#disney icons bia

[biastuff]

isabela souza icons like/reblog if u save

[frasier-crane-style]

These posters are actually a major reason why the MCU Spider-Man sucks. The "Spider-Man in high school" stuff had been largely picked clean by earlier adaptations, but Feige was still set on making Spider-Man the MCU teen movie. So instead of basing it on the comics or even on contemporary teenage culture, they decided to turn it into a huge John Hughes reference (because he's the most iconic teen movie voice, even though he's largely irrelevant to actual teens, to say nothing of comics from the sixties). They didn't have Mary Jane in their movie, they had Allie from the Breakfast Club, only they made her the endgame love interest because people found her character more memorable than Molly Ringwald.

I mean, there's a little bit of Miles Morales in there, because he's the most recent 'Spider-Man' origin story and the MCU has a huge recency bias, but by and large, the throughline of the MCU Spider-Man is that Tom Holland is a wittle babby. Spider-Man 3 ended with Tobey Maguire proposing marriage. No Way Home ends with Holland getting a GED and moving into his own apartment.

I could keep going... Black Widow is shockingly derivative of The Americans and gives Natasha a 'little sister' she never had in the comics, while Shang-Chi entirely erases his supporting cast and Ant-Man 3 bizarrely turns into a Star Wars movie... but the adaptation process where every comic character is turned into a stealth remake of an old, popular Hollywood blockbuster I think has definitely resulted in the MCU's samey-gamey feel.

It's the same problem as DC turning all their villains into a variation of Heath Ledger's Joker--all the colorful, oddball characters of the Marvel universe are turned into lesser versions of RDJ's Tony Stark, or at least given quippy sidekicks that turn them into a gestalt Tony Stark.

Imagine if every cop movie was done by taking a novel about the police, adapting it as a Lethal Weapon movie, then just changing the names and hiring different actors to play Murtaugh and Riggs. It'd get old fast, right? Even the Disney+ series are essentially drawn-out blockbuster movies. It's all a copy of a copy of Independence Day and the like.

Even Spider-Man... which started out with the thesis statement of "he's too small-time for the Avengers"... immediately became about going into space, foiling terrorist attacks on London Bridge, and even preventing the entire multiverse from collapsing. They can't go smaller because a smaller movie, even in the action genre like John Wick or Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, is outside the 'blockbusters from the last twenty years' mindset. So I think they're just going to keep doubling down and doubling down until they run out of nostalgia (this is all they have going for them at the moment), because it's not in their wheelhouse to do anything but big massive summer blockbuster, they can't conceive of anything that wasn't first done as a Michael Bay movie.

[sapphiretheartist]

I drew two things tonight. Both of which are Disney related.

First there’s Kuzco from The Emperor’s New Groove. Because… I love that movie. It’s great. Go watch it if you haven’t.

Then, I did a quick little sketch of Marie from The Aristocats.

The Aristocats is my favorite Disney movie. That’s probably something not many people have said before. But I really love this movie! I’ve seen it a million times, I can pretty much quote the whole thing word for word by now because of how often I watch it.

Marie is probably my favorite character from the movie, as I draw her the most out of all of the cats in the movie. She has iconic quotes.

More people just need to watch The Aristocats. And actually end up liking it. Because most rankings and tier lists I’ve seen rank it C or lower and I’m salty because of that. It’s a great movie, damn it! (I totally have nostalgia bias though cause I grew up watching this movie a lot!)

Didn’t mean for this post to be this long. Oops. I guess I just had a lot to say about The Aristocats.

[mh-dreamscape]

Monster High Hocus Pocus Skullectors:

As mentioned in my previous post, I’m going to do another opinions and rating post! This time it’s for these Skullectors that are coming out October 4th!

My Opinions:

Like most of you, I do wish they had some darker colors and looked more like the movie designs. I understand the team may have been trying to be creative or maybe weren’t allowed to follow the original due to Disney and I’m glad they didn’t do mermaid dresses (although I’m usually a fan of those dress styles, they have been a bit overused lately). I’m also usually a fan of the object shoes, but there could’ve been more detail to them. Why do they only have two colors? Why don’t the objects have any depth to them?

Top half/heads:

I do like that Mary looks like she has her smile, Winifred has her hair and teeth, and Sarah has her darker makeup which are all iconic to their characters! I know a lot of people think that the matching earring and similar gold accents are lazy but as someone who has a sister with not much in common, it’s nice to see that even then they can be similar or have similar styles.

I definitely LOVE that they included Binx, but I feel like there were some things they could’ve also included as well. At least add the book and a broom or something! A more expensive option: give them their hoods and capes! Even if those were added with a darker color, I feel like it would bring it a bit more together.

I love the different sleeve types and they each have their own patterns on dresses. There’s speculation that at least one of them has a different body mold so that’s pretty exciting considering we haven’t really seen that in a Skullector yet!

Considering everything, I think they did well with the top half of the designs but got a little lost after. I personally don’t have much to say past the waists other than, once again, it’s very bright and not a mermaid dress. The box is the usual Skullector type but I like how the back looks!

I feel like I might be a little bias but they hold a bit of memory for me. While it’s not my favorite Halloween movie, my Mom loves it and I remember watching her eyes light up every time it was on as a kid! She’s more of a Christmas person so getting to share the love of my favorite holiday through this movie makes me happy that these dolls were at least thought of! ☺️

Hocus Pocus Rating: 7/10!

What do y’all think? Are you going to get them?

