Oreos & Peanut Butter

Christmas: Max and Mona

Screenshot from ‘Mickey’s Twice Upon A Christmas’. Copyright goes to DisneyToon Studios and Walt Disney Pictures.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I think I’ve talked a lot by now about the extent to which I grew up with Disney. From the parks to watching all of the movies, my childhood was almost entirely Disney coded. What might be slightly weird about that to some but make complete sense to others is that ‘The Goofy Movie’ has always been one of my favorite films. I don’t exactly know what it is about the film, but the wholesome road trip movie between Goofy and his son Max has always held a special place in my heart. So because of this, ever since I was a kid, I have been all over any Disney media that features Max in it. Because Max is a very rare character to show up in anything. ‘Mickey’s Twice Upon A Christmas’ made very frequent appearances in my childhood as a Christmas film simply because Max was in it. So recently, because I have nothing better to do and a Disney+ account, I decided to re-watch one of the few movies that will ever feature Max and… I was a little confused. Roxanne was a character I loved in the original film; from her long red hair to adorable laugh. Of course Max had a crush on her! She has no shortage of fans when it comes to the ‘Goofy Movie’ crowd. So why was Max coming home from college to introduce his father to this girl we’d never met?

Mona is Roxanne? :

This theory started a long time ago and was by no means one that I came up with. If you do one quick google search after watching this movie, you’ll realize that Mona is voiced by none other than Kellie Martin. The same voice actress who voiced Roxanne in the original film. So why bring back Roxanne’s voice actress if you aren’t actually going to bring back Roxanne? The story goes that Roxanne was supposed to come back. Mona was originally supposed to be Roxanne. The movie was, unfortunately, on a tight budget and animating Roxanne’s long flowing red hair in the new animation style would have been infinitely more difficult than it had been originally as well as far more expensive. The animators were unwilling to show Roxanne without her signature look, so they scrapped her character in favor of a new one. Many people have been unaccepting of this and have said that Roxanne just died her hair and cut it short in college. A lot of people change their looks in college, right? Well, this still doesn’t make sense for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it wouldn’t make sense for Max to call her Mona. It also wouldn’t make sense for her to act like she just met Goofy for the first time when Roxanne had met Goofy before. On top of this, Roxanne very obviously has a beauty mark on her cheek in the first film. That wouldn’t just disappear. We have to start accepting that Mona is not Roxanne, even if they are voiced by the same actress.

‘House of Mouse’ and ‘Duck Tales’ :

Roxanne appears in an episode of ‘House of Mouse’ where Max is attempting to have a peaceful date with her that keeps getting interrupted. There are a few people who point to this episode as proof that Max continued to date Roxanne, but that does not prove that he dated her well into college. For all we know, and what is actually most probable, Max worked at the ‘House of Mouse’ during his first couple years of college as he was eighteen or nineteen during the events of the show. So he could have broken up with her very early into college. And Roxanne was not a constantly appearing character in the show, so he might not have been dating her throughout the show. Because of a more recent episode of the revamped ‘Duck Tales’, we also know that Max eventually took Roxanne to their High School prom. But that doesn’t prove that they dated much beyond that.

‘An Extremely Goofy Movie’ :

If you’ve ever watched the sequel to ‘A Goofy Movie’, you probably realized that Roxanne isn’t in that either. Most likely because it didn’t have much to do with her character. While Max isn’t shown to be dating anyone from college in that movie, he shows absolutely no indication that he is dating anyone at all. In fact, I barely think Max dated Roxanne for long while he was in college considering the way Max acts around other women in this movie. When a girl comes over to flirt with him he is very receptive and he also visibly checks out Beret Girl in the same scene. Max also lives on campus and doesn’t seem to leave a lot, so I have a feeling their relationship formed into something that was more long-distance which could have contributed to a break up.

Mona :

Mona doesn’t even act like Roxanne, and I wouldn’t want her to. The point of her is that she’s wonderfully weird, something we didn’t really get from Roxanne. And also, how realistic would it really be for Max to still be dating his High School girlfriend? Don’t get me wrong, I love Roxanne! But I don’t think Mona is a bad character or deserves for all the fans of ‘Goofy Movie’ to pretend like she doesn’t exist. Just remember, of the movie canon Roxanne only appears in the first film and she doesn’t get much. She appears in the beginning for a couple scenes and then at the very end. In the scene where Max has to tell her that he has to go on a road trip, she’s really un-understanding and even judges him for wanting to go such a long distance “just to see a concert”. A little judgmental if you ask me. Max was lying to her at the time though, so I’m not exactly sure how to view that situation. It would have been nice to see more of her, but she never had much to begin with. If you’re looking for a good female character in the Goofy Movie series, I would look to Beret Girl from the second film. She was a complete badass and I would love to see more of her! But either way, Mona isn’t bad or infinitely worse than Roxanne.

I love seeing Mona interact with both Goofy and Max and I always have. Mona seems like a very sweet character and I never disliked her, even when I was little. ‘Mickey’s Twice Upon A Christmas’ is really cheesy, but it’s cute. If you’re looking for something new and very adorable to watch this Christmas season and have a Disney+ account I would definitely recommend giving it a watch. Just make sure to enjoy, and maybe cut Mona some slack.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Video Games: Romances That are Better Than Cullen’s

Screenshot of Solas and an Inquisitor from ‘Dragon Age Inquisition’. Copyright goes to BioWare.

Hey! Hallie here!

Dragon Age Day just happened and the fanbase learned a few important things while it was happening. One is that some of the lead writers, such as Mark Darrah, decided to retire from BioWare. Another was that Cullen’s voice actor, Greg Ellis, is a complete jerk. Not only did he attack Mark Darrah for being “fake”, he also heavily implied that Darrah was forced to resign for his conduct, with no evidence to support his claims. Pretty instantly both BioWare fans and Darrah’s former co-workers jumped to his side, but that didn’t stop Ellis from starting a full-on twitter war. Around this time is when fans who hadn’t been following Greg Ellis, such as myself, were quickly informed that he is also a Trump supporter and a transphobe. By the end of the day, it was pretty clear Greg Ellis wouldn’t be coming back to the series. On top of that, Mark Darrah implied that there would be no story for Cullen in the future anyway, so it seems that he won’t be recast. It felt very much like the entire character of Cullen was ending on a particularly sour note. As someone who loved Cullen’s romance in ‘Dragon Age Inquisition’, I’m pretty sad. But to be honest, while Cullen is a handsome guy, there are other romances that are even better than his. Here’s a few romances that make Cullen’s look a bit bland. SPOILERS ahead.

Dorian: There’s nothing to dislike here. I mean, it’s Dorian. He’s probably the most charming character I’ve ever encountered in a video game. Dorian is a gay man, so, naturally, you can only romance him if you’re playing a male character. Even if you aren’t, though, you’ll get some of his trauma. He’s a mage from Tevinter, which is known for it’s hierarchy of mages and it’s pretty bad treatment of, well, everyone else. Dorian’s family is pretty far up on the food chain, but that also means arranged marriages are normalized in the hopes of pairing skilled mages together to create even more powerful mages. When Dorian refused to marry the woman chosen for him, his father became angry. So angry, in fact, that he attempted to use blood magic on Dorian to basically brainwash him into being straight. Dorian was both horrified and devastated when he learned the truth, causing him to run away from his family and question Tevinter’s traditions. When you romance him, you realize he’s pretty strongly affected by this trauma. When you first start pursuing the relationship, Dorian is all too happy to play along. He’s naturally flirtatious and appreciates when other people appreciate his good looks. However, as the relationship gets more serious, he becomes more hesitant. He reveals that most of his previous relationships operated under the understanding that everything was temporary because of his arranged marriage, and he fears the player character will leave him when they get the chance. It’s a heartbreaking revelation, but it’s incredibly heartwarming to work through it with him and eventually convince him that you aren’t going anywhere.

