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carewyncromwell · 11 months

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“I had my books to read -- Didn't know that I would ever need Other ponies to make my life complete... But there was one colt that I cared for -- I knew he would be there for me! My Big Brother Best Friend Forever! Like two peas in a pod, we did everything together! He taught me how to fly a kite... (Best friend forever!) We never had a single fight... (We did everything together!)

~“B.B.B.F.F. (Big Brother Best Friend Forever)” from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

x~x~x~x

Christmas was always a very special time for Carewyn Cromwell. For as far back as she could remember, it was the time of year when she could sing lots of beautiful music and spend quality time with her two favorite people in the world -- her mother, Lane, and her big brother, Jacob. Even before she took the name “Carewyn Cromwell” -- in that time when her Muggle father Evan Bach was still in the picture and so she, Jacob, and Lane had all had his last name -- the holiday season had always been special. Understandably Carewyn doesn’t remember her time as “Carewyn Bach” that well, given how very young she was, but there were two images she held onto tightly from that time in their old house in Westminster, both of which were from her third Christmas. The first was of a tall man with his face in shadow tentatively patting the top of her head -- the second was of sitting on her stomach on the floor, squashed under the fully lit Christmas tree. If one were to ask Jacob about these fragmented memories of his sister’s, he would have the appropriate context needed to understand them.

The Bachs’ house in Westminster was a decently-sized, two-story detached home -- a rare and special thing so close to the city. It was made all of red brick, with multiple large white-painted windows and a white-painted front door with a brass door knocker. Its modest front yard was mainly covered over with brick, but hosted several white rose bushes that Evan paid to be pruned and trimmed bimonthly, to keep everything well-coiffed and respectable. The largest of the house’s windows was a bay window over the kitchen table with a ledge that Lane always put a vase of flowers in and that the family’s old Siamese cat Ella used to sunbathe on. And during the holiday season, the kitchen table was moved so that Lane could put the decorated and lit Christmas tree right beside the bay window, so that any visitors to the Bach home could see the lights twinkling out through the glass.

This Christmas -- the 25th of December 1974 -- was set to be Jacob’s tenth Christmas and Carewyn’s third. Carewyn had turned two that September, while Jacob was just two months shy of his eleventh birthday. Carewyn had grown a lot in that last year -- Lane was charmed by how quickly she’d picked up talking, even after how slow she’d been to start walking, and Jacob only egged this on by talking to Carewyn almost constantly, whenever they were together. More than a few times that December he asked his sister about what she wanted Father Christmas to bring her, though Carewyn didn’t seem to know how to answer.

“I dunno,” she’d say, as her eyes migrated up toward the ceiling.

“Oh, come on,” Jacob encouraged her. “You’ve got to want something. And with how good a girl you’ve been all year, I’m sure Father Christmas’ll give it to you, if you ask him.”

Carewyn didn’t answer, instead too preoccupied with tugging at the loose thread on the corner of her skirt. Immediately picking up on her restlessness, Jacob neatly ripped off the thread off his sister’s skirt with no effort.

“Do you want a new dress?” asked Jacob. “A new teddy bear? Or how about an Easy-Bake Oven? Then you can bake your own cakes and sweets, all by yourself!”

“I dun want a Noven,” Carewyn mumbled.

“Why not?” asked Jacob. “Don’t you want to be able to make your own treats whenever you want?”

Carewyn shook her head stubbornly. “I dun want a Noven because...you didn’t get one.”

Jacob blinked in surprise. Carewyn kept her eyes down on the skirt of her dress, flapping it up and down absently.

“Mum said...Mum said to Dad that you asked...Fafa Christmas for a Noven for Christmas. And a chem -- chem -- chem’stree sit.”

“A chemistry set,” Jacob corrected with a broadening smile.

“Mm-hmm. But Mum said...you didn’t get the Noven you wanted. Even if you really wanted one.”

Jacob’s face softened in understanding. His almond-shaped blue eyes sparkled fondly down at his little sister.

“Aw, Pip...you’re right. I didn’t get the Easy-Bake Oven I asked for. But it’s okay -- it was a while ago that I asked for it...”

Three Christmases ago, in fact -- the year Carewyn was born. It made Jacob wonder why Lane had even brought it up to Evan again after so long...was Evan rambling on about Jacob not having interests like “normal” boys his age again or something?

“...And well, I still got my chemistry set, and that was fun.”

Carewyn looked unconvinced. “But...weren’t you sad?”

“That I didn’t get my Easy-Bake? Sure, a little bit,” Jacob reassured her. “But well, I’m not as good of a kid as you are -- it’s probably appropriate that I didn’t get everything I wanted for Christmas...”

If Mum had managed to convince Pops to let me have a ‘girly thing’ like an Easy-Bake Oven, it would’ve been a minor miracle, Jacob thought sourly.

Carewyn's cute little face twisted into a deep frown.

“You are good, Jacob!” she said, sounding incredibly upset.

She immediately threw her arms around her brother’s waist and squeezed. Jacob, who’d predicted the move before Carewyn made it, caught her in both arms, and his face softened further as he hugged her back just as tightly.

“Hm, well...at least you think so, Pip.”

With this, he scooped her up and started heading for the kitchen.

“Come on -- why don’t I help you write your letter? You tell me what you want to say to Father Christmas, and I’ll write it down.”

“Kay.”

~*~

Jacob did end up proofreading and clarifying Carewyn’s sentences quite a bit, when writing her letter. When he read it aloud for Carewyn, though, she was beaming from ear to ear and nodding, clearly approving of his “translation.”

Dear Father Christmas,

My big brother Jacob is writing this letter to you for me. I wanted to tell you to get him everything on his list, please, and to get Dad a new record that I can listen to. Elvis is fun! Also, Mum needs some new rainboots. Please make them yellow, so they match mine. I also want to go to school with Jacob, but Jacob says you can only give me things you can wrap up with paper and ribbons. So please just give me something pretty, wrapped up in pretty paper with a pretty blue ribbon. Blue’s my favorite color.

Don’t eat too many biscuits, or you’ll get a tummy ache.

Love from

Carewyn

~*~

When the morning of Christmas arrived, there was a large haul of neatly-wrapped presents under the tree. Every single present was wrapped in the same kind of music-note-printed white paper, with identically-tied red or green bows. Several years later that particular type of packaging would be the main thing that would clue Carewyn onto the fact that they were all wrapped by her mother Lane, rather than Father Christmas. For now, though, Carewyn didn’t think anything of it, instead taking innocent joy out of her parents neatly undoing the paper on their gifts while her brother overdramatically ripped open the paper on his, grinning mischievously at her the entire time as she tried to bite back her giggles.

“Jacob, dun do that!” little Carewyn would scold Jacob, lightly punching his back and shoulder through her giggles. Her ineffectual scolding would only make her brother laugh louder, which in turn only made Carewyn happier and more giggly than ever. The noise, however, grated on Evan, who rubbed his temple irritably.

“Jacob,” their father said reprovingly, “that is quite enough.”

Jacob shot Evan a rather sour glare -- Lane immediately intervened by leaning over her lap so that she could lightly pat her son’s shoulder from his place on the floor.

“Settle down just a bit, you two,” she said more gently. Clearly she had been a bit overwhelmed by the noise too, but had held back seeing just how happy her kids were. “Jay...I believe that one on the side is the last of your gifts. Why don’t you open it, so we can move on to Winnie’s?”

