#honestly I feel like if there’s a movie that might compare with it is Maleficent

[jmoriarty-221b]

Looking back, watching Aquamarine really molded me as a person like, one of the actual healthiest relationships portrayed in tween movies like, sure they’re cringe like teens are supposed to be but they’re fun and learn about the power of platonic love and the importance of friendship regardless of the obstacles between you and the romantic relationship is actually age appropriate and not to romanticize the past bc things have certainly changed since but when tween movies get replaced by clearly adult shows with toxic relationships it really feels like a loss for the younger generation and idk it’s just that Aquamarine taught me that there’s nothing wrong with having a romantic relationship while there’s also nothing wrong with just deciding to focus on your friendships and made me feel very comfortable with the fact that I wasn’t really ready for a relationship when I was so young still, everyone matures at a different rate in their lives but for me it just feels right to cultivate my friendships instead of focusing on finding romantic relationships, I’m still learning about myself and growing and making friends and hanging out and having fun and I feel like I can be happy whether I enter a romantic relationship at some point or not because romantic love isn’t the end all be all of my life and while these are just my thoughts over several years I do believe that Aquamarine was the first time I saw that platonic love is just as important if not more so than romantic love and it became a core memory essentially, you can be fun, pretty, nice, cringy, awkward, silly, like jewelry, heels, makeup, bike rides, reading, shopping and all the stereotypical girly stuff but that doesn’t mean you’re a shallow person or can’t have meaningful friendships/relationships with others, it’s just, Aquamarine had days to find love before her father would drag her back to the ocean and the girls that find her and decide to help her and they all spent the movie setting up dates for her with this cute guy that likes Aquamarine back yet when the time comes it’s actually the girls that save her because they’ve genuinely come to love her as their friend and I just think that’s a really beautiful thing to portray in a movie aimed towards teens when most of the teen movies tend to focus on romantic relationships

[twisted-wonderland-but-gayer]

Just thought up the other potential reactions from the g7 counterparts:

Alice would be curious, as always, of yuu because she’s never seen the queen of hearts just being patient-ish with someone. Also yuu is definitely much more normal (somewhat) unlike the rest of wonderland’s residents. She asks a lot of questions like child simba but because she just wants to know how and why this happened? Depending on the yuu, she might look up to them? Although that depends on who someone wants to characterize them.

Like you said, Ursula would try to keep yuu away from ariel but I think the same goes for king triton. So either they meet up by accident or one of them sneaks away to meet the other. Once they do finally meet, ariel wants to know all about yuu and but also probably asks them about human stuff (depending on how old she is). Yuu and ariel end up sharing stories for the whole time till they’re found. She might try to introduce them to the rest of the family, but probably doesn’t really go far intimately. They might eventually open up, but it either takes a lot of time and they don’t really have full trust or it just doesn’t happen at all. Is that cousin that you only see every other holiday at grandma’s house but despite that you guys are like best friends.

Like Snow, don’t got a lot of thoughts on aurora. I think she would just kinda neutral meeting yuu, honestly the whole interaction is her being just chill while talking to them. Depending on the relationship between she and maleficent is, Maleficent might introduce yuu to aurora herself or just kinda keeps an eye on them while they interact. The fairies absolutely distrust yuu and don’t want them anywhere near aurora.

Aladdin doesn’t trust yuu at all 100%, same goes with jasmine. He won’t be outright rude, but definitely goes out of his way to avoid them or keep any interactions short. Although does keep an eye on them to see how they interact with jafar. He would probably one of the last people they interact with and is either formally introduced to them through Hercules, Snow, or Aurora. He joins in on any antics that might happen but when alone with yuu, both are just sitting there awkwardly. Kinda like a going out friend and their friend you don’t really know and your friend left so you’re both waiting in silence for them to get back. If yuu and aladdin eventually get along, he’s that friend thats message you or you message to see if they want to go on a 3am mcdonalds run and than hang out in a walmarts parking lot afterwards.

And completely fair on misreading the first ask, I probably would’ve if I didn’t send it. Also sorry if I don’t got the characterizations right, it’s been a long time since I watched any classic Disney movie that wasn’t aristocats or robin hood.

I love Aladdin and Jasmin having beef with like 13 year old and is like "we don't trust you!!" "Damn what did I do???"

I feel like Ariels would be the most interesting. The two sneak out together realize who each other are and have conversations comparing things.

"You're never allowed to go to the surface?"

"It's dangerous, father says."

"Humans aren't so bad... besides doesn't your father also say I'm dangerous cause of my mother?"

"I guess so yeah..."

"Mom says to stay away from your side of the family, cause women there are only ever seen and not heard and he did bad stuff to my mom too. Maybe, you should start questioning him"

Hercules is just "don't you fucking try anything" and Meg is like "OK that's valid but after working with Hades I can tell you the kid is cool" and now Hades is trying to be the cool cousin

Aurora and Yuu should be like siblings change my mind.

Also rip Alice. "How are you the queens child??" "Idk bro I fell from the sky and she was like "oh cool" and now I'm royalty.

[marciabrady]

Hi, I loved all of the points you made with 2015 Cinderella. I haven't watched the original one in a while, but you reminded me of do many lovely things, and I completely agree with your take on her character! And I was wondering if you could write a little about all of the other live-action remakes, which one is your fave and which one is the worst (after Cinderella ofc) and why - compare the princesses' personalities a bit, and maybe say what was better than in the oryginal (if there was anything?). I'm thinking about Aladdin, Mulan, TLM and BatB - oh, and Maleficent, if you count this one :) I must say I haven't seen the new TLM yet, but Disney's remakes have been letting me down since Cinderella, so I'm in no rush and don't worry about spoilers! Love your opinions and blog in general, btw ❤

Thank you for being complimentary to one of my last posts! This question yields a lengthy response, though, so I'll try to be brief while covering all of the topics you inquired about:

In terms of favorites, I wouldn't say I'd rewatch any of these films? They're generally uninspired and bad rip-offs of a superior property that already exists. If I had to rank them though, BATB and Aladdin were the least unenjoyable to me, TLM and Maleficent really were not for me and didn't understand their source material, and Mulan was unforgivably bland.

To compare their personalities is a difficult assignment because the live actions essentially show us the same character, meaning all the live action Princesses are the same to me? They made them all display strength in the same way, made them broader/softer to appeal to more people, etc, so I wouldn't really say that Emma Watson's Belle and Lily James' Cinderella or even Halle Bailey's Ariel are different characters from one another. In the process of "fixing" the Princesses, they just stripped the characters of any individuality...but, if we're comparing the live action characters to their animated counterparts, there are quite a bit of differences.

