#every Disney Animated Show Reviewed

[artsekey]

Disney's Wish

Look, Disney's Wish has been universally panned across the internet, and for good reason.

It’s just…kind of okay.

 When we sit down to watch a Disney film—you know, from the company that dominated the animation industry from 1989 to (arguably) the mid 2010’s and defined the medium of animation for decades—we expect something magnificent. Now, I could sit here and tell you everything that I thought was wrong with Wish, but if you’re reading this review, then I imagine that you’ve already heard the most popular gripes from other users across the web. So, let me focus in:

The biggest problem with Wish—in fact, the only problem with Wish—is Magnifico.

Whoa, that’s crazy! There’re so many things about Wish that could’ve been better! The original concept was stronger! The music was bad--

I hear you, I do. But stay with me here, okay? Take my hand. I studied under artists from the Disney renaissance. I teach an adapted model of Disney’s story pipeline at a University level. I spent a ridiculous amount of time getting degrees in this, and I am about to dissect this character and the narrative to a stupid degree.

First, we need to understand that a good story doesn’t start and end with what we see on the screen. Characters aren’t just fictional people; when used well, characters are tools the author uses (or in this case, the director) to convey their message to the audience. Each character’s struggle should in some way engage with the story’s message, and consequently, the story’s theme. Similarly, when we look at our protagonist and our antagonist, we should see their characters and their journeys reflected in one-another.

So, what went wrong between Asha & Magnifico in terms of narrative structure?

Act I

In Wish, we’re introduced to our hero not long into the runtime—Asha. She’s ambitious, caring, and community-oriented; in fact, Asha is truly introduced to the audience through her love of Rosas (in “Welcome to Rosas”).  She’s surrounded by a colorful cast of friends who act as servants in the palace, furthering her connection with the idea of community but also telling us that she’s not of status, and then she makes her way to meet Magnifico for her chance to become his next apprentice.

Quick aside: I'm not going to harp on Asha as a character in the context of Disney's overall canon. Almost every review I've seen covers her as a new addition to Disney's ever-growing repertoire of "Cute Quirky Heroines", and I think to be fair to Asha as an actor in the narrative, it serves her best to be weighed within the context of the story she's part of.

As Asha heads upstairs for her interview, we're introduced to the man of the hour: Magnifico. He lives in a tower high above the population of Rosas, immediately showing us how he differs from Asha; he’s disconnected from his community. He lives above them. He has status. While the broader context of the narrative wants us to believe that this also represents a sense of superiority, I would argue that isn’t what Magnifico’s introduction conveys; he's isolated.

Despite this distance, he does connect with Asha in “At All Costs”. For a moment, their goals and values align. In fact, they align so well that Magnifico sees Asha as someone who cares as much about Rosas as he does, and almost offers her the position.

… Until she asks him to grant Saba’s wish.

This is framed by the narrative as a misstep. The resonance between their ideals snaps immediately, and Magnifico says something along the line of “Wow. Most people wait at least a year before asking for something.”

This disappointment isn't played as coming from a place of power or superiority. He was excited by the idea of working with someone who had the same values as he did, who viewed Rosas in the same way he does, and then learns that Asha’s motivations at least partially stem from a place of personal gain.

Well, wait, is that really Asha's goal?

While it's not wholistically her goal, it's very explicitly stated & implied that getting Saba's wish granted is at least a part of it. The audience learns (through Asha's conversation with her friends before the interview) that every apprentice Magnifico has ever had gets not only their wish granted, but the wishes of their family, too!  Asha doesn’t deny that this is a perk that she’s interested in, and I don't think this is a bad thing.

So, Is Asha’s commitment to Saba selfless, or selfish? I’m sure the director wanted it to seem selfless, wherein she believes her family member has waited long enough and deserves his wish granted, but we can’t ignore the broader context of Asha essentially trying to… skip the line.

Then, we get our first point of tension. Magnifico reveals his “true colors” in snapping at Asha, telling her that he “decides what people deserve”. This is supposed to be the great motivator, it’s meant to incite anger in the audience—after all, no one gets to decide what you deserve, right? But unfortunately for the integrity of the film and the audience's suspension of disbelief, at least part of Magnifico’s argument is a little too sound to ignore:

Some wishes are too vague and dangerous to grant. Now, there’s visual irony here; he says this after looking at a 100 old man playing the lute. The idea that something so innocuous could be dangerous is absurd, and the audience is meant to agree.

... But we’ve also seen plenty of other wishes that might be chaotic—flying on a rocket to space, anyone? The use of the word vague is important, too—this implies wording matters, and that a wish can be misinterpreted or evolve into something that is dangerous even if the original intent was innocuous. His reasoning for people forgetting their wish (protecting them from the sadness of being unable to attain their dreams) is much weaker, but still justifiable (in the way an antagonist’s flawed views can be justified). The film even introduces a facet of Magnifico’s backstory that implies he has personal experience with the grief of losing a dream (in the destruction of his home), but that thread is never touched on again.

              What is the audience supposed to take from this encounter? If we’re looking at the director’s intent, I’d argue that we’ve been introduced to a well-meaning young girl and a king who’s locked away everyone’s greatest aspiration because he believes he deserves to have the power to decide who gets to be happy.

              But what are we shown? Our heroine, backed by her friends, strives to be Magnifico’s apprentice because she loves the city but also would really like to see her family's wishes granted. When this request is denied and she loses the opportunity to be his apprentice, she deems Magnifico’s judgement unfair & thus begins her journey to free the dreams of Rosas’ people.

              In fairness, Magnifico doesn’t exhibit sound judgement or kindness through this act of the film. He’s shown to be fickle, and once his composure cracks, he can be vindictive and sharp. He's not a good guy, but I'd argue he's not outright evil. He's just got the makings of a good villain, and those spikes of volatility do give us a foundation to work off of as he spirals, but as we’ll discuss in a bit, the foreshadowing established here isn’t used to the ends it implies.

              While I was watching this film, I was sure Magnifico was going to be a redeemable villain. He can’t connect with people because he's sure they value what he provides more than they value him (as seen in “At All Costs” and the aftermath), and Asha’s asking for more was going to be framed as a mistake. His flaw was keeping his people too safe and never giving them the chance to sink or swim, and he's too far removed from his citizens to see that he is appreciated. Asha does identify this, and the culmination of her journey is giving people the right to choose their path, but the way Magnifico becomes the “true” villain and his motivations for doing so are strangely divorced from what we’re shown in Act I.  

Act II:

His song, “This is the Thanks I Get!?” furthers the idea that Magnifico’s ire—and tipping point—is the fact that he thinks the people he’s built a kingdom for still want more. Over the course of this 3:14 song, we suddenly learn that Magnifico sends other people to help his community and doesn’t personally get involved (we never see this outside of this song), and that he’s incredibly vain/narcissistic (he's definitely a narcissist). I think feeling under-appreciated is actually a very strong motivation for Magnifico as a character-turning-villain, and it works very well. It’s justified based on what we’ve seen on screen so far: he feels under-appreciated (even though he’s decidedly not—the town adores him), he snaps and acts irrationally under stress (as seen with his outburst with Asha), and he’s frustrated that people seem to want more from him (again, as seen with his conversation with Asha in Act I).

              But then… he opens the book.

Ah, the book. As an object on screen, we know that it's filled with ancient and evil magic, well-known to be cursed by every relevant character in the film, and kept well-secured under lock and key. But what does it stand for in the context of the narrative's structure? A quick path to power? We're never told that it has any redeeming qualities; Magnifico himself doesn't seem to know what he's looking for when he opens it. It feels... convenient.

I think it's also worth noting that he only turns to the book when he's alone; once again, the idea of connection and community rears it's ugly head! Earlier in the film, Amaya-- his wife-- is present and turns him away from taking that path. In her absence, he makes the wrong choice.

This decision could make sense; it contains powerful magic, and if it were framed in such a way that the people of Rosas were losing faith in Magnifico’s magic, as if what he can do might not be enough anymore after what they felt from Star, going for the book that we know contains spells that go above and beyond what he can already do would be logical. Along the lines of, “If they’re not happy with what I do for them, fine. I, ever the “martyr”, will do the unthinkable for you, because you want more.”

            It would keeps with the idea that Magnifico believes he's still trying to help people, but his motivation has taken his self-imposed pity party and turned it into resentment and spite.

 But, that’s not the case. Instead he talks about reversing that “light”, which has had no real negative or tangible consequences on Rosas. Everyone had a warm feeling for a few seconds. Again, it’s meant to paint him as a vain control freak, but… he hasn’t lost any power. The citizens of Rosas even assume the great showing of magic was Magnifico.

Act III

              Then, we get to the consequences of opening the book (and perhaps my biggest qualm with this film). The book is established as being cursed. Magnifico knows it, Asha knows it, and Amaya—who is introduced as loyal-- knows it. The characters understand his behavior is a direct result of the book, and search for a way to save him. This is only the focus of the film for a few seconds, but if you think about it, the fact that his own wife cannot find a way to free him of the curse he’s been put under is unbelievably tragic. Worse still, upon discovering there is no way to reverse the curse, Magnifico—the king who built the city & “protected it” in his own flawed way for what seems to be centuries—is thrown out by his wife. You know, the wife who's stood loyal at his side for years?

              It’s played for laughs, but there’s something unsettling about a character who’s clearly and explicitly under the influence of a malevolent entity being left… unsaved. If you follow the idea of Magnifico being disconnected from community being a driving force behind his arc, the end of the film sees him in a worse situation he was in at the start: truly, fully alone.

              They bring in so many opportunities for Magnifico to be sympathetic and act as a foil for Asha; he’s jaded, she’s not. He’s overly cautious (even paranoid), she’s a risk-taker. He turns to power/magic at his lowest point, Asha turns to her friends at her lowest point. Because this dichotomy isn’t present, and Magnifico—who should be redeemable—isn’t, the film is so much weaker than it could’ve been. The lack of a strong core dynamic between the protagonist and antagonist echoes through every facet of the film from the music to the characterization to the pacing, and I believe if Magnifico had been more consistent, the film would’ve greatly improved across the board.

I mean, come on! Imagine if at the end of the film, Asha—who, if you remember, did resonate with Magnifico’s values at the start of the film—recognizes that he's twisted his original ideals and urges him to see the value in the people he’s helped, in their ingenuity, in their gratitude, & that what he was able to do before was enough. Going further, asking what his wish is or was—likely something he’s never been asked— and showing empathy! We’d come full circle to the start of the film where Asha asks him to grant her wish.

Pushing that further, if Magnifico’s wish is to see Rosas flourish or to be a good/beloved king, he'd have the the opportunity to see the value in failing and how pursuing the dream is its own complex and valuable journey, and how not even he is perfect.

 The curse and the book (which, for the purposes of this adjustment, would need to be established as representing the idea of stepping on others to further your own goals/the fast way to success), then serve as the final antagonist, that same curse taking root in the people of Rosas who’ve had their dreams destroyed, and Asha works with the community to quell it. Asha’s learned her lesson, so has Magnifico, and the true source of evil in the film—the book—is handled independently. Magnifico steps back from his role as King, Amaya still ends up as Queen, and Asha takes her place as the new wish-granter.

This route could even give us the true “Disney villain” everyone’s craving; giving the book sentience and having it lure Magnifico in during “This is the Thanks I Get!?” leaves it as its own chaotic evil entity.

All in all, Magnifico's introduction paved a road to redemption that the rest of the film aggressively refused to deliver on, instead doubling down on weaker motivations that seem to appear out of thin air. Once the audience thinks, hey, that bad guy might have a point, the protagonist has to do a little more heavy lifting to convince us they're wrong.

Look at the big-bad-greats from Disney's library. There isn't a point in the Lion King where we pause and think, "Wait a second, maybe Scar should be the guy who rules the Pridelands." Ursula from the Little Mermaid, though motivated by her banishment from King Triton's Seas, never seems to be the right gal for the throne. Maybe Maleficent doesn't get invited to the princess's birthday party, but we don't watch her curse a baby and think, Yeah, go curse that baby, that's a reasonable response to getting left out.

What do they all have in common? Their motivation is simple, their goal is clear, and they don't care who they hurt in pursuit of what they want.

Magnifico simply doesn't fall into that category. He's motivated by the idea of losing power, which is never a clear or impactful threat. His goal at the start seems to be to protect Rosas, then it turns into protecting his own power, and then-- once he's corrupted-- he wants to capture Star. The problem is, there's no objective to put this power toward. Power for power's sake is useless. Scar craves power because he feels robbed of status. Ursula believes the throne is rightfully hers. Maleficent wanted to make a statement. Magnifico... well, I'm not really sure.

[sirfrogsworth]

These folks watched a whole ass movie not realizing the main character was transgender and it was a 2 second kiss between men that made them lose their ever-loving minds.

It's amazing to me that if it weren't for those 2 seconds, many of these folks would have given this movie a 4 or 5 star review. But two seconds of the most vanilla, non-sexy, yet genuine and loving kiss somehow ruined every moment of enjoyment the previous 90 minutes brought them.

Imagine if they realized the trans allegory. I wish I had a way to tell them. I wish I had a way to make them realize they related to a trans character. That they rooted for them. That they accidentally empathized with a trans story.

This was a beautiful movie. In every sense. I really hope between this and Spider-Verse, we can have a moratorium on every 3D animated movie using this style of character design.

It's time to let go of the rubber toy look.

I love Toy Story, but its success kind of doomed 3D animation to never take any risks. I thought maybe it was just a limitation of the medium, and perhaps it was for a time... but after seeing Love Death + Robots and Arcane...

I realized they can make 3D animation look however the hell they want now.

The rubber people were just risk avoidance.

"That's what people are used to and so we're sticking with it."

But the real beauty of Nimona was the story. I won't spoil it but the plot is pretty much, "If you get to know a trans person, you probably won't hate them anymore."

Not knowing any trans people is one of the biggest factors in anti-trans bigotry. And so this movie uses allegory to let an audience get to know a trans person. And you get to experience someone slowly start to understand what it is to be trans from an outside perspective.

It's sad that will probably be lost on those folks above because all they will remember is the kiss. Seriously, it was such a harmless, mundane, blink-and-you-miss-it kiss. But I'm hoping that others will take the lesson of this movie to heart. That you should get to know people before you judge them.

Part of me does wish we could tell trans stories without allegory. That we could just have overt trans characters. But I think this is the best representation possible right now.

It's crazy that Supergirl was one of the bravest shows as far as modern trans representation. It wasn't an edgy HBO drama trying to push boundaries. It was a family-friendly superhero show and they were just like, "Here is a transgender woman with superpowers and it's fine." And I loved that it was part of the character but it wasn't all the character was. Though I think they just missed the manufactured "moral panic" window where that choice would have been extremely controversial causing boycotts of Warner Bros. and whatnot.

My only complaint about Nimona was a small penis joke. It went by very quickly and many may even miss it. But I was surprised to see it in this movie in particular. Especially since those jokes can have collateral damage toward trans folks. With all of the positive messages, wasting a joke on body shaming was a tad disappointing. I mean, it was a fairly lighthearted "Is it cold in here?" joke. I don't want to make it sound worse than it was. But it still registered on my Richter scale of things that bother me.

Anyway, I wholeheartedly give Nimona a 5 out of 5. It helped me understand my friends on a deeper level and it was warm and funny and entertaining. There was a scene at the end that was so beautiful and heart-wrenching and I was crying my eyes out. The animation and the symbolism and the acting were just so perfect.

It's a shame Disney tried to kill this movie. But I am so glad it was allowed to exist despite that.

[nostalgiclittlespace]

50 Things to put in your Agere Journal

An ‘About Me’ Page

A collage (I like using stickers and magazine clippings!)

A page full of your favorite stickers

List of reasons you like regressing

A list of all your stuffies

Possible names for new toys

Favorite affirmations

Character profiles for your stuffies (eg, their jobs, favorite things, etc)

Write a regression/kidcore themed poem

A letter to your Big, Little, or Future Self

Little Space Wishlist

Bedtime Routine

Sticker Chart for chores or work

Your favorite movies and TV shows

Big you VS Little you (chart, drawing, list, etc)

Glue in an envelope to keep important things in, such as stickers, notes, and small toys

Places you want to go

Note your favorite memories

Agere headcanons for a character

Draw yourself as an animal. Which would you be and why?

Draw a genie, fairy, or wizard—who have granted you 3 wishes! What are you wishing for?

A list of new foods you’d like to try

Write a review of your favorite picture book

Draw your dream paci

Write a story

Design matching outfits for you and your favorite stuffie

Make up a new game and its rules; note it all in your journal

Write a new, happy message to yourself every time you regress. You’ll eventually have a long list of positivity!

Glue pipe cleaners, buttons, yarn, and other craft supplies into a picture! (My favorite is making houses and people with them)

Top 10 Disney movies

Rules for Little Space

Lift the flaps using post-it notes (I tape the top/sticky end down so they don’t fall off)

Make a page for each color. How does this color make you feel, your favorite things of that color, stickers, etc

Uses beads, glitter glue, scented stickers, and more to make a sensory page

Make an OC. Are they from your favorite agere show? Are they an imaginary friend? What do they like to do?

Plan your ideal Little Space day

If you were a superhero, what would your costume and powers be?

Your regression triggers

Your favorite things to do at each age you regress to

Video games to play in Little Space

Make a word search (come back to it after a little while to make it trickier!)

Your favorite recipes

A page for each season—your favorite holidays, activities, the weather, stickers etc

A self-portrait

Trading cards (namely Pokémon or similar)

An invitation to your toy’s party

Little Space nicknames

A menu for playing restaurant

Signs you are regressed

Crafts you’d like to try

[sepublic]

Post-Hoot with Dana Terrace!

            Dana’s put over 200 hours into games she’s missed since the finale; Octopath Traveler, Little Nightmares, etc. Sarah Nicole-Robles cried harder than she ever did when she said I learned a language I’ll never forget, a whole chapter of my life is over, during the King-ceanera. She said the line once and was suddenly sobbing because of how meta it was. 

         Rebecca has a ‘sona during the bit with Barcus in the epilogue sequence. Cissy also cried when watching with her family, her kids asked her about it; Sarah was really excited as she watched the finale.

         No sequel happening, but we can always hope; Dana would like to do more, but Disney owns the IP and needs to give them permission. Dana knew the prequel line in the finale was ham-fisted as hell but still went with it because she was pissed (she said Fuck to express her rage). Rebecca went back to the Anger phase of grief after watching the finale after realizing what they missed, but Sarah was also in Acceptance because it was hard to regret something that ended so well.

         Dana doesn’t cry that much, but TJ’s remix in the soundtrack made her cry. Dana brought back everyone for BBBYYYEEEEEEE, noting this was every character’s last line, and wished Hooty had more lines. Alex improvised a cut line after the Bye with Hooty expressing appreciation for the finale and readiness for his spin-off.

         Dana won’t say much in hopes she’ll get to do more for TOH in the future; A Youtube reviewer (shoutout to all, Zachary Ax, Man of a Thousand Thoughts, Rebecca herself), the Third Bill got it right on Hooty, and Dana won’t be more specific about that.

