#post by person who has seen lilo and stitch <- one of its favorite movies ever too btw

[robotsafari]

the way terra gets sent onto the fucking galactic federation ship makes NO SENSE like suddenly he just starts getting magnetized into the underbelly of the ship (is it gravity???) and then suddenly he ends up in jail WHAT.

ah yes "swept onboard" more like hurls into the underbelly of the ship and it fades out like. what.

also i love how they dont show terra breaking out of the cell. he just pulls out his keyblade and then the next shot hes out like can you just show it like a normal person.

[lee-scribbles-and-doodles]

My Top Ten Overlooked Movies With Female Leads In No Particular Order

Note: When you see this emoji (⚠️) I will be talking about things people may find triggering, which are spoilery more often then not. I mention things that I think may count as triggers so that people with them will be aware before going in to watch any of these.

Edited: 3/16/21

Hanna (2011)

So, before I get into why you should watch this movie, I just want to take a moment to say why it's near and dear to my heart. Growing up as a queer kid in the early 2000s, seeing portrayals of people like or similar to myself on anything was rare at best. It was mostly in more "adult" movies or shows that my parents would occasionally let me watch with them that I'd see any lgbtq+ rep at all. Often times they were either walking stereotypes, designed to be buried, evil, or all three.

Then here comes this PG-13 action thriller with a wonderfully written main female lead who, at the time, was close to my age, and who got to kiss another girl (her very first friend, Sophie) on screen in an extremely tender and heartwarming scene. To say the least, it was a life changing moment for me personally.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, Hanna is a suspenseful movie about a child super-soldier named, you guessed it, Hanna (played by Saoirse Ronan) and her adoptive (?) father Erik Heller (played by Eric Bana) exiting the snowy and isolated wilderness of their home and taking on the shadowy CIA operative, Marissa Wiegler (played by Cate Blanchette) who wants Erik dead and Hanna for herself for mysterious reasons.

It also has an amazing soundtrack by the Chemical Brothers, great action scenes, and it has an over arching fairytale motif, which I'm always a sucker for.

⚠️ Mild blood effects, some painful looking strikes, various character deaths, and child endangerment all feature in this film. However, given its PG-13 rating, a majority of viewers are presumably able to handle this one. Still, be aware of these going in.

Sidenote: It's recently gotten a TV adaptation on Amazon TV, although I have not watched it, and do not know if Hanna and Sophie's romantic/semi-romantic relationship has transferred over.

A Simple Favor

A Simple Favor is a "black-comedy mystery thriller" centered entirely around the relationship between two mothers, the reclusive, rich, mysterious, and regal Emily (played by Blake Lively), and the local recently widowed but plucky mommy blogger, Stephanie (played by Anna Kendrick). When Emily suddenly goes missing, Stephanie takes it upon herself to find out what happened to her new best friend.

It's a fantastic and entertaining movie throughout, with fun, flawed and interesting characters. The relationship between the two female leads is also implied to be at least somewhat romantic in nature, and they even share a kiss.

⚠️ The only major warnings I can think of is that the movie contains an instance of incest and one of the main plotlines revolves around child abuse, although both of these potentially triggering topics are not connected to each other, so there is thankfully no csa going on.

Edit: I legitimately forgot there was drug use in this movie until now. So, yeah, if that's a trigger, be careful of that.

I Am Mother

I became mildly obsessed with this movie when it came out. I Am Mother is a sci-fi film that centers entirely around a cast of two woman, and a female-adjacent robot who is brought to life on screen with absolutely amazing practical effects.

The plot is such, after an extinction-level event, a lone robot known only as Mother tasks herself with replenishing the human race via artifical means. She begins with the film's main protagonist, Daughter. Years go by as Mother raises her human child and the two prepare for Daughter's first sibling (a brother) to be born. However, on Daughter's 16th birthday, the arrival of an outsider known only as Woman shakes Daughter's entire world view. She begins to question Mother's very nature, as well as what's really going on outside the bunker she and her caretaker call home.

⚠️ This movie features child endangerment and reference to child death.

Lilo and Stitch

When I decided to add a single Disney film to this list I initially thought it was going to be hard but almost immediately my brain went to Lilo and Stitch, and specifically about the relationship between Lilo and Nani.

On the surface, this film is about a lonely little girl accidentally adopting a fugitive alien creature as a "dog," but underneath that the story is also about two orphaned sisters and the older sister's attempts to not let social services tear them apart by stepping up as the younger sister's primary guardian. Despite its seemingly goofy premise, Lilo and Stitch has a very emotional and thoughtful center. It's little wonder how this movie managed to spawn an entire franchise.

Despite the franchise it spawned (or possibly because of it), I often find that Lilo and Stitch is overlooked and many people only remember it for the "little girl adopts an alien as a pet" portion of its plot, and I very rarely see it on people's top 10 Disney lists.

⚠️ This movie could be potentially triggering to people who were separated from their siblings or other family members due to social service intervention. There's also a bit of child endangerment, including a scene where Lilo and Stitch both almost drown.

Nausicaä and the Valley of the Wind

Unlike the above entry, I did struggle a little bit with picking a single Studio Ghibli film. Most media of the Ghibli catalogue have strong, well-written, unique, and interesting female leads so selecting just one seemed like quite the task.

However, I eventually settled on this particular film. In recent months, Princess Nausicaä has become my absolute favorite Ghibli protagonist and I'm absolutely enchanted by the world she lives in.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world overun by giant insects and under threat of a toxic forest and its poisoness spores, Nausicaä must try to protect the Valley of the Wind from invaders as she also tries to understand the science behind the toxic forest and attempts to bridge the gap between the insects and the humans.

For those who have never seen the film, I think Nausicaä's personality can best be described as being similar to OT Luke Skywalker. Both are caring, compassionate, and gentle souls who are able to see the best in nearly anyone or anything. She's an absolutely enthralling protagonist and after rewatching the film again for the first time in well over a decade she has easily become one of my all time favorite protagonists.

Whenever I see people talk about Ghibli films, they rarely mention this one, and when they do mention it, it's often in passing. In my opinion it's a must watch.

⚠️ This movie contains some blood, and the folks who either don't like insects or who have entomophobia may not appreciate the giant bugs running about throughout the movie. (Although most insects do not directly relate to real life bugs, and are fantasy creatures).

A Silent Voice

A Silent Voice is an animated movie adaptation of a manga of the same name. While I've never had the pleasure to read the manga, the movie is phenomenal. It covers topics such a bullying, living in the world with a disability, the desire for atonement, social anxiety, and depression in a well thought out manner that ties itself together through the progression of the relationship between its two leads, Shoya and Shouko. It's also beautifully animated. Although very popular among anime viewers, I've noticed that it's often overlooked by people who watch little to no anime. So I suppose this is me urging non-anime viewers to give this film a chance.

⚠️ As mentioned above, the movie deals with bullying, anxiety, and depression (with this last one including suicidal thoughts and behaviour). If discussion of those topics are triggering to you, than you may want to proceed with caution or skip this movie all together.

