OUAT vs. Other Fairy Tales: Compare & Contrast

[KingOfHearts]

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When Eddie Murphy does animated voices, they're pretty much all the same and they blur together. It's very much Eddie Murphy, not the character.

It didn't help that Mushu wasn't particularly likable, either. He was very self-serving. (Even more so in Mulan 2.) That just made his comedic attributes look like a desperate bid to appeal to a wider audience. And too, with Aladdin, Genie fits because most of the other characters are comical as well. He has the same sense of humor, but with more obvious references to the modern era. Mushu sticks out like a sore thumb.

[Camera One]

3 minutes ago, KingOfHearts said:

It didn't help that Mushu wasn't particularly likable, either. He was very self-serving.

I guess we were supposed to buy into his redemption?  I haven't watched most of the sequels of the animated movies.

[KingOfHearts]

1 minute ago, Camera One said:

I guess we were supposed to buy into his redemption?  I haven't watched most of the sequels of the animated movies.

In the sequel he intentionally tries to break up Mulan and Shang before their wedding in order to keep his job.

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Wow.  Were A&E the writers, LOL.

Just replace Mushu with Henry.

Edited April 15, 2017 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

Just now, KingOfHearts said:

In the sequel he intentionally tries to break up Mulan and Shang in order to keep his job.

Wow.  Were A&E the writers, LOL.

[Rumsy4]

5 hours ago, Camera One said:

The cross promotion with Disney is genius.  The only "heroes" who didn't seem ruined were Ariel, Elsa and Anna.

And even there, network meddling was the only thing that kept Elsa from being a literal cold-blooded murderer, and Anna a hypocrite who secretly killed baby sloths. So, we're left with just Ariel who wasn't ruined by A&E. Even there, her actual romance was nothing to speak of. Her personality is very enjoyable though.

[tennisgurl]

21 hours ago, KingOfHearts said:

Hercules was the most obvious example of pop culture references failing miserably under the Disney banner. Hades himself was fine, but all the 90s references elsewhere were jarring. Making ancient Greece look like Las Vegas was a very odd creative choice.

To me, Hercules is the most dated of the Disney renaissance era animated movie because of this. I remember liking it just fine as a kid, but I never LOVED it the way I loved Aladdin or Beauty and the Beast, because it just seemed kind of run of the mill. Looking back on it, the characters are really likable and the story itself is actually decent when it stays focused, and even back then I was a big fan of ancient mythology, so I enjoy the references and the setting itself, when its being *ancient Greece and not a poor mans New York, and I like the visual style of it, but it is very, painfully dated looking back on it, due to the never ending pop culture references that haven't been relevant since 1998. The references and some of the themes are just so very 90s, despite being set in ancient freaking Greece, which means its not particularly funny or interesting anymore. The setting is still decent, and I still really like the characters, but...it doesn't really hold up.

That's one of the reasons I was so disappointed with the appearances of Meg and Hercules, and even Hades in the underworld arc. Hades was alright, but not anywhere near as fun as he was in the movie, and Hercules and Meg could have been anybody, they had nothing to do with the movie OR classical mythology. Its especially noticeable with Meg, who had tons of personality and a real story arc in the movie, and was basically just a scared damsel in this show. Lame. They couldn't even get the things the movie had right in this show.

*Alright, yeah I know that animated kids movies, especially the ones I grew up with in the 90s, cared very little about actual historical or cultural context of their stories, even when they were attempting to adapt actual mythology and history, but still, at least most of them TRIED.  

Edited April 16, 2017 by tennisgurl

[KingOfHearts]

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 Its especially noticeable with Meg, who had tons of personality and a real story arc in the movie, and was basically just a scared damsel in this show. Lame. They couldn't even get the things the movie had right in this show.

Megara was one of the best written Disney characters, in my opinion. She had strong motivations, backstory, and personality. It's disappointing that OUAT turned her into nothing more than a damsel in distress. (The exact opposite of what she wanted to be in the film.)

Edited April 16, 2017 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

I was reading the Wikipedia entry for "Hercules", and it seemed like a bit of a mess.  I do think it was an interesting approach to show Hercules as a hero of his time like athletes of today.  They said they envisioned this as a "superhero" movie.  It sort of is... origin story, gaining confidence, defeating big villain, etc.