Emma's Belle leans more into the snobbish vibe that we see from the animated Belle but also feels more vulnerable in certain moments? I've only seen this movie once, and it was six years ago, but I remember Emma's Belle having a one-off with the Beast about how the villagers think she's odd and I thought that was nice. Belle in the animated film never really questioned herself, though she did have a similar scene with her father near the beginning of the movie so...I don't know, I'm really not a good judge on Belle lol Naomi's Jasmine feels somewhat true to the animated counterpart? I think the difference here, though, is where animated Jasmine was locked away her entire life the first time we meet her, Naomi's Jasmine is someone we meet out and about the Palace grounds. So I guess Naomi's has less restrictions on her? I can't think of another difference. Halle's Ariel isn't really a character, it just feels like Halle Bailey starring in The Little Mermaid to me? That might be a marketing thing, because they pushed her pretty aggressively for years, but the best way to explain it is that she acts the way Emma Watson sings. She doesn't really emote, she sings along in Under the Sea when it doesn't make sense for her to, she just doesn't really feel fully emersed or like she's acting. And honestly it's not really fair to judge her on this factor because she's even admitted she's not an actress? So...I'd say Halle's Ariel is just a nice, agreeable girl that's generally palatable and can sing well. The original Ariel has more fire to her, a feeling of being marginalized, is definitely more flawed and nuanced, fully realized, fiery, emotional, realistic, and headstrong. Elle's Aurora and animated Aurora...whew. Elle's Aurora is a child- she's giggly and naïve and innocent and doesn't understand the world around her. She doesn't have the presence or the grace or the charm of the original Aurora, nor any of the romanticism that is so central to the character. Where, in the original, I had no doubt that Aurora was competent and essentially raised herself, I don't know how Elle's Aurora got by lol I think the original Aurora had a sense of love and duty and loyalty, where Elle's Aurora is more withdrawn generally but also blindly reactive. Mary Costa's Aurora is introspective and intelligent, with so many gears turning at all times, but also dripping with enigma and essence while Elle's Aurora is simple and assuming. The remake Mulan is written to be perfect, while the animated Mulan is loyal, persistent, determined, sometimes negative, humorous, with a hazy moral compass on a practical level but a very sound higher self that she taps into.

You mentioned what was done better...I'll challenge myself to say nice things about each, which will be easy since Lily isn't included lol it's a minor detail but I loved that Emma's Belle got the snowball thrown in her face- and I don't even mean that in a shady way. The animated Belle was beloved by everyone and the smartest and the prettiest and treated incredibly by everyone, so the fact that she also threw snowballs at the Beast while he kept missing her was too much lol the fact that the Beast was allowed to be more athletically inclined and get her back, so that they met more as equals, even in such a fleeting moment, was welcome by me. I like the inclusion of Jasmine having a female friend. The original Aladdin is down BAD for female characters, and while I would've preferred the older maid that Jasmine has in the spinoff books, the fact that we got more women in general in that universe is a win. I think it was nice that they gave Halle's Ariel more vocal screentime. In the original, there were so many moments I wish I could've heard Jodi's Ariel speak more (when Ariel doesn't have a voice), and while I think the scenes are incredibly effective in the 1989 film where she is voiceless and I support the creative decision, more Ariel is always a good thing. With Elle's Aurora...it's nice we get to see her at different ages? The live action Mulan...doesn't have Mushu? Which allows for a more grounded story??

[homosociallyyours]

If you're still doing these: Ursula, Maleficent, Cruella and listen I'm going to say 10 but honestly I want to know your answers to basically all of those with these three so please feel free to answer as many as your heart desires

HIIIIII you sent this a week ago but i'm just answering now bc it's never too late to answer an ask as fun as this one, right??? This got long so I'm adding a read more!! And if anyone wants to send me three names and a number from this post please do!!!

stab, shoot or drown: I assume in this scenario I'm trying to defeat or kill these queens (sounds fake, but ok), so stab Ursula, shoot Cruella, drown Maleficent

fist fight, get drunk with, share a flat with: Right, so. I would absolutely lose in a fist fight with any of them, just to be clear. BUT: fist fight Cruella, get drunk with Ursula, share a flat with Maleficent.

fight aliens with, fight zombies with, fight capitalism with: The reality is that I would give up in the first two scenarios, but if I were the kind to try to take out aliens or zombies, I'd fight aliens with Cruella, zombies with Ursula, and capitalism with Maleficent (I mean she already hated the monarchy, right?)

write a book with, read a book to, hit with a book: OOF, this one is hard. But maybe write an erotic tale of fat femme on femme lust with Ursula, read a book to Maleficent and her crow, and hit Cruella with a book bc she kinda deserves it.

go on a six hour road trip with (no car radio, you choose who drives), sit next to on a six hour plane flight, sit across from on a six hour train journey: NICE ONE!!!! I would take a six hour road trip with Maleficent, trading driving duties. I would read her fic while she drives or else we'd make up shit about strangers in other cars. She would hex any cops we pass along the way, very sexy. Sit by Ursula on the flight and let her grope me with her tentacles only for both of us to walk away and pretend nothing happened at the end. And finally sit across from Cruella on the train thinking we had nothing in common for half the ride but then spend the other half gossiping about absolute celeb bullshit bc we share some of the same hot takes.

go clothes shopping with, go to ikea with, go grocery shopping with: You might think I would say go clothes shopping with Cruella, but you would be WRONG. Yes, she's a fashionista, but I just know deep down she's got serious fatphobia issues and we'd have to fight. Me and Ursula are going clothes shopping together, and we are two sexy fat bitches against the fashion world!!!! LOVE IT!! I'm going to ikea with Maleficent; I think she'd hate some of the same things I do. And definitely going food shopping with Cruella bc in spite of being skinny she IS a rich bitch and would probably let me indulge my fancy food sensibilities to create a truly decadent and sexy 7 course meal where money was no object. DREAMY.

go to a wedding with, go to a party with, go to a museum with: Wedding with Maleficent (either she got a great gift and I get to put my name on it OR she's secretly stealing all the gifts and we're running off together afterwards like two babes in a Taylor Swift song), party with Ursula (FANTASTICAL FEASTS!!), museum with Cruella so I can get her to buy me some art.

share a car with, share a bank account with, share a cake with: Me and Maleficent, in addition to being great roadtrip buddies, would also be excellent car sharers, idk why. I would share Cruella's bank acct because SHE'S RICH, HUNNY! But don't think she's my sugar mommy or something-- she's calling ME mommy in this scenario! And cake with Ursula...we're inviting Agatha Trunchbull and having a gay olde time.

watch a soap opera with, go to a play with, watch your favourite movie with: Hmmm a toughie. Soaps with Cruella bc she'd think the drama was nothing compared to her own life. Play with Ursula so that we could discuss the make up and costumes at intermission and then re-enact our favorite parts later like true drama heauxs. Meanwhile me and Maleficent are always down to watch Clueless bc obviously.

netflix and chill with, go ice-skating with, play dodgeball against: Listen I'm pretty sure me and Maleficent are netflix and chilling already (in my dreams)...she's literally running her fingers thru my hair right now (please i really wish). I'd ice skate with Ursula bc I have a feeling we'd both hate it and decide to get hot choccys instead, and I'd play dodgeball vs Cruella bc HOPEFULLY we'd both hate that too and would instead heckle all the people who decided that tossing balls at one another was a sport and not just some dull, sad version of torture.

