#disney soul review

[karlamon]

After re-watching Pixar's Soul on the big screen, I liked it much more on my second try. This is such a smart and philosophical way to tackle the concept of life, truly among Pixar's finest. I'm so glad I gave it another chance!

My ★★★★★ review of Soul (2020) on Letterboxd:

[reflectivefilms]

Soul (2022) - Pete Docter

“Your spark isn’t your soul’s purpose.”

Is life really all about finding our purpose? When we’re kids, we’re taught to dream big, discover our passion and hence, ourselves. But when we don’t find that thing we want to do for the “rest of our lives”, we can feel like a failure.

Soul is a journey of this unborn soul called 22 who doesn’t want to live. But by chance, she’s able to travel to Earth and experience life. She wasn’t fascinated by the “purposes” we think like playing music, teaching or barbering. Instead, she enjoyed eating, walking and feeling a cool breeze.

A spark is not a life-defining purpose. It’s simply the little moments that make us happy we’re alive. 22 never needed to find her purpose to live because it’s living itself that is the purpose.

[roguerebels]

The High Republic: Tales of Light and Life Review!

Starlight Beacon has fallen. The Night of Sorrow has passed. But what comes next? Check out Sal's Review of #TheHighRepublic: Tales of Light and Life! #StarWarsBooks

“Nothing in this galaxy is freely given.”Marda Ro Starlight Beacon has fallen. The Night of Sorrow has passed. But what comes next? What of our heroes? What of the enemies? Past present and future are all explored in this anthology. Tales of Light and Life contains nine stories (ten if you get that Barnes and Noble edition) following characters spanning all phases of The High Republic! Each…

[bdzonthareel]

The Little Mermaid (2023)

So Disney has gone overboard with these remakes, like we now have 3 different live action remakes of The Jungle Book (One is direct-to-video, but that’s beside the point.) I find myself, like many Disney fans constantly asking who asked for this and with them ranging from fine to God Awful! Which brings us to the subject of yet another (controversial) live action remake, The Little Mermaid.

You know the story, Mermaid longs to experience the world of the surface and learn more about it, gives up her voice to become human, hijinks ensue. Then she gets her happy ending.

The story is mostly unchanged, but the biggest changes are in characterization and certain details.

There were a lot of progressive changes, and that’s one of the film’s biggest strengths; there was a huge emphasis on Caribbean Island culture, as opposed to *insert European country here* given the surface kingdom a lot more to do. I found myself conflicted over this choice but I also feel like this was a scenario where someone was going to be displeased no matter what, and for what it’s worth I’ll take this over the worst case scenario.

There were a couple of new songs that were provided by my candidate for the current hardest working man in show business, Lin Manuel Miranda. The first being a song for Prince Eric, which left no impression on me; and ScuttleBug which feels undoubtedly like one of songs, from the delivery to the wordplay.

Composer Alan Menken returns to provide an impressive score for this remake, even if the score itself is a remake.

The visuals are brilliant, at least on land, it’s like Director Rob Marshall had no interest in making the Mermaid part of The Little Mermaid visually appealing.

The cast was solid, object of controversy Halle Bailey has a decent acting resume and this is no exception; in spite of her performance fluctuating.

Daveed Diggs does a hilarious Jamaican accent as Sebastian, Awkafina and Jacob Tremblay were fine as Scuttle and Flounder respectively.

Melissa McCarthy managed to use her scenery chewing powers for good as Ursula, and her vocal training definitely paid off.

Javier Bardem gives a commanding performance as King Triton.

However Jonah Hauer-King, was forgettable.

As far as adaptations, The Little Mermaid was fine; nothing special kinda like hot pocket, filling but not necessary. I would definitely say it’s one of the best live action remakes, but the bar is insanely low.

I give The Little Mermaid a 3 out of 5.

[milliondollarbaby87]

Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch - Review

[quirkycatsfatstacks]

Review: Star Wars: The High Republic: The Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule

Series: Star Wars, The High Republic, Star Wars Disney Canon NovelAuthor: Charles SoulePublisher: Del ReyReleased: January 5, 2021Received: Own Goodreads | Star Wars Reviews Book Summary: It’s the golden era of the High Republic, where everyone works as one unit to try and create a better universe. Well, mostly everyone. Then something catastrophic happens. The death toll has the potential to…

[animaletras]

Trazendo para a Maratona do Oscar, o grande campeão, Soul, da disney e Pixar, um filme extremamente aclamado pela crítica, até porque não poderia deixar de ser, levando nome de grandes gênios, como na produção, com Dana Murry, vencedora do Oscar de 2018, por Lou e na direção com os também premiados Kemp Powers (Annie Award) e Pete Docter, por Divertidamente.

