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Pixar Month: Why The Incredibles is the Best.

Brave coming out this month means June is Pixar month! Since Brave is supposed to be Pixar's first film with a female lead, I thought we'd take a look at The Incredibles, which itself features some hard-core and strong female leads in an ensemble cast. And it is my favorite of the Pixar films outside of the Toy Story Trilogy. I love this movie. Just all the things about it. Families of superheroes are immensely entertaining and yet relatable.

1. Helen Parr/Elastagirl. She is everything I strive to be in life. I was fifteen when this film came out and she was the character I related to the most. Riddle me that. Also talking during the wedding. (I talk during everything.)

Both as Elastigirl and Mrs. Incredible she knows how to work it

1b. Also her hair.

Snarky, dead-pan, but loyal to those she loves. Found here.

2. I am convinced that Violet grows up to be Aubrey Plaza. But more importantly she was voiced by Sarah Vowell of NPR fame and author of The Wordy Shipmates. Let us pause for a moment of mind blowing awesome.

3. Mr. Incredible. Pretty much the ideal guy. He is incredible and strong and played by Craig T. Nelson. You know this is the best combination. Also who didn't want that sweet limo he had in the opening sequence.

4. Dash. I used to babysit this kid. Literally he was just like him. Has anyone noticed that speedy characters tend to be devil-may-care types. Sonic and Rainbow Dash come to mind. Oh look it up on TVtropes I'm sure those lovely folks will back me up.

5. Syndrome looks like the Heat Miser. Don't tell me I wasn't the only one who thought this. He also kinda had a Freakazoid-ish vibe going for him.

The resemblance is uncanny

6. Where is my super suit? Brought to you by Samuel L. Jackson.

7. This movie is quoted often by me and I am not concerned. "She'd eat if we were having Tony Loaf." and "It's bigger, it's badder, ladies and gentlemen it's too much for Mr. Incredible" being the most common.

8. Don't 'Bernie' me!

9. EDNA MODE. I want to be her BFF and enjoy chats with her. "You are Elastigirl pull yourself together! What will you do! Is this a question?" I need someone to say this to me. Everyday.

10. Kari the baby sitter. "Now let's just sit and look at flash cards. Won't that be *fun*" Until he caught on fire. Yes she was the Wiley coyote of babysitters. And we all loved every minute of it.

11. Kid on the tricycle. Come on. We all know this kid was totally wicked. If you grew up in the suburbs there was always this kid. You know you had this kid in your neighborhood. You did.

We all love this kid. How can you not laugh hysterically at this scene. 

Why My Future Kids Won't Be Watching "Finding Nemo"

Don't get me wrong. I am possibly the biggest Pixar fan out there. In fact my sibs and I have a tradition, at least two of us have been to see every Pixar film in theaters when it first came out. I have always been one of those two. (right) This however is my least favorite due to its negative effect on children.
Maybe it was because when it came out I was of prime babysitting age and every single kid I watched wanted to see that little orange fish and his whiny plight over and over again. I think this movie would have been interesting if if was mainly about the tank fish trying to escape. They were all a funny motley crew.
Well here are my reasons for not wanting to show the film to my future progeny:

1. He is not wearing any clothes. I mean come on at least the fish in Spongebob Squarepants (which is a far superior nautical themed show) had the common decency to wear at least one article of clothing, well, most of the time that is.

This is a kids' show

2. He is whiny.

His chubby little face fills me with such hatred

3. The mom dies. I mean come on this happens in a lot of films, especially animal ones. When Mufasa died you cared because you got to know him. Same with Bambi's mom. Here we weren't even prepared.

4. I am convinced Marlin met Coral in a fish bar. Featuring a lame fish pick up line. Why do we learn about the Fish dating scene in a kids' film? Toys dating is perfectly ok though. Also monsters on a date is fine because they are eating sushi.

5. This movie is in my quoting repertoire. I say lines from it nearly as much as Aladdin. This concerns me.

6. The emotional core of this film is Dory. She is awesome and funny. She has passed the "Jar Jar Test" in that she survived the test of time. Also I like the Sea Turtle. These are the good points for the film. Marlin and his child I could care less about.