Josephine: Josephine’s romance is probably the most entertaining of any romance in ‘Dragon Age’. She’s also bisexual, which means that any Inquisitor of any gender can romance her if they wish. Josephine is all about business. Her family is powerful, known for it’s large naval presence and trading. Josephine acts as a diplomat for the player character, but her upbringing in the family company causes her to seem pretty strict. All until you start flirting with her. She’s quite innocent, causing Leliana to be protective of her immediately after you romance her. But she’s also easily flustered and adorably excited by every romantic gesture. Her entire romance is pretty pure. Everything comes to a halt, though, when yet another arranged marriage comes into play. Josephine’s parents arrange an engagement behind her back while she’s working for the player as part of the Inquisition. She attempts to get out of it, but eventually you have to arrange a duel with her new fiancé to prove you’re worthy of her. The duel is full of witty banter and a lot of showmanship. And, of course, it all ends with you winning the duel and a kiss. After Josephine scolds you for dueling her fiancé without her knowledge, that is.

Fenris: Here we have the first romance that isn’t from ‘Inquisition’. I’m of the party that believes ‘Dragon Age: Inquisition’ was BioWare at their best when it comes to romances. But that doesn’t mean Fenris didn’t steal my heart. Fenris is also bisexual, so any character of any gender can romance him. The only issue here is you have to be prepared for some heartbreak. Fenris is a former elven slave from Tevinter who hates mages. Which isn’t surprising considering he came from Tevinter. His master experimented on him, infusing his skin with Lyrium to create markings that gave him powers connected to the Fade. Unfortunately, this also caused him to lose most of his memories, leaving him only with memories of the horrible treatment he received as a slave. It isn’t surprising he’s so jaded with the player character, Hawke. But if you flirt with him enough and avoid mentioning mages in his presence, he’ll eventually warm to the idea of a relationship. Soon after you start the relationship, however, he’ll admit that he’s starting to regain memories of his past. While this might sound like a good thing, they are very painful for him and he decides he isn’t ready for a relationship. Don’t give up hope just yet, though! This game includes a time skip, and once a few years pass, Fenris will confess that he still has feelings for Hawke.

Solas: Speaking of heartbreak. This romance isn’t for anyone who wants a happy ending. Solas is the main villain of the next game, after all. Solas will only date elven women, so you have to get specific at character creation for this route. Solas first enters the Inquisition as a mage with a wide knowledge of the Fade. He’s pretty closed off about his past, but he’s easy to talk to. He’s wise, caring, and he loves curiosity. He’s pretty vocal about the slavery of elves to the point that he brings it up almost constantly, but you can understand his frustrations. When you romance him he’s sweet and respectful. But he’s hesitant. He constantly switches between embracing a relationship or completely pushing the player away. Eventually, he’ll break off the relationship, apologize, and refuse to explain himself. After the entire game is over, Solas disappears. When he reappears in the Trespasser DLC, he reveals himself to be Fen’harel, the trickster god of the elven pantheon. He isn’t actually a god, none of the gods were much more than egotistical war generals, but he is a survivor of the ancient elves. He was labeled a trickster god by the other generals after he decided to help the elves who had been enslaved by them. Eventually these generals created so much harm that he decided to lock them inside the Fade, along with pretty much all of ancient elven culture. When he awoke centuries later, he discovered that his people were still enslaved and devoid of knowledge about their past. They had even started using old slave tattoos as coming-of-age markings. Solas reveals that he is so distraught by this that he’s going to release the contents of the Fade back into the world, effectively destroying it and replacing it with the forgotten world of the ancient elves. Whether you try to talk him out of it or not, he will kiss the player, apologize one last time, and disappear. Prepare the tissues.

That’s it! There are plenty of other good romances in this series, but these four in particular leave me pretty emotional. They also have nice, interesting storylines that lead to some thought provoking scenes. I’m not saying the writing for Cullen or his romance is bad. It really isn’t. But after hearing about all of the sick videos Greg Ellis filmed in character of Cullen saying some pretty awful things, I don’t think I can look at the character the same way. If you still love the character, feel free to keep romancing him. He is much more than just his voice actor. But if you’re not quite willing to get back to his romance after this, I hope I helped you see that he isn’t your only option. There are plenty of sweet, interesting, and exciting plot lines to explore in Thedas.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-pop and K-dramas: Happy Birthday Jin!

Promotional photoshoot still of Kim Seokjin of BTS. Copyright goes to BigHit Entertainment.

H! It’s Annie!

Happy Birthday Kim Seokjin, Worldwide Handsome! The oldest member of the band who often acts like the youngest in the absolute best way possible. He’s made every single one of us laugh and there is no way BTS would be the same without him. A lot of people seem to think that he’s not as good of a singer as the others, but I would seriously beg to differ. Jin has some of my favorite solo songs on any of BTS’s albums and I can’t imagine songs like ‘Don’t Leave Me’ or ‘Crystal Snow’ without his amazing high notes. Those are both songs that are talked about less but recently they’ve become two of my favorite BTS songs so I would definitely check them out if you haven’t. Jin is a worldwide handsome dude with a contagious laugh and a penchant for lightening any situation; so of course we have to appreciate him on his birthday. I’m going to do what I did for Jimin’s birthday, which is take some of his singles and rank them even though I absolutely love them all. So let’s get into it!

4. Awake

Absolutely gorgeous and makes me want to cry every time I listen to it. His lighter tone makes the song flow really well and gives it a true feeling of beauty. Just like the man who sings it. The song takes a somber note of realizing that maybe you can’t do what you’re setting out to do. It tells the audience that one day they might have to let go but still holds the hopefulness that you can still fight for whatever it is you want. More specifically, Jin here is talking about how he may not fly like the other “6 petals”. I think we all know who the other six petals are and now I’m definitely sad. We are a fandom that loves each of the boys equally despite biases and bias-wreckers and we can all agree that Jin has just as much talent as the other boys. If anything, this song proves it. BTS wouldn’t work without all seven members. But I’m still happy that Jin was able to share all of this and it’s an absolutely beautiful song. Jin has a real talent for making songs sound like pieces of art just with his voice.

3. Epiphany

Of all of the solo songs on this album, this one is probably the most like a typical ballad. It makes his voice stand out beautifully and every single time I’ve seen him perform this it feels like the entire stadium stills. The song’s beautiful message about learning to love yourself is so welcome and it shows an amazing progression from his mindset when he created ‘Awake’ for the ‘Wings’ album. Jin learning to accept himself through this inspires the fans to do the same and love themselves. The past two songs together are a necessary progression to show the fans, who all have or will go through that same progression themselves. This song that causes the masses to stop and listen has most likely effected thousands of people for the better.