O filme oferece uma aventura pela vida, pelo pós-vida e pelo além-vida. Trazendo uma perspectiva do que a vida viria a ser, nos é apresentado Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx), um professor de música, que acaba de ser efetivado, mas se sente insatisfeito pela promoção. Joe acredita que para a sua vida ter sentido, ele precisaria tocar numa banda de jazz. É quando ele recebe a proposta do seu ex-aluno para tocar na banda de Dorethea Williams (Angela Bassett) como pianista. A notícia o eleva a um estado de alegria tão grande que ele não percebe os diversos riscos que uma pessoa corre ao andar pela agitada Nova York, e por isso, acaba sofrendo um acidente. Inconformado com o seu destino, ele acaba indo parar no além-vida, onde encontra 22 (Tina Fey), uma alma carismática que não encontra sentido para a existência humana, apesar de ter tido muitos professores famosos. Devido a uma confusão, Joe acaba sendo o seu professor e percebe no hall da vida que a sua vida é chata e tediosa. Com a missão de ensinar 22 qual o sentido da vida, ambos acabam vivendo uma série de situações cômicas e emocionantes que nos levam a refletir sobre o verdadeiro sentido da vida.

O filme nos mostra a importância de viver a vida a cada momento e com intensidade. E que o maior objetivo da vida é vivê-la, fazendo cada momento valer a pena.

O filme arrebatou dois prêmios Oscars: melhor filme de animação por Pete Docter e melhor trilha sonora por Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross e Jon Batiste. Além de prêmios como o BAFTA, Globo de Ouro e outros.

Apesar de todas as críticas positivas, fica o questionamento se Soul poderia ter ganhado o prêmio por fazer parte do monopólio da Disney, já que concorriam com ele filmes com mensagens, roteiros e construção de personagens até maiores.

[rookie-critic]

Lightyear (dir. Angus MacLane) - review by Rookie-Critic

Lightyear is a wholly unnecessary, but nevertheless entertaining spinoff of the Toy Story franchise. Listen, I hold Toy Stories 1-3 as an almost sacred thing. It is a perfect trilogy of excellently crafted animated films and to try and add to that is almost blasphemous. Pixar has now done it twice. I'm gonna be perfectly honest, I don't like Toy Story 4. No matter how I look at it I can't justify its existence. It treated major characters like punching bags and, in my opinion, spit in the face of everything Toy Story 3 did. Lightyear, while still not really having a justification for existing, at least manages to be harmless. The idea to market this as "the movie Andy saw in 1995 that made him love Buzz Lightyear" is genius, in a way; giving this movie a space within the Toy Story universe without meddling or screwing up anything that's already been established. It's funny, there are parts that are exciting, the characters work, it ticks all the boxes. Also, as cliché as the "comic relief animal sidekick" character has become in Disney movies, Sox the robot cat is, undoubtedly, the greatest character in the film and I would die for him without hesitation. He's just an incredibly hilarious and lovable character.

However, with all that working for it, this is a Pixar movie, and we have come to expect great stories and phenomenal emotional weight from them, and this movie doesn't really have either. It is a predictable, boiler-plate effort from the animation titan, and that's a bit of a letdown. It's not spectacular, and it didn't need to be made, but somehow it's still an incredibly enjoyable popcorn movie, which was probably what they were going for anyway.

Score: 7/10

Currently streaming on Disney+.

Okay, Disney, now please leave Toy Story alone (I know you won't).

[pandoraheadcanons]

Josh Izzo Q&A from today's Omaticon 2024 panel!

There will be new content supporting the franchise throughout the year

JimCam personally reviews every piece of outgoing lore/content

The lore books are being updated with running changes when vigilant fans point out mistakes in the text/lore

Spider was not the first human to be born Pandora, though there are only a few Pandora-born humans do to resource constraints. Spider was born about 4-5 months before the Battle for the Hallelujah Mountains

The inclusion of "Spider's Adoption" in Jake and Neteyam's song-cord's is CONCEPT ART, and not canon (seen in an Instagram post from Deborah L. Scott, costume designer)

Josh would love to one day cover the time of the First Songs

All moons are named after characters from Greek mythology, Pandora's closest moon is Cassandra

His favorite characters from A2 are Kiri and Ronal

Expect a new 24" Payakan plush and a breaching Payakan statue (with lights!) on Shop Disney!

