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destinedfordiaperstories · 5 months ago

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Sammy's Little Problem, Chapter 23

“I-I’m sowwy, Windsay,” Sammy offered meekly through her pacifier, staring up at Lindsay through tear-filled eyes.

“Oh, Sammy, you have nothing to apologize for, okay? Lindsay assured Sammy.

Lindsay smiled down at Sammy, glad she finally calmed down. Wiping Sammy clean as she thrashed about, overwhelmed by the moment, had been exhausting. She was just happy to have her friend back.

“I…I know, Winds. I justh feel so helpwess now and…I don’t know, I justh…,” Sammy trailed off, unable to explain her feelings. She didn’t want to sound ungrateful that Lindsay and Allie had been so generous, so loving to her when she needed it most.

Yet…being so dependent on them for her basic needs made her feel like a burden. They never asked for this. Sammy would never be able to repay or adequately thank them. It was a one-sided relationship.

And that wasn’t even considering her own feelings of inadequacy. Lindsay was supposed to be her best friend, her partner in crime. Now she’s wiping her clean on the changing table.

It wasn’t fair.

Lindsay gazed deep into Sammy’s eyes, hoping to see the cause of Sammy’s anguish. She took a deep breath. “Sammy, I know this is overwhelming. I know how strange it must be to be in this position when your best friend changes your diaper. But you need to understand: I love you. Allie loves you. My parents love you. None of us are doing this because we have to. We want to help you.”

Lindsay pressed on, noticing the tension in Sammy’s body easing. “You’re not helpless, you’re not worthless, and you’re not a baby. I don’t think anything less than you before. You’re still going to be a college student at Stanford! So, I don’t want any more of this pity party, okay?”

“Fank you, Winds, that means a wot! I wuv you too!”

“You’re very welcome, Sammy. Now, let's get this diaper on you and get you ready for bed.”

“B-but, I’m not tiwed, Winds! Please, can I stay up a widdle longer?”

Lindsay pretended to think it ever, knowing it wasn’t Sammy’s bedtime. But if she knew anything about Sammy, she loved getting her way. “Oh, all right! How about we go downstairs and watch a movie?”

“Yay, fank you, Winds!” Sammy squealed in delight.

Lindsay reached down, grabbing a pink nighttime diaper for Sammy. As she fluffed it, Sammy predictably whined, “not a nighttime diaper! Its not bedtime, you said so!”

“Sorry, Sammy. Allie’s orders!”

“…fine,” Sammy grumbled.

Lindsay gawked at the thickness of the diaper in her hand. “Poor thing,” Lindsay thought, “she probably can’t even walk in these things.”

Two minutes later, the massive diaper was taped onto Sammy. Sammy lay there, feeling extra small in her nighttime diaper, completely unable to squeeze her legs together.

Lindsay did her best to hide her smile. Sammy looked so cute with her pink Cinderella diaper bulging out.

“Okay, let’s get you into something more comfortable,” Lindsay suggested, walking over to Sammy’s dresser to grab a onesie.

Sammy panicked when she realized Lindsay must be grabbing a onesie. “No need, Winds, I’m vewy comfortable in this!”

“I’m sure you are, Sammy. But look, this one is so cute!” Lindsay suggested, showing Sammy a cute all-pink onesie.

“N-no fank you,” Sammy retorted.

“Don’t be such a grump, Sammy,” Lindsay said playfully, “let's get this shirt off you.”

Too drained from her meltdown, Sammy sighed and raised her arms, letting Lindsay remove her shirt and slide the onesie on.

“Lift your bum for me, Sammy,” Lindsay cooed, “thank you.” It took some effort, but she eventually snapped the onesie in place. “You ready to head down?”

Sammy tried to shift herself off the table, but the diaper prevented her from swinging her legs.

Acting quickly before Sammy could complain, Lindsay lifted Sammy off the table.

“Fank you, Winds,” Sammy muttered, trying to hide her embarrassment.

“Of course, silly. What movie do you wanna watch,” Lindsay asks, holding out her hand,

Sammy grabs it, face lost in thought. “Ummmm, Coco! Ith the besth Pixthar movie ever!”

“Coco it is!” Lindsay agrees. Sammy reached the stairs, eyeing them tentatively. “Do you need help getting downstairs?”

