#live action disney in particular

[death-rebirth-senshi]

Woof. Live action version of poor unfortunate souls...

[chronicdelusionistsart]

Bernard Dowd and the Art of Recontextualization

I'm what you might call a "fake Batman fan" - that is, I've only watched most of the Batman animated series', all of the live action movies, most of the animated ones, played some of the video games... so, you know, probably thousands of hours of my life in Batman related media. But not the comics! Fake fan!

Frankly, I find the comics medium the way DC and Marvel do it to be really hard to follow. There's the fact that you can't really follow an individual solo character without them getting caught up in massive crossover events that ruin their arc and pacing, there's the soap-opera-iness that encourages cheap and revolving conflicts inherent to the longform monthly release schedule, the writer roulette, and there's also just that going back to try and thread a particular continuity or character is an exercise in frustration. Oh and the retcons. Everyone hates those. They've (basically) never been good. Don't remember this part it will never come up aga

But, you know, despite this - or maybe because of this - comics is a breeding ground for ideas. Because of the quick turnaround and the demand for novel conflicts, comics just churn out idea after idea. Good ideas, bad ideas, doesn't matter. Get it to print. Retcon it later if we write ourselves into a corner. Comics are often soooooo first draft coded. This is why I personally prefer adaptations - they often reimagine ideas and retcon them into new narratives where they can serve a more coherent plot. But what happens when a character is picked up for a second draft ... without actually contradicting the earlier material? While enriching the earlier material, even?

(SPOILERS for Tim Drake: Robin and uh... 20 year old comics under the cut!)

So, uh, quick disclaimer - because I have very little overall knowledge of DC's Comics continuity, there may be more interesting examples of times that what I'm going to point out was done. But I love Bernard and from a writer's POV I'm impressed with the way they did it so we're talking about Bernard lmao

The Beginning (Robin 1993) - Reading comics from the 2000s hurts in a way I can't describe

Okay so I heard Tim Drake is dating a guy now? (Penny Sonic voice) Whoa he's bisexual I didn't know that! I'm sure people on the internet are being very normal about this. Cool let's find out more about his new bf. I like starting from the beginning... so like yeah hold on while I crack open the Robin comic and take down what this guy's deal is.

😬

So basically the TL;DR of Bernard in his original appearances is that he seems to be an attempt to introduce some normal stakes teen drama into Tim's life. He has all the Funny Guy Friend Classics - he's got an inflated sense of his proficiency at pulling girls, he's inexplicably drawn towards the protagonist (who is cooler than him), he wants to date the most popular girl in school, and he wants to get down with older women!

This might just be me but while I was going through this I thought like, he almost reads a little uncanny, like he's been filtered through a Disney Teen Special. In practice he mostly serves to introduce Tim to the Real Plot, Darla Aquista, and be one of his ties to civilian life, which is, like, fine. He's ultimately just a background character and he's so unimportant that he only has one appearance after their school gets shot up(!!!), which is, again, to be more of an accessory to the Darla plot.

After this display of "wow this guy's kind of lowkey insane for offering to his resurrected bestie supervillainess to be her manager actually", he's dropped forever. Comics! We're not gonna unpack that.

The Sequel (Batman: Urban Legends) - We're Gonna Unpack That

Until almost two decades later when he calls Tim up for a date. And while I'm trying to skim over a lot to get to the point here and I don't really know the FULL context, it is notable that Tim is in the middle of an identity crisis / the cusp of adulthood when this happens (I think he just lost a spleen or something. That sucks dude). It's pretty implicit that part of the reason he's going to see Bernard is because he's someone familiar in a time when he's facing a lot of new and scary stuff.

And at first blush, he really does seem like the same dude. The familiar arm over the shoulder, the banter, it's all very casual and similar to the ribbing from high school -

- and I guess nothing has happened to Bernard in the interim haha he's just the funny friend guy right?

I really like the way they did this. I'm just unambiguously going to praise how good this is if you just came off the 2000s stuff. Comics have kind of breakneck pacing by nature but they really manage to condense down and then pull off a neat sleight of hand over the course of like four pages here. They re-establish Bernard as a silly guy and then wham you with the fact that yeah actually we ARE gonna unpack that. Fuck you Tim Drake life is ever changing and nothing stays the same

So the TL;DR on the rest of the Urban Legends storyline is that stuff like, HAPPENED to this guy while our focus was elsewhere. He learned martial arts, presumably so that he wouldn't be so helpless in the next school shooting level event, he got into a pain cult, he's just Not Doing Well. We find out, reading between the lines, that calling Tim on a date was probably one of his last attempts to reach out to someone when the cult stuff was getting really bad.

I've heard people complain that Bernard is uninteresting or not a character or entirely focused on his relationship with Tim, and I think that criticism is really weird considering that his entire re-debut focuses on the point that he's been having his own life and making his own (often wild) decisions - ones that really changed the course of his life - while Tim was gone. And it's also notable that this story is about how the fact that he's his own person and has changed and has made the nerve-wracking decision to take action and call Tim inspires Tim himself to take a leap and fling himself into the uncertain waters of young adulthood.

Me when I have my bi awakening and call to get out of a rut simultaneously because Cute Insane Guy Inspired Me. iconic

So that's how Bernard has changed. But that's not recontextualization, that's just the writers taking a guy and making him do another, cooler thing. Well hold the fuck on because we're not goddamn done.

What did he mean by th-

The Recontextualizerrrrr (Tim Drake: Robin) - Bernard is the funniest person in Gotham City. I'll not be taking constructive criticism on this

Tim Drake: Robin is the followup to the Urban Legends story and Tim is the main character fr. Obviously. but Bernard is also a major character. Later, he even gets to be a POV character. But they don't do that for several issues, instead treating us to his shenanigans from Tim's point of view as he solves a bizarre serial murder case and like, they're cute! And neither of them are normal in the slightest. I love that for them.

Again, TL;DR, there are a lot of interactions where Bernard talks to Tim both in and out of costume, but we don't get to see his POV until they go out to a restaurant and meet Bernard's parents there by accident and Tim has to run off to do Robin stuff. And like... a lot of stuff happens in this one bois. Whammy after whammy

We're suddenly introduced explicitly to a lot that was only implied or just completely unavailable before. Bernard's parents are ragingly homophobic. Probably were never great even before that. He suffers from depression. All that is a lot to. wait. hold on a second

he knows?????

HE KNOWS????

Okay so if you stop at this point and reread the entire run so far you find out that Bernard is in fact the biggest troll in the entire universe. This is the moment that cemented him as my favourite, by the way. Like I had a feeling that he knew and I was just laughing my ass off when my suspicions were confirmed.

But this is really interesting on top of that because Bernard has been revealed to be, at this point, a guy who you should look deeper than the surface to understand. Someone who masks his true self and whose true motivations you can only uncover if you're really looking past the facade. Even with Tim, he sort of offers Tim and Robin half the story each, taking advantage of Robin's "distance" to give out information he wants Tim to think about but that he's reluctant to talk about frankly while at the same time almost daring Tim to open up about his identity.

Absolutely most normal way to tell your bf about your cult trauma. You'll always be famous to me Bernard Dowd

This is a really neat trick by the writers. It makes Bernard a multifaceted character who got to quietly develop while we were mostly focused on Tim, and there's some clever clever foreshadowing they set up in this run to achieve this. If it were just this, I would call it good writing.

But it actually goes one level deeper than that and becomes something really really special. because as we all know, Bernard was not conceived to be this way, he was a one-off guy who was kind of annoying and he was essentially retconned to be, like. Gay? Have depth? Be funny? All of those things?

The Seamless Retcon (Robin 1993 Again) - We took your guy and we gave him gay subtext and it worked astoundingly well

This is not a new observation btw, I've seen a ton of posts to this effect. But oh my god. Some of these panels really hit different with the new Bernard lore. Like holy fuck just read this back to back

There are tons of moments like this. There's SO MUCH that the revelation that Bernard is queer adds to his initially extremely underwhelming tenure in the Robin comics. A reread almost begs the question of what Bernard must have been thinking at any given moment! BRO YOU SAID YOU WANTED TO FUCK HIS STEPMOM. That's completely believable as a next-level closeting move and goes from kind of annoying to turbofunny.