[tvmigraine]

Disney (Almost) Made an Anniversary Kamen Rider

You remember during the 2000s where Disney owned Power Rangers? It wasn't a bad era in terms of what was put out, but maybe I'm bias because I grew up with it. Running from Ninja Storm to RPM, Disney had a troubling run with the show - the quality was good for a kid's show, but Disney did not like making it. It's not a secret that they were trying to bury Power Rangers, the show only continuing after RPM because it was bought back by Saban. It doesn't feel like a coincidence they sold back Power Rangers less than a year after buying Marvel Entertainment.

And ever since, Disney has had no interest in Tokusatsu as a genre. You could argue the closest they ever came was Mech-X4, a Disney XD show about a kid controlling a giant robot to save his town.

Then rolls around the 100th anniversary. Tokusatsu is still as popular as ever in Japan and, while Super Sentai isn't as popular as it used to be, Kamen Rider has been going strong ever since it's revival in the Heisei Era.

If Disney wanna make money in Tokusatsu, it makes sense to put it in Kamen Rider.

This is the Imagination Belt. It was released last month and, honestly, I'm glad I got back into Kamen Rider in time to see the strangest anniversary celebration yet. It was produced by Bandai and I won't pretend this is officially a Kamen Rider product - it's made by the same company, but that's not enough to call it that.

But it sure takes a lot of the beats!

As a person who has previously rambled about a non-existent canon surrounding a Sonic Screwdriver toy, I really appreciate that this gives me more to talk about inherently. Kamen Rider historically has been getting more and more Riders with every era of the show and this toy is no different - ten different Disney icons made into marketable... keys... how did they not do Sora-

Nevermind, I'm glad they didn't.

The designs aren't great, I won't pretend they are, if you're a fan of Kamen Rider. It's clear the character designs were leaning closer to Kingdom Hearts (or even Spectrobes, if you remember that), so it's hard to judge them in terms of your typical Tokusatsu outfit. That being said, the consistency of the goggles does imply something about this uniform - if it's as important as the belt to be included on everyone, that's notable.

There's also a notable detail with the Imagination Belt itself - the Keys. Half of them are Gold, half of them are Silver, inherently splitting the team of Riders (Imaginators? Imagineers? Disney Adults?) in half. It implies simply that the goals of all the Riders don't align, that perhaps they're in a battle.

The Character Selection is also brought to mind. I imagine it's based on multiple factors, like popularity in that area and inclusion of specific brands... but that doesn't stop them being weird. Including specific representatives for Marvel, Lucasfilms and Pixar absolutely make sense - the choice of Woody is textbook. Iron Man equally makes sense, but the design has him look (personally) more like Lightning McQueen, which may just be a flaw of similar colour schemes.

But Grogu? Ya coulda picked anyone from Star Wars and... I get that The Mandalorian is probably the best received in pop culture... but the implications that he's getting his powers from a space baby is quite funny.

NOTE: The specific split of teams is Gold Keys belong to Mickey, Minnie, Simba, Woody and Iron Man - Silver Keys belong to Snow White, Moana, Tiana, Elsa and Grogu.

They also have built in power-up modes, specifically "Full Max" which seems to grant a power boost based on related characters - Mickey's Full Max gets help from Donald, Goofy and Pluto, meanwhile Simba has Timon and Pumbaa for example. But in your typical Tokusatsu, if your power-up involves other iconography, that tends to involve beating monsters. Are the monsters for "Imagination Belt" other Disney characters? Were Donald and Goofy evil beasts that had to be defeated? Did Woody have to beat Buzz Lightyear and the other Toys-Turned-Monsters? Minnie's Full Max is her with a cat, did Minnie Mouse have to fight a CAT?!

But onto the Lore Implications...

There's easily enough here to build an insane fanfiction, as you're about to see, but this does continue a point that I really appreciate about toys - kids, collectibles, whatever you want. You can tell your own story and it's not even difficult. Everyone has inherent creativity and, given a small amount of time, you can make any story out of any objects.

Case in point...

"Imagination Belt", to me, feels like Ryuki or Geats - it is a Rider War (Disney Adult War) where these two factions of "heroes" are fighting. It's probably against each other, Gold vs Silver, but you can imagine there are other monsters in between as your usual plot hooks.

The "Riders" of this world likely have their powers from raw imagination - passion for something that manifests in the Keys, giving them power in return. If the imagination becomes twisted.

Based on appearances, the Iron Man and Grogu Riders probably are leading both teams, the conflict started by the both of them and spiraling from there. Mickey is the obvious protagonist, Grogu looks like he'd make a good rival to keep the protagonist moving forward.

And there may be only ten official keys but Disney is an all-consuming black hole of creativity. There could be a lot more and you know it.

[eclipseaotters]

Taehyung’s Disappointing IG Post

(Nope, not his IG story.)

I wanna cry so freaking bad you have no idea. It’s been a happy couple of days for me, actually. Before today, I’d been anticipating that my next post would be right after a big MUSE achievement or once Are You Sure?! has been released, because the emotions would be all over the place. And I only, ONLY post when I really feel the need to express myself.

Today is one of those days, because Taehyung just HAD TO post a McDonald’s photo on his feed. I am truly so disappointed, it’s awful.

It hurts a whole lot more because I’ve been defending him a whole lot more in the past year. He’s my bias wrecker, he’s next to Jimin for me. I’m on here for Jikook, and I love Jungkook with all my heart, but I resonate with Taehyung’s personality more. I absolutely love that he’s shameless, unapologetic and deliberate, and at times, petty. I see why I love Jimin and him the most. He’s deliberate, which is why the post hurts a lot more.

