#i'm ranting

[bilolli]

I finally finished and edited it! This time there shouldn’t be problems with sizes and messed up colors.

Anyway, this scene lives rent free in my head and I HAD to draw it.

Solar Lunacy belongs to the talented @bamsara​ , (seriously, it’s a wonderfull fanfic, read it.)

Process GIF and variants under the cut!

On PC this one looks better, but on my phone it’s wayyyy to saturated and dark. Ujsdbidfshf I hate screens differences.

[patovpran]

Can't wait for Colin to be his true self in pt 2 so people can finally understand him as a character

[pineapplehazard]

Too occupied ranting about 911 I forgot to do my duolingo😔😔😔

[dazzle02]

Buck and Maddie's relationship is one of the most interesting on the show to me personally.

She was nine, she lost her brother and gained a new one and suddenly she's not just an older sister, she's a parent too. She's nine years old and someone's Mother. While not being allowed to properly grieve the brother she just lost. Not even allowed to acknowledge his existence.

And of course she did the best she could, but she was a child raising another child. No parent has all the answers, but especially not a CHILD who never asked to have this put on them. So she of course got things wrong. One that really sticks out is her explanation about their parents worry when Evan falls off his bike. She kinda put the idea in his head that getting hurt is what will get him that love he craves from their parents. And that was NOT her fault. She was 12. And also living in this abusive household. But she was the one that gave him the idea to continue hurting himself to get attention. And there are likely other things that he learned from her that weren't actually healthy, due to her being a child trying to learn about the world herself.

And when she left for Boston, that would definitely feel like a parental abandonment for Evan due to her being the only parental figure he ever really had. But it WASN'T. It was a 19 year old moving out and going to School, which is what a lot of people that age tend to do. But to Evan, it would feel like the only parent he's ever known leaving him. And logically he'd know that's not the case. She's NOT his mother, she's his sister and she's supposed to live her life and she never asked to raise a child at such a young age. He was NOT her responsibility. But emotionally? That's the start of his abandonment issues.

And it's why Maddie can be kinda overbearing with him at times too. (Especially after the lightning strike...) It was ingrained in her from the age of nine that he's her kid and she has to take care of him. So as soon as she sees him suffering in any way, those instincts come back full force. She's gotta take care of him, make sure he's not going to die while she's not looking. AND make it clear she's not leaving him again.

They've had to figure out how to go from the relationship they had as kids where she was more a parent than a sister, to a new one now that they're adults where they're siblings.

And that's gotta be tough. And I would love more of a focus on that really. Just them still kinda adjusting to having to have this new dynamic. Because logically they both are aware that Maddie having to raise Buck was messed up and unfair for them both. But it's also just what's normal to them.

And any time someone comes for Maddie about not being a good sister it makes my blood boil. SHE DOES HER BEST! She was a child raising a child, and she's now an adult who went through abuse for pretty much her entire life! First the neglect from her parents (plus the parentification) and then her marriage to Doug for like 15 years! Of course she's not perfect. And as much as they both love each other, they ARE BOTH part of each others traumas. For Maddie a big trauma for her was having to raise him, and for Buck a big trauma for him was her leaving. And they've managed to work through that for the most part. It's always going to be there, they're both very defining for each of them. For Maddie having to become a parent at such a young age made her feel as though she couldn't be a very good one due to not being a perfect parent AS A CHILD. And for Buck, Maddie leaving was definitely the start of his abandonment issues. And neither of them are at fault for that, but they both have these issues that are directly tied to each other. It all comes back to their parents though. If they'd just done their jobs as parents, things would be so different.

Some of this may not make much sense as it is very hot here right now and I am not thinking right. But you get what I mean, hopefully. 🤣

I would also like to add to Supernatural fans, you can not claim Dean Winchester is just the best brother in the world for raising Sam and then turn around and claim Maddie is a terrible sister. Especially as Dean could be very abusive at times...