Like yeah of course he's acting like a douche. His father is a status-chasing asshole and he's five racks deep in the closet. Of course he gravitates towards Tim - his gaydar is pinging and he thinks Tim is cute. And it's also pinging that Tim is like. You know

None of this would hit as hard if the writers had not set up Bernard as someone who masks so much. They worked it in that character trait to mean that you could always glean information deeper than the surface from his top level interactions.

Because of this, Bernard is really fucking interesting and he's a good character and he's one that gets better on reread. Like I said, that's a set of observations that are not new to me. But something that really gets to me is how seamless and intentional it is. It really feels like the writer sat down and took their time devising a guy that is believable as that other guy, but only if you read back with certain context.

The conclusion - Comics. Man.

So is this just about how Bernard is really fucking interesting and he's a good character and he's one that gets better on reread and that he can exist independent of Tim and all the haters are wrong. Yeah of course. 💖

But also like, I have thoroughly proven to myself that I was kinda wrong to just reject the published comics medium out of hand. I see now that there's room for the writer's roulette to hit the jackpot and that something I mistook as an outright flaw, the winding and unfocused and often improvised nature of it, can be ridden like a wave if you're skilled enough to do it. Meghan Fitzmarten is a goddamned genius.

I guess I have to read comics now. Fuck

[slingbees]

I've yet to see people trying to promote The Day the Earth Blew Up talk abt the state of the animation industry as a whole and Warner Brothers's current reputation instead of just. "Support 2D animation," which is honestly pretty superficial. I didn't watch Arcane but like, being 3D didn't save it from being cancelled because animation in any incarnation is treated as "lesser" entertainment even when it's constantly drawing in viewers. Even Disney, the only company still interested in staying in the game, makes animated movies with way less quality assurance, literally slapping entire plots together within the last 5 months of production, because number-go-up has taught them all they have to do is show up and they'll sell tickets.

"Support animation" not because 2D good, 3D bad, but because the accessible, mainstream portion of the medium is being intentionally sabotaged and livelihoods are being lost and written off for tax breaks so that they never see the light of day, and people are working on projects they can't even include in their portfolios for future work

To be clear, even though it's only the mainstream, and indie animation is actually doing relatively well right now, the average person isn't going to seek these things out. The mainstream disappearing makes it harder for these smaller projects to establish themselves and support the staff who work on them as well, and that's bad!

Support animation because companies loss of interest in mainstream animation is well past the canary in the coal mine stage. Because the closure of Cartoon Network studios was a shock to the staff who worked there and had no prior warning, because there have been layoffs across the industry at every studio, and because the people who worked on this new Looney Tunes movie (the first(!!) theatrical Looney Tunes movie without any live action elements a la Space Jam!!!) only get to see their work shown to the public because when WB sold it off, a new distribution company (Ketchup Entertainment) bought the rights in the US to distribute instead of tangling it up in taxes and locking it in a vault. Production staff deserves better than that, and they deserve to know there will still be work for them!

It might not seem important to support this particular title because Looney Tunes isn't as popular as it used to be and because WB is determined for this movie to fall through the cracks so they can remain justified in gutting anything that they arbitrarily determine is a childish waste of time, but the fact that it's been intentionally throttled and is only being advertised through word of mouth is why it's important to know the full context! The Looney Tunes IP is owned by a company that's regularly setting their animation department up for failure, this is far from the only project (theatrical or no) they've slashed.

If you want to support animation, you need to understand what's being done to the medium as a whole by mainstream US studios and foster appreciation for the work that goes into it and support those who make it possible to tell these stories, and pretending this is only about 2D animation isn't helpful

USians interested in supporting the film can see the film in most theatres as of this past Friday, March 14th.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

If Ramshackle did become an official dorm, what attribute would be associated with it?

[Referencing this post!]

I think it'd be neat if Ramshackle's value was ingenuity, creativity, or something along those lines! It's the dorm that is the most "different" from the others and also houses more than one unconventional student (including the weird resident rock eater, Grim). Yuu, who lives in Ramshackle, doesn't have magic but it can be argued that they make up for that deficit through other talents and skills--which is something that requires ingenuity. In a way, this could also be seen as Yuu's own "magic", since actual magic uses imagination (which is tied to creativity) to help visualize spells.

Ramshackle isn't formally associated with a particular figure from Disney animation, but if we assume that Mickey is the equivalent of a G7 figure then the creativity angle also makes sense. Mickey is well-known as the mascot for Disney, and Disney is known for innovation in the realm of animation, especially with the release of the first cel animated feature length film, Snow White. I don't know if I would call Disney the pinnacle of creativity now (with them churning out sequels, making live actions versions of their classics, and buying up more competition rather than producing original works), but they were back in the day. It helps that the world of Twisted Wonderland has mainly involved characters twisted from the 2D era of Disney works, which is generally considered to be their "peak".

[aventingjew]

I'll admit, I never wanted to see live action Snow White to begin with. As I feel the live action remakes to any of the classic Disney animated films were blatant cash grabs. And I also hated what the actress playing Snow White had to say about the original Snow White. Now I also hate it for casting a Jewish woman to be the evil queen in classic Disney antisemitism fashion.

I probably love to reblog someone of the posts about how awful this remake looks and feels. But unfortunately, those posts are littered with people being antisemitic towards Gal Gadot. It's funny, anti-Disney people used to be up and arms when Jews were casted to play villians. But because Gal Gadot is Israeli, there's literally no mention of it. The only reason they're mad about the casting is because "she's a zionist and supports genocide" for simply being born in a country that requires mandatory military service and loves and supports her people.

Also I saw this wonderful comment when scrolling through the notes on a post making fun of the costume design.

See it's perfectly fine to make fun of a Jewish puerson's name so long as they're a "bad jew".

I'm just appalled by this utter vitriol towards this woman. Seven years ago these same people were groveling at her feet and now they do this. Along with many other Jewish celebrities. I want goy to stop obsessing over them just to turn on them at any moment's notice, either from where they were born or their stance on the conflict. At this rate we're not going to have any left we can publicly like because goyim decided to cancel them.

Anyway I just feel real awful for Gal Gadot in particular right now, but I'm sure she's not letting it get to her like it's getting to me... It's that old thing where the comments directed at the celebrity won't reach them, but will reach average people who share traits with the celebrity.

[crooked-wasteland]

The rapresentation of abusers in helluva boss is something that particularly frustrates me, Stella in particular, it seems to be done just to victimaze certain characters not to show the complex dynamics of those relationships. It seems to me the writers aren't mature enough to handle these topics properly.

Abuse and Vivienne Medrano

Christmas 1962, a man renowned the western world over for his revolutionary approach to animation sat in a withering melancholy as he watched what could only be called a cinematic masterpiece based on a novel classic. Walt Disney, now in the twilight years of his life, saw the walls closing in and his legacy coming to a close. This man, who pioneered the animated feature film, saw his greatest accomplishment as his greatest obstacle. The man responsible for the tales brought to life of Cinderella, Snow White, Pinocchio, and Dumbo felt trapped in his achievement. “I wish,” Walt lamented, “I could make a picture like that.”

To Kill a Mockingbird was a piece that challenged its audience. The discussion of a white man defending a black man in southern America, years before the civil rights movement. The movement that, at the time the movie hit cinemas, was in its infancy. Released during the height of the historically revisionist counter movement taking place to combat the rising push of African Americans towards their human rights. The last film Walt Disney ever saw the production of before his death in 1966 was The Jungle Book, a movie that was the epitome of “Safe” and a message that upheld the status quo of segregation.

It wasn’t until 1972 that the media of animation became raucously adult with those political and challenging concepts Disney felt were unattainable. Fritz the Cat was an X-rated animated film composed of vignettes that were unapologetically perverse, violent, and aggressively political. Critical of politicians and the police with a sympathetic if exploitative lens towards the LGBT and racial minority communities Brooklyn-based director Ralph Bakshi grew up around. Bakshi proved that animation was not strictly a child-friendly media and that adult animation could be financially and critically successful.

(For more on Ralph Bakshi's career and animation history)

If one has ever had the opportunity to listen to a Brad Bird (director of Ratatouille and The Incredibles) interview, it is clear to see that the success of Bakshi was generally quite limited. That animation is considered a genre and not a medium of art has resulted in animated films being knee-capped in the box office. There is far more potential to animation, highlighted by Howard Ashton in his collaboration with Disney studios during the Renaissance. Responsible for resurrecting the feature-length animated movie through The Little Mermaid and credited for the monumental success of Best Picture Award winner Beauty and the Beast, Ashton once said that the potential animation was ideal for musical theatre. The limitless possibilities given the medium gave the possibility of introducing Broadway to the common folk who didn’t live in New York and otherwise couldn’t afford the theater. He was quoted saying that live action musical films were “an exercise in stupidity,” highlighting the freedom that comes with a blank page.