Putting down the Once and Future King anthology he’d unwrapped with the other books he’d gotten, Jacob shifted over to look under the tree. He found that last gift (which was wrapped in a red ribbon) and, once he’d reached around Ella the cat, brought the package into his lap. It was a moderately-sized gift, about the size of the books he’d already gotten from Father Christmas. It also had a tag written in Lane’s neat penmanship that read, “To Jacob, from Mum and Dad.”

With a quick, beady look at Evan, Jacob very pointedly ripped the paper right off the top so that he could see what was inside.

When he looked at its contents, though, his eyes lit up like fireworks.

“...A portable cassette player and recorder!” he cried in delight. “Mum -- you actually got it -- ?!”

“Your father paid for it,” Lane said pointedly with a wry smile. “I just picked it up at the store.”

She glanced at her husband meaningfully, who cleared his throat.

“...Yes, well...you have been behaving a bit better as of late, Jacob,” Evan mumbled. “Helping your mother around the house...looking after your sister...”

“And you clearly wanted it so much,” Lane said fondly.

Jacob’s face had burst into an amazingly bright smile, worthy of the sun. Unable to stop himself, he jumped to his feet and ran over to throw his arms around his mother in the biggest hug.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” he said, beaming from ear to ear. “It’s just what I wanted!”

Once he’d released Lane, Jacob seized the box from the floor and sat back down on the rug as he started babbling excitedly to Carewyn.

“Look here, Pip -- this is a recorder! Now I can record songs from the radio and we can play them on cassette tape whenever we want! And I can record other things too! I can record things in class and play them back for you, or I can record us singing -- I can even just leave you messages you can play here while I’m at school!”

Carewyn’s eyes lit up, just listening to Jacob. It was like his enthusiasm just bled into her like colors running through a watercolor painting, and she was soon beaming just as broadly as her brother. Evan sat off to the side of the couch, watching his son eagerly share his gift with Carewyn with a strange, almost sad smile prickling at his features.

Noticing her husband’s expression, Lane brought a hand onto his knee, giving it a supportive squeeze before turning back to her children.

“All right, Jay,” she said with a smile. “I think it’s high time Winnie started opening her presents.”

Jacob’s huge grin seemed to gleam brighter at this. “Right!"

Once again reaching around Ella the cat, he picked up one of the remaining packages under the tree, all of them wrapped in blue ribbon, and handing it to his little sister.

“Don’t forget to read the note for her, Jay,” Lane reminded him.

Jacob peeked at it over her shoulder. “‘To Carewyn, from Father Christmas.’” He smiled encouragingly at her. “Go on, then, Pip.”

Carewyn got mostly clothes that year. Both “Father Christmas” and most of Evan’s family members sent along new dresses, though Evan’s cousin Mary had sent along a set of cute little toys called Weebles, which Ella the cat ended up playing with just as much as Carewyn did.

“Don’t forget to thank Cousin Mary when she visits, Winnie,” Lane reminded her.

“Yes, Mum,” Carewyn said promptly, even while only half paying attention.

Along with the dresses, Father Christmas also got Carewyn a new baby blue romper, perfect for playing outside. Carewyn’s last gift, though, earned a strange frown from Jacob when he read the tag.

“‘To Carewyn, from Dad.’”

Carewyn didn’t notice the confused look Jacob shot their father as she took the gift into both hands and very neatly undid the bow. Once the bow was off, she ripped off the corner so she could tear off the rest of the paper.

Inside was a rather pretty blue book with a beautifully painted illustration of an angelic-looking woman floating over a princess sitting in an open coach led by horses -- “The Classic Fairy Tales.”

“Oh, Winnie,” said Lane in breathy happiness, “it’s a book! Your very first book, Winnie.”

She shot a significant smile at Jacob. Feeling confused, Jacob glanced back at Evan -- Evan’s body language was evasive as he got up from the couch to put his spent coffee cup in the sink.

“Well, yes, I...thought it was about time that we built up a proper library for the baby,” he said stiffly. “Books suitable for a girl her age...”

“They’re magic stories, Winnie,” Lane said to her, her voice soft in both volume and emotion as Carewyn flipped through the pages of the book, consulting the pictures. “They’re stories your father and I can read to you at night, before you go to sleep.”

Jacob was still kind of bewildered watching his parents through this whole thing. There was something under the surface in how Lane and Evan spoke about the book that Jacob just didn’t quite get -- it didn’t feel like Lane had picked out the book and Evan had paid for it, the way they had with Jacob’s recorder, and yet Lane didn’t seem at all surprised by the gift (understandable, since she’d wrapped it) and seemed to really want Carewyn to be excited about it. Was it just because Lane liked reading as much as Jacob did and wanted Carewyn to like it too? If so, why didn’t she take some credit for the gift? For whatever reason she’d wanted Carewyn to see this gift as being just from her dad, not both of them.

That schmuck barely pays Pip any mind, in the first place, Jacob thought irritably. It was one of the things that made him most resent his father, that he ignored Carewyn so much of the time. Even now, he’s not even looking at her...

This thought made something click in Jacob’s head.

Is that why Mum wants him to get sole credit? Because she wants Pip to think Pops does care?

Jacob’s lips twitched with a smile despite himself.

Aw, Mum...you hate how he ignores her just as much as I do, don’t you?

Noticing Carewyn glancing up at him, Jacob grinned all the more brightly.

“That’s Hansel and Gretel, Pip,” he said, pointing at the picture she’d stopped on. “That’s a great story -- it’s about a brother and a sister, just like us! And that’s Cinderella,” he added, pointing to the picture on the cover. “She’s going to this really big party. See her dress? It’s pretty, right?”

Carewyn’s eyes seemed to sparkle seeing how happy Jacob was. She beamed from ear to ear, nodding eagerly. Then, with a quick look up at Evan as he returned to the sitting room, she put down the open book on the floor. She shuffled up onto her feet and toddled over to her father. Before he could sit down, she then threw her arms around his leg and hugged it, just the way Jacob had thrown his arms around Lane earlier.

“Just I wanted!” she chirped.

Evan looked completely taken aback. He stared down at Carewyn, his dark eyes wide and his expression almost insecure in how he took in his tiny daughter’s beaming face. Then, very tentatively, he reached out a hand and patted the top of her head, attempting a weak smile of his own.

“...I’m...glad you like it,” he said lowly.

Even despite his discomfort, his dark eyes did betray something oddly touched as he shifted his gaze over to Lane, who was smiling warmly. His weak smile even became that bit stronger, seeing his wife’s expression.

“Ahem,” he cleared his throat, “we’d...best get ready for the day. It’s nearly 11 already...”

~*~

After all four Bachs had gotten washed and dressed, Lane set about getting the Christmas turkey cooked in the kitchen, while Evan went out to pick up the chocolate Yule Log he’d ordered at the local cake shop for dessert. Originally Lane had suggested Jacob and Carewyn go with their father for the drive, but Carewyn was so preoccupied with her new Weebles (or, more importantly, watching Ella the cat bat at them with her paw) that Evan decided it was better to “leave the baby” at home. As soon as Carewyn was going to be left out of the little “outing,” though, Jacob immediately decided he’d stay at home too, and he promptly picked up one of his new books (A Wrinkle in Time), slouched across the armchair with his legs dangling off the arm, and started to read. Carewyn was a little put-out when Evan left the house, but she was distracted soon enough when the kitchen timer went off and she immediately toddled over to “help” her mother with setting the table. (This involved Carewyn taking the cups Lane handed to her in both hands and delivering them one at a time over to the table, as well as pulling all the chairs around the table out enough that everyone could sit down comfortably.)