“I…ummm…yeth, pleath,” Sammy concedes.

“Ok, let's go one step at a time, okay?” Lindsay suggests, helping Sammy down the first step.

By the time they reached the bottom of the stairs, Lindsay was fighting with every ounce of willpower she had not to squeeze Sammy’s cheeks. It was cuteness overload for Lindsay. Sammy’s diaper was so thick she looked identical to an unsteady toddler, slowly and methodically taking each step.

“Why don’t you go put on Coco, Sammy. I’m gonna get us some drinks.”

“Okay!” Sammy squealed, excited for a bit of responsibility.

Lindsay fumbled around the cabinets, searching for Sammy’s sippy cups. She realized, to her dismay, they were all in the dishwasher. There was only one remaining option: the oversized baby bottles staring back at her.

“Well, here goes nothing,” Lindsay thought to herself. In a flash, she had milk warming on the stove. If she was ever going to convince Sammy to use a baby bottle in front of her, it had better taste delicious. She added extra milk, deciding Sammy would be more accepting if Lindsay drank it, too.

Luckily, Lindsay remembered her favorite drink her mom made for her whenever she couldn’t sleep. All she needed to do was add some sugar and vanilla to the milk and voila. Once it was warm, Lindsay filled Sammy’s bottle and put the nipple on before filling her own mug with the sweet-smelling milk.

“Sammy, please don’t freak out,” Lindsay pleaded, walking toward the couch, “but the only clean cup was this baby bottle. I’m sorry, but I promise, it’s no big deal! And I made us both my favorite drink ever!”

For a second, Sammy looks on the verge of a tantrum. But to Lindsay’s surprise, Sammy took the bottle without argument. Lindsay breathed a sigh of relief.

Lindsay sat next to Sammy, who was squirming in anticipation of the movie. It may not have been how she imagined their last summer together before college, but she was relieved to see such an authentic smile on Sammy’s face. She knew Sammy would be okay.

“Play the movie, Linds!” Sammy begged. Five minutes later, Sammy cheerfully drank her bottle of milk, legs swinging happily.

By the time Sammy was halfway done, she helped herself to Lindsay’s lap, staring up at Lindsay as she drank, her eyes growing heavy. Lindsay smiled down at her friend struggling to keep her eyes open.

Sammy fell asleep before she finished the bottle.

Lindsay carried her friend back upstairs, gently lowering Sammy onto the crib. Sammy’s diaper was wet, but not enough to warrant a change—especially when the nighttime diapers could hold significantly more.

“Goodnight, Sammy,” Lindsay whispered to her best friend before closing the door.

Lindsay nearly jumped off the couch when Allie walked in the front door half an hour later.

“Hey, Linds,” Allie smiled, “wasn’t sure you’d be awake. Did you two have fun?”

“Yeah, she fell asleep around 45 minutes ago. She was an angel. Well, except for a small tantrum earlier. But otherwise, it was a great night!”

“Thank you, Linds. I know it’s hard babysitting your best friend, but she’s lucky to have a friend like you.”

“I’d do anything for her, Allie, you know that. Even if it means changing her stinky diapers while she’s in the middle of a tantrum. It’s strange, though. When she messed her diaper and broke down sobbing, I didn’t feel like her best friend at that moment. I felt…”

“Like every part of you needed to help her? As if there was nothing you wanted more than to console her? And you were confused by how natural it felt because you instinctively understood how to help her?”

Lindsay thought for a second. “I…yeah, I guess. How did you know?”

“Because I’m a caregiver too, Lindsay. I’ve been down this road. Sammy isn’t the only one going through changes. You are, too. That won’t be the last time you feel that way towards Sammy. Or other Littles, children, and people in need.”

“Really? I guess I didn’t think I’d feel any different. I don’t know…”

“It’s a bit jarring at first, to be honest. But you’ll get used to it. Besides, if we didn’t change at all, we’d be Neutrals. Of course something had to change.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I probably should’ve actually paid attention in class.”

“Well, you’re not the only one. Nobody paid attention to those classes my year, either. It doesn’t matter, experience is the best teacher anyway. And it’s not like you’re adopting a Little tomorrow anyway.”

“Or ever,” Lindsay laughs, “Sammy is a lot of work!”