[garrandia]

should start drawing ppl like this

Maybe I'll become famous on twt 😲🤔

[thepurplewombat]

I was in a bookshop today, and they had a whole display (like, not even a shelf, but a whole set of shelves) for Colleen Hoover, and one (1) Anne Rice novel.

And it's not even just about the Anne Rice, even though Anne Rice is a great example because her books are currently being made into a TV show that is doing numbers. It's about six different versions of Dune and virtually no recent SF at all. It's about four (I counted) different editions of LOTR, an entire shelf of Pratchett, a whole shelf display of Sanderson, and virtually no other fantasy. And I love Pratchett, everyone loves Pratchett, I have a full set of Discworld novels with the original covers and like, a third of a set of the pretty new hardcovers, but I don't think you need to have the entire Discworld out in two different editions when your fantasy section has less shelf space than my office, you know? They had two Naomi Novik books. Not even two books from her most recent series, just two of her books. Sarah J Maas is great and all, but I don't think she needs an entire section to herself.

I don't even know where I'm going with this, I'm just...its frustrating, because you can clearly see that a lot of the shelves were stocked by people who had absolutely no idea what they were packing.

If there was a series, it's out of order. They had two of MXTX's novels, and for some reason Scum Villain and MDZS were on entirely different shelves. Erha was once again shelved in the (tiny! It's so tiny, it's three shelves!) YA section (but like, the cool YA section, where the boys' books are next to PJ, not the girly YA ghetto across the street from the romance novels) which, why?? Did anyone look at the back of the book, or did they see an Asian art style and go 'well its Asian but not Manga, guess it's for kids'?

I want to buy a bookshop and make them do it right 😡

[acrazybayernfan]

I just want to say my love and appreciation for goalkeepers again ❤️❤️❤️.

Like I think it's really the hardest position on a football pitch. It requires so many qualities.

Such as, of course, incredible reflexes, but also a very good perception of the ball and of the game, a great understanding of trajectories, knowledge in defense coaching, extraordinary courage (because standing there when a ball comes at you at full speed, or going out while a player his running towards you, also at full speed, and he could easily hurt you, that's brave) and also to be good enough with your feet to dictate the game and be able to resist against pressing.

But really the most important qualities of goalkeepers are their mental qualities. Like imagine you have to wait for minutes and minutes, while all the others are enjoying themselves, and yet stay ready and super focus because at anytime your team may need you. Imagine the pressure you must feel as a goalkeeper during a penalty shootout, like you're the last hope of your team. And people are so ungrateful to you. A goalkeeper could have a great game, could do many important saves, could be crucial in the development of the game, but if there is just one mistake, everyone is going to remember this mistake and will say that the goalie was the cause of the defeat.

Goalkeepers are truly amazing and we should have a lot more respect for them ( "coughing" ballon d'or jury do you hear me?!)

[beevean]

Really hoping that it really does storm from next week so that I can go outside and breathe

Felt temperature 42°C, fucking help me I need to get out but I'll die

[twicethetrouble]

I literally have one more scene left to write in "Proud Family Traditions" but i got sick and instead of getting fixated on writing during my imprompu time off work, i got fixated on stupid fish tank games.

[rogue205]

Bit of a 9-1-1 rant/unpopular opinion

As always, people who lash out will have their comment deleted and themselves blocked. People who respond in a civilized adult manner will have a response given in an equally civilized adult manner.

So here it is....

Am I the only one who feels that now the show has officially created this “dad & son” thing strictly between Bobby and Buck, that it actually lessens the whole “Fire Dad” thing Bobby had going for his whole damn team? It’s essentially made even worse by the fact that Buck is the fandom woobie so that is all everyone is focusing on. I find it annoying especially given that Buck is not the only character with sh*t parents as well.  Speaking of, anyone else think those two are up to something? They didn’t change that much overnight.

Just my opinion.

[riptidespen]

The biggest disappointment about tsats to me is the lack of demigods. Like firstly, the whole camp is empty is so unrealistic. You are telling me every single demigod has a good home/parent/family to go home to? I read the books, I know it wasn’t just Luke, Thalia, Annabeth, and Leo out there with issues of returning ‘home’. Camp Half-Blood grew in numbers because so many were being claimed and brought to the camp there is no way during the school year it’s just Nico and Will as the remaining demigods. 