I wonder if the Robin Williams success made Clements and Musker a little too focused on celebrity voice talent.  Apparently, Jack Nicholson and John Lithgow were both considered for Hades, the former refusing due to contract negotiations and the latter tried, but they couldn't make the character work.  

I thought Hercules as a character was also quite weak and seemed rather dense.  

I think Rapunzel wins the award for the most destroyed Disney main character.

[KingOfHearts]

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They said they envisioned this as a "superhero" movie.  It sort of is... origin story, gaining confidence, defeating big villain, etc.

The plot is nearly identical to Superman, so.

[Camera One]

4 minutes ago, KingOfHearts said:

The plot is nearly identical to Superman, so.

It's too bad A&E didn't have all the comic book heroes at their disposal, as well as Star Wars and Star Trek.  I was really hoping to see how they would decimate them all.

[tennisgurl]

*Gets a broom* you get away from my Star Wars and my Marvel, A&E! Shoo! Shoo!

I've heard that Hercules started as a sort of Superhero story, then later morphed into a hybrid of the Superhero origin, the traditional Disney story, a commentary on sports stars in modern (90s) society, which...didn't quite mesh. The tone turned out to be all over the place, and the sports star stuff, as I said earlier, REALLY dates the movie. There's a reason that Disney (and most of its counterparts) stick to period pieces (not always, but often), it allows their stories and characters to have a timeless quality, even if parts of it (usually comic relief characters) can certainly come off as of its time, they are usually just doing their own thing, outside of modern time and culture. They usually dealt with issues that are universal, like finding your place in the world, being yourself, and accepting others. Even now, most animated Disney movies tend to be period pieces (except for Pixar, and even then, their most Disneyish movie, Brave, is a period piece) with the big exception being Zootopia, which still has classic themes of tolerance and diversity, and is full of talking animals, which still gives it a different way to comment on modern society and issues through allegory. Hercules is also a period piece, technically, but its very much tied into the late 90s and its clichés and pop culture, which really hurts the movie. It makes it very much a movie of its time.

Look at Aladdin, a movie that holds up really well, that I still love. Yeah the Genie makes tons of modern day references, but he's a magical being, you can understand why he knows all this stuff, and he is an actual characters with wants and needs and a personality beyond making pop culture references. Other then him, its a classic love story with likable characters and lots of natural humor, along with drama and a really great, threatening villain. It doesn't even actually have a real time frame, its just a city in the middle east somewhere, sometime during the mid Islamic era, maybe in the middle ages? It doesn't matter, because the time period isn't important, its a story that could take place at any time, but the vague period gives it a cool and unique setting (I give Disney credit, they did eventually start getting more creative than typical medieval European forests) without it feeling dated. It also made little kid me REALLY want a pet tiger sidekick. Like, so much. Yeah, this show couldn't even be bothered to add Raja to the story, so why even bother? Even the Walking Dead knows that tigers make everything better!

That's the problem with most of the Disney characters who show up for an arc or an episode. They take out the cool stuff like pet tigers, street smarts, or any kind of real growth or personality, and all we get is ANGST.

[Inquirer]

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Megara was one of the best written Disney characters, in my opinion. She had strong motivations, backstory, and personality. It's disappointing that OUAT turned her into nothing more than a damsel in distress.

If they wanted to go the mythological route, then they should have had Meg be in the Underworld because her unfinished business is to reunite with Hercules and forgive him for killing her since she knows he was basically mind-controlled into doing it.  In the myths, that was the reason Hercules was undertaking the 12 labors to begin with - as a means of redemption, not to join his father on Mt. Olympus like with the Disney version.

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Apparently, Jack Nicholson and John Lithgow were both considered for Hades, the former refusing due to contract negotiations and the latter tried, but they couldn't make the character work.  

It's funny, I actually think Greg Germann's performance as Hades is closer to what Jack would have done in the role than to James Woods.

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I think Rapunzel wins the award for the most destroyed Disney main character.

To be fair, the writers did say specifically that they weren't doing the Disney version of Rapunzel, nor should they have to since Disney doesn't own these stories and characters, and the writers should feel free to put their own spin on them.  The problem was that their Rapunzel was horrifically bland and only served to provide an episodic lesson to Charming that has no follow-through for the rest of the series.