Different clans have different Iknimaya rights, and getting a banshee is not always the end-all goal of different clans' coming-of-age rituals.

There is a ritual around an akula hunt

All the main family's banshees are still at the reefs, just chilling in the mangroves. This lead to a discussion surrounding a "Banshees playing poker" image based off the "Dogs Playing Poker" image

Some leaders obtain more "political" sway and influence through their actions and state of their clan, such as Tonowari being highly respected among the various reef clans

Still no official confirmation of Neytiri's banshee's name, though remember Zoe has a name for it that is used on set

The "feathers" we see are NOT feathers, and are actually....scales! They were picked for their aesthetic and cinematic design, and officially they are scales. Do with this what you will.

Aonung is the son of both Tonowari and Ronal, so that debate on how the line was said can be put to rest.

Josh knows the gender of Ronal's baby, but cannot share it.

The souls we see in the Tree of Souls and other places exist as a "static backup," as if they were in an archive in Eywa-net. Memory-reliance, and conversations hold no permanent state in the "mind" of the deceased. They "live" in memory moments, a mote of memory. So, every conversation will begin afresh, with the deceased oftentimes not being aware of their death. This will happen every time, and there is no permanence.

There are new comics in the works, expect 2 between now and A3. They may feature movie-related lore.

The old lore is not canon, and lore-rebuild is constantly on-going.

He would love a complete map of Pandora "one day"

There will be more live and interactive experiences coming

They (Disney/Lightstorm) sometimes reach out to companies, though companies will also reach out to them. Merch is carefully constructed.

Finally, when asked on his thoughts on the fandom he said that we are "the kindest, nicest, understanding, and gracious fandom."

[ifthesewings--couldfly]

My Long, Spoilery Review for Inside Out 2

Despite me having decided to wait for Inside Out 2 to drop on Disney Plus before seeing it, the quantity of clips circulating on social media made it absolutely impossible to stay spoiler-free until the next three months or so, and since critique and public alike seemed to really like this movie, I decided I wanted to see the whole thing before I got spoiled for good. I know I probably played the Big Mouse Game by doing so and I’m not happy about it, but from a storytelling standpoint, Inside Out 2 did deserve to be enjoyed as a whole.

‼️ATTENTION SPOILERS AHEAD‼️

The movie is as good as everyone makes it out to be. The new emotions didn’t feel like they came out of nowhere like I initially thought (except for Nostalgia, which I found forced and mildly annoying) and the new concepts, like Riley's Sense of Self, are brilliant. One of my favorite scenes was Joy visiting the place where the Sense of Self is kept along with Sadness. I liked how the topic of Anxiety was handled in a non-clichy way, and how she wasn’t made to be the villain, but in the end, she turned out to care about Riley just as much as Joy and the other emotions did. The only reason why she bottled them up was why she genuinely believed they were getting in her way of helping Riley. The pacing of the movie seems a little fast as first, but the idea of setting it during a three-days hockey camp is the perfect timeframe for the story they wanted to tell: a new situation, but still, not one that could have consequences in the “real world” if you get what I mean. I found it to be the perfect scenario to tell how things that might seem “the end of the world” to us, in the end are not actually that serious. In the end, this isn’t one of those movies that makes you say “I like the sequel better than the original” but rather “this continuation is so natural, it feels like first and second movie are two parts of a whole.” Pixar is building a way more solid franchise than anything Disney has done recently - I consider the two studios two separate entities - and if this level of quality is being kept, I actually wouldn’t mind an Inside Out 3.

Now, for the things I liked less.

The emotions were too “personified” if this makes sense. I didn’t like the fact that emotions can somehow feel emotions themselves (e.g. Anger stating that “He can’t always be angry”, or Joy stating that it’s hard for her to be positive all the time). I didn’t also like the fact that emotions can apparently have feelings for each other. I perceived an unsettling intention of pairing up Riley’s emotions from the creators of this movie. Sadness with Embarrassment, Joy with Anger, heck even Fear with Anxiety (“I can change her”? Really?) I don’t know what the creators were trying to do here. Non-canon ships are fine, they’re the soul of every fandom, but when they’re being fed to you by the creators themselves, it comes off as weird. Disgust simping over Lance Slashblade was a fun gag, but trying to imply the emotions could get together as couples was really not. And speaking of forced things, I feel the inclusion of mixed-technique animation to be somewhat forced and proof that both Disney and Pixar are falling behind in terms of technical innovation. At this point, it’s clear they they are no longer the standard for Western animation.