However, the success of animation, and media in general, comes down to the message the media wishes to send. The reason the Disney Renaissance films have enjoyed their position as cornerstones of pop culture and creativity was because it did introduce the artform of musical theater into homes and made them readily accessible to everyone with an even heightened sense of fantasy that revitalized Walt’s ethos of making films for the child in everyone.

With Bakshi, it was the loud and violently political message of a revolution taking place. This continues in adult animation with the Simpsons, a series critical of hyper-capitalist America and the fallout of Reagan’s economic disaster that the effects of which are still being felt today and a satire of toxic masculinity and abusive family dynamics.

So, ultimately, the value of a piece of media is a cross between its social artistic influence and the message the creators are intending to make. While Medrano’s influence on the field of indie animation is often mischaracterized as a “pioneer”, the fact is that indie animation and pilots have existed and been funded before Spindlehorse existed. It is simply that Medrano has had the spotlight handed to her for the myth surrounding the production and subsequent success of his indie projects. Artistically, her influence can be summarized as a double-edged sword. For some, she is the motivation for inspiring artists to connect with the community to one day, hopefully, create their own work. On the other hand, she is the cautionary tale of why investing in an indie project is a financial risk for an audience member and a risk to the community as a whole that poses a real danger of making the indie sphere financially cannibalistic, as her public persona is off-putting to “normies” and her show is simply not good.

Much like Disney, the man in 1962, and Disney the company circa 2023, the revolution of animating "because you can" loses its luster very quickly. Without something profound to say, an entire company, regardless of its social influence, can fade into irrelevance despite still being "successful". The story of Disney is a cautionary tale for Indie animation as a whole and Spindlehorse in specific.

And that is the other axis on this chart. Her narrative lacks a message worth telling, and that’s very much due to her not having anything worthwhile to say.

“I really liked when things and shows and stories allow the characters to be flawed, and allow them to grow and to change. And I think that’s something that’s, you know, the world is not black and white. And I like things that explore the gray and that and the complexity, of life and mistakes and of things like that.” - Vivienne Medrano

It is not for want of mockery that I carefully transcribe Medrano’s words in her interview. To read the words aloud tells the story just as clearly as I have set out to do here. This is someone who is highly inspired by better media, who has ideas and a belief that she has something to say. But that is where the belief ends. There is no conclusion to that thought any more than there is one in the unfocused and run-on sentences she rambles along throughout the interview. She talks of “Things” without clarity, because she herself is a fundamentally incurious individual who has never once spent the time critically analyzing herself, let alone the work of others to better grasp what about it resonated with her. She merely consumes art insatiably and without any substance. Like a diet of fruit, it has a superficial veneer of positive value. Fruit would be considered healthy as it is “natural”. However, it is the nutritional equivalent of candy, lacking vital components that are necessary to sustain basic life, it is pure sugar. Her work, similarly, lacks any value of depth that would qualify as meaning.

Which comes back to what the message is in her work.

When it comes to others in the field of indie animation, Medrano does not have many friends. In response to the Lackadaisy situation, creator Tracy explained why she returned Medrano’s donation. For one, the donation was not Medrano’s money, but money she crowd sourced from her employees. While the $5k for the producer spot of the fundraiser would have not been a dent in her personal wallet, Medrano is so uninterested in supporting fellow creators while presenting an impression of camaraderie that she instead took money from the people she is in charge of the paychecks for to get her name in the credits of another creator’s work. In regards to why Medrano was declined her support, it was due to numerous individuals who had such an awful experience working for Medrano that they did not want her involvement associated with the project to any extent. When the money was returned, she made the situation extremely public and encouraged harassment by liking tweets attacking Tracy and the Iron Circus team.

A well-known member of Medrano’s crew, Hunter B, was leaked speaking crassly of other animation projects that were still in the process of production, met with support from other members in the discord. One of these creators being Ashley Nicoles from Far-Fetched. A former friend and creative partner on the Hazbin Pilot whose podcast streams featuring Edward Bosco and Michael Kovach single-handedly maintained interest in the show until the winter of 2021, free of charge. Ashley once spoke of how Medrano would speak disparagingly of an employee to her, saying that this individual was “Too unstable to work with”. Which, regardless of whether or not that is Medrano’s honest opinion, counts as defamation by an employer. It is the exact reason why most previous employers will not give a negative, detailed review of a former employee, maintaining instead to verify facts of the employment. If Erin Frost was more experienced and less involved in social media exposed culture, they could have easily sued Medrano and Spindlehorse for damaging their reputation in their field of employment.

Which circles back to Medrano’s self-assigned message of her show:

“Abusers rely on your silence. They rely on knowing you can’t retaliate without consequence. That they can tell any lies and vague around without getting called out. But we see you, and you don’t have the power you think you do anymore. A message I put into my work. “Fuck you!” - Vivienne Medrano

Medrano, who has vague and sub tweeted individuals like Lackadaisy Tracy, The Diregentlemen, Michael Kovach, and Ashley Nicoles. Medrano who has instigated and incited harassment campaigns knowing that no one can call her out without severe and relentless backlash from her cultish fanbase that she personally encourages through positive reinforcement of liking the tweets of fans. Medrano who relies on the silence of other creators in the field due to the fear of her ire collapsing their projects before they even have a chance to begin.

Vivienne Medrano with an extensive abusive history that continues to this day, has something to say about abuse.

What Medrano has to say about abuse comes from someone who has the position of superiority in all of her relationships, but feels like she’s the outcast and bullied loser. Her self insert that is repeatedly expressed in every character at one point or another is how easily they abuse those around them just because they can, but that the narrative justifies their “acting out” because they are sad. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, “An abuser externalizes the causes of their behavior. They blame their violence on circumstances.”

Indeed, the lists of abusive characteristics and traits, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, overwhelmingly encompasses the characteristics shown by characters like Loona, Blitz and Stolas that Medrano repeatedly has attempted to rationalize, justify and minimize. Which, “An abuser often denies the existence or minimizes the seriousness of the violence [including emotional and mental abuse] and its effect on the victim and other family members.”

It is not surprising, then, that the conversation of abuse in Helluva Boss is often infuriating. The narrative underplays the harm done by characters we are supposed to see as “good”. Not allowing for them to grow or change, but ignoring and minimizing the behavior, justifying it through circumstances and perpetuating the false belief that victims are not, themselves, abusers.

One of the first blog post rants I ever made about mental health and abuse was the affirmation that not all victims of abuse are survivors. I wholly stand by that. Victims of abuse perpetuate abuse. A victim and an abuser are one in the same, whereas a survivor is someone who has actually done the difficult work of being self-critical. And the one thing we all are very aware of is how much Vivienne Medrano rejects criticism.

[disneytva]

 “Hailey’s On It!” Removed From Disney+ Worldwide Due Unknow Reasons

Fans of the Disney Channel animated series, Hailey’s On It! Are discovering that the series is no longer accessible on Disney+ for viewing alongside the Disney Channel live action Discoms "Pretty Freekin Scary" & "Saturdays" and multiple National Geographic documentaries.

The reason of the removal is unknow, is it an error, an bug..... who knows?. Disney stated that no more removal of content would happen after the first purge in March 2023.

This started last Wednesday as fans noticed that the videos from Disney Channel EMEA where privatized alongside been removed early in places like Turkey, Spain and U.K.

The same fans who have been clamoring for some sort of an announcement regarding a second season of the Disney Channel animated series, since May of this year have been met with more devastating news today as the entire series has been pulled from Disney+ worldwide fans where worried that the series was removed as a tax writte-off like Cartoon Network series like Infinity Train, Tig N Seek, The Fungies and more however

Fans can still access the first season/the series in full at the DisneyNOW website until November 2024. While the app was recently shut down, the website for PC is still active.

Fans can also access select episodes from the series on Disney Channel YouTube, and the soundtrack to the series is available on various services like Spotify and Apple Music. These seem to point away from the tax write-off theory, unless this particular write-off only affects the series’ Disney+ presence in some way.