He does everything with intention. So when fans jumped to his defense, saying he probably only posted the photo because it was a significantly small fries packet in his iconically large hand, I can’t fully commit to it. The photo series could work just as well without that photo. In fact, it would be much more cohesive. It was so out of place.

Fans argue that it was from a trip in 2022, might’ve been earlier. And he just decided to post it now. So okay, he consumed McD way before the boycott was encouraged. Alright. But doesn’t THAT make it even worse? Years passed and he decides to post that photo now, when he’s surely, surely been online and has surely seen the calls for boycott. Because I, for a fact, don’t believe he hasn’t heard about the biggest fastfood boycott for Palestine when it’s been 8, 9 months. When even other idols have tried their absolute best to discreetly show support for Palestine at this point.

And I know I might sound selective for not feeling the same way when Jin was at the Olympics and Jimin and Jungkook’s show is to be released on Disney+. But this one really hits different because it’s done so personally, in his own account, unprompted. No ambassadorship, no contract that binds him—just really out of his own volition. What is up with that?

God, I’d love to grasp at the idea that he might just be ignorant or uneducated. That would still be bad given the current situation, but I’d take that over him being aware and insensitive. Here I am calling out those other idols blatantly showing their Starbucks drinks in this climate, and then all of a sudden I wake up to one of the people I looked up to posting it on his personal account.

Honestly, this day would’ve been easier if it was just about his Hawaii story. I’ve seen people who were pissed at it. Understandably so, because again, I also think he does everything deliberately, and I get how that would not be received well. But that’s something I would laugh at, even roll my eyes at. That’s on-brand and so him and I still say this with fondness. He riles people up as a hobby. Jimin and Jungkook are miles away from the social media hate we’re worried about and are in their own bubble in the military—they don’t care. Jimin just released an album and left a very sweet message for ARMYs on Weverse, and dashed off. Their travel show is about to be released. They’re not chronically online because they’re never bored—they’re together! So I don’t care that Taehyung’s being cheeky again.

However, claiming that Taehyung was deliberate about his story BUT not deliberate about his McD photo doesn’t make sense. That wouldn’t be consistent. So I can’t defend him on that one. I want him to take accountability for that one. It’s horrible. It’s weird. It’s awful.

Support our Palestinian ARMYs:

[makuta5200]

Whose cooler the horned king or baron dark?

Baron Dark is undoubtedly funnier, but the Horned King is simply iconic amd one Disney's darkest creations! Plus, I've knpwn him longer, so there's some nostalgia bias lol. Gotta give it to him!

[foodandfolklore]

The History and Evolution of Goldilocks

I made a post a bit back sharing the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. But instead of the young Goldilocks, it was an old woman. I found the switch funny and shared the story. But another user pointed out, that's actually the original story by Robert Southey (The Person credited with creating Goldilocks and the Three Bears) and I checked my own copy and- they were right! I had completely miss remembered. You can check out the post and comment here. But that got me thinking....If Robert Southey didn't create the character Goldilocks; who did?

So I did a little digging.

First of all, I know Robert Southey didn't create this iconic story. It was likely a folk tale that had been told for many generations, and he was the first to write and publish the story. In fact, we can confirm this is not his original story because we have another book with the same story created before his publication. Southey Published his in 1837. But in 1831, a woman named Eleanor Mure made her own version of the story with hand painted illustrations as a gift for her Nephew. The nephew, Horace Broke, kept the book in his personal library for his entire life. When he died, his books were brought to Toronto Canada, and you can find this hand made gift in the Toronto Museum.

It was the same story as Robert Southey's, give or take some wording. Three civilized bears have their home invaded by an old woman while away. Though instead of running away, I think she is eaten in the end. So both versions have an old lady. Goldilocks is not an old lady.

Joseph Cundall is credited with being the first to write the iconic intruder as a young girl instead of an old woman. She has a more naïve, wide eyed demeanor vs the typical grouchy and crusty old woman. His apparent reasoning for this was because there were just too many stories with old women. So he wanted to give the story a fresh take.

But we're starting to build the character Goldilocks. The trope of a young child stuck. Re-tellings of the story had a young girl burglar; and there was a cultural bias toward youth/innocence and blond hair at the time. (It's also probably partly why so many early Disney Characters are blonde) So the young girl was often described to have golden blonde hair.

But a name wasn't always used in the story. If it was, she was called things like "Little Golden Hair"; probably due to the story of little red ridding hood. But nothing consistently stuck. At lest, not until 1904 when author Flora Annie Steel wrote her book 'English Fairy Tales'. In it, she tells the story of the three bears, and gives the little girl her iconic name: Goldilocks.

From there, the name stuck. It was easy to say, Identifiable to the character, and uniquely hers.

[thevampirelibrary]

Book Ramblings and Review of:

A Whole New World: A Twisted Tale by Liz Braswell

As I read this book, I asked myself multiple times the same question: Is it better to read this book having watched the animated Disney film Aladdin or go into it with new eyes and a fresh mind? Achieving the latter may be hard to begin with. Aladdin is a Disney staple made during its great Renaissance animation period. Avoiding it would be an incredible feat. Not to mention the ties it has to the timeless and treasured One Thousand and One Nights (though Disney’s Aladdin is quite a departure from the iconic tale). Returning to my initial question, the reason why I ask this is largely due to the strong nostalgia I have with the movie. In the midst of zombie apocalypses and heinous murders, all I can see are the bright and colorful cartoon characters I have grown so awfully fond of. Is it possible to see characters like these in such a wildly twisted tale?