[twisted-leader-of-something]

I had no idea that the Shroud Family would be that famous for their fortunes and shady business but try to maintain their reclusive nature as to prevent any possible anomaly to happen. But I personally think that the Draconia Royal Family had the Biggest Influence to the whole world. The Draconias may not be famous celebrities and not as rich as the Asims of the Shrouds, but their reputation as powerful faes gives it away. Malleus mentioned "That Person" who he call as Keeper from the Isle.

Seeing as Malleus Draconia has been stated to be well known across the country and people get worried about even upsetting Malleus, I’d assume Malleus’ family is quite powerful. Seeing as Malleus has to be well-protected, if I had to guess, Malleus maybe directly related to one of the Great Seven, Maleficent, though, we have no confirmation on the matter.

I wonder who Malleus’ ‘Keeper’ is. Maybe a fae that is the head of security or maybe a family member or something? Maybe we’ll get more information? Hopefully? 

I think it’s quite scary, Idia’s family name. From what we know, there’s a chance that our Overblotted boys aren’t coming back, and maybe trapped there for as long as they live purely because they’ve Overblotted. So, basically, it’s possible that once the Shroud family gets a hold of people, they are basically doomed to be under their watch. And, from what we know of Idia from his, well, spending habits, they can certainly afford to deal with their son’s gatcha addiction problem without much issue, as Ortho hasn’t as much as told Idia to stop and from what we’ve seen of Idia, he seems to able to pretty much get away with anything and he doesn’t fear consequences right now, seeing as he STRAIGHT UP KIDNAPPED FOUR DORM LEADERS, ONE A NOBLEMAN AND ONE AN VERY POPULAR INFLUENCER, IN BRODE DAYLIGHT AND STOOD IN FRONT OF THE PEOPLE HE KIDNAPPED, WITHOUT FEAR, SAYING, “Oh yeah. I run this place. lolol.” 

You know how ballsy that is for someone like Idia without his nobleman status? He could easily get his ass beat by Azul alone because look at how skinny he is, and how much power the other have. He has nothing on him compared to the others. But because he has that much power over them, he probably is going to get away with it.  

And, possibly, there might be nothing MC can do to help without some kind of divine intervention (Like maybe MC asking for help from Mickey, and Mickey, seeing how distressed MC is then and dire the situation really is, possibly gives MC the ability to use Paint and Thinner. Unclear right now.) or other form of seriosu help, which quite sad.

But, I feel bad for MC and those that are left behind at Night Raven. They might not be able to do anything in this situation without some serious help, or even divine help. 

Which, I think will play into MC acting as Hercules in this situation, since Hercules was actually pretty powerless early on in the movie, but managed to overcome it. It took work, but he did it by working hard and using what he has. 

What will MC’s power be? Honestly, I think it’s their powers in seeing the past. They can see past events that parallel what is currently happening to them, so I think MC might learn to use it this chapter, and learn how to interpret it, and apply it to the future. Until we know what happened to the mirror in their own and Grim’s room, that’s the only power we know of MC having right now that may or not be connected to it. 

Hopefully we don’t have to wait super long in September for Part 2 of Chapter 6! 

[chara-afton]

Unordinary Family [3]

Jay had tried his best with it, honestly, but there was only so much he could do with two broken legs and a broken arm with five days of healing.

He had some lights hanging up, they were halloween lights but they served their purpose as best as they could being the only lights he could find.

Jay was happy that he managed to find cake mix and the needed ingredients for it, not that he’d know if Lolita would like vanilla or not, sadly there was no ice cream, but there was chocolate milk which made a second best in the absence of ice cream.

Jay also made sure to make dinner as he wasn’t sure how often she ate or if she even tried Mac and Cheese before, so better be safe than sorry and make it for her, with bacon bits, everyone likes bacon bits, unless you’re vegan.

Then for the final touch, Jay put in the movie for Sleeping Beauty, the classic. It was honestly his favorite movie and he wanted to be Sleeping Beauty when he was little.

While Jay was finishing setting up the room the door creaked open and Lolita poked her head in, but in her arms was a toddler. She slipped in and closed the door quietly “I brought my baby brother, his name is Bran” Bran giggled and squirmed in Lolita’s grip.

Jay grinned “That’s fine, I hope you’re both hungry, i made dinner, and a lot of it” honestly, Jay forgot just how much pasta could expand and ended up with too much noodles and not enough cheese, so he made more cheese and now it seems even? In some parts.

Lolita’s eyes widened and she looked around, but seemed confused “Where is it?” she asks curiously as she sets down Bran and scampers off giggling.

Jay frowns softly in thought before pointing out the pot of food “this, it’s called Mac and Cheese, it’s a favorite with kids” 

Lolita tilts her head in confusion, scrunching up her face “it looks like mush?” She wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“How about this, you try a bite and then tell me what you think of it?” suggested jay.

Lolita thinned her lips before nodding, but she only looked more confused when Jay gestured towards the table “have a seat”

Lolita slowly climbed onto a chair and sat on the balls of her feet, even more confused when Jay laughed and told her how to sit in the chair. Jay even got Bran to somehow stay seated on a chair too with a plate of foot. Then came the most confusing part, Jay showing her how to use a spoon.

“How bout this, you mimic me, ok? Use the spoon to eat” He tried to explain and show her how to eat with the spoon.

He brought a spoon up to his mouth and took a bite and chewed.

Lolita brought up a spoon to her mouth as Jay fed a spoon of mac and cheese to Bran who was eager to be fed this strange new food.

Bran squealed happily and tried to grab the hot food with his bare hands but Jay was faster and lifted the plate out of his reach.

Lolita blinked and stared at the food as her mind and taste buds whirl at the flavors. She didn’t move for almost a whole minute before trying to scarf down the food eagerly, ignoring Jay’s sputter of trying to warn her to slow down or else she might choke, but his worried tone does have her slowing down a little bit.

Jay sighs softly before turning to the little toddler, Lolita had siblings? ‘How many?’ Jay wondered ‘is it a big family or small?’ He knew her mother hated her, did she hate the others too? He fed the little one as he wondered this, being rather surprised at how clean of an eater Bran was compared to Lolita.

