The Owl House

So, somehow, I missed reviewing this alongside the first episodes of "Big City Greens" and "Amphibia". Which is weird, as I enjoy this show the most out of all of them.

It has a dark magic element with a fair amount of gruesome imagery. The art syle is really reminiscent of that of "Star vs." except with more lines in the backgrounds and more detail in the character models.

Of course, none of this is super detailed, but it's more so than "She-Ra" on Netflix. There is a large over arching plot that, in 12 episodes, has only been hinted at, and it's not even about the main character, Luz. Nothing about how she's the one to save The Boiling Isles or some chosen one nonsense (Which is actually deconstructed in about episode 3).

The hinted-at-history is about Eda the Owl Lady (Wendie Malick, and it kills me that more people were quick to recognize her from "Bojack Horseman" than from "Fillmore!"), and it's really interesting so far. It's such a slow burn that it seems rather meandering for now. As the show already has a second season planned, it will make more sense in hindsight.

The Death of Disney Daring

I hugely respect the hardworking cast members, and every individual who works to bring a product to market. It is not easy, and a company is not a singular entity. That being said, there are people at the top who make decisions that seem good for making money...not for keeping the integrity of the property.


I'm usually a big advocate of proper representation and changing questionable things.  I don't get my panties in a twist when a movie stars all men, or when women are villains. I don't say that to be a 'cool movie girl' or anything. If you've seen me around the interwebs, I'm fiercely defending 'Birds of Prey' from those who think women existing, being friendly toward each other, and fighting an opponent who happens to be a man is blasphemy of the highest order.


But conflict isn't a questionable thing, no matter what a certain job networking site will tell you.  Why won't you let protagonist men disagree with the female leads? Hell, the first Frozen was pretty good at that, and I am no fan of it.

 Disney doesn't have the balls to have new or remade stories where men are multifaceted or in roles that hint at a conflict with the main female character unless they are truly the villain.  I'm surprised the remake of "Beauty and the Beast" kept the clashing nature.

Today's movie topics of discussion:

i. Mulan (2020)
ii. Frozen II
iii. Artemis Fowl

A Twisted Tale: "Conceal, Don't Feel", "A Whole New World", "Reflection"

The Disney "A Twisted Tale" book series are reimaginings of the popular Disney stories.
They've been a thing for a few years now, with a "Cinderella" and "Peter Pan" one coming out in Spring.

But now I read 3 of them -

#32: Frozen II

You know my thoughts on the original movie (They're about 2 posts down) - It's a little muddled and messy in its screenplay but otherwise fine enough.

I had no plan to even see this but the story greatly intrigued me.

 The opening song Queen Iduna sings - "All Is Found" - is going to be overlooked and it's such a shame. It's the best song in the film sung by a character.

(Yep, I like the Panic! At the Disco version of Into The Unknown better)

Ok, I wrote that before seeing the movie, and I'm still kind of right there. The only bad song is the Olaf one and the first one (Home is unused but better). "Lost in The Woods" is great and the weird 80's pop ballad style is hilarious.

As the first movie was very much about Anna, this is about Elsa. Why does she have powers?

In one word - Spite.

In more words, Spoilers Definitely Follow

#31: Frozen (2013)

Disclaimer: I dislike 3/5 of the current Disney Princess movies that are in the official line up.

• "Brave" is a missed opportunity.
• "The Princess and The Frog" is an insult.
• "Moana" kind of has the same issues as "Frozen" regarding the screenplay but it's a lot more tolerable because it doesn't drag.
• "Tangled" is the best. 

This one?

Took America by storm in 2013 because there were two nearly identical white woman models singing songs. Man, these people would not hear a word against this movie. Say "I don't really care because it's a bunch of same-faced white people", and you would be considered the devil.

 I was impressed with the ideas, not the story outline, execution, screenplay or pacing way back in 2013. I am genuinely interested in the sequel later this month, so I decided to put my biases aside and try again.

#22: Descendants 3

Sometimes you get early copies!

Without any further ado, some of this was hard to watch, especially the bits with Carlos (Cameron Boyce), who unexpectedly died in July.

This is Disney's third 'normally blue but now has a human skintone' character in a live action movie this year, after "Kim Possible" and "Aladdin".

One thing that continues to annoy me is the inconsistency of the characters between the book, webisode, and movie medium. Freddie Facilier doesn't exist in this verse, but Celia Facilier does.