         They found out about the shortening during S2; They had an ending in mind that Dana had in mind since development, but it needed too much setup and so they couldn’t pull it off. All of Season 2A was written before knowing the cancellation; Follies at the Coven Day Parade was the first episode fully written knowing the show was shortened, hence the tonal change. The Galdorstones was an arc Dana planned more on, as well as the Coven Heads; Bat Queen; It was a hard situation choosing what to leave out.

         There weren’t whole episodes written that had to be trashed; Just one-sentence ideas on a whiteboard never fully outlined or scripted. But Dana is still happy with what came out, because it was pretty damn cool.

         Rebecca Rose once saw someone with a King sweatshirt like hers at Disneyland and said hi, but they just side-eyed her and didn’t respond; Despite this, Rebecca hopes they had a happy day and believes they were just having a bad time. Sarah joked about not being so forgiving.

         String Bean’s inspiration: Owlbert is in the title of the show, String Bean indeed was there the whole time! The S wasn’t completely intentional at first, but Dana flipped the logo around and figured it out. When making the first episode, the logo wasn’t finalized. They always liked the idea of Luz being connected to snakes, it’s what she brought to school and they liked her reclaiming something she terrorized her classmates with. The Snake-Shifter idea specifically; Zach Marcus just said “Snake-Shifter” as they brainstormed ideas and Dana, being a sucker for lame puns, was sold.

         That was indeed Dana being represented as a student in the epilogue! She was Beastkeeping and Oracle; Dana can see the future of the show, and really likes animals. Raine’s palisman was indeed hidden within the violin’s design; Hunter and Dell worked to fix the palismen after Raine broke it trying to stop Belos. The violin is more akin to the staff, anyhow. Dana considered responding to a question about general Caleb, Evelyn, and Flapjack lore, but Sarah insisted she stay silent in case they get to answer it as an actual story later.

         Dana liked to think while writing Thanks to Them; No, Evelyn’s spirit isn’t in Flapjack. But to Philip, he saw Flapjack as the culmination of the corruption in his brother Caleb; He saw Flapjack, if it weren’t for YOU. You can see a hint of it in Masha’s story, Evelyn entices Caleb with Flapjack, who was Caleb’s introduction to magic. Evelyn was probably disguised as a human, and trusted Caleb for seeming reasonable and less violent. Perhaps like Dog owners passing each other by and suddenly becoming friends over this.

         Evelyn and Caleb’s relationship was sweet, from platonic curiosity to romantic. Eda doesn’t know she’s descended from them, nor does Hunter; And Dana has more to say, but will keep it hidden. Luz will stay the majority of her stay in the isles as she goes to college. Camila bought the shack leading to the human world, which allowed Luz to visit during holidays, weekends, etc.

         They never got to explore it, but it could’ve originally been the home of Philip and Caleb, long abandoned; Eda emerges after discovering the portal. In the next thirty years, she fixes up the shack as she builds the Owl House. Dana also advised fans to google Death of the Author, since she’s technically no longer working on the show, and thus gives permission for fans to write their own answers.

         Eda became the Owl Lady before Owlbert, due to the curse; They planned to do an episode where Eda learned palismen carving with Dell, and how Eda reclaimed the Owl identity to carve Owlbert. Dana stills has the outline of that episode in her head…

         According to Rebecca, Caleb and Philip’s graves were in the basement of the shack, based on this church in New Haven Dana passed by every day on her way to school (Gravesfield is based on some places in Connecticut). However, Dana realized the graves didn’t fit into the story. They also had an ‘original’ Belos design for him taking over animals. Marina Gardner did some amazing Belos designs, and Thanks to Them alluded to it.

         The Portal’s eye comes from the Titan’s missing eye!!! Hunter is bisexual, Willow is pansexual, this is how Dana always wrote and imagined them in her mind, but it’s not explicitly stated so technically it’s more headcanon. Dana noted how some people just picked it up. Dana likes to think Amity and Lilith rekindled their student-mentor relationship. Having worked in the library, Amity was interested in Lilith’s knowledge of history. Dana suggested to Zarya(?) from the design team to add notes to Lilith’s museum blueprints. A helicopter passed over and they joked it was Disney trying to stop spoilers.

         Cissy only got her lines and didn’t know any other details about the finale, to Dana’s surprise; Dana explained that people not getting a full script is due to the pandemic. Before quarantine, actors would get the full script. They have to rely on Eden Riegel and Dana for context a lot. Bosook Coburn spoiled Luz’s death to Rebecca Rose during the celebration party. They came up with a lot of designs for dying Luz, trying to figure out how they can hollow out her head how much. Dana mentions it’s up to the showrunner to show how much they want to the actors.

         Thanks to Sarah, they kept in Luz saying her own SFX during her fight with Eda in O Titan, Where Art Thou; She heard someone do it as part of the mock script and wanted it. When Dana voiced Eda and Luz at the end, Dana was crying. There’s a recording of Season 2B and Season 3 of Dana doing a voice-over of the script to get approved by executives.

         Dana clarified everyone would’ve had more of a chance to talk with each other, such as Hunter and Amity; Hunter would’ve talked to Vee, as well as more human realm kids, literally everyone would’ve had a little more time with each other. Dana loves Luz and Hunter’s sibling dynamic. Dana was sorry they couldn’t have Luz and Raine hang out, but they had the Hexsquad storyline. Luz finished high school in the human world, with the renewed motivation that she’ll go back to the isles. Knowing she has a safe space outside of high school made it more bearable, as was the case for Dana growing up.

         Cissy brought up Gus’ hair in the epilogue, which she loved; Emmy Cicierga did the design for Gus and Raine. Harpy Lilith was by Emmy; Dana did Emira, Eberwolf, and Skara’s timeskip designs. The name of the Titan is unpronounceable for humans.

         Dana can’t say much about the Archivists; The Collector never had a flash-forward design, as they age much more slowly than everyone else. Maybe the Collector got just a tiny bit taller. The idea of the Collector came from creepy dolls, as well as a nightmare; John Bailey Owen had a google folder filled with cool references of creepy dolls with a starry aesthetic, liminal minimalist nightmare-scape. They knew who the Collector was gonna be, what role they’d play, but the vibe still needed to be decided.

         Dana confirmed the Collector was always a part of the show before the shortening, and they solidified their placement after the announcement. The Collector has indeed stayed connected with the others, visits occasionally. Dana has seen fan comics on this and teared up.

         Hooty doesn’t have to be vacated from the Owl House if he doesn’t want to; When the door isn’t active, Hooty could be present. The new portal can probably fold up, and Hooty is busy as a curator for Hooty’s new museum.

         Dana said Raine and Eda’s business is their business; Not all love stories end in marriage. It’s their thing and it doesn’t diminish any love, but they do live in the Owl House together (Raine moved in).

         Mattholomule getting a palisman is something Zach Marcus can answer, since he made the character and Dana respects the lore he made. It’s hard to say for Dana if Vee and Masha are dating, since Masha didn’t show up in the finale, but Vee definitely has a crush on them. Again, Dana encourages the Death of the Author approach, if the headcanon makes you happy.

         Alador and Odalia got officially divorced after the finale, and the kids happily lived away from her. They might visit her if they have the energy, but also recognize she’s a toxic influence they can cut off at any point. Dana gave a shoutout to Rachel McFarlane’s voice acting, praising her performance for Odalia.

         In regards to the tower King was born in, Dana has an answer; It was related to a character we all know, who now may have amnesia.

 ��       There was a plan to explore Gus and Willow’s glowing eyes, and do it for other characters; Amity wasn’t going to have that, strong emotions are indeed connected to magic. It was mostly a worldbuilding magic rule they could’ve expanded on, that Dana wishes she did early in the story.

         In the boards, Dawn Han(?) did Clouds on the Horizon, and did the scene of Amity and the twins hiding in the factory as their parents talk about the Abomatons, Alador is worried since it seems like a tad much. Alador had T-rex arms in the storyboard, and it reminded Dana of Remy from Ratatouille, so when they got to the scene of them looking into Alador’s lab, Ratador was drawn in his place as a joke. Dana laughed so hard she decided to keep it in, with Dana handwaving it as Alador’s palisman.

         According to Dana, a show should be appreciated for as it is; But the other way to enjoy it, under the context it was made, is also important to her; Both ways are valid. It was easier for Sarah to voice depressed Luz since she was also depressed. The writers preferred to put their feelings into the show, VS a more happy-go-lucky approach as others did; It was kind of dark for a bit, especially during quarantine. Sarah felt her own experience validated with Luz’s depression, but she and Dana appreciated the balance of having a happy ending too.

         What made the crew hopeful was knowing the characters would always have a happy ending; Luz could continue her studies in full-force, a new family. They KNEW it would end happy. Dana acknowledged how the fandom misinterpreted “I hate the term happy endings,” and Sarah knew about the quincenera when asked during previous Post-Hoots, but couldn’t answer.

         Rebecca commissioned 3D-printed Funko Pops of S2A Lilith and S1 Luz, and gave them to the others as gifts; Rebecca didn’t know about Avi’s appearance until two days before the Post-Hoot, otherwise she would’ve had a Funko of Raine made. Dana’s stand for Luz had to be made with painter’s tape (she appreciated it) due to Rebecca running out of the other kind, and planned to place it beside her Peabody award. Elizabeth Grullon, Camila’s VA, had to call her mom in the middle of a session to translate her line about maduros into English.

        Cissy clarified this wasn’t intended to be the final Post-Hoot! And the video was ended with a BBBBYYYEEEEE!!!!!

[capsarcastica]

Transformers One Review

A fine movie on its own that works as a fitting throwback to the classic animated series. It'll be sure to entertain kids with its bright colors and goofy characters. Adults will be bored until the classic Transformers action starts.

The story works but is overly familiar. Nobodies who dream of bigger things suddenly find themselves upending society. It was fresh back when Dreamworks did Antz but grew stale when every young adult story did the same exact thing. That plot is done better than some recent attempts like Disney's Wish. The real draw for the movie is the brotherly friendship between Orion Pax and D-16 as they slowly become Optimus Prime and Megatron. This is where the real heart of the movie lies. Little touches like the Decepticon symbol being a sticker Orion gives D-16 really builds on that, making their inevitable falling out that much more meaningful.

The cast is fine, though I wish they used traditional voice actors rather than celebrity voices. Chris Hemsworth and Scarlet Johansson work fine, but it's hard not to think of their Marvel roles. Keegan-Michael Key is doing a more annoying version of his usual shtick, which they kind of make fit the character but it doesn't fit with his much more beloved live action version. The two standouts are Brian Tyree Henry as Megatron and Steve Buscemi as Starscream. Henry's experience on the Spider-Verse movies makes for better voice acting here. He bounces well off Hemsworth during the early periods when he's D-16 but definitely morphs into that classic Frank Welker style Megatron by the end. And Buscemi fits perfectly into the voice of Starscream showing those early power-hungry signs.

The animation is a mixed bag. The scenes set in Iacon City and the mines feel a little cheap, like it was animated for a Saturday morning cartoon. Everything's a bit too shiny and neat, not really lived-in. The planet's surface is designed better, having a more natural look. It just doesn't quite match what Pixar and Dreamworks are doing, and considering Spider-Verse and TMNT: Mutant Mayhem are upping animation so drastically this really looks dated. I will say that the final battle in the third act look really impressive. There's a lot on screen but the filmmakers know where to keep the audience focused.

At times this feels like the pilot for an animated series, much like Star Wars: The Clone Wars. It's obviously meant for younger kids, not always finding the right balance to keep parents and older fans interested. It takes a while for it to get going, but takes off once it does. But the ending works so well and holds so much promise for more to come.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

This movie really goes to show that Disney is no longer the way forward—they do not give one shit about the art form if they wanted to drop this. I have a couple of small gripes with the film, but overall this is one of the best animated films in recent memory, a beautiful mix of fantasy and sci-fi that has a lot of applicability. I really loved it, even more than I expected I would.

[themousefromfantasyland]

Wicked: Part One (2024) - Review

Yesterday I watched Wicked: Part One which adapts the first act of the beloved musical and I have to say, I was blown away.

This is the best film of the year.

I need start this by saying that watching Wicked felt like watching The Little Mermaid remake last year.

This film is Universal's response to Disney's Live action remakes.

In the same way that Disney capitalized the love and nostalgia for their classics to sell their remakes, Universal capitalizes the love and nostalgia for the stage show to sell this movie.

Here in Brazil, our montage of the show is very, very beloved. So Universal saw that, used the lyrics of the Brazilian version in the dub and even put the Brazilian actresses of Elphaba and Glinda to dub their movie counterparts. Universal dubbed the movie hoping Brazilian audiences would sing along, in the same way Disney remakes keep the lyrics of the Brazilian versions of the classics.

Also, the tone is the same of a Disney live action remake. Even though Wicked has darker elements and has political subtexts, it never stops being a family fantasy musical, and Elphaba never stops being a proto-Elsa. Wicked is a fantasy family musical first and is in the same league as Frozen and Tangled.

However, Wicked is beneficed by not having a perfectly made cinematic source material that is already good on its own.

Movie and stage are different beasts, and contrary to Disney remakes which already have source materials that are pretty cinematic on their own, Wicked has to deal with a source material that is limited to what's possible in a stage show, so it has better chances to actually improve and expand the show into new ways.

If Doctor Dillamond was an animated character in the original, his movie design would be atrocious, but since the original is just a man in a goat makeup, the movie design is already a huge improvement.

The Land of Oz is fantastically created. There's CGI everywhere, but they actually took the gigantic budget to actually build the sets this time and the money is really put into what you see on screen.

The Land of Oz is vibrant and colorful, a mix between the Mediterranean and Americana with tons of Steampunk and talking animals that are integrated into the everyday life. The world feels lived in, and it's the most real Oz ever felt since ever.

And the tidbits of visual storytelling are insane.

The way that the worship of the Wizard is in every facade of the Ozian society, and how the once thriving culture of the talking animals was replaced by the Wizard and how they are being reduced to silent servants of the elites in the Emerald City.

All of this narrative you get through quick visual cues all over the film.

It was a five stars film for me, a 10/10.

Please, watch it. You'll be absolutely enchanted

@ariel-seagull-wings @thealmightyemprex @princesssarisa @tamisdava2 @the-dark-storybook-prince @the-blue-fairie @mask131 @theancientvaleofsoulmaking

[waywardsunlight]

Post Hoot 4/28/2023

Cissy, Dana, Rebecca, Sarah, Avi, and Zelda Black

Reactions to the finale? 

Sarah cried really hard when she saw the Quincera (“a whole chapter in my life is over” line). Avi was excited to play a villain, Sarah said they were scary. Avi liked to play with character. Dana loved seeing Avi’s evil Raine, said it was intense. They said they wanted to see more evil Raine, but Dana wanted to avoid it. Rebecca’s birthday was the week the finale came out, talked about their appearance in the episode. Cissy started crying, said it was neat.

Continue reading below:

Cissy had been travelling, and got back right on time to see the finale, she was super tired. Cissy was crying, her kids were asking her if she was crying. Avi cried too. Sarah said she was choked up but she was more excited. Avi felt like it was surreal. Cissy said “no sequel” “we can hope” “It would be fun to do more but it would require Disney to agree” Dana. Sometimes Dana gets so pissed off about the cancelling. Rebecca said the finale aired and they were back to being angry. Wished they had gotten more episodes. Sarah was angry, upset and sad about the cancellation but she loved the finale. “It couldn’t have been more impressive”.“There’s always gonna be a thousand things we want to improve but it came out well” Dana

Dana loved the fight scene between Luz, Eda, and King v Belos. 

Music? How does it work? Brad has been on since season 2, he already knew the style of the show, so for every animatic, you put in temp music, and you send the composer the stuff and the spot notes, follow the concept of the temp music but add a horror genre spin on it. Brad’s first take on the episode was great. TJ did a remix for the epilogue, Dana cried hearing the remix for the epilogue. 

They brought back every single actor for the bye. Everyone’s last line is bye!!! Hooty originally had a line where he kept saying goodbye. Hooty coming out of Papa Titan’s eye? “I won’t say much, in hopes I get to do more in the future (slim chance), this youtube reviewer- The3rdBill got it right in an offhand comment”

“How did the writing change for season 2/season 3?” Dana had an ending she wanted, wasn’t able to do it bc too much set up. All of season 2A was written without the knowledge of the cancellation, Follies was the first episode fully written with the knowledge it was cancelled. Dana wanted to do more with galdorstones, coven heads, Bat Queen, it’s easy to see what we had to prioritize. It was a hard situation in the writer’s room. We did our best and we’re happy people still connected to it.”

“Keep being loud about how much you love the show”

“Support the Etsy artists!” Had a pin by SophieScrubs

“It’s not like we had whole episodes written that were trashed, they were one sentence ideas”- they were in Dana’s head “I’m just happy with what came out” 

“We kinda got to go out, 45 minute specials, it was fun to work with”

Cissy “There’s no way you can’t be a fan”, Cissy was wearing a King beanie and got recognized as a fan in Ireland!

Sarah met people who liked her shirt and the show lol (didn’t say if they knew who she was) Rebecca wore a king sweatshirt in DisneyLand, saw somebody else with a king sweatshirt and they side-eyed her lol “Anyone who ignores Rebecca can catch these claws”

Owlberts in the title of the show, Stringbean is there too, the L and S, when they made the pilot, they had a different logo, it wasn’t made intentionally but they saw it and they liked it.

Luz had a connection with snakes, having her reclaim snakes.

Sarah was a snake believer!!!

A lot of ppl had ideas in the writers room, Dana loves bad puns and loved snakeshifter (the guy who has Barkus named after him), Beastkeeping bc Dana loves animals, Oracle bc she could see the future of the show.

“Avi needs wrangling” Sarah, they joked around.

Raine’s Palisman: The Palisman was disguised as the violin, Raine smashes their violin- it was the staff part of the Palisman that was smashed.

Did they Clawthorne family ever discover they were descendants of Evelyn and Caleb? Eda and Hunter don’t know, the rest I won’t say.

Who had the old house? Who did that belong to? 

Sarah has a Stringbean! 

“The artistry of the fandom is inspiring” Cissy

Somebody’s making Cissy a Lilith one.

Caleb, Evelyn, Flapjack? “Save it for the spinoff” Dana: “One detail I like to think of, is when we were writing TTT, Flapjack is not Evelyn, to Belos he saw Flapjack as the culmination of the corruption in his brother “if it weren’t for you”, you can see a hint at it in the halloween decorations, Evelyn’s hand had Flapjack. First magic Caleb was introduced to, Evelyn was hiding her ears and pretending to be human, follow this bird into this portal? “Dog owners passing eachother and becoming friends and bonding over dogs”. I like to think that Evelyn and Caleb was sweet- platonic curiosity to romantic, it was good for a bit.

“Who did the shack belong to?” We never got to explore this, it was originally the home of Caleb and Philip, Eda comes out there for the first time when coming out of the portal door. Eda fixed it!!! Everything doesn’t matter, google death of the author, I am just a fan now bc the show is finished. If you prefer your version, it’s valid rn.