I so desperately wanted Clovis to be involved in this quest in some compacity. The son of Hypno, he could have been useful in some way about dreams and nightmares. I get the book is about light and dark, Will and Nico, and mostly just Will excepting his boyfriend is his grumpy little ball of darkness and that’s ok because not all darkness is bad. Still, it would have been nice to have someone else with them to help combat against an invisible force that invaded their minds. 

[bilolli]

I wanna talk about my o.cs, I wanna talk about my o.cs, I wanna talk about my o.cs, I wanna talk abou-

[empyrean11]

I shouldn't have checked jays twitter so early in the morning. 😣

I get the frustration with not winning and questionable decisions, I DO.

but holy crapcakes, if you think they're unwatchable, unlikeable, boring - that's a choice you're making. you don't even have to look very hard to find joy in this team!

*cough* best spencer *cough*

[monsamborabutterfly]

This week is honestly the first time I'm feeling a bit meh after watching the episode. Maybe it's also cause I've watched last episodes BTS on YouTube and there was literally no NeoMark in it despite Nick and Boston having such important scenes last week.

Idk it just feels a bit sucky lol I'll be back to my BostonNick screaming self in no time but I really think I just have to give myself some room to rant a bit.

I'm not even mad Boston and Nick didn't get their big happy end yet. If they get it I low-key knew it would be in the final ep. I'm just mostly annoyed with the lack of screentime they got this ep in favor of Boeing. I get it he's hot. But it definitely did happen what I fear it would. He's there to create unnecessary drama between the characters in a way that feels a bit lazy in my opinion.

I love Jojo and the team and what they created but damn this annoys me.

Is that just a me thing? Idk I'm probably most definitely overreacting but eh it happens lol sorry for all the whining. BostonNick are my faves after all and I just don't want their storyline to fall short is all

[ayosdesignz-blog]

Spoilers for across the Spiderverse I guess.

Finally watched Across the Spiderverse and despite the spoilers and observations I'd read beforehand, I'm offended by both Spot and Miguel.

Like...to the point I don't understand why the content I came across generally really liked them? Miguel especially. FUCK Miguel. Good guy my ass. Dude has practically built a cult. And he's the unquestioned head who's word is law and doesn't have to listen to anyone just because.

I don't understand the vehement and persistent hate these 2 GROWN ASS MEN have towards a damn 14-now 15 year old boy. A goddamn child.

Both keep victim blaming and pushing and projecting their mistakes, the wrong doings of others, the plot of fucking KINGPIN onto him and I just DON'T understand. Miles literally did NOTHING wrong to get this kind of vitriol from a pair of strangers who Actually know what's up. Or that claim to anyways.

Spot over here claiming to be the scientist that made/had the spider that made Miles Spiderman. He also basically admitted to being one of the evil scientists that was under goddamn Kingpin's employ. The same Kingpin who cooked up and pressed and demanded his selfish world destroying demands be met. Yet he wants to blame the scared child who was literally only defending himself and trying to do good by helping to stop more ppl (including that family he claims he lost but had actually rejected him for reasons) don't die. Why is he not mad at his boss? Former boss? Why is he not taking responsibility for losing the spider experiment? Yet he wants credit in making the newest spiderman? Why does he want to make a literal child the root of his problem instead of literally any of the adults it could've been...like other Peter?

Only thing I can think of is that he's such a sad pathetic piece of incompetent shit that a damn (mostly)clueless child was the only target he could shift blame too and feel like he could properly threaten and win against. Only to be proven wrong and have the audacity to be offended that the child he's failing to harm doesn't take him seriously nor accept the false responsibility of his own problems he's trying to place on Miles.

And then there's Miguel's bitch ass.

Acting all knowing and despite being aware of the facts that Miles is OBJECTIVELY not at fault or aware of any problems (aside from Spot) is unnecessarily rude and hostile towards him from the very start.

