s neck and lands comfortably on its back, the dinosaur gingerly placing bozo beside him. buddy crowns the dinosaur with his captain’s hat, and we iris out as buddy gets covered in kisses by both bozo and the dinosaur.

as far as buddy cartoons go, this one wasn’t too bad! still rather mediocre, but less mediocre than others. i wasn’t too excited about this one, but i’m always glad to be proven wrong. having the three stooges as three cannibals was a very interesting plot point i never woukd have guessed in a million years. speaking of plots, the weird caveman/dog hybrid... i guess that was just there for the sake of being there? it felt too extended to be a gag, like a plot point in itself, but also feels too loose and discombobulated to the actual plot at hand. nothing very exciting in the cartoon, but it was cute. maybe worth a watch just because of how strange it is. i’ll always value absurdity!

link!

[ducktracy]

28. crosby, columbo, and vallee (1932)

release date: march 19th, 1932

series: merrie melodies

director: rudolf ising

starring: n/a

ahh, the three crooners! this marks the start of MANY, many, many bing crosby references (who is never even showed onscreen). i know rudy vallee was referenced by porky in porky at the crocadero, and russ columbo... well, he gets the short end of the stick. he’s not mentioned in the short, and would die two years later in 1934 due to an accidental misfiring of a gun. this short takes place in a native american village (don’t worry, it’s a relatively innocent cartoon) where the love of the crooners has become a plight, almost putting a forest in jeopardy.

we open to a group of native americans doing a war chant. they sing the titular song “crosby, columbo, and vallee”, a song lamenting the perils of how the crooners have influenced their women. the premise of the song is highly amusing, those damn crooners! every time your woman kisses you, she’s thinking of bing! however, this scene is rather uncomfortable, especially considering that a slur is used towards native american women. thankfully, the rest of the cartoon is relatively harmless—not making this okay by any means, but... it’s tame in comparison to what we’ll be seeing. it would be wrong to gloss over it like nothing happened.

we see our hero of the film, a cute little native boy who’s canoeing in time to the music. frank marsales does a great job adapting to the mood and the setting with his music! the gag above is reused from hittin’ the trail for hallelujah land. we get some shots of him hopping among some tulips and weaving his way through logs.

he hops out of his canoe and heads towards a teepee, calling for his sweetheart, minniehaha (in reference to longfellow’s 1855 poem the song of hiawatha). his voice rises to a call to a scream as she’s unresponsive, but eventually she comes out.

finally, we see what he’s after. the boy produces a radio, and, with the help of a friendly spider, get a connection. the girl perches herself on a rock near a waterfall (with the boy using a tiny pine tree as an umbrella to dispel any spare water streams) while the warbling tones of bing crosby sing “many happy returns of the day”.

minniehaha launches into the title number of “crosby, columbo and vallee”, with various woodland critters dancing by her side. the song itself, again, is very catchy and entertaining to think about. bing crosby, the menace to society!

our first celebrity caricature! this rudy vallee dog sings “this is my love song". i’m a sucker for celebrity caricatures, and as limited as the animation is, it looks a lot like him!

everyone is swayed by the music, even an anthropomorphized campfire, which turns catastrophically. the flames literally begin to dance and march across the forest, burning everything in sight: a tree, who skitters away embarrassedly as his lack of foliage leaves him naked, and another tree inhabitated by a group of baby birds.

the birds shriek “help!” “fire!” “save me!” one by one as the flames threaten their lives. thankfully, the boy does some quick thinking.

ringing a tulip like a bell summons the help of some bees, who transform a net into a trampoline. i love how you can see the shadow of the net on the ground, too! i’m glad they took the extra time to animate that.

the flames are stubborn. they follow the boy and the bees, burning the boy in the ass a few times for good measure as the remaining flames continue to endanger the baby birds.

no worries! the birds leap out of the nest and land to safety on the net... almost. the flames burn off all their feathers. predictable, but amusing! nothing can ever end too well for anyone, huh? to further absurdity, the boy extinguishes the fire with ease by merely spitting on it, similar to the ending in friz freleng’s flowers for madame in 1935. iris out.

i’m glad that this is our first appearance of a celebrity caricature! may the continue. the short, as all merrie melodies go, is very catchy with a beautifully atmospheric underscore. the visuals are fun and imaginative, such as the boy using a pine tree as an umbrella and the naked tree running away.

however, the uncomfortableness is still present with the stereotypes. they’re relatively tame compared to some shorts, but nevertheless still needs to be addressed. mainly my discomfort lies in the beginning sequence, it didn’t keep me from enjoying the short entirely, but it’s presence was certainly there. nevertheless, it’s a rather average cartoon. not bad, amusing rudy vallee caricature and bing crosby impression! but it’s certainly dated in many of its aspects.

here’s a link: view at your own discretion, there’s a slur used at 0:49