Eda becomes the owl beast before getting Owlbert. There was going to be an episode where they showed her reclaiming the image of the owl and learning to carve palisman with Dell.

When Luz and Hunter went down to the basement originally, there were graves down there for Philip and Caleb, based off old buildings in connecticut (no story purpose)

Belos concepts when he was taking over animals, didn’t end up in the show, Belos animal designs, alluded to but not shown

Eye on the portal is Papa Titan? Yes. 

Hunter is bisexual, Willow is pansexual.

Amity and Lilith rekindled mentor relationship, Lilith has a lot of history, Amity likes history + reading. They liked the blueprints for the library.

Cissy hadn’t seen anything she didn’t speak lines for, Cissy just got her lines/scenes.

Apparently they’re not supposed to bring the scripts home, before the pandemic they got full scripts

“Excuse me I’m talking” Avi (joking), Avi and Sarah are high energy

Avi didn’t have time to read the script, Sarah was confused when Luz died

Sarah got the script when Flapjack died, she said “no! Take me!” and they said “you’re going too”

Avi had trouble with the “you’re fluffy” line

Rebecca sent animatics to help the actors, it was easier for them to see the animatics

“It’s always up to the showrunner to show as much as they can�� we go pitches in house with our own voices, Dana did Terra in For the Future animatic.Dana hates hearing her own voice, she talks really fast in her reads. When you pitch, you also do the sound effects. When they did the pitch for the finale (hour and a half), the line that got Rebecca choked up when Dana did Luz’s “Eda, King, thank you” “we got you kiddo”

There’s a recording of all of season two b  and season three of Dana pitching doing the lines.

If the show had not been cut short, would Amity and Hunter have had more time? Everyone would’ve gotten more of a chance to talk to each other- yes. Hunter would’ve talked to more characters like Vee and human realm kids, Camila. Literally everyone would’ve had more time. Dana loves the sibling relationship.

Luz and Raine barely interact, they’re bickering jokingly. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to hang out” Dana, “we can’t get the hexsquad to hang out”

Where did Luz attend school after WAD? She went to human realm high school, she had renewed motivation, even if high school was difficult, she had a goal, having a safe space for her and a family outside of the human realm made high school more bearable (that was the cause for Dana, having that escape was good).

Gus’s hair!! :D Emmy designed him. Dana designed Emira, Skara, Eber for the finale. Dana had two others but she forgot. 

King’s dad’s name is unpronounable. 

Does the Collector visit often? Has their relationship with their siblings improve? (STRONG LAUGHS) Dana can’t say much about the Archivsts, the Collector didn’t have a flashforward design bc they didn’t grow up that much, got a little taller but not really. Immortal space child. Dana was inspired by creepy dolls, and a nightmare. JBO had a google folder with cool references of creepy dolls, liminal nightmare scapes, stars. We know who is the Collector is gonna be but what’s their vibe. That was one of the most fun parts after the shortening. The Collector was always a part of it, not solidified, but yeah they were a part of it. The Collector has stayed connected, visits. Dana loves fan comics about King and the Collector. 

Won’t answer questions about the archvists. 

Hooty doesn’t have to be vacated from the owl house if he doesn’t want to, the door has a star motif on it, when the door isn’t active, Hooty can be there, but the portal door can fold up but Hooty is buddy. 

Who are the current residents of the Owl House? Raine and Eda’s business is their business, not all love stories end in marriage, that doesn’t diminism any kind of love? They live together in the owl house. Raine moved in.

Zach Markus invented Matt so he gets to answer Matt questions.

Vee and Masha dating? It’s hard to say, bc we didn’t include Masha in the finale, Vee has a crush on them. Yeah! Maybe.

Sarah’s husband is texting saying hi lol.

Odalia? Divorced. The kids happily live away from her. They see her when they have the energy to, they recognize she’s toxic and they don’t have to put up with her if she’s being awful. May have been explored if more episodes. Rachael MacFarlane (VA) is great. She’s not British, she’s just pretentious.

King’s Tower? Dana’s thinking… “dumb answer. The plans we had, it had something to do with… it was related to someone who you all know who may have amnesia

There was gonna be a moment for other characters to get eye glow (strong emotions)

What’s the mouse that looked like alador? In the boards, Dawn animated the scene, he has a pose where he looked like a t-rex, Dana saw it and thought he looked like Remy from Rattatoue, when they got to the scene with the lab, he remembered that convo and drew in the rat and Dana laughed so hard “keep it, don’t change it” “It’s his palisman”

“A show should be enjoyed as is, knowing how it’s made is also cool” “when the show got darker- we got to do the fun stuff we got to do, if we all tried to force ourselves to write a happy go-lucky show they’d be unhappy, we’re gonna put our feelings into this” It was a dark writers room for a bit.

Sarah likes the darker elements, mentioned the masks (maybe TTT?), not totally removed from reality

“It clearly struck a chord, we lived through a global quarantine, we’re feeling the fallout of it”

“What was extremely hopeful for the crew was that the characters would have a happy ending, Luz gets to study magic, the characters stay together and form a community” 

They got questions they couldn’t answer like about the quince 

They don’t know if this is the last post hoot

They opened presents but they didn’t get one for Avi bc they didn’t know they’d be there until 2 days before. Rebecca got them funko pops of Lilith and Luz. Rebecca said thank you.

“Hey disney, if you’re watching, this could be you”

Elizabeth (Camila VA) called her mom to translate stuff into spanish. 

Said byeeee!

[uninformedartist]

Quick thoughts (its not quick I lied). Was reading the Google doc on the animators reviews specifically spindlehorse and saw a LOT of terrible things done and said to LGBTQA+ people in spindlehorse. Its not even funny or anything the things artists mentioned is borderline harassment, homophobic and toxic in every sense. Vivienne can go on about how inclusive her studio is, how accepting her studio and fandom is, from actual word of mouth reviews its anything but that. And it does reflect back through the show and fandom. The show has TERRIBLE representation, handling of sensitive matters, full of stereotypes and won't hesitate to cash in on fetishising the characters in extention their sexuality through merch ect. And the fandom... homophobic in most aspects, if you hate the show even if you're queer yourself they'll go on to call you slurs, harass you, doxx you in some cases and its all tolerated because you went against Vivie/you just a hater/ ect bullshit reasons. So I don't expect anything better going on behind the scenes with staff if the show and fandom is this toxic.

Now I don't like to compare but damn if you look at the owl house. Yeah its a kids show but how it handled representation, sensitive topics, lore ect is 1000 times better than helluva and thats an adult show. Anyway how Dana and her team made the owl house was with pure love and care, many artists working on the owl house loved working there and what they made (dispite Disney's bull). And the fandom for the most part is really lovely, yeah there is toxic apples but its a lovely fandom overall. I can say none of those things on Vivziepop's show and fandom, and this bullshit reasoning of "you too sensitive" "its edgy humour" "if you don't like it Don't watch" fuck off. Homophobia, harassment, making light of serious topics like abuse, rape and neglect and feeding into toxic stereotypes/fetishising of LGBTQA+ people is disgusting fuck you for seeing all of that as acceptable to do.

Chai, anyway sorry for the rant just reading that doc, it hurts it really does my heart goes out to these artists and it pains I can't do more or bring Viv to actually justice because her clean up crew (bootlickers and staff members thats her besties) cover everything up.

Back to my bigtop burger high ‎(ﾉಥ••ಥﾉ) ya'll I'm serious if you haven't seen bigtop burger by worthikids do check it out its an absolute gem on YT.

Bye :)

[not-wholly-unheroic]

I hope to write a full review of Peter Pan and Wendy at some point in the near future once I’ve had the chance to rewatch it a few times, but in the meantime, it makes me sad that so many people seem to have hated it, and I need to just gush about a few of my favorite parts.

(Warning: This list will contain SPOILERS for the film.)

Wendy’s very realistic reaction to having her favorite bedtime story character show up in her bedroom in the middle of the night (“How are you real?!).

The reworking of the “kiss” scene. Although the childhood romance/first love thing between the two of them in most versions is adorable, seeing Wendy sort of mentally panic and scramble to find SOMETHING to give Peter when, after getting hurt, Michael suggests someone give him a kiss to make it better and Peter says he doesn’t know what that is but he thinks he needs one is hilarious and totally something an awkward teen girl would do when confronted with kissing a boy in front of her brothers.

Mr. Smee’s good heart and kindness. Gaffigan’s Smee tries on more than one occasion to shield the kids from the worst of Hook’s wrath and/or scary situations as best he can while still being loyal to Hook. And it is openly acknowledged that there is a sort of father/son relationship between Hook and Smee due to Smee having pulled him from the sea when he was just a boy. Law’s Hook isn’t always good to Smee, but he very much recognizes he wouldn’t be alive without him. It’s also nice to see that although a bit of a dork sometimes, this Smee isn’t stupid, and actually seems pretty perceptive at times.

The sea shanties!!! I love that they found a way to work a few songs into the film without it feeling too out of place in a live-action movie that isn’t a full-on musical. The songs themselves are catchy and the lyrics (which are mostly about things in the deep that will eat you…) serve to remind us of the hellish nightmare Hook lives every day in fear of the crocodile. We also get a nod to the Disney sequel. (Props to the songwriter for managing to work the word “cephalopod” into a song and actually having it fit the rhyme.) Also, the second song arguably has a ticking motif in the slow drum beat.

The crocodile’s appearance and attitude. This thing is terrifying. It’s HUGE. There is absolutely no one in their right mind who wouldn’t run from this creature. While it wants Hook most of all, it isn’t opposed to eating others either (and does apparently nab a few men who get shoved out of the way by Hook or who aren’t fast enough). Also, all the spears sticking out of its hide. Makes me think of Moby Dick. The crew has apparently tried on many occasions to get rid of this crocodile but it refuses to die.

The similarities and differences in Peter’s fight with Hook at Skull Rock as opposed to the animated film. Hook ALMOST steps off a ledge at one point like in the animated version, but Smee is there to grab us coat and pull him back before he can fall. We also get some good shadow sequences like in the animated film…but apparently, Hook’s shadow can harm Peter’s with the effect that Peter himself actually feels it.

Hook’s reaction to the crocodile. His first words on seeing the creature are just a very quiet sort of shaky, “Oh, God….” When it lunges for him at one point, he freezes in terror for a second before his instinct to run kicks back in. This man is traumatized.

Hook and Peter’s relationship. Okay, yeah, I’m upset they went with the very cliche “Hook was a Lost Boy” deal which has been done so many times now in book retellings that it’s not even new or interesting anymore (not to mention Hook really needs to be an Etonian to make him who he is…) BUT I am very pleased at the emotional depth the actors and writers went to here for BOTH of the characters. Hook is still clearly capable of brutality but he’s also deeply wounded. Peter is selfish and cocky like any little boy might be, but he’s not evil and genuinely misses the friend he used to have in James. They weren’t black and white hero/villain tropes. They were complex characters who both dealt with things poorly, and it takes Wendy pushing on their emotional walls and asking hard questions to finally make them see they can stop hurting each other and maybe repair what has been broken.

The quotes they gave Law as Hook. So many good ones that I may make an entirely separate post about it but the entire brig scene with Wendy is gut-wrenching. At first, my reaction was, “Why is he telling her all of this?” But then, I remembered that even Barrie’s Hook has a tendency to monologue and I think part of the reason he tells her so much is simply because she might be the first person other than Smee to actually want to LISTEN to his side of things. (Much as how Tink points out later in the film that Wendy is one of the first people to really hear her.)

Peter actually needing and accepting help. While admittedly, I think they may have leaned into the “girl power” thing a little too heavily in this version, it was nice to see Peter actually realize that he DOES need people in his life and that it’s OKAY to ask for help sometimes.

Everything about the ending. Peter apologizing to Hook and flat-out refusing to fight him. Hook’s initial anger and disbelief. Peter reaching out and grabbing him by the claw to keep him from falling. The pained and terrified look on Hook’s face as he scrambles to come up with just one happy thought and can’t find any. The look of horror from Peter as he watches his former best friend fall to what he assumes will be his death. The fact that Peter MOURNS for him. The symbolism of “Hook” falling away and dying while “James” survives. The little hopeful smile he gives when he sees Peter coming back. UGH! It was SO GOOD!!! 😭 And that’s not even including the emotional scene with Peter and Wendy saying their goodbyes on the rooftop in London.

This film wasn’t without it’s flaws. The pacing was a little off in places, and it doesn’t feel quite like an epic adventure…but BOY, does it have some heart to it.

[broadwaydivastournament]

Broadway Divas Tournament: Round 4

Two-time Tony-winning dancer-extraordinaire Bebe Neuwirth (1958) is best known for her winning role as Velma Kelly in Chicago (1996) alongside her beloved Annie Reinking. After playing Velma off-and-on for some years, she then took on Roxie, and later Matron "Mama" Morton. Bebe has also won for Sweet Charity (1986), and is a two-time Emmy winner for, of course, Lilith in Cheers. Other credits include Here Lies Jenny (2004), Fosse (2001), and Cabaret (2024), which opened to glowing reviews for Bebe, and dismal reviews for basically everything else. In addition to her beloved stage, Bebe is a devoted cat-lover, and activist. She founded the Dancers' Resource program to provide support for injured and/or aging dancers.

Anika Noni Rose (1972) is a Tony-winning actress known for Caroline, or Change (2004), A Raisin in the Sun (2014), and the 2013 first workshop of Hamilton where she originated Angelica Schuyler. She is also known for being one of the iconic Dreamgirls in the 2006 film, as well as the voice of Tiana in Disney's The Princess and the Frog. In 2011, alongside Lea Salonga, she was named a certified, official, Disney Legend. Her latest Broadway show, Uncle Vanya, just opened this past week.

NEW PROPAGANDA AND MEDIA UNDER CUT: ALL POLLS HERE

"Bebe Neuwirth, my beloved, I have at last seen you in Cabaret, and I am so sorry. You deserve a far better production, and a far better show social media team that recognizes your abundant talent and rave reviews. Please continue to post cat photos, because they bring me nothing but joy."

"Does Anika Noni Rose not have a pet? In my quest to get a photo of every Diva with their animal, she turned up empty, so...that's something. Also, her Vanya revival wasn't well-received, so that's two Divas in this poll in substandard revivals. Woo-hoo."

[popculturebuffet]

Big City Greens The Movie: Spacecation Review! (Gwendolyn Zapp Retrospective Part 2 of 2): The most Stellar Animated Film of the Year

Hello all you happy people! Last month I took a look at every episode of big city greens starring Gwendolyn Zapp, an unstable tech billionare seemingly immune to consequences with a lot of power and no moral compass. Obviously.. a LOT changed in that month and i'm just. i'm fine. I'm fine look how fine I am

I'M FINE... but if you need a breather, check out the review

So naturally the main reason to do this... was to get to the movie, somethign Kev's wanted me to cover since it came out and something I was glad to. I love this movie, and a second watch only strengthened my love of it. Spacecation will probably be my faviorite animated film of the year, and while it's a light year to compete in, it still more than earns it.

Spacecation was announced simply as big city greens the movie in 2022, directed by series director Anna O'Brien. The Houghtons naturally wrote the film and were admirably cautious: they knew two key things: The first was that the story had to be big enough to justify the film existing. If they could tell the story in the show proper, why do it. They had the greenlight for a film but wisely realized a film adaptation HAS to have a good reason to exist. The second was not to over escalate as their keenly aware as a show goes on it has to keep esclating to keep attention and going too far could break the world they painstakingly set up.

Thankfully they had an ace up their sleeve that made going as far as they needed easy: Gwendolyn Zapp. As I pointed out last time, Gwendolyn gives the series a free pass to do weird shit: she keeps things grounded enough as her inventions: robots, space monster crops, tweaking someone's personality via a big ole gun in cyber space.. all things scientists probably HAVE attempted or are actively working on, simply upped to pure super science for funsies. Hell her having a space program was there from day one: she tried to launch the Kludge into space for her mars project and squashed happens entirely thanks to her mars colony. Thanks to her previous episodes she knew the greens and unlike chip the history wasn't as dense and complicated; She's a weird dangerous billionare the greens deliver to frequently because she pays good and who has limitless resources. That's all you need to set up and as someone who went into the film not having seen her other apperances the film does a perfect job sliding in you. She gave them everything they needed for the film and was deranged enough that having her go full big bad was easy.

So with the setup easy, the film got underway, though they doubled the crew size to do it, a smart move as i've seen shows suffer due to the film adaptation. Looking at you regular show. So doubling the crew so they could facilitate both while keeping quality up was the right call. I also applaud disney for making this possible. It's a very low bar to say "you need more people to do two projects" but given how they've been this year, it's a miracle they cleared it. As far as I can tell production was smooth as butter, with the film coming out on time earlier this year, with the plot being kept under wraps for most of it's runtime.

As for where the series fits in the timeline of the series the houghtons have left it vauge for now, since they likely had no idea when the film would be finished or even once it was when it'd come out, and kept it purposfully detatched not just for that, but to welcome new viewers. My best guess is sometime in early season 3, one of two possible options they gave and the one that fits the most with the series: Nancy, the kids mom comes to babysit but makes no mention of whose watching her place, and the greens farm from their front yard. Mid season 3 the greens buy their farm back and spend the rest of the season, along with Remy and eventually Alice, in smalton, their old home. Eventually it's clear the Greens miss big city, so they move back with alice, while Nancy stays behind to run the farm, having found peace there. So Spacecation fits better with Nancy still in big city and the greens still using the family farm. The fact Gwendolyn Zapp's absent after delivernator early in season 3 also makes this easy and while she's one of many reacting to the greens going away, she's also very weird and probably woudln't think nothing of the time she left them in space to die and with buisness booming and way more crops to sell than before, not to mentoin the extra money from the cafe, there would be no reason to keep selling to her after she tried to leave them to die in space. SO TLDR: it fits better in season 3 just before they buy the farm back .

With that I can finally dive into the film itself under the cut!

The Views are Cinematic

So before we dive into the meat of the film let's talk about the potatoes. Spacecation looks gorgeous and you can tell while Disney didn't pour all it's money into this like it should've it still gave the crew a healthy budget and it shows: the film uses wider angels and sweeping shots , stuff that would be expensive to pull off in the series proper and is saved for the bigger moments, but here they can do pretty often, with a shocking amount of action scenes. The settings look gorgeous from the spacious sci fi halls of big tech, to the relaistic yet gorgeous spacecraft, all the way to a desolate farming astroid with a gorgeous farm tucked in, with the void of space looking as vast, terrifying and wonderous as it should. The film makes fantastic use of color doing a trick I love where a character is lit all in one color for contrast. The story is bigger and the film makes you feel it just like the Simpsons or Bobs Burgers movies on what had to be a fraction of those films generous budgets. It's one thing to make a movie but Spacecation understands out to make something cinematic and it's a shame it dosen't seem Disney ever considered this for theaters. I thought i might of over the months since it came out built up this film looking this good in my head but no.. it really looks that sharp, looking like a regular episode in for smaller scenes but really punching it up when needed. It dosen't have the shading of a theatrical relase but damn if it isn't staged perfectly with some really dynamic visuals.