And when he calms down enough to actually talk and explain some things like a rational person, it's essentially to give his own crazy (and mildly horrifying from implications cuz STALKER USURPER ALERT) sob story so he can tell a kid to let his dad be killed "because the worlds will end otherwise" and basically imply that since Miles saved Captain Singh they'll have to murder that cop to make things "right".

And then later, when he catches Miles outside after that ridiculous and hilarious chase was somehow compelled to tell this child, with words filled with (unnecessary) aggressive hate, that he's a "mistake" that shouldn't exist and should have never been spiderman.

Smells like self projecting to me.

And also, it's bullshit!

Based on what I recall from this movie I just watched, one or both of these men I can't stand is lying. Spot is claiming to be of Miles' dimension with the radio active spider but Miguel is claiming that spider is from a different dimension.

And the fact that Miguel rudely brings up more trauma, victim blames MORE, and tries to put the responsibility of a death caused by a murderous adult villain onto that same (child) victim only to later try to lament to the other spider ppl that Miles "won't listen" and "talking won't work" since he just tried it honestly put him on my character shit list.

Like I knew from spoilers that he was deemed attractive and interesting and that he didn't like this version of Miles but I didn't have like...any indepth details or whatever. I wasn't actively looking for spoilers.

I went into this movie expecting to like him, even just somewhat. But honestly? Fuck that guy. And not in a sexy way.

I mean...He immediately attempts to intimidate a child into submission upon 1st meeting for no reason after being rude as fuck while said child was trying to make a good impression and was honestly just happy to be there. And then he later tries to emotionally (and mentally?) break Miles verbally as if him loving his family, wanting his dad alive if possible is a bad thing. I had assumed, before going in that Miguel had at least started off civil and professionally polite with Miles. Figured Miles had purposely done something to his face that made Miguel go from cautious to distant. He hadn't. At all.

It's giving racist lowkey for the way he literally hates this mixed, primarily black presenting, child for existing and the way he said he wanted to just ignore/pretend that Hobie (another black male) was even there also made me raise an eyebrow. Maybe it's cuz of my own experience dealing with prejudice from ppl I least expected it from as a kid myself but Miguel is giving it and that's what I'm seeing and he's an asshat for it. He has no right and no reason to act as he did let alone say what he said. Fuck his ✨️trauma✨️ caused by his own mistakes as an adult who damn well knew better.

Mans literally stalked his own doppelganger and inserted himself into the other him's life once that one died only for it all to go to shit from glitches likely because he shouldn't have been there and what Kingpin was doing. Hell I wouldn't be surprised if he'd killed his other self to live that dream life he wanted so bad.

Yet he wants everyone to believe a child in the wrong place at the wrong time and being saved by a superhero before taking up the mantel of a hero himself in honor of his savior since shit just happened to him...in his OWN WORLD MIND YOU, is completely wrong and unacceptable.

He can miss me with that bullshit. He's wrong period in my book.

Also if Miles is considered the: "oRIgInaL anOmALy" and has been living life just fine with powers caused by a alternate dimension spider then there's probably a good chance he can change his world's "canon events" without things going to shit since according to bitchMiguel, Mile's has technically been doing that from the start by even existing.

Think about it: Miles became a spiderman with active spider ppl there to train him. He wasn't alone or even the 1st spider person there. He knew what was happening as he changed since it had happened before and was publicized. His love interest Gwen is not only from a different dimension but also spiderwoman. A civilian unrelated to him knew of him and the others and provided additional support without becoming a liability, his uncle may have died but was a criminal unlike all the (known?) others, he's had no glitch or issues with his powers, he has more powers than the basic spiderman w/o the need of a suit, he's got both parents and both love him and also think rather positively of Spiderman w/o knowing it's him. His cop dad willingly works with spiderman too.

Also am I the only one concerned that the so called sophisticated technology they have to send ppl back to their dimensions has semi regularly sent their captures back to the wrong place? Because the only thing they tried to do was stop the machine from sending him, so unless that affected the way it operates to determine where a person is from that means they probably have been sending ppl to the wrong places, unknowingly fucking shit up just as much if not more in the multiverse than b4 they tried to correct it.