Being the first novel in a large series of standalones, I feel A Whole New World: A Twisted Tale by Liz Braswell had high expectations to meet. From its conception, there was already a large readerbase of older Disney fans who had grown up with Aladdin and were ready to see how the story could be changed with a mature flair. On the very cover, the reader is told right away what the twist will be: “What if Aladdin had never found the lamp?”. (Perhaps a better tagline would be, “What if Jafar made his wishes first?” since Aladdin actually does find the lamp in the Cave of Wonders, but I suppose powerful words like “never” are much more catchy.) Something about having this tagline right on the cover feels almost like something I would find in a fanfiction summary. This is not inherently bad though and, technically, this book is a kind of fanfiction.

Concerning the story this twisted tale wishes to tell: Initially, you may be shocked to see just how similar the book is to the film in the first dozens of pages; sometimes right to exact words of dialogue. I can understand why some may find it garish to have the movie play out in written form, but I believe it serves to cement that this is Disney’s Aladdin. For that reason, it gave me a false sense of security for what was to come. I shan’t list too many spoilers because part of the appeal of this novel comes from the shock value it provides, but I was rather surprised by how suddenly violent some parts of the novel got, and not because it was extreme, but because I had trouble imagining these beloved cartoon characters performing or witnessing such deeds. A part of me wished I had no preconceptions about the characters, because they were extremely hard to get rid of.

Speaking of the characters, perhaps this is where I’ll be a little too critical. Afterall, everyone views characters in different ways and may deem to write them in different ways as a result. I may definitely show a bias as to how I wished characters were written. Starting with the main character I think was the best written: Aladdin. I love the movie Aladdin, but if there is one thing I didn’t like about the titular character’s personality, it would be his “fake it till you make it” mentality that he displays in front of the people that he wants the most trust out of. Since Aladdin never got to use the lamp in A Whole New World, he never became a prince, and thus never had to hide behind some elaborate façade. Instead, we get to really focus on his genuine character as a guy who has lofty dreams and helps those who are in worse situations than himself even in the face of danger. This guy has friends that go beyond everyone’s favorite monkey, Abu, and these friends play an integral role in the story. One of my favorite pieces of character complexity that Liz adds to Aladdin is his relationship with his deceased mother. This is a moment in which I think experiencing the movie Aladdin is a wonderful thing to do before diving into this book. I believe it is mentioned in the third Aladdin film just how close he was to his mother and how she showed him kindness in a cruel world, but I clearly remember seeing deleted scenes on my old Aladdin VHS in which the connection between Aladdin and his mother was meant to be even stronger. I believe that inserting these nods to the trilogy serve as a pleasant reward for Disney fans. Aladdin’s father is also mentioned briefly in the same way as he is described in the third film, but is never shown. It makes me wonder, however, how the story could evolve if he did make an appearance with all the “baggage” the third film brings. Just that notion shows how great of a character Aladdin is in this book: For a novel all about “what ifs”, I should be asking more “what ifs” based on my preconceived Disney knowledge. 

Going to a character I wish had more backstory is Jafar. Now, compared to the film Aladdin, he definitely had more complexities going on, and a rough childhood filled with a lack of love and societal disparity was hinted at. I believe, however, that there could have been more since, even though Jasmine and Aladdin seem like the main character, this feels like his book. Perhaps it would’ve been too much, but I would’ve enjoyed a throwback scene or dialogue on Jafar’s past. What specific events led him to gain such hatred and could he mirror those events with his newfound power? Did he have any dreams and aspirations that were dashed away? I, for one, imagine that he would’ve wanted to become a scholar of sorts with his fascination on ancient tomes and history. I feel like expanding on this could be done without making him too sympathetic, and instead show the reader exact moments in which his mind became twisted in irreversible ways when he was younger.

Lastly, I wish to address the character I wanted to be written differently. Charming, magical, and blue, I am talking about the Genie. It’s difficult to write a character that was meant to be and seen as pure comedy (and even a comfort character to fans) in a story where acts of villainy reign supreme, but I felt like the Genie ended up being more sassy and blunt in ways that felt like too far of a departure from his canonized self. I think he suffers most in his dialogue. There were several times I read bits of his dialogue and went “He wouldn’t say that”. For one chapter, he begins to make quips referencing a modern future which is in tune to what the Genie would do, but he says them in this chapter too quickly and this factor of his humor is not shown again. It felt awkward, as if there was a checklist of types of comedy the Genie had to cover in the novel. (Also, thinking that Jasmine and her father were a couple without knowing any context initially was rather weird and not funny at all.) While perhaps he cannot be saying happy-go-lucky and silly quips all the time, I think there could have been more of a focus on his unexplainable actions via magic. Afterall, that aspect of himself is something he values a lot, so showing him indulging in it more in moments where he wasn’t commanded to do so could have strengthened his own wants and desires.

In conclusion, would this book be better enjoyed by a Disney fan knowledgeable about Aladdin or one who is not? I believe that you need to know the story to really appreciate it at the end of the day. The reader is expected to know even a little bit about the characters and story lest it seem too underdeveloped. I’d go into A Whole New World as a perspective that plays with the characters that you all know and love in somewhat of a character study. I recommend coming out of this book with your own “what ifs” to consider and delve into your mindscape. As I stated, this is the first book in a long series of standalones. Something you should know about my memories of Jafar: My favorite scenes featuring him were in the animated series of Hercules’ crossover episode. I am just a fan of comedy, what can I say? The most important piece to get out of this information is that I absolutely love Disney’s Hercules. It is my favorite Disney film and Go The Distance: A Twisted Tale is very tempting to me. Mayhaps our paths will cross someday…

I am participating in the 13 Moons Reading Challenge! This book fulfills the prompt: Worm Moon - Read a book in a series with more than 5 books. There are currently 13 books in this series!