However, Lolita was the faster eater as she was already done as she was trying to go for a second helping.

After the food was all gone, as it seemed the two little one’s had a never ending stomach, did Jay bring out the cake. The cake was slightly burnt and rather dry, but since Jay didn’t have any icing he tried to make his own, which came out too sweet and runny.

However Lolita and Bran both thoroughly enjoyed the cake and chocolate milk, so much they were both practically bouncing off of the walls.

“I guess you guys don’t want to watch the movie I got?” Jay asked innocently, and like that Lolita was sitting next to Jay like a kid with Bran in her arms, struggling to get up and run around some more.

Jay grinned and clicked play on the remote, light from the TV stilling both of the kids into focusing on the movie with intense stares.

Jay has seen this movie so much he knew each and every scene, so instead he watched the kids reactions to seeing a movie, let alone his favorite movie, for the first time.

Lolita wiggled in her seat, mumbling the song along with Aurora, gasping softly when the prince had cut in and started to dance with her.

Even Bran was focused on the movie, babbling along as if he was trying to sing along too.

Each giggle and gasp left Jay feeling proud that they were enjoying the movie this much. Even when they tried to subtly hide behind him when Maleficent turned into a dragon and they hissed at her.

When the movie finally ended, Bran was asleep and Lolita was struggling to stay awake.

Jay smiles at the cute sight and gives her a kiss on the top of her head “Happy Birthday” he said to her, but when he pulled back, he was surprised to see that she was looking up at him with wide eyes and tears in her eyes.

But then she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around and nuzzled into his chest, shaking.

Jay wrapped his arm around her and hugged her back tightly “What’s wrong? Did you not like it?”

She sniffed softly “Why...do adults hate me? You’re the only one that hasn’t tried to hit me or scare me off yet”

Jay clenches his jaw before forcing him to relax “Cause they’re stupid, you’re a good kid, anyone would be proud to have you as a child, and the next adult who tries to hurt you, let me know so i can set their faces backwards” bit out Jay a little too strongly in his opinion.

However Lolita looked up at him and smiled before she returned to snuggling Jay with loud happy purrs.

Jay smiles at how sweet they were, their mother was really stupid to hate such sweet and good kids. 

Jay turned to his medicine and took his dosage for the night, grimacing at the foul flavor before laying down, these poor kids need a good parent, though he himself was far from being good anything.

He just hoped he threw them a good enough birthday party at least as he fell asleep.

[naughtygirl286]

Well its that time of year again!! Oscar season! and with the release of the Oscar Nominees I'll have to do my picks!   Now these picks are of course based on movies that I've seen if I haven't seen it I can't really comment on it Best Picture there are alot of movies for this this year and I've seen a few of them one of the nominated movies is Jojo Rabbit I haven't seen it as of yet but I do want to alot of ppl have told me it is actually very good but others I have seen include Ford v Ferrari, Joker and Once upon a Time...in Hollywood Now we did go see Ford v Ferrari and I thought that was a really good movie. I would have to say I did enjoy it more then I probably thought I going to Now as for Joker I thought this was good also it was really well done and I did enjoy it and like all the influences from "the killing joke" and "the Dark Knight Rises" that they used but at the same time were I did enjoy this movie I felt like it didn't live up to my expectations and I wanted more from it. Now as for Once upon a Time...in Hollywood I can honestly say I'm not a fan of Quentin Tarantino but I do watch all the movies being I do find all the movies interesting and I would have to say I probably enjoyed this one the most of all his movies I don't know what it was about it but I really like it Now as for the pick it is kinda hard as a Comic Book person I would love Joker to win but in just a general movie pick I might be leaning more towards Once upon a Time...in Hollywood then Ford v Ferrari Actor in a Leading Role now for this my 2 would be Joaquin Phoenix - Joker Leonardo DiCaprio - Once upon a Time...in Hollywood now the problem here is where I did think Joaquin Phoenix did an great job as the character when he finally becomes the Joker and I have seen many ppl comparing him to Heath Ledger now me personally I would have to say I prefer Heath Ledger’s Joker over Joaquin Phoenix’s version I just feel that Ledger’s Joker is just more I don’t know “Joker” to me then. I know there might be others that disagree but that is just how I see it. Like I said Joaquin Phoenix did a great job but I just like the other one better. Now as for Leonardo DiCaprio I really liked him in this and as his character and I would have to say that he is my pick for this. again being a Comic Book person I would love Joker to win but I'm going to go with Leonardo DiCaprio in this Actress in a Leading Role Now honestly I have seen any of the nominated movies in this category I am interested in seeing Bombshell but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. So I don't have any pick for this Actor in a Supporting Role I plan on watching A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood at some point but my main pick for this category is Brad Pitt - Once upon a Time... in Hollywood he was awesome in this movie, I think he is one of the reasons for this movie being so good. he is amazing in this role and I have to say I loved it. Actress in a Supporting Role the only movie I seen in this category is Richard Jewell which Kathy Bates is nominated for We watched this not too long ago and it was really good and and I thought she was good in it so I guess that is my pick for now being I didn't get a chance to watched the others Animated Feature Film Now as for this with out a doubt my pick is Missing Link I am 100% Team Missing Link I knew it was going to get Nominated and I want it to win becasue it deserves this win over the other animated movies. Cinematography again it is down to Joker and Once upon a Time...in Hollywood and I think once again I'm going to pick Once upon a Time...in Hollywood for this Costume Design Now for costume design I'm going to have to go with Joker on this one being I did like how his look turned out when he finally became the Joker its kind of a old school Cesar Romero type of look to him which I really liked. Directing Also it is  down to Joker and Once upon a Time...in Hollywood but I have heard that alot of ppl are saying Parasite by Bong Joon Ho is going to win this. so I don't know? Documentary (Feature) I haven't seen any of the Nominated I do like watching Documentarys and i have watched a few recently but sadly none of them were the Nominated ones so I have no pick for here Film Editing Now as for Film editing I think Ford v Ferrari is my pick for this one. International Feature Film I can't say I seen any of the nominated movies in this category but Parasite is nominated here as well so that might win it? Makeup and Hairstyling Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is nominated in this one so I think I'll go with that for my pick Music (Original Score) this is a tricky one being that Joker has an amazing score but Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is nominated in this one to So I don’t know I would like either one to win Music (Original Song) Best Original Song is always on of my favorite categories and I do enjoy the performances during the Oscars and there are alot of great songs nominated but I'm going to have to go with “Into The Unknown” from Frozen II (which I'm surprised wasn't nominated for best Animated movie) Production Design I do like production design and pay close attention to that type of thing and it is of course down to both Joker and Once upon a Time...in Hollywood again for me so I would like either to win Short Film (Animated) I can't say I seen any of the nominated movies in this category Short Film (Live Action) I can't say I seen any of the nominated movies in this category Sound Editing Now Star Wars is nominated for this one also and they always have amazing sound editing so it is a hard choice becasue I would normally pick Star Wars but also Ford v Ferrari had some amazing sound editing too... So I might given this one to Star Wars becasue.. Sound Mixing ..I will give my pick of Sound Mixing to Ford v Ferrari.  Visual Effects Now best visual Effects is another favorite of mine. and of course Star Wars is nominated for this as is the Lion King remake but my pick for best visuals is going to Avengers: Endgame and I hope it wins to make up for the stupidly of last year Writing (Adapted Screenplay) for this one I would have to give it to Joker based on the reason I said above how I liked how they took some of his more iconic moments and used them in the movie Writing (Original Screenplay) Knives Out is nominated for this and I keep meaning to see it but haven't yet so I'm going to give my pick to Once upon a Time...in Hollywood If you would like to see all the nominees you can go here https://oscar.go.com/nominees