2. Abyss

Jin just released this one for his birthday, so of course I had to include it. Recently the members of BTS (except for Yoongi who was still resting) released interviews where many of them talked about how they deal with quarantine and life in general. Jin expressed that he leaves the past in the past and tries to not worry about the future. I was struck by his calm demeanor and how maturely he goes about life when many people wouldn’t be able to, or at least wouldn’t think they would be able to, go about life like that. I truly wondered if he still had issues to deal with and then he reminded us all that everyone does. He has an excellent way of making his fans aware that himself and the other members of BTS are still human and should be treated like human beings. This song is about his burnout after they topped the Billboard 100. Not only is this song another example of beautiful pain, but it’s a look at Jin that we don’t usually get to see. It’s another one that made me want to cry when I first listened to it. I’m so glad he shared this one with us.

1. Moon

I absolutely fell in love with this song upon first hearing it and thought that I wouldn’t be able to love it any more than I already do. Then I watched him perform it for ‘Map Of The Soul: One’ and I realized I was very wrong. He was absolutely adorable dressed head to toe in pink and the way he hugged the Earth after he finished singing made me smile uncontrollably. And it’s supposed to. This song was created as a love letter for ARMY. He describes himself as the Moon, revolving around us who are the Earth. He tells us that he’ll always be there for us and also knows that we’ll be there for him. It’s a wonderfully flattering look into the relationship ARMY has with BTS and the other way around. It’s a reminder that he’s our Worldwide Handsome and we’re his and BTS’s ARMY. Jin just has a way of making every song beautiful.

So now that I’ve gushed about Jin for a while, I’m just feeling so soft. These boys are so amazing and I love that we’ve all created a place that shows them that we love them all equally. Jin is not and never will be a weak link or even the weakest link in this band. We need them all and we worry about them all. They are all equally as talented and amazing as each other. It doesn’t matter how old Jin or any of the others get or how other people who don’t really listen to BTS think of the individual members. We, the ones who love and support this band, know the truth. And our numbers are growing exponentially by the day. We stand by all of them and they are there for us right back. Jin has made me laugh on days when I needed it and I will be forever grateful to him because of it. I hope he has the absolute happiest of birthdays and knows that all of us love him very much.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Netflix Shows: ‘The Christmas Chronicles’ Review

Screenshot of Kurt Russel, Judah Lewis, and Darby Camp from 2018’s ‘The Christmas Chronicles’. Copyright goes to 1492 Pictures, Cinesite Animation, and Netflix.

Hey! Hallie here!

This movie came out a couple of years ago on Netflix, but I never got a chance to watch it. I’m definitely one of those people who has a list of movies I watch every Christmas that, most of the time, is too extensive to add things to. However, given that I’m not doing much this year, I wasn’t really complaining when my family decided to turn this one on. Plus, I grew up with a few of Kurt Russel’s movies so I was interested to see how he’d take on a role as wholesome as Santa. Now that ‘Christmas Chronicles 2’ is out on Netflix, I figured it’s about time I write up a review on the first movie. And let me just say; this movie was so much weirder than I thought it would be. Unfortunately, it wasn’t weird in a good way, either.

The Good:

The Casting: I specifically want to praise the casting of the two main characters of this film. Judah Lewis and Darby Camp often stole the show, even when Kurt Russel was onscreen. There was no awkward child acting here, and while there were a plethora of cheesy scenes throughout the movie, these two didn’t ever miss a beat. While I wasn’t a fan of the character writing in this film, the sincere acting from both of them made me almost want to care about their characters. Also, they work incredibly well with one another. As an audience member that was raising an eyebrow for most of the film, I never doubted how close Teddy and Kate were. I will also give Kurt Russel credit for giving 100% to his character. It never felt like he was phoning it in. That’s about all I have to say here. I wish I could say more in this section, but this is really all I can give.

The Bad:

The Santa Claus Character: In my last post I talked a bit about how some writers fail to realize they need to give their Santa character a complete personality. That was directly aimed at this movie. When we first meet Santa in this movie, he’s a bit more of the serious, grumpy type. He’s instantly angry at Teddy and Kate for sneaking into his sleigh and subsequently causing him to lose the majority of the tools he needs to get through the night. He even directly tells them that they ruined Christmas and tries to leave them behind, even though they’re about a thousand miles away from their home. In the very next scene he walks into a restaurant and begins speaking to the adults there, all of whom he used to give presents to. When he’s speaking to them, his personality completely shifts. He suddenly becomes a proud father who’s excitability and general kindness cause the waitress to instantly accept that he’s the real Santa. It’s a jarring shift, and one that happens several times throughout the movie. I couldn’t ever tell what they were trying to accomplish with this character. In some scenes it seemed like they wanted me to find him likeable and endearing. But in scenes like those where he blames his own loss of control of his sleigh on two kids, it seemed like I was supposed to find him intimidating and critical. He also, at one point, magically influences a police officers ex-wife to ask the officer out for coffee, which raises so many more moral questions.

No Subtlety: This happened a lot, especially during the “heartfelt” scenes. Characters would often speak about the emotional struggles they were having unprompted, causing a cheesy scene where a character would pour their heart out and instantly feel better afterwards. These scenes happened the most to Teddy, who the movie decided needed several scenes to talk about how his fathers death made him sad. On top of this, several of these scenes were littered with information the movie decided to dump on the audience without buildup. One scene in particular had Teddy asking his sister why his dad had to go out into a specific fire to save other people. Before this the audience had known his father was dead and known his father was a firefighter before he died. We didn’t need a random line to allude to the exact way he died. It wasn’t anything the audience was curious about and it was delivered with the subtlety of a nuclear explosion. “Show don’t tell” was nowhere to be found in this movie.

The Elves: Why does everyone in the movie seem to think these guys are cute? They aren’t. They’re terrifying. They look like a mix of the most recent Alvin and the Chipmunks and the Gremlins. I never want to see them again.

The “Twist” Ending: At the end of this movie Santa decides to reveal that he didn’t need his hat to magically move around in the first place. Somehow this movie thought this would be a moment for the audience to look on in joyful wonder. But it made the movie completely obsolete. What did Santa solve by pretending he couldn’t break out of prison or get out of literally most of the things that caused them problems? If it was because he was trying to help Teddy and Kate by putting them through this experience, they were already mending their relationship before they met Santa. If it was to help give more people Christmas spirit, why was that more important than making sure he got his job done by the end of the night? I almost cried knowing that the several-scene-long musical number in the prison could have been avoided the entire time.

So what did I think of this movie? It was not good. It was very bad. Granted, it could have been worse. The acting was pretty good. It wasn’t nearly enough to save this train wreck, though. Between the nonstop Christmas puns, the morally ambiguous Santa who had two different warring personalities, the frustrating inconsistencies, and the writers constantly banging me over the head with teenage angst, I didn’t have all that much fun with this movie. Although, give me a movie where Santa has two warring personalities on purpose and I might be interested enough to give it a watch. Anyway, sorry Goldie Hawn. I won’t be sticking around to watch your bigger role in the sequel.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Christmas: The Best Whos in Whoville

Screenshot from “How The Grinch Stole Christmas’ (2000) starring Christine Baranski and Jim Carrey. Copyright goes to Imagine Entertainment and Universal Pictures.