[doctortwhohiddles]

I guess Stupid Season is back in full force in sewage corner.

Patty's "opinion" is based on clickbait, unfounded rumors and her massive confirmation bias. Disney is not going to use clickbait sites to tell Ben to ditch his wife. Because it would be illegal for them to do so. The Fixer didn't die, the troll just got tired of Patty. She was dumb enough to show the DMs he sent her. No one with an IQ over 60 would have taken him seriously.

Then of course, there's Mstoxictea who wrote a rant worthy of Trump.

Geez, I wonder why anyone would make reference to a pop culture icon 🤔. It's not like it never happens 🙄. Mstoxictea is grasping at invisible straws. If she thinks the Book of Clarence is an insult to Christianity, I wonder what she would make of The Life of Brian. Also, all of Ben's fans know he's still very much married to Sophie. I can't wait to see the both of them on the Red Carpet for TEWSF. I've spared you Mstoxictea idiotic conspiracy theory about the colour blue. It'll only give you a headache.

Of course, Aeltri had to throw in her MK Ultra crap:

The Muppets are used for programming? Is there anything that isn't MK Ultra?

[a-couple-of-notes]

Too Many Words on Mean Girls the Musical

The discovery of Mean Girls (2024) has sent me into a genuine tailspin, y'all. The adaptation nerd in me is intrigued and screaming. The younger version of myself for whom Mean Girls on Broadway acted as a gateway to musical theater is just screaming. The film school graduate is confused???

I think I'd much rather gush over why the original stage show, despite its flaws, does work--it's generally more fun for me to dissect a thing that I love rather than something I dislike--but the fact is, I am STILL trying to figure out what the hell I actually think about the 2024 movie. I guess this is my flailing, word-vomit style attempt to do so.

Okay, some context: I have watched all three versions in their entirety. I think the 2004 movie is very well-done and absolutely deserves its status as a cultural icon, but I've always connected more with the original Mean Girls musical, which ran on Broadway from 2018-2020. It was one of the first musicals I ever got into, one of the first cast albums I ever bought with my own money, and though over time I came to recognize many of its flaws (the lyrics can be hokey, I wish they'd threaded in Cady's stars motifs better, there's an argument a bajillion people have already made about the girls not being mean enough, etc.), Broadway!MG was always going to hold the peak Mean Girls place in my heart.

But I'm also an adaptation nerd, and I was fully aware of my bias going into the 2024 musical movie. I tried to keep an open a mind as possible, even looking forward to changes and what they might do with new character interpretations or space from cut songs. Maybe I didn't do a good enough job keeping that open mind, because I'm seeing a lot of people who liked the musical saying that this was an okay adaptation. I just. I don't know what they watched. I don't know what I watched.

In roughly chronological (read: increasingly ????) order, a list of bullet points:

I understand the motive behind replacing "It Roars"--not because I think "It Roars" is a weak song, though. I think "It Roars" is actually quite good, despite some debatably rough lyrics; it neatly sets up Cady's excitable energy ("I've got new things to try / like high school, and skateboards, and rapping / and Starbucks venti chai"), her roots in Africa (the drumbeat musical sound, which will recur through Cady's songs), and her naiveté ("Hi teens!"). The transition from African drumbeats/Disney princess to pop/rock as the percussion and guitar kick in really effectively communicates the transition from Cady's world to the world of Western high school. Most importantly, though, "It Roars" introduces us to Cady's fundamental want and a big theme of the show: friendship and belonging. ("They all want to be included like me / so eventually, I'll win!")

But 2024!Cady is a different character, and the movie seems to want to explore different themes (maybe??). So it makes sense that they would need a different opening number, because they're establishing different things. 2024!Cady is quieter, but much more unhappy in Africa; her main want is to live life freely and without regret. Fair enough! That works well with how she'll be challenged in the story, wanting to try living like the Plastics but being forced to hold back in the process. I can get behind that.

HOWEVER. Cady's signature sound is gone, as are pretty much all the signature styles, leaving the musical language of the film much weaker. By replacing "It Roars" but leaving other songs the same ("Apex Predator" and "I See Stars," mostly), they muddy the themes and metaphors threaded throughout. And crucially, they frame "What Ifs" and "Stupid with Love" as dream sequences that get cut off by the Real World of high school.

This is...certainly a decision. It sets up expectations about how the music works in this world that they can't follow through on--there are scenes Cady doesn't see, and therefore cannot dream-musicalize. So when normal people start singing outside Cady's perspective, it's so jarring, because this high school has not been established as a Musical World. (Compounded by the ensemble and the instrumentation sounding thin, and Cady's performance being like it is.)

The establishing of the music as Cady's dream sequences also does a disservice to the real feeling of high school. High school is big and dramatic and the emotions you feel are larger than life. To delineate it so firmly, to have it only be so big and campy in Cady's head, like a sort of "oh, look at that weirdo, thinking that high school is like a musical" feels, to me, so much less genuine.

It sort of felt like if they could have gotten away with playing all the musical numbers as insert songs over the actual action, they would have. They tried so hard.

I think the orchestrations in general are bad and afraid to be a musical. And I don't get people who say that "they had to tone it down for the screen, because you don't have to go as big on screen." I mean, I do, but there is precedent for doing big, loud, ensemble-heavy numbers on screen and it working. Look at The Prom movie, or Hairspray. Look at freaking High School Musical. They could have done it, and it wouldn't have broken the cinema screen or anything.