All this visual razzle dazzle would mean nothing though if there weren't meat on the bones... thankfully this film is juicy as heck and boy do i regret this metaphor let's just move on to the films center.

Those Things I Said

Spacecation, as fresh as it feels, is as good as it is by relying on some familiar formulas. The first is one other film adaptations like Kim Possible: So the Drama, The Proud Family Movie, The Simpsons Movie and The Bobs Burgers Movie have done: Take the series core conflict, one they've done a billion times, and take it to it's logical conclusion. See what happens when you bend it so far it breaks and what the characters do. For Kim it's having the villian plot of the week not only be bigger but largely succeed, pushing kim to her breaking point. For the simpsons movie it was taking Homer's habbit of screwing up and having to fix it, and inflating it with him fucking up so bad the whole town wants to kill him and the rest of his family, and fixing it involves stopping the us goverment from bombing springfield from existance. Bobs Burgers takes the restraunts normal precarious position and has it in genuine threat of closing, with usual saving grace Mr Fishoder accused of murder with the kids usual shenanigans now being "solve a friggin murder". It's a simple trick and while not every show does it, and good for that I like some diversity, It works really well for escalating a sitcom like this, rooting the big flashy set pieces in the heart of the show.

That leads to our second and the piece they choose to go with, cricket and bill arguing over something. This was VERY common in the first two seasons. Out of 116 segments, 22 involve this, a good 20 percent of the show at that point. It's easy to see fans getting tired of neither green really learning the lesson to not be a reckless meanace or a wild child. And tha'ts JUST the circket bill stuff there's more episodes of cricket's stubborness causing issues.

However to their credit, the crew eased up on it after this: Season 3 only has three of these and the last one to date is bill omniously warning cricket about having a usual instead of a serious conflict. Rather than go to this well forevermore, hello simpsons and your marriage crisis episodes please stop it love jake, they made a concious decision to end them.. and to have the movie serve as the final pin. Cricket won't stop being reckless and bill won't sotp being overprotective, but it was wise to just have the two grow past fighting every five episodes and do new stuff. Maybe bill bores his family, feels hurt they don't like the same things and becomes the crow.

Given the simpsons has done 76 Homer and Marge marriage Crisis Episodes (Thank you The Real Jims for counting all those in his video on the subject), it's nice to see a show decide to just end a theme like this in style.

The final major toss up between these two begins simply enough before setting controls for outer space: it's time for a GREEN FAMILY VACATION, and i'll get to the songs later but that one is a fucking bop and has been in my head for a good chunk of the review process. The Greens have saved up enough to take a break and go on a vacation, with Nancy watching the pets and also getting a gloriously gay b-plot with gloria i'll get to later.

For once Cricket is thinking ahead, and actually made a pamphlet, a nice little handrawn thing of suggestions and freeze framing it.. what suggestions they are. Going ot mexico, breakfast land, volcanos.. it's great. None of it is plausible, but you can tell he put his heart into the thing.

That pamphlet is the secret suace that makes the terrible thigns he does as the film goes on work: Cricket actually did come up with ideas, was excited and wanted to go on a fun exciting adventure with the family. He likes adventure and Bill damn well knows that.

And instead of that Bill.. offers the same trip as last year. And look Bill has some good intetions: he knew everyone enjoyed it, wanted to keep everyone safe which is hard to do on a vacation, he meant some well.. but ther'es some selfishness here that does a lot of the heavy lifting towards making this a both sides issue when one of the sides is "tricking your family into space". Bill later calls Cricket out for being selfish.. but Bill has the same stubborness and selfishness. As his ex wife will later point out int he movie, part of the reason they butt head sso much.. is that Cricket and Bill are a lot more alike than they seem. THeir diffrent enough in their wants for this to be an issue, but their both stubborna nd tend to make decisions based on what THEY want without considering what someone else wants.

And bill.. didn't think about cricket or alice. Bill accuses Cricket of steamrolling people and he's not wrong.. but Bill often does the same. Bill knew Cricket would be outvoted and filed off his concerns and wants as "stupid ideas". He likely barely read the pamphlet instead of maybe sitting down with his son and finding a middle ground between a ten year old's fantasy and "repeating a trip we already took without telling him ahead of time. " Given how Cricket is , Bill SHOULD have seen the backlash and some Zany scheme coming. This isn't like the goofy movie where max tricks a very naive goofy (if for understandable reasons Goofy goes with once they actually talk). Bill knows his son does this kind of thing.

Now while i'm being hard on bill make no mistake: Cricket screws up. Cricket is a brat and while he's right ot be angry, he too fucks up royally. Now wanting a vacation in space when Gwendolyn asks the greens to go into space, that's fair. He sees a giant hotel she started, a fun adventure with his family, and he's ten so he dosen't see the ten dozen red flags or learn from the fact Gwendolyn's stuff tends to be dangerous. He assumes this will just be some fun space adventure and not what space travel is:

So his wanting it.. is understandable.. but the actions he takes to get what he wants are horrible, even by "he's a children standards". While I do thinka LOT of fans were too hard on cricket/didn't give bill enough flak for his own part as bill is a grown man, Cricket still hits a new low here. He lies to Gwendolyn, agreeing to do the mission if they can stay at her fancy space hotel after, and then lies to his family to get them on the rocket. The only reason they don't turn around is Gwendolyn Zapp is a heartless monster who blackmails them into it and also dosen't realize contracts signed by ten year olds wont' hold up in court no matter how much money you have.

Yet you still don't hate him entirely as while he fucks up royally.. his goals aren't entirley selfish. Yes he wants a good vacation for himself. Yes he hated bill's idea and resented him for shooting down his ideas, the latter being entirely resonable given Bill didn't bother discussing it with anyone or thinking that "just because these ideas are insane dosen't mean my son isn't taking them dead seriously". But he WANTS his family go have a good vacation: Tilly looses her Journal and Gramma looses her leg in the entry process, so while his getting them replacements could just be him trying to butter them up.. it comes off more as he realized he screwed up a little and space isn't AS fun as he thought and rather than give up, he wants to MAKE it fun. He finds genine replacements in a recorder and a robot leg that both love and it's clear he cares. He does want his dad to enjoy it.. but it's not for the "win" of proving his dad wrong.. he just geninely wants his dad to have a fun trip in space. It's what makes cricket works: sometims he's just a selfish little goblin.. and other times he's a well meaning and destructive little goblin. This shenanigan is a mix of the two: he did want a cool vacation for himself, didnt' think it through and put everyone in danger, but he dosen't just run off to do space stuff with everyone mad at him. He wants them to enjoy it too. The bulk of the first half is Cricket trying to help bill have fun. We see in "Chill Bill" Bill rarely loosens up with Cricket not having seen how bill gets on lakes (Chill as fuck for the record). It's the films heart: these two DO care about each other they just aren't good about actually carring what the other wants to the letter. Both are so used to ignoring the other and doing what they want it's easy to forget they love each other.

In Cricket's way though is Colleen Voyd, played amazingly by Renee Elyse Goldsberry of Hamilton Fame. Voyd is hopelessly devoted to Gwendolyn, a stickler for the rules and a bit of a pain in the ass. A lot of it is understandable: Space is dangerous, she wants the greens to live, and she wants the mission to succeed for her god empreror genius mommy. But Cricket hates her for not wanting any fun, and understandably: not for not wanting fun on a deadly mission but for treating a child like an astronaut who knew what he was getting into. Maam this is a children, he's not going to get your trying to keep him safe.

Granted how he works around her.. is fucked. It's probably the worst thing Cricket's ever done. Instead of trying to talk with her, reason with her, or figure something out, not options that might've worked but he could certainly try, he decides to instead lock her in the cryo chambers of the ship. It's better than Gramma's plan of we kill her.. and while it's a joke that she said "we kill her" i've seen alice in enough episodes to know she probably did entirely think "let's do a murder" as her first solution and backed off because her grandson dosen't have the taste for it yet. They trick her in there with Tilly noticing and being talked into it.

Cricket TRIES to get bill to accept it with a jaunty musical number, but it clashes with who bill is: Tilly goes with the flow, Alice and Cricket are naturally reckless but bill while a kind man, a good farmer and a solid father... is a naturally awkward easily startled man. Space was going to be his own personal hell. I can relate. I love sci fi but I know the actual experince of going into space, while life changing would also be deeply terrifying at the point it's at. It's a point the movie makes and something that helpfully grounds it: whiel the tech is a touch ahead of what we have, the risks of space travel and the time and energy it takes are all there.

Still Bill does slowly warm up, and a close call with a trashteroid field helps close the gap. I do love the trashteroid field as it's set up as a one off joke: Gwendolyn off handily mentions their just shooting garbage into space futurama style if in smalle rquantities... leading to a giant field of trash our heroes have to navigate with. IT gets the old standard of "navegating astroeids" in there but spruces it up with the fresh visuals of all this rubbish. The Trashteroid sequence is awesome and a joy to watch and the 3d animation in this film is top notch. Cricket has bill drive.. and he does so with style, saving thie rlives.. if damaging the ship.

Bill is actually warming up, and it's nice to see. Bob Joules does a great job as bill but it's really nice to see him just.. relax. Be happy. But it also creates a ticking time bomb as you KNOW any second Cricket's lies will come unraveled and it's only a matter of when. I"m usually not a fan of liar revealed plots but it can work and this one feels more like the goofy movie: I.e. you get why the characters doing the bad thing so you don't hate them completely, and the lie is much simplier: Max was doing the trip as usual, and Cricket simply says Coleen got sick. The lie isnt' for perosnal glory or anything but for simple human reasons. Dosen't make the lie okay, but it dosen't make you resent the character for getting deeper and deeper down the lie hole.

The other ticking time bomb is the farm bots, Gwendolyn's original farmers who are also funny robots..and thanks to a coding error have gone rogue. Naturally Gwendolyn didn't remotely warn them of this and sends the greens into danger without any prepreation. We do get one last nice bit of vacation as the greens see the space hotel, their reward for the mission Cricket got for them, and them farming which is neat. I love the zero gravity farm, it's rotating collumns, and just how happy bil is... before the robots try to plant them.

One super runaway later, our heroes find the ship is broken and everything else breaks down as their ships engine is clogged. So Tilly breaks out Colleen and Bill finds out what Cricket done did and of course dosen't take it well, not being suprised as of course his son did the reckless selfish thing while Cricket clearly feels ashamed, but is too prideful to actually apologize.

Not helping is Colleen chooses the mission over their lives, more on that later, so our heroes have to do a few awesome action set pieces and strap a rocket to the kludge. Cricket ends up driving for a bit and ... does actually find a way to reach the dome they do, a ramp jump he has carefully thought out for a change. But then they both screw up: Bill jerks the controls away and he and Cricket fight over them. Both Greens can't give an inch when it matters: Cricket is pissed his dad won't trust him the one time he needs it and refuses to accept WHY that is given he just spent several hours lying to the man, while BIll can't accept cricket isn't ALWAYS wrong and they can't really play it safe right now as there IS no safe surrounded by killer robots.

The truth is.. they BOTH fuck up and cause them to crash into the dome and while they can shut down the power, it's caused the asteroid to go off course.. it's heading for earth and specifically big city. They have to cut the right wire or else humanities doomed and Cricket once again screws up and cuts the communciation.

It's what makes this next scene work, the scene the whole film hinges on: The fight between Cricket and Bill that's been bubbling all movie, all series. And it begins with Cricket asking one simple question "Why did you pull the wheel away from me?" Like any family argument.. it begins with something you really shoudln't be asking... yet feels like a fair question. Bill tries to table it and it's fair to: Their trying to save the world, this isn't the time for it.. but the problem is WHOSE saying that: Bill has shut down cricket again and again, constantly telling him his ideas are bad and he should feel bad. So instead of taking it as "We really can't fight right now" Cricket understandably explodes at the worst possible time, pissed his dad helped cause this.

Bill rather than be the adult in the room, decides to fight back, pointing out Cricket's why their here in the first place the two sniping back and forth: Bill points out Cricket's ideas are dangerous, Cricket fires back if he weren't so "boring" he'd like them. Alice tries to stop bill and I love her "That's enough" It's not her usual anger.. but the anger of a mother knowing her child is going too far with his own kid and needs to back up.. but not able to stop him.

Both reach the point where they say things they can't take back: Bill says "All your ideas are bad! I'm sorry I don't like bad ideas!" and Cricket.. takes this as confrimation of what he's all belivied, something that makes everything, his actions, his lies, his mistakes... understandable. Not good or something he shouldn't make up for or have to apologize for, but understandable. It's the key to making what Cricket did work: that he isn't just doing this for himself, or his family.. but to prove something to himself: That his dad likes him. That he can have ONE idea his dad actually likes. As his response to all this is "I get it now.. when you say you dont' like my dieas.. what your really saying is you don't like me. Well that's fine because I don't like YOU"

Chris Houghton's delivery is painful and perfect: the quiet pain at first, the bitterness, the doubling down.. it's all so harsh yet understandable: Bill constantly says Cricket is wrong.. how else is the kid supposed to take it? He didn't mean harm by it.. but you can see why Cricket ended up in such an extreme. You can only be told your wrong so many times before you internalize it. Believe me, i've been there.

So everything explodes.. literally to add to the emotoinal blow up and Cricket is left adrift. We then get the best song of the movie, those things I said. It's the only one i'm commenting on ahead of getting to the songs later as it's a centerpiece of the film showing how much both green men regret what they've done. IT's also why I don't get the dogpiling on Cricket: He fucked up bad, the film dosen't let him off for that, and dosen't try to make bill AS culpable, simply.. culpable. Which he is. The boy spends a whole song singing about how badly he screwed up, how he regrets telling his dad he dosen't like him, and how he got everyone he loves seemingly killed. Cricket is left utterly broken, realizing that no the risk wasn't worth it this time and that as much as his dad hurt him hurting him back dosen't fix it. It's a painfully real thing about this kind of argument getting out what you feel... dosen't always exactly fix things and sometimes those wounds don't heal. Same with Bill who realizes by being so hard on cricket always, it pushed him this far.

Thankfully there IS an adult in the room.. or rather Gramma's leg who can help. Nancy. So quickly covering this subplot: Nancy naturally saw something was up seeing on the news that her family went into space, but couldn't get a straight answer out of Gwendolyn and gets escorted off the premises. Thankfully Nancy has a not so straight ally in Gloria. Gloria and Nancy's subplot this film can best be described as

As while they INTEND for Gloria to see Nancy as a second mom, having said as much before it instead comes off as Gloria crushing heavily on a cool older woman but having not realized she's bi yet. While Gloria being awkward as fuck is buisness as usual for the series the way she is ... not straight. It's just not. I say this as a bi diasaster myself who would act the same way around keith david despite, like Gloria, knowing nothing could happen. The man is happily married and a few decades older than me. I get it. But there's no harm in looking long as your repspectful.

This subplot also works because it pairs up two characters who haven't gotten a subplot togehter; Nancy and Gloria have shared a scene or two, but haven't actually interacted before this and McLoven-Covey and Akana have great chemistry, Nancy trying to focus on the job and Gloria being at her most awkward, which says a lot. They sneak in, get captured, hear a villian monologue and Gloria ultimately proves herself getting them free to help save the day and serve as mission control.

Admittedly the subplot is loosely tied to the main plot but it IS essential on two fronts: the first is showing off Zapp's callousness and giving her someone to monologue to, complete with villain song. It helps explains why she's doing this and also lets us see her decide to fuck off to mars instead of save the world. While we get that info later in the main plot too, it works better with us KNOWING she did this. The second is getting in contact with Cricket. It makes more sense having Nancy, who Cricket hasn't hurt and is you know, his parent, give him the peptalk over his family.

IN this case Cricket is ready to give up, figuring he'll just do something worse. And while he's not wrong to feel bad about what he did, Nancy even gives an oof when talking to him, Nancy recognizes her family needs her boy to do his best. That yes he screws up a lot, and he and his father are both stubborn.. but they both want whats best for the family. And right now what's best is saving the world, in this case using the tractor beam from the space hotel that was set up earlier but I didn't mention.

Thankfully the rest of the family finds Cricket, Cricket finds bill but I like that while they both clearly feel bad and all's forgiven.. both aren't quite back yet. While Cricket rushes out to fix the tractor beam himself when it proves not strong enough to redirect the farming asteroid, getting some of his reckless but creative mojo back.... he can't lift it and gives up. It's.. heartining seeing Cricket this down on himself. You understand why, he fucked up real good, but it's still not pledsant. Ther'es no joy in the win. And Bill sees that and admits he too isn't perfect: he plays it too safe, the vacation was indeed toos afe and while Cricket scares him sometimes... he admits the boys heart is in the right place: most of his shenanigans are about getting the most out of something for those he loves.

They often backfire horribly and not ALL of them are selfless (not that he says that), but it's that heart that drive sthe chaos. The boy mostly means well and makes life.. intresting and he can do this. Hell bill knows it. It's a seen that's heartwarming as hell and adorabl, affring both greens may of fucked up.. but they love each other still always willa nd wha'ts said in the heat of things isn't always true. B Oth sides screwed up.. but both can make it better.

Cricket flips the switches btu gets caught in a stream of trash the beams pulling in. So BILL shows his own development; Cricket realized he screwed up and felt genine remorse, now bill in addition to that, also jumps out and helps his son, the two saving the day.

The duo end the film on good terms blasting off into the sunset, or the equilvent to have a space vacation with Bill learning his lesson and asking Cricket if he has any ideas. So we end on an adorable montage of them having some space fun while waiting for a rescue craft. It's a pitch perfect end to a near perfect end to the series longest standing plot. It's a lesson in empathy: that sometimes your both wrong even if one person is more wrong, and that if we listen to each others heart, we'll find we're never too far apart, and maybe love is the reason why for the first time ever their seeing theings eye to eye.

The Fall of the House of Zapp

So i'd like to start this section with one of the great philosophers of our time..

I used to wanna get the chance to show the world I'm smart (ha) Isn't that dumb? I should've focused mostly on the heart 'Cause I seen smarter people trample life like it's an art So bein' smart ain't what it used to be, that's fuckin' dark EL-P, (As Part of Run the Jewels), A Few Words for the Firing Squad

This.. really sums up Gwendolyn Zapp and the people she's meant to be a parody of: Stupid Rich Kids who get more money and power than they know what to do with, get frozen at 20, surrounded with people either unable to call them out or unable to see their deranged, and who do what THEY think is best for the future and not what people might actually need. It's something that's only become clearer since my last post, as I watched a few episodes of the amazing podcast behidn the bastards on tech billionares: Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and human dumpster fire Elon Musk among others. It's not the podcasts only focus you can also hear how Napoleon Bonaparte III got drunkenly caught while doing an insurrection then shot a man in the face for reasons known only to him, Scott Addams wanted to name Dogbert Dildog, and how fashion monster Peter Nygaard responded to his neightbors understandable requests by super imposing said neighbors face over shots of the twin towers falling.