After their late lunch of turkey, roast potatoes, cranberry sauce, pigs-in-blankets, and stuffing, the Bachs watched the Queen’s Christmas Broadcast -- a tradition Evan insisted on, though Jacob always found it incredibly uninteresting. He took several opportunities during the broadcast to make faces at Carewyn to try to make her laugh, which irritated Evan. The rest of the day involved enjoying the chocolate Yule Log and singing along to the family’s Christmas records. Jacob sang It’s the Most Wonderful Time of Year so flawlessly that Evan actually praised him -- something Jacob didn’t quite know how to accept, considering how little Evan did it. Jacob ultimately chose to forget the whole thing when Evan left the room altogether in response to Carewyn happily screaming out her best attempt at Sleigh Ride, claiming a headache. This left Jacob, Carewyn, and Lane alone for about an hour, during which Lane quieted Carewyn down by shifting the records over to the works of the Kings College Choir. Evan returned in time to hear Lane quietly singing along to The Holly and the Ivy, and he came up behind her to kiss her on the cheek.

“Pretty pretty, Mum,” Carewyn said, beaming as she gave a light tug to her mother’s pant leg.

Lane laughed softly as she scooped Carewyn up into her lap and gave her a big hug. “Thank you, sweetie.”

The night ended with two mugs of hot chocolate with marshmallows, one cup of coffee with milk and sugar, and one cup of English Breakfast Tea with lemon in front of the fireplace. Ella the cat curled up for a nap on the now-completely-empty skirt under the Christmas tree in the kitchen while Jacob and Carewyn played with his new recorder and Evan put the batteries in the new pocket calculator that Father Christmas had gotten him. These moments were captured in pictures taken with Lane’s own gift from Father Christmas: a snazzy new Polaroid camera.

At seven o’clock, Lane took Carewyn upstairs so she could get ready for bed. She tried to encourage Evan to come up with her, even going so far as to place Carewyn’s blue book of fairy tales on the side table near the stairs pointedly, but Evan soon became too preoccupied with setting up the new coffee maker in the kitchen and never ended up making it up there.

Looking noticeably disheartened as she came back downstairs, Lane didn’t even look at the book on the table again as she settled herself back down in the armchair -- and so Jacob once again found himself glaring openly in his father’s direction as he got up from his spot on the floor.

“I’m going to bed too,” he said very shortly.

He scooped up all of the books he’d gotten, as well as his recorder, and carried them upstairs. He pointedly didn’t look at Evan, even when he purposefully knocked right into him on his way up the stairs.

“Jacob!” Evan called after him, taken aback and disapproving.

But Jacob didn’t care. Even with how sweet and innocent his Pippa was, all that old plonker ever did was ignore her -- he didn’t deserve a “sorry.”

~*~

Because Jacob went up to bed so early, he hadn’t gone to the bathroom beforehand. That was why he ended up having to get up in the middle of the night. Once he’d left the hall bathroom and started back toward bed, though, he noticed the door to his sister’s room had been left ajar.

Pip?

Feeling a pang of concern, Jacob darted over. Upon peeking into her room and turning on the light, he didn’t find her. He looked around, taking note of the empty hallway and the other closed doors on the floor, and then as sneakily as he could, he darted across the hall and down the stairs. He didn’t find her in any of the chairs in the sitting room or on the floor either.

“Pip?” Jacob called out only as loud as he dared. “Pippa?”

There was a rustling from somewhere in the kitchen. Jacob came around the door frame and entered the kitchen, and immediately relaxed.

There was Carewyn in her lacy flower-printed nightgown, nestled underneath the Christmas tree. She was lying on her stomach, with her legs stretched out behind her and her arms folded under her, and Ella the cat was stretched out on the tree skirt next to her. The Siamese cat surveyed Jacob with a mild expression as he approached.

“There you are!” said Jacob. “What are you doing under there?”

Carewyn shrugged, her eyes falling down to her hands clutching the tree skirt. Jacob crouched down to better look her in the eye.

“You’re not hiding, are you?” he said with an amiable grin.

Carewyn shook her head.

“Well, good,” said Jacob. “You know you don’t have to hide from me...”

His expression grew a bit more concerned. “Is everything okay?”

Carewyn nodded. It seemed like the truth to Jacob -- she didn’t seem the least bit distressed. Instead she almost seemed expectant: like she was patiently waiting for something.

Jacob cocked an eyebrow at the Christmas tree and then back down at his sister, his face slowly unfurling in a bigger grin.

“...Aw, Pippa...you’re not waiting for Father Christmas, are you?” he asked.

Carewyn looked up at him with a rather bashful expression. It made Jacob laugh despite himself.

“Aw...he’s not coming again tonight, Pip. It’s Christmas! Father Christmas only comes on the night before Christmas.”

Carewyn’s face noticeably dropped, hearing this. “...Fafa Christmas isn’t coming back?”

“He will,” said Jacob. “Just not tonight. He only ever comes once a year.”

Carewyn’s gaze fell down to the floor as she rested her head on her hands. Her eyes even started to water a bit.

“Aw, Pip, it’s okay,” Jacob reassured her immediately. “He’ll be back next year. And when he does, you’re such a good girl that you’re bound to get even nicer presents...”

But Carewyn shook her head.

“I dun want any more,” she mumbled.

Jacob blinked. “You don’t?”

Carewyn shook her head again. “Mm-mm...I got I wanted.”

She shifted a bit. When she did, Jacob finally took in what she’d been holding against her chest. It was the book of fairy tales Evan had gifted her -- she slid it over to him so he could pick it up.

“I got a pretty...with...with a pretty paper an’ a pretty bow,” Carewyn explained. “I wanted to say...I got I wanted.”

Jacob felt like his heart was being enveloped in a huge warm hug as he heard this. All he’d been able to wrangle out of her, when writing her Christmas letter, was that she’d wanted something pretty, wrapped up in pretty paper with a blue bow. Even though, yes, their mother Lane had wrapped up all of her gifts with blue bows, Carewyn had clearly found the book to be the prettiest of her gifts -- maybe, Jacob suddenly considered, because Lane and Jacob had reacted so happily about it. Because unlike the Weebles or the clothes she’d gotten, it was something that Carewyn could share with them, the same way Jacob had shared his recorder with her.

“I wanted to say I got I wanted.” She wanted to tell Father Christmas how much she liked her gifts.

Fondness for his baby sister washed over Jacob like a wave of warm water, making his blue eyes shine with pride and affection.

Pip, you really are a saint.

“...Well, then...”

With some difficulty, Jacob sidled underneath the Christmas tree so that he too was lying down on the floor on his stomach next to Carewyn.

“...Since you got just what you wanted...how about I read you a proper bedtime story? Since old Pops didn’t get around to it.”

Carewyn smiled and nodded. With a broadening grin, Jacob flipped open the book until he’d found the story he was looking for.

“Here we go...‘Hansel and Gretel.’”

“They’re like us,” Carewyn recalled brightly, pointing at the picture of the two siblings.

“Right, they’re brother and sister, just like us,” Jacob said, grinning as he affectionately bumped his shoulder beside Carewyn’s. He then proceeded to read,

“‘Once upon a time, near a great forest, there lived a poor woodcutter, his wife, and their two children. The boy's name was Hansel and the girl's Gretel...’”