I love Renee Rapp, I do. But Cady is the protagonist of the story for a reason (just like Emma was the protagonist of The Prom for a reason, and look, the same thing happened there.) Broadway!MG worked because, under all of Regina and Damian's show-stopping numbers, Cady was there as the emotional backbone of the show. You can have your "Stop"s and your "World Burn"s because you have "More is Better" or the reprise of "Fearless" that is tragically missing from the OBC. I always had the sense in the show that everything would eventually feed into Cady's arc; she would learn something from the number (or refuse to), and/or whatever happened through the song would affect her behavior going forward. The sense I get from 2024!Cady is that she exists to be swallowed up by Renee Rapp, which, good for her, but it can't support the narrative.

In general, they've just gutted a lot of Cady's internality by cutting her songs (and her musical asides! Justice for the musical asides!), leading to this lack of agency/accountability/character. Which I find dishearteningly funny, given that the Broadway cast have talked about how this was an issue the creative team was aware of in the original stage show, and how hard they worked to fix it.

I disagree with the notion that the dialogue scenes could replace the impact of these songs. I just don't see it. Once you add musical numbers, you're adding emphasis--here's the big emotional moments I want you to pay attention to. And the emotion dips back down, so we talk--and here's another big emotion, so music, pay attention. The 2024 movie has told us what it considers important: the fun numbers and the Plastics, mostly Regina. And that completely kneecaps the core narrative arc (as well as the pacing, because we're speeding through in weird places before stopping down for a full Regina song).

I just. I really don't know why (narratively--I understand the meta-reasons and they're bad) they cut "More is Better." I'm not joking when I say the movie would have been significantly better with it in. It would have improved the pacing, at least in a musical sense, because going straight from "Revenge Party" to "Someone Gets Hurt (Reprise)" left a surprisingly noticeable gap that made me wonder if they'd forgotten what they were adapting. It would have given Cady a little more voice, and it would have fit really well thematically with what should have been the arc of 2024!Cady--living without holding back, living sincerely. (Also, since Aaron is literally the only person this Cady cares about, that reality check would have packed an even greater wallop.)

I will give credit to the scene with Cady crying as her mom comforts her. That was a good scene.

I was glad they reprised "What Ifs" briefly in the Mathletes competition, although I do miss "Do This Thing," especially because I think it would have worked with 2024!Cady's character arc.

Also, I do sort of get putting "Stupid with Love" over the Mathletes/getting ready for prom, but why the "calcu-lust" portion of the song? And why is it the only song to depart from the musical style this movie is determined to stick to (I'm not counting Damian's iCarly rendition, great as it is--that's meant to be a joke.)

"I See Stars." Okay. Unironically, I love this song as the ending of the Broadway show. I do. You can fight me on it. In Broadway!MG, Cady's driving want is the need to belong, the need for friends; "I See Stars" is her reaching out to the other students (and the audience) and "including" everyone, finally achieving that sense of belonging and friendship by being kind to everyone. The ensemble all coming in and saying "We're all stars," when at the beginning they are so opposed to her ("Just ignore her!") or focused on Regina warms my heart every time. It so earnestly resolves the thematic through line (and also I love Erika's voice).

HOWEVER, it does not work in the 2024 movie. 2024!Cady's desire has never been about friends or belonging. Again, she wants to be herself and live without regrets. I could buy that she would sing an inspirational finale a la "I'd Rather Be Me" or a rousing reprise of "What Ifs" to say something like "we can all do what we want AND be kind to each other." But the thematic throughline to "I See Stars" is much thinner--and the ensemble doesn't even sing together! It defeats the original power of the songs and makes it one more insert song.

I guess what confuses me about this movie the most is that the two takes I've seen are "they changed everything about the arrangements, now it sucks" and "must a movie be good? I enjoy the 2024 movie for what is is." I generally dislike the arrangements, yes, but I think changes to a source material can be interesting and worthwhile, and honestly, the musical arrangements/production is only one of many problems I had with the movie.

And on the other hand, I think I'm frustrated because I wish I could enjoy the 2024 movie for what it is. After all, I enjoy Broadway!MG for what it is, calcu-lust and all.

But maybe that's why--Broadway!MG knows what it is, and genuinely, goofily revels in it. Mean Girls (2024) is a wild mishmash of pop music and TikToks playing over Renee Rapp and the amalgamation of three different scripts of Mean Girls, filmed by a camera that won't stop spinning. That is to say, I don't think Mean Girls (2024) has any more of an idea what it is than I do.

[lieutenant-amuel]

you wrote once about your favorite Disney princesses. What are your thoughts on the Disney non princess? Or top 10 princes?

Thank you for the ask!

The term “Disney non-princesses” is too vast, so I’ll go with the princes :P

I’ll take the characters from the same movies the princesses are from (even if they’re not “princes” aka royal), excluding:

EoA, because I’m not even sure which characters to include. Probably Gabe and Mateo because they’re the main characters and around Elena’s age. But I won’t include them because they are not well-known outside their show and either way we all know Gabe is always my number one, so let’s make this top more interesting.

Moana and Raya and The Last Dragon, because those movies simply don’t have male characters who could be considered “princes” (I don’t have the heart to call Maui or the guys (Boun and Tong) from Raya’s gang princes, sorry and I barely remember those characters because I’m not a big fan of the movies).

Before we begin, I want to note that this top is about MY favourite princes, not the best ones, and is supposed to reflect MY opinion, not yours. If you disagree, make your own post and don’t argue with me, trying to change my mind, because this kind of conversations is simply pointless. Anyway, I’ll try to express my opinion as politely as possible so I won’t offend anyone.