I bet they're actually wrong about all kinds of things and their causes and just don't realize it.

But I am estatic Hobie is just as awesome as I was lead to believe. Watching him, listening to what he says, I firmly believe he was an op to the spider society from the start to learn what he could, try to get other spiders to THINK more, and prepare for when he decides to leave them so he doesn't need them to utilize the tools they had a monopoly on.

I mean bro made the tactical decision to quit when Miguel and others were fully distracted by Miles on some sketchy shit and I feel like that kept him from having to deal with a cult leader bitchMiguel trying to make an example out of him for doing so or something.

[zoeysdamn]

Treasure Planet: a way underrated Disney movie [critic]

Hi, hello, it’s me again, rambling about a movie like I’m working for the Nostalgia Critic instead of writing next chapter or actually do my work. What can I say, I love to ramble on obscure subjects (but since at least once person enjoyed the critic I wrote on The Witcher: Blood origin I solely did to improve my writing skills, I guess it’s okay lmao) Love you and stay hydrated ♥

Time to analyze and bring justice to Treasure Planet 

There are some movies that leave a mark on you, that you’ll always remember of through your life. It isn’t necessarily a good, Oscar-winning movie, or a mindblowing work, but it is an unpriceable memory to you, and that’s why it is one of your favorite movies ever. That’s how I feel about Disney’s Treasure Planet. 

First thing first, I’d like to highlight an important aspect about this critic: Treasure Planet is the first movie I’ve ever seen in theaters. I was 3 years old, and seeing those incredible images of space and stars up on a big screen through my child’s eyes definitely did something to me (cue my tattoos of moon and sun I guess). So what I’m trying to say is, that even if I’ll be doing my best to make an objective critic, it definitely won’t be one. I love this movie so freaking much, do not try to stop the fangirl screaming in me. I watched it again recently with my brother, and even if I know it like the back of my hand, I couldn’t believe that a lot of people still think poorly of this movie.

That being said, let’s move on to the main subject: in what way is Treasure Planet an underrated movie? I’ll be trying to analyze why it failed to be a new success for the Disney company at a time of many mildly successful productions, and carry on about why we all should appreciate it more with a new eye, for it brought many great things. 

First, let’s talk about the context of this movie’s release. In 2002, Disney wasn't in its golden nor silver age anymore. The last original movie – meaning, that isn’t a prequel or sequel of a previous franchise – was Atlantis in 2001 and Kuzco in 2000 (I’m not including Monsters Inc., given it was a Pixar co-production). The first wasn’t exactly a financial success (although it is also one of my favorite Disney ever, what can I say, I like the unloved ones), and the latter, even if I still think it’s one of the most hilarious movies they ever made, was not a great movie. So when Treasure Planet launched and turned out to be a critical business failure – 109 578 115 $ at the box-office for a 140 000 000 $ budget, and if you’re wondering, yes it is indeed a big failure – nobody ever talked about it again. The failure is even greater given not a single Disney Park has an attraction on this theme – but we’ll talk about this later. Now, not many people actually know that this movie ever existed.

Now that we have a little more context, let’s go even deeper and see the different elements that lead to this catastrophic failure within the movie. It’s important to remember that I’m not an expert either in movies analysis or the Disney company, there’s a lot of things I don’t know or don’t have any numbers to prove what I’m saying. I’m simply here to ramble and list things that seem important to me, and I’m making a hella lot of assumptions. 

Given the general context of the movie release, I think that what wounded its reputation the most is the 3D used. It is – if I’m not mistaken, and I probably am – one of the first Disney animated movies that uses so much 3D. And let’s be honest…it aged badly. I’m not bad mouthing anybody’s work, I appreciate the fact that Disney tried something; with every new experiment, there have to be some clumsy first try, and yeah, we could say that Treasure Planet was this one. But remember, the movie came out in 2002: a year before, Dreamworks leveled up the 3D game by releasing Shrek, and next to it the 3D view in Treasure Planet looks cheap. The idea was interesting, the view in a gradual zoom on the moon-turning-to-be-an-harbor was really a good idea; but the messy outcome of the visual cost a lot more to the movie’s reputation. 