As Jacob told the story, he took every opportunity he could to make Carewyn laugh, putting on his best imitation of his snippy English teacher when reading for the woodcutter’s wife and a cackling, “old-lady” voice for the witch. It entertained both Carewyn and Jacob greatly. Carewyn liked the first story so much that Jacob went on to read two more -- Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella -- after which Carewyn started to nod off. Her head drooped down onto her brother’s shoulder, and Jacob smiled fondly down at her before, taking care to avoid Ella the cat, he slid both himself and his little sister out from under the tree and scooped her up so he could carry her upstairs to bed. The old Siamese cat proceeded to follow Jacob and Carewyn upstairs, only breaking off once Jacob had put Carewyn to bed and closed the door. The feline then lost interest and sidled her way back downstairs, presumably to “reclaim” her spot on the tree skirt. Jacob himself then went off to bed, a full smile attached to his face.

Evan ultimately left almost no impact on Carewyn’s life. Fortunately she never had any gaping holes left behind in his absence -- for she had a devoted big brother there to ensure she never once felt like she wasn’t special or her feelings didn’t matter.

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #my writing #carewyn cromwell #jacob cromwell #evan bach #lane cromwell #okay this is *supposed* to be a companion to that post I did about evan and jacob #you know for father's day -- focusing on carewyn's relationship with her dad #but it ended up being a few days late *and* focused on christmas #so hahaha we've got christmas in july #oh well! XDD #but yeah I'd always had carewyn's birthday in august 1973 but in order for math to work I realized it would have to be in september 1972 #damn it :P #but anyway #on a personal note that 'just i wanted' thing? that's actually based on an old christmas video of me when I was little #I was imitating my parents since they'd used the phrase 'it's just what I wanted' when they opened their gifts #the thing I was *so* happy to receive that year?#a VHS of snow white and the seven dwarfs #<3

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floatysparrowthing · 1 month

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he was a sk8er boi, he said annoy you l8r boi

Chapter 4: All Messed Up/crushcrushcrush

Chapter summary:

Just boys bein’ boys.

Snippet:

After about an hour or so, the only room left to see (other than the three locked doors) is Dazai’s. Well, his door is locked too, but considering he already picked Chuuya’s lock, it’s only fair to do the same to him.

Part of him expects to open the door and find a torture dungeon or a vampire’s crypt, coffin and all, but at first glance it’s pretty normal, just very bare. There aren’t any posters or photos or other personal elements. Even the bed looks wilted compared to Chuuya’s.

To his delight, though, there’s a TV on the floor with a VCR and a DVD player. He looks at the VHS currently in the VCR and is baffled to find Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. There’s only a handful of movies, but they make for a bizarre array of animated children’s movies and gruesome horror flicks. It’s weird to look at but certainly fits Dazai. At least it isn’t a bunch of romcoms.

The closet holds several sets of the same monochrome school uniform that looks akin to a business suit. Other than that, there are a few pairs of black jeans, black sweaters, and then a bunch of oversized Disney shirts that Chuuya’s sure were put there just to mess with him. Or, he would have, had he not just seen the movies.

But maybe those are also there just to mess with me?

He shakes his head of the thought, trying to keep from spiraling into paranoia.

The only way to find out, he decides, is to suggest a movie night and watch one. Then he’ll study Dazai’s reactions to the movie and figure out if he actually likes it or not. Foolproof.

I have spent all day trying to figure out the chapter title… still not totally satisfied with “crushcrushcrush” so I’m accepting Chuuya song recs

#soukoku #skk #skk fanfic #bungou stray dogs #bsd fanfic #bsd chuuya #bsd dazai #he was a sk8er boi he said annoy you l8r boi #don’t expect me to keep posting this frequently #Spotify

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kylesvariouslistsandstuff · 10 months

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The "Disney's Classics" pressings...

There were VHS "releases" of three Disney animated features that are kind of a clustercuss to talk about...

DUMBO, ALICE IN WONDERLAND, and THE SWORD IN THE STONE were titles in the "Classics" line that Walt Disney Home Video used for the company's animated feature library from 1984 to 1994. These three films were unique in that they didn't return to the vault or go on moratorium. They were always, as "Classics" releases, available to purchase at any given time back in the day...

Now, these three titles had already received Classics releases in the mid-1980s. DUMBO in November 1985, followed by SWORD in March 1986, and then ALICE in May 1986. Pictured below were the final issues of those releases, from fall 1987. (They had seen minor packaging updates over the course of a year or so.)

Now you may be wondering... Hey, isn't that the same ALICE cover as the one at the top? It is!

You see, when DUMBO, ALICE, and SWORD received their Classics cover updates in September 1989, to promote the home video debut of BAMBI... Well, wait a minute... ALICE didn't. For whatever reason, Walt Disney Home Video continued to use the 1986/87 cover. Without even updating the heading from "Walt Disney's" to "Walt Disney's CLASSIC", to keep it in line with the other two updated covers...

These are weird "releases" because the only thing new about them - well, DUMBO and SWORD - were the cover artworks. Inside were the 1987 tapes and labels... (I do not have a 1987 SWORD release with a 1987-era label, myself, so it's not pictured below. My copy has a 1986-era label with the "Walt Disney Productions" copyright.)

... and they opened the same way as the '87 tapes, too: Red-orange FBI warnings (or just antipiracy screens if you got them in Canada) and the 1984 flipping text Classics animated intro sequence.

Some time around, I want to say towards the end of 1990... They made updates to the labels for DUMBO and SWORD...

Those new labels reflect the typography seen on the 1989 cover artworks. "Walt Disney's" is in a basic sans-serif font, this typeface also appears on the 1988 video release of CINDERELLA, and the 1989 video release of BAMBI.

They still open the same way, though...

Then, by mid-1991, we finally saw these releases get white-ink labels... Curiously, instead of having the diamond logo that says "THE CLASSICS"/"Walt Disney Home Video", we have a diamond that says "Disney's CLASSICS"... A diamond that appears nowhere else in the history of the Classics lines:

And these contained fully updated prints, too... The tapes now open with the 1989 Walt Disney Classics animated intro sequence, and the film prints used are different. DUMBO and SWORD IN THE STONE have a Buena Vista title card at their respective starts...

Curiously, DUMBO's ink label says "Walt Disney's CLASSIC"... But ALICE and SWORD use the old mid-80s headings...

Lastly, ALICE got a minor case update. The heading was finally changed from "WALT DISNEY'S" to "Walt Disney's CLASSIC" around early 1994...

But for whatever reason, they never gave ALICE a new cover. The LaserDisc release from around this period used a much different rendering of the Mad Tea Party scene. A release I do not have, but am familiar with...

Eventually, these would all be replaced when Disney ended the Classics line and started the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection. The day the line debuted, in October 1994 with the first-ever home video release of SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, these titles were given all new covers, all-new tapes, all-new everything...

DUMBO and SWORD's Masterpiece covers, as you can see, re-use the 1989 Classics covers. ALICE uses the LaserDisc artwork, and an all-new logo for the movie. These would be in print until a later release of sorts. (In DUMBO's case, the 2001 60th Anniversary release. In ALICE's case, a 2nd Masterpiece release in 1999. And in SWORD's case, the 2001 Gold Classic Collection release.)

#disney vhs #disney #disney animation #dumbo #alice in wonderland #sword in the stone #vhs #videocassette #1980s #1990s #80s #90s #fun facts

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tawneybel · 7 months

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WRITING A COHERENT REVIEW OF SKINAMARINK IS HARD.

