#obasi

[artist-issues]

I'm tired of being disappointed. By far the best part of the movie was the what-could-have-been in the soundtrack. Mufasa had seeds of being good but it suffered from a lack of focus and terrible visual language, so it was ultimately unsatisfying. 

I think it's actually worse when you can see the threads and interesting seeds of a good story just wasted and abandoned under a pile of Bad Storytelling. 

Lack of Focus:

The movie was trying to say something about Bravery, and Bloodlines, and Vengeance, and Going Against the Status Quo, and Self-Reflection, and Loyalty, and Family, and Relying on One Another Instead of Just Yourself, and Belief in Yourself, and even Vague Spirituality, all at once. So it wound up giving the movie-equivalent of two or three disjointed sentences about each topic, and never actually made a clear point about any of them. 

For example, Mufasa is afraid of water. Rafiki says that this is because Mufasa is afraid of his own reflection, even though the audience would have been assuming that it was because Mufasa almost drowned as a cub. Then in the climax, Mufasa and Kiros are battling underwater and Mufasa remembers his foster-mother telling him to close his eyes and use his other senses to hunt. So he does, and he realizes I guess through the currents, that a big rock is falling toward them, and pushes Kiros into it.

What does that tell us? That Mufasa was taught to hunt like a lioness, so he can use those skills when he needs to. Which he's already been doing with no hesitation for the whole movie. Just because he's in water during the final battle, doesn't mean that's a satisfying conclusion to what they were doing with water, as a symbol for his character.

IF Mufasa had been embarrassed about his lioness-observational-skills, thinking it made him less of a lion, or weird, and therefore rarely used those skills because he was always trying to be more like Taka or the other males—conserving energy, not being mindful of what's around him—THEN finally embraced his weird skills at the end, while in water fighting—that would be something thematic. 

You would be able to say, "he's learned not to be afraid of where his skill-set is, as a leader, ergo: he's learned 'not to be afraid of his reflection/the water.'"

But that's not what happened. Because they didn't devote time to developing what, exactly, Mufasa is afraid of seeing in himself, or WHY he's afraid. Because everything he does succeeds. He wins his first race, wins his first fight, wins the favor of his adoptive father, survives diving into water even though he's afraid of it, wins at saving sarabi and then wins her affections even when he's actively trying not to—there's no reason for him to be trying not to. Not any that tie back into "Mufasa is afraid of himself." There's no reason ever shown for this weird halfhearted insecurity he sometimes has, and has to overcome.

So then it's not compelling. And that sort of thing is sprinkled all over the movie.

They keep mentioning "Milele," which means "forever" in Swahili, but that whole concept is alternately described as a "dream," or "a place you feel inside of you," but basically it's also a physical location that becomes the Pridelands. And nobody ever clarifies what exactly Milele is. It's treated like a fantasy concept or a spiritual vision or a physical utopia whenever the film needs it to be those things. But if it's never clearly defined, it's not compelling, which sucks when Milele is what the characters are "searching for." Another example of starting a concept and then never following it through to a satisfying conclusion.

They have seeds of Mufasa being the only lion to ask for help and be willing to cooperate with other animals besides lions—but they are few and far-between. He doesn't ask Rafiki for help; Rafiki sort of convinces him not to eat him. And asking animals for help like he does with the elephants or the Pridelands animals isn't unique to him; the first to do it is Sarabi, who willingly accepts and relies on Zazu despite others' scorn—and MUFASA is one of the ones who is scornful, initially! So they plant seeds for the big climax where he's the only voice that can unite animals across species by the climax, but they're don't water or tend to or help those seeds to grow. So the climax feels a little out of nowhere and less compelling.

If they had just focused on one of these things, it would've been tighter and more emotionally impactful.

Except NO, it wouldn't have been. Because you will have a hard time connecting, emotionally, to photorealistic-CGI lions even if the story's focus was tight.

Bad Animation and Filming

Lions in real life move with too much weightiness and heavy-animal-breathing for you to commit to that weight 100% of the time AND have good character acting. You can only really commit wholeheartedly to one or the other.

So you can tell in this movie the eyes are bigger and more expressive than in the first CGI Lion King. But that doesn't save it. It doesn't cut it. 

When Taka is giving Sarabi his last longing look, he just looks like a vaguely displeased large animal. There's no human heartbreak in his expression. 