“You do realize I also swore to Mom I’d never adopt a Little when I was your age. But here we are. But who knows, not all Caregivers adopt. Mom and Dad didn’t! Caring for Littles isn’t the only way caregivers can feel needed!”

“You’re starting to sound like Mom, you know that? Let me have my fun at college before you start with the caregiver stuff!”

“Okay, okay, Linds, you win. You want to sleep here tonight, or are you okay driving home?”

“I’m fine to drive. Besides, your guest room is now a nursery. I prefer a bed to a couch.”

“I’m sure Sammy wouldn’t mind sharing her crib! You could even try her diapers!”

“Bye, Allie,” Lindsay scoffs, smiling as she walks out the door.

Go to Chapter Twenty Four.

#cg/l #cg/l community #ab/dl babygirl #ab/dl community #ab/dl fiction #cg/l little #cg/l lifestyle #sammyslittleproblem

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izvmimi · 7 months ago

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cw: selfship-coded. i probably need a name for this au. isekai elements (time period, location). fluff. disney mention.

It’s been just a couple of days since you went on your first mission with Kyojuro and Tanjiro to both clear demons and test out the weapon you were afforded upon your entry to this realm, and it's clear that your staff has some enchanted (or cursed) property to it but regardless of its power, you’ll still need to perfect a Breathing style in order to make use of it. You’ve considered for a moment that perhaps, like Aoi, you may concern yourself only with food preparation and medicine, at least for the time being, while your friends take charge in finding a way to get the three of you back home, but the guilt associated with leaving your friends to fight demons while you make sakura cakes proves too much for you to handle.

Your friend, newly born archer, now takes a break to sit beside you, and without saying a word, you push a piece of cut pear into her mouth the moment she sits down which she chews graciously, sweet liquid dribbling at the corner of her mouth. You’ve been sitting in the garden doing absolutely nothing, just in view of the training court, and have seen every one of her arrows practically hit the mark.

She was a novice archer in the real world, so it’s not surprising that her soul manifested this weapon for her, but at the current rate of success she has now, you can imagine in just a few months she’d outpace Olympic athletes. The word ‘Mary Sue’ comes to mind and you laugh to yourself. Of course a curse like this would make her a superheroine.

“You know if you do that well up-front, there will be nothing to teach in a couple months and you’ll have to sit here with me all day,” you tease.

She laughs and rests her head on your shoulder. “You act like that’s such an awful life.” You blush, and then are immediately sandwiched by your other friend, the bat she wields in her left hand set down beside her as she takes your other shoulder.

“Are you leaving me out?” she asks, grinning. You shove another piece of pear into her mouth too, and her grin is even wider as she chews.

“You should be training, too,” she says, as though it’s as easy for you as swinging a bat that can fell a tree effortlessly. You think about your staff and wonder why you haven’t gotten the hang of it. While the other two had been of use on their respective missions and impressed their Hashira, you had only managed to get yourself in trouble enough times that you’re certain you saw a flicker of concern on the normally jovial Flame Hashira’s face. Tanjiro spent enough time on the way back trying to convince you that the expectations for you were low anyway, but it didn’t help to find out that whatever inner power had been awakened in your friends did not seem to have awakened in you.

“Can’t use the staff,” you remind them.

“I mean of course not, if you’re sitting here having a sad girl picnic,” the archer replies. You narrow your eyes at her, and she smiles slyly.

“I’m sure someone can help you,” your other friend offers, picking another piece of fruit from your plate. “Tanjiro seems particularly interested,” she adds, and you shoot her a look. Her matchmaker (read: instigator) tendencies existed probably since the very moment you met her, but ever since you returned to the manor trailing closely behind Tanjiro with Rengoku having marched forward enough to practically leave the two of you behind, she’s been envisioning something that’s likely not there.

“Yeah, exactly.”

They both shift closer to you, devious-eyed and you feel as if you’ve just been shoved in a preheating oven.;

“Can I help you both?” you insist.

“I just think you should consider-”

“No.”

They laugh in unison, but you insist.

“You know very well that by nature I’m an ogre and this is the nicest man on Earth. Like, I saw him talk to birds like Cinderella levels nice.”

Your archer friend tilts her head in confusion. “Babe, the birds speak human language.”