Hi! It’s Annie!

December means that it is officially Christmas time (though that doesn’t mean I wasn’t celebrating before) and I can officially celebrate with my favorite Christmas movie. If you read my last post you might have caught a reference to this movie. I don’t know exactly what it is about this live action adaptation of the classic Dr. Seuss book, but it’s probably a mix of the wholesomeness and the comedy that makes this film so amazing. You also have to give credit to all of those actors in the fake noses that were probably nightmares to breathe in. But one of the things I love most about this movie, besides Jim Carrey as the Grinch, are all the loveable Whos down in Whoville. This is one of the only adaptations that give so many of them personalities besides Cindy Lou Who. So I thought I’d compile a list of my favorite Whos in this movie. Obviously I am not going to include Mayor Augustus May Who because he’s a jerk. All right! Let’s get on with the list!

7. Officer Wholihan

The chief of police in Whoville admittedly doesn’t do much. I mean, there’s not really any crime in Whoville. Until the Grinch shows up, that is. But he’s shown to be a pretty forgiving and merry man despite his job being extremely boring. When the Mayor orders him to arrest the Grinch after the Grinch brings back all the presents he’s stolen, Officer Wholihan refuses. The Grinch bringing back all the presents and apologizing is enough for him. He’s a pretty cool guy if you ask me.

6. Clarnella and Rose Who

Are they still living? In a pretty progressive move on the movie’s part, the Grinch actually has two adoptive mothers. We have no idea about the nature of their relationship as it is never confirmed or really mentioned, but I think it’s safe to assume they are a couple. These two are only ever seen together, but we know that they are both extremely kindhearted. When the Grinch quite literally lands on their doorstep as a baby, they take him in almost instantly. Though they are startled when they discover that their new child would rather eat plates than cookies, they still do their best to raise him. They are delighted when he finally shows passion for something as a child, though they don’t know what it is, and absolutely support him smashing their personal objects to make something for his crush. When the Grinch comes back to accept his award, they welcome him with open arms. Though he isn’t exactly excited to see them, it is clear that they missed their son. Though I do seriously question them not climbing up Mt. Crumpet to at least check to see if he was ok. So maybe they weren’t the best parents, but at least they tried. Could have tried a little harder though.

5. Stu and Drew Lou Who

Cindy Lou Who’s older brothers are absolutely pure chaos and I love it. From the looks of it, Whoville could do with some chaos. Stu and Drew make the very ill-advised decision to climb up Mt. Crumpet with their girlfriends at the beginning of this movie and then draw the ire of the town by mentioning the Grinch. But really, anyone who makes the Mayor angry is a winner in my book. Stu and Drew are a bit bumbling, but at least they don’t seem as brainwashed as the rest of the town is. Though they really need to stop doing stupid stuff to impress their girlfriends. I can’t imagine the Grinch appreciated their antics much either.

4. Martha May Whovier

Martha May starts out kind of like the Grinch does in her own way. She is well-liked by the town, but she isn’t really a likeable person. Betty Lou Who is definitely poorer than Martha May, but still tries her best every year to win the Christmas Lights competition. Not only does Martha May eventually wrongfully win because of the Mayor’s interest in her, she brags about her lights to Betty while she’s decorating her house. Martha May doesn’t really realize she’s on the wrong path until the Grinch comes back and the Mayor asks her to marry him. When she realizes that she likes the gifts the Mayor has given her but doesn’t actually like the Mayor, she begins to value the other Whos around her more. She eventually helps stop the Grinch’s out of control sleigh, makes up with Betty, and declares her love for the Grinch. The idea of a love interest for the Grinch admittedly sounds absolutely ridiculous; but this movie somehow makes it work.

3. Betty Lou Who

Betty can sometimes neglect her children, but she strikes me as someone who’s going through a mid-life crisis. She knows she’s good at certain things, but she just can’t win no matter what she does. You really feel sorry for her, especially because she’s trying so hard. She, like many of the Whos in Whoville, doesn’t necessarily have her priorities straight when it comes to valuing material things over other Whos. But at the end of the movie she is the first to jump to try to stop the out of control sleigh once she notices that Cindy is on it. Really, the Lou Who’s are a really wholesome family, and they’re all there for each other when it matters most.

2. Lou Lou Who

Lou is the best Dad. He’s really sweet from the beginning and steps up to protect his family from the ire of the Mayor when he can. Though he’s originally a bit cowardly and soft-spoken, he becomes one of the bravest characters in the film. When the Mayor attacks Cindy after the presents go missing on Christmas day, Lou immediately refutes him and claims that he’s proud of his daughter. He even states that he’s glad the presents are gone. He gets it! He later flings himself in front of the sleigh to stop it, which is quite possibly the most dangerous thing he could have done in that situation. You just can’t help but love him. Also, if you meet him at Universal Studios for Grinchmas he’s just as sweet. On a day when I wasn’t feeling super well, he came over and warmed my hands in his gloves and talked about Christmas cookies with me to distract me. A true wholesome Dad.

1. Cindy Lou Who

Obviously. No other person could take this slot. Cindy is adorable and understands the true meaning of Christmas, and really morality in general, better than the other Whos in Whoville. The other Whos are so scared of the Grinch that they become terrified without him having to do anything. The Grinch jumped around screaming “Danger!” over and over in front of her and she stood there and laughed. A true badass. When everyone else gives up on the Grinch, she doesn’t. Her ability to see the good in other people is admirable. She definitely gets some of that wholesomeness from her Dad.

The Whos in general are adorable. I’ve always loved their design, but I do have to admit I gained a new appreciation for their characters after attending Grinchmas at Universal Studios Hollywood. Stu and Drew go around on stilts and will crack jokes to you all day if you stand around that long to talk to them. Lou is, once again, just as wholesome as he is in the movie. If you haven’t seen anything of these characters, I would look up a couple videos. The Whos never fail to make anyone smile. Though The Grinch is definitely the star and stand out of his own movie, as he should be, don’t make the mistake of overlooking the Whos.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Disney: ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ is the Perfect Christmas Movie

Screenshot from Henry Selick’s ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’. Copyright goes to Touchstone Pictures, Skellington Productions, and Walt Disney Productions.

Hey! Hallie here!

This movie’s focus on two different holidays has led to a very large debate about when you should watch it. Is it a Halloween movie, or is it a Christmas movie? Back in October I wrote a post about why you should watch this movie during Halloween. But I did say I also believed this movie was a Christmas movie. This movie definitely follows it’s Halloween characters more. You spend much more time in Halloweentown than you do in Christmastown. So what makes this movie so important to the Christmas season? What about this movie will make you want to turn it on to get into the Christmas spirit? I’m going to cover all of the things about this movie that turns the focus away from Halloween and toward Christmas. I’m also going to talk a bit about the things you can enjoy all year because, let’s be honest, it’d be a crime to only watch this movie twice a year.