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5

[toptophat]

Top Hat's thoughts on the FNAF movie (Spoilers)

I thoroughly enjoyed it! Smiled throughout the whole thing

As a FNAF fan, seeing some key moments from the games as well as acknowledging the fandom (e.g Game theory's MatPat and The Living Tombstone's iconic song at the credits) made my jaw drop

FNAF veterans such as Dawko enjoyed it so that made me optimistic

The animatronics were replicated perfectly and the entire set for the restaurant is just too beautiful

Scenes such as the break-in, while not exactly scary, were still intense enough to keep me invested

Unpopular opinion - I kinda liked the pillow fort scene, it was cheesy but it could be seen as the animatronics trying to gain Abby's trust to lure her to be stuffed into a suit. Also I'm jealous, i wanna make a pillow fort with them 😭

And here's where I'll address (some of) the main critiques people gave to the movie (references: anything in the media that would link to this in a way)

"The movie wasn't scary at all, it should've been gory"

Yeah, I agree, even though I got shocked a couple of times (like the balloon boy gag) it wasn't really terrifying

But honestly, after watching countless "playthroughs" as a kid, you start to realise... The games were never that scary in the first place

To be honest, the only thing scary about it was actually some areas in the fandom (you know who you are..)

I'm aware that FNAF was never for kids, no matter how many elsagate vids were made on it. So it would make sense for it to have blood and gore. It definitely would've made scenes like the spring lock scene more traumatising to look back at

You know what else was expected to be more adult oriented? Cuphead's Netflix adaptation. While I understand that both of these beloved franchises could've been adapted to be more adult, it can also be noted that the Cuphead show is actually accepted by the fandom as while it did have a rocky start with S1, it showed that the writers were testing the waters to try something new, and by S2, they had a better idea of what they wanted, and a lot of people fell in love with it. While it would've definitely been cool to see more gore, it wouldn't improve the movie automatically

"The movie doesn't follow the original lore"

While, yes, it would've been cool to see all theories confirmed by Scott himself during the film, it's also good to remember this: they're called "adaptations" for a reason

Many popular franchises, when adapted to the big/small screen can experience changes in the known story and lore as a way to bring this fresh new start and perspective, they never aim to continue or tell the story again when it wasn't necessary in the first place (*cough cough* Lion King 2019). Last time I checked: Luigi wasn't the one who gets kidnapped by Bowser (SMB23), Cuphead never lost the right to his soul due to a carnival game (TCS), The Echidnas never had beef with freaking owls over the master emerald (The Sonic movies)

Let's be honest here, Scott may have made FNAF, but all the popular fan theories wrote the story, so everything is kinda messy. Maybe this was Scott's chance to rewrite everything, to start over and stray away from the messy lore that others made, MatPat seemed to be cool with it, he was even in the damn movie!

While, there have been times when repeating the same story makes it stale and repetitive (Disney), Changing important elements of the story (Also Disney) can make it unfaithful and pointless, so I understand that.

The changes that were made in this movie were interesting, making Vanessa, Afton's daughter could add more impact on the whole Vanny thing as she's been around this horrible man her whole life. Not making Mike, Abby and Garrett, Afton's children doesn't really deepen the personal connection and conflict between Mike and Afton so it'll be interesting to see how that one goes especially with Circus Baby now that Abby has no real connection to Afton other than that one encounter

Also I heard from one review that the movies take more inspiration from the books, but I don't have enough knowledge on the books to elaborate on that argument

Unless there's some weird twist, which is highly unlikely, I'd love to see how they develop these newly established dynamics if there are sequels being planned (pls make more, I need to see how this goes)

Besides, like I said, often, the first movies, seasons etc are there to experiment, it has the potential to improve in each new installment. For example, JJBA, it took until around parts 3-4 for Araki to have a better idea of what he wanted it to be.

