This is a Brenda Chapman appreciation post

She was the director of Prince of Egypt (1998) and also the first female director of a major animated film

She was the head of story on Lion King (1994)

And she was a key story artist for Beauty & the Beast (1991)

And for the Hunchback of Norte Dame (1996)

She was an essential part of some of the greatest US animated films of all time. For animation, the films she worked on have a unique focus on morality, legacy, beauty, and humanity. In addition to her work at Disney and Dreamworks, she also contributed quite a lot to Pixar. You might specifically notice her input seems to go directly to the most thoughtful and emotionally potent films the studio made (Up, Wall-E, Cars, Toy Story 3). And while those movies may follow the Pixar story rules, they also retain space for quiet introspection—the opening half hour of Wall-E, the Ellie/Carl sequence in Up, the lingering of the camera on Doc’s photographs showing his former glory, those final moments in Toy Story 3 as the toys are passed off. I can’t say for sure, but I would place major bets that Brenda Chapman had a major hand in these moments. Her filmography shows a deep understanding of the tensions we face and an appreciation for quiet moments that let these feelings simmer and deepen (what Hayao Miyazaki terms ‘ma’).

In 2012, Pixar released Brave. It’s first female-led film and it’s first princess film. But, despite Brenda Chapman’s initial role as director, this would not be Pixar’s first female directed film. You see, after creating the characters and designs, the dynamics between the characters (that both respected the women characters in the film and recognized the conflicts that still exist for women), after creating a story supposedly more reminiscent of the gentle contemplation of My Neighbor Totoro, Brenda Chapman was taken off the film due to “disagreements” between her and the executives at Disney/Pixar. She complained at the time about how the men at the studios did not appreciate her ideas and would often claim any ideas they did like as their own. Now we can also see how Pixar was at the time moving toward more sequels, more output, and more action/adventure type films (how many times can we watch the same buddy roadtrip type plot??). And on top of that, we have the firing of John Lasseter due to harassment allegations (and Emma Thompson, voice actor from Brave, taking a stand and refusing to work at the new studio he has moved to).

Doesn’t it make you wonder what Brave might have been in an environment where Brenda Chapman was allowed to flourish. She has a filmography that’s rivaled by perhaps only Miyazaki in its consistence of quality. When you see Brenda Chapman’s names in the credits of some trailer or a film (she has helped with the story for the live action Lion King and has her first live action direction credit for a film called Come Away which is still under production), I urge you to appreciate not only the struggle she’s undergone as a woman in animation, but what she has contributed to our lives and the world of film.

Animation art from DreamWorks’ THE PRINCE OF EGYPT (1998).

More later!

Happy 55th Birthday to the legendary Keanu Reeves!

 (September 2nd, 1964)

But really what I’d like to start with is one of his finest qualities which is his humility. He has worked tirelessly for like, decades; and he’s enjoyed great success, great failures, great tragedy, great triumph. In all of that, he has never lost sight of the fact, of something that he said to me, “[I] know that this could all go away tomorrow”. This is one of the reasons why I tell people whenever they ask me what [Keanu] is like, I always tell people that Keanu is one of the smartest, and most intelligent, men I have ever met. He is a deeply sensitive and thoughtful person. He is also a courageous and passionate artist. - Laurence Fishburne 

Robert Pattinson as The Dauphin in The King (2019) dir. David Michôd

TIMOTHEE CHALAMET as KING HENRY V in THE KING (2019) dir. David Michôd

Almost Magical Update! Pages 36-47!

Hi guys! Enjoy the latest updates! <3

Please note that not all the pages are on this post.

If you’d like to read the update and rest of the comic , follow the link on the Tumblr description!

(I can’t link directly because apparently, there’s a lesser chance of it showing up on your feed.) 

Almost Magical webcomic fanfiction by chocolatesmoothie (aka sheisahumanparadox.tumblr.com) 

Winxclub by Iginio Straffi 

Reblogging because the tower heist was one of the best Marvel movie sequences imo AND this beautiful little s*** was one of its highlights <3

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Loki being Loki in Avengers: Endgame

Meanwhile, Keanu Reeves’ wikipedia page be looking like this :

I think...... Money.

If they need to break even- it definitely would not hurt to be a box office hit in China, a country with a billion people ready to watch a film that honors the very source material that belongs to their culture. I could be wrong. But that’s the same reason why Alita Battle Angel earned a lot despite not doing so well at the box-office in America. (If this was the case, it’s sad to know that money is the driving force for accurate representation.)

I think the point is- to represent one’s culture with respect, and to honor one’s history. Hollywood misrepresenting Western history does not make it okay to misrepresent any other story based on one’s culture.

Moreover. I’m so excited for this film! I love movies depicting the old world, particularly in Asia. Seeing it for the first time took some time for me to adjust, because I would have loved to see Mushu and Shang. But I understood that this is also a good kind of different. It’s NEW.

Thread.

Mulan (2020) dir. Niki Caro

A Day In Solaria

A Mother’s day piece overdue by one year :’V gosh.

Stella in Almost Magical headcanon, has grown into her role as queen of Solaria, and her role as a mother of five. The social pressures of ruling in the earlier years of her reign had toughened her up. She’s become more than competent.  And- she still got time for fashion week. Ayyyye. 

I’m sorry that this is what ive been working on instead of the webcomic. It’s due to the kind of payoff, i suppose. This is rather short whilst the webcomic update is still halfway through the comic. 

I hope you like this! <3 Webcomic... I know... we getting there. I’m very glad this is out of the way... Work life is no art life. Lord, please let me get through 2019.

Do not reupload. Please.  

• Still upset that Iginio Straffi literally traced bits of Sailor Moon transformations and claimed them as his own with Cosmix, and people suddenly stopped talking about it.

• Still upset that Iginio Straffi literally traced the choreography from Kpop group's RAINBOW's song "Sunshine" and claimed it as his own Butterflix dance and no ones talking about it.

• Still upset that Iginio Straffi literally traced bits of SNSD's "Paparazzi" choreography and no ones talking about it.

• Still upset that Iginio Straffi whitewashed Aisha and Flora and that people have suddenly just stopped talking about it.

Ok update. The girl on wattpad did credit you but I dont really get what's the purpose of her account because the only things that are in Spanish is her description. But the comic pages are copied and paste and nothing is changed and as I said she has 542 readers. It doesnt seem fair at all

Ayeeee. I totally get it. Thanks for letting me know. I actually found out about the watt pad thing some time back. I was totally taken aback by it. But I wasn’t surprised- after what I went through on Instagram... I can’t fight all these people... And I’ve had my heart broken time to time over the years- so at this point- I just suck it up.. Just as long as these people don’t overstep their boundaries and start making money off this or start claiming me work as their own.... I’ll live.

With that said, I promise to update real soon. I’m sorry for the hundredth time for this.

Edit: just realized you meant “status update” not “update the comic” hahaha, either way I’ll do my best. Thank you for reaching out to me! 🙏

Actor Keanu Reeves walks on stage to speak about “Cyberpunk 2077” -The Microsoft Theater on June 09, 2019 in LA

Congratulations to Ruth Carter on winning Best Costume Design for Black Panther at the 91st Academy Awards!