The Main Plot: This is definitely a very easy thing to love, but I point it out mainly because the plot revolves around the Christmas season. The movie starts out on Halloween day where Jack completes yet another successful Halloween without being satisfied with it. From there, the entire movie turns it’s attention to Christmas. Jack falls into Christmastown immediately after he laments about his frustrations, sings an entire song while surrounded by snow and elves, and then begins to research Christmas. Eventually he decides that he’ll do Christmas himself. His creation of his own version of Christmas, and the repercussions of that, are the major points of the film. While the film does take place in Halloweentown, it takes place in Halloweentown while it’s citizens are making Christmas. It is only through Jack’s attempt at taking over Christmas that he realizes his self worth and becomes happy with who he is. This movie doesn’t have to do much to prove that it’s meant to be watched during the holidays.

The Music: Danny Elfman is known for his creepy soundtracks. He’s known mainly for his work with Tim Burton, after all. Here, though, he strikes a really nice balance between the opposite feelings of each holiday. Through the use of distorted Christmas melodies and generally whimsical scoring, he’s able to remind the audience that both Halloween and Christmas are playing a part in the movie’s events. Whenever Jack is contemplating Christmas in Halloweentown, there’s always a brightness and hopefulness to the melodies being used. Similarly, whenever Jack is immersed in his creation of Christmas, there’s always a darker theme to remind you that Jack is perhaps out of his depth, given the fact that he’s a skeleton. “What’s This” is also an essential song to any Christmas playlist. It’s the most energetic and exciting of all the songs on the soundtrack. It highlights the curiosities of Christmas through the eyes of someone who has never seen it before, while it just so slightly warns the audience of what’s probably going to go wrong. Danny Elfman can do no wrong when it comes to movie scoring, and ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ proves it.

The Use of Santa: I’ve noticed that, as I watch new Christmas movies every year, I’m very picky about the use of Santa as a character. Sometimes writers don’t realize that they have to fully flesh out his personality if they’re going to use this character in their movie. This too often results in a character with no personality, or multiple personalities that are inconsistent throughout the movie. And, let’s be honest, there are a lot of movies where Santa’s entire appearance is just a bit too cheesy to enjoy. This movie is not one of those. The writers decided on a grumpy Santa, which isn’t an entirely new take, but it’s consistent throughout the entire movie. He keeps his morals, even brings Christmas to Jack because he likes it so much, but he doesn’t pull his punches. He calls Halloweentown an “insane asylum” and is very obviously livid with Jack for taking over his holiday. He’s very sensible when he argues with Oogie Boogie, but even when his life is on the line he doesn’t stop scolding him. He’s a good guy, but you know by the end of the movie not to mess with him. It’s really one of the only badass interpretations of Santa I’ve seen on screen. Plus, on the soundtrack, he’s voiced by Sir Patrick Stewart. Enough said.

The Themes: As I said above, it’s through Christmas that Jack learns to be happy with who he is. That’s really the main point of the movie. Jack Skellington gets to a point where he’s never satisfied with what he’s accomplished, and while he knows he’s skilled, he’s convinced that he’s incapable of coming up with anything new that will make Halloween interesting. This is why he falls in love with Christmastown. It’s so different from what he knows, that he’s convinced that if he molds himself to this new image, he’ll become more imaginative and interesting. He entirely loses his sense of self doing so, too. He goes so far as to break a picture of himself over his knee, replacing it with a picture of himself dressed as Santa, or Sandy Claws. And while he believes his grand new ideas all come from the things he learned in Christmastown, it becomes pretty clear to the viewer, and to Sally, that he isn’t really sticking to any actual Christmas ideas. He tends to create, and enjoy creating, creepier things. Unfortunately, Jack doesn’t realize this until he’s shot down by the military. It’s a necessary lesson for him, and one that viewers can definitely learn from, too. A movie telling audiences to love themselves for who they are is one thing, but this movie takes it a step farther. Jack takes pride in his mistakes and notes that they made him a better person. While Christmas was necessary for him to learn these things, they’re important to hear all year long.

And that’s it! I’m always up for watching this movie, so it’s no surprise that I’m advocating for everyone to watch it during both Halloween and Christmas. But, honestly, I think it’s a good movie to watch for both holidays. Labeling this movie as only for October or only for December is doing it a disservice. It does so much work to blend both holidays together, it deserves to be appreciated during both times of the year. So there’s really nothing stopping you from adding it to your watch list for Christmas! It’s better to watch ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ during the holidays than it is to let December pass and regret not including it in your Christmas traditions later.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Twins in Media: Janice and Jessica vs Sumire and Kasumi

Screenshot from “The Suite Life on Deck” episode “Model Behavior” starring Camilla Rosso, Rebecca Rosso, Cole Sprouse, and Debby Ryan. Copyright goes to It’s a Laugh Productions and Disney Channel.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I know, I know. Generally we post these on Tuesday, but because we took Thanksgiving as a holiday, it’s today because it’s my twins in media week. Because it’s my week for these ‘versus’ posts, I decided to take the pairs of twins I have probably roasted the most and pit them against each other. Janice and Jessica from ‘Suite Life on Deck’ against Kasumi and Sumire from ‘Persona 5: Royal’. Just know going in that I absolutely despise both of these media representations and to declare any one of them a winner feels wrong. It’s quite possibly inevitable that whoever passes this round will get absolutely slaughtered in the next. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s take a look at which of these truly bad twin representations is the worst.

Tropes:

Janice and Jessica. Oh god, where do I start? First, let’s tackle the ones that are slightly smaller in comparison to the trope I absolutely despise. Though I hate these ones too. These two are a perfect example of the synchronized twins trope; a trope that is often used to paint twins as more like aliens than actual human beings. It’s almost like they’re part of an alien race that has a hive mind. They think the exact same thing and talk at the exact same time. When they aren’t talking at the exact same time they are perfectly finishing each other’s sentences. Not only is this absolutely unrealistic for anyone, as a twin you are often commanded to do these things for someone else’s amusement. My sister and I have been told to talk at the same time on command several times, almost like dogs being ordered to do a trick. This has always ended in my sister and I calmly explaining that talking at the same time would be a little difficult and that we can’t read each other’s minds. We do not share a brain. Please stop asking for us to do this. On top of that, Janice and Jessica are treated like the same person. They have the same style, they talk the same, they have no distinguishable personality traits, and it is seen as pretty ok for them to date the same person. No twins are exactly the same; we are two different people with different minds and different tastes. This also leads me into the absolutely awful twin fetishization. Because people see us as the same, some people have somehow gotten it into their heads that it is absolutely ok to ask both twins out instead of one. Worse than this has been on so many television shows and I would look at my original post on these two if you want a list of recent television shows that have done this as a joke. If you’re interested in both of us, you can be absolutely certain that neither of us is interested in you. Neither of us have ever even been interested in the same guy because we’re…wait for it…two different people! Wow!

Sumire and Kasumi. Once again…oh god, where to start. Let’s first talk about the unhealthy grieving. A lot of people assume that all twins are extremely close. Just like any siblings, we can be, but not necessarily. My sister and I are best friends, but we aren’t any closer than any siblings who really get along would be. The twin closeness assumption can cause people to think that twins are “unnaturally” close or closer than any other siblings would be. Which is absolutely stupid and proof that those people have probably never met a pair of twins in their lives. My sister and I were once accosted by a class mate who “warned” us that if we got too close we’d become reliant on each other for survival. Her sanity concerned me more than the relationship between myself and my sister. That mentality is clearly present in ‘Persona 5: Royal’. Sumire becomes so distraught over the death of her twin sister that she decides to become her twin sister rather than grieve properly. I don’t think I really have to explain how disturbing that is. Grieving over the death of a family member has no model of how it should look like. But this is more than unhealthy and portraying twins this way is far from normal. We have two different personalities that would be impossible for either of us to replicate. We also each have a completely different sense of self. Our separate senses of self have never been and never will be somehow connected. This also leads into this twin tope that is used too much that I hate. One twin must die has plagued me since I was little and I really want it to stop. I hate the jokes people make about it and I hate how much I see it still. We are not interchangeable and one of us is not expendable because “there are two of them”. Nope. There is one of me and one of her. Regular siblings get to survive, but for some reason twins are different. I’m so sick of this.