Disney XD reruns are still airing weekly while international channels that removed the Youtube uploads are still airing the show

Social Media posts on the show on Disney TVA & Disney Channel Tik Tok, Threads and Instagram are still up

Disney.com websites from USA and International still list the show

The decision to pull Hailey’s On It! From Disney+ is a strange one, as characters from the show also appeared in the recent short-form series, Disney Road Trip, on Disney Channel, and the series as a whole recently won a GLAAD award for Outstanding Kids & Family Programming.

Additionaly a How NOT To Draw short themed around the series is set to debut this year.

[radio-ronpa]

Disney I want songs for each V3 character, go!

I got this a few days ago and I've been ruminating on it. I think I've finally settled on them? Plus notes on why I picked that song.

Here's the rules: Has to be from an official Disney Animated Classic (no Pixar, live action, or straight to vid sequels). Must occur within the run time of animation (no songs that only appear in the credits, ala True to Your Heart from Mulan). Only one song can be used from a particular film.

Let's fucking goooooo.

1. Angie Yonaga - Give a Little Whistle (Pinocchio)

Have you ever seen Jiminy Cricket and Atua in the same place? Think about it.

2. Gonta Gokuhara - The Bare Necessities (The Jungle Book)

Optimistic, joyous, and appreciative of all of life's moments, even if they are very small.

3. Himiko Yumeno - The Next Right Thing (Frozen 2)

If there was a DRV3 stage musical, this would be the number she does at the end of Trial 3. It's literally perfect.

4. Kaede Akamatsu - Good Company (Oliver and Company)

The scene with this song in the movie is literally a piano lesson, and it's about being friends and having faith in that. How could I not?

5. Kaito Momota - Go the Distance (Hercules)

Oh, I want to be a hero because I feel like I don't belong anywhere and I want to be strong enough to give my friends good hugs? Herc and Kaito are both beautiful himbos.

6. Kiibo - Strangers Like Me (Tarzan)

I mean, Keebs is real Pinocchio sometimes, but I started crying imagining him to this song. He's so earnest and I love that for him.

7. Kirumi Tojo - Very Good Advice (Alice in Wonderland)

Classic, underappreciated, and sad as fuck.

8. Kokichi Ouma - The World's Greatest Criminal Mind (The Great Mouse Detective)

Look, this song is just fun and chaotic and delighted by its own mischief. There's so many ways you can go with Kokichi, but I had to pick this one for sheer giggles.

9. Korekiyo Shinguji - Never Smile at a Crocodile (Peter Pan)

JUST READ THE FUCKING LYRICS.

10. Maki Harukawa - Reflection (Mulan)

It's cliche. It's also true.

11. Miu Iruma - The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers (The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh)

Kind of unhinged and still somehow endearing. Miu Iruma is bounchy flouncy fun fun fun fun fun.

12. Rantaro Amami - Thomas O'Malley Cat (The Aristocats)

The fucking swagger. The worldliness. The feet that can't stop moving. (Of course Rantaro is my favorite character. I adored that cat.)

13. Ryoma Hoshi - Not in Nottingham (Robin Hood)

For the love of god, somebody hug that man.

14. Shuichi Saihara - This Wish (Wish)

If The Next Right Thing is Trial 3 of the DRV3 Disney musical, This Wish is the end of Trial 6. This is Shuichi standing up and telling the villain that they're not going to give in to despair, honoring Kaede's wish with his own. Plus, it's a princess song. I gotta give the main protag the princess song.

15. Tenko Chabashira - Surface Pressure (Encanto)

Tenko doesn't have a complex about being strong and defending people, what gave you that idea?

16. Tsumugi Shirogane - Mad Madam Mim (The Sword in the Stone)

Using your powers of shapeshifting to delight in causing despair and gloom? Can't relate.

This was a wild three hours of research and spreadsheets, and it was delightful fun to do.

Thanks, anon.

[angelwhisp3rs]

⍣ ೋ star crossed

Pairing: RE4!Leon x Fem!Reader

Summary: Two lovers, destined to not be together all across history

Tags: fluff; angst, a little gory (not descriptive! but tragedies happen); there is a happy ending (i'd kms if it didnt); they just suffer a lot

Notes: imagined that as i listened to a disney songs playlist, and i couldnt hold myself back. This was a little different for me, so any feedback is welcomed (pls be kind ill cry)

Rome, 456.

As the moon reached the sky, shining upon the stars, Empress Serena gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, the future of the Roman Empire: little Leo. He grew to be strong and dashing, a dignified heir to such a impotent throne.

Unfortunately, the royal life proved to be unforgiving with so many obligations, and the certainty that no matter what he did, it would never be enough. 

As the empire went through a rough patch, so did his relationship with the townsfolk - whenever he believed he was doing something helpful, the critics were always the first ones to prove otherwise. 

In a particular evening, an old lady in one of the poorest villages stomped into the castle, and pointed directly at Leo as he sat in his throne, sending a powerful spell on his way: “Your actions ought to be punished for all of your existence, and as long as you live, your heart shall never be free! For all eternity, like the sun and moon, your heart won't be complete!”

With the heavy words, she was escorted away from the palace, as Leo's heart felt heavy. She must be just some crazed lady.

Oh, how wrong he was.

'•.¸♡ ♡¸.•'︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵'•.¸♡ ♡¸.•'

Through his traveling and diplomatic affairs, Leo met a bright woman in Egypt. Her eyes shined like the brightest constellation in the sky, her wits were unmatched, and her body could lure even the blind. To say he fell in love was an understatement.

“On another visit?” she asked him as they met, her eyebrow arched.

“Egypt is quite successful these days. I can’t miss on opportunities” Leo answered with a knowing smirk, the back of his fingers caressing her jaw.

She looked up at him, her eyes sincere in her feelings as his touch was very welcomed “Opportunities or people?”

“I think you know the answer.” he said quietly, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Their shared moments would be forever marked in his mind, appreciative that he could be the man he was with her, not Rome's Emperor. 

After deciding that she was the only one he ever wanted to marry, they met up in a nice flower camp, as he planned to ask for her forever on the same day. 

As they reached the designated place, Leo managed to get on one knee and pour his heart out to her. When he made the important question, as she was about to answer it, raiders invaded Egypt in a surprise attack, and before she could even say “yes”, the clan leader sliced through her heart, making her fall down and soon Leo followed, throat sliced open by another member. 

As life drained from their bodies, they looked at each other as they bled, their hands touching as they said their last goodbyes.

'•.¸♡ ♡¸.•'︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵'•.¸♡ ♡¸.•'

France, 1789

Leonidas fought against the imbalance that happened between the poorest and royals. The people were tired of poverty, brought by the dumb decisions of the French Monarchy.

As he disseminated his knowledge and beliefs, a royal carriage passed through, with the Princess inside it. She and Leonidas locked their eyes, and a shiver ran through their bodies. 

The monarchs always had empty eyes, but hers was so alive. She gave him a gentle passing smile - even if he was criticizing her existence, making his heart beat fast.

Whenever royal gatherings happened, Leonidas and his followers were the first ones there protesting. The only one who ever dared to meet them and talk was her. It was bad - his heart throbbed whenever she spoke, her voice acting like a sweet melody to him.

“Another one of your hate campaigns, Leonidas?” she asked, smirking, fanning her painted face with a luxurious fan.

“Just fighting for my people and myself” he answered in a dignified voice, his eyes not breaking eye contact with her.

“Just fighting? If you keep following me I might as well think your objectives involve me, but not as in a revolutionary sense” she winked, hiding her face behind the pink fan.

“Don’t even waste your time thinking about false pretenses” he smirked back, pulling her fan down as he watched her pretty features, all worthy of a Princess.

It was satirical - the biggest fighter against her family was the one who managed to catch her heart. She was usually the quickest one to brush off suitors, but the rebellion leader caught her heart, and she didn't want him to let go.

When Leonidas was finally ready to act on his feelings, the fall of the Bastille happened, and soon did the fall of the monarchy. As a punishment, all were to be beheaded in a public gathering, their heads thrown around to celebrate France’s new beginning.

As she was guided to the guillotine, her eyes locked in his as the blade sliced her, a lonely tear running on her cheeks. 

Leonidas, at that moment, felt hollow and empty, wondering what he did to deserve such feeling.