Another thing that may have contributed to the movie’s unsuccess could be the lack of “typical” Disney elements. I’m here talking about things such as a romantic interest for the main character, a princess/royalty character, or catchy musical moments sung by characters. If we look at the Disney animated movies that had been released around the same time, it was all movies and/or sequels about princesses (Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid), or already popular characters (Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, etc.). Choosing to not give a female, princess-like, and popular character was a bold and risky move for Disney; as a result, the story was led by a forgettable character who didn’t leave any mark in people’s minds. Again, I’m talking while trying to be objective, you bet I remember Jim Hawkins; we’re talking about one of my very first fictional crushes here, I’ll take the defense of this amazing character later. 

Of course, the story does give a glimpse of a love story, but between two side characters. Not enough for a company who built most of its movies’ success on princesses and true love kisses. The same could be said about the lack of songs; there’s always a tune immediately blasting in your head when someone mentions Disney, the absence of such joyful musical moments certainly wounded Treasure Planet’s reputation. But on the other side, the only song within the movie (I’m not counting the outro) is really deep, and well inserted in the plot. I hardly picture any of the characters, even the main one – especially him – starting to sing their feelings out of the blue. The lack of sung serenades makes sense, but it may have not been appreciated by viewers who expected a full Broadway show. 

Finally, the whole aesthetic may have been quite unsettling for most of the viewers. I think the movie came out at an in-between of steampunk glory – after the success of Lovecraft and before the 00’ return of this style’s popularity. Again, I'm a big fan of the whole design; but it was also a bit too daring for the time. 

So to sum this up really quickly, I think that Treasure Planet was released too soon. It has the potential to be a bigger success, should it have been released nowadays. Beside the 3D parts that have aged badly, I honestly don’t think this movie’s outdated the slightest. I still think today that the viewers of 2002 weren’t ready for this movie, its story, characters and message. And to defend that, I’ll list the elements that make this movie a brilliant one. 

First of all, the whole story inspired by Stevensons’ Treasure Island is a major good point for me. The pirate aesthetic hadn’t come back fully in pop culture yet, and the original story has very interesting material ahead. The source of inspiration was an excellent idea. It also led to the unconventional coming-of-age story; most of the plot in this kind of scenario is about someone who becomes an adult somehow, through an epic quest. They have a good life, but thrive for more, or are the “chosen one” and all. Here, Jim is, admittedly by his mother, a juvenile delinquent. This late teenager is lost in his life, torn apart between his dreams of freedom, and the love he has for his mother. He doesn’t want to let her down, or disappoint her, but he doesn’t know what to do because no one can guide him through what’s possible for him. And as a young adult who had been through such a crisis for 5 solid years (and still not completely out of it let’s be honest), it is an important subject to bring up. It’s not that Jim is lazy or inherently a bad son, he just doesn’t know what to do and what the possibilities are. The cops, the clients of the inn, even the doctor and his mom had categorized him as a good-for-nothing so he’s kind of stuck in this role, all while deeply loving his mother and trying to help her. This internal conflict between what you want to do for your own good and what your heart wants to do to keep your loved ones (especially family) safe and proud of you isn’t completely foreign in a Disney movie; but it is something that is more recurrent in later movies, such as Moana, Tangled and such.

