Here's some theme park etiquette

So since moving to Orlando around this time last year, I've become what you might call a regular at the local hotspots. Oh you know, nowhere you've heard of or probably have any plans to go to...

It's the sort of place that really

reminds you that you're living in Florida.

I'm sure you probably caught onto what I'm really talking about now, and now that I've been a regular at the theme parks for about a year and thereby am clearly now an expert at everything Disney and Universal (and SeaWorld and the 12 other parks I haven't even visited yet), I just thought I'd offer some insight into the sort of behaviors and habits that you should accustom yourself to in order to maximize your experience during your vacation. Or staycation (you know your hubrises, Floridians). Now, I would call them "suggestions," but for ths sake of understanding that doing these things will really help out every other person who's right there vacationing with you, I think "etiquette" is a much more appropraite term. 

Without further ado...

1) Do your research before you arrive.

Yes, I know, a little spontaneity really helps to spice up an otherwise droll vacation. I understand that. But if you're coming to one of the most popular theme parks in the world on, for the sake of argument, some summer holiday weekend, your former willingness to "play it by ear" is really gonna make your day miserable. I promise. So, if you're coming to Disney, really take the time to hop onto google and the My Disney Experience website (Universal and all the other parks have similar websites and apps) and have an understanding of what it is you want to do and how much time, money, and effort your theme park day is going to require. Unless of course waiting in a 40 minute line at Guest Services because your plans aren't going accordingly is more your speed. But I'd rather be on Splash Mountain. DIGRESS!

2) Have your hotel accomodations ready BEFORE you arrive.

I can't tell you how many people I've run into who know for a fact that they're gonna be staying in Orlando for 4 or 5 days and say, "Yeah we're going to head to one of the Disney resorts and check if they have any rooms tonight." ... I'm sure that this works with some success in the off seasons. But if youre gonna come in the middle of July thinking you're a great pirate about to plunder a hotel room at the last second, I can't help but imagine that you're gonna leave the lobby surprised and disappointed.

This is a more realistic accomodation

for that scenario.

3) When you go to the parks, listen to the cast (or team) members.

This shouldn't have to be said aloud, but the companies running the theme parks you want to go to are paying their employees coin to make sure that your time is safe, efficient, and yes, fun. So just help them help you by not arguing. The theme parks aren't an NPR discussion forum between you and the employee - they're (generally) telling you what they're telling you for a reason, and its not your prerogative to debate. A couple of very common examples: when security tells you they need your bags open... Open 'em. When the train conductor at Magic Kingdom tells you that your butt needs to stay on the seat before they come to a full and complete stop, they're not somehow conspiring to ruin your family's entire 2 week vacation - but falling off the train and getting your arm broken will be a surefire way to do exactly that.

4) Be respectful of your fellow guests.

I get it. Main Street USA is not the easiest place to navigate on a sunny Saturday at 2 in the afternoon. Between the balloon vendors, photograhy cast members, and the parades that run through the area (see #3 on this one), getting from Town Square to Cinderella Castle is an adventure by itself. But consider this while you're making that journey... Or when yourale anywhere at the Magic Kingdom, or literally any theme park: stopping in the middle of the walkway is probably a tremendously bad and inconvenient idea. Especially when you or the guests around you are using wheelchaits or scooters. Pick a nearby shaded and out of the way area to pull out your guide map... Maybe right near Tomorrowland Terrace where the Plaza restaurant is, using my Main Street USA example. Separately, loud screaming where it's out of place is not doing your fellow guests any favors, either. If you're on the Tower of Terror or Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket at Universal, loud screaming is expected and encouraged. That's the point of those type of rides. Now, let's say you take yourself back to Magic Kingdom, or Disneyland for you west coast folks, and release some of that pent up adrenaline on the Haunted Mansion.

The look on this little girl's face is

probably your best case outcome for this example.

We all know that your first time at the park is all veey exciting, but logic is the best thing you can have about you when coming through the entrance. Gauge where you're at and how many people are around you. It'll make everyone's lives easier and keep your dignity, if not your ability to legally return to the parks in some scenarios, intact.