In This Corner of The World

Another manga adaptation, this one taking place during WWII-era Japan. In This Corner of The World follows the life of a civilian Japanese woman, Suzu Urano, as she navigates simply living and her new marriage as the wartime invades nearly all aspects of everyday life. I think this movie is a good representation of what it must be like to be living as civilian in a country at war where the fight is sometimes fought on one's own soil. It was also an interesting look into pre-50s Japanese culture in my opinion. It's also beautifully animated featuring an art style I don't see often.

Despite it being well known among anime fans, I never really see it be brought up, even among said anime fans themselves.

Side note: I've seen many WWII dramas centering around civilians but they've almost always been about American or UK civilians. This was the first movie I'd seen that features the perspective of a Japanese civilain.

⚠️ Features the death of a child and limb loss. There's also a disturbing scene featuring a victim of one of the atomic bombs near the end.

Wolf Children: Ame and Yuki

This film follows Hana, a Japan-native woman who fell in love with a magical shape-shifting wolf-man, and her trials with raising their children, who can also magically shape-shift into wolves, on her own. It's a very heartfelt movie about a mother's love and the struggles of doing right by your children when you have limited resources to actively guide and care for them. All the characters feel unique and alive in my opinion. Also, the animation is so good that my sister and I initially mistook it for a Ghibli film.

Again, like the previous two anime entries, I don't see it ever brought up outside of anime circles.

⚠️ There's some child endangerment present in the film, although none of it is the fault of Hana as far as I can remember.

Roman Holiday

Roman Holiday is about the fictional Princess Ann (played by Audrey Hepburn), who while on a whirlwind tour of Europe, finally reaches her breaking point over having her entire life be one big schedule and all her words and actions being rehearsed. In the spur of the moment, she runs away in hopes of experiencing what life is like for other women. Unfortunately, she was previously given a sedative, meaning she doesn't get too far before it takes effect. Fortunately, she is found by the kind reporter Joe Bradley (played by Gregory Peck). Believing her to be drunk and unable to get an address from her (because she has none) he ends up taking her home for safety's sake and allows her to sleep off her suppose drunken stupor. The next day, he realizes who she is, and decides to take her on a fun sight seeing trip across Rome in hopes of getting the big scoop. Along the way, they begin to fall for each other.

This is my favorite black and white, old romance film. I think the relationship between the main characters is absolutely beautiful and I have a lot of fun watching it.

⚠️ I'm not entirely sure what kind of warning this film would need. However, it was released in 1953, so values dissonance will probably be at play for many viewers to at least some extent. For example, early in the film Ann is given sedation drugs by her doctor for her behavior, something that is very unlikely to happen today. Also, Mr Bradley deciding to take Ann home to keep her safe rather than call the police or an ambulance is a very pre-90s decision in my opinion.

[watchathon]

Stitch Day Special: Lilo & Stitch

In case you’re finding this post just by browsing the tags I’ve used for this post, this is the Watch-a-Thon, a blog where I’m hoping to watch an episode of a show every one-to-two days, with a short blog post where I give my thoughts on what I’ve just seen. Each new point starts with a hyphen and a bolded first word.

- Like so. 

But today? Well, today I’ve got an extra-special post in the wings about a movie, one of my favorite Disney movies, starring my absolute favorite Disney character: Lilo & Stitch!

- I like the variation on the Disney logo. That is the kind of stuff that they just couldn’t do with their new big fancy CGI logo. 

- No clue why Jumba tried to deny that he created an experiment. I don’t much mind since it led to a funny joke, but c’mon, evil genius, you should be smart enough to plead guilty.

- “I would never, ever... make more than one.” *glances meaningfully in the direction of the series*

- “What is that monstrosity...?” He’s a cute widdle fluffball, that’s what he is!

- “Meega nala kweesta!” Canonically, this translates to “I want to destroy”, but that seems a little lukewarm for the reaction he got. Maybe a looser translation is in order...

There could be an entire aristocrats joke in those three words. The whole script to Batman v Superman. The opening notes to “Never Gonna Give You Up”...

Or maybe just “bitch”.

- Blood work is a lot different in space...

- Weird to imagine given the rest of the franchise, but Gantu was once a respected captain of the galactic federation.

- It’s easy to perceive Stitch as a dumb brute, but he’s pretty smart. He connected the dots all on his own, within minutes of his imprisonment, that if the guns are locked onto his DNA, he can use his saliva to trick them. Jumba wasn’t kidding when he boasted of his experiment’s intelligence.

- And not only was Gantu a captain, Pleakley was an expert on the planet Earth. Weird, innit...?

- “Are [humans] intelligent?” “No.” An exchange that only hurts more with every year.

- Love the implication that Pleakley was just suggesting several different relatives to assist with the capture of Stitch from when they were on the deck up until they got to the prison where Jumba was held.

- Now this is what we (or rather TVTropes) call an establishing character moment. A fish floats by holding a sandwich in its mouth, implying (soon confirming) that Lilo was the one to give it the sandwich, before rushing to the hula practice that she was late for, stopping to take a picture of a tourist along the way.

- And then after she arrives at hula practice, she explains that she had to give Pudge the fish a peanut butter sandwich because he controls the weather.

- No clue why the other girls are disgusted by Scrump. I always wanted a Scrump when I was a little lass.

- “Did you ever kill anyone?” Lilo asks the right questions.

- Nani, y’could’ve avoided this if you’d given a thumbs up instead...

- I don’t get the glare Cobra gives Nani after Lilo says that her friends need to be punished. Voodoo isn’t a failure of parenting. In many cases, at least...

- Licking Nani, growling after her capture, Lilo already has a lot in common with Stitch.

- Lucky that Lilo is such a quirky kid. The scene (semi-)explaining why she takes pictures of tourists was deleted, but it doesn’t feel like anything is missing because she already has a few habits that just plain inexplicable, like feeding Pudge, practicing voodoo with a pickle jar...

- Lilo wishing for an angel because of how lonely she is, that’s a sad moment. But also kinda funny in hindsight after she sarcastically names Stitch’s love interest Angel in the series.

- Lord give me the undisturbed...ness, of that frog who watched Stitch get run over by several trucks and only tilted its head.

- If they thought Stitch was dead, why did they keep it in the shelter? I mean, Lilo would probably adopt a dead dog, but she’s the outlier.

- I like how Jumba programmed, as part of Stitch’s destructive tendencies, an urge to steal everybody’s left shoe.

- You can just about pinpoint the moment where Stitch’s heart drops at learning that he’s on an island with no major cities.

- Just occurred to me that the badness level is red, and Stitch’s evil counterparts in the series (627 and Leroy) are both red.

- Ah, David. One of the best Disney love interests, mostly because he isn’t entirely a love interest. There is a mutual attraction, but Nani just isn’t ready for that with everything going on in her life, and David respects that and is happy to be a friend.

- I like how everyone except Lilo heavily suspects that Stitch isn’t a dog. 

- Ohhh, the thought of Stitch having drank coffee. I mean, I’d love to see it, but it’d be Hell for Nani.

- Stitch looks just plain adorable with a lei.