[maggins]

well it’s been a few days so i guess it’s alright to post this so here’s some of my thoughts on the live action BatB

tl;dr: I liked some of the new things, but I’m..... salty about others.

SPOILERS under the cut! mobile users please scroll through this! (sORRY it’s pretty long, I didn’t mean for it to get so long wOOPS;;; )

okay so I have been pretty excited about this movie since that teaser trailer came out bc wow the aesthetic possibilities that arose were pretty intriguing, and hey, it’s a Beauty and the Beast story, and I’m a goddamn sucker for those sO YAY

and...... I dunno, I went into this movie wanting to love it, and I think I came out just.... liking it. in terms of my opinion on Disney making live action remakes of their animated films, I’m kinda neutral; so far I don’t love them, but I also don’t mind them either. I thought Maleficent and Cinderella were okay, I didn’t think there was anything particularly extraordinary about them, but they weren’t all that bad either. Jungle Book was a pleasant surprise; I never really blogged much about it, but basically, I didn’t really know what to expect out of it but it ended up being my favorite out of those three in terms of giving a new twist to a familiar story (tbh it could also have to do with my personal experience with the original movies; I had never seen Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty as a kid, and only watched them much later on in my life and I guess I never truly appreciated them that much bc both films seem very much like products of their time; but I did own and watch a VHS of Jungle Book many times, so the nostalgia factor might be accountable as well)

Beauty and the Beast, however, is another matter. I have also never seen/owned this movie during my childhood (tragic, I know; the only times I remember seeing clips from it was in the trailers of my other Disney VHS’s). I believe the first time I saw it I was in my preteens or something, but boy did I ADORE this movie, even if it took me a while to get to see it. The music and characters and story and aesthetics.... mAN I loved it all

so since this live action adaptation was based on a more recent film that I quite adored, I got pretty excited for it! Like, sure, there wouldn’t be any way it would surpass the original, but at least I could get some new concepts and backstories to characters I loved! (the thing with the prince’s family they were hinting at in the teaser trailer got me sO EXCITED)

AAaaand I guess that’s pretty much what I got?? But still, there was something about the new movie that wouldn’t quite let me connect emotionally with the characters, and I’ve been feeling super salty about that??

I’ll be honest, I thought I’d cry when I would watch this movie and... I didn’t. I just... had so many nitpicks and I couldn’t stop thinking about them throughout the film, and I think that really damaged my enjoyment of it???

my major nitpicks:

I have a SERIOUS issue with the pacing/timing in this film. I think in the original, scenes would flow very neatly into each other, and it never left me with the sense of “wait, what??”. In the live action, I felt like some scenes were cut SO abruptly and some things were happening so fast it barely left me any room to let the emotions sink in; for example, I very SPECIALLY felt this on the scene were the Beast lets Belle go; like sure, I understand she has some urgency in going to her father, but in this version I barely felt anything from either of them, whereas in the original they at least take some time to convey that that scene was a goodbye, in the way that the Beast looks over the rose and weighs his options before saying he’s letting her free, and in the way that Belle reaches out to him in thanks before leaving

some acting?? I dunno, but at times I felt like they were just reciting a script and not acting it out... and it was seriously lacking in some gesticulation at times (I think this because I keep going back to the animated version and I feel that it is SO much more expressive than what they accomplished in the live action. Just compare both versions of Belle’s reprise scene; in the original Belle is just gesticulating and twirling around and looking the distance and wow that’s powerful stuff and it sticks with you; in the remake it felt more bland, like she runs up the hill and twirls once and then just.... stands there........ sigh idk)

the end scene?? it was supposed to be the emotional climax of the film?? and I think I ended feeling a LOT more for the servants turning inanimate than for Beast fricking dying in Belle’s arms??? like, I felt like there was supposed to be a “oh my god you’re here you’re actually here I’m so glad to see you again” moment between Belle and the Beast when he jumped to be next to her on the balcony, but they just stood there almost at arm’s length and I just wanted them to fucking hug or give each other some sort of physical reassurance?? after that I felt like Belle and Beast’s small dialogue before he dies was so rushed, it all just..... it felt bland to me; I dunno if it was really just me or something, but...... siGH

One thing I expected going into the movie was more layers/backstory to the main characters and on that account I wasn’t disappointed, like we DID get more on Belle and the Beast’s stories, but.... I left wanting even mORE?? remember me mentioning I was super pumped about the portrait of the Beast’s parents in the teaser trailer because holy shit I was so here for that!!!........ and then all we got was a few lines from Mrs. Potts and the first verse in the Days in the Sun song. that. was. it??!?

about the Dress Discourse™: I’ve seen the posts about it, and on that I say: it’s not an ugly dress per se, but I felt like it was the wrong dress for this movie. I think it failed to evoke the dress from the original movie, and it failed to evoke the time period. tbh I think that dress only looks nice when it’s actually moving, so I didn’t mind it too much during the actual dance scene. However in that little scene before that, when she’s just standing there at the top of the stairs, it..... doesn’t look iconic at all. OH, and that scene with the little gold details falling down from the ceiling/whatever to settle down on the dress....... yeah, I didn’t buy that. It felt superfluous, and I think what they were trying to do there was something along the lines of the dress scene in the Cinderella remake. But hey, it actually MADE sense to have a pretty/sparkly dress transformation scene in Cinderella because hey, it’s part of her actual story to have her rags turn into a beautiful dress. In this movie, however.... it made no sense for that scene to be there other than for the *・ﾟ✧sparkly✧・ﾟ* factor??? it was unnecessary, and tbh i think it robbed screentime from more important stuff 

I know I keep comparing both the original and the live action, and one might come at me like “you should treat each of them as their own thing!”; well, I honestly don’t know if I can at this point when a lot the live action is a shot-by-shot remake, and just... at least for me, in the shot-by-shot recreated scenes, there failed to be an emotional connection as strong as in the original movie, you know what I mean?.... A scene that’s coming to my mind is when Belle is making her way to the West Wing. In the original, she felt inquisitive, but also very cautious all the way there, with her walking slowly, and her slight hesitations in posture and gestures. In the remake.... I felt like she just speed-walked all the way up to the West Wing, the whole time I was like “girl, you’re in a completely new environment and you have no idea of what’s coming, there’s no way you’d feel that confident”

I dunno, I suppose I knew the remake wasn’t going to be as good as the original overall, but... it lacked the original’s charm, it didn’t suck me all the way through into the story and characters, and that’s been bothering me so much, man; I really wanted to love this movie and I was a bit disappointed :(

Now, were there things that I actually liked? yeah!