“Not the crows! Regular ass birds! Like a Disney princess!!!”

“Washboard abs Cinderella,” your friend adds, knowing exactly what image gets conjured to your mind, and flustered, you scramble to your feet.

“I’m going to take a nap,” you announce. “Enjoy your training.” The two look at each other and giggle.

“What year did Disney even start being a company?” one asks, changing the subject.

“Steamboat Willie came out in 1928, I think,” she murmurs, and there’s a pause.

“... why the hell do you just know that?”

“... Wikipedia rabbit hole.”

The three of you consider for a moment that if any of the corps members heard you, they’d probably have a stroke, then laugh. The tension dispels and you stuff away to the back of your mind the silly idea of letting affection grow for the sweetest man you’ve ever met.

There’s a reason why he doesn’t belong in the world you know.

#tanjiro x reader #tanjiro kamado x reader #daydreams: kny #mimi's notes #tanjimimi

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countrymusiclover · 11 months ago

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4 - Who Knows Her Better

Part 5

My Genius Prince

Tag list - @the-girl-wh0-cries-w0lf

Spencer’s pov

It was a rainy evening when we were sitting on the couch inside my apartment. I was sitting more upright on the couch with my feet up on the coffee table in front of us. The team had been working through some long cases the past few weeks so I was finally getting my time with Rosalind. She was laying asleep beside me until her body started sturing. “Ugh! No….no….no!”

“Roz?” I shifted calling her name but I didn’t touch her just watching her mumbling some noises of discomfort.

She turned her hands into fists kicking the blanket she had off her legs. “Get off me…..daddy no!” She cried sniffing through some tears but didn’t open her eyes yet.

“Roz….Rosalind.” I called her name a second time, touching her shoulder, shaking her awake.

She takes a swing where I grunted when she punched me in the stomach. “I said get off me, dad!”

“Uh! Roz.” I grunted holding a hand over the part of my chest that now hurt. But with my freehand I snagged her wrist finally getting her to wake up.

She blinked through some tears croaking out in a labored breath. “Spencer…..did I….I didn’t mean to…”

“Shhh I know. I know you didn’t.” I told her.

She began crying some more tears. “I’m sorry, Spencer. I….I really didn’t mean to….I’m sorry.”

“Hey, hey, don’t apologize Roz. I know you didn’t mean to.” Releasing her wrist that I was holding onto I moved that hand through her tousled hair trying to calm her down. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Rosalind hugs her knees to her chest making a noise. “Mmm.”

“Was it a nightmare?” I kept running my fingers through her hair.

She sucked in a breath, closing her eyes for a brief moment. “It was…about my father.”

“What happened with you and your father?” I questioned her, trailing my gaze over her body, being able to tell she was shaking from the nightmare.

She focused her attention back to me, scooting over when I held open my arms for her. “When I was six years old he tried to kiss me when I was playing Cinderella with him. He tried to touch me inappropriately but my mother came in to see what we were doing. Once she found us she called the police and he was arrested.”

“I’m sorry he did that to you. If you get any more nightmares you can call me.” I explained to her that she lay her head on my chest and wrapped her arms around my neck in comfort.

Wrapping my arms around her waist I stared down at her. “Thanks Spence….I’m glad you’re here.”

“I’ll always be here, Roz.” She lifts her head up staring me straight in the eye. She pushed her nose against mine giggling when I finished my sentence. “Just know if you can’t find me don’t worry cause I’ll find you. I’ll always find you.”

I smiled brightly when she leaned up kissing me slowly mumbling into our kiss. “You’ll always find me, huh. Now you’re sounding like Prince Charming.”

“I’m a profiler. I think…I think that’s better.” I chuckled at her feeling her rest her head back where it was and I draped the blanket she had kicked on the floor back over us so we could sleep.

Hotch had split the team up like we did on all our other actual cases. Rossi and Morgan were working on the information Garcia had already presented us with on the plane seeing if we missed anything. JJ was doing what she could to bring in Rosalind’s mother and best friend Malia. Leaning back in my rolling chair I put my face in my hands. “What am I missing here? What is not connecting in my memory right now?”

“Spence, how’s it going?” I heard footsteps come inside and reveal Emily to me.