- Well, Lilo, you did tell Stitch he should create something. And he did, he just destroyed his creation afterward.

- Pleakley is a gender-nonconforming icon.

- The first time we see Stitch doing something without even the intention of destroying anything is when he finds the book about the Ugly Duckling. It’s clear that he’s fascinated just by looking at it. And when Lilo explains the story? It resonates with him. Or, well, perhaps he wants it to resonate with him.

- I wish I had an evil koala dog that played records.

- Are we sure that “Meega nala kweesta” means “I want to destroy”? Maybe it means “I was born to dance”, ‘cause Stitch learns about dancing and in less than a minute he’s already an expert.

- I imagine this montage, or slightly earlier, would be when that deleted scene of Lilo trolling the obnoxious racist tourists originally came into play. And I like this scene, but, I do wish that scene hadn’t gotten cut. And I wish that they fully animated it and inserted it into the movie like Warner Bros did with The Iron Giant.

- Nothing cheers me up more than this scene of Stitch and his newfound family going surfing. And especially since Stitch is aquaphobic. He’s very much aware that he cannot swim, and likely wouldn’t survive if he fell off the board into the ocean. But even he eventually gets into the spirit of it, asks Lilo himself to go surfing, and enjoys a nice bonding moment with his family. And David.

- Of course Jumba and Pleakley had to ruin a perfectly sweet moment.

- And so we transition from a heartwarming wholesome moment, to a heartbreaking tearful moment. You can just see Nani holding back tears as she says that she needs to take Lilo home. 

As for Stitch, David probably didn’t even realize that Stitch could understand him when he said that Lilo and Nani had a chance until Stitch came along. But Stitch did understand, and he’s visibly hurt by the idea. He always wanted to destroy, but in this moment, he’s ashamed of how he might have destroyed Lilo’s family.

- And the Ugly Ducking metaphor comes back, when in this moment, as Stitch is coming back to a family that he fears he may have ruined, he sees a lone duck... before that duck is followed by a big family of ducklings.

- Lilo says that Stitch cries at night. So, it would seem that even before he completely learned how to be nice, Stitch wasn’t entirely emotionless.

- This whole act of the film is heart-wrenching. First Nani gets confirmation that she and Lilo will be separated, then Stitch starts to fear that he may have caused it. Then because of that? Stitch leaves, taking only the Ugly Duckling book with him. And he can only see in himself the page of the Duckling, lost and crying.

- Then Jumba tells Stitch, who’s already in a bad place emotionally, that he was made to destroy, has no family, and could never have one.

- I don’t want to think about what happened to that chainsaw.

- There’s a certain feeling that comes up in the middle of this fight scene, where you realize that a house is being destroyed, a house belonging to a family that was very much at risk of separation. And you realize that this will only hurt their case beyond any repair.

- If the past day hadn’t been bad enough, Stitch is told by his best friend Lilo that he ruined everything, and to get away.

- And so Nani really does have her sister taken away. Now, taken away by aliens is a lot different than taken away by social services. It’s worse. This way Nani knows that Lilo definitely won’t get a loving family, and Nani will definitely never see her again.

- The confusion is visible on Jumba and Pleakley when Stitch goes and comforts Nani with a quote about family. All they know about Stitch is that he was made to destroy. And then, once he’s captured, he does just about the opposite.

- “Ih.” To this day I sometimes say Ih on reflex when asked a yes-or-no question. Guess I watched this movie way too many times as a kid, huh? ...I regret nothing.

- Originally, the big red plane-looking thing was supposed to just be a plane, and it would’ve flown through a city. And it was changed because it was too soon after 9/11. But me personally, I think the big red thing is real cool, and I like it flying through the valleys.

- “Stitch is unconscious.” I like that Jumba calls Stitch by his name here. In the series, he always calls Stitch “626″ but his name is Stitch. And I like the rare occasion when that’s respected by the mad genius who created him.

- I want to believe that Stitch dodged that laser for the sake of the frog he was holding more than for his own sake. Stitch is strong enough that a few moments later, he survives an explosion of a whole truck that he’s lying on top of.

- Stitch proudly calling himself “cute and fluffy” is another thing I just love. Might be reading too much into it, but I like that he can call himself by those descriptors and still have total confidence in his ability to kick Gantu’s patookie.

- My favorite scene in the movie, and the scene I took the picture from.

Stitch corrects the Grand Councilwoman about his name. And when he’s told that he needs to go in the ship (the implication being that he’ll be punished like he was meant to be at the beginning), he doesn’t rebel or try to escape. He only politely asks that he be allowed to say goodbye.

He explains that his family is “little and broken, but still good”, both explaining it to the councilwoman and reassuring Lilo and Nani.

This is the ultimate display of how Stitch has grown. And he grew because, despite what Jumba said, Stitch could find, and did find, the one true place he belonged: With a good, loving family.

- The Grand Councilwoman is clearly remorseful that they’ll have to separate Stitch from his family, but she can’t bend the law for this one case. And she doesn’t, but it just so happens that, legally speaking, Lilo owns Stitch. And, well, what self-respecting Grand Councilwoman would steal a child’s property?

- A lot of people (including middle-school me) say that the stuff with Stitch and the aliens get in the way of the story of Lilo and Nani. I disagree. These two stories are intertwined, both about people wanting to stay with the family where they know they belong. I just couldn’t, at all, imagine one without the other.

- Now this is the kind of ending I love. It’s become common for animated movies, sequels in particular, to end on the two main characters getting separated. But here? Stitch is now a definitive part of the family, and won’t be separated from them anytime soon. Anime? What anime?

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I guess I’ll be doing this on the rare occasion I cover movies...?

Anyway, this is a great movie. A modern classic. And one of very few things that doesn’t just hold up from when I was a kid, it gets better. When I was a tiny kid, I was only interested in the space aliens. When I was in my early teens, I thought the aliens were kiddy stuff. 

But nowadays, I can truly appreciate it. I can appreciate how both aspects are vital to the movie. Lilo and Stitch are both equally important. You can’t have one without the other.

And most of all, I can appreciate the story of Stitch (as well as Jumba and Pleakley) finding a family, and Lilo (as well as Nani) saving theirs from being torn apart.

Lilo & Stitch brings me to tears of both joy and sadness every time I watch it. And I guarantee I’ll be watching it many more times in the future.

...Does it still count as a Stitch Day special if I’m posting after midnight? No, probably not. I thought I’d only take two hours, then I took four and a half. Guess that means I had more thoughts than I thought I did!

[fiftytwotwenty]

Movie Monday - June 29th, 2020

"Ode to Animation"

Today we're are taking a look at Animation - a broad form of Cinema that encompasses Stop-Motion, Computer Rendering (2D & 3D), and Hand Drawing Images which are manipulated in such a fashion they appear as moving images.

Now due to broad spectrum of storytelling and styling which can take place under Annex of Animation I am discussing my Favorite Films of Animation - a sort of Introduction to Animation.