M A U R I C E. good gOD, he was fantastic, and I’m a much bigger fan of his live action version than the animated one. I loved that he was an artisan/artist, I love his and Belle’s relationship and how much they genuinely loved and supported each other. He was awesome, 1000/10, Dad of the Year™, would recommend (his fucking reaction to Chip was priCELESS friCK)

FUCKING EVERMORE HOLY SHIT TAKE ME THAT WAS AMAZING I LOVED IT SO MUCH you fucking GO, Dan Stevens

I feel that Belle and Beast had more moments together and I loved their bickering and bonding over books it was v nice~

I enjoyed ALL the musicals numbers sO MUCH; I loved hearing the old ones with a new twist and bOY they were such a delight to hear, I was grinning the whole time; and the new ones were wonderful too!! as you’ve noticed, I mcfreaking loved Evermore, Days in the Sun was a nice little tune that gave light to many characters’ feelings/backstories and I quite enjoyed that; and How Does a Moment Last Forever, however short it might have been between Maurice’s and Belle’s versions, was so wonderful and I loved that music box quality it had to it

Belle wanting to teach young girls to read? Being a tinkerer/inventor? fuCK YEAH I LOVED THAT??!?

aesthetically, the movie’s fricking GORGEOUS; that castle was incredible and I wanna go there

I kinda liked how they tried to cover up some plot holes from the animated movie? Like how they don’t mention how many years this curse has been going on, but it’s very clear that it was set when the prince was already an adult (unlike the he-was-supposedly-cursed-at-11-but-somehow-there-are-paintings-of-him-as-a-young-man thing from the original), and the curse also affecting the memories of the villagers, that kind of stuff was neat and I’m glad they thought of that

each time a petal falls the castle keeps falling apart and the servants turn more and more into the objets they were cursed into?? that was nEAT (and ultimately led to a pretty frickin tragic scene at the end yOU kNow THe oNE)

I loved Garderobe and Cadenza?? they were like an eccentric couple of travelling artists and bc of the curse they were separated in different parts of the castle bc they couldn’t move around too much and mAN I felt for them I loved them

I liked this new Beast; but in the point that I’m very much aware that he’s very different from the animated one, and I’m okay with that, you know, something a little different but that is still recognisable isn’t bad, and I love both versions of him. Good job, Dan, you did gr10

stuff I’m still pondering if I like or not??

I’m.... not sure how to feel about Agathe/the Enchantress?? like, woah okay it’s actually cool that she stuck around the area and didn’t just vanish after casting the curse, but... what was her agenda, exactly?? like, sure, teach the prince a lesson about inner beauty and yada yada; but I never got, and still don’t get why she ever felt the need to do what she did, both in the original film and in the remake. Also I have mixed feelings about her being there when Belle was crying over the Beast; like, I GET why she was there, technically they had run out of time and the Beast was fricking dead; but it also felt to me like she was intruding on a sensitive moment that was very much supposed to be Belle and Beast’s (one could argue the same thing kinda happened with Cogsworth/Lumière/Mrs. Potts being there in the original movie, but idk I didn’t feel their presence there as much as I felt Agathe’s in the remake)

AbOUT BELLe and tHE BeasT...... I’m reeeally conflicted about this, like I felt that there WERE more moments between them than in the original,  and I’m so here for that, but at times it also felt like they weren’t quite... connecting?? Again, I think the physical reassurance factor wasn’t quite as developed here as it was in the original, and I was quite disappointed by that idk

also about the thing with Belle’s mother and their magic-travel to Paris.... I know it was supposed to be a bit of a bonding moment between Belle and the Beast, but it also kept nagging at me that this moment should probably be hers and hers alone, and the Beast was just.... standing there?? I have a serious issue with some characters just standing there and doing nothing in certain moments in this film Like, if you’re going to have him there, at least have him comfort her in some way??? (again, pHYsiCAL reAssurAnCE iS imPorTAnt GuyS)

That’s.... all I can think of at the moment. At least, these were the major things that stuck out to me; I’ll be blogging more about this as time goes on in tag form, I guess. It’s weird, I’ve been feeling so salty because I wanted it to be so much more, and it just ended up being okay.

All in all, there were concepts introduced that I was really into, but as a whole it didn’t work all the way through for me. I’ll have the original film for that, I suppose

sHruGS

[docmurph12]

Alright so the last review was a lot of fun, so I kind of want to do another one. I dont know who is even reading these but it's a blast watching these with a critical mind rather than a fanboy one and writing a semi professional review. I think I'm going to make a hobby of this. Anyways.

So this one I was actually a lot more hopeful for than I was for Aladdin. Maybe as a result I was....let down more than I was watching Aladdin. I am actually writing this after about the first 20 minutes of the film. I'm not going to post until I'm finished with it, but I dont see a lot changing here, and you will know why in a moment, so don't hold your breath for a rollercoaster review, because it's going to be about as flat as the film was.

So going in, I knew what I signed up for at least. Sarah was a little bitter, having to rewatch the first 15 minutes again. I'm going to say this is almost a SHOT for SHOT remake. I mean FRAME FOR FRIGGING FRAME, LINE FOR LINE. Even the timing is ALMOST EXACTLY THE SAME. Honestly I might be just as much to blame for this as the next guy. I wear nostalgia glasses loudly and proudly. Just take a look at my living room. But the further I got into this thing the more I found myself asking "Is this truly what I wanted?" A few points before I finish this thought, because I am definitely going to lose my train of thought between the baby and the continuing movie.

-This feels like Disney wanted to go shot for shot, and only partially committed. Shots were almost copied verbatim, could have been traced in some cases, but because they were going live action.....I dont know how else to explain it but if there were an uncanny valley for animated animals it undoubtedly lives here, in the "Pridelands".