Winner: Not in this category. How do you pit twin fetishization and the constant killing off of twin characters in media against each other? How do you pit the hive mind mentality against the mentality of twins having some sort of unnatural bond? You really can’t. All of it is incredibly harmful and absolutely ridiculous. All of it has somehow affected how my sister and I were treated at one point of our lives. These tropes are probably the worst of the worst and all of them need to go. I declare this category a tie because neither could possibly be declared a winner here.

Differences and Similarities:

Janice and Jessica. There are no differences between these two whatsoever. None to be found. The writers thought they could get away with writing the same exact character twice and, unfortunately, for the most part, they did get away with it. I didn’t hear anyone but twins complain about it. There are no personality differences between Janice and Jessica written in and they didn’t even deign to give them different love interests until later. Even when they did, they still weren’t distinguishable. The only difference they have going for them is that they are actually played by two different actresses.

Sumire and Kasumi. Sumire and Kasumi are not alike at all. Kasumi is a bright, kind, and extroverted girl who loves to throw herself into volunteer work. Sumire keeps more to herself, is introverted, and prefers cooking. Though they both love gymnastics, only Kasumi is shown to have an initial talent for it. This is what inspires Sumire’s jealousy. They could definitely be seen as opposites in some ways which isn’t great, but at least they do have some similarities. A lot of siblings have similar interests because they grew up with the same things; but they still have different personalities despite this. A lot of the good is negated, however, when Sumire adopts Kasumi’s personality, but at least they get out of that storyline at some point in the game. And at least they make a point to make sure the audience knows that Sumire and Kasumi are actually different people. This sounds pretty good until you realize that this is yet another example of one person playing both twin roles. How difficult is it to get two separate voice actresses for two separate roles?

Winner: Sumire and Kasumi. They actually have personalities and surprisingly, they were both written with some differences. The game points out that they are different people, which is about the only nice thing it does for twin representation. Janice and Jessica don’t have anything, especially not personality. The only thing they have going for them is two actresses, which Sumire and Kasumi could have easily had.

Relationship:

Janice and Jessica. Janice and Jessica seem to have a close relationship. I mean, they’re always together so one could only assume. But I’m not sure they actually have much of a relationship. They don’t talk to each other as much as with each other and they only like the same things. There are no differences between them so there’s not much they really have to get along over. They’re close, but not realistic, so it’s pretty difficult to determine how good their relationship actually is.

Sumire and Kasumi. They also have a really confusing relationship. The game pushes the narrative that they were unnaturally close, but they didn’t actually get along. Points for them having different personalities, but they didn’t overcome their differences in any way. Kasumi constantly dismisses Sumire’s depressive feelings. Dismissing anyone’s depressive feelings is awful and definitely makes you a pretty bad sister. Sumire is too busy being jealous of her sister’s success to actually be happy for her and get over her own selfishness. Neither of them were great to each other, which sucks because we really need to see more examples of close siblings in media. Siblings hating each other for drama and not actually being supportive of one another is getting really tired. But at least they have a distinguishable relationship.

Winner: Sumire and Kasumi. Though, once again, both of these depictions are pretty bad, at least Sumire and Kasumi are treated like two different people who have some form of a relationship rather than just the same person. Sometimes it feels like the writers of Janice and Jessica gave up on their character development. At least the writers of Sumire and Kasumi tried, even though it was still really bad. No character development is still bad character development.

Plot:

Janice and Jessica. Do they really have a plot? These two are treated more like objects than actual characters. First they are both love interests for switching singular characters and then they come back, this time actually having different love interests, to test the bonds of the boys’ new relationships (which is an awful female trope in general). They have no personality and are used for stereotypical drama. They are given no character development.

Sumire and Kasumi. Though you don’t see Kasumi much for obvious reasons, Sumire is a well developed character. Even if much of her character is really bad. Kasumi dies to further her sister’s story (hate, hate, double hate, loathe entirely), but Sumire does grow past this part of the story to focus on her own development as a different person. Once Sumire stops pretending to be Kasumi and they drop the twin story in favor of a “get-to-know Sumire” storyline, it gets a lot better. But both of them aren’t necessarily focused on in the plot because of, you know, one-twin-must-die.

Winner: Sumire and Kasumi once again take it by default. At least they have a plot. At least the writers tried, even if it was mostly bad. Janice and Jessica are barely characters and what little plot they’re given either sucks for twins or sucks for women in general. Women’s lives don’t revolve around men. At least Sumire and Kasumi don’t have that issue.

Final Result:

It feels so wrong to declare either a winner; but Sumire and Kasumi have to take it. Both of these representations are awful and they both deserve a giant loss for the tropes alone. The only reason why Sumire and Kasumi scrape by is because the writers actually made an attempt to treat them like different people and like actual human beings in general. Even if that meant that they didn’t get separate voice actresses. Seriously, giving twin roles two actresses even if they aren’t related needs to be more normalized. No twins look exactly the same anyways, and it should be even less of a problem in a video game with voice acting. Janice and Jessica feel more like objects than characters, so there’s absolutely no way they would have won this. But really, we need a whole lot less of all of these tropes and this kind of twin representation in general.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Disney: The Story That Connects (Almost) All the Parks

Artist rendering of the Society of Explorers and Adventurers. Debuted at Mystic Manor in 2013. Copyright goes to the Walt Disney Company.

Hey! Hallie here!

Disney really likes storytelling in their parks. Usually, though, each of their storylines are confined to one ride or show. It isn’t like you can connect something like Space Mountain to It’s a Small World. Not that you’d want to. Surprisingly, there are several attractions you can connect. These aren’t just attractions located in one of the Disney parks, either. Several attractions from most Disney locations are involved in this huge storyline. I’m talking about the Society of Explorers and Adventurers, or SEA. This society was officially brought to light when Mystic Manor appeared in Hong Kong in 2013. There, a photo of some of the societies most memorable members was put up. After that, these characters began to play major roles in some of Disney’s most classic rides. Let’s go through some of this societies members and the rides they’re attached to.

Lord Henry Mystic (and Albert, of course):

Lord Henry Mystic is the owner of Mystic Manor. He is a famous adventurer, known for his collection of 7000 mysterious artifacts he’s collected from all over the world. He also encountered a monkey caught in a spider’s web during his travels and adopted him, naming him Albert after his uncle. Henry appears in Mystic Manor of course, though Albert is the star of the show there, but signs of him can be found in various other areas. Letters he wrote about his artifacts appear in one of Hong Kong Disneyland’s restaurants, the Explorer’s Club, and a quote of his condemning an antagonist of Hong Kong’s Jungle River Cruise attraction, Garrett Reed, can be found in the newsletter handed out for the Halloween overlay of the ride. He also donated an expedition paddle to the Tropical Hideaway in Disneyland. In the photograph above he can be seen sitting in the armchair with Albert on his shoulder.