THE DISNEY RENAISSANCE:

The Lion King (1994):

Disney, for a majority of my life and prior, was regarded as an Animation Powerhouse when they kicked off with Snow White and The Seven Dwarves in 1937 (Golden Era). Now, Disney being the main flagship wasn't always perfect they had plenty of slumps and flops - first hitting major lows in their Bronze Age (1970-1988) - Disney Studios coming off Walt's death dabbled in a lot of trail and error as they moved away from Fairytale story arcs and more into a dark plots like Fox and the Hound. Now the movies during this period are not bad per se - just different from people's previously perceived perceptions of Disney Films but they certainly lead to the Pinnacle of Disney Animation - The Renaissance (1989-1999).

The best way to describe The Disney Renaissance is it's more of New Age Fairytale Storytelling setting (ie. Stronger Female Figures) spun with a Broadway Musical vibe - Kicking off with The Little Mermaid (1989) and ending it's run with Tarzan (1999).

Now, not my personal favorite, but probably the Most Iconic with Mass Appeal of the Renaissance Piece has to be The Lion King. With a Hamlet-esque Plot and Amazing Music stlyings from Elton John & Tim Rice makes for great introduction to Disney.

THE POST RENAISSANCE ERA:

Lilo & Stitch (2002):

As you can probably deduce from the great title of "Post-Renaissance Era" Disney took another dip in its attempt to Find it's Magic in the Box Office.

Running from 2000-2009 Disney made some really basic, blah movies (Home On The Range, Chicken Little, Bolt...) while it competed with Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Pixar films at the Box Office. This period was seen as transitional time before Disney yielded to the CGI technology which made it Cinematic Competitors soar in their earnings.

This period did however allowed Disney to embrace the "weird"... or at least a Disney sense of weird - something we really haven't seen from Disney since Alice in Wonderland or Fantasia.

Enter Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Treasure Planet, and of course Lilo & Stitch.

Leave it to a movie about a Girl meets Alien to give us the realist portrayal of human life and interactions. The perfect mix of heartwarming and sadness on a watercolor backdrop infused with rocking tunes from The King, Elvis Presley.

This is by far one of my Favorite Movies to come out of Disney.

THE OUTSIDERS:

American Tail (1986) & The Iron Giant (1999):

When I was I kid I LOVED animation - Gimme, Gimme, Gimme...

I used to lie awake at night and try to think up the next best animated story to tell.

Again, during my youth Disney was the power house and derived most it films from source materials like Hans Christian Anderson - just remember kicking myself when they announced Hercules - "Of course!", I thought... I would read fables and old lore to help predict/imagine the next Disney Hit.

It wasn't until seeing movies like An American Tail (Amblin) and The Iron Giant (Warner Bros) that I realized you don't need the Fable/Fairytale connections - totally broke my Tunnel Vision. All you have to do is tell captivating stories.

An American Tale and The Iron Giant go above and beyond as they introduce youngsters to actual historical elements rooted in themes of Immigration/Genocide and Cold War Fear respectively.

Fun Facts:

An American Tale is the highest grossing Traditional Animated Film outside Disney Studios.

The Iron Giant was directed/helmed by Brad Bird who went onto The Incredibles and Ratatouille.

PIXAR:

Toy Story (1995):

When it comes to CGI you have to honor Toy Story, Pixar's ice breaking Original feature film that help pave the way for DreamWorks (Shrek & How to Train Your Dragon) and Illumination (Despicable Me) and Disney itself.

Toy Story is the foundation for empire that Pixar is built on. Although Best Animated Feature was not yet a category at the Oscars until 2001 but Toy Story did still receive 3 Oscar noms: Two for Best Original Song (both by Randy Newman) and Best Original Screenplay.

Since 2001 Pixar has been nominated for 13 (out 19) Oscars in the Best Animated Feature Category and brought home 10 Little Golden Dudes.

I do have some mix feelings about Pixar - mainly the group that was bringing Original stories has kind of turned into rehash machine. Out of the 22 Movie lineup (Soul will be #23 when released) Pixar contains 8 sequels (36% of its catalog).

Compared to Disney's 65 movie catalog (Theatrical Releases Only - Excludes Straight to Home Video) which only contains 3 sequels (Rescuers Down Under; Ralph Breaks the Internet; Frozen II -- 4.6%) - 4 sequels if you count Fantasia 2000.

Pixar Studios heads have stated after Toy Story 4 they plan to discontinue with rehashing of old stories... (for a while...)

STUDIO GHIBLI:

Spirited Away (2001):

From our friends from the East, Studio Ghibli & Miyazaki comes Spirited Away.

Many Cult Fans might argue that Spirited Away is not their Top film but all will agree this Coming of Age tale set in an atmosphere of Gravitas is a great launch pad for Japanese animation.

Spirited Away has been held in high regards with The Academy as it picked up an Oscar for the Best Animated Film in 2002 making it the First Foreign Film to win the award (One of only Two foreign films to receive the Best Animated Film award).

STOP MOTION:

Isle of Dogs (2018):

I am not afraid to say Stop Motion can be jarring to the eye, but no one can deny all the hardwork that goes behind a Feature length Stop Motion film.

You almost have to be insane to devote any of your time to Stop Motion - an art of physical manipulating your work in small increments between individual photographs to piece together a visual of motion.

Isle of Dogs work consisted of over 3,000 puppets and 20,000 articulated heads evoking different expressions.

Why Isle of Dogs?

Wes Anderson and his team do an impeccable job at making the film visually appealing and it's a riveting story to boot - Isle of Dogs is quite possibly one of Wes' Top films which is tough beat when up against live action flicks like Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Rushmore.

LIVE ACTION - ANIMATION MASHUP:

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1986):

1925's The Lost World was the first film to combine Live Action and Animation. Roger Rabbit simply perfected it paving the way for Space Jam and hopefully an equally, if not more amazing, Space Jam II.

Believe it or not Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a Disney film although Mickey and his gang share equal screen time with the like Warner Bros and Tex Avery's most valuable commodities.

It's Funny, Dark, and Innovative with excellent performances from Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd and their inked counterparts.

JUST GOTTA WATCH:

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018):

This far more than a Superhero Movie...

This is a total feast for your eyes.

This 2019 Oscar Winner for Best Animated film illustrates how power of Animation can take you far beyond the limitations Live Action works.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse can easily take the mantle of Best Marvel Comic Book Movie and holds a personal spot in my All Time Favorites.

So, That's my Introductory List for the Best Animated Films... Grab some popcorn and get to watching...

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Little More of an Adult List:

- Akira (1988)

- Grave of Fireflies (1988)

- Bébé's Kids (1992)

- Cool World (1992)

- Ghost in the Shell (1995)

- I Lost My Body (2019)

[joelleechristaasblog]

Animal kingdom 2019🐵🦁🐯🐺🐗🦥🐼🦒🐘🦩

I'm gonna have to do multiple posts since I'm only allowed 10 pictures per post, so I'm gonna do Animal kingdom first.

Here's a picture of me and my family out front of Disney's Animal kingdom! 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼🐼🦍🦓🦩

In November of 2019 my family went to the happiest place on earth Disney world in Orlando Florida, my favorite place on earth. On our second day out of four we went to Animal kingdom. I love Animal kingdom it has so much to do! From seeing and interacting with real animals to rollercoasters and other fun rides that we went on. Spectacular shows and of course the tree of life.