Edited April 16, 2017 by Inquirer

[KingOfHearts]

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It's funny, I actually think Greg Germann's performance as Hades is closer to what Jack would have done in the role than to James Woods.

Greg Germann's constant whispering got annoying after a while.

[Trini]

4 hours ago, Inquirer said:

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I think Rapunzel wins the award for the most destroyed Disney main character.

To be fair, the writers did say specifically that they weren't doing the Disney version of Rapunzel, nor should they have to since Disney doesn't own these stories and characters, and the writers should feel free to put their own spin on them.  The problem was that their Rapunzel was horrifically bland and only served to provide an episodic lesson to Charming that has no follow-through for the rest of the series.

It just sucked because New!Disney Rapunzel was one of the better(I'd say best) of the new! princesses. Such a waste.

But the new Tangled series is pretty cute and fun!

[Guest]

Show has now officially ripped off the splinter of defeating the most evil that ever did evil from Grimm for the Black Fairy storyline.

[Spartan Girl]

See, this is why I overlook all the criticisms of how they did Belle in the new Beauty and the Beast, specifically that Emma Watson's voice wasn't good enough or that making her an inventor was pointless. It is still more faithful to the original spirit of the character than ANY of the versions of the characters OUAT butchered.

Some complained that Emma's Belle wasn't as sweet and winsome as the cartoon. But I liked that she was a little more forceful, especially when she rejected Gaston in the beginning. That was one of the things that bothered me in the cartoon: in the beginning Belle was a little too polite, gently rebuffing Gaston when you got the feeling that Gaston had been stalking bugging her for quite some time. I get that she wanted to be nice and retain her dignity, but as we all know in this day and age, some guys won't take no for an answer. Cartoon Belle knew Gaston was a jerk from the start, and yet it wasn't until he tried extorted her through her father that she finally snapped and told him off.

So I loved it when Emma's Belle flat-out told Gaston from the start that she wasn't interested in inviting him over for dinner. No "maybe some other time" or an "I'm busy"  excuse, just an unapologetic "no", coupled with an "I'm never going to marry you" in the beginning. Women don't have to keep pretending to be nice to their harassers.

[Camera One]

I finally got a chance to see the new "Beauty and the Beast" movie.  Beware spoilers below.

There were some aspects it did well and other aspects where Once one-ups it.  The movie's CGI was definitely better, though characters like Lumiere and Gaston were much more complex and interesting in "Once".  Their backstory for Belle's mom in the movie really doesn't beat the truly sad and tragic one that "Once" wrote.   I must say I really missed Rumplestiltskin's role in the story since The Beast was too humorless.  And the movie's ballroom dance sequence didn't have the emotional resonance of Belle and Rumple dancing after their meaningful wedding vows.  Fine, I will get on with my actual thoughts.

I think the movie was an admirable attempt to match the magic of the animated version.  Even though I still like the animated one better, I actually enjoyed seeing a live-action rendition of certain parts.  The period costuming was beautiful and were interesting from a historical sense since it made me wonder which time era it was trying to portray.  I liked seeing human townspeople in the big musical numbers, since I could follow the same individual in the opening "Belle" number, to the later songs like "Gaston" and "The Mob Song".   Having a few recognizable townspeople really helped in that regard.  I loved Emma Watson in Harry Potter, but I can't say she stood out.  I'm still torn whether they should have gotten a better singer.    Gaston and Lefou were perfectly cast.  I did find all the characters likeable, including the inanimate objects.  

I'm glad they added little tidbits in about the characters' backstories.  While they didn't add a huge amount to the movie (since they weren't that developed), they also didn't contradict, and it kept the movie interesting since at times, I was getting slightly antsy.  I did like the brief journey to Paris.  Frankly, I'd have loved even more travelling.  I liked we saw a bit of the Prince's lavish lifestyle before the Curse.  I did like some of the new songs they wrote, though I found the new lyrics kind of clunky.  For example, when Belle was singing about how being in the castle had changed her.  I did really like how they did NOT make The Beast illiterate.  I really could buy why he and Belle were able to connect if they both loved reading.