Conclusion

That's about all I really have to say. I understand that many had high expectations going in and, who wouldn't? It shows we value ourselves and that we want to experience things that are worth our time. People are not obligated to love everything and don't have to agree with everything I said. I personally found the movie to be enjoyable and worth my time, and, while i know it lacked in some aspects, who knows?, as it progresses, opinions could change and if we get more of the revamped FNAF, then, we could see if it changed for the better or for the worse. And while first impressions do matter, it won't always be the same impression moving forward (for people who liked and didn't like the movie)

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk!

[princesssarisa]

All the reviews of the Little Mermaid remake so far have been focused on Ariel and Eric, and how both Eric's character and their romance are more fleshed out than in the original.

But they've given very little attention to the relationship at the heart of the original animated version: Ariel and King Triton.

The animated Little Mermaid is much more about Ariel and her father than it is about Ariel and Eric. The central character arc is King Triton's realization that he needs to let Ariel be free. This arguably justifies the fact that the original Eric is a slightly two-dimensional prince (although still a very likable and heroic one) and why his romance arc with Ariel is so simple and "fairy tale." Nothing else is needed, because the 1989 Little Mermaid is a father/daughter story first and foremost, a romantic love story second.

But if the remake foregrounds the romance more than the father/daughter relationship (I'm not saying it does, I don't know because I haven't seen it yet, but if) ...well, maybe that's okay.

Ideally, remakes and retellings should always bring something new to the story. I've recently been thinking about the changes the different iterations of Disney's Beauty and the Beast bring to Belle's character; namely, how the original 1991 animated Belle is more of a paragon (apart from her occasional rash mistakes) who doesn't need to change herself, but is validated and inspires change, while both of the two Belles who sing lyrics by Tim Rice (1994 stage and 2017 film) have more of a character arc of gaining a more nuanced, less black-and-white worldview, and of realizing that they don't need "adventure in the great wide somewhere" but can be happy in the here and now. I think both of those approaches to her character are fully valid, and it's interesting to notice the difference. I'm sure any thematic differences between the animated Little Mermaid, the 2008 stage musical, and the new remake can be just as interesting.

Besides, there's no father/daughter drama in the original Hans Christian Andersen story of The Little Mermaid. The Andersen story is more about the Mermaid and the Prince (and her longing for a soul), because it was inspired by Andersen's unrequited love for his friend Edvard Collin. The original Sea King is a minor, almost non-existent character.

If there's one thing I've learned from studying different retellings of fairy tales, it's that there's almost never a single, definitive theme that the story is inherently "about."

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Friday, November 1st

Willow: She couldn't've dressed up like Xena?

~~Halloween~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

but now this room is spinning while I’m trying just to fill in all the gaps by FanFreak611 (Angel, T)

Life sang the refrain of love by ohrevienssoleil (Giles/Jenny, T)

nobody’s coming to save you, get up. by elliez_only (Buffy/Faith, G)

One Aeon Stand by thawrecka (Glory/Illyria, T)

A Well-rounded Diet by Sweetbutnutty (Buffy/Spike, G)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Shadowed Suspicion, Chapter 348 by madimpossibledreamer (Ensemble, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure crossover, T)

Death's Champions, Chapter 31 by Khatix (Faith, Harry Poter crossover, M)

Rebehold the Stars (Love from the Other Side of the Apocalypse), Chapter 19 by asokatanos (Emryslin) (Buffy/Spike, T)

A-Z of Sex, Chapter 26 (complete!) by KatyAmberAuthor (Buffy/Giles, E)

Firebell in the Night: Chapter 42 by TheLightdancer (Willow/Tara, E)

What A Fang-tastic Night! Chapter 3 (complete!) by Anonymous (Connor/Dawn, E)

Full Circle, Chapter 2 (complete!) by Anonymous (Buffy/Angel, T)

You're a Beautiful Person, Chapter 1 by firagasauce (Willow/Tara, M)

Whoa! Not What I Expected! 2, Chapter 1 by danu40k (Xander, NCIS and The Sentinel crossover, G)

The Neighbor's Point of View, Chapter 143 by the_big_bad (Buffy/Spike, PG)

Loop, Chapter 3 by simmony (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Me and the Devil Blues, Chapter 4 by Melme1325 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

The Metamorphosis of Moonlit Shadows: Chapter 1 by SlayrGrl (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Soul Searching, Chapter 1 by CheekyKitten (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Way Out, Chapter 1 by simmony (Buffy/Spike, R)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: Giles by amylen-doodlebug (worksafe)