Mal and Ben are getting married, and they're like...what, 17? You're a child. Stop.

Also, it took so long to film this, Doug, the son of Dopey, now looks like a middle aged man.

Essentially, you can sum up this movie as 'White girl from slums colonizes a black girl's birthright', but it wasn't really her birthright.But that's more an instance that this series was full of colorblind casting - Lady Tremaine is East Asian and her granddaughter Dizzy is white.

Though, there is a moment with a photo that shows a young Ben and Audrey...but the little girl is white, so. Well, I guess Disney hoped the fans would be as stupid and incessantly pro-white as they are for their Animated Canon princesses.

The songs, that's why we're here, right?

Disney's Amphibia

After stealing a mysterious music box, 13-year-old, Anne Boonchuy (Brenda Song) is magically transported to the world of Amphibia, a wild marshland full of talking frog-people. With the help of an excitable young frog named Sprig, Anne will transform from monster to hero and discover the first true friendship of her life!

Wow, it's good to see Brenda Song again!

It visually looks nice, though I fear that in time, like "Star", the story will outgrow the style, but for now it's really pretty.

#16: Aladdin (2019)

Fun fact: My mother has never seen the original Aladdin.

Mind, she was also 8 months pregnant with me when it came out.

I can't think of one casting choice here that wasn't hotly contested online, mainly Will Smith and Naomi Scott. I also cast criticism on Guy Ritchie because...really, why?

There's something to be said for Disney casting a half-Indian woman to be their first brown princesses, but it's also not for us to say if she's 'dark' or 'ethnic' enough.

Anyway I enjoyed this immensely?

The '?' is because while I thought "Sherlock Holmes" was perfectly adequate, I abhor "The Man From Uncle" (It has an uneven, patchy second half and frankly, it doesn't deserve a sequel), and "Rocknrolla" is really badly edited and shot but insanely entertaining (and deserves a sequel), I didn't think Ritchie had it in him to make another movie that didn't give me motion sickness or had more than two colors. Kudos!

Disney Dates 63 (!) Movies From NOW to 2027

How will Disney integrate all its new Fox films? By alternating STAR WARS and AVATAR titles, and pushing back the beleaguered NEW MUTANTS yet again pic.twitter.com/5iRO3idNjR

— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) May 7, 2019

Between this Friday ("Tolkien") and 2027, Disney is releasing not 1, not 2, but 63 movies after its recent acquisition of 20th Century Fox.

There's nothing to say about UNTITLED MARVEL MOVIE besides "It's probably sequels to Panther, Strange, Guardians, Ant-Man, Captain Marvel, and whatever else I'm missing.", but there is about some new developments.

Disney: What They Got From Fox

It's less a merger and more 'eroding competition between corporate giants in America', but hey, let's see what Disney has gained in their acquisition of 20th Century Fox.......'s movie studios.

Small things;

• Blue Sky, Fox's animation branch, still exists for now, and multiple projects are in development from the man who gave us "Monster Trucks". 
• The "Ice Age" franchise is now Disney property. Will we see a "Frozen" crossover?
• Disney now owns the rights to "Alita: Battle Angel", which I loved. They have enough money to fund a sequel. They fund about 2 flops a year, it can be done.

Big Things;

#6: Zootopia

I have always been a humongous lover of anthropomorphic animal tales. I talked about Redwall, but there's also Mistmantle, and Geronimo Stilton, and Hermux Tantamoq and I totally understand that I just said a bunch of gibberish and you don't know what any of it is but it meant the world to me as a child.

Just 7 short years after making their first black princess a frog for most of her movie, the geniuses at Disney Animation Studios made a bare-bones, kind of muddled story about discrimination. Is Judy discriminated against because she's a rabbit? A herbivore? Small?

It's about Prey vs. Predators, and you can fill in the power imbalances yourself with whatever you like! Mayor Bellwether (My favorite character) talks about a "Mammal Inclusion Initiative" but mammals can be predators or prey.

Yeah, this movie doesn't have the bite of actually making a clear allegory, but the people who made it are mostly white men, and while their lives have had individual challenges, they don't immediately understand that everyone outside of that demographic has had far bigger challenges because of race and gender.

The Screenplay: Destroyer / BlackKklansman / Mary Poppins Returns

Happy New Year, and happy Award Season!

We're kicking off the 6th of Jan with the Golden Globe Awards, the biggest precursor to the Oscars for reasons unknown.