I didn't mind Gaston not having a sob story, of course, but his sudden jump from vain egotist to attempted murderer tying Maurice up to be eaten by wolves just didn't track.  Especially since he actually took the effort to go out with Maurice to try to find Belle and the "monster".  I actually liked how they humanized Lefou.  

Finally... I guess this is the biggest spoiler so I'll spoiler quote it.

Spoiler

Was the Enchantress/Agatha as shady as Blue or what.  I was totally creeped out in the Mob scene when she was avoiding the fighting and walking purposefully up the stairs.  I fully expected her to come out of nowhere and push Gaston to his death.  She came off as totally mean at the end, for letting the magic die and having the servants basically "dying".  I guess The Beast's sentence was much shorter than in the animated movie implied... maybe 10 years or so?  That was so cruel to the servants who had family members in the village.  Mrs. Cogsworth was such a great villain (with her singing line in Mob Song)... she should definitely not have been Cogsworth's wife.

Edited April 17, 2017 by Camera One

[Spartan Girl]

32 minutes ago, Camera One said:

I didn't mind Gaston not having a sob story, of course, but his sudden jump from vain egotist to attempted murderer tying Maurice up to be eaten by wolves just didn't track.  Especially since he actually took the effort to go out with Maurice to try to find Belle and the "monster".  

I thought he only "helped" Maurice just to make himself look good in front of the villagers and to Belle. It wasn't like he was actually sympathetic to Maurice.

[Camera One]

I agree that was his motivation.  Though he did come off as quite reasonable when he was convincing Maurice that they should turn back.

I just remembered one more thing.  The only musical number that didn't work for me was "Be Our Guest".  I love the song, but I don't know why it felt like it lasted a very long time and the movie seemed to grind to a halt.  Maybe I felt CGI'd out or something.  It felt like a show-stopping number.  Having said that, I really enjoyed the singing performances in the song itself.  I thought Ewan McGregor did a good job.

[Spartan Girl]

Apparently Ewan McGregor had never seen the original cartoon or even heard "Be Our Guest" -- shocking because he has four daughters -- but I think that worked in his favor. He just did his own thing without even trying to imitate Jerry Orbach, and clearly had a ball doing it.

[pezgirl7]

16 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

So I loved it when Emma's Belle flat-out told Gaston from the start that she wasn't interested in inviting him over for dinner. No "maybe some other time" or an "I'm busy"  excuse, just an unapologetic "no", coupled with an "I'm never going to marry you" in the beginning. Women don't have to keep pretending to be nice to their harassers.

She didn't flat-out tell him she wasn't interested. She said "Sorry, not this evening". Then when Gaston asked if she was busy, she said "No..." and just walked away. But yes, later, she flat-out said she was never going to marry him. I think him trampling her cabbages was the last straw. LOL I do think it's funny how she said people could never change that much, when that's pretty much what happened to the Beast.

[Camera One]

15 hours ago, Noneofyourbusiness said:

Apart from Emma's top. Since when does she raid Mother Superior's closet?

Taking this from the episode thread for "Awake".

Due to lack of time, they weren't able to air an episode called "How Do You Solve a Problem like Emma", where Emma, faced with the loss of Hook, decides to join the convent and become a fairy.  The flashbacks showed how the week Emma got out of prison, she got a job in Austria as the governess to the Von Trapp children but she quit because they were chipping away at her WALLS, until Mother Superior told her to climb every mountain and said her path in life would reveal itself.  The flashbacks end with the iconic scene where Emma met Cleo.   

[Shanna Marie]

I've been on a bit of a Dickens kick lately, and I realized that there are a lot of similarities between Dickens and the writing for this show. No, not the psychological depth, social commentary, or wordcraft. But both have some of the weaknesses of serialized writing, where each "chapter" is "published" as it's written, with no ability to go back and revise as the story progresses. As a result, there's sometimes some really odd pacing, storylines that go off on tangents, continuity issues, characters and storylines that fall by the wayside and seem to be forgotten before being revived again much later, solutions to problems that seemingly fall out of the sky when it becomes obvious that this storyline needs to be wrapped up, and a huge reliance on coincidence to move the story forward.

Actually, I'm kind of surprised that this show has never used the "two entirely unrelated people who look enough alike to pass for each other" trope that Dickens was so fond of.  No Our Mutual Friend or A Tale of Two Cities (so far).