'•.¸♡ ♡¸.•'︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵'•.¸♡ ♡¸.•'

Italy, 1944

The war was at its peak, causing pain and destruction anywhere it passed by. Lionel fought bravely battle after battle, trying his hardest to stay safe at least till this he'll was over. 

The highlight among all that destruction was the newest nurse, hair always in carefully made curls, and lips adorned in the most lovely shades as she tended every soldier with care.

Whenever he laid on the infirmary in her care, she always spent the longest on him, sharing heartfelt comments and small jokes, hoping to bring a smile to his serious face. Also, she chose not to mention that his heartbeat was always fast with her - they were in a war after all, they had more serious matters to pay attention to.

“Although it makes me happy to see you, it pains my heart that it needs to involve your pain” she said softly, holding his hand with one of her hands as the other one cleaned his wound.

“I’m tough, if I could I would bruise myself completely to be under your care for days” Lionel answered with a whimper as she hit a soft spot.

“Don’t you ever think about that! I need you in one piece, so we ought to live our lives together, in happiness, after all this tragedy ends” she said in a hopeful tone, pressing a kiss to his skin.

“Do you promise me a nice house and delicious dinners?” he asked playfully, an endearing smile not leaving his face

“Better. I promise you a home” she answered quietly, moving away to tend another soldier's wounds.

After a German attack in a secluded village, the soldiers could only try to pray for any survivors - the attack was brutal. The houses were on the ground, some toys and furniture disorganized all over the place, a gray feeling hanging around their heads.

When the troop was ready to leave, Lionel heard a quiet sound under some rubble, calling his colleagues to check it out. Working their way to the sound, an old lady was buried underneath it, breathing with difficulty.

Lionel didn't think twice and fought to work her out of there, but when she was at his hold, it was already too late. On her last breath, she pressed a palm to his face and whispered “son… It's already late for this life, but I banish the dark hold in your destiny. After so much suffering, your hearts deserve happiness” and with that, she was gone.

Lionel cried, so tired with all the tragedy and death around him, he didn't really understand what she meant, but laid her body in respect and moved forward.

Sadly, no one could predict a blitzkrieg, and one that hit exactly where they moved, and also so near their base - their safety. Lionel was unfortunately one of the victims, the bomb hitting near his body.

The last thing he could comprehend was his body being moved as the pretty nurse moved desperately to save him, crying as she held his body and he finally let go, thinking of their home.

'•.¸♡ ♡¸.•'︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵'•.¸♡ ♡¸.•'

USA, 2023

Leon was sore after returning from another mission - one that could be considered a suicide one, but he wasn't that lucky to finally be able to rest peacefully.

He threw his body on his couch, but soon stood up and grunted as he reminded himself that he promised to go to an art exhibition with Claire and Chris, a piece of normalcy in a word reeking with monsters and nightmares.

How Claire managed to get Chris to come to a thing like that? Only God knows, but it would be a welcomed company amongst the bullshit that the art world revolves around.

As they reached the gallery, packed with artists, critics and obnoxious people who saw art in a dot of paint, Claire looked in glee at all the art pieces as Leon and her brother played a game of “blind or high?”, where they tried to guess if the artist was blind while making the piece or just purely high on whatever drug Umbrella passed along the streets to control people.

As they looked at the pieces, Claire stopped specifically at a painting of a couple sitting on a field, a picnic towel underneath them as the sky was purple, with the sun setting down and the moon reaching up. There were some children playing in the background, but much couldn’t be said, as they were mere shadows.

Leon looked at the painting puzzled, something in the art making his heart ache and long for, but he had no idea why. While Chris just whispered a “oh, definitely high” at him, he couldn't answer. The sight felt so familiar, but so painful, that he wanted to cry. Maybe fighting monsters and almost dying everyday was finally getting him.

A lady stopped in front of that painting, and looked at Leon with a witty smile and sparkly eyes “what do you see?”

As he looked at her, it was like the world stopped. She was just an unknown woman, but something felt so familiar in her. His heart was screaming for him to hug and kiss her, and Leon didn't know if he finally went insane or he was just deprived of affection (maybe both, but he didn't want to put a lot of thought into it).

Her hair matched her face perfectly, her makeup was minimal, contrasting with the red lipstick on her inviting lips. Her clothing molded perfectly into her pretty body, and he had to hold himself back from looking at her for too long.

With a deep sigh, he truthfully told her “I'm not good with art… but I think they look like a couple in love. A family, even. Maybe enjoying a picnic on a Sunday” he answered the stranger, holding back a blush.

Claire slapped him, embarrassed “you just described the painting you idiot, she meant more profoundly!”

The lady giggled, making Leon forget how to breathe for a second. She shakes her head and adds “no, I liked his observation. It looks like a dream Sunday, in my opinion” She winked at Leon

Still fighting a blush, he teased back “Okay then, Picasso, what do you see?”

The woman took a long breath and looked at the painting again “I see pain, but also hope. It feels like broken hearts being brought together. Kinda poetic.”

Leon could only look at her and smile, as she did the same. Pain and love. Leon could understand those feelings mixed together.

As they kept talking and walking through the gallery together, they failed to see the owner of the painting, an old woman who watched them with a smirk. 

She turned to her assistant and said “Isn't destiny a funny thing? I guess I have to watch closely for inspiration for my next pieces, I've never gotten the full story before.”

The assistant looked at the artist in confusion, but didn't press the matter. The only thing she could think was: “Guess all the best artists are crazy people.”

[dittomander]

Steven Universe I know but what are EoA fans doing now??

hhhh okay. so.

to be totally fair up front, there's nothing nearly as virulent as the absolute insanity that comes out of SU spaces (to my knowledge, no one has accused Craig Gerber of being a fascist). The EoA fandom doesn't have the kind of headcount necessary to sustain drama for very long, and most of the people in it are pretty chill and normal. So what we have instead is the world's slowest conga line of bad takes, where every 1-3 months or so we get someone popping up to talk about how bad or how wild a certain writing decision was for reasons that completely ignore elements like target audience, genre conventions, and theme.

I'm not sure of your personal level of familiarity with EoA, so to set the stage here: the central message of EoA is that it's never too late to change your future. You can't undo the past, but you can always take accountability and learn from your mistakes going forward, and it's important to give others the opportunity to do so, as well. This theme is stated out loud in varying ways throughout the show, including via an entire musical number in the finale literally titled 'Never Too Late'. It's all pretty unsubtle - while this show delves into some surprisingly heavy topics for Disney Jr., it is still a Disney Jr. show, and the messaging is very direct. They do everything short of looking into the camera at the end Veggie Tales-style and asking "so kids, what did we learn today?"

So with how heavy handed the messaging can be, it's genuinely surprising to me how many people seemed to miss the point. An incomplete list of takes I've seen the last few years, in no particular order:

Victor and Carla were never really bad/were just misunderstood/etc. and the reason they got redeemed is because they never really needed redemption in the first place. (ignores sizable amounts of their textual actions and misses the point of the show - if it's never too late to change, then it shouldn't matter how bad or deserving of 'redemption' they ever were)

Actually, Victor didn't do enough to be forgiven and doesn't deserve it. (okay, and? your point? He outright acknowledges that he may never earn forgiveness in the text of the show! His personal ability to change is the important part, and is unaffected by whether others forgive him!)

Esteban did too many horrible things and should have had to die as a consequence. (to what end? what would that accomplish? how is that better than him living to actually make amends? what would this satisfy except your own punitive sense of vengeance?)

Actually, the show is victim blaming Esteban by expecting him to be accountable for his actions because he was always being influenced by Shuriki/Ash/Cahu/etc. (Ok look he's a complicated guy and his motives certainly range in sympathy but like. he is still in control of his own actions. he still needs to change. owning up to his mistakes is a part of that, or else he'll continue to make the same ones over and over again. which Cahu actually comments on. In the text.)

Elena is evil/crazy/too violent/etc. and can't possibly come back morally from her behavior. (even if I give the benefit of the doubt and assume that misogyny isn't a driver on this one, it still misses the point of the show and an awful lot of the text. her pursuit of vengeance is treated as a character flaw to overcome! it causes problems for her! and she overcomes it! and if you can give leeway to the others to change, why is Elena where you draw the line?)