For our trip to Disney's Aniaml kingdom our aunt penny got me and my sister and cousin all matching shirts. That was one of the things about Disney thats pretty cool is everyone and their personal shirts made specifically for Disney world. Ours said our names on them and they were pretty and sparkly!

There's us under the tree of life wearing our matching shirts! I love this picture of us we look so happy and we were. The whole time we were there we had giant smiles on our faces from beginning to end. So all the pictures we posed for you can just see the joy in our eyes.

One of my favorite parts of Animal kingdom is the tree of life and the cool 4-D show underneath the tree of life. Starring Flick from bugs life, it's a cute show that takes you into the POV of a bug. It's so inventive just like everything else in Disney. When I was younger the show kinda used to scare me when the antagonist (Hopper) would come out and take over the show trying to kill the humans like we kill millions of bugs everyday. Lol its a very interactive show. Heres a shot of my and kara before we went into the show with our honorary glasses to see the bugs.👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

Another aspect of animal kingdom that we love was seeing all the animals. We went on a jungle safari and got to see alot of cool animals they have in Africa. After waiting in line for like an hour we finally got on jungle safari. All the interesting animals are just roming around which is really cool! I mean we got so close it was like we could almost touch them.

After a little while we got a little hungry so we stopped for a little midday snack. It was a 10$ cookie because everything in Disney costs an arm and a leg lol. Don't get me wrong it was good but wicked expensive. It was just a silly icecream cookie too! I couldn't have the smoothie that everyone was gawking about because of the coconut they use in it. Boo for food allergies! I even asked if they could make it without the coconut milk in it and they said no. Like wtf?!? But here's the 10$ cookie 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

Later on we saw the best live show animal kingdom has to offer called the festival of the lion king! Its so amazing with all the effects and singing dancing and acrobatics. They even have an amazing talented aerialist who would fly so high above the crowd. When I was younger I wanted to do that! Still probably could if we lived in Florida! The show is very entertaining and also interactive just like everything else in disney. It really gets the kids involved too!

The best thing about Disney is you don't have to be a kid to believe in the magic, Disney really brings the magic to life. People of all ages always enjoy Disney world. Ive been a Disney kid my whole life and will probably never grow out of it. I cant wait til I have kids of my own to take them and show them the magic. Ever since i was little I watched and re watched every disney movie there is. My favorites would be Winnie the pooh, lion king and the little mermaid. Oh and of course lilo and stitch! Stitch is literally my spirit aniaml!

After the lion king show we rode some more rides and then had dinner, a wopping 40$ later for dinner we went to the lake to see the light show on the water. It was so cool, nothing like anything ive ever seen before! They were projecting images on water! Yes water! It was amazing. Heres some shots of the coolest light show👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼 just another way Disney brings magic to life.

How cool!! It was so pretty! After the light show we rode the best rollercoaster there climb to mount Everest! Im honestly surprised my mom went on it too. It goes 80 feet up in the air! Then goes backwards too which is the coolest, its the only rollercoaster ive been to do that. Heres a great picture i snagged off the computer screen where they try and sell you the pictures for like 30$👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

Look at us screaming lol. Thats my uncle dave behind me and my sister. This picture kills me. After that exhilarating ride we did a little shopping. Daddy bought me a beautiful animal kingdom shirt! I spent well over 600$ at Disney..opps. lol between eating and shopping it went way too easily. Also at animal kingdom i got my charms for my bracelet ive had since i was a kid too! Costing 6.99$ each i got three of them. Another opps moment,not really though iblove that bracelet. Shopping was another one of my favorite parts too! Plus the cool thing about animal kingdom all the proceeds went to the animals! I also got my baby simba necklace which i wear all the time!

Over all animal kingdom was pretty great! I would honestly love to go back and just do Animal kingdom. Its one of the smaller parks but its definitely one of the bests. Besides Magic kingdom,aniaml kingdom is the best! So heres a few more pictures i snapped there! 👇🏼

There are more posts to come for all the different parks. This was our Animal kingdom experience!

Sincerely yours,

Joelle💕

[grandemasterpyrokitsune]

Happy 10th!

The time has finally come to talk about why PaF is so important. Really, anyone could do this anytime, but this date alone has a significance to it. To any of my followers who don’t know(and will sit through this brick wall of text to find out), today is the 10th anniversary of the sneak peek premiere of Phineas and Ferb; technically, February 2008 is when it officially premiered around the world, but I’m sure that everyone else in the fandom is eager to kick off the celebration today. I’m sure this will turn out to be a multi paged thesis, so I’ll try to split this up into parts.

-----------------------------------

PART 1: Best Day Ever

Anyway, ten years ago today marks the 10th anniversary of Phineas and Ferb. This show is considered an old soul of sorts, enjoying a long lifespan of 8 years, tons of merchandising and entertainment opportunities, the admiration and respect of many celebrities, and a very long summer. As formulaic as it appears, this show has more history to it than it appears to have.

PART 2:Busted

(This part details history of Disney’s TV animation ventures and basically life before PaF. Feel free to skip if you’re clued in to its history.)

The 2000s were considered a lousy time for TV animation . While many say it's the "worst" decade for it(whether worldwide or just in North America), I'd call it a transitional period. The 90s was an exciting a refreshing time for TV animation where the stories were driven by the creators, not toy designers. I would generally consider it more of the same from the Golden Age of Animation but more modern. The 2000s had newer technologies to work with and perfect while the ‘90s mainly just worked w/ cel animation and did it so well. Flash and CG were in their infancy, so I assume the software got a bit more attention than the stories. Primarily, companies were just looking to work with more cost effective options to make their shows with. It was a rough period,but far from the worst. Anyway, this kind of TV animation is still a relatively new type of animation. Disney were the first ones to spearhead this movement and they made three or four blocks of new cartoon for different generations of kids. 

The first block(formally known as Disney Afternoon)was ushered in with three pilots; Fluppy Dogs, Wuzzles and Ducktales. While the former two merely tested the waters and the latter was the only one successful, all three were made with stellar animation and complex storytelling for what everyone knew as entertainment for kids. After the success of Ducktales, Disney was brimming with pride and made seven years worth of cartoons for this block. Even if some cartoons didn't strike people the right way, they were still wildly memorable. While their D.C. original programming generally doesn't get more than short compilation discs, the DA 'toons get full series releases digitally and through DVD. This prompted to launch One Saturday Morning on ABC. 

With the acquisition of Nicktoon Doug, Disney paired it up with Recess and Pepper Ann, chasing after the success they had a few years before. The aforementioned series were the highest rated on the block while other series are more obscure and buried by Disney. They are acknowledged as good but were overshadowed by 24/7 network like Nick and Cartoon Network bringing a lot more cartoons to a lot more times of the day. 

Disney started to notice how much of an animated surplus they had and that they air their cartoons for weeks on end. Thus, Toon Disney was founded,which became a more visible hub for the cartoon blocks of the 90s and all other ages of Disney. At one point,they started airing Sonic the Hedgehog and making their own co-productions under their most popular TV cartoon brand, Jetix. As extensive as these programs got, they were being seen by fewer and fewer people. 