Gripping my hair in my fingers still I growled under my breath. “I don’t understand this feeling. I’m stressed over this way more than I have been with any of our cases.”

“Well this isn’t like any of our normal cases. This is personal for you with it being about your girlfriend.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

Dropping my hands down on the table scanning over the papers. Reading over these files I now knew more about my girlfriend then I ever thought it would. Everything from her parents history, school social life, medicinal history and all of the above. “Yeah but that should make it easier. Since I know what her response would have been…but all I can think about is if she is alive or dead.”

“This job is hard enough everyday. We just have to have hope that she is strong enough to make it look enough to find her.” Emily told me, sending me a weak smile.

Someone came rushing through the police station and I recognized the girl with tan skin and hair color the same as Emily’s. But she had it up in a ponytail rather than loose like I had seen it the first time we met. “I’m looking for Dr. Reid - Spencer!”

“Malia?” Rising to my feet I sent her a shocked look not prepared to see her this fast since we had only landed an hour ago. Yet here she was already at the police station.

She throws her hands up panicking. “I have tried calling Rosalind all morning and there’s been nothing. She never turns her phone off for anything - and she always answers my texts or calls - I - she’s in trouble.”

“I know, Malia. I asked my team at work to help me find her.” I replied.

Somebody else came running around the corner trying to catch their breath showing it was JJ. “Guys, I just heard that Malia Tames is here - oh you already found her great.”

“Where is my best friend?” Malia spun around her voice croaking in fear.

JJ pointed over her shoulder. “Ms. Tames, if I can ask you some questions about Rosalind in one of the conference rooms-“

“I’ll ask her the questions with you, JJ.” I interrupted her and the three of us went into an empty room.

Malia sat down on the couch with a heavy sigh. “What type of questions are you going to ask me that he can’t already answer for you. He’s her boyfriend after all.”

“You’ve been around here for your whole lives. You may not think about it but there’s something you might know that may actually be useful and you just didn’t know it.” JJ explained to her taking a seat beside her leaving me standing in front of the two women.

Rosalind’s best friend nodded. “Okay I guess you’re right.”

“How was Rosalind’s relationship with her parents growing up?” JJ started the questions off.

Malia shrugged her shoulders. “Normal like any parent and kids would be.”

“Was there anybody that Rosalind didn’t get along with very well?” I asked her.

She paused and mumbled the words we had just started coming to the conclusion with on our plane. “Not really…unless you say her father.”

“Because of the incident when she was six years old.” I answered her question and JJ looked at me. “She told me about it one night after she had a nightmare about what happened.”

Malia parted her lips. “I mean I don’t see how they wouldn’t give someone a nightmare. She was just a kid after all.”

JJ’s phone vibrates and she leaves the room giving us the chance to be alone. She shut the door where I sat down in her spot sighing heavily. “Have you reached out to her mother at all?”

“No I haven’t yet.” She answered me staring at me when I put my face in my hands. “How hard is this for you?”

Throwing my head back I huffed. “Extremely. I just…I need to know if she’s still alive or not.”

“If I know anything about my best friend she won’t go down without a fight. She doesn’t like to lose without giving it everything she’s got. Honestly she’s probably fighting even more to get back to you.” Malia exclaimed, clasping her hands together in her lap.

Glancing in her direction I sniffed through some tears. “Why do you think she'd fight more?”

“Because she’s told me you might be the best thing that happened to her. You technically are her first boyfriend ever. I mean she had crushes in school but never was brave enough to do anything about it until that night we met you.” She responded with a tearful smile hearing some people running around the office room outside.

“What's going on?” Malia questions getting up at the same time as me.

Looking back at her I raised my hand heading towards the door leaving her alone for a second. “I don't know. I'll find out what's happening. Stay here.”

Walking around the corner I saw that JJ and Hotch were talking with each other. They turned their attention over to me seeing I was standing there waiting for an answer or some type of information. “Reid, the local law enforcement. They just found someone parked on the side of the road that matches the description.”

“So you really think it's her. Is she here?” I questioned feeling my heart skipping a beat with excitement.

JJ smiled at me seeing the hope in my eyes. “They transported her to the nearest hospital.”

“Then we have to go now.” Running back to the room I flung the door opened with Malia instantly looking at me. “Let’s go see if it's her or not.”