7. Alcoholics Anonymous sharks.

8. The scene where he says "I hate you," to his dad. Other rebel Disney children never went that far.

9. This movie follows all of the marks of an epic quest. They go through challenges. This is a cool thing that you realize when you learn about it in your literature class in college.

10. Cuteness overload.

Again a face that fills me with ire

11. A better switch ending suggested by my brother is where Nemo ends up in in the "Les Poissons" kitchen.

Disclaimer. This is a satire. While I do not care for much of this film I still think it is better than some of the disposable children's fare out there. I am looking at you Madagascar films. 

Move Over Stephanie Meyer. There’s a new Twilight in town.

Seem familiar?

Are unicorns the new vampires? They could be with the Brony craze that’s sweeping the nation. Or at least sweeping the internet portion of it. That craze surrounds Lauren Faust and Hasbro’s re-imagining of the 80’s classic My Little Pony. This recent incarnation or g4 (generation 4) is called My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic.

The question is, why is there such a craze? Is the show just that good? Is it because of creator and producer Lauren Faust? (who recently stepped down and took a more advisory role with the show, but more on that another time). Or is it just that we are that nostalgic for the 80’s and 90’s toons of our youth and this is a pretty faithful re-boot. Compared to other abominations of re-boots. (Smurfs and Michael Bay’s Transformers, yes I am looking at you).

Perhaps it is a perfect storm of all these factors which created this show and the fandom surrounding it.

One of the mane (hah hah puns) reasons I think it succeeds is because it is a show for girls that is unique in that it can be enjoyed by both genders. For the most part it doesn’t pander to its audience of try to hard to be extra politically correct or extremely pink and fluffy like many of its girly show predecessors. It takes into account both its young girl audience as well as the adult audience of the show and it caters to both in a way that is refreshing among the animated shows of today.

Firefly

G4 Re-imagined Firefly

Rainbow Dash Herself

Part of the reason for this is the way the pony protagonists are handled. Fans of the original 80s cartoon will be happy to point out that Faust based the personalities of the mane cast on the personalities she gave her own ponies as a child. Anyone who played with My Little Ponies as a child will tell you that they made up personalities and stories about their ponies that were perhaps inspired by the old cartoon but mostly a product of their own imagination. The old cartoons were good but except where Pegasus pony Firefly was concerned, fell rather short in the personality department. Faust even stated that when she created the characters she basically put Firefly’s brain into Rainbow Dash’s body.

             

Bright Eyes

As a kid, I was also a fan of the early 90s rendition of MLP called My Little PonyTales which featured a set group of 7 main characters who went to high school and lived in a town together. While this was a bit of a stretch of the imagination and most of the storylines dealt with boy problems, going to concerts and getting makeovers to get said boy ponies to like you, the protagonists at least gained personalities that the G1 ponies lacked. In particular there was the light blue and red-haired pony named Bright Eyes, studious in school, her cutie mark was a pen and notebook and she was awkward around the nice boy-pony she liked. Essentially here was a pony I could relate to. What does this have to do with MLP Friendship is Magic?

Twilight Sparkle

When I first heard of the show I was skeptical. But as soon as I watched it I was hooked. Why? Because of Twilight Sparkle. Here was a pony that was a combination of my two most favorite ponies growing up. My sparkly toy unicorn pony and Bright Eyes from the MLP-Tales show. Here was a real protagonist, a slightly awkward but intelligent, scholarly and bookish pony who was also a magic-wielding unicorn. Yes. Even as an adult, I found my relatable character that got me hooked and kept me watching.

But I stayed watching for more than just Twilight Sparkle. Each of the other pony characters were equally well-developed, funny, and interesting. (And bringing back little dragon Spike as an adorable Flounder-esque character. Awesome). Each of them reminded me of both my pony characters growing up as well as many of my personal friends. And the target kid audience responds well to the cute factor and the personalities of the ponies. My young cousins told me their favorite ponies which correspond perfectly to their personalities.