Artwork: 🦇🩸The Vampire Slayer 🩸🦇 by nerdfromthenet (Buffy, worksafe)

Artwork: Faith is very normal about Buffy by sideartblog999 (worksafe)

Artwork: Putting all the Buffy Halloween ladies together :) by Waiting for October (Buffy, Willow, Cordelia, worksafe)

The Sims: Buffy, Oz, Tara and Dawn by Nostalgia Sims Things

Wallpaper: Episodic art for BtVS 3х06 “Band Candy” by revello-drive-1630 (worksafe)

Cosplay: Buffy Halloween costume by loseremzo

Artwork: caleb art by bubbyusagi (worksafe)

Artwork: Buffy and co by bubbyusagi (worksafe)

Cosplay: Vampire Willow by Spirited-Mess5382

Cosplay: Finally Got To Be my Hero! [Buffy] by helloelysium

Cosplay: Spike and Dru 🎃♥️ by out_in_wonders

Cosplay: Little Red Buffy Hood by Nocturnal-Nycticebus

Cosplay: My 1970s Spike costume by SuccADucc

Cosplay: 1970s Spike Costume by Good-Commission-6541

Fanvid: SPIKE | EVIL ( btvs ) by 𝖘 𝖆 𝖒

Fanvid: Spike and Buffy || From Eden by Angel

Fanvid: Buffy Summers || Inbred by Angel

Fanvid: Angelic Face | White Flag by Chloe

Fanvid: Blondie Bear | Here With Me by Chloe

Vidlet: that’s so true I buffy summers by Moon Edits

Animated comic: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 Episode 21 by Game Series

Video: Buffy the Vampire Slayer opening credits animated with REAL plasticine by Joseph Brett

Video: Buffy & Spike - The Odd Couple l BTVS Humor by Buffy & Spike Channel

Video: Editing Spike and Buffy's in-jokes | BtVS Older and Far Away S6x14 by DragonViviPlayz

Video: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Revival Season 10 Episode 22: The Ends Not Near Its Here (P2) by Buffy the Vampire Slayer Chosen

Video: Disney Channel Ribbon era: Buffy the Vampire Slayer next bumper (FANMADE) by lovinthelawn

Music: Buffy The Vampire Slayer LOFI ▲ Halloween Lofi by Epic Game Music

Music: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Theme Song Cover by JGOMUSIC

Music: A Buffy Tribute | Buffy the Vampire Slayer cover by CarnivoreWerewolf

Music: Buffy and Angel Themes | Orchestral Arrangement by Christopher Fraser

From the Archives: African Portal Demon - Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 7 Episode 15 by Christopher Burdett

[Reviews & Recaps]

Video: Get it Done Slayer-Sunday by Jane Talks Buffy

Video: Buffy S03E06 "Band Candy" Spoiler Review by LGRN - Entertainment

Video: The Problem with Season 7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Spica

Video: Will You Be Slaying Tonight? Buffy the Vampire Slayer Eps 1-3 by Jaymes Mansfield 2

Video: Buffy The Vampire Slayer [movie] - Brothers Not Lovers by Davy Is Awesome

Video: Spuktober #03: Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Paper Street Comic Company

Video: Buffy was Mythtaken—Leprechauns DO Exist in Sunnydale! [Fear Itself] by Fairy Tales and Fangs

Video: S4E11: Doomed by One Girl in All the World

Podcast: Buffy The Vampire Slayer 1992 (Andy Chose This Movie, Duh) by Fried Rice Podcast

Podcast: Buffy's Angels: Through the Looking Glass by The Franchise: A Film Podcast

Podcast: Episode 070 - Goodbye Iowa by Boys Watching Buffy (several other episodes were uploaded as well)

Podcast: New Moon Rising | Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 4 Episode 19 Review by Hellmouth Hotline

Podcast: Buffy's Angels: The Weight of the World by The Franchise: A Film Podcast

Podcast: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 4: Episode 10 - Hush by The Cheshire Kiwi

Unhinged: Agatha All Along by Once More by A Rewatch Podcast

[Search & Recs]

New Spuffy Fanfic Recommendations continued with multiple recs from multiple posters

Looking for a fic? [anything set post-canon dealing with long-term repercussions and consequences of the end of "Chosen", ideally with established Spike/Buffy and a minimum of new apocalypses] by Hannah

[Community Announcements]