Song of the day: “Jack-o’-Lantern-Man” by the Bravery.

Tomorrow’s my birthday. I’m going out to get vaxxed, then get brunch and dinner. I’m slowly redecorating my room, so I got some posters but won’t unwrap them until tomorrow. Also bought more winter clothes. Wearing black jeans rn. The first jeans I’ve worn in years. I don’t usually like wearing pants lol.

Finally saw Skinamarink. Expectations were met. It blew me away. Like, an entire essay could be written on why I liked it so much. Watch it if you value aesthetics over plot in film. I do.

At least when it comes to horror movies. I tend to watch horror and read (murder) mystery. Not so much the other way around. Whereas mysteries are plot-driven, horror media can either rely on plot or visuals/descriptions and be enthralling.

One problem I have with a lot of films is their cinematography. It often seems to take a backseat to plot, dialogue, and score/soundtrack. Which is why I love aestheticism. Well, that and symbolism. Deeper meanings are great, too.

I adore all the fan theories Skinamarinkers (?) are coming up with. Normally, “he’s in a coma” fanons bore me. But the dad said Kevin bumped his head, then the rest of Skinamarink is basically a hundred minutes of nursery nightmares. Faces aren’t shown properly.

MAKE SURE TO WATCH WITH SUBTITLES. (Unfortunately, the director’s commentary doesn’t have those.) AND THE SHORT PROOF OF CONCEPT HECK BEFOREHAND. It’s on YouTube. If you like it, you’ll like Skinamarink. Also, it unnerved me a bit more.

Skinamarink made me feel so many things. Excitement. Nostalgia. Sympathy. Nostalgia. Fear. Well, mostly just fear when the phone got those toony eyes. There are a couple jump scares, but the movie’s more about slowly mounting dread. Plus making viewers pity the protagonists.

I feel like I’m super biased towards Skinamarink because it taps into my nostalgia. The amount of media it makes me want to reminisce about... All those “child(ren) up against a bogeyman” stories.

Those parallels between the classic cartoons and what the Voice in the Dark does to Kaylee and Kevin. The same Fisher-Price toy phone we had. Classic cartoons that were on either VHS or LaserDisc, watched in our snug basement. “The Cobweb Hotel” creeped me out so badly as a kid. At least I had my great-grandmother’s elephant figurines to watch over me. Dad’s cuckoo clock, too.

The commentary mentions there are some anachronisms, like with the toys. Skinamarink takes place in 1995, but has that orange LEGO brick separator from 2011. Which just makes it more personally relatable to me.

My family’s always been practical, using things until they break. I have a DVD player that’ll turn twenty next year. So it wouldn’t surprise me if someone else has the VHS player somewhere. The only movies I remember watching on LaserDisc were The Wizard of Oz and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. But Oz is one of my all time faves and got watched a LOT. We had a bunch of obsolete or antique things and new things.

Going back to the toy phone… There was a Bruce Coville Magic Shop book that had a witch call the protagonist and her little brother on one. Jennifer Murdley’s Toad? And I’ve seen creepy art of Fisher-Price phones before.

Disclaimer: ED IS WRONG. CANADIANS NEED TO GET WEIRDER. I hope Skinamarink inspires people to make more weirdass movies.

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gavillain · 1 day

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20, 31

20. What's a totally random and useless fact that you know?

During the scene in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs when Queen Grimhilde is walking down to the dungeon, there's a brief frame with an inking error that colors her neck skin tone instead of black like her balaclava, and Disney has just never corrected it in any of the remasters. Also, in that same scene, there's a dropped frame in the BluRay and 4K masters right as she's getting to the base of the staircase, and that frame is only dropped in those masters. It's still there in the masterpiece collection VHS and platinum edition DVD releases of the movie.

31. Describe yourself with 3 singers.

Adam Gontier, Brendon Urie, and Jesse McCartney - a sliding scale from alternative rock to pop music XD

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imagitory · 9 months

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So I realize I'm late to talking about this, but...

Although I personally find Snow White (2024) to be just as pointless as all of the other recent Disney live action remakes -- even the ones I think have some value like The Little Mermaid (2023) -- I haven't hated everything I've heard about it. I really like Greta Gerwig's work overall -- I mean, heck, she worked on that recent Barbie movie that everyone's gone gaga for, and I also loved her take on Little Women. Gal Gadot is a striking choice for the Evil Queen. Even Rachel Ziegler herself I had no problem with, considering she previously was in the remake of West Side Story playing Maria, which means she has the vocal range to perform the role of Snow, unlike some of the other actors chosen to play the leads in these remakes. *side-eyes the hell out of Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, and Mena Massaud*

That being said...I hope Snow White (2024) does finally spark a real conversation about how to truly embrace a film's legacy. Because here's the thing -- there are issues one can point out with the original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs that could be addressed in a new adaptation. The Prince is woefully underdeveloped as a character, to the point that the Dwarfs honestly are the real heroes of the story. You could give the Dwarfs more depth and backstory, so as to give the actors playing them more to work with. (As much as Peter Dinklage’s comments about the original Seven Dwarfs were controversial and arguably resulted in other actors with dwarfism being shut out of the parts, I would like to write roles that can really showcase these actors’ abilities outside of comedy, so they like Dinklage can score more roles besides just as fairy tale Dwarfs.) And Snow is a bit young to be thinking about a committed romantic relationship if she's truly 14, let alone a romance with a full-grown man.

Even with these critiques, though, the idea that this film is somehow antiquated and unrelatable to modern audiences because it came out in 1937 is just flat-out not true. This film has been re-released to theaters seven times since its initial release, oftentimes when Disney was in financial trouble. 1944? Used to raise revenue during WWII when Disney was only able to release pro-American propaganda projects. 1952? Three years before Walt's expensive Disneyland project was opened. 1958? One year before one of Walt's most expensive films, Sleeping Beauty, was released. 1967? One year after Walt's death and arguably the beginning of Disney's "Dark Age." 1983? In the midst of Disney's "Dark Age" -- it wouldn't release another animated film until two years later, and that film was The Black Cauldron. 1987? Once again in the midst of Disney's Dark Age -- Disney's hand-drawn animation studio was on its last legs, with its heroic release of The Little Mermaid still two years away. Even Snow White's final release in 1993 made it the very first film to be entirely scanned to digital, restored, and then re-recorded to film. And every single time it came back to theaters, this film made bank. It was profitable every single time, even after over fifty years. And this doesn't even touch the home video/DVD/Blu-Ray or streaming markets.

On a personal note, I recently unearthed an old home movie of myself at age three, on Christmas. I was so excited about one particular present I'd received that I wouldn't let go of it for a good chunk of the home movie. You want to know what that gift was? A VHS copy of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which had only just been put out on home video two months prior. My mum presumes that I'd known Snow White only as one of our storybooks and/or as a CD, and I was so, so excited to finally get to watch the full movie. The following year at a dance recital, I was asked to talk about myself, and when asked about my favorite movie, I boldly said Snow White, and when I was asked who my favorite dwarf was, without skipping a beat I said, "Grumpy!" This is all -- for the record -- coming from a child who was never as much into romance as magic, music, and adventure and would eventually come out as asexual (though still romantic) as an adult. I certainly never saw the original Snow White as just being about waiting for a Prince or True Love's Kiss. I saw it as being about a girl who has to go through some really scary stuff, but gets through it by being kind and befriending creatures and people who help her, and the wicked woman who takes her jealousy out on her and ultimately pays the price for choosing cruelty over kindness. And I don't think I was the only one who saw the story that way.