This is a great transition to address the subject of Jim’s family, which is also depicted in a very modern way in my opinion. The fact that he only has his mom in the movie is…painfully classical in a Disney movie (I mean, the no parents policy is basically a private joke in Disney movies now). But it’s one of the first movies where the dad’s absence is clearly and loudly mentioned, either by the characters themselves or through the song. It is also one of rare cases of a parent actually leaving their families; during the song, we see Jim’s dad leaving and never coming back (probably out buying intergalactic milk, I don’t know), but we also see Jim’s mom crying, him being deeply affected by his father’s absence through different phases of his childhood, and more than that, the effect of his dad’s absence is clearly mentioned several times. We don’t know if his father actually died out of space or if he just left Jim and Sarah – although several elements seem to indicate so, such as the fact we never see his face, that Sarah doesn’t have any picture of him in the inn or in her memory-locket-necklace, or that Jim says that he doesn’t miss his dad who’s more like “going away and never coming back”. Parent(s)’s deaths in Disney movies are usually either briefly mentioned as such (Atlantis, Cinderella, etc.) or a means to bring up a more tragic backstory that serves the character’s growth (Tarzan). Here we have a very realistic, bitter case of a father leaving his child and wife for no apparent reason; for a 2002 Disney movie, it is indeed a very modern take at the subject of one parent’s disappearance, especially at how they show the effects on every concerned character. 

And this is a very appreciated choice! When Encanto was released almost two years ago, I was thrilled by the serious issues such as intergenerational trauma, gaslighting within a family, and pain caused by neglect of elders someone looks up to. My first thought was “Finally, we can have a Disney movie that addresses very much real family issues, it’s a big step for them.” But then when I re-watched Treasure Planet, I realized that Disney had done that before, almost 20 years ago; and that’s why it’s a great movie. Children aren’t dumb (yes, I’m actually saying this), I do believe we can talk about any subject with them if we use words and concepts they can understand. They’re naive about a lot of things, and it’s natural they’re still kids; but if a kid can watch and understand Ariel wanting legs to seduce the good-looking fellow on the boat, they can understand that sometimes family can take different forms, including a single mother and her sons both struggling on different scales due to a husband and father abandon. 

This whole setting also allowed the movie to have a slightly different type of main character. I mentioned it briefly before, but Jim is a more complex character than most of the Disney protagonists of that time - and before. Once again, let’s make something clear about typology: complex doesn't necessarily mean complicated. Jim has a rather easily understandable goal, he wants to find his place, and what to do with his life. But the fact that he’s standing in-between the brashness of late-teenage years and seriousness of young adulthood, probably triggered earlier by his dad’s disappearance, makes him more complex. He’s a morally gray character, who’s sometimes acting like a brat (trespassing several times, getting arrested and such), but who also wants to get things right, especially for his mom. So by complex, I mean that Jim has nuances; much more than traditional Disney protagonists (that is especially true for all of the princesses lore anterior to this movie). There had been some examples of that before of course, with Aladdin and Tarzan for example; Megara in Hercules is loved because she’s witty AND a complex character. But she’s only a side character; in Treasure Planet it is  the protagonist and others who wear those traits (Silver, Jim, even Captain Amelia). It also reminds the turn-over of the team in the second part of Atlantis, when they all realize Rourke had gone too far while not even 10 minutes earlier they were assumed capitalist treasure snatchers regardless of Atlantean culture. So, those two big examples of more complex characters did a good job to prepare the field for their successors (Elsa in Frozen, Flynn Rider in Tangled, even Maui in Moana), but not enough to get the public satisfied enough when they came out. 

Jim’s evolution through the movie is also a really interesting one, because it does once again not fit into what I’d call a “traditional” goal in Disney movies. I’d say there are two main categories in there: a romance trope (seduce and/or reunite with the love interest as in Sleeping beauty, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, etc.) or a higher, destiny-boud, epic purpose or quest (Simba avenging his father and claiming his rightful place as the king, Arthur becoming king, Hercules trying to prove he’s a divine hero, Moana saving the ocean, Miguel trying to return to the living’s world and mend some of his families’ feud, Robin Hood fighting against oppression, and on and on). Of course I’m caricaturing things here, but it is indeed quite rare to have, such as in Treasure Planet, a protagonist with a very personal, almost selfish compared to other movies, goal. Sure there’s the Flynt’s treasure hunt, but more than that, the journey is about giving Jim an opportunity to find himself, his place, and his dreams. More importantly, he finds a father/guiding figure in Silver in once again a very subtle way. Jim doesn’t need a new father, he needs someone who listens to him and gives him the tools to choose his destiny himself. That is greatly pictured at the end of the movie when Silver offers Jim to follow him in the pirate way, and Jim declines saying he has his own future now. He doesn’t reject the cyborg’s way of life, for he had learned a lot from it, he simply acknowledged the outcomes of his journey under the guidance of Silver. Through all of their adventures we see on plenty of occasions Silver teaching Jim things, and Jim trying, understanding, and then mixing those things with his own ways to create something greater, more efficient and deeply personal. This is an excellent way of depicting teaching, especially for older or young adult character growth. They are already their own person, they don’t need to be made or inherently changed; but they still need an adjusted guidance to unlock and thrive through their potential. Again, this is a good, nuanced message that the movie aced. 