-Unfortunately the voice casting suffers a bit here too. It certainly isnt helped by the...lifeless animation (yes I know live action animals dont generally emote, but for christ's sake all things considered it's the goddamned Lion King. Come on now), but the performances are largely flat and dull. Standouts in disappointment especially pointed at the death of Mufasa, large parts of James Earl Jones' performance (mostly just because you can hear the age in his voice, where in 1994 he sounds about where he should have been age wise. There is a youthfulness in his wisdom that literally is bringing tears to my eyes thinking of the strength of that performance, compared to this one), NOT Jeremy Irons, oh sorry, Chiwetel Ejifor, and the shameless insertion of Beyonce (sorry folks, she is the Kristen Stewart of voice acting, and clearly in it just for the money as opposed to actually adding anything to the craft).

-There should not have been so much freedom allowed with the musical performances. With a couple small exceptions, The vocal performances were stale. It kind of felt like the performances were a meal and SO much was eaten up by the original performers that there just wasn't much left for the usurpers, or that they just didnt know what the hell to do with it.

-All hate aside, this film is visually stunning. I sort of hated the animal performances, or lack thereof anyways, but it is still a beautifully realized film. My favorite scene visually is 1000% where Simba is speaking with the spirit of his father, and the lightning is rolling through the clouds, outlining parts that look like a lion's head, instead of outright just being fully visible. Fucking beautiful. (By the way, we just got through the final fight between Scar and Simba. I didnt know it was possible to trace a cartoon with a computer but they did it. W......T......F......of course it has to happen as I'm complimenting it.....)

-Seth Rogan and Billy Eichner were pretty charming. The only outstanding performances in the movie from top to bottom. That said, Donald Glover was pretty good too. Speaking of exceptional performances in the face of an overall poorly performed film, my OTHER favorite part of the film was the three of them singing The Lion Sleeps and running through the oasis. Holy shit that was charming.

-Sad and kind of disappointing was the fact that the VERY little original writing, or improv, or whatever the hell it was was really good. I loved the quipping between Timon and Pumbaa, and it was REALLY good when it went a little meta. The fart joke and the piece about "Be our guest" was immediately recognized as both reverent reference and irreverent ribbing and was appreciated by both me and Sarah. Sort of shines a disappointing eye on Jon Favreau. I loved what he was able to accomplish with The Jungle Book. I realize he probably didnt do a lot of the screenwriting on either film, but with producer credits comes criticism for laziness where high quality is expected. Cmon man, I love what you do. SO DO IT ALREADY.

-I largely think this film could have been helped on a few fronts with one improvement. OR possibly changing a way the movie was put together, that is, if what I THINK happened was what actually happened. Animated films originally gave you a at minimum believable performance by capturing the physical performance of the voice actor performing ADR, and giving a rough animation estimate of that performance, since movement and expression largely impact what comes out vocally. I am not 100% sure that isn't what happened, but it FEELS like it didnt happen. If animating aspects of physical performances isnt the route, I genuinely think that having a sort of facial motion capture coupled with ACTUAL emoting could have drastically improved performances. It's interesting to see what happens when you put primarily voice actors in front of a camera, or primarily screen/stage actors in front of an ADR microphone. You can truly see the depth (or sometimes lack of) of their abilities as actors. One of my absolute favorite voice actors is Bryan Cranston, for that very reason. Unbelievable performer, in every arena. One of my least favorites is FUCKING BEYONCE. Goddamn is she a one trick pony, if that trick was simply existing. Truly a MASTER OF THAT CRAFT. That said, its 2019 (at that point), if we can give Andy Serkis EVERY tool to be successful, Disney should be able to put out a LITTLE Disney money to allow their actors to, you know, act.

Long (looooooooooooooooong) story made super short is The Lion King (2019) is more of the same, and symptomatic of a problem we created for ourselves: Shameless money grabs at nostalgia. Disney miscued like crazy at remaking a thing I didn't realize until only now how precious it was to me as a kid. Couple that with the fact that they have done SIGNIFICANTLY better doing the same thing but doing a different take, with a different, more modern and possibly more poignant message (I'm looking DIRECTLY at you, Maleficent). Honestly, as much as it KILLS the kid in me to say it, leave the sacred cows alone. Sometimes a good thing just needs to be left to be admired. Nobody ever thought they needed to improve on, say, Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, or Ridley Scott's Blade Runner with a sequel or a remake. Wait. Shit. I mean Lewis Carroll's Alice in WonderlandGODDAMNIT. I QUIT.

Verdict--4/10. Seriously please make it stop at Mulan. I really want to see that one, see it not suck, and see it STOP. And for the love of god PLEASE DONT CAST BEYONCE IN IT.

[disneydreamlights]

 Everything about Happily Ever After will be under a read more, since I don’t want to ruin it for anybody.

Everything is bullet pointed because lazy.

So my impressions on Happily Ever After.

Initial thoughts:

If you can’t see the projections, you miss half the movies. Movies like Big Hero 6 and Zootopia, along with some others like Cars, Ratatouille, Snow White, and Cinderella and a few other movies I haven’t named.

The story of the show is a cohesive unit. That being, individual portions don’t feel as cohesive. The cohesion of the first section after the intro (the dreams section) is by far the worst because too many songs take directly from the movies, rather than musical renditions and occasional lyrics. (As a note the best at this was the friendship section.)

The fireworks are phenomenal, some of the best pyrotechnics that Magic Kingdom and the Walt Disney World resort have ever seen.

I’m disappointed by the lack of a full orchestral score, that being said, it was definitely a lot better than I expected.

The full show is really made if you can see it. You lose a lot of the story if you can’t see the projections, it actually kinda feels like you’re missing out on something.

NO STAR WARS THANK FUCK!

Heather’s friendly reminder that talking over the show and complaining about elements you don’t even know are in it (somebody at the start of every section of the show predicted Frozen and whined, not kidding, it was the most annoying thing ever) ruins the experience for everybody around you and if it wasn’t for the fact that this was the first Happily Ever After showing and not the last showing of Wishes instead I would’ve punched some people in the face for not knowing when to shut up.

The Songs:

I was blown away by the song choices for this show. While there were a few songs I’m not so fond of in it (You’ve Got a Friend in Me being my main gripe) they did a fantastic job with them.

Out There used Quasimodo’s voice and that’s just cringeworthy, it’s probably a large part of what made the first section weakest aside from the only nonvocal piece in it being Part of Your World.

SEE THE LIGHT LANTERN SECTION YOU’VE RETURNED. OWO

Also, returning from Wishes: Go the Distance and I’m really glad because I love Hercules and I was so worried that its last real bit of representation (besides a small part of Zero to Hero in Fantasmic!) in the parks was going to be lost when Wishes left but it’s the only song besides Friend Like Me (and Part of Your World/A Whole New World) to return. That being said it’s not the orchestral, powerful version from Wishes, but it is the song.