[Curio]

This show has officially made me a lazier television watcher. Before I became an OUAT fan, I would obsess over tiny plot details on other shows and theorize how something that happens in episode 2 could come back in episode 13. Breaking Bad was so addicting because I could put together certain clues and be proven right. But with OUAT, I know it's futile to even try and theorize and predict how a plot might end. "Oh, you thought that villain from episode 2 would be important by episode 13? Think again! We're going to kill him off and never speak of him again. Think that magic key is going to come in handy later on in the finale? Psych! We're going to conveniently make every single character forget that key ever existed." I mean, I still attempt to theorize and predict what TS;TW will do (it's practically why this forum exists), but I'm also kind of lazy about some stuff because I automatically know the writers will never touch certain topics. 

So I just finished watching Trial & Error (go watch it if you haven't), and it's amazing what good writers can accomplish compared to OUAT. Now that's how you do a mystery. Those writers dropped pretty huge clues and details starting way back in the first episode, but you didn't know those details were important until the finale. If I actually paid attention more and tried to figure out the mystery, I probably could have connected the dots sooner, but OUAT has me trained now to assume every detail is meaningless. I find myself not even attempting to solve mysteries on other shows because OUAT has me trained to assume a magical deus ex machina that's never been introduced before will resolve an entire arc.

Edited April 19, 2017 by Curio

[Camera One]

I was reading an interview with Linda Woolverton, who wrote the screenplay for the original "Beauty and the Beast".  I can see why she might be a little miffed that she wasn't asked to participate in the remake.  Though I suppose my respect for her writing went down with "Maleficent" and the "Alice in Wonderland" sequel.

I was thinking about how both A&E and the writer of the new "Beauty and the Beast" had a similar idea with Maurice not sharing with Belle how her mother died. In the movie, the reason was understandable and out of grief.  The reason on "Once" was baffling... it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how her mother died.  I mean, Belle knew what happened moments before she lost consciousness.  The decision to have the mother going into the castle to save some old books as Ogres were invading was just so over-the-top that it was hard to take it seriously.  What should have been poignant became laughable.  The whole scenario also made Maurice seem even more shady and oily than he already was.  Belle would be less one-dimensional if A&E had developed the bond with her father.

[Spartan Girl]

Kevin Kline's Maurice was way better than OUAT Maurice. One person criticized how the movie "glorified" his taking Belle out of the plague infected city as heroic and overprotectivewhen it was really something any idiot should do. I didn't see that action as being overprotective; what made him "overprotective" was the fact he was so scared of the plague that he stayed in the country and refused to set foot in another city, despite the fact that the village sucked and Belle was intellectually suffocating there.

And while it wasn't that heroic to do what parents are supposed to do, the fact that he had the leave behind his dying wife was brutal. The fact that she told him to go doesn't make it any better. It's totally understandable that he was so torn up about it that he could barely speak about her to Belle. Plus, he clearly didn't want to put that burden of knowledge on her.

[Camera One]

I just watched "Saving Mr. Banks" and I can't say I liked it too much.  I didn't find Travers, nor Walt Disney all that likeable (though maybe they weren't supposed to be, I couldn't really connect), and the flashbacks felt a bit forced. Was Travers really all that moved by the Mr. Banks redemption in the movie?  I don't see what changes Disney DID make to satisfy Travers other than Mrs. Bank's first name.

[Shanna Marie]

I found this rather interesting article on what C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien thought about Disney's version of Snow White. I can only imagine what they'd think of the way this show uses and abuses folklore.

[jhlipton]

6 hours ago, Shanna Marie said:

I found this rather interesting article on what C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien thought about Disney's version of Snow White. I can only imagine what they'd think of the way this show uses and abuses folklore.

If they thought Disney was uneducated....

[Camera One]

8 hours ago, Shanna Marie said:

I found this rather interesting article on what C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien thought about Disney's version of Snow White. I can only imagine what they'd think of the way this show uses and abuses folklore.

Ha, was that an Aslan cameo in "Where Bluebirds Fly"?