Well, that'll about do it for me. The animation world is a bit slow these days (at least for me), so I'm branching off into more theme park type writing in my fair blog. If you like it, great! If this is the first time youre seeing this blog and you like it, double great! Stick around and follow my facebook page, I'll definitely deliver on more of this type of content! If you're not into a whole lot of reading, well... I'm probably not 100% your speed, though you're more than welcome to share my blog to your friends and family!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to gaze into the stars and wonder why people unironically feel the need to ask what time the 3:00 parade is going to be.

Steven Spielberg just couldn't get enough. I'm gonna talk at you about that.

So, if you aren't an adult-child who spends all of their time perusing cartoons and cartoon-related news, this may blind side you a bit. Especially if you were lucky enough to be a kid in the 90s.

Now, of course, this is a rumor at the moment, but it seems that the success of Animaniacs on Netflix has caught the attention of Warner Bros. Animation, who's portfolio of rebooting their classic cartoons has been... Touch and go. Largely, their direct to video Tom and Jerry movies aren't all that abysmal, and the Looney Tunes Show from 2012 was surprisingly, refreshingly good. But than we have to deal with the fact that they're making Fred Flintstone and George Jetson team up with the WWE to save the respective days, which is dubious enough as it is. And than there's...

Not to be discussed in civilized

conversation.

Well, thankfully, the success of Animaniacs on the streaming platform has also caught the eyes of Steven Spielberg and Amblin Entertainment, who I'm convinced carried 75% of the weight that was Warner Bros. cartoons in the 90s. This is important because it seems that the original executives for the show have gotten back together and seem to be talking about bringing the Warner Brothers (and sister Dot, naturally) back for brand new hijinks. And this is a wonderful thing on multiple levels.

Quit lying, you know you're ready

to relive this all over again.

Obviously being that this is a rumor (and even if it were officially confirmed), any real, solid information on what direction this will go is, well... Nonexistent. But you know im not shy about opening my mouth and offering opinions anyway. So to me, if you couldn't tell from my demeanor before, this is just the bee's knees. But getting back to WB's track record of reboots, I'm going to remain as cautiously optimistic as my inner 90's child will allow. Also, in an animation culture where shows like Steven Universe are what's in demand, one should also consider how well the antics of Slappy Squirrel will resonate with today's animation consumers.

My hero. <3

On the other hand, one of the virtues of Animaniacs is that they have a very deep understanding of pop culture, and aren't afraid to throw relevant punches when they're gonna be funny. And there's a lot of material for the writers to work with these days... 20 minutes of scrolling through the news should be everything they'll ever need.

On the whole, though, I think if this does come to fruition, I don't see why or how a new generation of Animaniacs could fail entirely. The evidence is in the fact that the show continues to resonate with audiences on Netflix, despite that some parts of it clearly show their age. We might be seeing some real TV magic in the making, folks.

I for one am ecstatic to see more of...

whatever the heck is going on here... After 20 years.

But remember... This is all only a RUMOR.

So in the meantime, if you want your fix, hop onto your Netflix account and get binging. Or, I guess you could just look it up on YouTube, if being cheap and low quality more your speed (like me. Some days). For now, I'm gonna stop this here and hop onto Netflix and relive the glory days of 90s TV animation.

Expect me to talk about this more as more news unfolds!

PS: an open letter to WB animation and Amblin: if you need animators for this thing, I will Forrest Gump my way across the country to help you bring this thing to life. I should probably do something with my animation degree, and this project has my name on it.

Pictured: me, the half second I see

a listing for animator on this show.

I've returned! + Roger Rabbit thoughts

Hello, all zero of you!

I was just thinking about how I would enjoy returning to the wonderful world of blogging, and as I was thinking about how I really didn't have the time or the inclination to set up a brand new blog, I remembered that I had this one! I have deleted one post that I decided was pretty embarassing, and will probably go back and make sure I don't sound like a fool anywhere else here, but other than that, I'm just picking up where I left off about 2 years ago! Expect more musings about all kinds of stuff - movies, food, people, theme parks, my life - it'll all be very exciting, I'm sure.