On top of that, When You Wish Upon a Star does not play at all during Happily Ever After. A fair bit of heartbreak for poor Jiminy and his iconic song, which for the people who haven’t seen Wishes, was the tying theme song to Wishes (along with the star light star bright quote I have on my blog’s about.)

That being said Trashing the Camp played and I’m not really sure what it has to do with friendship but I died.

Romance section: Not a romance section, but in fact a love section. There’s an entire portion to You’ll Be In My Heart on family love, but you lose that if you can’t see the castle and don’t know Tarzan since all you hear are lyrics and see the romance songs surrounding it.

Frozen: Not Let it Go, the first Disney parks show since Frozen came out not to feature the song! Instead you have an open with Olaf and then Love Is An Open Door rendition.

Opening and Closing song, if you haven’t heard them yet, they’re super catchy and well sung. It’s no Wishes main theme (and I don’t love the walk off as much either) but still good.

Finally not really on the songs themselves but each segment opens with a quote and after a villain’s adversity section (opened with a great Mulan quote) they have the overcoming adversity section and it opens with Mufasa’s remember who you are quote.

Speaking of which the Lion King representation A+

(I’ve left out a few movies that just personally didn’t excite me as much as these things so...there’s a lot more that I didn’t bring up.)

Fireworks and Projections:

This show’s pyrotechnics are phenomenal firework tech is incredible now why couldn’t we have this with Wishes.

Projections are stunning, and flow really well together. 

Especially the newly animated stuff! That’s beautiful!

That being said, the show can’t carry itself without the projections. Like I said earlier you miss some of the movies and also some of the unifying factors. I won’t say much on it but the transition from the Adversity to the Triumph section is really, really strong, but you can’t tell that without the projections at all. Like it goes from battle section (to Pirates music) and Maleficent to suddenly Mufasa and Go the Distance if you don’t have projections and left me real confused where I assumed it was just a Celebrate the Magic kind of transition.

DID I MENTION THE FIREWORKS ARE STUNNING I’D WATCH THIS SHOW WITHOUT THE MUSIC JUST TO SEE THOSE AGAIN.

Compared to Wishes:

Technologically: Very superior to Wishes.

I this is obvious but I feel like even if Wishes was given a facelift and some projections its technical level given the fireworks used just goes above and beyond.

That being said the soundtrack to Wishes is much better imo. Sorry I prefer my soundtrack to remain When You Wish Upon a Star based and prefer the movies based in the 90s and classic era. Plus like I said I appreciate the orchestral score and nothing will beat hearing the kid sing “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight. We’ll make a wish and do as dreamers do, and all our wishes will come true.”

I don’t like new narrator voice for some reason, I definitely prefer Jiminy, but he only really comes in at the beginning and the end so it’s not that big a deal.

I feel like they were honestly going for two very different responses to be honest. Wishes feels like it was trying to embody magic and the magic of Disney, and as such uses your Disney nostalgia, the overall lack of lyrics, and does a subtle job of manipulating your emotions so you feel that magic and wishes really are real, so when the Blue Fairy was telling you to believe in the power of wishes because they were the magic of the world, you believed her that they were. There were times in showings of Wishes where I’d come close to crying because they convinced me magic was real. Happily Ever After (thankfully) did not try to go for this, but instead decided to focus on having you believe anybody can get their happily ever after, and so while it does have its emotional parts (the love section being the most emotional) it does so in a way that’s aiming to have fun. 

That being said Wishes is also overall more cohesive feeling, and doesn’t need the projections to be the full show.

So really, both shows have/had their strengths and weaknesses. I personally prefer Wishes but really that’s just my own preference.

Favorites:

SEE THE LIGHT IS BACK FUCK YEAH

Anytime it brought out the orchestral soundtracks I was happy.

Pirates is a minimal section and while it’s still...I feel like I’m just sick of the Pirates soundtrack at this point tbh, it’s at least not Pirates of the Caribbean characters or stupid skeletons so it’s actually a reasonable section.

No Try Everything. No Immortals. No Star Wars.

Opening and Closing songs are absolutely fantastic.

Overcoming adversity section is beautiful.

New animation is beautiful.

Also Maleficent.

So much Lion King. 

Wonderful fireworks, they were gorgeous and above and beyond anything I have ever seen.

Cons:

I really miss Jiminy Cricket. Remember when he was the icon of Magic Kingdom? I do too. The poor thing deserved better.

I also miss When You Wish Upon a Star. I wasn’t expecting my favorite parts of Wishes, but I was expecting to have that song playing somewhere.

A lot of Pixar and modern movies. There was more old than I thought, but I still think we could’ve had more older Disney movies, I can’t think of too many songs that played from movies before Little Mermaid (there was Bare Necessities, You Can Fly when Tink flies and some Sleeping Beauty music maybe during Maleficent and besides that I can’t think of anything???) so I’m a little sad about that when we had Wishes paying tribute to Pinocchio, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White with a touch of Peter Pan. That being said they are still there, just in the same short amounts as a lot of other Disney movies.

The projections really are half the show. They’re wonderful but the fact of the matter is I loved the show more watching a recording than live because I could see the castle. Up until I watched the show through a livestream I’d considered the show only a step up from Wishes in terms of the quality of technology rather than in terms of quality itself (because while Wishes is my favorite I can admit that Happily Ever After is technically better) because (forgetting the annoying people talking) I couldn’t see the projections half the time. That being said even without the projections it’s still much better than anything I’ve seen from Disney since Disney Dreams and Celebrate the Magic, easily surpassing Ignite the Dream, Disneyland Forever, and Disney’s Illuminations.

Conclusions:

Happily Ever After is the successor that Wishes deserved, putting Disney World once more as the pioneer and show to beat, not that they really lost that title because as outdated as Wishes was it was still objectively better than half the new shows without even trying.

It’s really good and has a lot of good songs and pyrotechnics, so I definitely recommend even if you can’t see the castle, but the show becomes twice as good if you can actually see the castle because the projections make it.

Technically the show is better than Wishes in nearly every regard unless you’re looking for a show who’s everything flows into each other basically flawlessly since there are some shaky parts early on but besides that it’s good.

I still like Wishes best though because nothing will beat the return to childlike wonder I got from it. Sorry not sorry but Wishes owns my ass and it still hurts me to think that I don’t have it anymore, even if the replacement is amazing.

Picking Disney quotes to identify each section was incredibly smart and I died when Mufasa spoke.

Thinking on it, my sister and I compared it to Fantasmic! when we heard the soundtrack when they posted the first announcement video since it had that sound and I don’t think that’s far off. The projections get in most movies using the “bubble method” (the bubble montage from MGM’s Fantasmic!) with a few more focused on sections. So it’s like a Fantasmic!/Wishes hybrid in that sense.

Overall: Fantastic show, that’s really all you need to know.