Actually, Elena wasn't evil/crazy/violent enough after everything she went through! She was trapped in an amulet for 41 years she should be completely insane! (ok this isn't even a thematic thing this is just you don't understand the genre conventions of a children's fantasy. cool fanfic, still not a sensible critique of the show)

Like. This sort of stuff just keeps. Popping. Up. These types of takes have made it into YouTube videos with hundreds of thousands of views. People have made money off of saying this kind of stuff, among all kinds of other misinterpretations of more granular parts of the text. Genuinely, when I see long analysis text posts in the tags or new retrospective videos, my stomach just sinks in dread at this point. And right when I think that's all been left behind I'm blindsided by something else. If bad Steven Universe takes are floodwaters, overwhelming and everywhere, then bad Elena of Avalor takes are the endless drips of a broken sink - infrequent and largely just obnoxious as individuals, but the sound will still slowly drive you mad, and it's still a problem that needs to be fixed.

I'd be more understanding if the show was more obtuse, but none of the themes are even subtextual. It's literally just the text. They say it all out loud. How do we still have people in the year 2025 saying Esteban should have died? I'm baffled and tired.

[cleromancy]

screencapping this even tho i agree just bc idwt put this ramble in ops notes but

i wanted to use this as a launching point to talk about something which is that like. in theory. IN THEORY. remakes, adaptations etc are like part of a very human tradition of retelling beloved stories. so if we were living in a world where artists got to make what they wanted instead of being beholden to corporate overlords who want to churn out risk-free schlock id be all in favor of it. because sometimes art and story is having a conversation with older art and story and retelling it is one way to do that. and something like for example the shot for shot remake of Hitchcocks psycho, its like, did you have fun making it? did you learn something as an artist? do you feel like you have a more profound relationship with the original film? great awesome hell yeah love that for you that was a worthwhile use of your time and energy even if it wasnt "good". (remakes of films in particular i also feel like, yk, harkens back to live theatre just as much as oral tradition... its a very new thing to expect only one person to ever play a given role if a story has sticking power isnt it?)

but then by contrast. like. the cgi "live action" lion king remake was a soulless corporate cash grab and functionally steals from the original creatives bc theyre not employed for the remake so disney doesn't have to pay them residuals. or like to use another horror example the usamerican tradition of ripping off eastern horror when they dont give the originals wide theatrical releases in the us is racist xenophobic cultural imperialism.

its like the problem is almost never that its been done before its almost always an issue of labor and who is being allowed to tell what stories and how those stories are funded and distributed in ways that perpetuate and deepen systemic problems. and the muppets arent even there.

[acquired-stardust]

Anime Spotlight #4: Gunsmith Cats (1995)

It's time for another spotlight! Join Ash as she takes a look at one of the coolest anime of the 90s along with some of the circumstances of its creation as well as some of the cultural context of the time with this article.

If you've been looking for something to watch or just want to pass a little time reading, Acquired-Stardust has you covered - check under the break for another entry in our series of spotlights on games and anime that are well worth your time!

It's November 13th, 1994, and the Chicago police department has recieved some reather peculiar guests for a tour of the facility. They've come all the way from Japan, cameras in hand and fresh off exploring the streets of the Windy City scouting locations as well as a trip to a gun range, for a film project. They're staff from Oriental Light and Magic, a studio operating out of Tokyo, and astonishingly their film project isn't live action - it's an animation.

Animation is not an art form that has historically garnered much respect in the west. Although by November of 1994 we would be well into the Disney Rennaissance, it's actually so early into the more recent mainstreamification of animation that Cartoon Network's first in-house production Space Ghost Coast to Coast (1994) is only a mere six months old.

In a time long before Toonami and 'Pokemania', when most Americans thought animation, cartoons, to be a form of entertainment for children and would likely conjure to mind images of one of many incarnations of Tom and Jerry or Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969), it's hard for the average person not paying attention to the medium at large to conceptualize the phenomenon that Japanese animation has become in its native market as well as in limited American markets as an import for several decades, and the depth that the medium would have.

The officers of the CPD, proudly posing with and demonstrating a "Chicago typewriter" submachine gun to an impressed group of Japanese OLM staffers, had no way of knowing that that revolution would go on to capture America wholesale in just a few short years. That tidal wave was approaching fast, and OLM themselves would come to play a big part in it. Oriental Light and Magic, or OLM, would go on to be known for themselves helping to usher in Pokemania by animating the Pokemon anime, with the Gunsmith Cats team in particular being responsible for the bulk of Pokemon's movies.

The studio would also handle Berserk's incredible 1997 adaptation, as well as assisting on majorly influential titles like FLCL (2000) and recent craze DAN DA DAN (2024), but the only projects the OLM of 1994 has under their belts as a studio is providing graphics for three video games. This relative lack of experience as a company at the time (though not as individual talents under the OLM banner) makes the results of their outing all the more impressive.

Gunsmith Cats has something of a convoluted existence. Originating as a manga spin-off of Kenichi Sonoda's previous effort, the 1989 OVA Riding Bean, Gunsmith Cats as a manga is something of an alternate universe retelling and remix of Riding Bean that sees previous sidekick Rally Vincent take the reins as the lead role with her own new partner as a combination gunsmith/bounty hunter in Chicago.

The same way that the manga remixes elements of Riding Bean into a new, more focused and well rounded effort, Gunsmith Cats' 1995 animated version does much the same - certain characters and elements are refined and streamlined, certain rough edges are smoothed out and it ultimately coalesces into a project that is an incredible testament to the power of inspiration and obsession, as well as the OVA format as a whole. Despite diverging from the manga with an OVA-original antagonist with an extremely cool design and backstory, it's hard to complain about what we got.

Sitting atop a rather large hill of intersectionality, Gunsmith Cats represents and encapsulates the peak of various shifting landscapes in both American and Japanese culture and isn't all that dissimilar in style and substance to Hideo Kojima's fantastic 1996 adventure game Policenauts (for which you can read my article on by clicking here). A tribute to lifelong obsessions with cars, guns and American movies, Gunsmith Cats is one part Blues Brothers (1980), one part Leathal Weapon (1987) and one part Bubblegum Crisis (1987), guided by anime royalty of a now-previous generation in Kenichi Sonoda, who crafted it with the touch that only an obsessive fan can possibly hope to achieve.

It is an incredibly animated, wonderfully scored tribute to three of the things that American and Japanese media both ran on in the 1980s: guns, cars and girls. To that end OLM, as seen in a documentary included in the DVD release apparently produced by ADV Films, sought to draw out the potential of Gunsmith Cats with extremely extensive research into cars and guns with their trip to Chicago in pre-production, and their excursion absolutely paid off in spades.

The keen eye for detail present in the original work as well as the deep research and scouting undergone by OLM shines incredibly brightly here, coalescing into a romp the likes of which is only able to be executed with a level of quality and detail only possible in an OVA. Extremely authentic to its inspirations and a very specific brand of American culture that has long since faded, Chicago is rendered in stunning detail and has largely managed to avoid falling into the infamous 'Japanifornia' amalgamation many adjacent things do.

Guns and cars look and sound authentic, rendered with a similar level of detail and care to the city of Chicago itself, and the character designs by Kenichi Sonoda and Norihiro Matsubara practically leap off the screen to a degree that one could say the cars, guns and city itself are just as much the stars of the show as the human characters.

As for those human characters, they are similarly appealing in both design and personality, and the scenario in which they play is a very authentic take on one you could find in many big American movies of the era in which Gunsmith Cats looks to pay tribute featuring slimy ATF agents (no doubt inspired in part by previous incidents earlier in the decade that would color Amercian perception of the bureau for the remainder of the 90s), gangsters, corruption, informants and a particularly ruthless Russian (or is she Ukranian?) antagonist.

But Gunsmith Cats doesn't just stun visually. Its soundtrack, composed by jazz musician Peter Erskine, would undoubtedly serve as partial inspiration for landscape changing classics such as Cowboy Bebop (1998) which the opening animation, extremely similar to the iconic "Tank!" in both visuals and music, can attest to. Peter Erskine's score shines brightly here and even has an elaborate car chase scene in which it is allowed to take center stage.

As previously mentioned, sound effects such as firearms and Rally Vincent's iconic Shelby GT500 are largely captured from their real world counterparts recorded during the crew's excursions to America. The sounds of Chicago were so meticulously documented and applied that supposedly even an ADV employee at the time from the area recognized the overhead rail heard in the series as being just down the street from her parents' house.