And speaking of talking about movies, I wanted to share thoughts about one in particular that I consider to be the greatest of all time, the movie that continues to influence my work / life to this day.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit was and still is widely regarded as a cinematic masterpiece by many, a game changer for animation and visual effects, and really set the bar a lot higher for what is possible in filmmaking in general. But while I can and probably will gush about all of those things and why I think its the greatest movie ever made in a future post, I want to gripe about one particular problem that I'm having - it's not getting the credit it deserves.

Let me explain. In the animation world, we as an industry phase through different ages, much like music, live action movies, and almost anything else, really. The golden age of animation is regarded to take place between the mid to late 1930's and run through the early 60's; the period varies depending on who you ask, this is all highly subjective. Today, we are going through what many in the industry believe to be a second golden age, thanks in part to television shows like Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, and features like Zootopia and Moana. The period that I want to focus on is one of high influence in the animation world, you might say it defined the generation of now 20 and 30 somethings - the Disney Renaissance. Think movies like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King (my personal favorite from this period). And tell me to get a life in the comments section if you want, but I have a serious problem with how much credit one movie gets for the stage setting that Who Framed Roger Rabbit did into the era.

If you ask most Disney fans what movie started the Disney renaissance, more often than not they'll immediately rattle off The Little Mermaid. Now, don't get me wrong, Mermaid has more than earned its spot among the Disney classics, its a beautiful film in just about every conceivable way. I'm not here to bash on a film that I actually enjoy quite a bit. I do, however, want to take you back about 10 years before Roger Rabbit and Mermaid came out. If you don't know a lot about the history of Disney animation, I'll summarize by saying that the first couple of decades after Walt's death were pretty embarrassing for the animation studio.

Probably had something to do with people

really not wanting to spend an hour and a half with this guy.

There were a noticeable number of animated flops coming from Disney's animation studio, the most prominent of which is The Black Cauldron. I don't think Disney really even officially recognizes that movie. Either way, even the movies that performed better such as Fox and the Hound and The Great Mouse Detectives just weren't doing well enough to justify keeping the animation ship alive. Animation was getting too financially risky, and Disney executives were getting ready to pull the plug on animation altogether. 

Than in 1988, Touchstone released a technologically advanced, but classically grounded, movie that changed hearts and minds about animation in general. That movie was not The Little Mermaid.

I am the master of subtle hints.

As I've stated before, this shouldn't be interpreted as a bash festival for Mermaid... But to be the first movie in the Disney Renaissance is not the same as breaking the ground for it. Roger Rabbit was the first success the Walt Disney company has seen from an animated property in a long time, at least of that magnitude. And Disney wasn't the only company to take notice of the success. It is very probable that Steven Spielberg would not have even considered Tiny Toons or Animaniacs without seeing the success of Roger Rabbit... And without that success, it's probable that the door couldn't have opened for shows like Batman the Animated Series, or later down the road, Teen Titans. Universal immediately brought Roger Rabbit's director, Robert Zemeckis, back to finish Back to the Future parts 2 and 3. And as far as Disney goes, well... The renewed interest in animation following Roger Rabbit bolstered Disney in such a way to produce the multiple animated shows that we 90s kids still subconsciously hum the theme songs to. So all of this is to say that because Roger Rabbit was such a success, it sent shockwaves throughout the film and animation industry as a whole.

But back to my original point. Roger Rabbit proved that the Disney brand of animation was still wanted and viable with enough high quality work (ironic because outside of the few Disney animators that helped bring Roger to life this wasn't a film that the Disney studio spent much time breathing life into... I digress). Before this assurance and because of the terrible box office numbers the post-Walt animated films were producing at the time, animation was starting to seem too risky. So is it because of Roger that we get to enjoy watching Sebastian serenading Prince Eric into kissing Ariel? Is it because of Roger that we got to see the Beast love and be loved in return? Is it because of Roger that we got to enjoy that satisfying scene where Simba threw Scar off the side of Pride Rock? My speculation is, yes. Who Framed Roger Rabbit proved that animation done well can bring in hefty returns, so Disney rebuilt the confidence to say yes to putting in more effort to plus The Little Mermaid to the point that working more to improve it would seem like overkill. 