But it put into persepctive that the bulk of tech billionares are spoiled manchildren (and in one case womanchildren), who grew up with extra advantages and daddy's money, either the dad was a good parent or not, and never bothered to learn empathy or the consequences of their actions before becoming rich. Learning all this helps deep Gwendolyn Zapp as a character: She's primarily a wacky joke machines... but like all these billionares her money is built on a mixture of entitlement, never being told no, and being stuck with sychophants and true beliviers who will gladly care out her bidding no matter how questionable or awful it is, only stepping in if their going to get sued. Zapp SEEMED like she was a wacky exageration and while she was.. it's only by the tinest margin.

So really like any real life tech billionare, it isn't that far a drop from "kooky eccentric" to "Mad Scientest who will make the world pay". Gwendolyn almost ended the world ONCE already on the show and tried to rewrite childrend's brains. Having her be the antagonist was a perfect fit and serves as a perfect capper to her character.

This appearnce really boils down everything about her perfectly to the point that, as I mentioned, I had not seen any of her eps.. and still got the character's whole deal easily. She's an egotist entirely out of touch with reality, if she was ever in touch with it who wants big bountiful advances for humanity, but in a showy way that gets her all the credit. From day one she pointed out how she could solve so many issues but instead makes robo pants.

In this case she's farming in space, which isn't a terrible idea: At it's best it provides more sustainable food for people who need it, at worst it's a backup plan on the high chance humanity fucks up the planet too bad to be livable. But her reasons aren't alturisim or making the future better.. she just wants to prove her kindergarten teacher wrong.

Yeah she's that petty. As we find out in her decent villian song mid film.. that's the whole reason why Zapp is doing this. The whole reason why farm veggies in space. And the saddest part is.. her teacher wasn't even mean to her. She just chuckled about how cute the idea a six year old presented her was. It's the kind of horrifying thing that can indeed happen in real life when you piss off a billonare with tons of money and thin skin. I mean Elon Musk brought Twitter because he had beef with his daughterand wants to buy Hasbro because the head of creatvie for DND dosen't give a shit what he thinks, while Steve Jobs called the mother of his daughter a whore and denied being his daughter Lisa's father for decades to the point of having the people working on the Apple Lisa come up with an acronym so he could deny naming it after her. I wish I made either of these things up.

Billionaires are petty husks of human beings. What I thought was an exaggerated wacky kidnapping plot.. is something terrifyingly possible. I"m not saying these guys HAVE kidnapped their old teachers to gloat to them, but the fact they COULD'VE and easily buried it is alarming.

So in just a few short months Zapp's plotline has gone from "wacky but fun" to "deeply disturbing.. and still a little fun". I mean Cheri Oteri is a delight in this role and while this could easily be the end, I wouldn't mind seeing her again in season 5. It's a clear throughline in the tech industry that the tech persons ego matters more than money, common sense or lives, and this plot illuminates that hauntingly well. Gwendolyn Zapp is trying to prove a point to someone who was never really against her and dammed if it costs lives.

And it's a horrifying mantra she's indocirnated into her employees, as we see with her biggest Loyalist and one of the films leads Coleen Voyd, played to perfection by Renee Elise Goldsberry. If Zapp is a reflection of how dangerous and unstable tech mobles are taken to comical degrees, Voyd shows how scary unblinking loyalty to these kinds of techbros can be, that just because someone CAN change the world dosen't mean their doing it for the right reason.

Coleen Voyd has fully bought the hype: She sees Zapp as a visonary who can do no wrong, the mission as paramount and follows her Zappstronaut rules to the letter even when their kinda draconian when implied to literal children. She WORSHIPS Gwendolyn, and can't fathom her or the rules ever being wrong, following them to a fault. While Cricket defintely shouldn't of thrown her in cryo, that was horrible.. Voyd wasn't a good leader, not getting that her crew, while volunteering for this mission far as she knew, is still civllians with no formal training. Just belting a cool song at them isn't going to make them listen to you and while Cricket shouldn't of mutinied, someone was gonna at some point when your only command is "OBEY THE WORDS GOD EMPRESS ZAPP HAS DECREED PEONS".

Voyd shows the dangers of letting someone do whatever they want because it's "for the greater good"

A lot of tech bro worship, especailly in cases like Elon in the House, the horrifying Cory in the House sequel 50 percent of the country apparently asked for, comes from "Well they donate or they do this or that". I turned a blind eye to bill gates for a long time not relaizing he was bullying people who actually knew what they were doing to do the dangerous shit he wanted to do. IT's why Narcissism and Charity can't coexist. You can't genuinely build a better world if you think your the only one who can. Other people have good ideas. You are not the only person in the world whose opinon matters and if your the kind of person who clearly thinks your thinks that, your going to do some TERRIBLE shit and people will do terrible shit in your name. It's this cult bullshit that got us the president elect we have. I wanted to stay out of politics for this one but it's impossible to given how close to home this hits: the idea that you can put all your faith and good intentions.. in a person who geninely dosen't care if you live or die and whose idea of a good future is built on a mountain of corpses.

Am I getting just a tad dark about a children's cartoon character? Eh maybe, but I like how this is told:Through comedy. It's a lesson kids NEED to know: that just because someone's smart or charasmtic does not make them a good person. The comedy makes it almost easy to forget that Gwendolyn Zapp when given the choice between her vanity project and 5 human lives.. chooses the vanity project. It's what most egomanical billionares would do given the choice. It's what constantly fluffing someone's ego up and buying into their madness gets you: stranded in space. Colleen willingly sends the vegtables and not the greens and herself home because that's the mission. And the Green's don't even know the reason WHY Zapp discarded them. It's a pitch perfect metaphor for tha tdisconnect: the innocent people who get thrown away don't CHOOSE this, they don't sign on for some glorious purpose.. they just want to get buy. As much as cricket fucked up he did NOT sign on to fight for his life and Zapp hid all this from them till it was too late.

Thankfully both parties get a compupance in a way they deserve. For Colleen Voyd.. it's redemption. She did fuck up royally, put her faith in the wrong person and like cricket and bill at first doubles down, refuses to accept she was wrong or betrayed everyone present. After all as far as she knows she put her faith in the right person. Gwendolyn will save them and the earth and smite their enemies.

Instead.. she gets let down. Gwendolyn decides "fuck earth" when the asteroid threat is apparently and peaces out ot mars in a giant face ship leaving everyone to die. If there was any doubt she was a bad person remotely left... this removes it. She may of seemed personable but Gwendolyn Zapp.. was a monster, a selfish narcisit who flees.

Colleen .. dosen't take it well, taking a few minutes in real time and about an hour to despair. It's only when the greens try to break into the controls to the tractor beam she spouts off her rules.. then breaks them. It's a good lesson: Just because someone you trusted with your heart and soul betrays you dosen't mean you should give up, and just because your hero lets you down dosne't mean you can't be a hero yourself. Collenn shapes up and finds a better path for herself: She wasn't a terrible person, just bound too rigidly to rules set out by someone anyone else could see was terrible because they didn't worship her. And her exit from the movie is the heroes exit she deserves: She heads off to fix things, Tilly gives her Cookie, the weird blob she's been carrying around all film who disney isn't merchandising to hell and back because they dumb, and the two get to work cleaning up the trash and making a better future the hard way... the right way.

As for Gwendolyn... everything comes crashing down carmically. She has to watch her space hotel get burnt up (The greens saved everybody so don't worry), then returns oblivous as usual.. to an angry populus that threw the free space produce she gave them at her It may only be thanks to the power of fictoin, but Gwendolyn Zapp finally lost the one thing she needed to.. not the millions of dollars, sadly even in fiction you can't take those away, but the public's respect and willingness to tolerate her crap. There won't be another Colleen Voyd, thank god and Gwendolyn Zapp will slowly collapse into the dustbin of history... or probably show up for an epilogue in season 5. Save the date!

The Movie The Musical One of the first things about this movie that was announced that it'll be a MUSICAL ... which was a shock as Big City greens has done a musical episode and maybe two or three numbers over four seasons. Still it was a fun idea and works well. IT reminds me of the goofy movie where it is technically a musical, but there's some gaps between the numbers. In fact Rules Rap was added entirley because there was about half an hour between Green Family Vacation and Space is Fun.

Green Family Vacation gets us off to a great start, a fun number where everyone gets a solo with Cricket's really hammering in why he ends up doing the shit he does. It has great coregraphy complete with some lala land style dancing on top of cars and a great cameo from officer keyes. It's jaunty, gets stuck in your head, it's everything an opening number should be and more.

Rules Rap... should really be called Zappstronaut Rules as Colleen says it enough times with an excellent belt. It's really well done though. Renee has bars for days and shows it off, going rapid fire as hell. It's the chorus I feel lets these ones down as while operatic, it feels out of tone with the rapid pace of the rest of hte rap and how dauntless the rules feel, stacked on one after another on top of our heroes. Still a banger. It really gets colleens cultish warship of gwendoln and sticklership, as well as how dangerous things are, all out nice and fast and making it a musical number was a genius move.

Space is Fun is okay. Visually it's fantastic, really showing off the ship and space itself and Bill's terror beautifully. But content wise i'ts just ... cricket going on about how fun space is. It's not really substantive.

Gwendolyn's Lament: Is decent. Cheri Oteri belts it out, I just wish they'd leand on her vocals more instead of having her talk thorugh a chunk of it, as she CAN belt it. Still having Gwendlon do a full on jazz number to gorgeous color contrast visuals was never not going to be fun.

Stuff I Said is a masterpiece, getting into Cricket and Billl's regret beautifully with Chris Houghton being a suprisingly effective singer. Bob Joules.. .isn't the best but has enough emotoin. And that's the song's strength: the emotion of it, takin ga slow second to let the weight of the shitty things they've done wash over Cricket and Bill. It sells both's changes as both realize they ding dang blorped up and need to fix it. It's a masterful song.

Green Family Vacation Reprise is great as the first one and a fun note to end on. Not much more to say, I aboslutely love them driving on saturn and the solar color washed credits.

Overall the music is decent. Only Green Family Vacation and Stuff I Said Really stick out to me. None of it's horrible or detracts from the movie, but it's still notably weaker than the well crafted story, deftly timed comedy, wonderful character beats or gorgeous visuals. I'ts not terrible, but it's not really memorable. Most musicals have me rushing to spotify to add my faviorites. This one.. I honestly didn't realize was even on spotify till recently. It's not terrible but in a film this good, it's noticably average.

Odds and Ends:

I didn't really talk about Tilly and Gramma in the main portions as their off to the side in their own weird fitting adventures: Tilly gets an alien, Alice gets a super leg and plots murder. Their good solid subplots but both are the side dishes to bill and cricket's main course. They contribute more than enough great jokes and to the plot, with Cookie, Tilly's alien, having the abillity to break glass they come in contact with and gramma's new leg allowing her to kick ass because she can't chew bubblegum with those dentures. Both characters are fantastic, there simply isn't anything to dig into with their arcs is all.

Supporting cast wise the film keeps it delebriately light: the only characters outside of Gwendolyn to show up are officer keys, who cameos in the opening number and has two great gags later first remarking what a good day this is seconds before news of the asteroid hits.. and then being proven right later when the apocalypse being cancelled leads to free hot dogs.

Otherwise the only returnees are chris and terry, the gay couple next door who annoy Gloria for a second with the whole foam gag, and Remy's parents.

I bring up Remy's parents for two reasons: to tackle Remy's small roll in the plot and to point out something weird. For some reason Remy's guard, manny and closest friend outside of Cricket Vasquez... is not in the film. The remmingtons are, with Remy going to the space hotel and proving critical to the climax.. but weirdly his bodyguard.. dosen't come along on vacation. And you'd say "Well it's vacaton of course he dosen't" but we're talking three very rich people in a very dangerous environment and a man who needs to see his therapist when Remy goes to a birthday party alone. IT's very weird he's absent.

Now his absence COULD be explained by his voice actor: Vasquez is voiced by everyone's faviorite character actor Danny Trejo. He's done a ton of voice acting on top of that.. which makes his absence questionable for two reasons: 1) while Danny is PROBABLY getting paid a decent wage, and I only say probably because Disney has been confirmed to be the worst and if they overwork pixar and do homophobic shit they probably aren't above underpaying a voice acting and regular acting legend, it's defintely not enough to break the budget and even if they coudln't 2) the remingtons are silent. Also the fact they paid andy daily for three lines tells me they can pay another guest actor for the same. It's a weird absence.

Remy himself is barely in the movie but I appricate finding space for him so the whole main cast gets featured. And Zeno Robinson does make good use of the time, mostly setting up the tractor beam

And getting to conga everyone to saftey in a hilaroius sequence towards the end. He's just kinda there, but it feels right having him there you know. It's the same reason it feels very wrong not having Vasquez around when the rest of Remy's family is there.

Almost forgot the cowboy resembling Sam Elliot. This is just a fun gag having him narrate the greens.. only to turn out to be doing it in story too as some weirdo they have to shoo away. It's a good nod to the big lebowski, a great weird little gag and a fun way to introduce the cast to new viewers.

Spaceclusion

If it wasn't clear already I love this movie. It's tightly animated, nicely takes a stock conflict for the show and blows it the fuck up, it's gorgeous to look at and it's so very funny. It's the movie this show deserved and proof the show has deserved to last this long. While I wish more shows got treated this well by disney, fuck them and their homophobia, I am glad at least one got to shoot for the stars and didn't miss. This movie is fantastic and well worth watching. If you love the show, you'll adore this, if you haven't seen it, it's a great introduction. This film deserves more eyes on it especially in a year full of so much misery from disney it's nice to see them release something this good with no abuse behind it. Thanks for reading and i'm pullin for you, we're all in this together

[archoneddzs15]

My review of Sonic x Shadow Dark Beginnings (all 3 episodes!)

When Anime Expo 2024 took place sometime around July 6th, 2024, Sega took to the rings to showcase their big plans surrounding the upcoming Sonic x Shadow Generations projects, namely the Dark Beginnings prologue animation. Needless to say, fans were very excited, and so was I, I have to admit. They spent the first 30 minutes giving some new fans an explainer regarding Shadow's fragmented backstory, and then it was time to turn the lights on to unveil the teaser trailer for Sonic x Shadow Dark Beginnings. This is the exact same trailer that was then uploaded to YouTube on the official Sonic channel though the version uploaded on the official Sonic channel is actually full-screen and viewers can see more of the animation without all this close-up stuff.

Months went by, and the 4th edition of Sonic Central was broadcast to the world. Among the sea of merchandise announcement from the likes of First4Figures and LEGO and so on, they showed even more animation in the form of a brand-new trailer showcasing to fans what to expect during that time. It was confirmed that the animation would be split into three episodes and thank God it was not spent on filler crap like Disney Marvel would do for utter shit like Echo or Moon Knight or the countless mountains of shit that would air on Japanese TV, especially those endless samurai dramas. Each episode was less than 10 minutes long. Short and sweet.

Well, with all 3 episodes satisfying quite the majority of Sonic fans around the world, and the new Sonic X Shadow Generations game breaking over 1 million copies on release day (October 25, 2024), were they absolutely worth it? Let's find out.

All descriptions for the plot are taken from Sonic News Network, but I'll save my thoughts in the conclusion portion of this article.

EPISODE 1: SHADOW AND MARIA

Episode 1 starts on the Space Colony ARK, fifty years ago. Maria runs down a hallway with Shadow in hand, eager to show him something. When they arrive, Shadow, concerned, asks her what’s wrong. Maria smiles and assures him that everything’s fine, gesturing to the breathtaking view of the northern lights (Maria refers this through the galactic name of Aurora Borealis, which is so profound you will see it on every desktop wallpaper out there). However, just as Shadow begins to relax, Maria suddenly collapses, and Shadow catches her in his arms.

Shadow gently reminds her that the colony's low gravity only keeps her condition in remission and that she shouldn’t overexert herself. Maria nods, understanding, but admits that she can’t help it; the beauty of Earth always stirs something in her, and she looks forward to returning to it one day. Shadow, however, is unsure as he’s not sure if there’s a place for him on Earth. He’s frustrated that despite being designed as the Ultimate Lifeform, created to cure Maria’s Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome (NIDS), they’ve made no progress. Sensing his distress, Maria pulls him into a gentle hug, reassuring him that they’re doing their best and that, for her, spending time with him is enough.

Suddenly, an explosion echoes through the ARK as Emerl (from Sonic Battle) breaches containment. Panicked, Maria pleads with Shadow to go and save her grandfather, as she notices that Emerl is headed for his lab. Though shaken by a dark premonition of the future G.U.N. raid, Shadow reassures her, promising to rescue the professor. He tells her to stay back while he handles the situation.

Shadow rushes to the scene and finds Emerl gripping Professor Gerald by the lab coat. A brief struggle ensues, with Shadow and Emerl exchanging rapid punches and kicks; the Gizoid copies and counters nearly every move of Shadow's, including his Spin Attack when he tries using it. Shadow finally manages to find an opening and delivers a powerful punch to Emerl, but when the blow lands, reality itself cracks, and then shatters around him like glass, which is when he begins to realize that something is off about what he's remembering. Suddenly, he finds himself elsewhere on the ARK looking down on G.U.N. spaceships approaching the colony, a soldier announcing their intent to board; Shadow knows this is the prelude to the G.U.N. raid where they killed nearly everyone onboard to erase all evidence of the ARK's experiments, but he notes that it’s occurring too soon, as if time itself is unraveling.

A rumble is then heard as the ARK suddenly tilts, and Shadow begins to slide as the station lurches to one side. Once again, as he smashes into the window overlooking the G.U.N. ships, reality fractures like glass, and Shadow tumbles through the darkness only to find himself landing in Professor Gerald's prison cell, scrawled with the scientist's mad scribblings. The professor himself sits silently at its center as the light above him sways back and forth. Shadow experiences another series of disorienting flashes and horrific visions of Gerald's execution by G.U.N. soldiers as he approaches, intent on getting his creator out, but the professor suddenly teleports further back with the room seemingly warping into a long hallway. Determined, Shadow chases after him, only to be thrust into a black void filled with crimson lightning and floating debris. Amid this chaos, Shadow sees a vision of Maria being shot. Her final words to him echo in his mind: “Remember!” As Shadow continues his endless descent, the clouds form an ominous, three-eyed figure (you know who, Black Doom) who reaches out to him with clawed, three-fingered hands.

In a flash, Shadow jolts awake in the present day on a cliffside, clutching the yellow Chaos Emerald. Gasping for breath, he fires a blast at a nearby tree, realizing that everything he’d experienced was just a nightmare. As the dust settles, he looks up to the sky, seeing the shattered moon. He mentally comments on how this was no ordinary nightmare as he turns his gaze to the distant ARK leering back down at him, wondering if "he" (again, Black Doom) could have survived. Which proceeds to...