I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with taking a new angle on a classic story, let alone offering good-faith criticism to an older, classic film. But I think the best way to honor Snow White's legacy is not to just take the original film and rip it apart in order to prop up a "new and improved" version. I look at how Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio doesn't take pot-shots at Disney's Pinocchio, or how the multiple TV movie productions of Rodgers' and Hammerstein's Cinderella or the film Ever After don't take cheap shots at Disney's animated film. Sure, I think one would be foolish to act like those filmmakers weren't at least somewhat inspired by Disney's work in places -- the 1997 version of R&H's Cinderella was even produced by Disney -- but they still did their own thing, often taking a completely different direction than Disney's film in places, even despite any possible inspiration. They didn't try to copy Disney's work. They didn't try to "fix" these already beloved films. They just tried to stand on their own merits. They told the original story the way they wanted to tell it, with their own characters, plots, music, themes, and distinctive tone, rather than take someone else’s adaptation of the material and pick and choose what they wanted to copy from it so as to leech off that adaptation’s fanbase. And I truly wish more Disney "remakes" would do that, as opposed to taking these pre-established films and then either ripping them apart and putting them back together Frankenstein-style or adding a whole bunch of insubstantial, fluffy whipped cream to an already perfect sundae. Then maybe we could have two special, unique films to enjoy as two separate entities -- the way we can enjoy films like Disney's Peter Pan and Peter Pan (2003), or Tangled and Barbie as Rapunzel, or (most relevantly of all) Disney's Cinderella and Rodgers' and Hammerstein's Cinderella simultaneously -- rather than having to act like we're "fixing" or even "replacing" old classics that a lot of people still really love and Disney clearly doesn't want to stop marketing.

#snow white (2024)#disney #disney remakes #opinion #analysis #snow white and the seven dwarfs #personal

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drdavidhuxley · 6 months

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Because I recently went to see WDAS' most recent film, Wish, and because it's their centennial, and because I'm currently listening to a mega-draft podcast of the films, here are my Top Ten Walt Disney Animation Studios films (not my list of personal favorites, the top ten films I would say are the top ten best of the canon):

Beauty and the Beast (1991) - an assuredly told version of the story, an outstanding score, stellar cast and voice work paired with great animation, a highlight of the medium of animation

Pinocchio (1940) - this was their second one out of the gate! i mean there's so much to admire: the shot of jiminy's perspective as he hops to geppetto's shop, the overhead shot of the town, the horror of lampwick turning into a donkey, the monstro chase, everything with figaro and cleo!!!

Sleeping Beauty (1959) - they set out to create a literal moving work of art and they did it. the tchaikovsky score and gorgeous painted backgrounds, PLUS you got The Golden Girls raising a child in the woods, "And now you shall deal with me O Prince, and all the powers of Hell!" FUCK.

101 Dalmatians (1961) - I watched this in its entirety for the first time as an adult after previously only seeing part of it once or twice and I never knew how fucking tight of a film this is. So tightly told. And it looks exciting and charming. A real gem from the studio.

Cinderella (1950) - the part when the grand duke is talking to the king about how the prince would react if the girl of his dreams showed up to the ball and they show the prince reacting to cindy walking into the ballroom, good shit. the message of "a dream is a wish your heart makes" gets a bad rap, but it's a pretty song and sentiment. also this movie has one of my favorite animated scenes where lady tremaine wakes up the stepsisters to tell them about the slipper and cinderella slowly realizes she danced with the prince the night before and she has this dreamy look on her face and then lady tremaine figures what's up and they pull in on her glowing green eyes and it's over for her. also I think this is one of the most gorgeous and elegant animated films. cinderelly, cinderelly!

The Little Mermaid (1989) - this probably wouldn't be on my list a few years ago, but with the live action adaptation this year and its entry into the National Film Registry, I've been reconsidering this movie and it's such a joyous and ✨ magical ✨ animated work with an emotional center that connects with so many who watch it. the YEARNING. ashman understood it. also, glen keane's (i believe he animated this part?) animation on the part of your world reprise is glorious with that fucking hair, pat carroll and the design of ursula, a heavenly match. and menken's delightful score. it's so good.

Aladdin (1992) - this is actually my number one personal fave, it's the VHS tape I watched the most growing up, but I think this is a good placement for it. It's beautiful to look at, it's a full-fledged animated comedy, it's the last of howard ashman's contributions, "friend like me" is one of the best animated sequences ever, aladdin was my first animated crush, i still stan jasmine, it spawned a pretty terrific spinoff series, jonathan freeman's cackle is the best villain cackle, and of course, robin. also, ron clements and john musker are kings.

Lilo & Stitch (2002) - the more time passes, the more I think this film proves itself to be a grand achievement in the canon. the amount of sentiment is just right, stitch is an entertaining creation and his connection with lilo is relatable, i mean the ending scene always gets me with the "it's broken but still good", also the fact that not another film in the canon looks like this one makes it stand out. and the ending shot of stitch's picture attached to the weathered family photo, ugh. it's also a love letter to "weird little kids". i love it.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) - i mean, yeah. it's scary, it's silly, the queen's transformation into the hag still rules. "one song" is an underrated song.

The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) - this movie is legendary. the story of how it came to be is insane. i read that there is actually no completed screenplay of the movie??? that's how much they had to scramble to put this together? i would also put this on a list of great comedy films. eartha kitt, eartha kitt. i don't know what things would look like if we actually got kingdom of the sun, but we are so lucky to have this hilarious movie.

#i didn't mean to write this much #thank you hyperfocus #that extended release addy doing its thing #no the lion king would not make my top ten #i didn't have anything in the “revival” era or whatever it's called but wreck-it ralph would be high on my list #i still need to see 9 films in the canon #also i feel if i rewatched bambi it would make my top ten #i feel bad for not having fantasia #cause it's glorious too #disney #walt disney animation

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ariel-seagull-wings · 6 months

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SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS: BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE TEXTS

@themousefromfantasyland

1994 VHS

#brazil #disney #snow white and the seven dwarfs

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officialkendallroy · 7 months

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2 & 20!

2. What was your favorite film as a child?

oooo i remember being like 4 years old and watching snow white and the seven dwarfs at least 3 times a day..... that vhs tape was my most priced possession :D

20. What movies do you have on your current to-watch list?

theres currently 914 movies on my watchlist......... but i really wanna see the creator, killers of the flower moon, fallen leaves, saw x (for new releases) and ichi the killer, the piano teacher, possession, dead ringers and blue velvet (for already released movies) :D

#thank u freddie :D <3 #asks #copkiller1983

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blazehedgehog · 1 year

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Seeing James Cameron's new masterpiece?

In theaters? No, probably not. Again, I go to the theater so little, I can tell you every single movie I've seen there:

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) -- I set aside some money and watched this the week before covid lockdown. Might have been the first time I was ever able to pay for my own ticket. The theater was a ghost town.

Cars 3 (2017) -- Brother took the whole family to see it, since he and my nephews love Cars.

Jurassic Park 3D (2013) -- My Mom won a raffle from her job for free movie tickets to any movie of her choice. She sat on them almost a year and we decided to watch this. It was our first 3D movie. It was terrible!

Pacific Rim (2013) -- I think this was right before I house sat for my cousin for the first time. He took me to see this the night before he left. He tried to teach me Nethack too, and it was too deep for something we only planned on spending 45 minutes on.

Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (2002) -- My Mom and I got free tickets through something else. High on seeing in a theater, I thought it was amazing. Watched it on VHS a year later and hated it. We saw this along with...

Spider-man (2002) -- I demanded we get front row seats for this and that was a bad idea. I think my Mom got a little motion sick.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) -- I think I put my foot down and demanded my Mom take me to see this since I was still high on the fumes of FF7. Maybe I paid for my own ticket? I forget.

28 Days (2000) -- My girlfriend at the time took me to see this for my birthday. It was just a ploy to get me alone in the dark, we were teenagers, and didn't watch the movie.

Blair Witch Project (1999) -- My cousin set me up with one of her friends on a date to see this. She did not like me. I thought the movie was cool.

The Haunting (1999) -- Probably one of the last "hangin' out" things I did with my high school friends. They wanted to deliberately roast it. I think it was the first time I ever cut class?

Down Periscope (1996) -- I remember when my friends took me to see this, I was in awe that they could just... go see a movie. Whenever they wanted. Jeeze, I was only 14 when I saw this. My friend must've just gotten his learners permit.

The Rescuers Down Under (1990) -- I seem to recall we watched this before the long bus ride from California to Nevada to see my grandma and grandpa for the first time?

Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs (1987 Re-Release) -- I was like, four years old, and basically only remember that it happened.

That's, what, just over a dozen movies? Total? In my entire life? I'm sure Avatar hits different in the theater, if I came out of Attack of the Clones feeling starry eyed in 2002. I saw the original Avatar on DVD and was pretty underwhelmed. Avatar 2 seems to be a very, very long movie and I don't know if I have it in me to watch it even if it was put up for free on a streaming service.

Instead, I watched FernGully for the first time in 20 years.

#questions #Anonymous #avatar #way of water #james cameron #movies #film #theater

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marvel-starwarsfangirl · 9 months

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It's 1am and I'm crying

So, uh, I decided to watch the 1937 version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs because I haven't seen that film in ages. I honestly think it's been at least 10 years since I've last seen it. The last time I remember watching it was on VHS, which hasn't been a thing for years. And the ending... man, I cried my eyes out. Legit, it's such a beautiful and happy ending that I couldn't help but cry.

Everything is perfect: the animation, the music, the overall vibe. Honestly, sometimes you just need a really happy and wholesome ending and this movie succeeds with that.

Since there's all the talk about the remake, I wanted to see how well the original holds up. And honestly, I think it's still a very charming and sweet movie. Is it perfect? No, it's a product of its time and therefore will have outdated elements. This mainly applies to how female characters are written and how romance is written. But for what it's worth, I think Snow White's kindness and ability to look on the bright side do make her an enjoyable character. Not very complex but not boring. The Dwarves will always be my personal faves though. I loved them as a child with their antics and charming personalities.

There are also so many things I noticed as an adult that I overlooked as a child:

The animation is gorgeous, particularly the backgrounds. It's a very beautiful film that any kid would get sucked into (also the animals are super cute) (at least the forest sequence wasn't as scary as I remember)

the music is also very catchy. I never noticed that the animation synchs up to the melody during the musical numbers which is such a cool detail

Doc getting easily flustered and mixing up certain phrases. He kinda reminds me of myself. Maybe that's why he was always my favorite 🤔

Grumpy seems to be someone who grew up fearful and defensive. He's always worried for the safety of himself and his family. He takes time to open up and allow himself to be vulnerable

Continuing with Grumpy, he obviously likes Snow White without openly expressing it. He literally waits for her to give him a kiss even though he acts like he doesn't want it. He's actually a very interesting character that I appreciate a lot more now

The Evil Queen always acts very subdued with her wickedness until she becomes the witch. Then, she goes full crazy mode and doesn't hide her cruel intentions

she's also smart as evidenced when she checked if there was an antidote for the poison apple. some villains just skip that step. little details like that make the film more enjoyable for me

So yeah, that's my rant. Thanks for listening

(Also, can we start putting overtures back into movies because those are really beautiful)

#disney #snow white and the seven dwarfs #snow white #the evil queen #doc #grumpy #bashful #happy #sneezy #sleepy #dopey #its 1 am and im crying #lovely

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theuniquestore · 1 month

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Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs VHS, 2001, Clam Shell Platinum Special Edition.

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kylesvariouslistsandstuff · 1 year

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STRANGE WORLD's Unlikely 2nd Life

The Walt Disney Company feels that there are 61, soon to be 62 animated features in their "Animated Classics Canon"...

At least 20 films in the "canon" had flopped at the box office on their initial releases.

And many of those films found successful second lives afterwards... A theatrical run is short, but the movie's existence is forever after that...

The earliest Disney animated films lived on through theatrical re-issues...

Example: PINOCCHIO (1940) and BAMBI (1942) were initially impacted by World War II, whether it was audiences at home not taking to those stories the same way they did to SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS just a few years earlier, or almost the entire European market being cut off. When the war was over, and these films began playing in territories where they initially were banned from, and when they came back to American theaters every 5-10 years, they began to make their money back... and they all eventually became the crown jewels of Disney's animated library. Would you believe for a second that PINOCCHIO, where Disney's whole damn anthem comes from... And BAMBI, one of the great Disney tearjerkers... Were initially viewed as disappointments upon their release? And even lost money?

Flop is a loaded word in movie-dom, and often a misused word... A film losing lots of money has long been something of a curse to a movie or even its filmmakers, something so stigmatized... And during Walt's years among the living, a lot of what's considered the cream of the crop... PINOCCHIO, FANTASIA, BAMBI, ALICE IN WONDERLAND, and SLEEPING BEAUTY... All lost money at the box office on their respective initial releases... And they were saved by re-issues over time... Films that even had mixed or outright negative reviews upon release, long considered iconic afterwards... It just had to take a few years.

Other films had second lives via home video. Home video as we know it today came about in 1975, in the form of Betamax, in Japan. VHS followed there in 1976. The winning VHS format then came to America in 1977, and slowly grew from there, becoming much more commonplace in American homes by the end of the 1980s... Walt Disney, of course, didn't live to see this video age, but it proved to be a deus ex machina to flop animated movies, more so than a theatrical re-issue could be. THE BLACK CAULDRON was originally released in theaters in 1985, and could've easily come to video the year after, but the film wouldn't debut on video until 1998. Thirteen years later... And it more than made back what it lost. THE RESCUERS DOWN UNDER was the sole box office loss during the Disney Renaissance of the late 1980s/early 1990s, but on videocassette and LaserDisc, it covered all of its losses within a year. THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE, ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE, TREASURE PLANET, and BROTHER BEAR all thrived on DVD/VHS... So on, so forth.

Now we're in the streaming era. ENCANTO. Great example. Did so-so in theaters during the Delta and Omicron variants, collected about $250m worldwide... While SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME made that kind of money on its first weekend in North America *alone*... But lo and behold, ENCANTO *explode* on Disney+ and is one of the most streamed films of all-time. Disney regularly racked up world records in home video sales (SNOW WHITE, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, ALADDIN, and THE LION KING broke all the records), and they also dominate streaming: ENCANTO, along with the two FROZENs and MOANA, regularly are in the Top 10 most-streamed movies...

Then there's the latest Walt Disney Animation Studios film, STRANGE WORLD, a sci-fi adventure movie that came out in theaters merely less than a year ago. A film they left to die in theaters during the Thanksgiving stretch, with a truly ineffective marketing campaign behind it. For whatever reason, it tested poorly before release, Disney had no faith in it, and audiences didn't seem to like it much. But on Disney+, it did quite well in its first couple of weeks, so maybe there was a small sliver of hope for this one...