My whole argument in summary is this: The Little Mermaid was the first of the greatest Disney films of the millennial generation. It was the first of the spark that became the Disney Renaissance. But let's be 100% real here: That is in almost complete thanks to the film that really set the stage for the Disney Renaissance... Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Early Animation Nightmare Fuel

***WARNING: Some of the images I use may contain content that was a product of it's time. Just know that I do not condone the types of attitudes displayed in early cartoons as a way of living today, but I am looking at these images in the context of appreciating animation history, and in effect, history itself. I do not intend to demean anybody through the images I use for my blog.***

I want to reminisce on old cartoons.

No, I don't consider '90's cartoons old. Not 50's. I'm talking about pre- to early Mickey Mouse era work. What I want to talk about is old, OLD animation history that, while as an animator myself I appreciate for its historical impact, I will be the first to say... it's creepy. Like... really creepy.

From The Enchanted Drawing, 1895. Frankly, I don't understand

how people could sit in a dark room and watch this stuff without squirming

a little bit.

As an adult, it's much easier to say "Well, those are just cartoons, especially early cartoons... some of the drawings are going to be crude!" And I would agree, but I know as a child, there was a lot of imagery that just made me feel uncomfortable. To the point where I would go to sleep with the blanket over my head just thinking about it. I'm just thankful that I didn't see any of these twisted pieces of animation history as a kid.

While there's a lot of content that I could rifle through here, I am going to choose the creepiest of the creepy images from cartoons I have had the uh... pleasure... of seeing in all of the time I spend on YouTube.

Which is a lot of time.

Without any further ado, though... I want to introduce you to Tom and Jerry. 

You: "... I thought we were going to talk about Tom and Jerry."

In brief, a company called Van Beuren Studios came up with these brilliant, timeless characters in 1931, and their adventures charmed animators for a healthy 2 years, when they finally hung up their hats in July of 1933. According to this ever-reputable source. Interestingly enough, Joseph Barbera, of actual Tom and Jerry fame, started his significantly more successful career working at Van Beuren. Barbera no doubt donated blood and sweat to the decidedly non-cat and mouse duo until he left to work for MGM to pursue a series that was probably going to be slightly more successful than this Tom and Jerry. 

But I'm not here tonight to wax history. No, I'm here to talk about how creepy these cartoons are. For example, 1932's Pencil Mania, where the basic premise is that the little man uses what I can only assume is dark magic to conjure terrifying images out of thin air, is full of frightful things to make you wish you weren't going to sleep tonight. In one particular sequence, he conjures up a barbershop trio consisting of a tomato, a banana, and an expired potato. They begin to sing about... something... when all of a sudden they perform this inexplicable act of horror.

This might be a thing that's living in your closet right now. I would

go check if I were you.

In fairness, that's actually pretty tame compared to other pants-crappingly scary things they've had to face. We now come to an episode from 1931 called Wot A Night, where Tom and Jerry are taxi drivers who chase a couple of bearded men down for not paying their fare. And than they end up in an old dungeon. Mind you, I think that this is the obligatory "spooky" cartoon that most famous cartoon stars of the day had at least one run-in with, so scary ghosts and skeletons are par for the course. I assure you, though, that Tom and Jerry takes it to the next unfortunate level. Let me show you the first monster they run into upon entering this maze of imminent death. 

I don't care how brave you think you are... you'd just freeze in terror

if this thing came out of the dark and charged after you.

And speaking of coming out of the dark, after Tom and Jerry escape from a room full of skeletons obviously having a contest to see who can do the most uncomfortable dance to watch, they find themselves face-to-face with a gigantic shadow, when this happens.

"You will join us in our unholy choir."

They turn out to be skeletons (of course), but what makes these skeletons particularly terrifying is that, if you listen to what they're singing - outside of the entirely racially insensitive perspective - they are begging to be taken from the terror that is their Purgatory. Look at how their eyes are, for the most part, constantly facing up as they sing. Listen to the lyrics. Their inflection implies that they are ready to escape their present existence. If you'd like to think that I'm looking into this a tad too deeply, you might be correct... but consider, for one, that these cartoons were not made for a child audience. These are made to precede feature films, and as such, contain very adult messages. Does Purgatory seem a bit too outlandish now?