Harrison Hightower III:

Harrison Hightower III is the owner of the Tower of Terror in Tokyo Disneysea. Just like Henry Mystic, Hightower was also an adventurer who would collect artifacts from around the world. However, he would often exploit friendly natives and plunder items in order to bring them into his collection. He also proved not to be very knowledgeable about the artifacts he possessed, because he stole a cursed idol named Shiriki Utundu. This idol was owned by a tribe who viewed it as a protective entity and placed it atop an altar in their village. Hightower stole the idol and brought it back to his hotel, where he celebrated his find lavishly and refused to show the idol any respect. At the end of the night he walked into the hotel elevator with the idol in hand, hoping to find it a place amongst his collection. Inside the elevator, the idol electrocuted him with green lightening and sent the elevator plummeting down the shaft, killing him. Harrison Hightower’s ghost can be found inside the Tower of Terror and some notes written by him can be found in the Skipper Canteen restaurant in the Magic Kingdom in Florida. He can be seen above on the far left, holding the Shiriki Utundu.

Captain Mary Oceaneer:

Mary Oceaneer is the owner of the ship M.S. Salty IV, which can be found shipwrecked in Typhoon Lagoon in Florida. This shipwreck is the centerpiece of the water-slide attraction, Miss Adventure Falls. She is also the developer of the Disney Cruise Line’s Oceaneer Lab. Oceaneer was another treasure hunting adventurer, though most of her adventures were had at sea. She was especially famous for her knowledge of Atlantis. During one of her treasure searches her ship was hit by a hurricane, leaving her stranded in Florida. Mary has an entire section of the Disney Cruise Line dedicated to her where her collection can be found, as well as information on her pet parrot, Salty. More of her collection, and her other parrot Duncan, can be found in Typhoon Lagoon. At the Skipper Canteen several notes, including a map she drew, can be seen displayed. She also donated an expedition paddle to the Tropical Hideaway in Disneyland. She can be seen second from the right above, the only woman pictured in the SEA photograph.

Barnabas T. Bullion:

Barnabus T. Bullion is the founder and president of the Big Thunder Mining company, occupying Big Thunder Mountain in the Magic Kingdom in Florida. Bullion believed his destiny was to obtain large amounts of gold and he also believed that he would strike gold inside Big Thunder Mountain. However, locals warned him that the mountain was protective of it’s gold. The mountain was considered haunted given it’s regular natural disasters. Runaway trains were also a common sight on the mountain. Barnabas T. Bullion remained at the site until his death, and various letters can be seen around it revealing him to be part of SEA. He also donated an expedition paddle to the Tropical Hideaway in Disneyland. Unfortunately, he died before the photograph above was taken.

Dr. Albert Falls:

This is a name most people will recognize. Albert Falls, of course, discovered and named the famous Schweitzer Falls, as well as the Shir Lee Temple, all of which can be found in The Jungle Cruise. He established the Jungle Navigation Company, hoping to make transporting cargo over jungle rivers more efficient. The headquarters of this company was used as both his home and as a secret meeting space for SEA. Books he wrote can be found in the Skipper Canteen and his portrait can be seen in the Bengal Barbeque in Disneyland. He also donated an expedition paddle to the Tropical Hideaway. It seems he will be at least briefly referenced in the upcoming “Jungle Cruise” film, as well! Though the photograph above was likely taken in his home, it doesn’t appear as if he’s present in it.

Camellia Falco:

Camellia Falco is the host of Soaring: Fantastic Flight in Tokyo Disneysea. She was the first woman inducted into SEA, although she isn’t pictured above. She was the daughter of the two founders of the Museum of Fantastic Flight, which she inherited upon their death. She often traveled by hot air balloon and was so interested in flight that she created the Dream Flyer, or the gliders featured on Soaring: Fantastic Flight. Eventually she died, but her spirit lingers in the Museum of Fantastic Flight to host guests. All of her SEA documents can be found in the ride, and she also donated an expedition paddle to the Tropical Hideaway.

These are the most present members of SEA in the parks, but there are definitely more. Disney hasn’t even given stories to the majority of the characters featured in the photograph in Mystic Manor. So far we’ve only seen bits and pieces of these characters around the parks, but their story just keeps getting bigger. New additions to the parks seem to bring more references to this society. Hopefully this storyline will grow detailed enough that we can more easily recognize these characters. Until then, I’m hoping Disneyland Paris and Shanghai Disneyland will get to add their own adventurer to this promising lineup.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Video Games: Everything New about ‘Overwatch 2’

Promotional image of new character designs for ‘Overwatch 2’. Copyright goes to Blizzard Entertainment.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Not too long ago I wrote specifically about the ‘Overwatch’ character development we received in the shorts uploaded to Youtube. Because the shorts are amazing. Seriously, if you haven’t looked them up do yourself a favor and watch them. Disney movie quality right there. In that post, I may have mentioned how I really really want to see more story for most, if not all, of the Overwatch characters or maybe even a movie. At that point I was aware that ‘Overwatch 2’ would eventually be coming out, but I hadn’t really looked that far into it. I really should have looked into it sooner, because it seems like this game is going to make all of our storytelling dreams come true on top of maintaining all of the Overwatch gameplay we all love or love to watch. This game has no release date as of yet, but we have heard some information about it, so let’s jump into what we actually do know.

New Heroes:

It has been announced that there will be a group of new heroes, but we haven’t seen anything of most of them yet. We do have some information on two in particular. Echo is a character specifically for the new game that you might have recognized from McCree’s short among other hints here and there. We have also been introduced to Sojourn, who definitely looks badass but we don’t really have a whole lot of information about. I’m really excited to see both of these characters in action, especially Echo. Her design is great and the game developers haven’t been able to stop talking about how “game-changing” her powers will be. But I’m also looking forward to see what other heroes are on the way and just how many we’ll get. Overwatch never seems to stop with the heroes. I mean look at how recently characters like Brigitte came out! So we could see an entire army of new heroes! Hopefully they won’t give every single one of them character development unless they’re looking to make a really long game. But I’m up for that! It might make game development last longer though, which isn’t ideal.

Old Heroes:

It seems like you’ll be able to play as all of the old heroes from the original game in some form, but whether or not the story will follow all of the characters from the first game is another question entirely. Hopefully we’ll see as many of them in the story as possible. So far promotional images have shown Tracer, Winston, Mercy, Mei, Reinhardt, Brigitte, Genji, Lucio and Echo in particular so I assume we’ll see them in the actual storyline. I’d be surprised if we didn’t see some of the villains, especially Reaper, as well. But so far we don’t have any definitive information on what characters will be focused on. All we do know is that the characters most focused on from this game will be from the last game. They aren’t going to push our favorite characters aside for a bunch of new ones.