[Inquirer]

Lol, it's funny that the article says Tolkien and Lewis were in unison about something, but from the quotes actually in the article Lewis comes off as more the type who just goes "didn't love it, didn't hate it either" about the movie - he points out its good points aside from its bad points - while Tolkien is the friend who is just seething about it afterward.  That's a very real trend that occasionally happens with friends who see movies together, one of them is indifferent while the other has really strong feelings about it, so it's cool to see that this trend has existed for so long in cinema history.

Maybe Lewis taking the more indifferent stance on Disney is why Disney ultimately went with adapting Narnia and not Lord of the Rings. XD

Edited April 27, 2017 by Inquirer

[Camera One]

Disney didn't do the joint-production of Narnia until 2005, though.  This is a description of CS Lewis meeting a writer Jane Douglass (who wanted to dramatize Lewis's first Narnia book, but was turned down):

“He repeated his dread of such things as radio and television apparatus and expressed his dislike of talking films. I said I quite understood this, and that nothing would distress me more than that he should think that I had in mind anything like the Walt Disney shows; I hoped nobody had suggested the book to Mr. Disney. This seemed to relieve Mr. Lewis to such an extent that I thought perhaps Mr. Disney had been after the book, but of course I did not ask. And in his usual generous way, Mr. Lewis said, "Too bad we didn't know Walt Disney before he was spoiled, isn't it?”

[CCTC]

Probably not a popular opinion, Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe is a classic, but I think the Narnia Chronicles is pretty uneven.  I enjoy more of Disney's work than Narnia.

[Inquirer]

21 minutes ago, Camera One said:

Disney didn't do the joint-production of Narnia until 2005, though.  This is a description of CS Lewis meeting a writer Jane Douglass (who wanted to dramatize Lewis's first Narnia book, but was turned down):

“He repeated his dread of such things as radio and television apparatus and expressed his dislike of talking films. I said I quite understood this, and that nothing would distress me more than that he should think that I had in mind anything like the Walt Disney shows; I hoped nobody had suggested the book to Mr. Disney. This seemed to relieve Mr. Lewis to such an extent that I thought perhaps Mr. Disney had been after the book, but of course I did not ask. And in his usual generous way, Mr. Lewis said, "Too bad we didn't know Walt Disney before he was spoiled, isn't it?”

That's still nowhere close to as harsh as what Tolkien said about Disney, nor was Lewis' sentiments unique to Disney (he disliked most radio/TV/film.)

But I was joking about that being why Disney chose to do Narnia. :P

Edited April 27, 2017 by Inquirer

[Camera One]

Ah, I see.  I was disappointed that Disney stopped doing the Narnia movies.  I had hoped the whole series could be made.  And "Once" wasn't able to dip into the Narnia world.  The White Witch was clearly starved for love, and she loved Edmund as if he were her own.  

[daxx]

43 minutes ago, Camera One said:

Ah, I see.  I was disappointed that Disney stopped doing the Narnia movies.  I had hoped the whole series could be made.  And "Once" wasn't able to dip into the Narnia world.  The White Witch was clearly starved for love, and she loved Edmund as if he were her own.  

lol! Of course that is exactly how they would see it if they ever came to Once.

[oncebluethrone]

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is probably one of my favorite movies of all time. I especially love the soundtrack *doo doo da-doo-doo-doo da-dooo-dooo. dooo-dadda-dooo.*

[Curio]

8 hours ago, oncebluethrone said:

*doo doo da-doo-doo-doo da-dooo-dooo. dooo-dadda-dooo.*

 

Ah, yes. That soundtrack. ;)

[Camera One]

I was reading this article about the new Broadway musical "Anastasia" based on the animated movie.  The musical excludes the villain Rasputin and his sidekick.  I thought this quote from the songwriters was funny and A&E-esque.

Stephen Flaherty: I remember the day clearly where we were in an Au Bon Pain in New York City as we were working on the film, and somebody just throws out this notion, “What if Rasputin just rises from the dead and is accompanied by an albino bat!?” And at that moment in time you realize, “Oh, it’s gonna be that. It’s going to move over that way,” and it’s out of the blue. But you’re a hired gun working in Hollywood, doing the best you can to write a beautiful score, but not having control over your destiny. 

Edited April 29, 2017 by Camera One

[Camera One]

I just watched "The Aristocats" for the first time.  It was alright.  In general, I'm not a huge fan of the animal-only Disney animated movies.  This one didn't really have much depth or characterization.  It would have been fun to see Edgar working with Cruella... if the jazz club she was in had a band play "Everybody Wants To be a Cat" or something.  This show could have had sooo much more fun with its free use of Disney properties.