For another thing, consider this next and (thankfully) final sequence of the short. Tom and Jerry finally manage to find the exit to this portal to hell, where they confront the two men who they offered a taxi ride to. The two men spend 20 seconds pointing at the duo and than walk off screen, which is apparently the cartoon's code for "Lift up that shirt!" the little one does exactly that, when they come to the final revelation of this 7 minute nightmare...

Where they find out that they can never truly escape.

The point I want to make with this final sequence is that I think that, if my theory about the singing skeletons holds merit, that just by being in this castle, Tom and Jerry have died and they themselves have entered Purgatory. The cartoon ends on the note that they are running away, flailing their arms in a desperate attempt to escape, but the iris out indicates to me as a viewer that we never really find out if that is they manage to get out.

Also, judging by the happy cartoony flute music that accompanies,

trying to escape their eternal fate is also hilarious.

Once again, am I looking too far into this? I'll let you be the judge. 

Well... I spent a lot more time talking about Tom and Jerry than I was ever planning to. Oops. Well, this is an excuse to add yet another series to my blog. What are your thoughts overall, though? Is there an old cartoon that was your personal nightmare fuel? Let me know in the comments! 

And if you haven't yet, please Like the Matt's Musings Facebook page to keep tabs on when I update my blog, and we can definitely spend more time discussing more nightmare fuel together!

And now, the latest Animation Good, Bad, and Ugly

It's been awhile since I've complained about something, so I figured it's high time I filled my quota.

Me right now.

The Good

Disney UK has released the international trailer for Inside Out, and I must say it's been some time since a movie trailer has made me laugh. 

This post, however, with go without honesty if I didn't express my disappointment. I'm ashamed to say that I can no longer track the source... I think I read it on Cartoon Brew... but what I read online when the movie was originally announced suggested that this film would be a 2D / 3D hybrid. From all of the teasers that have been released, and this recent trailer, I am sad to see that there's nothing that supports this initial announcement.

This trailer almost entirely redeems itself, though... and I don't know if it's just a question of novelty, but as I've discussed in a previous post, my favorite stand up comedian, Lewis Black, stars as the role of Anger. And boy, he does not disappoint. I would be so bold as to say that he stole the show in this trailer. This is a movie I definitely plan to go see in theaters.

The Bad

Oh, Bento Box... why did you think this was a good idea?

Thanks to the magic of limited puppet animation, I can safely confirm

that Madea is actually more creepy than in live action form.

I have uh... issues with this movie. I've never been a gigantic fan of the Madea movies in the first place, mind you, but Bento Box did not facilitate her (his?) transition into animation well. And a lot of the problem for me is that I have no idea what they're going for visually. The characters look sort of like they're designed for a fully-animated Disney flick, mixed with a more stylized, exaggerated Bruce Smith (Dr. Facilier) flavor. The problem with that is that it doesn't work with Bento Box's limited animation approach... these characters are in desperate need of being more flexible, and for that reason it becomes painful to watch. Also, this is another one of those situations where there really isn't anything here that couldn't have been accomplished in live action, so animating this movie just seems like a waste of resources... and it's hard to tell if any of the crew was invested in doing this.

In short, Madea's Tough Love, in totality, just seems like a bad idea.

The Ugly

In the past year, the big dogs in the feature industry have been found out conducting the entirely unfair business practice of wage-fixing, where they chose to keep the wages of their animators and other staff as low as the company thinks they can get away with in order to maximize profits on their output. 

Well, Sony Pictures Imageworks decided to take it to the next level while reaching out to future animators at the CTN Expo. Look at the wonderful advice they're offering.

And by "wonderful," I mean the worst possible advice 

you can possibly offer to anyone ever. Image via Cartoon Brew.

Basically, what Sony is telling people is that seeking employment that would value their skill set is not only discouraged, but - get this - "unprofessional". And according to another article at Cartoon Brew, an animator on Who Framed Roger Rabbit was nearly given the axe for comparing his wage against that of his colleagues. This leads me to believe that this is also a terrible, terrible practice that the same studios in heat for wage fixing are conducting. 

The bright side to this is that the studios are actually being exposed for this crime, but with Pixar CEO Ed Catmull being entirely unapologetic, borderline proud of being unethical, it could be some time before we see any positive resolution.

If you have Facebook, please Like the Matt's Musings page to keep tabs on when new posts are made, and you have the chance on there also to instantly join in the conversation!