To overlap slightly with the end of OSM, Disney started making more cartoons for the Channel’s demographic. Shows like Kim Possible, Lilo and Stitch, and American Dragon:Jake Long began airing and netting extraordinary ratings. In fact, Disney Channel was probably most successful in the early 2000s. It found its new groove if you will with its signature style of tween/teen sitcom and animated series. The former seem to have more clout on the network after the premiere of Lizzie McGuire,solidifying the formula. Similar to OSM, many cartoons were more or less not acknowledged the way they were 10 years before. Since sitcoms dominated because they were faster and cheaper to make, it seemed that the outcome was better. Over the course of the period (c. 2002-2008) they released the smallest selection of DC cartoons ever while the sitcoms got more and more press. It’s unclear what Disney was going to do next, but soon summer of 2007 came along...

PART 3: Gotta Make Summer Last

Disney Channel aired the premiere of High School Musical 2 and decided to air the first episode of PaF afterwards. As a result HSM 2 netted 17.6 million views and PaF 10.8 million views. We could easily deduce that eager HSM fans made up the clout of viewers, but that’s not to say the show couldn’t prove interesting to viewers anyway. In fact, Disney delayed its original 2007 release in the US to release it in February in multiple countries. Places such as Latin America, Brazil, Japan, France and Portugal got to experience the show right along with us. International promotion was rolled out which only netted PaF even more press. It became one of Japan’s most popular Western cartoons, it got wild promotion in Latin America and most of Europe(all around) made excellent dubs and gave it the lion’s share of time slots. This was a pretty good outcome all things considered.

Thus the cycle began. First came DVDs and games, then came interviews and guest spots, than movies, Disney park attractions, live events and then omnipresence.... scratch that last one, but you get the idea. The TV Movie itself was more or less the peak of the show. It remains the 10th most watched DCOM premiere of all time and the show remains one of the longest running animated series of the main Disney networks(DC, XD, and Junior). I think the last time Disney mass merchandised a TV cartoon this much was Lilo and Stitch(last one not already a franchise was Doug or Recess). The show is even part of the Marvel and Star Wars universes(non canonically of course)Even then, Disney elevated the show to new heights. It had everything Disney wanted; likeable protagonists, innocent motifs, enough songs to last for days, episodic adventures, and tons of mass marketing appeal. This simple show connected people across the world(if the Tumblr/DA fandoms for PaF were any indicator)through its mult-faceted music and rudimentary themes. While this show raised the bar, it also left the bar to be raised another notch by...

PART 4: Meet the Man of Mystery

In 2012, Gravity Falls premiered as a sneak peek behind DCOM Let it Shine. While not an instant ratings hit, it quickly became one of the most critically acclaimed Disney TV cartoons of all time. The spotlight quickly began to fade on the smartest stepbrothers around as new episodes were coming infrequently. While the numbers were still big enough to make Teen Titans Go mutter in awed jealousy, it still was becoming less of a force on the main network. However on Disney XD, it was still Adored by the Network. I remember how I felt watching day long marathons several times a month, sometimes without reason. Despite its mass appeal, Phineas and Ferb could be classified easily as a boy targeted program due to the protagonists and the subject matter. Until XD found its groove, they would continue to spam PaF for what felt like eons. To this day, they still occasionally air it in primetime slots.

The way I wrote this last part may sound cynical,jaded, and/or pessimistic. However, it’s written that way to emphasize another point. After the success of this series, Disney went from relying on a few filler shows to releasing a new show basically every year and truly giving them all the promotion they could. While not all series got the treatment we all wanted them to have, a lot more of them have come and gone to try to re-innovate and reinvigorate the brand. Phineas and Ferb (more or less) singlehandedly convinced Disney TV to put more stock in their animation division. Don’t know how many Fallers know this but Disney actually asked Alex Hirsch to make his pilot for them after seeing his work. They were actively seeking out new talent and new stories. Honestly, while Kick Buttowski and Pickle and Peanut got a lot of flac in the day, they were(to an extent) a sign that the House of mouse was trying to experiment and make something they liked to see. The latter especially seemed like a personal pet project of XD’s off sense of humor. 

I’m sure the networks would have reinvented their cartoons eventually, but PAF brought it out in the best way.  In a way the boys were kind of dc celebrities in their heyday. When you can summon a bunch of popular characters from the live action sitcoms to dance for possibly hours for a two minute music video in the name of a teal platypus made out of digital ink and pixels, that’s pretty special indeed.

CONCLUSION

Phineas and Ferb is my favorite animated series,explaining why I can info dump mostly from memory as I have in this post. While many have told me that it’s nothing special, to me it stands out as the brightest diamond in the rough and a shining testament to the duality of animation in general. Ten years from now, I hope that I can write better when I must wax sentimentality about my favorite cartoon show. Thanks to the cast, crew, creators, and fans for making summer last. See you at the 20th!

[astro-ocean]

11 Questions

RULES Always post the rules Answer the questions given by the person who tagged you Write 11 questions of your own Tag 11 people (or however many you want)

I was tagged by @beckettsthoughts !! this was fun to do, so thanks, lol

Ok so I know that this might take a while to answer so to those I’m tagging i totally don’t blame you if you don’t feel like doing this lol, @venterry @peridapple @penguin2024 @kitty-divine @hesitantollie @high-metafive @momomomoomoo @itsthevoiid @girl-nese @dominicunt-republic @anathemic-hearts

The questions you guys answer are at the bottom btw

Questions I’m answering

1. Do you remember your dreams? If so, what’s the weirdest dream you can remember?

THIS IS LONG SO SKIP THIS IF YOU DONT LIKE READING. 

Yes, bc most of my dreams are very vivid. Ok so in my dream, my family and I were going to visit Willy Wonka’s factory. We parked in this extremely large parking lot, right in front of the factory (which looked like the one from the 2005 movie even though we were visiting the one from the 70′s and is in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by forests), but in order to get to the it we had to cross under a fence made out of electricity. So we all had to like shimmy underneath it, only when I went I got electrocuted, and I remember that I felt actual physical pain when this happened??? So we go inside and have a good time. Willy Wonka is there (the Gene Wilder one), theres a huge ass chocolate funnel, and a ball pit for some reason (???) and everyone was having fun. The weird thing though is the factory looked like a McDonalds play land place bc everything was made out of plastic and no one else was there for some reason. Anyway after what felt like a couple of hours, we decide to leave. The parking lot electricity fence is down, so we don’t have to risk electrocution, but, however, we find that there are around 20 race cars with angry oompa loompas in them, surrounding the parking lot. My family thinks this is weird and they all naruto run to the car (???) and leave without me?? So in this fucking blue minivan they ram into the race cars and escape, leaving me behind. I then am suddenly aware that Wonka’s factory is in the state of Kentucky, and realize that I have a long walk home to Maryland. I grab my phone out of my pocket, which is this, and try to call my parents, who do not pick up. After this, I literally have a movie montage of me walking home through suburban roads, only when it ends, I”m only on the road that leads to Wonka’s factory. Suddenly, a white van pulls up and the door opens to reveal 20 boy scouts who tell me i’m an honorary member and pull me in. They speed down the road, only for the oompa loompa race cars to appear out of the forest and chase us. We swerve off the road and die from being crushed under the van. The end.