EPISODE 2: FINDING THE WAY

Determining that he needs answers after this unnerving event, Shadow rushes off, and this episode picks up. We go back 50 years into the timeline where Maria is seen walking down a hallway, about to enter a room, when suddenly a boy named Abe (who grows up to be GUN Commander Abraham Tower) runs past her, shouting for her to keep that "freak" (Shadow) away from him. Briefly annoyed at Abe for his rudeness, Maria steps into the room and finds Shadow staring at a container holding a Death Leech. Concerned, she asks if he's alright. Shadow, with a heavy tone, replies that he is, but admits that he was created by Professor Gerald using the Black Arms' DNA, the same DNA as the "disgusting, heartless" larva inside the container. Though he may look like a hedgehog, he says, in reality, he’s no different from that creature. Maria responds by hugging Shadow, reassuring him that what he's feeling isn't the truth. She tells him he has a big heart, and though it may be difficult for him to show it, she knows deep down that he genuinely cares about her and everyone else. Unbeknownst to them, Abe watches from the window of the door, conflicted at first but then glancing back down at the floor with a hateful look, giving back into his dislike of Shadow and his nature. Maria comforts Shadow further, telling him that while he may be struggling to find answers now, she's confident that one day he will, and that he'll also find more people he can trust.

The scene fades to the present day, where Shadow is launching an assault on several of Eggman's samurai armor-clad Egg Pawns at Hidden Base. His goal is to reach a spacecraft that will take him to the ARK, as he suspects the Black Arms may have returned. He's joined by Rouge, who states that she's gathering intel for G.U.N. with E-123 Omega also on-scene and providing backup, though Rouge informs him that this is only a supply depot when he tells her of his intentions.

After Team Dark focuses their efforts on and easily destroys a giant, autonomous Egg Breaker that shows up to the battle, Rouge tells Shadow she can take him to a spacecraft. However, she makes him promise to attend Sonic's birthday party in return, much to his chagrin. As the episode ends, she teasingly asks if he's interested in raiding a G.U.N. base. The answer shall be revealed in the third [and final] episode.

EPISODE 3: TO THE ARK

Explosions go off as Team Dark (Shadow, Rouge, and Omega) infiltrates the base. While Rouge prepares the shuttle for launch, she comments on how G.U.N. funded the research that created Shadow, only to seal him away later; she raises this point to remind him not to seek any vendettas tonight. As a LZ-12R/Blue Falcon mech confronts the trio, a grinning Shadow responds that G.U.N. isn’t his enemy tonight, just an obstacle in his path. During the battle, the mech fires at them, but Omega keeps it distracted as Shadow manages to grab one of the missiles and launch it back. The G.U.N. soldier inside narrowly avoids the counterattack by launching flares that disorient the missile. Undeterred, Shadow teleports on top of the battle mech and grabs the missile again as it passes by, hurling it directly into the vehicle's hull.

The G.U.N. soldier tries to get a clear shot, but Shadow's teleporting makes it impossible to track him. As Shadow free-falls, the Blue Falcon fires a wave of homing missiles. Shadow destroys several in mid-air before using Chaos Control to freeze time, rapidly taking out the remaining missiles in a massive explosion. Shadow then Spin Attacks straight through the Blue Falcon, sending it tumbling out of the sky; the pilot panickily tries to eject, to no avail. Shadow teleports onboard and forces the cockpit open, seemingly ready to attack him, but instead punches the mech itself, un-jamming the ejection mechanism and allowing the soldier to escape before the Blue Falcon crashes into the ground. Shadow then boards the elevator leading to the shuttle, although not before Omega complains to Shadow that he (Omega) wants to destroy the Blue Falcon.

Rouge then tells Abraham that she retrieved the intel he requested, which was data on the Time Eater. Abraham notes that this came at the cost of millions' worth of G.U.N. assets, to which Rouge apologizes but insists that Shadow needed help to save the world.

Abraham sighs and admits that despite the previous bad blood between him and Shadow, he knows Shadow saved the world from Black Doom and would have supported him if he had just asked. Rouge sarcastically responds by pointing out that Shadow has never asked for permission. When Abraham suggests that she could’ve convinced him otherwise, Rouge smiles and says that only one person ever had that ability, with Abraham acknowledging ruefully that her point is true, and that said person was lost to them a long time ago.

As the shuttle heads toward the Space Colony ARK, Shadow reflects on a possible future for Maria had the GUN raid that ended her life not occurred, thoughts that begin to hurt him. He acknowledges after stopping himself that said future was taken from him long ago and, as the episode ends, reaffirms that he needs to focus on the mission at hand: eliminating whatever threat lurks onboard the ARK.

CONCLUSION

So what did I think of all 3 episodes?

In one word, fantastic! More of this, please! I was actually surprised at the sudden jump in quality of animation style. We've sure come a long way from Sonic Mania Adventures 7 years ago and now they are coming out with such a masterpiece like this? Dang! I guess all that waiting was definitely worth it.

[a-fantasy-lover-surfing-the-net]

Till the end of the moon review

I recently rewatched the drama and felt like reviewing the first Cdrama I ever watched. After watching some cdramas in the past 7 months since I first watched the drama, I now trust myself to write a decent enough review after somewhat familiarizing myself with the genre and overall cdrama space.

Rating: 9.5/10 (1000 bonus points for searing itself in my mind and staying there even after 7 months)

Acting: 10/10

Story: 9/10

Chemistry: 100000000/10

OST: 10/10

Costumes: 10/10

Hair & Makeup: 9.5/10

Production/Set Design: 10/10

Visual Effects/CGI: 10/10

Rewatch Value: 10/10

Li Susu, an immortal time travels 500 years into the past to prevent the ascension of the Devil god, who goes on to destroy the world in the future. It's a story of love and hate, good and evil, redemption and damnation. The characters are very well conceptualized and depicted beautifully by talented actors, stunning costumes, really good hair and makeup, and great cinematography. The amazing production and set design along with impressive visual effects and CGI really immerse the audience in the world of TTEOTM. This was a high budget drama and it shows... each and every frame of the drama, it feels lavish. If you are even a little bit interested go watch the first episode and l promise you'll be hooked and end up finishing the drama.

Now unto my spoiler filled thoughts:

I find it interesting that the typical backstory themes and some character arcs of the male lead and the female lead have been swapped here. The FL usually has a dead parent or abusive household or terrible luck and so on. The ML usually comes to the FL's rescue or stands up for her and so on. We all know that Tantai Jin is Disney Princess coded given his dead mother, abusive and neglectful upbringing and his animal telepathy powers. LSS both as Ye Xiwu and LSS repeatedly saves TTJ and stands for him. While TTJ also saves her many times, he does not get a chance to stand up for her because she usually takes care of herself and she is not suspected or wrongfully accused where she would need someone to support her. Also, TTJ basically became a part of LSS's family as her uncle took him under his wing and he promised to stay in Hengyang Sect with her in ep 35 before all hell breaks loose. And who can forget that LSS marks TTJ with her Phoenix mark, typical ML behavior.

Their romance is my ultimate enemies to lovers pairing. It has just the right amount of fighting, messiness, animosity and angst for me. I feel that other pairings don't have enough of it for me to consider them as an enemies-to-lovers couple. Their visuals, their chemistry, their acting and the story everything was so great. Who else has three epic weddings in one drama? I am still not able to move on from this couple and drama.

While the misunderstandings were obviously supposed to lead to a turning point in the story, I feel like it was in character for them to jump to conclusions and assume the worst without fully thinking things through and which then led to them acting rashly. I mean both TTJ and LSS had bad history between them so in the early stages of their relationship where their trust in each other was shaky, it's understandable that they were prone to misunderstandings. Also, they're both not good at communicating with each other. In the mortal arc, LSS was never fully honest with TTJ and they never addressed their past misdeeds properly (like OG Ye Xiwu was very cruel to TTJ and he never talked to her about it and just brushed it off). In the immortal arc, TTJ deceived LSS when he became the Devil God.

For the most part the story was gripping, progressed at a good pace and conveyed many themes that become apparent on rewatches. Though it was obvious that the last 5 episodes and the ending were rushed because the censorship rules changed as they went into production. This was one of those dramas that needed at least 5-10 more episodes to properly flesh out the story. It was a missed opportunity that we didn't get to see LSS ruling the Demon realm and Ami's antics.

Another victim of the decreased episode count is the arc of the second leads. Tbh, I wish that Pian Ran and Ye Qingyu were the SLs but I think I would have enjoyed seeing the complete character arc of Xiao Lin/Gongye Jiwu and Ye Bingchang/Mo Nv and the resolution between them. That said it was appalling that they didn't bring back Pian Ran and Ye Qingyu in the immortal arc. I really missed their dynamic with each other and with the main leads. It is disappointing that they didn't even get an open/ambiguous ending to give us some closure and satisfaction.

The actress did a phenomenal job in making us hate her as Ye Bingchang and Tian Huan. Those characters as villians really worked as they were in a way the ones who had the markings of the female lead (these characters at the start of their stories could easily be heroines in any other story) but they turn into villians. Tantai Minglang was a good, serviceable villian and the actor did a lot with how little he was given. Di Mian was selfish and manipulative traitor who was almost scarily competent. I mean he did achieve what he wanted by becoming the Devil God and opening the Tongbei formation. The point of Devil God as a villian is not his character and his motivations but rather he represents our inner demons and how each of us has the power to overcome them.

Out of all the dramas I've watched, only TTEOTM's entire OST is on my regular playlist to listen to. Every time I listen to "Let's be like this for 10,000 years", I feel the love and tragedy of Sang Jui and Ming Ye's story all over again. It's impressive that a song can make you relive those feelings and the story every time you listen to it. All the songs fit wonderfully in the scenes they're played over and also make us feel those emotions again when listening to them separately.

On my first watch, the dream arc felt a little out of place and jarring, which, in hindsight, was probably due to the fact that it was my first cdrama. Upon rewatch I've come to appreciate that it gives a look into the age of Gods and it shows that the Devil God was so powerful that to stop him the Gods had to sacrifice themselves and only Ming Ye was able to survive. The action sequences here are just magnificent to watch and they definitely seem movie level. It also serves as a warning to the audience, LSS and TTJ that they could also have a tragic end if they don't learn the lessons from it. Unfortunately, in the mortal arc they did have a tragic end. However, in the immortal arc, TTJ is able to learn from his experience as Ming Ye and succeeds in defeating the OG Devil God and becoming the Devil God himself with control over his own destiny.

One of the most prominent themes of the drama is redemption and that love and compassion are powerful enough to change a person's fate. The themes of Taoism and Buddhism are evoked throughout the drama. There are also many other minor themes like the food is used as a guesture kindness (when LSS first gives TTJ a proper meal), affection/care (when TTJ gave LSS the goose themed meal), love (when LSS gives badly cooked meals to TTJ), betrayal and trickery (the poisoned porridge) and comraderie, friendship, brotherhood and familial love (when TTJ shares meals with his sect brothers and master). Both TTJ and LSS have dead moms, terrible fathers and great adoptive dads (Zhao You and Qu Xuan Zi), these are just some observations I made.

I may not love the ending but I don't hate it either as it was obvious to me that they reunite once again and live happily as a family (the audio ending really makes it clear). Even though I'm irritated we don't get to see it, I'm still satisfied that we get a hopeful ending rather than a tragic one.

Until now I've mostly been lurking in fandom spaces by liking and very rarely commenting and reblogging but never posting my own original post. The fact that my first ever post is on TTEOTM shows how much I love it. I'll probably be posting more TTEOTM analysis stuff so be on the look out for that if you're interested. Also, I welcome your recommendations as I'm still a newbie to cdramas and kdramas.

You can also check out my costumed cdrama rankings here.

[ikuzeminna]

Why is crapping on Gundam Wing by people reviewing all the Gundam series such a trend? And in the silliest manner possible, because out of the million flaws Gundam Wing has, they never pick any of those. Instead they make stuff up. "The characters are flat." Oh yeah, sure, no depth at all to the guy who starts out as a merciless killer FUBARing every important mission he's sent on (and I love what a drama queen he is), gradually regaining his humanity once he's removed from the battlefield, only to end up horrified by being forced by a machine into becoming a ruthless killer again. Or the guy who spends the entire series preaching 'carpe diem' while he himself is the living embodiment of 'memento mori'.

Or the snarky mercenary with a massive Middle Child Syndrome who sacrifices the only thing he's fought for his entire life (himself) to keep another kid from turning out like him. Or said kid who goes through 50 shades of bonkers and every human emotion in existence during the show. Don't even get me started on the ladies. "Wufei is not interesting." Of course not. Why would the sole guy who doesn't fight for the freedom of the colonies but instead wages a personal war of revenge and a promise he's trying to keep to his late wife be interesting? Which explains why he's a wild card and fights on Mariemaia's side in EW. "The Gundams are overpowered. They never get any damage." Yeah, why didn't they send five suits made of Explodium against a world army? Also begs the question why we see them get repaired in the third episode already. And why every pilot is also a trained mechanic who can fix his own suit. Since the Gundams are indestructible anyway. Seriously. The show itself spells it out. Gundanium may be near indestructible but the electronics and other parts get fried perfectly fine which, surprise surprise, renders a Gundam useless. Never mind that Noin, in episode 4 already, was willing to use a weapon that could damage Gundanium but would overheat on Earth. "Relena's pacifism should never have worked against Romefeller. The show is dumb for presenting it as the solution." .....It didn't??? The whole Cinq arc made a point out of pacifism not working with Romefeller and the Mobile Dolls around. Just- what??? "Gundam Wing isn't realistic." This is like complaining about talking animals in The Lion King. Gundam Wing is supposed to be anti-UC. Being unrealistic was intentional. Being focused on ideologies was intentional. Not focusing on character struggles (too much) was intentional. Having a mess of a plot because you have one million different factions was intentional. If reviewers watch all the UC series and don't get that Gundam Wing has the exact opposite setup then I don't know what to tell them. Complain about talking animals while you watch a Disney movie, I guess. Pick on the horrid pacing. Pick on Relena and Heero being nutjobs in the beginning. Pick on yelling from cliffs. Pick on Noin being a doormat to Zechs. Pick on Zechs being a Char clone. Pick on there being way too many characters in the beginning. Pick on the Dorothy/Quatre connection coming out of nowhere or Une giving herself split personalities because of a dude.

There is a plethora of flaws to choose from. Also, get out of my face with UC being better. That salt episode was the dumbest thing I've ever seen in my life and I've watched Seed Destiny.

[standreamy]

Miraculous The Movie Review: An admirable, imperfect attempt

PREMISE

It's not a masterpiece, it's not groundbreaking and it has flaws that limited the result quite a lot, which I'll point out. Yet it's also a very good product that I think should be praised for its efforts.

I watched this movie both with people who have followed the whole series, and with those who have seen it partially. I also watched it by myself and with people who have never seen the series and knew nothing about it.

I have therefore tried to keep my view as unbiased and objective as possible.

I will divide this analysis/review into various sections. I tried to leave comparisons with the series only in the last one, though inevitably, it wasn’t possible to never mention the differences. For this reason, I decided to leave a final vote that will be split into what I grade the movie by itself and what I grade it as part of the Miraculous brand.

However, I want to clarify that with this post I do not intend to discredit those who prefer the show, nor do I intend to encourage those who prefer the movie  to behave arrogantly and attack Astruc.

The final part is where I will directly compare movie and show and where I will explain my preferences. You are perfectly free to skip, as it’s the last part before my grades.

With that said, let's get started!

ANIMATION

I've seen little contrast of opinion on this topic. Indeed, it is undeniable that it is of the highest quality. I'm a big fan of 2D, and as for animation I prefer it to 3D by a long mile, but the choice of quality for the movie is impressive. You can’t just help but admire and it surely deserved a worldwide release in theaters. 

The backgrounds, the characters, the details, the textures and the focus on expressions… Nowadays, Disney movies spend almost double the budget and offer equal or almost inferior graphic quality. 

I also want to clarify that the focus on expressions is very important because by following the "show and don't tell" rule, it allows you to receive information on what the characters are feeling and therefore enriches their profile. You never see a stiff character, even in the background or from a distance there are characters expressing emotions or doing something, which is actually stunning for the eyes. One of the best 3D graphics I’ve seen personally.

MUSIC

The number of songs is a judgment that can only be subjective, as not everyone likes musicals. But for being a musical indeed, I personally find the number acceptable, especially for the role that the songs played.

I find that composition wise (I study music professionally) they are all very high quality. The harmonies chosen, the orchestration that Zag has composed are of a very high standard not generally seen often in modern animated movies.

This can also be seen in the background music, which is extremely impactful and recognizable. None goes unnoticed, embrace the scenes in harmony. The soundtrack in a movie is fundamental, it enriches the feeling that the scene can evoke. It is after all not an unknown factor that, for example, by removing the soundtrack of a horror movie, you remove much of the effect of fear and unsettlement it creates.

Returning to the songs, however, I particularly appreciated their usefulness for the plot and the characters. I have seen very opposite opinions on this matter, from people praising them and people thinking they were totally unrelated or repetitive. Personally, I think every single song expressed a well-defined concept that carried forward the intended messages.

Speaking from a purely personal point of view, on a melodic and interpretative level my favorite songs were "Courage in me" and "Stronger Together". However, I find the most important to be “If I believed in me”, “Chaos will reign today” and “Alone again”. A song for each of the film's main characters; Marinette, Adrien and Hawkmoth.

And I also found the most well executed “Reaching out”.

But for this analysis, I'm going to touch on each song.

“If I believed in me” This song is the perfect introduction and presentation of the character. It tells us all the key details to know about Marinette at first glance. She is very shy, awkward and introverted to the point of having social anxiety. This has led her to willingly shut people out, even though people who know her a bit more seem to like her, and even if deep down inside she wants to fit in and her creativity is a way for her to channel that. She has a dream as a fashion designer and takes all the inspiration from the world around her. However, this inner conflict leads her to self-sabotage and behave in a bizarre way. This is a classic and basic step that most of the best musical animated movies follow and in this one it was quite appropriate. Putting a song right at the start may seem unsettling for people who dislike musicals or found it unnecessary, however, it was a very right and basic rule to follow.

“Alone Again” Another very important song that expresses not only Adrien's pain for the loss of his mother, but also for his father's neglect. The text is universal enough to show that Adrien may want to reconnect with both Emilie and Gabriel. Not having enough minutes in the movie to properly focus on the Agreste family dynamic, this was key to fix that. Because of this, I think that removing it in non-French versions was a very big mistake.

"You are Ladybug" While it’s not one of the most fundamental, it’s a song very well handled, because it not only explains part of the lore, but actually shows that in this movie the Kwami are much more sentient.  Tikki demonstrates her knowledge of years of experience. She knows how it works, she knows which carriers are best for her and she also knows it might help Marinette to improve her confidence as she outright states while singing. On a musical level, the use of the show's original opening is also very effective. It's not easy to readapt a motif several times without getting bored of it, even building a new song on top of it, and in this case Zag did an excellent job.

"Ma Lady" Similar to "Alone Again", this song is also very important to show one of the new motivations for Adrien to open up. Chat Noir is Adrien's way of bringing out his inner self, and even though it didn't do it the best way at first because of his attitude, this is the beginning of his change. It’s a crucial song to a crucial improvement.