In addition to the characters, the mythological world created of Equestria and Ponyville is both fascinating and refreshing. The ponies live in a world of manticores, dragons, gryphons and other mythological beasts fit to please any fantasy enthusiast. Not to mention Princess Celestia the Pegasus-Unicorn is the pony enthusiast's dream come true! The flash animation is also beautiful in its simplicity.

Furthermore, the show’s acknowledgement of its adult audience with shout-outs and homages to other works is clever. It is almost like the writers are sitting there thinking, “Hey, adult nerds watch this.” The most blatant recent example was from end of the second season opener, with a straight up homage to the end of Star Wars : A New Hope.

I hope this pony resurgence continues to pave the way for new kinds of fantasy or at least create a niche market. I am tired of seeing the “Paranormal Teen Romance” section of the bookstore. So shows like this as well as books like Zombies vs. Unicorns, entice me and give me hope. As a unicorn fan and someone who has a novel about unicorns I’d like to market and sell, if Bronies will read it, than props to them.  

Shameless Plugs

So I caved and got a tumblr.com account. You can follow it here: http://theartsywriter.tumblr.com/
I'm hoping it will be a good place for quick and easy updates. But you can still follow me here at Starlight and Flickerfeet for my more in-depth posts which I am hoping to get back into doing more regularly. I have a serious of posts coming up regarding my opinion on some of the new Fall tv shows. Or potentially this whole Brony craze that is sweeping the internet. Suggestions for what you all want to see more of are great though!

Nerdy Unicorn pony protagonist? Check.

New Looney Tunes: Yay or Nay?

Bugs Bunny is one of my childhood heroes. He's who I strive to be in life. No not really, but really I'm sure we'd all like to be as clever, confident and sarcastic as he is. So when I heard that he was coming back in an all new show re-vamped for modern audiences on Cartoon Network I was both skeptical and ecstatic. There are some who believe this is taking the show on a very bad left turn at Albuquerque. However, the new designs alone looked new and quirky and yet retro at the same time. The plot intrigues me as well, Bugs and Daffy as roommates in suburbia. I know this is more like a sitcom than the slapstick cartoon style, but honestly I think if you really want that you can go watch the old cartoons. And as my youngest brother says, if kids these days want slapstick they can watch Spongebob. The new premise seems a bit more along the lines of past cartoon network revamps of old cartoons like the Brak Show. It's funny precisely because you are putting these characters into a different scenario and basically seeing how they will work/act in that situation. I think it can still be in the vein of old Looney Tunes. Even the Animaniacs showed the Warner sibs going about their daily lives or in different situations and that worked brilliantly.

That is still true to the old cartoons which would place the characters in bank heists, Arabia, and the antarctic, granted that was mainly because of wrong turns at Albuquerque. But that is the beauty of having such solid well-developed characters. You can put them into different situations and see how they behave. As a writer I can see how this would be very enjoyable to write and think about. Having characters you know so well, you can figure out how they will act and behave in different scenarios is golden. Just one of the many reasons Looney Tunes is such a brilliant show. I can't say much since the show hasn't aired yet, except that the few clips I have seen so far seem great. It's taking the characters in a new direction, but from what I can see is without total re-writes or flanderization. (Unlike some other unmentionable re-imaginings of the toons in the 90's and 00's). We'll just have to wait and see how it turns out when it airs May 3 at 8pm. I'm hoping for the best. Even though I don't really need another cartoon to be addicted to watching all the time. So until it premieres: That's all folks!

Yeah. I love this rabbit a lot.

Ireland Inspired Poem.

Hello folks!
Well I feel I should update. I did go to Ireland. Over Spring Break. Which is definitely update worthy, but this, my last semester is getting crazy so that post will have to wait. For now, enjoy this poem!

Icon of Sorrow

Woman.

Your hands outstretched

to the world

to salt-sea-water

to men, to women,

to those who leave.

Your head tilted in sorrow,

in utmost melancholy.

Your hands reach out

in anguish.You know 

your people must leave

the green, green, shores

of home.

But perhaps a day may come

in the far off dying years

you will be gone.

But your image shall

remain. A reminder

of sorrows past.

Mournful enough

to touch the spirit

of a young colleen,

a descendant

returned

on the Long Journey Home.