And instead of waiting for screeners, I'm just going to read the screenplays instead. Of course, these are not full fledged reviews as we're not seeing performances, camera work, or settings. Just how the story plays out.

And my god, do we have some doozies. Three, in fact, from here.

Annapurna's Destroyer, Focus Features BlackKklansman, and Disney's Mary Poppins Returns.

2018: The Year in Funko (For Me)

Funko did some good stuff this year. Some annoying stuff, like the very limited initial runs of Target's Pikachu, but mostly good stuff.

The Return of The Queen(s)

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Be careful who you call ugly in middle School #funkopop #disney

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#starbucks #starwars #funkopop

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Two of my favorite Disney girls, Vanellope and Padmé, got new POPs and new molds. There's not so much of a difference with Padmé, I think, but Vanellope is really nothing but highly improved.

Trailer Tuesday: A, B, & Taking No L's

Happy Trailer Tuesday once again.

First up is possibly my most anticipated Disney release of 2019...and I may be the only one who is excited - Artemis Fowl is on the big screen.

I mean - In theory.

#71: Ralph Breaks the Internet

I'm not using the original convoluted title. You can lampshade it, but the title should have been Ralph Wrecks the Internet. I'm this close to typing Wralph Wrecks The Internet half the time.

The first Disney sequel in the Animated Canon since Rescuers Down Under. The next one, Frozen 2, is a sequel as well. I don't think Disney is doing a single original movie next year. It's either remakes or conclusions.

Dumbo, Aladdin, Lion King, Star Wars Episode 9, Infinity War II. Artemis Fowl (which I am very, very excited for) is a long-gestating adaptation of the once-popular book series.

Oh, right. Ralph.

tldr; I really, really loved it.

I did not expect to, I was just happy to see Vanellope again. But Disney movies have an unusual talent of being released when I need to hear the message.

SPOILERS

#43: Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension

A late - minute entry that breaks my One-Word Title rule by a long shot.

If you know the basics of the show, you can follow along pretty easily, luckily a lot of jokes land and stand outside of the basics besides some visual coding gags that have been long-running in media ("The bully knows about philosophers? Shocking!")

There's less music than in normal episodes of the show. I thought this was the set with the song Phinedroids and Ferbots but apparently not.

It's funny but not special. It doesn't even get a serious animation bump.

#41: The Incredibles

This movie has permeated pop culture deeper than anyone expected.

I can't say anything about this movie that you probably haven't heard.

It's only flaw is that it shows its age visually. 

So instead, let's talk about how much this has permeated pop culture.

I'd say this is probably the most pervasive Pixar property out there. Sure, people can quote "To Infinity and beyond," and ... maybe two other lines from Toy Story, but I tell you to quote something, anything, from this movie, and what will you give me?

Probably an Edna Mode quote. As it should be. Or even something that doesn't seem special but sticks out.

"You're in charge, Violet." "What!" "You heard her."

"How are you doing that?" "I don't know!"

And, of course, "Where's my super suit?!"So, why has, what seems to be a truly one off film, lasted so long?

Trailer: Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck It Ralph 2

It's the end that solidifies this as a winner.

#15: Black Panther

I'm not going to say I had zero expectations, but I knew better to expect something earth-shattering from Marvel, and yet...that is exactly what I got. Something earth shattering, and new. And for the first time watching a Marvel movie... I was genuinely concerned about what was going to happen.

Also, maybe it's because I'm familiar with the work of the directors, but it feels like Marvel is bringing in directors with a style and letting them be themselves, between this and Ragnarok.

So many things Shuri, Okoye, and Killmonger did got a huge reaction, and I think those three people were really the ones who are going to stick out to people. M'Baku was cool too, I wish we had seen more of him and the tribe who left.

People have called the action scenes a bit poorly shot - I mostly disagree, in fact, I think the car chase through the city was the most impressive action sequence I've ever seen from the MCU.

Spoilers are beneath the cut.

Soundtrack Sidetracked: Moana

Moana is the 56th movie in the Disney Animated Canon, sandwiched between the pro-police, sloppily allegoried Zootopia (That I like but yes, the allegory is very sloppy) and Wreck it Ralph 2.

I'm not using that stupid subtitle.

HERE is the song they should have been pushing for Best Original Song! I'm not sure how people listened to it and felt indifferent! "Where You Are" is my favorite song in the movie and probably my favorite Disney song period. There's something about it - I love group songs like this. This one feels involved, warm, and alive.