“Chaos will reign today” This song has a strong Disney villain vibe that fits very well with the model they followed for Hawk Moth in this movie. Another classic to express the desire of the villains is to convey it with a song that gives the right tone to the character, who can be more or less evil. In the case of Gabriel it is very smart to show him with a theater man attitude, given that his wife performed in the theater in the world of the movie. It fits well with the character they chose for Gabriel. This song is also the very moment Gabriel is sure about his path and finally decides to go on being a villain.

“Courage in me” This song, in addition to having excellent musicality and a change of tone that is always and gradually more triumphant, is very well represented. It begins with Marinette grappling with anxiety and her instincts and desperation growing stronger until they become a call to the mission. Marinette embraces her role after much hesitation and from this moment a change begins for her as well as for Chat in "Ma Lady". From here on Marinette will try to open up slowly and improve.

“Miraculous theme remix”  Nothing in particular to say about this. It's a pretty good adaptation and perfect for a montage, even if I'll explain later on why I would have substituted it with something else (“The wall between us”).

“Stronger together” Perhaps the most representative song of the movie. In addition to the impressive presentation, the portrayal of the relationship of the two protagonists under these forms is enhanced to the max. Both open their hearts, finding the pinnacle of their relationship and communicating it openly. Especially for Chat Noir, this is the quintessential moment where he finally opens up and reaches out to someone. He makes himself vulnerable for the first time in a long while, demonstrating the improvement in him as a person. Sadly, it doesn't end the way he hoped.

“Reaching out” Perhaps one of the best-performing songs in the movie. Marinette, similar to Chat, has improved and opened up, hoping to be able to find a mutual feeling that however, apparently, wasn’t reciprocated. This moment naturally creates a lot of doubt and insecurity in her and the song represents this difficulty and duality. By now she's grown up, she's learned to be herself and she can't just go back to zero point, however now her doubts and insecurity are growing because her efforts didn’t seem to work.

"Now I see" The song played during the end credits. An alternative version to "Stronger Together", with the same main melody, but different words, much more appropriate for the resolution of the movie and the now realized reveal. Their feelings were revealed in totality and they managed to connect. Their eyes and hearts can finally see.

"Careless Whisper" Yes. I will put it in the list because while its purpose is silly, it has one. Putting it in the moment Chat falls for Ladybug makes sense because those feelings are still incomplete and needs to grow and mature. It's understandable to make it a comedic moment. Just like it was a good idea to use it again later on as it's a break up song.

PLOT

Simple but functional plot, which follows a perhaps predictable path but also manages to exploit as much as possible in such a small time frame.

Compared to the series, at least the arc of Hawk Moth, everything is very simplified, but I think it's a good choice.

Not having too complex bases and having to fix everything in a limited time, but also needing to address important themes, the movie was able to focus better on the chosen details.

There are some cuts that unfortunately, however necessary, demonstrate that the movie’s potential would have been better expressed in a trilogy totally focused on Gabriel, rather than with a change of villain, thus allowing for more in-depth development.

However, it is understandable that with the Covid crisis and with the movie's few certainties of success a few years ago, Zag chose a safer path for the first and possible only installment, given the great uncertainty of possible sequels. The only thing that can be blamed then, is the possible fear of daring.

Beyond these elements, the film is certainly well studied in its three acts. Reinterpreting an existing story that spans several seasons and containing it in a movie is not for everyone and I find that as much as possible has been done and that it achieves the goal.

I also appreciated that many aspects of the PV have been restored for this version.

STRUCTURE AND RHYTHM

One of the main flaws of this movie, maybe the most critical, is the pacing.

Given the large number of characters, messages and plot twists, as well as the necessary gradual developments to be made and the relationships to be highlighted, everything happened very quickly and sometimes felt rushed. From the second act, it gallops towards the finale.

At my first viewing in French, this feeling was clear as water, but it improved on subsequent viewings in other languages as well.

It was an aspect I find impossible to prevent, but perhaps could have been lessed in some ways.

This problem goes hand in hand with the impetuous scene changes, even if mostly softened in the Italian version I watched afterwards.

Often there are sharp cuts that can be noticed between one scene and another, given the many perspectives to follow. It is clear that the time frame was limited and this detail would have been significantly improved with just a few more minutes.

In its favor it can be said that despite the short time frame, the many things to say and the too fast pace, the substance is clear. Characters are defined in who they are and what they want. The story is too, touching all the stages and completing itself, but still leaving room for the sequel. All reading levels are readable despite the flaws.

It’s a real shame though, that many aspects had to be rushed where instead they could have hugely benefited with more playing time or even splitting this arc into 3 movies.

DIALOGUES

Another mixed point of this movie are the dialogues. In some moments, for example the beginning with the conversation between Marinette and her mother Sabine, they fall into unnaturalness. They feel a bit out of place.

However, there are many other dialogues that are opposite to this; they are well thought out and excellent for explaining messages that cannot always be shown for playing time.

One such example is the dialogues between Tikki and Marinette when they get to know each other. “Exciting! You discovered electricity!”, “Girls can wear pants? Finally!”: these are dialogues that together with Tikki’s sung story not only make us understand the authority of the Kwami but also the historical context of the story and guess the time that has passed since there was enough chaos to call the Miraculous into action.

Also much of the characters' banter and comedic gags (with the exception of Plagg farting, which I find unnecessary as that kind of humor nowadays can be considered "outdated" for children and as the movie already had other comic reliefs) help to define the various contexts. Nothing the characters do or say really seems pointless.

DUBBING

On this aspect, I decided not to focus much because for each language there are positive and negative aspects. I have seen the movie in French, English and Italian (my native language) numerous times. In French and English, the known problem is that Marinette's voice is too deep in the singing and I agree that at least in English they should have let Cristina Vee sing. However, even here I don't feel like judging enormously because I also watched the movie in Italian and there these problems are completely absent. Indeed, the Italian version is probably the best in my opinion. Excellent acting and intonation, Marinette's chosen singing voice is very similar to speech as well as impressive in the expressiveness, and Adrien's is the same in both speaking and singing and is intoned and expressive.

The only voice that is out of place in Italian in the singing is Tikki, the same as in speech, a little out of rhythm and intonation.

However, I appreciated the different depth given to the characters compared to the show. Deeper and more expressive.

LORE

Starting from a purely introductory point of view, we can say that we have had a fairly complete one that immediately informs us of the basics; The miraculous of the cat and the ladybug contain enormous power and are balanced, they are called only in times of chaos and that of the butterfly is the most dangerous in case of incorrect use.

We are then informed in the movie that the Miraculous have been used since ancient times, that the Kwami are related to jewels and bestow powers but that they are also wise and skillful in their choices. They probably go dormiant when use is not needed.

We still don't know how the Miraculous were created, how Fu lost them (if he lost them in this version in the first place) and how much the Kwami have to obey their bearers. Furthermore, perhaps one of the defects is the absence of an explanation on how actually the Miraculous of Ladybug and Chat Noir could help Emilie. Would they bring her back to life? Would there be a sacrifice to be made?

Another aspect that I would have introduced in advance is the explanation of the powers of the Cataclysm and the Cure.

From a usage point of view, I think an excellent job has been done. Great idea to leave them at only the last drastic case, also for a matter of scenic effect. The idea of eliminating all of Ladybug's other powers to truly balance the two heroes is also excellent. Destruction and creation, Ladybug forced only to use her wits with what she has around, without extra help, and Chat engaged in a more physical role.

In this aspect, I think the movie did a better job of never making Ladybug and her Miraculous feel more important than her counterpart ever.

However, as mentioned, the lack of an explanation of these powers and introduction is a shortcoming of the film.

Even a mention of their danger and the fear of using them in any casual fight would have been of great help to better serve the surprise effect. Or propose that you need to reach a certain level of maturity or experience to unlock certain powers, even just inner acceptance.

The transformation limits have been removed, as well as that of only one Akuma at a time and a self-akumization of Hawk Moth while he was still transformed. All these changes in my opinion are not harmful and with the time limit it is a more than necessary cut.

It is also implied that the incorrect use of the miraculous can have negative effects on the bearer, as seen by Gabriel, increasingly destroyed and unkempt, as well as victim of fainting episodes. I found it a very ingenious choice, like making the enhancement of the powers of the two main miraculous literal when coordinated.

CHARACTERS

There are characters more or less different from the series, but regardless of whether they are good changes or not, the fact that they exist is not a mistake. It's a reboot, the characters don't have to be the same as their counterparts. They do not have the same roles, priorities or main characteristics. They are not supposed to be anything the show portrays them as.

The most remarkable thing is throughout the duration of the film the two protagonists have balanced roles.

Marinette/Ladybug

In this version, Marinette is a very different character from the series. Introverted and shy, and it is precisely this factor that makes her clumsy and awkward, even going as far as to assume bizarre attitudes in public, withdrawing into herself (as demonstrated with the teens who had tried to greet her and with Alya, whom she advises to stay away) and making mistakes that she apparently wouldn't make with more confidence in herself.

This leads not only others to avoid and mock her, but also to increase her anxiety.

A fairly predictable path for a protagonist where the superhero theme is concerned, but functional and excellent for counterbalancing Chat Noir and his readiness for the role.

From these points of view, Marinette is a character who is a victim of the situation, but also a victim of herself. She is flawed on purpose in the right ways. Her attitudes have a clear cause understood from setting, but realistically it’s still an unhealthy behavior for herself (hiding behind a car on first greeting, risking getting hurt repeatedly, loneliness).

Marinette is "chosen" by Master Fu and Tikki, for her instinctive and rapid heroic gesture, which almost failed. She doesn't hesitate for a moment to risk her life and almost throw it away, there are zero second thoughts. However, Tikki also chooses her because of her experience with past wearers of hers. Indeed, the call to become a hero, a very common theme in the stories of superheroes who are called to service in case they have the opportunity to help, even if perhaps they don’t wish to or never had an option to choose.

It can be said that Marinette is actually "the exception" for a girl of her age. Many would jump at the opportunity to have superpowers, like Adrien.

Indeed, Marinette keeps doubting clearly until "Courage in me", where fear is transformed into the need to act. Marinette has no choice, but she embraces the task and from that moment she begins to change.

She will begin to open up more to Chat's company, she will begin to open up to her friends and Adrien, to communicate with him, to get to know him.

And we see her blossoming into the same but also a new person, which leads her to a better life. However, the message given isn't that you have to change yourself to be accepted. But that effort must start from you. If you harm yourself and wait for others to step forward (even if the help of others is useful, as demonstrated in the movie) you will not be able to get back on your feet.

Marinette finds the confidence not to change herself, but to BE herself. To open up, to try courageously and relax, arriving at beneficial results for herself and this consequently leads to acceptance by others.

Marinette is already a fantastic person, but she has to let others see it and her experience as Ladybug, then leading to opening up first with Chat, with Alya and then with Nino and Adrien allows her to reflect what she has inside.

After rejecting Chat Noir with regret and inner doubts and after the rejection by Adrien, Marinette doubts again. After all, she made the effort, she got better… and it wasn't enough.

She doesn't know if it was worth it or not... yet she proves that the Marinette she once was is now different. She rushes into action to help when Hawk Moth strikes and after a moment of crisis she remembers the words from Chat and Tikki, during the very moment she hits rock bottom. She gets up in the form she believed most vulnerable, which she had already exposed once failing, she throws herself forwards and saves Chat Noir.

And finally, with the herself that she built, she rebuilds the city and steps forward to connect to Chat/Adrien. Difficult step because there will always be the slightest doubt of being rejected, but she embraces it and this time it brings her to a happy ending.

She no longer has to worry about having her parents drive her to school, she no longer has to worry about being watched, because now she can let her inner light shine and she knows that if she falls, she will rise again.

Adrien/Chat Noir

In this version the male protagonist is much more introverted as a civilian. Similarly to Marinette, he too has difficulty opening up and from a certain point of view he too by personal choice. Also demonstrated by the symbolism of the earbuds that he always wears in moments of insecurity. Indeed, in his case it is mainly a self-isolation that is imposed due to the trauma suffered by the death of the mother and the distancing that the father has placed in the relationship with his son.

Unlike the Adrien of the show, this Adrien grew up without particular restrictions, he can go where he wants and also had a good relationship with his father, who was present and affectionate. It's not hard to think that in this version Adrien was even encouraged by his father to go to school as a way to push him away, given Gabriel's confirmation in the finale that he couldn't bring himself to see his son's sad gaze.

As a consequence of this, we see an Adrien who, while kind and helpful, is not the same ray of sunshine of the show, whose main trait is kindness. But in this case, it doesn't HAVE to be.

This Adrien has trouble opening up and is afraid of becoming attached, which is why despite going along with Nino proposals of hanging out and helping out Marinette, he doesn't feel like being around them too much.

On the other hand, as Chat Noir, he is extremely stuck up and arrogant, proving that Chat is really an escape for the boy, who however exaggerates in letting this side out and ends up behaving in a quite negative way (albeit in moderation). A guy who probably really took on a few traits of the snotty rich kid.

This reading shows us a clearly flawed Chat Noir.

We don't see his meeting with Plagg or transformation, but from the get-go Chat is the one willing to wear the role, so while it would have been nice to see it, I don’t blame the cut. It was Marinette the one that needed more focus in this case.

Chat's attitude changes from the moment the boy develops a crush on Ladybug. This drives him to improve and gradually moderate his attitudes. Unlike the show's Chat he doesn't flirt and while it’s gradual, his banter with Ladybug becomes more playful and affectionate in nature and starts trusting her capacities. He becomes more humble and approachable, admitting that he doesn't see himself as the boss of the duo and offering to play sidekick. He collaborates with the girl during the fights, listens to her, begins to see her merits... and in civilian life he begins to go out with Nino, Alya and Marinette, to the point of opening up about his mother with the latter, an extremely personal topic for him. He no longer wears earbuds, no longer isolates himself from the outside world.

We see him again in class finally, when he didn't show up at the other lessons and we see him go back to a normal life.

His feelings for Ladybug in this case have improved him and come to a head when he also confides in Ladybug about his mother in his special place, confessing his feelings in a song and showing his vulnerability. Unfortunately, it does not end up as he would like and it leads him in the same situation Marinette will be into shortly after, doubting how good it was opening up. At the proposal to go to the gala with his friend, he will reject her with regret and what appears to be repentance and guilt.

This passage can be read both as insecurity about his feelings towards Marinette, and as insecurity about him opening up to others, given the hard blow immediately after finally opening up for the first time.

But even Adrien can't go back to zero point, and after a momentary moment of grudge, once he realizes that Ladybug is in danger, he runs to help.

Adrien throws himself into the fight against his father, which lands him in trouble. Thanks to his father's guilt, the villain stops and the two talk. Here Adrien's growth finally shines, who finally incites his father to let Emilie go, which he too had to learn to do and did, and forgives him.

That is a moment of acceptance and unfortunately, however, it is also a probable farewell, with the father who has presumably ended up in prison. Adrien thus remains alone and returns to isolate himself again due to the new trauma, even if not completely (he went to the dance, he doesn’t wear earbuds and Nino says he will join them). It's hard for him to go back to normal and heal, but he's learned and the step Marinette takes to reach his heart finally pays off and Adrien can start healing.

Gabriel/Hawk Moth

Perhaps the most human character in the movie. Gabriel, contrary to the show, is a man who shows constant crisis towards the loss of his wife. In the presence of others he proves to be composed, engaged in his working life (which we finally see more of), but in the private sphere he does not hesitate to show us all his desperation, also visible in his appearance which becomes increasingly scruffy as he continues with his hunt for the Miraculous.

We arrive at the end of the fight that he is a man destroyed by pain, by his own obsession that has taken over and by repentance.

As a character, although he comes across as cold and distant, he doesn't seem to abuse his son. Rather than an abusive parent, he is very neglectful and he pushes Adrien away for a matter of grief, not for his own standards of the family. He doesn't harshly reject Nathalie's proposal to eat with Adrien because he really doesn’t find it necessary, rather the reminder seems to hurt him because he knows he is wrong to not want his son around, which is why he acts so stern right after.

Thanks to the song and the revelation of his role, we discover that he is slowly descending further and further into madness, overwhelmed by his feelings. His own song, while not excusing his actions, treats him almost sympathetically and is the very moment he made the choice for his path. Up until then he was unsure which way to go, but the more his desperation and impatience grew, the more he lost control. And as Adrien freed himself from the chains of mourning, Gabriel became more and more engulfed in them.

Gabriel shows us that he cares about his son, while trying to detach himself emotionally to the point of believing he no longer has "Nothing to lose". To the point of believing that their relationship cannot be saved and that really the only way is to return Emilie to Adrien, even if that could mean losing his son's affection.

Still, Gabriel worries about his son's health and safety at all times, between making sure he's not at the scene of his attacks and wondering where he's been during the night. All this, while we see him more and more unkempt.

Gabriel, however, has been a loving man in the past and has all the bases for a possible redemption. It is precisely so that when he recognizes his son in Chat he decides to stop, realizing how far he has gone.

It doesn't excuse him from his actions, for which he will likely pay, but it does make him a villain we can sympathize with. He finally lets go of his wife, accepts the pain, and receives acceptance from his son who acknowledges that Gabriel too needed help. And then he hugs Adrien for the last time, in what seems like a desperate gesture that he's wanted to do for a long time. Heal the wounds of loss with the love of the one he still had, but who probably couldn't raise anymore.

However, a negative detail of Hawk Moth, perhaps the only one, is the fact that his costume does not fit with the character. In the series, his mask is understandable because at the beginning you don't want to immediately reveal his identity. However, this element is not introduced in the movie, so a redesign would have been appropriate.

For the post-credits scene, it is very unlikely that Gabriel left to Nathalie the duty of carrying on the plan, especially AFTER he surrendered, evidenced by the dialogue she recalls, implying that at the time of the confession no one else knew of his identity. After his surrender, all Paris was aware and it would have made no sense to talk about it as if it were a secret (although Emilie's body still was). Nor would the authorities let Gabriel loose after his surrender.

The kwamis

In this version we generally know little about the origins of the Kwamis as we do in the show. However we are aware of how much more sentient they are. Their authority is significantly greater and they are more difficult to manage. Theirs is not an attitude of chaotic innocence, but rather a "We do as we want because we have the right to", because they have enough years and experience behind them to be able to decide for themselves.

They impose themselves on their bearers and although they act as advisors, especially Tikki, they do not hesitate to reiterate several times that they are very expert beings in their job, to the point that they know how to recognize a pattern in all their bearers and also use it for choosing them. They are Gods, and as Zag wanted, they manage to prove it despite their cuteness.

We also know that Tikki and Plagg don't get along very well, but having not seen them interact we cannot yet define their relationship. Let's hope that in the sequel we’ll see this element, given the new relationship of their carriers.

Tikki is much more in-depth than Plagg in terms of screentime. Often advising Marinette to follow her feelings but also advising against it if needed, always following her own experience and gut.

Plagg on the other hand, unfortunately has much less screentime and another weak point of the movie is the fact that he was into the comic relief, in a somewhat avoidable way. Too bad, because despite his tough exterior he hides a soft heart, as demonstrated when he consoles Adrien over Ladybug's rejection.