Comments really appreciated ❤️

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kylesvariouslistsandstuff · 5 months ago

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Long post incoming...

I guess I'll try to be more reasonable and put things into perspective.

I also happened to come out of FURIOSA earlier today, which to me felt like a nice antidote to what Hollywood tends to pump out when it comes to big franchises. A prequel that really expands the Wasteland world of MAD MAX without feeling like a Glup Shitto-fest. I was pretty much glued the whole time, astounded at what it was going for, the big swings it took and - in my eyes - greatly succeeded at. You can tell creator/director George Miller loves this world, and wanted to expand it meaningfully with both this and MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, after 30 years of the series being a trilogy. And apparently without anyone getting in his way, at that. Rare for a big action film.

Did you know Miller, who also directed the likes of... THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK, LORENZO'S OIL, BABE: PIG IN THE CITY (and pretty much was a huge part of the original BABE), the HAPPY FEET movies, and THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING... Did you know one of his favorite films is Walt Disney's PINOCCHIO? Which had a massive influence on him and his work?

Oh yeah, PINOCCHIO... The second-ever Disney animated feature film, a film designed to be like its European fairy tale-inspired predecessor - SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS - but double that, with its more sprawling story and larger budget. More multiplane shots, whole scenes in the ocean, all that hand-animated, meticulously hand-painted water...

And it was the exact opposite of SNOW WHITE when first released in February 1940. While reviews were generally positive, not really as glowing as SNOW WHITE's reception, it was largely impacted by World War II breaking out across the Atlantic. It couldn't play in the European countries where SNOW WHITE made tons of money, and the money it managed to make in the ally territories - the UK and France - wasn't going to cut it. Its American gross was solid, certainly in the shadows of the huge hit that was out at the time - GONE WITH THE WIND... But again, it couldn't cover the film's astronomical costs. Unthinkable for a film, whose opening song, is pretty much synonymous with Disney today... Once a big flop, now it's absolutely definitively Disney...

The Disney studio would continue to lose a lot of money during this period. FANTASIA did not appeal to audiences, and BAMBI also lost money. Only the relatively-cheaper DUMBO managed to make back its shoestring cost, in addition to appealing to audiences more than the experimental dialogue-free epic and the more lyrical, dramatic forest tale. Disney was deep in debt, and spent the rest of the decade making and releasing movies known as "The Package Features". Anthologies composed of short films/featurettes, with some sort of loose linking device for them. Disney wouldn't return to doing a singular type of story following one set of characters until CINDERELLA, released in February 1950 to critical acclaim and great box office.

Some animation fans and historians divide the Walt years into two halves, the Golden Age covering the streak that began with the runaway success of STEAMBOAT WILLIE and ended with World War II's impact on the studio's first five feature films. (Or six, if you count the hybrid THE RELUCTANT DRAGON.) The Silver Age, covering everything thereafter up until Walt's passing, typically marked at the posthumous 1967 release of THE JUNGLE BOOK. Again, in terms of features. I'd mark it at December 1968, when the 2nd Winnie the Pooh featurette - THE BLUSTERY DAY - was released. The wartime losses took so much out of the studio, that Walt and Roy O. Disney reached some compromises, which - to some - affect the features going forward.

Films like CINDERELLA and PETER PAN avoided the elaborate multiplane effects and minute details of PINOCCHIO and BAMBI, making up for it in their striking art direction and filmmaking choices. The storytelling is also something of a shift. Few of those films attempt to wear the frightening elements of SNOW WHITE and PINOCCHIO, the kinds of scenes that Walt often got angry letters from parents over. After BAMBI, not counting the package features, the death of a major "good" character was pretty much hands off as well. For example, during production of LADY AND THE TRAMP, singer/actress Peggy Lee begged the filmmakers not to kill off Trusty at the end of the picture, following his accident with the dogcatcher wagon. Walt and co. complied. By the time you get to the '60s, Walt's final years among the living, you're a country mile from the early films. THE SWORD IN THE STONE and THE JUNGLE BOOK are very lax "characters exist" kinds of movies, the latter having some danger in the form of the impending encounter with Shere Khan. Otherwise, they are much lighter in tone, much more fun-loving, like romps.