The 2024 I Will Remember You Fic Marathon has officially begun! by I Will Remember You Marathon

Welcome IWRYFic class of 2024! by I Will Remember You Marathon

[Fandom Discussions]

Love the way Spike goes on and on about how much he can’t stand Angel in s5 while also going out of his way to seek out Angel’s company by thequeenofsastiel

Hang on, how the hell did Wesley recognize Spike? by thequeenofsastiel

There’s something about the way Spike says Angel’s name that makes it feel like a term of endearment by thequeenofsastiel

They really should have come up with a better reason for Spike to not go to Buffy once he was corporealized by thequeenofsastiel

Spike actually looks genuinely concerned when he’s talking to Angel in 5x02 about Angel working for Wolfram&Hart by thequeenofsastiel

Anyone else notice how rare it is for Spike to use someone’s name when he’s talking to them? by thequeenofsastiel

by

by

Rewatch thoughts and questions [Welcome to the Hellmouth] continued by multiple posters

So little makes sense - does S5 have the weakest written Big Bad storyline? continued by multiple posters

First time watcher finally finished the show [AtS] and I'm updating with some thoughts!! by SnooPoems3080

Hollow stake by Dry-Dragonfruit5216

Just finished watching season 1 for the first time. Here are my thoughts so far by Diego1993FM

When did Spike start to love Buffy? by ChemistAlert9149

Right line, wrong character by Tuxedo_Mark

Made it to Episode 7: Angel. I think I’m officially hooked by The_Fullmetal_Titan

Andrew appreciation post by moses616

Remind me why Angel is worth watching? by mistakeghost

How do you guys think Buffy would be like if she got turned into a vampire? by user230224

Can we get some appreciation for the Yoko Factor by Forgottencupofcoffee

Which season had the strongest opening episode? by sKullsHavezzz

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

Video: KENDARE BLAKE 2024 interview: Against the Darkness: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (In Every Generation) by Amy McCaw

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[weaselbeaselpants]

If I were a cartoon review youtuber, some of my videos would definitely be:

Underrated Animated films you should see vol. 1 - ongoing

Complete look at Skunk Fu! and all it's episodes

What's ACTUALLY wrong with Illumination films (spoiler: it's not the designs). And that video would probably have a sequel ironically unironically accusing Chris Meladandri of being a White Walker who rips out movies' souls.

Disturbing Animated Film Iceberg.

A calming, sweet short retrospective on The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends.

Killing off the idea of "endgame". Tho, tbf, I'm definitely going to be writing that thesis statement down someday. I guess in video format it'd be a big "did this series REALLY fall off cuz the creator catered to fans?" breakdown of a few shows.

A video about 9. Because of course I'd make something about 9.

Politically heavy (but not horror) animated films.

An essay explaining the difference between what I want to see in a story vs what's actually good in a story; and likewise the difference between what I personally do/don't find offensive and what's objectively offensive as a viewer.

The dichotomy and standards between different talking animal films.

A review about Mary and Max and why I like it but it's okay if other autists don't. which would be a broader video about how to listen to the opinions of demographics and minorities and not to treat any one as a hivemind.

Movies that I dislike but aren't actually bad.

Movies I love that aren't really all that good.

A deeper dive on my take that Steven Universe was always deeply flawed but having an otherwise working ending; where Star vs was a well-written show that utterly biffed it on the ending.

The Swan Princess is secret conservative propaganda.

The 31 dumbest things in Oogies Revenge.

Zero's Journey is the only good TNBC continuation.

13 Horror animated Feature Films. For Halloween, of course...

My issue with Dreamworks' stans and why I dislike How to Train You Dragon 2.

My issues with Anti v Proshipping. Def would be a multi part series explaining why I think most of the problem is just people really aggresively bulling one another -AND THEN, getting into heinous fandom shit that no one talks about and the ethics of children online and freedom of expression.

Prolly then would make an exclusive (cuz it's dirty) review abt the rights of r34 and adult artists and what they had to/have to put up with both from peers and websites banning explicit material.

What absolutely doesn't work about Pocahontas and Anastasia.

I'd do a series called "Spitball Re-haul" wherein I go through a revisioned show's premise and then explain all the reasons for the changes. I'd make:

How I'd rewrite The Owl House season 3.

How I'd rewrite Star vs the Forces of Evil "Cleaved".

How I'd rewrite Strange Magic.

How I'd rewrite Raya and the Last Dragon.