Master Fu

Master Fu in this version appears more like a real guardian than a mentor. A person who looks at the Kwamis and makes sure they don't take too many liberties and then takes care of choosing new bearers together with their approval.

He does not approach the two heroes to instruct them except at the beginning, approaching both of them and at the end to recover the miraculous of the butterfly.

More than his absence as a master, the lack of his backstory and the missing miraculous can be seen as a flaw, although it is possible that it will be addressed as a theme in the sequels.

Fu in the movie is much weirder, ending up taking on a secondary comic relief role which in my opinion would have worked a lot more in this case, rather than on Plagg.

Secondary characters

Given the short time, many of them could not receive much space, but they were still able to show their usefulness.

First, Alya. The girl has a very charismatic personality and this leads her to approach Marinette and be the perfect person to match the girl, given the social problems she has and her tendency to push others away. This is one of the elements that helps Marinette open up, leading her from being drawn into a friendship to making friends of her own free will. Very important is that we are told early on about her dream of being a reporter and that it is used to motivate her attitude, which is never explicitly said on the show, even though it is part of her character.

Another character that I would like to mention is Chloé. The girl, contrary to the show, falls more into the kind of bully that cares about their reputation. She doesn't want to be seen doing bad things to Marinette, as shown more than once, especially in the scene where Alya purposely starts filming her to make her stop. She is bratty and bad-mannered, yet her refusal to be caught mistreating others is a sign that she recognizes her actions as wrong, which is a huge differentiator from the show. While it doesn't excuse her, this sets the stage for possible redemption in the sequels.

I also find the use of Nino and Marinette's parents positive, who are an excellent side element and help the characters move through the plot and in their development.

The akumatized

For a short movie, the handling of the akumatized people was excellent. The first showed us how transformation and its lore works in this universe, also showing us that a negative feeling is not just simple anger and sadness, but even intentions alone count.

The first clash serves us as an introduction and unleashes the story from every point of view, both for the roles and relationship of the protagonists, and for Gabriel's journey and the reaction of civilians. Each clash changes things and a notable contribution is made by the second. The two heroes learn to work together and are finally seen in a positive light by the still hesitant civilians.

The second clash also shows us action scenes during which Chat Noir and Ladybug strengthen their relationship, their powers and show the basis of their individual qualities, or the physical clash for one and creativity for the other.

Then we have a montage of villains, which saves minutes and despite everything allows the collaboration of the two heroes and the opinion of civilians to flourish.

The background characters/Civilians

Another element already mentioned are civilians. As I already talked about in the animation section, one notable aspect is how no character is standing still and everyone has their own reaction. I really appreciated the naturalness with which we see them trying to control the anxiety on a roller coaster, despair despite the worst was over after the final showdown and the slow acceptance towards the new heroes.

An aspect often overlooked in the series is the perception of civilians towards the heroes, almost completely enthusiastic right from the start if not for the competent authorities.

In the movie, we see them hesitant and intrigued, slowly in the process of opening up and trusting the two vigilantes, always not completely sure, given their mysteriousness. Contrary to the series, the two heroes seem much more unreachable at the beginning and it is visible and understandable that the inhabitants of Paris do not know whether to trust two strangers that hold powers as strange as those who started to haunt them.

RELATIONSHIPS

One of the obviously most important sides to analyze is the relationship aspect, especially the main couple… (as I already talked a lot already about Gabriel and Adrien’s relationship in the characters analysis, I will focus more on the romantic aspect in this section)

From a lovesquare point of view, it can be said that this movie has a total absence of Ladrien and almost total absence of Marichat, leaving room for a parallel path with the Adrienette and the Ladynoir. However, it is also clearly visible that the movie's main couple is Ladynoir.

Starting back…

Marinette and Adrien in this reboot are two characters both very introverted in civilian life, opposite to the show. The two have a similar problem of mostly self-imposed isolation, which is broken when wearing the mask, which seems to improve them and allow them to let go more of their inner self. From this point of view, the lack of the Adrienette seems less problematic, as their deepest parts come to the surface with the masks and they are shown to fall in love with them.

However, it remains a pity the little playing time given to the development of Adrien's feelings towards Marinette.

While it is made clear that Marinette is undecided between Chat Noir and Adrien, on the other hand, Adrien's indecision between Ladybug and Marinette is very hidden.

It is not totally absent of course, we can clearly see the regret mixed with guilt and frustration when he is forced to refuse Marinette's invitation to the gala. He seems mortified, at the verge of tears. And you can see it also in the happiness and simplicity with which he accepts Marinette after she reveals herself, as if it made perfect sense and reassured him.

We also see him open up to the girl about his mother, which is extremely personal, and we see him support her in the montage. All of this would have been better exalted if spoken dialogue had been kept in the definitive version (for example, in the book version of the movie Adrien loses his locket and Marinette helps search and finds it), or, if there had been the inclusion of "The wall between us" .

Unfortunately, this is one of the points on which I have to dwell in a negative way. The removal of this song was probably the movie's biggest mistake. Just replacing the remix theme song with this song, which accompanies the scenes and shows us Adrien's conflicting feelings, would have greatly improved the situation.

Like all the other songs in the movie, which have a very specific purpose, "The wall between us" also had one, perhaps one of the most important ones that would have balanced "Stronger Together". They are songs to pair, not replace on with each other, and the removal of one has affected the entire movie.

I want to say again that I don't think there is a total absence of Adrien's feelings towards Marinette, underneath, and that the damage doesn't mar the movie enormously, but it is still one of the major flaws, which could easily have been fixed with an extra song or a simple replacement.

I also found out that in the book version of the movie Adrien was indeed showing thoughts of being conflicted between Marinette and Ladybug and before the ball he retrieved the papillon she made for him, besides refusing to dance with Chloé because he only wanted to dance with Marinette.

Sooo yeah, I wonder if the timespan of the movie was really such a big issue, as they cut something important that they still had pretty much figured out.

Speaking on the other hand from the point of view of analyzing the feelings themselves, let’s first focus on Marinette.

Marinette's feelings for Adrien blossom when he helps her up and worries about her, which has never happened to her before. Sure, Alya had rescued her and was her first friend, but it was a different attitude. Adrien worried about her several times and patiently helped her and that gesture, for her who was always teased or ignored, was fundamental. Her slow realization and her desire to get to know him better slowly pushed her to solidify that feeling and to be able to develop their friendship, although this element unfortunately had little space.

The depiction of Marinette's feelings was excellent despite everything, starting from a gradual shy crush, growing towards friendship and then becoming a conflict with the feeling directed towards two different boys.

As for Adrien's feelings, as already mentioned, we're sadly pretty short on the Adrienette front from his perspective. However, we can still note that although he finds Marinette "strange" for her behavior, he does not make fun of her in her face or behind her back with other people. He is not saying it with ill intentions, it’s just a very true observation. He helps her gently and slowly opens up, supporting her in her needs and allowing her to support him back.

On the Chat Noir front, again as already mentioned, we can clearly see that his feelings for Ladybug were born as a crush, almost comically, just when the girl saved him. Initially, his feelings are quite confused, guided by the idea he has of her. However, already from the second mission, their attitude towards each other changes and Chat begins to discover the most creative sides of the partner. The boy is aware of Ladybug's fears, because she herself tells him about it and we can see in the timeskip that they have fought together for a long time and have also dedicated time simply to get to know each other. He knows she is scared but she is still trying and his feelings grow. Ladybug too clearly starts falling for him.

We can say the partnership of the two heroes in this version is very interesting, because it doesn't start in a positive way at all. The two argue, as their Kwamis apparently do. They are really in conflict, because they are opposites. However, their bickering slowly turns thanks to the acceptance into affectionate banter and retort, no offense.

Their partnership throughout the film demonstrates the need for a balance, between a Chat expert in physical combat that shows him easily beating Ladybug, and a more creative and flexible Ladybug in exchanging strategy.

We see them engaged in fighting schemes, in coordination, to the point where it is no longer just a saying "stronger together" but a real rule. Their miraculous actually strengthen when they are in sync, like the Ying and Yang, two figures that complement each other.

And the sidekick figure that switches from Ladybug to Chat, then disappears. Their simple partnership, their collaboration and support in an unknown situation, leads them to improve their character from every point of view, to the point of reflecting on their lives as civilians.

For the timeframe available, an excellent job has been done on these aspects.

The only flaw remains Adrien's conflict and the consequent lack of "The Wall Between Us".

It was also excellent how the natural conflict was moved to Ladynoir and all the relationships were treated in a very natural and realistic way. Adrien and Marinette’s initial conflict in the series lasted very short and was quite forced, while Ladynoir has all the reasons to have it for how their personalities were presented and for their roles. Them growing in their civilians and heroic parts was done very beautifully.

Speaking less of objectivity and more of personal taste, I would have liked them to use the Marichat route more than the parallel love of Adrinette and Ladynoir, always insertable.

Furthermore, I would have appreciated that the reveal came more for the fulfillment of the heart and less for events that forced it. That is, that falling in love led the heart to understand that the two loved ones were the same person.

However, these elements are pure personal taste, and I don't find their absence a real fault of the movie.

Another element that I greatly appreciated is the fact that we saw a montage of Alya, Nino, Marinette and Adrien coming out as friends and forming a tight group.

It is a very important detail for the development of the characters.

COMPARISON TO THE SERIES

*CRACKS KNUCKLES*

Ok, as said at the beginning of this post, you are free to skip this part. If you decide to read it, know that I don't expect you to agree with me or that I’m not judging who didn't like the movie and who loves the series more.

This is just my personal opinion and I apologize if at times it can come across as quite intense. That is totally not my intention!

It is no surprise that I liked the movie and that I enjoyed it more than the series.

I am aware that one is a movie, with limited time, and one is a series. And I am also aware that they are products written in different conditions.

However, with one being the original source, I feel it is impossible to avoid a comparison.

One thing I'd also like to point out is that it's not about what I like best as a trope. Because if that were the case, I wouldn't have liked the movie at all; Marichat is my favorite ship as a concept and I think it's the best development for the story, and as you well know it's totally absent from the movie and with the reveal already done there can't be any pre-reveal development in the sequel.

I also like the idea that they realize their identities with their hearts after they meet.

The show has tropes that I might like, some even more than the movie. However, it was the way things were handled that led me to the conclusion that the movie did a better job in the writing.

It's a common thing I've heard in the fandom that the movie in an hour and a half has done more than the series in 5 seasons.

And well, I think that's true, although I also think it's crucial to explain why and what was done better.

First of all…

I don't think a more confident Marinette is a problem. What I think has been the mistake in the way she's been handled on the show is to have her act so… extreme. Her weird behavior is a manageable element, but it's one thing to be weird cute that can embarrass you, it's another to make it so over the top that it becomes all of her character, especially while implying that those attitudes are a normal thing. Especially if when she makes a mistake she either doesn’t pay for it, or she does but goes back to stage 0 from the following episode. Or even if it’s portrayed as nothing is wrong at all.

I don't think it's a good move  to have her act like this for 4 out of 5 seasons of the first arc, rendering her unable to hold a conversation with Adrien and form a natural friendship with him BEFORE entering a relationship with him.

We barely saw the group of friends (Alya, Nino, Mari and Adrien) hang out, perhaps justifiable by Gabriel’s choice to keep Adrien locked up. But there was never an attempt to get around it and still allow the characters to interact for an adequate period of time except in very rare cases that lasted very little, when the series had all the time to do it.

Most of Adrien and Marinette's conversations were cut short and we can count on our fingers how many times the two had a heart-to-heart before getting together. It got to the point that Marinette admitted that she didn't know Adrien at all at the beginning of the fifth season and not recognizing Chat in Adrien in the fourth, which is very grave.

The movie, with its limited time frame, not only managed, albeit largely in a montage, to show us the group of friends that was forming, but also showed how Marinette attempted to get closer to her crush, to get to know him, and have formed a real bond of friendship!

I don't think adding trauma last minute in season 5 to explain Marinette's behavior fixes that. It doesn't work, as she's never had those problems in alternate realities or with other guys she had crushes on and her attitude has never been portrayed as a bad thing.

I much prefer the movie's approach to her feelings and her character, because from the beginning we know that she has problems, we know that what she does is not healthy for herself, but it gets better with time.

Just as I appreciate, as already mentioned, the removal of the initial conflict between Adrien and Marinette, as it was one-sided and basically short-lived. I think the intention of the series was to show that Marinette didn't fall in love at first sight with a pretty face or the boy's fame. However, for 4 seasons it never came out why Marinette liked Adrien, nor were those feelings deepened by the characters as they got to know each other more and more. Marinette has portrayed Adrien as the perfect boyfriend material for a long time in the series, which contradicts the purpose of their initial conflict.

Same goes for Show!Adrien, that barely shows his personal interests and thoughts that aren't Ladybug related (first) or Marinette (later).

The conflict in the movie however was given to Ladynoir, which makes a lot of sense as they are opposites anyway who have to learn to work together. It also brings a whole new development to their relationship which I appreciate.

Chat Noir and Ladybug are treated as equals in a way the series never has. Their powers are balanced, so are their roles in the story, screentime and in combat. Their relationship is never “subordinate and leader” and we watched them explore this aspect until they came to the conclusion that they were equal partners. Even Fu approaches them together Tikki calls them "guardians".

The series dealt with the topic by always leaving Chat Noir in the dark and creating an entire subplot that was never resolved and just showed us a still insistent Chat Noir and a Ladybug who treated her partner badly, with no guilt on the way and with no final apology. 

Using misunderstanding tropes is good if you can handle them.

If we are to believe that Chat and Ladybug are partners, that the characters are equal in roles and relationships, it is not only necessary to say it, but to prove it.

And surely the season 5 finale didn't help in that aspect…

I have delved into these topics in other analyzes that I have done. You can find the analysis of the Ladynoir subplot here.

While here you can find the analysis of the season 5 finale.

Characters with flaws are important, but these aspects must be addressed as such and corrected in an adequate amount of time.

While not as much as Marinette towards Adrien, Chat has also been too insistent on his feelings for too long and I appreciate that with his character change in the movie, we had a natural conflict that turned into respect later on.

Just like I appreciate that their relationship improves in the long run and gives them the courage to improve themselves.

As for the change of personalities itself, I think it's pretty subjective here. It's not wrong to choose a more open Marinette and the same goes for a sunny and innocent Adrien.

These are different interpretations of the characters. I just think with what it has at hand, the movie has managed its version with more skill.

I also much prefer the approach to the character of Gabriel, because while I like the abusive parent road to the core more, I also think it's something to be treated with a lot of care, which is not the case in the show. Gabriel in the movie is a very human character, who, although in conflict, never contradicts himself, unlike Gabriel in the show.

One thing I immediately explained about the movie is that the pacing is poorly managed. True, this is a big flaw. But it's also understandable given the playing time available and the amount of information and relationships they had to readjust.

The series has terrible pacing too. And it has had plenty of time to deal with its elements and most of the changes have occurred in the last season of the first arc, with more elements being dragged further and further and most of which have not been resolved.

It's even missing a lot of lore, when there was so much time to put it in! Even to delve into it in detail.

Or the management of the secondary characters, rightly cut a lot in the movie with limited playing time, but completely incorrect in the series which has every opportunity to make them stand out.

Marinette's falling in love with Chat lasted for a few episodes where she was constantly being told that she was just projecting her crush on Adrien. Adrien falling for Marinette only happened in the last season and that becoming again all he thinks about.

There isn't enough attention to the characters' passions, their lifestyles and they often don't react naturally to things that happen to them. They don't ask themselves out loud things they would naturally think in their situation. The characters don't get to know each other, they don't spend time together normally even just like anime would in their fillers.

This is something we lack in both what they say and what they do.

I would also like to mention that it doesn't matter how many seasons they add. The fact remains that we have had 5 seasons already badly managed. You can add as many seasons as you like afterwards, but you can't fix the issues you've had over 100 episodes with them.

The path is as important, if not more important than the final goal.

In the movie, however, we saw the characters open up about personal issues that they could reveal without worry, even with the masks. We've seen the characters spend time together, have natural conflicts due to their personalities and conditions then resolve still in a natural way. We have always seen a sometimes comical but realistic representation of the feelings of the characters.

What was cut and simplified, allowed for better management of what they had in their hands. That these elements correspond to the vision of many fans is no surprise because Miraculous in its structure is a very predictable series. A series that can have thousands of different developments, but all of which can be foreseen in a certain sense, at least the basic ones.

This however is not a bad thing. The use of clichés or predictable structure is not wrong if well managed. It is much better than the constant pretense of unpredictability which however leads to the distortion of the entire product, making it unnatural and giving unclear or negative messages.

If the movie was just fanservice, we would have had Marichat, the fan-favorite ship.

We would have had the most thorough Adrienette.

In the time available, the movie has proposed a development of relationships and characters that are not perfect, they are flawed but healthier.

We had a semi-conclusion which, however, leaves room for further development into the sequels, for example for the post-reveal relationship of the protagonists.

One never expects the perfect relationship, or the perfect character, but something coherent in its construction and treated for what it is and not pretending it managed something it never really had done.

The movie managed to make the heroes lose but also to make them win, to make love win, which was the message of the film.

Whether it's a non-abusive Gabriel who ends up face to face with his son, whether it's a Chloé with a chance of redemption, whether it's a reveal… all these elements have also been set up in a different way.

Chloé does not go beyond certain limits, the characters got to know each other enough to instantly accept each other at the reveal and react with extreme joy to the point of crying, Gabriel has always shown that he loves his son…

Choosing that Chloé doesn't redeem itself is fine, but it's how it was introduced, managed and set up that is wrong. Gabriel remaining bad through and until the end is fine, as long as the purpose of the villain fathering the male protagonist holds a sense writing wise, confrontations are allowed and no wrong messages are passed across.

Choosing to set character crushes as unhealthy in the beginning is fine, as long as getting to know each other leads them to develop those feelings in a more positive way.

Adding love rivals is fine, if they’re properly handled and they have a purpose that leads the character to learn something and then to a better endgame. 

Adding new villains is okay too if they’re realistic enough to not go outside the suspension of disbelief and they are slowly and constantly built up. Adding conflict and angst is fine, as long as it's natural, leads to an equally good resolution, and has a purpose.

A movie with so many limitations and with its visible flaws, has succeeded in an impressive feat and served up a great product.

Yes, it would have been better if it was the start of a trilogy for the first arc as a whole. It would have been better if it hadn't cut “The Wall Between Us”. It would have been better with a slower pace. It would have been better without the fart jokes!

This movie had the potential to do even more, to be something spectacular.

It did not make it.

But it still managed to be a great movie.

The movie has accomplished a lot in a sea of restrictions.

The series has accomplished very little in a sea of opportunities.

FINAL VOTE

Movie as a product by itself: 8- / 10

Great messages, great developments and comedy often well managed. High level animations and music. Extremely poor pace management.

Movie as a product of Miraculous: 9.5 / 10

Clearly more successful than the series, although it has strong limitations due to the vast content and the limited playing time. Aspects much better managed from every point of view. The only flaw is the Adrienette content they cut out or the lack of "The wall Between Us"