Now, it has made a resurgence... But for reasons a lot of us expected, but maybe not in the way we thought it would play out...

And just a warning, I'm going to get very political... So, yeah, just a heads up...

STRANGE WORLD was shown in an elementary school in the dictatorship known as... the state of Florida. Because Florida's draconian frumpy toad of a governor kisses up to his ghastly constituents - the very weirdos in this country who hate queer people and are also very politically active, showing STRANGE WORLD - a PG-rated Disney movie for the entire family - to a class of schoolchildren is a criminal act of the highest order. The poor 5th grade teacher, Ms. Jenna Barbee, is being *investigated* for this! Per the governor's orders! You would've thought she had shown CALIGULA (1979) to the class or something! And it was all spurred by some angry Karen-looking woman who had actually signed a waiver that *allowed* Barbee to show her child and the other students PG-RATED MOVIES.

Oh, but not THAT one apparently...

Just another day in America, it seems... And just another day in a state as completely-f*cked as Florida.

The very state where The Walt Disney Company operates a little theme park that... I dunno... Happens to drive A LOT of the state's tourism???

So... Theatrical re-releases, home video, streaming... and government-mandated investigation...

This is not the first time a Disney animated movie spurred some kind of controversy, but this... This is a whole other level... Because right now, in certain states in this country, the right-wing is working overtime to rip the LGBTQIA+ community of their rights, criminalize them, demonize them, and erase them. Especially in the schools, all age groups, whether you're a kindergartner or a high school senior, even. All under the guise of "protecting children"...

To these awful awful people, a straight couple existing and even expressing love for one another is totally OKAY... But if an LGBTQIA+ couple even so much as *thinks* of smiling at each other, it's CORRUPTING our youth! Monsters like this particular governor are doing this because their lowlife constituents want it. Millions of asshole Americans who hate everyone and everything, that's who this stupid elephant party answers exclusively to. And they do it, with pleasure. Anything to power themselves, no matter how many people it hurts and even kills. They'll make up all the worst lies about us queers in order to render our pleas for just wanting to be left alone insignificant. They use trojanhorse concerns like "schools are trying to s*xualize kids", something schools legally CAN'T do, to make the masses think that us queers are in a conspiracy with "liberals", "leftists", "marxists", "communists", "socialists", and George Soros to harm children.

This is what we're up against, and STRANGE WORLD is now part of this ludicrous, hateful war... Something this party would rather invest in than actually, ya know, running a country with *actual* policy???

Truly normal people watched the movie and just said "Ok, whatever."

These demented goblins see the most menacing sinister thing preying on the vulnerable youth in our country.

All because the character Ethan Clade has a crush on a boy named Diazo... There's one scene of them hanging out together, and it's so brief and harmless... Throughout the movie, Ethan mentions his love of this boy. The two are seen together helping out in Avalonia's insides at the very end of the movie, and that's it really... It's a significant cut above the nearly non-existent "representation" seen in previous Disney-released movies... Like the utter joke that was THE RISE OF SKYWALKER's "representation", or the blink-and-you'll-miss-it nonsense seen in films like the live-action BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and even some of those were protested by wackiest of right-wing wackos.

This is really what we're dealing with in America, folks... Some harmless Disney movie that flopped at the box office and no one really paid attention to is CRIME OF THE CENTURY to a very loud and powerful block of the country, and is now part of a state governor and his cronies' cruel war on an entire community's existence. And part of this gremlin's war is also Walt Disney World itself, as it is based in Florida, and he's trying to dictate them and their district that they operate out of...

Currently, Disney is fighting this demon in other ways, one of the few good things this corporation is actually doing. Which feels kind of wrong to say, but between Iger and this utter fascist? Oh I'll side with Iger on this one, easily, even if Disney gave a lot of support to this guy and his bullshit in the first place.

I wonder if this will drive views on Disney+ for STRANGE WORLD, a movie that otherwise would've just... Existed on there... I wonder if many will stream it out of curiosity. Just *how* inappropriate is this flop sci-fi Disney movie? Is it really all that controversial? They'll pop it on, realize that it's just some harmless 100min movie, and call it a day... Making that governor and those who wholeheartedly support his crusade look even stupider and wackier than they already do...

I believe STRANGE WORLD does have a second life ahead of it, in that it's a family movie with pretty solid queer representation. It's nice to see two characters actually showing affection, and not it being some line you can easily miss, or something hidden far in the background of a crowded shot. This movie probably already has uplifted many a queer kid, preteen, or teenager already. Just seeing themselves, not as a joke, and not much attention is called to it, either. Avalonia is not Earth, and their society is all-accepting and seemingly unmarred by colonialism and capitalism. Mixed race families, queer people, disabled people, they all just harmoniously exist there. When Ethan tells his grandpa Jaegar Clade about his crush back home, you - the Earth-dwelling audience - would expect the old man to object... But he doesn't! It's a relief, in a way. Instead, he's like "what's he like? Here's how you impress him!" In Avalonia, it's as normal as anything else. Very "Disney" of this movie to create a fantasy world where you can be queer and not have to worry about millions of people wanting you erased from existence.

While I don't find STRANGE WORLD to be a masterpiece, or anything close to it, I think that's very important nonetheless. A lot of younger folk will have this movie, and it'll be a favorite of theirs. Much in the same way a lot of kids ate up EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE, ATLANTIS, TREASURE PLANET, and BROTHER BEAR on video, and took those movies with them into the adult age. Nowadays those movies are more positively spoken about. Not like in, say, 2008 where most people said "oh, those flops."

It would simply have that in its favor, but... It's now part of a government investigation. It's now in 'Louie, Louie' territory, as a harmless piece of media that's in big trouble... At the hands of people who just need to f*cking chill for five seconds already.

('Louie, Louie' is in reference to a rock song by The Kingsmen, which came out in 1963, and was investigated by the F-B-freakin'-I for supposedly "obscene" lyrics that weren't there... But the hilarious thing is, one of the musicians yelling the f-word in the background during the session was in the released recording... The FBI didn't notice that whatsoever. Funny how the things you are often looking for are right in front of you!)

Moving on... STRANGE WORLD is now in a truly strange situation, one that did not need to happen, and I'm sure little will be done about this by Disney themselves... as this is something that the people need to revolt against or work their damnedest to vote out. Hey, Jacksonville elected a Democrat the other day, so it's not all lost! Disney can only deal with the things the governor is dishing to them, not a teacher somewhere in the state who showed a movie to her class. Though it would be nice if ol' Iger made some sort of statement at least, something about standing by the movie and its representation, which won't do anything other than... Ya know, piss the right people off? Disneyland on the West Coast is already having a big queer celebration in the coming months, so might as well piss these people off some more. It'll at least be funny!

It'd be even more hilarious if WISH had some queerness in it, ditto any other upcoming PG-rated movies of theirs. Like, they could hide STRANGE WORLD because it was a somewhat-weird sci-fi adventure movie, but something more mainstream-looking like WISH or ELEMENTAL or any of those movies? It'd be cool if they kept it up. I know that I, a queer person who loves the animated works and theme park entertainments that comes out of the Disney enterprise, would be a very happy camper about that, too...

Like, in simple terms... Teacher gets targeted by a queer-loathing state governor for showing a Disney movie in class... And that Disney movie happens to be... STRANGE WORLD...

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