Over the years, I've come to really appreciate those later films for the things my 20-something year-old self tended to criticize them for. When really, it's just a matter of fact. Change happened, maybe had to happen, in order for the Disney studio to survive and keep making animated feature films. Few other studios during the Golden Age of Animation could afford such a luxury. The Fleischer brothers certainly gave it a shot, with GULLIVER'S TRAVELS in 1939 and MR. BUG GOES TO TOWN in 1941, but the falling out between Max and Dave coupled with distributor Paramount's neglect of MR. BUG put a stop to that. Feature-length films would be made in other countries using techniques other than traditional animation, though some studios in America would later get in on it once again - albeit with lower-costing methods.

But when Walt was around, it was really only him producing feature-length animated films on a regular basis. And to keep going with that, and not just making more money off of only the re-issues of SNOW WHITE and such, he and his crew ultimately changed course and... Well... I'll say it, I feel they still put in the hard work on a bad day. Even the films of the '50s and '60s that I don't like as much as some others, there's still... Say, a Milt Kahl head swaggle or something great from Frank & Ollie in there. Or a great score, or a good sense of pace, the late great Robert and Richard Sherman absolutely going off with a banger song somewhere, very inspired background art, etc. No slouching! Something like THE JUNGLE BOOK is very much as important to me as PINOCCHIO.

I've come to love all of it, really, even with perceived flaws or the results of the studio changing gears. The work of the animators, artists, musicians, etc.... They pulled the weight and then some, and even the more "middling" films of decades past hold some sort of special place...

Maybe this situation applies to the apparent mandates that Disney executives are compromising Pixar with.

Pixar went for many, many years without a box office loss. THE GOOD DINOSAUR, which was made during John Lasseter's 11-year reign, was the first film to lose money for them. It was released *20 years* after TOY STORY came out, and it's their 16th overall film. I remember the media trying to chalk it up to the film's troubled production, which is a silly sentiment, because TOY STORY 2 and RATATOUILLE were similarly-rough, rocky roads. That one just... Didn't appeal, no matter what work and effort went into it, and I also think STAR WARS 7 opening mere weeks later kinda cut into it as well. It was kinda tossed off by Disney's marketing department after INSIDE OUT debuted earlier that year.

But, it was viewed as a minor dent in the armor. CARS 3 didn't really break even when released in the summer of 2017, but that was a CARS movie, so a lot of people kinda just shrugged at that. John Lasseter was then slowly ousted from the Disney company as a whole months later... Not because of that film, or GOOD DINOSAUR, but because he was exposed by the Me Too movement that erupted in fall 2017. Lasseter abdicated his leadership roles at Pixar, Disney Animation, Disneytoon, and Imagineering, right before the release of COCO that autumn. With Pete Docter taking over as CCO of Pixar in June 2018, perhaps all eyes were on him. Unlike Lasseter, Docter was only running Pixar. Not WDAS, not Disneytoon (which was swiftly shut down upon Lasseter's exit), and no major presence in the parks apparently... How would he take on such a task?

Docter, I feel, had something going there. Lasseter's Pixar became what Ken called Sunnyside Daycare in TOY STORY 3, he turned the place into a pyramid and he put himself on top. So many directors and animators exodused out of Pixar in the early 2010s, notably Brenda Chapman, who had words upon being taken off of her film BRAVE. All of Lasseter's goodwill completely vanished after it was learned that he made many women at the studio - and at WDAS - very uncomfortable, and when it was very clear that he only favored his TOY STORY colleagues and wasn't keen on letting women nor PoC direct films at his studio. Docter sought to reverse that, and to let the filmmakers tell stories that meant a lot to them. Much in the same way he, Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich, and Brad Bird did when Pixar was relatively new to making features. It truly was like old times, and I myself was very excited about that.

And it seemed like the sky was the limit... What could go wrong? ONWARD was cut right off, in its second weekend, by the pandemic. SOUL, LUCA, and TURNING RED went straight to Disney+ in the U.S. and most other territories, and their subsequent limited theatrical debuts - expectedly - didn't do great. I see that situation as similar to World War II cutting right into Disney's animated features in the 1940s, impacting the studio/distributor's ability to give them a wide release (at the time, Disney was not big enough to be their own distributor, it was RKO Radio Pictures who were handling the releases of the movies)... and the way the world is now, how expensive it is to take a trip to the movies, what a gamble it is... Animated movies aren't guaranteed smash hits anymore, unless you're something like Mario or Minions, or some entry in a beloved franchise. Remember how PUSS IN BOOTS 2 literally had to claw its way up to such a winning gross and record multiplier? If that had cost the same amount of money as ELEMENTAL had cost to make? It'd be considered a big failure.