Tasked with the English-language adaptation, now-defunct studio ADV Films was in top form with the production despite it only being their sixth, featuring some very strong cast members (those with an ear and eye for these things will note numerous cast members in various other ADV Films adaptations such as Neon Genesis Evangelion) as well as a strong script. A small thing that helps sell the overall authentic experience is the direction, notably featuring some panicked screaming in various scenes that sound less like the brand of phony made-for-animation yelling that one might be used to and much more like real human reactions.

As is typical with ADV Films the cast, writing and direction is extremely strong but can be a bit hit or miss, as many find protagonist Rally Vincent's sidekick, Minnie May Hopkins, to be annoying though I quite enjoy her. The strength and success of the English version, according to English-language writer/director Matt Greenfield recounting a discussion with Gunsmith Cats director Takeshi Mori, was vital in securing the funds necessary to produce the third and final episode of the OVA which had otherwise underperformed in Japan.

The main trio of the assertive and slightly androgynous Rally, tiny explosive-obsessed gremlin Minnie May and information specialist Becky all play off each other very well and are a lot of fun, though Minnie May is likely something of a sticking point for modern audiences due to her young appearance and mild sexualization, but it's important to remember that Gunsmith Cats follows a number of characters pretty deep into Chicago's criminal underworld and to not be lead too far astray by the cute and friendly art style it possesses.

These are characters who have likely been involved in all sorts of shady, horrible things which is easy to forget until some of the violence, not unlike the level of which you might find in films such as Die Hard (1998), comes crashing through to remind you that it is unafraid to give us glimpses of the rougher edges and underworld that the characters inhabit. Another of the rougher edges to Gunsmith Cats is its not-infrequent use of fanservice, something extremely standard at the time that has become an enduring trope of the medium but can often put people off to varying extents.

Gunsmith Cats is not just shockingly competent, it might be the greatest anime popcorn movie of all time. It has practically everything you could ever look for in an anime or even just an entertainment experience, and it has it all in abundance. It's rare that anything ever lives up to the 'good old days' that one forges in the fires of nostalgia, but Gunsmith Cats unquestionably does and is a shining example of just how good now-retro anime could be. It's a great testament to the OVA format as a whole, where a budget would be applied to a smaller number of total episodes to inject a huge dose of quality into a shorter runtime than a longer TV series would get.

Despite its strong Japanese dub I highly recommend you check out the series in English for the effort that ADV Films put into helping make the series as authentic as possible as well as its strengths on its own merits. The Japanese audio track on the whole is also a bit too muted for my taste, with voices and especially the unique soundtrack being a bit too subtle and quiet to really appreciate. With a total runtime of roughly an hour and a half, Gunsmith Cats' mere three episodes are an extremely fun ride and there's very little to lose by giving it a chance. Its soundtrack by Peter Erskine sets it apart from most other anime, and further music released as part of an expanded universe of radio dramas and original music albums provide some of the coolest anime tunes of all time with Water Club Band's "Groove From Heaven" and "Shelby G.T.500", and I highly recommend seeking these two songs out if you can find them.

If you've ever wanted to get into retro anime it's hard to find a better place to start than Gunsmith Cats. Its DNA runs through anime as a medium due to its connection to creator Kenichi Sonoda, one of 80s anime's uncrowned kings, as well as its undeniable influence on things such as Cowboy Bebop, to say nothing of OLM's later success. How many other anime can you say had an animation director solely in charge of making sure the firearms looked and performed authentically?

Grab yourself a drink and a snack and let OLM and ADV take you on a thrill ride through the "City of the Untouchables". Oozing with charm and quality, it's every bit the fun American-style action movie of which it is a pastiche and there's fewer better places to spend an hour and a half in the whole of the medium than on this absolute classic as slick and stylish as Rally's beloved car.

A gem hidden among the stones, Gunsmith Cats is undoubtedly stardust.

-- Ash

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

The Current event makes me smile since it kind of confirms a headcanon I had that the Great Seven have animated movies based on them. Makes me wonder about the plot of the movies

Disney should get on the Twisted Wonderland AU Animated Remakes. What is Ursula was a good witch, what if Scar was right to take the throne and did he take it from Mufasa? (Or whoever is the stand in for him)

The Evil/Beautiful Queen...actually GOOD?

Yeah, it makes sense! Since the Great Seven are historical figures and the stuff of legends, surely there would be popular media made in their image. It’s like how the Disney fairy tales borrow from stories in the public domain or how there are historical retellings and reinventions (Hamilton, anyone?).

I believe TWST has mentioned films based on their own stories and history before too, but purely in the animated sense rather than live action. In book 3, Ace and one of the Atlantica Museum guards talk about an animated movie based on the tale of the mermaid princess and her prince; this movie is said to have come out ~30 years ago, which corresponds with Disney’s animated The Little Mermaid. Ace compliments the movie’s soundtrack too way to stroke your own ego, Disney/j.

Later on in Tapis Rouge, the characters discuss other films based on the Great Seven, including one Queen of Hearts movie. A Sea Witch movie is also mentioned; in it, she “goes gigantic” and also sings as she brews potions. The Octatrio quite enjoy this particular film.

(Side note: Another anon once suggested to me that people probably also write fanfics of Neige and Vil since they’re celebrities… Think like “My mom sold me to One Direction?!” Wattpad kinds of fics, but replace One Direction with Vil or something. You can read those post here!)

It’s… interesting this event specifically has Vil promoting a live action adaption of an in-universe animated film about the Beautiful Queen—an animated film which was the first full-color animated movie AND it originally released close to 90 years ago. They also reference the funding issues that Disney suffered while producing Snow White + inviting bank employees in to preview the movie to acquire more investments, stating that the studio that made the animated Beautiful Queen experienced the same. The in-game live action is even slated to come out “NEXT YEAR”. They’re not being subtle here with TWST’s references to their own version of the irl Disney Snow White (the live action is coming out in 2025, the OG is also almost 90 years old, etc.). I wonder if the EN server will actually get Tapis Rouge around the time of the irl release of Disney’s live action Snow White as part of a promotional campaign? 😂

UPDATE: There are even more not-so-subtle references to Disney animations in part 4 of the event, including discussion of cel animation, rotoscoping, adding blush to the characters, and how Disney brought in real animals/observed the “real thing” to help with animating similar scenes or subjects. They also cheekily say that most animation nowadays is CG 💀

I know some books under Disney publishing try to show alternate tellings or show the villains in a more sympathetic light, but I don’t know that they would ever commit to fully animating a film like that. It definitely would not happen in the style of traditional animation, Disney no longer seems well-equipped to handle that task 😔 I feel like it would also be pretty niche or might not get overwhelming positive reception with recent audience calls for “true bad guys” instead of twist or sympathetic villains (though I’m not sure what percentage of people watching Disney actually have this opinion).

I do wonder how those “AU” films would work though…? It wouldn’t be as simple as suddenly turning the G7 into “good guys”. The scenario and other characters would also have to drastically change. TWST doesn’t necessarily make the original “good guys” “bad” in a world where the villains are historical figures; we still hear plenty of positive or neutral stories about the achievements of the mermaid princess and other Disney heroes.

There are also times when the same story diverges into multiple separate stories that seemingly have no connection to one another. For example, there is a story where a princess marries a street rat (clearly referencing Aladdin) and they live happily ever after in spite of the difference in their social statuses. However, there simultaneously exists a story in which the Sorcerer of the Sands saves a princess from being deceived by a fake prince (also referencing Aladdin). The same goes for the mermaid princess (Ariel)—there is both a story referring to a “mermaid princess” who married a human prince and also a different story (clearly still pulled from the same film) about a mermaid who made a deal with the Sea Witch to find true love but broke her contract in the end.

Very cool idea, just not sure where it would lead or it it’s feasible or worth it monetarily for Disney.

[yen-sids-tournament]

Quotable Disney Round 1 Group 3 Poll 5/8

***Please vote on the content of the quote not the format of the picture***

Chinese Soldier

the guy knows he's gonna die and he 1) manages to save millions of lives as a last action 2) TAUNTS THE BIG BAD!! I want a spin-off just about him honestly

All Our Polls

Full Quotes Below:

"Doctor, to muse and blabber about a treasure map in front of this particular crew demonstrates a level of ineptitude that borders on the imbecilic! And I mean that in a very caring way."

~Captain Amelia Smollett, Treasure Planet (2002)

"Now all of China knows you're here."