Mickey's Christmas Carol - The Definitive Film Version

Well, here it is, guys... Christmas is just a couple weeks away. My personal favorite holiday, because let's be honest with ourselves: what could possibly be better than gifts and all the food you'd expect from Thanksgiving part 2.

You're not leaving this table until you put on ALL 50 pounds of that winter

weight, Billy.

Also, there is no other holiday that boasts such a fantastic array of themed movies like Christmas. Think about it: what is one of your most fond Christmas memories as a kid? If your answer is not huddling in front of the TV with your family to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the proper one, not the Jim Carrey version) or Santa Claus is Coming to Town, than you're either A) lying, or B) from a family that demonized technology. Or perhaps that classic film, Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer is more your flavor.

I'm just kidding. Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer should be 

absolutely nobody's flavor. Unless you enjoy bitter.

It's hard to argue, however, that the most retold Christmas story of all time is Charles Dicken's classic novel A Christmas Carol. Since the beginnings of motion picture, A Christmas Carol was told again and again to all different generations of movie-goers. Most are considered classics, though a few slipped through the cracks and became forgettable.

And creepy. Let this be a lesson: Jim Carrey and Christmas is 

a combination for disaster 100% of the time.

Though which one is the definitive retelling? There is a veritable slew of versions to pick from... and I'm ashamed to say that I have not sat down and watched all of them (yet). People will argue that the Muppets Christmas Carol is the best retelling. I'm sure there's even a school of thought supporting the newest version of the film as the candidate. 

For me, however, there's only one version that sticks out in my mind every time.

Mickey's Christmas Carol. 

Go ahead - scoff. 

Let me break this down for you. First, all of the characters work immaculately well within their respective roles. Donald Duck is a fantastic Fred, though this retelling doesn't give a whole lot of time to develop him... but I'm pretty sure nobody's watched any of the movies to follow the adventures of Fred. The secondary characters are also great, and work well within their roles... my particular favorites are Rat and Mole playing the charity workers.

But let's focus on the characters that matter to the longevity of the story. Obviously, Scrooge McDuck was going to play... well... Scrooge. Prior to this film, Scrooge has been featured in a multitude of Carl Barks' Donald Duck comics, and has been featured in one other film to my knowledge.

Our friends in the US government could use a sit-down to study this film.

Scrooge already possesses most of the character traits that the role requires... probably because he's already Scrooge's duck counterpart. He was predestined for this role.

Bob Cratchet is played here by the world's most beloved mouse. And why wouldn't he? Of course Mickey would be so loyal as to work an unreasonable number of hours at a fraction of the pay for his miserly overlord - and he would do it with a smile on his face. He sees the bright side of all things, even in the face of cruel and unusual poverty and a dying, crippled Tiny Tim, because that's just the kind of character that Mickey Mouse Bob Cratchet is. That puts the kind of low-life character Scrooge is in perspective, and that's what makes Mickey's role work so well in this retelling.

Now, let's talk about the spirits. Goofy, admittedly, is a bit of a strange Jacob Marley. And for years, I've always thought his voice and the character choice in general was off-putting, but just tonight as I was re-watching, I came to a revelation:

It's Goofy, but it's not really Goofy.

If you're familiar with the Disney shorts from the late 40's and into the 70's, you're probably familiar with this iteration of Goofy. This is actually Mr. George Geef, the everyman family guy who doesn't really get himself into too much cartoony trouble, but would prefer to live the straight, normal life of waking up on a Sunday morning, laying in his hammock and reading the paper until 2 PM. Do you see where I'm going with this?

I have come to believe that Jacob Marley was played by Goofy, but not the Goofy we automatically picture inside our heads. I believe that the writers entirely intended Marley to be George Geef, the misguided but hard working foreteller of Scrooge's fate. 

Finally, we come to the actual spirits themselves. Jiminy might have been able to play any of the three spirits, as he served as Pinocchio's adviser down temptation and choosing between right and wrong. He serves best, though, just as Disney cast him. It's already too late for Scrooge to change his past, and the spirit of conscience-ness is here to remind him that he messed up when he foreclosed the honeymoon cabin. The ghost of Christmas present isn't my most favorite, played by Willie the Giant from Fun and Fancy Free. He was animated really well, though, and he serves as the bridge to a pretty important moment in the movie, which is when Scrooge is introduced to Tiny Tim and realized that maybe he should consider giving Cratchet the opportunity to not have to live like a hobo, as Scrooge watches him literally splitting peas for his entire family.