Edited May 4, 2017 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

12 hours ago, Camera One said:

I just watched "The Aristocats" for the first time.  It was alright.  In general, I'm not a huge fan of the animal-only Disney animated movies.  This one didn't really have much depth or characterization.  It would have been fun to see Edgar working with Cruella... if the jazz club she was in had a band play "Everybody Wants To be a Cat" or something.  This show could have had sooo much more fun with its free use of Disney properties.

Edgar totally should have made a cameo in Victorian Novel World. Have him take Jekyll's coat or something.

[Shanna Marie]

I love the music in The Aristocats. And I love that Madame was apparently a never-married woman who'd lived a long, full, exciting life, and she wasn't depicted as a pathetic crazy cat lady.

[Camera One]

Game of Thrones may be just two shortened seasons away from its (hopefully) epic end, but the show's universe will officially live on in spinoff form. After months of speculation over Westeros' future, HBO announced Thursday that it is developing four possible spinoffs exploring "different time periods of [author] George R.R. Martin's vast and rich universe," according to Entertainment Weekly.

Oh come on, "Once Upon a Time" can spawn at least 10 different spinoffs.

[KingOfHearts]

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Oh come on, "Once Upon a Time" can spawn at least 10 different spinoffs.

Once Upon a Time has a saturated universe that could easily handle several spinoffs with different sets of characters. I wouldn't mind more OUATIW-style spinoffs.

Is it awful that I'm actually glad Emerald City got cancelled?

Edited May 5, 2017 by KingOfHearts

[jhlipton]

Quote

Game of Thrones may be just two shortened seasons away from its (hopefully) epic end, but the show's universe will officially live on in spinoff form. After months of speculation over Westeros' future, HBO announced Thursday that it is developing four possible spinoffs exploring "different time periods of [author] George R.R. Martin's vast and rich universe," according to Entertainment Weekly.

Vast, rich and White universe, they mean.

[Camera One]

I found an episode idea in the song "You Can Fly!" from Peter Pan.  It's a future episode title: "A Smile In Your Heart".  Some villain steals everybody's smiles.  Future line: "It's the most powerful magic of all - a smile."

Edited May 7, 2017 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

I watched the "Finding Neverland" live stage play. It was about a writer whose genius just wasn't understood by mean business people. I'm thoroughly convinced A&E believe they're J.M. Barrie.

Edited May 7, 2017 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

I was thinking about Blue and how she supposedly knew that Emma would die in the final battle as Savior.  I suppose it's somewhat similar to other wise sages in fiction.  In Harry Potter, Dumbledore knew Harry could die when he faced Voldemort since only one could live.  I am assuming Gandalf in "Lord of the Rings" knew there was a chance Frodo would die destroying The Ring.  Yet they still continued guiding the hero on their journey without telling them the full truth.

[KingOfHearts]

Quote

I am assuming Gandalf in "Lord of the Rings" knew there was a chance Frodo would die destroying The Ring.  Yet they still continued guiding the hero on their journey without telling them the full truth.

Well, at least Frodo agreed to do it knowing it was dangerous. Emma was condemned from birth. Gandalf didn't urge Frodo to do it until after he made the decision to. If Gandalf were like Blue, he would have known Frodo would be the ring-bearer and that he would die trying to bring the Ring back to Mordor. Also, he would have told Frodo's parents not to worry and that their son would be a hero.

Being useless does tend to run in the veins of sages, though. Gandalf would conveniently leave in times of trouble. (Granted, he had important matters to attend to.) Glinda left Dorothy defenseless to the Wicked Witch.

Edited May 14, 2017 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

1 minute ago, KingOfHearts said:

Well, at least Frodo agreed to do it knowing it was dangerous. Emma was condemned from birth. Gandalf didn't urge Frodo to do it until after he made the decision to. If Gandalf were like Blue, he would have known Frodo would be the ring-bearer and that he would die trying to bring the Ring back to Mordor. Also, he would have told Frodo's parents not to worry and that their son would be a hero.

Thanks for your idea for Season 7.  Yours truly, A&E.