And now let’s get started!

11. The Prince (Prince Florian/Ferdinand)

I have nothing to say about him, besides he’s romantic and sweet. His role in the movie is insignificant, he appears only in two scenes and doesn’t even have speaking parts, I think?

I believe he could have a bigger impact on me if I loved the movie more, because my own bias plays a big role in making this top, but sadly he’s just bland for me.

10. Kristoff

Please, don’t bite me.

Despite the fact Kristoff is basically a lot more round than most of the characters I put higher, I still don’t have much to say about him, because he’s simply not my type.

I absolutely love Anna, but it doesn’t make me care about Kristoff as much as about her. He’s kind, loyal, brave, and even has a backstory, but… there’s still something missing. I don’t have the heart to call him unintelligent or God forbid dumb, but he just seems superficial to me. This is kind of people I don’t really like in real life, so I suppose it makes its impact.

I’m really sorry to all Kristoff fans, because really, he’s a great character, but just not for me. I often prioritize character’s personality over their complexity (which is why I’m not a fan of Elsa or Esteban if we take EoA into account because it’s been my brand~ for a long time) and if I don’t like them as a person, I cannot care about them as a character, and Kristoff is this case.

9. The Beast (Prince Adam)

As much as I love Belle, I’m indifferent to the Beast. I know he kind of has a complex character arc as we see how he’s actually changing thanks to Belle’s influence, plus we know a little of him before he was turned into a beast, like the fact he loves books, which actually does add something to his character, but I just don’t think that much about him. He’s nice, and that’s all I can say.

8. Prince Charming (Prince Henry)

I’m not sure what to say about him. He and Snow White’s prince are basically the same as neither of them plays an important role in the movies. I put him higher than the Beast mostly because of the sequels where he gets more personality (and an iconic jumping out of the window scene) that makes him a lot more enjoyable and fun to watch, even though he’s not really the character type I like.

7. Eric

Same as for the Beast. I strongly disagree with people who call Eric dumb or bland, but the fact I don’t insult him doesn’t mean he’s a character I often think about. I’m indifferent.

I love his passion for the sea, it makes him curious and adventurous, and I think it’s actually super interesting that despite being a prince, he has a down-to-earth hobby and is nice to his crew (and he has a super cool dog).

I heard Eric got “more personality” in the remake but I haven’t watched it yet so I cannot put my two cents in. Anyway, this top is about animated princes, so I wouldn’t put him higher either way. But the movie would certainly help me to look deeper into his character.

6. Phillip

Unexpected? Well, as I said, I’m biased. Sleeping Beauty is my favourite old Disney movie, Aurora was my favourite Disney princess as a kid and so it automatically made me love her man, too. He’s charming and brave as he’s actually rescuing Aurora, and as much as this is basically the only thing I can say about him, I still put him that high because he has a special place in my heart.

But you know, if we’re unnecessarily overanalyzing, Phillip is also kind of a rebel since when he fell in love with Aurora without knowing it was her, he refused to follow the betrothal and wanted to marry the girl he actually loved, so yeah, that’s nice. And he has a cool horse and a fun dynamic with his father.

5. Naveen

And we’re finally getting to the characters that I actually care about and even can say something beyond “he’s nice.”

I love Naveen! He’s energetic and optimistic, and I honestly do love characters like him. He’s super fun and has a fantastic arc, and I love his passion for music. As in Eric’s case, that’s great that he has a hobby and treats common people nicely despite being a prince.

Really, I just love characters with a radiant personality.

4. John Smith

I thought for a long time whether I should put John Smith or Naveen higher, because I like them pretty equally, but eventually John Smith won mostly because he’s deeper and I have more to say about him.

John Smith is great! He’s curious and adventurous, which I already said about Eric, but he’s a lot more dynamic and charming, and it makes him more enjoyable to me (his part in Mine, Mine, Mine is fantastic). He’s also decent, brave, loyal, caring, and what’s also important open-minded. I love characters who use to have wrong beliefs but learn eventually that they’re wrong. I think if I had rewatched Pocahontas before making this post, I’d say a lot more about him.

3. Eugene

My Top-3!

Eugene must be one of the most loved Disney male characters, and that’s well deserved! He’s charming and witty, brave and resourceful, has a great backstory that actually makes people care about him and it leads him to have a fantastic arc.

I really don’t know what else to say about him, he’s simply an amazing round character with a unique personality, and I really love him a lot.

I’m not taking Tangled the Series Eugene into account, because I sincerely don’t like how he’s portrayed there. They make a very big emphasis on his narcissism, especially in season 1, making him a comedy relief character, whereas in the movie it isn’t even such a big deal. Not to mention his absolutely terrible arc of being the prince of the Dark Kingdom. It completely erases his backstory in the movie and makes his story of being an orphan a lot less impactful for me.

2. Shang

Another bias, because, as you might have noticed, Mulan is my most favourite Disney movie. Just of all time.

To be serious, Shang is a perfect character for me. He’s brave, smart, takes his responsibilities seriously. He might be blunt and tough on the surface, but he’s also decent, respects his soldiers, wants his father to be proud of him, and always strives to do the right thing even if it’s contrary to his duties (I do have a type, don’t I)

and oh my goodness his song is the fire

He’s perfect, and I love him <3

1. Aladdin

That’s my boy!

Aladdin is my second favourite Disney movie, and Aladdin himself is definitely one of the reasons why.

He’s incredibly brave, decent, kind and selfless without being too soft as he’s also witty and resourceful. He also has many insecurities that force him to make wrong decisions, but he’s learnt from each one, and the general concept of his character being “the diamond in the rough” is really the main reason why I love him.