That being said, I’d like to talk again about the overall aesthetic of the movie. I was, and still am in awe in front of the chara-designs and ambience. Creating an animation movie using space aesthetics was brilliant, and it’s a shame there’s still not a lot of movies doing so. I mean, the color palette, patterns and design possibilities are endless, some screenshots of the movie are my favorite of all time. Plus, I really liked the design of some planets, mixing steampunk and a more Alien-like vibe. As for the characters, it’s still funny how we feel like we know what they’re partly inspired by, but at the same time being completely clueless? Like, Captain Amelia is a cat-lady or something? The scary spider-thing man? The whole pirate crew? Each character is an alien for the other and the designs are really funny to watch. And can we please talk about the absolute snack that Jim is? We’re talking about one of my very first fictional crushes here, and I said what I said. The boy is more charming than 90% of the Disney princes who had come before him, I won’t change my mind. 

To sum this up, I think that the design team and artists really had fun creating this movie, and that even if the whole aesthetic failed to please the public, it’s still an excellent exercise of style for the artistic direction team.  

So now, where does all of that lead to? I’ll try to make a quick conclusion about all of that. Basically I think that this movie was released too soon. The message and execution were great, there were some good ideas, but I don’t think the public was ready or expecting that. Disney needed a new success, and it should have been something like a new Aladdin, or The Little Mermaid; something more traditional they knew would absolutely work. Instead the viewers were disappointed by the new movie and turned their back on a too unconventional movie. Should it have been released ten years after, I’m pretty sure Treasure Planet would have had a better 3D and a better, well-deserved success. And honestly, the fact that some movies with interesting, new designs and plots failed to be popular is a disappointment for both the viewers and Disney itself. For example, Atlantis shares a lot of similarities with Treasure Planet on this subject. Can we stop for a second and imagine what could have happened on a larger scale if both of those movies had been successes? The impact on the way female characters are written, or people of color representation (which Atlantis was a great precursor of)? On how a good animated movie doesn’t necessarily needs a love story or a kiss (Milo and Kida never kiss, nor do they declare their undying love, because they met 3 days ago for fuck’s sake. Yes Cinderella and Snow White, I’m looking at you); or the impact on characters and universes design? Imagine the potential of both of those movie aesthetics for Disney parks attractions? For merch? 

In the end, the appreciation of a movie, especially one produced by Disney that we certainly watched as a kid, is deeply personal; the success or lack of at the box-office doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad movie. A dozen parameters are to be accounted for to understand if, and why the movie had been a critical failure, including the general context of movies of the same type at the time, and a more large view of the company and expectations of both the producers and the public. So if one day you’re rewatching a movie you love that hadn’t been exactly welcomed at its time, think about it; maybe it’s a true gem, never understood by critics, maybe it had come out too soon or too late. Maybe some of the movies that are considered the greatest of all time now will never be heard of by our grandchildren. We never know what will be popular in pop-culture in a decade or two; so if you enjoy a movie nobody loves, it’s okay. You like it, no matter what the critics might be right now, it’s a comfort movie of yours. And no one can take that away.

(aesthetic is myine, I did it some years ago. Thought it was the right time to dig it from the depth of my files!)

If you want to debate about the movie, of movies critic in general do not hesitate to drop by in the comments or in DMs! I love talking with fellow movies nerds ♥