How I'd rewrite Seasons 4-8 of Friendship is Magic.

My tinfoil hat video on Disney trying to profit so much off of fans is hurting their bases.

Mapping out and analyzing different types of crossover fiction, their merits and their issues with story-keeping.

Mythological and cultural animated films.

and finally, for when I'd muster up the strength:

an HBomberGuy-type callout/deepdive into MysteriousMrEnter and Lily Orchard and how they've made cartoon reviews worse.

[harpagornis]

Kizazi Moto review

Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire is an anthology of animated shorts from studios all over Africa, with the theme of afrofuturism and science fantasy (mixing frequently indigenous spiritual beliefs with the tech, and many shorts are actually about gods or spiritual beings). It's a shame that the project is attached to Disney, because this is one of the best anthologies I've seen in a long while.

So let's review the individual shorts.

Herderboy

By Uganda's Raymond Malinga, this portrays the story of a boy trying to join a band of herders, which harvest kyber crystals from cyborg cows and are under constant attack by spirits (read dark side hyenas). It's a good start to the anthology; the CGI is bright and makes good use of color, and it has a nice twist at the end.

7/10

Mkhuzi the Spirit Racer

By South Africa's Simangaliso Sibaya and Malcolm Wopé, this one bears a bright and joyous 2D animation. It features a half-human half-something boy who struggles with his Zulu identity, and that all comes crashing down in a race against gentrification. It's a delightful short with beautiful visuals and actual incorporation of cultural themes into the narrative.

9/10

Moremi

By Nigeria’s Shofela Coker, this is a pretty bleak looking CGI short not out of place in Love, Death & Robots. Long ago, soul stealing giants forced a woman to construct magical machines by giving her son's heart to the gods; this is about the summary you're gonna get without getting into heavy spoilers. A delight if you're into mythology as there's quite a few allusions to Nigeria's folklore, but I can see people getting a bit confused and the visuals can be grating at times.

6/10

Surf Sagoma

By South Africa’s Nthato Mokgata and Catherine Green, in a future where sea levels rose and mutant octopi lurk in the depths a boy is peer pressured into surfing in dangerous waters. I have to say, while this has a happy ending it is rather bleak and the CGI visuals are not particularly pleasing.

5/10

First Totem Problems

By South Africa’s Tshepo Moche, we're back to 2D, this time more Disney-esque. If I had to describe this, it'd be like a mixture of the first half of Brother Bear and Coco. It's pretty fun, though a bit lacking in substance and the family feuds can get grating.

7/10

Mukudzei

By Zimbabwe’s Pious Nyenyewa and Tafadzwa Hove, an influencer desecrates Great Zimbabwe, only to be taken to a timeline where it never fell to colonialism and became basically Wakanda. The concept alone is amazing, though the story itself is rather generic.

8/10

Hatima

By South Africa’s Terence Maluleke and Isaac Mogajane, this is by far my favourite of the shorts, it features the tragic conflict between merfolk and humans, with a Black Panther 2 reveal at the end. With stellar 2D animation and allusions to Dogon mythology, as well as a good solid plot where the reveal has just the right amount of foreshadowing without becoming obvious.

10/10

Stardust

By Egypt's Ahmed Teilab, I had the highest expectations for this one, being the only Middle Eastern short in the mix. It's an alright story, I really loved the science fantasy twist on astrology by just being handed a "destiny" in a tube with stars inside. The protagonist naturally choses her own fate over the manufactured ones... though getting there is quite spoilerific.

8/10

You Give My Heart

By South Africa’s Lesego Vorster, this is another return to 2D animation and the second one about influencers amusingly enough. The plot kicks off in a competition in which the human contestants can ascend to godhood. Godhood is very much treated like being an influencer, and amusingly one of the previous contestants was demoted by typing in all caps. Overall pretty fun and the animation is gorgeous, though the characters designs can get a bit ugly.

9/10

Enkai

By  Kenya’s Ng’endo Mukii, the final short is done in a CGI mimicking stop motion, which combined with the stellar coloration and lighting makes for a stunning visual experience. This too deals with the divine, this time the young Enkai seeking to become a creator deity like her mother. There is a big plot twist that I will not spoil, and recontextualises the whole short.

9/10

Conclusion

I give the overall anthology 9/10; barring a few hiccups, these are wonderful stories from Africa's many creative voices. Again, pity Disney has a grasp on this.