Aladdin is so layered and dynamic, and he will always be special to me.

Bonus: Gabe

ALRIGHT I’VE CHANGED MY MIND I will include Gabe, because it gives me an opportunity to finally ramble about my best man again and I cannot waste it.

I don’t even know where to start with.

I love his personality. He’s brave, honest, responsible, kind, selfless, protective, loving, extremely loyal and hard-working.

I love his story and how much he’s grown on me.

I love so many character tropes he embodies, and how some of the important aspects of his character resonate with me, which makes him special to me on a personal level.

He’s the character who unleashed my creativity as I created so much content of him and even built my own little universe that revolves around him and that I love to death.

He’s the only character on this list that I think about literally every day, and he will always be special to me because of the impact he’s made on me.

I love Gabe, and he’s placed out of this top, because he’s incomparable <3

***

Thank you again for the ask! I hope I wasn’t too mean akjsnfkk.

[chillwildwave]

Hello, this is my first post here on Tumblr: to celebrate, I recreated the iconic 4*Town in Gacha Club since Turning Red is my all time favourite Pixar movie!

I’ve been listening to their music non-stop even before watching the film to the point where I nearly knew all the lyrics to 2 of their songs, one of them being “U Know What’s Up” which is my favourite song from them for so many reasons: from the vibe to the vocals, it was enough for me to hum it in my head for days to come.

And also, my bias is Robaire just because he shares a couple of traits with me: we both love to sing and dance while also speaking a bit of French (although I’m still practicing!) and I also think that he is very handsome while also having an amazing voice… I mean that note at the ritual explains a lot!

Finally, on this blog, to share my aspirations of animation and writing as well as my love for 4*Town and Disney, I’ll be posting some stories that I’m planning on for my debut novel which will be out next year, I’ll also be writing some AUs and Headcanons on 4*Town to share my love for the fandom since it is slowly being a bit empty.

Hopefully you’ve taken something from this post of what to expect and thank you for reading!

P.S: this is my first post, so it would be nice of you guys to take any constructive criticism to make me improve my posts and share your thoughts about my upcoming projects to come!

[rom-e-o]

So an amazing human (Memento Mori) on YT created this amazing video of “Later Never Comes” in 35 languages! Netflix U.S. has the og English as well as Spanish, Mandarin, French and German, and I’d heard the Japanese. Thai, Italian and Czech versions thanks to other gracious uploaders. It’s a 2.5-PLUS video. Each version begins with the conversation’s prelude with Marley and goes until Isabel’s “Goodbye, Ebenezer.” So yes, each language gets its own full version, including conversational bits! It’s such a treat for the ears!

I mostly just wanted to share because, um, WOW. This is so awesome? Like seriously??? I love this!

However, if you want some very bias notes and insights, they’re under the cut! (Also, all singers are listed in the video’s description!)

Fav Ebenezers:

English - It’s superb, 10000/10. Perfect.

Hungarian (also my fav Marley and Isabel!) - an almost operatic Scrooge, and his voice when saying “No! There is no later” sounds so sad and broken, almost aggressive and mad. So goood.

Catalan - His “GOODBYE” was so immaculate and high that I thought Isabel had stolen the note first. Nope. Like, I cannot stress how immaculate his belts were in this song. Man sang like his rent was due.

French - His voice is just glorious. The “Prends sa maaaaaaaaain” had me clutching my chest.

Danish/Dutch - I COULDN’T CHOOSE.

-Fav Isabels

Hungarian - Very operatic as well! Reminds me of the Hungarian Disney movies I watches as a kid - mainly “Sleeping Beauty”! I cried listening to her, ngl. 

Polish - SO PERFECT. SHE SOUNDS URGENT YET SAD. It’s perfect??? I mean all the versions are perfect, but this one especially.

Dutch - Sweet when she’s talking and powerful/emotional when singing. 

French - super powerful voice that also makes me weepy with joy.

English - Amazing. Iconic. Perfection.

Ukranian - Seriously angelic.  

-Fav duets

Catalan

French

English

Hungarian

Danish

[musicallad]

Some non-cannon ships for Violetta. I really enjoy non-cannon ships and as a confirmed member of the LGBT+ Mafia I have a bias for queer ships. Cami is a queer icon who can have chemistry with literally any woman. This show was limited by Disney’s 2012 standards of what was child-friendly but I’ll stop now before I start ranting lol

[avalynnaihara]

Oh my icon, yeah, that's my bias Lee Siyeon from Dreamcatcher a kpop girl group. She is the most gorgeous woman, could kill you with just her gaze, bold, ferocious, a wolf (on-stage) and cute, clumsy, timid, a totally weird little guy (off-stage).

A brilliant singer who is acknowledged by the whole kpop industry as one of the most talented vocalist of 3rd gen (check out her speechless cover, even disney has praised her for her singing)

Just all of the members of Dreamcatcher are amazing and talented. I love them all so much. They are all silly little dorks who are not afraid to show you their wild sides (especially Sua). All of them are so cute and they love insomnias (fandom name) so much.

I would recommend listening to their songs. Their title tracks has rock influence in them and they are all bangers!!! And if you are not a fan of rock music their B-sides has a variety of different genres of music.

Just listen to them once you would not be disappointed.😄😄

hello I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. The anonymity of tumblr means that I associate my idea/image of you with your icon and sometimes I look at people’s icons and I’m like ‘hmmm….what is that and why?’ 

so pls reblog this and comment in the tags the meaning behind your icon and why you chose it. this is a social experiment. do it for science pls.