When Mufasa is singing a fast line about not knowing how to respond to Sarabi, he should be swinging his head back and forth, like he's looking around for something in desperation—because that's what the song sounds like—and his walking, if he's walking, should be fast. A cross between running from something and searching for something. Because that's what's happening in the emotion of the song.

But lions don't move that fast, because they're heavy. And when they're looking around for something, they do it with their noses and long head-turns in sweeping motions. No fast eyes-darting-around. Certainly no human conflict of desire in their faces. So photorealistic Mufasa can't do any of those things. Which sucks, because the actions of the characters and the action in the scene should match the emotions they're feeling, and the emotion the audience is supposed to be feeling. But it can't, so everything is flat and boring. 

And even if you could connect to photorealistically emotional lions—you might, we connect with our pets emotionally all the time—you wouldn't get the chance because the film avoids their faces every time something emotionally interesting is happening. 

For example: my favorite part of the song "I Always Wanted a Brother" is when the beat appears to hard-drive, and it feels like a "stop everything" moment, to match Taka's outrage that someone is dissing his brother. And he goes, "what did you say 'bout my brother? That's not a stray, that's my brother! You stay away from my brother 'cuz I say so."

That whole moment, I'm envisioning Taka getting all up in another animal's face, maybe taking a swipe at it, throwing his little weight around and puffing his chest, fearsome-face. The song FEELS like that's what's happening; like he's going on and on,  exploding with insistence and protectiveness.

Something similar to the "stop everything-angry" vibe of this:

But in the movie, is it a close-up shot of Taka invading another animal's space? Does the camera follow him from behind in a slow zoom, and then when he says, "what did you say bout my brother?" He spins and looks directly into the camera (in the direction of the animal he's talking to) and the camera stops while Taka charges closer? Do we get to see his angry face at all?

No.

The camera does this stupid boring thing where we, the audience, are in the branches of a tree (where the animal Taka is addressing is safely out of reach) and it pans slowly along, unfocused, like we're casually passing this interaction by. Taka's face is far away on the distant ground and you can't really see it's expression, his body language isn't doing anything interesting (he's just standing there for the whole part of the song) and at one point because of the panning, the tree the camera is in has a branch that actually hides Taka completely from view during the song.

We don't even get to see the animal he's talking to react. All we see is the back of its head.

They do this over and over in the movie. When Rafiki is finally running to meet his long lost brother, we get the back of his body, one quick snapshot of the underside of his face, and then it's flyover drone-style shots. When Sarabi and Mufasa decide to love each other, it's a close-up on the backs of their chins; no eyes, no mouths, no head-body-language. When Sarabi and Mufasa are singing a very back-and-forth interactive duet to one another, the camera is, again, far-off and distant for most of the song, rotating slowly around a landscape that they're lion-lumbering through. Boring. Distant. Wasteful.

Sometimes the movie tries to match the emotional pace in the way it's shot. When Kiros is readying a killing blow and Taka has moments to decide if he's going to save his brother, that scene cuts well between the raised paw and Taka and Mufasa's faces—for example. But those are the most basic ways to shoot those scenes, and scenes like them are few and far-between.

What it needed was one overarching idea to connect the character threads, and give them time to unspool. And then it really, desperately needed to be animated traditionally so that the lions could emote like humans.

So! I'll probably be writing a series of posts exploring what could've been to correct the fumble. Because I did enjoy the concepts in Mufasa.

[mask-of-prime]

MTLK: The Parents

We recently got some full design reveals for both Scar's and Mufasa's biological parents for the upcoming Mufasa movie. If you know me, I love a good character design opportunity.

((Disclaimer: This is merely a design challenge and not an attempt to blend the two TLK universes together. As far as I know, the CGI movies are meant to tell a different story from the original 2D animated works. It's presumed that in the 2D movies, Mufasa and Scar are biological brothers from a more traditional, established bloodline of royal lions, while the CGI movies tell the story of a new pride from Mufasa's generation being formed at what is now known as the Pridelands.

ALSO IMPORTANT: I understand some may have gotten special viewings of the movie, heard the entire soundtrack, and may have read the novelization if that came out at all yet, but please be courteous and don't comment any spoilers of the film, not without a warning on top of your comment.))

Design Process Below:

Masego: I took the first noticeable traits that jumped out at me and exaggerated them to fit the original 2D style. He kinda looked like a mix of Mufasa and Simba to me. The bright red patterns on his mane are based on the distinctive gray patches in Keith David's hair (I can't believe Keith David never occurred to me as a voice for a lion who would father Mufasa, that casting goes so hard ngl)

Afia: When I first saw Afia, I noticed how much she looks like her grandson, Simba. I decided to have her greatly resemble Simba's 2D counterpart as a nod to that. I modeled her eye shape after Tiana's eyes as an allusion to her voice actress, Anika Noni Rose.