2. Describe your favourite cinema. Is it nearby, or hard to get to? Why is it better than the others?

My favorite cinema is 15 minutes away and I only go to it bc its not that far. Idk how to spell it, its called like, Lietersburg or something. IT has a really big parking lot that I use to practice driving.

3. What was your favourite class in school? In terms of atmosphere, classmates, teacher, anything.

My favorite class in school was my junior year of high school english class with Ms. Mattu. I was friends with everyone in the class, which by the end of the year only had around 7 or 8 kids, and we spent class joking around and writing stupid messages and memes on the board, which, most of the time our teach would let us leave up there. Ms. Mattu was (and is) an excellent teacher who would push us to the limit in terms of our ability, and really helped me improve my writing skills A LOT which is great for someone who’s gonna major in something that might need a bunch of writing ability. We also had food days which were cool and watched some really good movies like, The Help or The Shawshank Redemption.

4. What’s one hair colour, piercing or tattoo you’d love to get someday but probably never will?

I would really love to get a septum piercing bc I think they look awesome, but knowing me I would probably get tired of it and want to take it out after a while. So sometimes I just wear a fake one lol. I’d also really love to get a tattoo of No-Face from Spirited Away, bc that movie is very close to my heart.

5. Describe one person who you’d love to be friends with, but only know as an acquaintance through work, school or other friends. What about them makes you want to know them better?

Oh jeez, there was this girl at school (who I absolutely will not name bc some of u went to school with me) who was like really cool??? Amazing fashion sense, super funny, and really cute. We had only talked a couple times, but I would literally be so starstruck by seeing her that I would stumble on my words. Everything she did was just so effortlessly cool, and I probably definitely had a small crush on her lol. She pulled off stuff that I could only dream of doing. I really wanted to learn more about her, but I don’t think we would have had a lot in common rip.

6. What is your personal “white whale”? Something you encountered in the the past and have never been able to find since, no matter how hard you try?

Honestly, I don’t think I have one? While I do enjoy obsessing over things, I always will let go of something after a while, whether it be a thought, idea, or thing, bc truthfully I just get bored with it. Like, if I want something, the longest that feeling will last is probably at most a couple years before I go, “well i guess I’m not getting it. Better move on”. I don’t like to chase after or they to find things that I deem as too hard or bothersome.

7. What was your favourite movie when you were a child? Does it still hold up now that you’re older?

SPIRITED AWAY AND LILO AND STITCH. Both are tied as my favorite movies ever. I’ve been watching Spirited Away since I was like a fetus, i watch it at least once or twice a year now, but as a kid i’d probably watch once every two weeks. It was my first anime, I loved how it was drawn differently than Disney, how it took place in Japan, a place i had several friends from, and how everything. Looked. So. Delicious. Not to mention how funny it was. It definitely still holds up today, and now as an artist I appreciate it even more. Meanwhile, I love Lilo and Stitch bc I’m a pacific islander! At the time, it was the only movie I’d ever seen about someone else who grew up on an island, and I really connected with Lilo. It was and is still SUPER hilarious. And now I actually connect with Nani a lot because I have a little sister. The bond is portrayed so well, which I couldn’t understand as a kid because I was an only child at the time. Even the way the characters speak and act is in such a relatable way that i can’t help but feel homesick. Also, i cry when i watch the movie during the scene where Nani sings. Super sad.

8. Do you have a favourite ‘local’ food? It could be a local delicacy unique to your town, but it could just be a particular snack from a particular shop. A favourite meal from your favourite restaurant, maybe, because nobody else makes it the same way that they do?

There’s this local donut shop called Krumpe’s which everyone in town goes to. Their donuts are pretty good, and even better warm. During New Year’s Eve they hand out free donuts during a “Donut Drop” (mocks the ball drop) we have every year. My brother is friends with the family’s son and i quite like the mother, who I once had a long talk with while we were sitting on a bench overlooking a pond.

9. Have you ever skipped school or work to hang out with your friends or to go to a particular event?

Haha, NO. I could never get away with leaving school, and honestly, I don’’t really have any friends I could ever do something like that with. My school calls our parents if were absent and attendance is really hard to get out of. The only thing I’ve ever missed school for was a field trip or college visit. When i was a sophomore however, I did tend to leave my last period class 15 minutes early to walk around and talk to the janitor (he’s really nice) bc we had a long term sub who was really cool.

10. What is something you’d love to collect but haven’t yet?

Sweatshirts i guess? I’d love to have sweatshirts from all over the world and places i’d visit. With how often I wear them I think i’d be pretty useful too.

11. Are you the kind of person who saves tickets from travelling? If not, what’s your favourite type of souvenir to collect?

Yup, always. I never really get to travel because of costs, so whenever i have a field trip i keep the ticket. So far, I have some Pentatonix and Two Cellos band tickets, and one from the MOMA and a couple other art museums.

Questions to answer

1. Is there a celebrity you often are said to look like? If not, then who is someone you wish you did?

2. What is one of your favorite bands or musicians? Why do you like them?

3. Who inspired your sense of style? Who is someone you look up to in terms of  fashion?

4. If you could get rid of any one emotion, what would it be and why?

5. How do you see yourself versus how you think people perceive you? What are someone’s first impressions of you?

6. What’s your phone case and background? Why did you pick them?

7. What is something you’ve done that you’re very proud of? What is something about yourself that you’re very proud of?

8. What is your favorite climate and season? What’s your favorite thing to do in that weather?

9. What is something you own or have a lot of and why?

10. Have you ever gone through a “phase”? What is the worst/funniest one you’ve gone through?

11. What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in the middle of the night? If nothing, whats something you’ve always wanted to do?

[leiflikesdisney-blog]

How Disney’s Cartoons Are Changing the Game

The cartoon game, to be specific.

Disney is widely known for their animated feature films, and particularly for their princess movies. These movies are seen by thousands of children and adults alike. Disney’s films can greatly influence children, including how they think, dress, talk, and interact with one another, but it is common for children to see a movie in the theater once or twice, and move on to another popular media. While children may see a specific Disney film less than a handful of times, they are far more exposed to and influenced by the cartoons that they watch everyday. While I was growing up, this meant watching Kim Possible, Lilo & Stitch, and American Dragon: Jake Long. While these shows promoted racial and neurological diversity (to an extent), I never saw my LGBT identity represented in animation. Recently, though, Disney has been working toward stepping out of its comfort zone–both in its style of animation and storytelling, and in representation. Disney’s modern cartoons, including Star vs. the Forces of Evil, Gravity Falls, and Wander Over Yonder, are breaking the mold that years of Disney animation have set before them. For this essay, though, I will be focusing on Star vs. the Forces of Evil and its representation of women and LGBT characters.