But it's the ghost of Christmas future that makes this movie memorable. Just in case any of you out there forgot that Pegleg Pete was capable of being just as menacing at literally any of the Disney movie villains, I suggest going back and watching him perform in Mickey's Christmas Carol. The choice to shroud him in darkness and silence is a fantastic catalyst for the vision of the solemn moment where we discover that Tiny Tim loses his battle with... whatever disease he was afflicted with, and lowly Cratchet has to leave behind the only material memory that he possesses. And than the spirit sadistically reminds Scrooge that he stopped being important to anybody by throwing him into the fiery nightmare pit that is Scrooge's grave.

That's after we spend an intimate minute and a half listening to Peter

Lorre weasel talk about how unloved Scrooge was.

The cast of characters fit in perfectly well with what most people consider to be the accepted story of A Christmas Carol, which is where I feel that adaptations like the Muppet Christmas Carol fall short. Also, I feel that another distinction between Mickey and Kermit's versions is that for all of the silliness that could possibly ensue with a Mickey Mouse retelling of the story, there's something about this version that's dignifying. It takes itself at least somewhat seriously... particularly, when Scrooge is faced with the life he's helped Cratchet fall into, and than when we meet the ghost of Christmas future. I personally did not feel that the Muppets version captured any of the more serious moments as powerfully, and I think that's a lot of what make it fall flat to me.

If you disagree and want to loudly tell me exactly how wrong I am about

everything I've said here, please feel free to comment :) I will accept all comments!

In summary, though, just everything works about Mickey's Christmas Carol, and it has yet to be topped by any other version of the story... at least in my eyes. I, personally, have made it a part of my Christmas tradition every year, and if you haven't seen it yet, I highly encourage you to pick up a copy, or find other ways to view it if you're poor. 

I still have yet to watch the Chuck Jones / Richard Williams version of the story, though... I should do that this year. Until that point, though, Mickey's Christmas Carol still reigns supreme.

With screen grabs I've seen around the net like this one, I can barely

contain my excitement. Or my laughter. Let's be honest - look how ridiculous

this is.

And God bless us, every one.

Happy holidays! :>

Have you Liked the Matt's Musings Facebook page yet? No? Well, you better get on that, friend. I don't update often, but when I do, you can be the first to know by Liking Matt's Musings! Also, be sure to share this with everyone you know... after all, I'm all about spreading Christmas cheer!

I'm back!

Hey guys, remember me? :D

Beware, I live. Run, run, run coward.

Well the fall quarter is over, and I have not touched this thing like I told you guys I would because school :I but with a whole winter break ahead of me, I have a lot on my to-do list and this here blog is one of the many things I have decided I need to get back on. So there.

You'll be glad to know that I have once again made it through my classes with fairly good grades overall, and that I will be moving on to next quarter with no issue :P I'll actually be starting my senior film next quarter, so that's pretty daunting. Otherwise, nothing too exciting going on. I'm going to spend most of my days when I'm not too busy otherwise staying home... playing video games and... I don't know...

Maybe. I'll pencil this one in somewhere, I have a tight agenda.

So, I think I'll have more time to pay attention to what's going on in the animation world and complain about what I don't like here, so look forward to that. Also, I managed to get my mitts on a copy of Frozen, albeit unintentionally, but nonetheless... so I'm going to do that comparison to The Lion King that I've been talking about. Look forward to that! :D Last but not least, I am gladly awaiting the release date for Kingdom Hearts 2.5, where I will finally for the first time ever get to play Birth By Sleep, so that's pretty exciting stuff, and I'll let you know what I think about it.

Thanks, all one of you who have probably read this! :D I'll try to post more often haha. Remember, tell your friends, and I hope you'll decide to hop onto the Matt's Musings Facebook page and show the Like button some love! 

Dim the lights, baby.

Last but not least, don't forget to tell your friends!!!