~Chinses Soldier, Mulan (1998)

[tinysnailtales]

Inuyasha Chapter 120

The Imp's Whereabouts

More of a 4/5 chapter. Kagome and Kikyo continue to be explored with the addition of Naraku and a focus on character motivations. Thematically, there is more on demons vs humans with some fun plays on fairy tale imagery. Kikyo continues to be mysterious and fascinating, not only to the reader but to the characters, Naraku in particular.

As Kikyo, Kagome, and Inuyasha are sucked out of the cave, I think there's an extension of the "physical representation of the love triangle" I mentioned last chapter. Some of it is circumstantial, but you get Inuyasha ensuring Kagome's safety and then worrying about Kikyo. There's also Kagome yelling for Inuyasha while Kikyo is "passed out"–a reflection of Kagome as living and Kikyo as dead (or playacting in regards to being dead/alive).

Everything with the poison imp of course leads back to Naraku. Kagome thought her arrow destroyed his body, but here he appears with a new one, feeding into the story’s cyclical elements–destroy one body and a new one will form. That, or Naraku’s appearance will be an illusion in the form of a puppet. In this case, the poison imp was made to be a new, stronger body for Naraku. The way everything traces back to him taps into that puppet master, spider web of his, and it almost feels like he’s a sort of god in this world. Or at least that's what he wants to be.

This time, Kikyo stumbled into Naraku’s plans as well and broke the spell he put on the cave. And what a cool panel of the poison imp entering Naraku. The focus on his monstrous, demon hand becoming more human in appearance is reminiscent of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, only here it's another play on the demons vs humans theme, with a more human-appearance being the result of a more demonic presence.

Naraku makes comments about Kikyo that cut into Inuyasha, poking at his feelings for her and placing blame for her fate on him and her love for him. There is emphasis placed on how Naraku interacting with Kikyo gets to Inuyasha as well, and as Naraku bridal carries Kikyo away (another image reminiscent of fairy tales), Inuyasha exclaims: "Keep your filthy hands off her!" But are Kikyo's hands clean?

"This woman sundered the spell from within, hm? Thanks to her I have this body. She was a loyal servant indeed." The way Kikyo's actions post-resurrection complicate and clash with her "pure" existence in life is very interesting.

"That's a lie! If Kikyo hadn't shot her arrow then Inuyasha would have killed the demon...and his body would have fused with the demon's! So Kikyo...was protecting Inuyasha!"

Kagome seems to try to see Kikyo in a positive light, in part because of her compassionate self and in part for Inuyasha’s sake. She is adamant that Kikyo only acted for Inuyasha's benefit, that she was protecting him and guided by her love. I think this is again Kagome projecting and missing some perspective because if she had been in Kikyo's position, that's what would have driven her actions.

In reality, Kikyo's motivations are murkier and more complicated. Kagome's claim leaves Naraku to reflect that "Then it would seem that this woman truly is the Kikyo who 50 years ago followed you to her death, eh...?" But again, his words are more of a taunt than a true reflection of his thoughts or even what really happened back then.

I do love and find it interesting that while Inuyasha is upset by what Naraku does and says, it is Kagome who fires back at him verbally. And she is so quick to do so. It is humorous in that it gives me some "he asked for no pickles" energy, and of course reflects Inuyasha being better with actions than words, but I also think it is revealing regarding how the two think about Kikyo's behavior.

For all he claims, Naraku in truth does not understand why Kikyo chose to both save Inuyasha and give him a new body when she could have just saved Inuyasha. An "I do not understand" from a character who acts like they are always in the know makes it seem like Kikyo might be a real formidable foe for Naraku. Maybe his plan did not need her to work, but she possessed the power to make it not work.

Also–yes, Naraku. Why did Kikyo do that? I think Kikyo would be a really interesting character to track. It's hard to focus on her solely among everything else, but a reread with a Kikyo-lens would be fascinating! Just look at that chapter-ending glare.

[masterjarthub]

I feel like the time has come for you all to meet my main Chuggington OC:

Meet Astra, the new Chug Patroller!

Name: Astra

Created: May, 2020

Gender: Female ♀️

Age Range: 15-16

Home:

• Chuggington

• Tootington (formely)

Chugger Status: Full-fledged

Occupation:

• Chug Patroller

• Backup Equipment Carrier

Eye Color: Mauve

Main Color: Red

Gauge: Standard Gauge

Basis: Freelance Design

Power Type: Diesel-electric

Power Output: 1440 hp

Top Speed: 110 mph

Configuration: Bo-Bo

No. of Wheels: 8

Affiliation:

• Jackman

• Calley

• Asher

• Wilson

• Brewster

• Koko

• Zephie

About Astra:

Astra is a compartment engine who can carry extra Chug Patrol gear and equipment.

Personality:

She is relatively a kind-hearted, eager-to-please teenage girl; she is always happy to do whatever job she is given with a can-do attitude. While there are occasions once in a while when her excitable nature can get the better of her, she is still focused and very capable. Sweet, lively and encouraging, Astra is always ready to do her part, whether it's keeping the tracks safe as a Chug Patroller, or just making everyone smile as a friend.

Astra In Action:

Astra is fresh from completing training, and is the youngest full-time Chug Patrol member. (Wilson does not count; he is only a part-time member as he is still a trainee) She often tags along on emergency callouts with the rest of the squad.

She'll volunteer to do other jobs whenever the oppurtunity arises as she simply loves helping and enjoys a brief change, but in her spare time, she is hobby photojournalist (She has a retractable smartphone-like camera located and stored where her pop-up wingmirrors are; inside the hatch with the Chug Patrol emblem on the door to access her engine placed adjacent to her face, I will draw this in the future)

Ever since she was a trainee, she journals photos and sometimes videos of her everyday life and adventures, usually just cute selfies of herself or group photos. She shares them online with some of her old friends who also partake in this hobby. She also finds her camera useful for reporting track and trackside hazards to Chug Patrol.

Additional facts:

She was a Chug Patroller in Tootington quite some time before moving to Chuggington. She was a top student as a trainee and moved up so quickly, she had graduated while still in the chugger equivalent of teenage years. (Very rarely do chuggers become fully-fledged when they're young. Hodge, Zephie and Emery are the only canon chuggers in this scenario) She had a very close relationship with her old mentor before he suffered a tragic accident that permanently put him out of commission, but he would still be put back together and preserved by a museum. Astra had been invited to Chuggington around this same time and was sad to leave him behind, especially in the sorry state he was currently in, but he reminded her that he'd always be with Astra in her heart. She did manage to recover before she left for Chuggington, but didn't open up to the others about this situation until much later.

She also likes stargazing, and the Planetarium (A new location on the outskirts of Chuggington suburbs) is one of her favorite places.

She has a playful and adventurous relationship with Wilson, and is his best friend to be with whenever Brewster and Koko aren't around. She's usually the Chug Patroller Wilson is on patrol with if not with Jackman or by himself.

Like Wilson, she too would form a father-child-like relationship with Jackman.

She also has a bit of an aunt-like relationship with Calley and an uncle-like relationship with Asher.

Often while they're in CPHQ, Asher likes to listen to chill music on the radio and Astra in particular sways side-to-side or even full-on dances to the music on the turntable.

When she's not with Wilson, Brewster, Koko, or Chug Patrol, she also has a dynamic with Zephie cuz girl power lol

Astra's creation and design was inspired by the Plarail Disney Dream Railway Mickey Mouse Rescue Train by Takara Tomy:

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a perfect real-life resemblance of this locomotive no matter how hard I tried, however the main body does seem to loosely resemble a E6 series Akita Shinkansen:

Now, I'm under the impression that Mickey rescue train was a freelance design, but if by some crazy chance any of you know a better real-life resemblance, do comment below, I'd appreciate that. (^ー^)

Annnd I think that's that, everything you need to know about Astra! I'm hoping to make actual 3d orthos for her, but those are quite tedious and challenging, so for now, that side view and posed render I made back in 2022 will suffice. I wanted to get her revealed before any other Chuggington OCs before it gets too late into the year... and I still need to draw Margot The Monorail for @lomotunes2008 😅...

I was planning to get this released a bit earlier in the day, but additional editing and new content on Youtube kinda got in the way of that :P

But anyway, I hope you all enjoy and do stay tuned because there will be more of Astra, and more OCs in the near future!