LIGHTYEAR was Pixar's big return to theaters, a summer bow in 2022 that was part of the studio's beloved TOY STORY franchise. It opened great, too. $50m! Quite above what other animated movies had been opening with from 2021 to now... But the legs were terrible, word of mouth was sour, audiences just didn't seem to like it. A rare swing and a miss. Pete Docter pulled a "Walt Disney responding to ALICE IN WONDERLAND's disastrous release circa 1951", taking the blame for the film's box office woes. ELEMENTAL opened blah, but had incredible word of mouth. Even Disney boss Bob Iger seemed happy with its slow-burn ride to $500m at the worldwide box office, until he wasn't... Now that's a failure, along with SOUL, LUCA, and TURNING RED... Which all didn't get to enjoy full theatrical releases due to a worldwide crisis that's actually still going on...

So now, the corporate logic is... Those movies all failed because they're too "autobiographical", the filmmakers' respective catharses being told through 90min animated movies apparently doesn't appeal to audiences... and that in order to be financially successful again, Pixar needs to make films with more "general" appeal. Pete Docter is not John Lasseter, and I feel the press takes advantage of that. Docter apologizes for films not appealing, whereas Lasseter - when his CARS 2 got panned by most critics - defended critical missteps with his chest. It's as if he still ruled at the end of the day and no one could touch him - given his four leadership roles within the company, while the quieter Docter... Not so much. I get the sense that Disney execs can push him around and the press can easily label him a weak leader, while John seemed invincible. Iger, for example, was aware of his erratic, gross behavior at awards ceremonies well before Me Too caught up with the Hawaiian shirt man... And he was very concerned, but... Lasseter kept his job for another decade, almost unscathed.

I get that studios often have these sorts of "Well, we've had trouble, what should we be making then?" moments. I feel that singling out the three films that went straight to streaming during a pandemic, and another that was high budget and was operating in a much different theatrical landscape than before, is not it, though. SOUL, LUCA, TURNING RED, and ELEMENTAL were liked by most audiences. They got good to great reviews. They were all nominated for Oscar.

This isn't like how FANTASIA and BAMBI were perceived by critics and audiences in the early 1940s. The mixed-to-negative reactions to those films back then must've played a part in Walt and Roy focusing on relatively safer films in the future. For example, CINDERELLA leaned into what audiences loved about SNOW WHITE, 12 1/2 years prior, and was one of Disney's huge hits of that decade that also did exemplary in re-issues. There's a reason the two big flops of the '50s, for Disney Animation, were the more experimental films - ALICE IN WONDERLAND and SLEEPING BEAUTY. Nowadays, both of those movies are beloved and like PINOCCHIO, FANTASIA, and BAMBI... Are synonymous with Disney, often ranked among the best, cream of the crop. The time isn't always right for certain movies...

But things are often unfair in these big entertainment conglomerates, who are run by money hoarders who only think in the moment... and if Pixar's gonna try to do this "general appeal" thing, they would still have to let filmmakers have all the fun that they can feasibly have with the stories. The current iteration of Disney Animation is buckled under so much executive interference, and test screenings where 7-year-olds dictate what goes in and what doesn't, and... Well... Look at their resulting output. How they still try to do the job passionately and not merely just pass the grade. It's like I'm watching them struggle to get their creativity out on films like RAYA, STRANGE WORLD, and WISH. It's, to me, much like where things were for them circa 1980-82.

And after nearly 30 years of making features, maybe Pixar might enter such a phase themselves, as executives place the blame squarely on the filmmakers for their own failures and uncontrollable outside circumstances... Like I said, we'll have to see how they navigate this particular set of rules. Does it work out for them? Does it create movies that audiences mostly don't care for? Who knows... Maybe I myself will like the movies still, maybe I won't even notice a difference... Maybe this is will all be moot, every sentence of it... But we'll see...

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