Obasi: First thing I noticed about Obasi was how much he resembled the classic Yellow Ahadi model, so I mostly followed that. I struggled so much with his color scheme. I have alternate color schemes below the description.

Eshe: Eshe is very clearly where Scar got his slender face shape from in the CGI-verse. She also has a very obvious brown pelt that could easily be adapted into the 2D style. She was the most difficult for me to design as she already had a kinda cartoony appearance in her original CGI depiction, so I had trouble doing it justice.

It's just so funny that Scar's parents ended up looking like that common Yellow Ahadi model and Brown Uru models, while Mufasa's bio parents ended up looking like the less common Brown Ahadi and Yellow Uru models, lol.

Alternative Obasi Colors:

EDIT: Tweaked Eshe's design, here's the previous version:

[stranglethorn-bonfire-bash]

STVBB24 Art Bash Week 1: HIDDEN TREASURE!

STVBB info here

Join the discord here

[shadobabe]

Oops! Wanted to post a dragon a day until I was caught up. Got distracted. Oh well!

Here’s a sketch of Obasi! Was glad to get him requested. I don’t see him get as much attention as some of the other dragons on my list. He’s very unique!

[monstatron]

OBASI ADEBOWALE, THE BIG BOSS (character is a woman and butch lesbian, she/he!!) Obasi is the current leader of the Phantoms and a stoic gorilla animan with a determination to protect the city of Haderia and the ones she loves. Birthed from a legacy of heavy-hearted pessimism, Obasi struggles to find herself whilst still attempting to hold true to her values and empathy. Her sense of self is otherwise skewed, but regardless, she remains steadfast in maintaining the criminal underground of Haderia and keeping her family safe. She has been the leader of the Phantoms for over 25 years, nearing 30 soon. This has earned her the title as the "King of Haderia". She is respected by many, but not all. Obasi could care less about this, as her goal is to ultimately maintain peace within the city. She strives to provide for those in need, including the lower class and others who have been let down by the higher government. Obasi is seen as a protector of sorts because of this, as she puts a large effort into keeping military activity to a minimum in the city and ensures that resources are distributed evenly- or at least as much as possible. There is only so much that Obasi can do, but it is wise to never doubt her determination. Aside from her work as a kingpin, Obasi is a mother. She's raised three daughters. In addition, she's a maternal figure to the younger members of her syndicate, one of which she's taken under her wing. Despite being stoic and sometimes cold, Obasi is incredibly caring to her family and friends. She tries to spend as much time as she possibly can with her loved ones, and she will always make time for them if she is able. Obasi will always put her family first in dire situations, and she wants only the best for her children as well. She encourages them to seek lives outside of the criminal underground and supports them in this. Obasi herself has also sought a career far from criminal work. From a young age she had an interest in music, and this later led her to occasionally perform at adult clubs or small events under the artist name of "Amethyst Blood".

a new and more official reference of my big gorilla gal, obasi! she's been an oc i've had for so long and one that has gone through countless changes, but now more than ever she truly feels authentic to me.

obasi is the main character of a hopefully upcoming book i've been planning to write within my "blade in the city" world! blade in the city is a cyberpunk thriller novel about anthropomorphic animals in a post-human world, following obasi and her journey to find individuality.

[fresherthanyourballs]

Daniel Obasi

[modelsof-color]

Zaram Obassi by Isaac Lamb for Hero Magazine Issue 31

[beau-gar]

ZARAM

www.beau-gar.tumblr.com

[rebu72]

[saleszulu76]

Zyon Sidoti by Chidozie Obasi, ph. Kristina Yenko, st. Mark Mailler, in exclusive for Fucking Young! Online, Oct. 2019

[creativespark]

Daniel Obasi, Corridors of Power

[dare-g]

Mami Wata (2023)

[manicpixiedepressedwitch]

victoria monet on the cover of essence nov 2023

[monstatron]

today is obasi’s birthday! :3

( character is a butch woman, she/he! )

heres a sketch page i drew of the big boss gal herself in celebration. i can’t believe i’ve had her for almost 7 years now! definitely my most special OC 💜

[pro-royalty]

Victoria Monét x Essence Magazine