“Star vs. the Forces of Evil”

“Star vs. the Forces of Evil” is a currently-running Disney Channel cartoon, which is my personal favorite of the recent generation of Disney cartoons. The show follows Star Butterly, a princess from another dimension who has been banished to Earth to practice her magical abilities, and her friends.

The show covers topics, including friendship, rebellion, living up to your family name, jealousy, and many other heavy topics that are not often covered in other cartoons.

Star vs. the Forces of LGBT Representation

In one scene, when the main cast is at a concert for the fictional band Love Sentence, the camera pans along the audience, and it is possible to see many same-sex relationships, as seen in the pictures below.

While the show does not have any canonically LGBT characters, it has mentioned that Star’s best friend, Marco, struggles with body dysphoria, and in multiple episodes, he is shown to have a princess persona that he acts as occasionally. Surprisingly, the show manages to handle this topic very maturely, as you can see in the clip below.

In this clip, the audience can tell that Marco is entirely comfortable presenting as a girl, and he refers to himself with feminine titles and pronouns very naturally. Also, while it is quiet, at 1:58, it is possible to hear Marco say, “Can I stay in this dress?” This furthers the point that Marco is comfortable presenting as a girl, and possibly prefers to present that way. As you can see, Marco also uses the popularity of his princess persona to encourage rebellion against oppressors, and following one’s individuality. 

For these reasons, Marco has stood out significantly to LGBTQ+ viewers of “Star vs. the Forces of Evil.” In fact, many people have interpreted Marco’s body dysphoria, desire to wear a dress, and comfort using feminine pronouns as being a nod to the fact that, later in the show, Marco may come out and become Disney’s first open trans character. This theory has become increasingly popular, with fans even creating a collection of clips (below) that they believe hint at transgender identities, and, more specifically, Marco being trans.

There is also a very concise post explaining the theory behind Marco possibly being trans.

While Marco being trans is entirely theory, he still shines through as positive representation for people who do not often fit society’s rigid gender roles. It is not often that a heroic male character is allowed to wear a dress or ballet shoes without being belittled by friends or being the butt of an uncomfortable joke. Many of the show’s fans have expressed their gratitude, both for the theory and for the blatant representation discussed above.

Unfortunately, much of LGBT representation can only be found in adult media, which focuses heavily on sex and/or death, and children are left to grow up without seeing that aspect of their identity on television. In fact, a personal account by a transgender woman shows just how important representation can be.

This article expresses that representation has been a great influence on Davies’ identity and transition. 

“’I was 60 when it all came pouring out to my wife, she was very sympathetic and helped me all the way, but we agreed to keep it quiet,’ said Davies, who first learned about transgender identity from a TV show sometime in the 1970s.”

And later, the article goes on to say...

“Patricia was inspired to make the big change from male to female after seeing the romantic comedy film Boy Meets Girl, which features transgender characters.”

This is a sentiment shared by many trans people, who grow up knowing that they are different, but not having the words to describe it, and without being able to see a similar experience represented in their peers or on television, spend a great amount of time confused and wrestling with their identity. I recall Glee being the first piece of media I watched with a blatantly open gay character, but, because it is targeted towards toward specifically older teenagers, even that would be inappropriate to show your average child.

A Princess Song: Star vs. the Forces of Evil’s Use of Music in Storytelling and Female Representation

Disney’s princess films often use music as an aspect of story telling, and while Star vs. the Forces of Evil follows this tradition, it also diverts from the stereotypical Disney soundtrack. Many of the show’s songs sound like they either came off the radio or out of a rock opera, and it takes advantage of the moods these songs set in order to further their story and express the experiences and emotions of the characters. Many of these songs often come at the height of action and/or conflict, as another way to express intense emotions that might be more difficult to express naturally through speech. However, one of the most iconic example of use of song in Star vs. the Forces of Evil is during the episode “Face the Music,” when Star is forced to help write a Princess Song for herself for her Song Day Celebration.

Star vs. the Forces of Evil briefly mocks how women are often represented in media through Queen Moon’s “Princess Song.” The song expresses that women are often written without conflict or development, and many female characters (particularly princess) are idealized caricature version of what women are actually like.

Star points out, “That song didn’t say anything about the real you! You could plug any name into that song, and it wouldn’t make a lick of difference.” This quote points out precisely what is wrong with many female characters in the media. While male characters may be allowed conflict and interesting development and traits, female character traits often include things like, “her hair is silky soft,” “her favorite color’s pink,” and “[she] smells like lavender.” This perfectly mimics how female character’s are often one-dimensional, in comparison to the complex male characters that appear in the same piece of media.

Star clearly expresses her distaste over this type of song and characterization, as she feels it is basically nondescript and doesn’t fit her. Star feels guilty writing a “puff piece” about herself, when she knows that she isn’t the princess that the kingdom wants, and that she and her parents have betrayed and lied to their citizens and High Commission. Do to this, she helps her Ruberiot, the Official Songstrel of Mewni, write a song that explicitly confesses to her and her parents’ actions.

The contrast between this song and Queen Moon’s song also helps to highlight precisely how different Star is from past Disney princesses. While the stereotypical Disney princess may sit on the sidelines in order to remain soft, while their prince is allowed to be strong and hard to save them, Star does not fit that mold. It would be inappropriate to say that she is a polar opposite of the princess stereotype, though, and that is what makes her such good representation.

Often times, fictional women are expressed as either “feminine” or “strong.” Writers give their strong female characters lines expressing distaste for fellow women and their femininity, a trope often referred to as “Not Like Other Girls.” Star, on the other hand, breaks this strong vs. feminine dichotomy, as she is both strong and confident in her femininity. While Star’s wardrobe in the show almost entirely consists of dresses, she also has an affinity for weapons and both physical and magical combat. Star goes out of her way to fight villains and charge into battles headfirst, because she is confident in her abilities to hold her own. And, while Star’s reckless behavior leads to harm and her downfall in some situations, it is always presented as a “think before doing” issue, rather than a “girls shouldn’t fight” type issue. Star expresses a clear distaste when other characters don’t let her think for herself, as seen in the episode “Blood Moon Ball.”

She expresses to Marco her ability to take care of herself, as well as her desire to be trusted. These feelings are met with thought and understanding, which helps to express particularly how poignant Star vs. the Forces of Evil can be. Many teenagers struggle with the ability to come into their own abilities as they grow up, and often times, when they express that desire to others, they are met with misunderstanding and/or a lack of trust. This conversation between Marco and Star, though, is incredibly touching, due entirely to the fact that Marco makes an attempt to understand Star’s point of view, and he gives a genuine apology for upsetting her.

The New Modern Disney Cartoon

Star vs. the Forces of Evil has proven itself time and time again to be the type of cartoon that stands out among the crowd. It provides positive representation of LGBT identities and stereotypically queer traits, including body dysphoria and a male character having comfort in feminine clothing. Star vs. the Forces of Evil also presents a positive female role model that breaks away from many harmful traits that are often applied to Disney’s princesses. This show provides deeper themes, while still managing to stay child-appropriate and relatively light hearted, and I hope it is a sign for the direction Disney will keep going with their cartoons.