Story Mode:

And this is what we were all talking about! ‘Overwatch’ will finally be getting a story mode. Of course, that won’t be the entire game. Competition is and has always been a giant part of ‘Overwatch’, so don’t say goodbye to the old game just yet. The story mode is more of an addition than anything else. We have no idea what the story will be just yet, all we know is that they are looking to take inspiration from and extend the shorts they have already come out with. Many speculate that this game will take place immediately after Winston was attacked by Reaper and called back the old team. I think that’s a good bet considering they are calling all of their shorts from Youtube “The story so far”. If they are looking to build up on the shorts they’ve already created, I would say that any character they particularly focused an animated short on will get some sort of spotlight in the story part of the game. But also know that I say that in a biased and very hopeful way because I’m a giant D.Va fan. I can’t imagine they won’t focus on any of the fan favorites though, so I wouldn’t worry too much if your favorite character is well-loved but hasn’t featured in any teasers for ‘Overwatch 2’ yet. Most people have speculated that this game might be an ‘Avengers’ style team up, with a focus on specific characters and their individual storylines and then a battle at the end. Some say the story will be more linear than that and will center more on tracking down Reaper. Either way, any character development is good character development. Especially with the little bits of story we’ve already gotten that were all good story within themselves.

New Look:

As most sequel video games, the ‘Overwatch 2’ team at Blizzard Entertainment is looking to make the graphics better. This means that there’s a new animation design for all of the characters as well as a new world design for the environments in the game. The picture above is an example of those new graphics and it looks amazing. I really can’t wait to see all of the old characters in the new animation style!

These are all on top of new maps, the new co-op mode, as well as their improvements to levelling up characters. We also know that much more about this game will be coming out sooner rather than later as Blizzcon will be taking place in February. We’re only a couple months away! Who knows? We might even get a game release rather than just a release date! But that might just be wishful thinking. Still, according to a “leak” that may or may not be true, that could be exactly what happens. Don’t we all wish. I’m just hoping for plenty more character content, especially for D.Va, and more exciting gameplay to watch the Esports world compete with. I love everything about the announcement for this game, but I’m absolutely in love with the idea of more character content. Can February come any faster?

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Studio Ghibli: Characters That Deserve More Love

Screenshot from ‘When Marnie Was There’ (2014). Copyright goes to Studio Ghibli.

Hey! Hallie here!

Studio Ghibli has created some of my favorite characters of all time. They’re just really good at crafting character arcs. Most Ghibli films have pretty well recognized characters, but there are some that I wish would get more recognition overall. There’s too many good ones I don’t see anyone mentioning. For this list, I’m going to count any characters I feel aren’t as focused on when Ghibli characters are brought up. This goes for both side characters and main characters. If they have widely distributed merch lines, you can probably guess they won’t appear here. Sorry Totoro. Let’s get started! Some spoilers ahead!

Anna Sasaki. Anna is the protagonist of ‘When Marnie Was There’. ‘When Marnie was There’ is one of the Ghibli movies that’s pretty slept on in general. Even when I do hear this movie being mentioned, Marnie’s name is thrown around much more that Anna’s. She is the title character after all. But Anna is one of the most endearing protagonists in any Studio Ghibli movie. Anna is pretty closed off and awkward at the beginning of the movie. She lost her parents when she was very young, and though her grandmother briefly adopted her, it wasn’t long before she lost her grandmother, too. Though she was quickly adopted, she was slow to warm to her adoptive parents. It only made matters worse when she learned her adoptive parents received money from the government for taking care of her. Fearing that her parents only cared about the money, she distanced herself so much that they sent her to the countryside to live with her adoptive mother’s relatives to deal with her general anxiety and reclusiveness. Her awkwardness is relatable, however, and you can’t help but feel her pain when she accidentally lashes out at a girl she’s meant to befriend. Her kindness towards Marnie reveal her true colors, however. Anna is understanding of Marnie, and is even willing to protect her when she hears Marnie’s parents care very little for her. She always attempts to be there for Marnie and grows because Marnie is there for her. By the end of the movie she isn’t “cured” of her anxiety, but she does learn how to deal with it. You can’t help but cheer for her when she finally is able to be happy and accept affection without doubting herself.

Fio Piccolo. Fio is the female protagonist of ‘Porco Rosso’. It’s so rare that I hear her name mentioned among the list of Studio Ghibli’s capable female protagonists, because Fio is so badass. Fio meets Porco, or Marco Pagot, when she’s already working for her grandfather’s company repairing planes. Her grandfather suggests her work to Marco, who turns her down because she’s a seventeen year-old girl. Her grandfather insists that he gives Fio a chance, so Marco reluctantly agrees. Of course, she blows him away with her design capabilities and becomes the personal repair-woman of his plane. She also gets to tag along with him in aerial combat and becomes an overall reliable partner and friend to Marco. Fio is compassionate and caring, but she isn’t to be underestimated. There’s a reason why a gang of air pirates quickly proclaimed their respect for her after only one fight.

Prince Justin. Prince Justin is more easily recognized as Turnip-Head from ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’. When he first appears, he frightens Sophie after she tries to use him as a walking stick. Attempting to dislodge the stick from a bush, she accidentally rights the scarecrow he has turned into. He’s grateful for her help and decides to follow her. He helps her at various points throughout the movie despite the fact that he’s not allowed into Howl’s castle because of the strength of the curse placed on him. After everything he does for Sophie, she places a kiss on his cheek at the very end of the movie. And he turns into a prince. It turns out that a kiss of true love breaks the spell. Obviously, despite Sophie’s gratefulness, she’s in love with Howl and not Justin. Justin doesn’t get angry. He doesn’t even ask her to explain herself. He thanks her for freeing him, and leaves her to her happiness. In the cinematic world, and in the real world as well, men too often expect repayment for helping women they’re interested in. Prince Justin does none of this and for that I’ll forever respect him.

Lisa. Lisa is considered the tritagonist of ‘Ponyo’, but let’s be honest, most people give their full attention to Ponyo and Sosuke. Lisa is Sosuke’s mother and she often finds herself raising Sosuke alone while his father’s at sea. She doesn’t complain about this predicament, aside from a few choice words to her husband over morse code. She works full time at a retirement home while Sosuke’s in kindergarten, which she’s often late for, causing a few insane driving practices. Despite her quirks she has an excellent relationship with her son. So excellent that she takes in Ponyo without question when he asks, even deciding not to question her when Ponyo attempts to explain that her father is an evil sorcerer. She takes care of Sosuke and Ponyo throughout a giant storm that causes their seaside home to nearly go underwater. She even turn the blackout into an enjoyable game for them by giving them easy tasks to do together. Lisa, however, rushes off for the retirement home as soon as she can to check on it’s residents. Later, she agrees with Ponyo’s mother to take care of Ponyo and speaks on behalf of her son in order to keep the two together. Lisa is caring of everyone around her. She’s responsible and understanding. She’s an excellent mother and easily one of the strongest women in Studio Ghibli’s movies.

Those are just a handful of Ghibli’s underrated characters. I’ll probably turn this into a series just to get to all of the characters I want to talk about. I love Ghibli and I always find myself attached to the majority of the characters in every movie. Each movie character feels so real. None of them are perfect. They all have flaws and make mistakes they have to learn from. Their strength in learning from those mistakes and proving their worth are what always stick with me. Ghibli characters teach viewers to be kind, brave, and unashamed of who they are. I always want to highlight the characters that made me realize I am more than I realize. I’d even dare to say the characters here, especially the female representation, has touched me more than any Disney princess ever has. I can never talk about these characters enough.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie