LETS PLAY A GAME. It’s called: Who directed it TIM BURTON or HENRY SELICK
We’ll start with the 2009 Laika film Coraline based on the novel by Neil Gaiman. Do you know who directed it? Burton or Selick?
Did you guess yet?
If you guessed Henry Selick, you would be correct. Tim Burton actually had absolutely nothing to do with Coraline at all in anyway ever. Reminder: Tim Burton has NOTHING to do with Coraline. At all. But that was an easy one. Let’s go to the Walt Disney Pictures adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel, James and the GiantPeach next.
Think you got it? Are you sure? Better double check…
Oh, look. It’s Henry Selick again! Tim Burton actually interacted with this project, though only as a producer. Bet that was tricky… Next one! Let’s go to the Disney/Touchstone Pictures film Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Have you guessed it correctly? Have you really?
Yep that’s right. Even Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas was directed by Henry Selick. Though Burton wrote the poem and created the characters in which Nightmare was based he didn’t have much interaction with the project beyond that. At the time he had already signed off to direct the film Batman Returns and did not want to be involved with the “painstakingly slow process of stop-motion animation.”
Looks like it was a trick quiz. But now you know Henry Selick, whom people rarely know of is responsible for many of the most well known stop-motion animated films. The more you know!
This isn’t even being qeued. This is just being reblogged, because some of you still don’t understand who directed Coraline.
You guys don’t understand, Henry Selick was so happy and so incredibly nice and grateful that there was a festival solely dedicated to the art of Stop Motion and that he was an invited guest. He was treated like a superstar in his craft, and he was absolutely surprised.
All stop motion animators were actually. So please please please, appreciate this guy and his hard work in his key role at keeping stopmotion animation alive and well today.
the man who for once, in the entire history of movie boyfriends, does not give a shit that his girlfriend is within 100 yards of her ex, only that her ex is very ill and needs some tender loving care because wtf is that black space blob
THIS! And even at some point when Anne started to launch into explanations of ‘I swtg nothing is going on between me and Eddie’ he was quick to be like ‘that’s not even an issue. the issue is that he’s about to die and we need to find him????’ At no point was he ever jealous or possessive and he was always very kind and nice to Eddie because he feels secure in his relationship with Anne and trusts her.
Also important: Eddie doesn’t talk shit about Dan. Most of his interactions with his ex’s new boyfriend feature the phrase “Thanks, Dan”, uttered without sarcasm. Eddie doesn’t treat Dan like crap, and he doesn’t try to convince Annie that Dan’s a bad guy. Instead, there’s just a lot of respectful boundaries and genuine concern from everyone for everyone else.
(Except the symbiote because, really, a ravenous parasitic alien that reverse-Stockholm bonds to its host does not understand what boundaries are, much less how to respect them.)
I kept wondering if I should post this but fuck it, I’ve read enough about him to know Stan would have loved it.
The story goes that there was a magazine that wanted to do a story about Marvel Comics, and the reporter showed up with a photographer to shoot some images to use in the article. Someone cracked a joke about doing nude photos, and one of the other artists couldn’t even finish jokingly refusing before Stan Lee was taking his pants off.
He was very saddened that Marvel put the kibosh on the magazine using this photo of him naked with a giant-sized Batman Vs. Hulk comic preserving his dignity. I like to think this is how he’d like to be remembered. Especially the sunglasses.
Stan Lee was a marketing genius, a showman, a storyteller, he was flashy and he made a lot of really…strange business decisions, he made one VERY strange musical album, and he worked for Marvel Comics in one incarnation or another for over seventy-five years. He held some opinions I wouldn’t agree with, but he did a lot of good, too.
He never thought of comics as respectable but he did think of them as important and that’s how I think of him: a flashy weirdo, but an important flashy weirdo.
He chose Stan Lee as an alter ego, like many of his creations. He was saving his name, Stanley Lieber, for the career as a novelist he never quite got around to having, and in the end he said he was proud of Stan Lee.
deadpool is honestly more wholesome than any of the mcu movies
Explain
ok so
Doesn’t straightwash queer characters! this was a big one. (marvel movies have a huge problem with straightwashing*)
Deadpool is canonically pansexual, and the movies reflect this! Reynolds doesn’t shy away at all from Deadpool’s sexual interest in men.
(head injuries bring out deadpool’s romantic sexy feelings it seems. in the first movie, knife to the head = romantic montage with vanessa. in the sequel, fencepost to the head = deadpool sensually trying to go down on Colossus.)
(semi-related, both movies have some cute references to deadpool enjoying being on the receiving end in the bedroom.)
(yeah, it’s canon, Deadpool enjoys being pegged)
Oh hey, a healthy romantic relationship based on mutual respect and love! and with a fully developed female character with personal agency! A love interest who doesn’t just function as a plot device.
POLAR OPPOSITE OF TOXIC MASCULINITY. This really shines through in their marketing
(yes that pillows says “FEMINIST”)
(yes that is deadpool in heels dancing to celine dion)
Diverse casting! Characters who are poc just because poc exist!
Hey look, a cute lesbian couple treated with respect and one of them’s asian!
Holy crap i don’t say this enough but i loveDomino. What a badass. Sexy-but-not-sexualized black female action hero who is probably the coolest person in the movie.
Deadpool 2 took a run-of-the-mill white character design and made her interesting!
Her trademark eye patch is now vitiligo! She has awesome natural hair. And look, body hair exists! On a person who is a woman! Which shouldn’t be unusual, but here we are. Also, she’s fun
Portrayed by the talented Zazie Beetz. Did I mention how much i love this character?
Oh look, another much improved character design!
We’ve got your humdrum blondie cleft-chin stereotype replaced with a heavyset maori teen actor (Julian Dennison, who incidentally was in Taika Waititi’s indie movie Hunt for the Wilderpeople).
Overall themes: The movies have a lot of dirty humor and innuendo. But the overall takeaway is actually pretty sentimental. The Deadpool 2 themes in particular gets to me:
Not repeating the mistakes of the previous generation. “Kids give us a chance of being better than we used to be.”
The loss and recovery of family. Accepting friendship in the midst of tragedy. See also: Cable’s story arc.
Letting go of loss and bitterness to try to save a child who’s been abandoned by the world.
I’m honestly so excited about the choices the director & producers have been making for this franchise. They’re setting the narrative standard for modern superhero films. Can’t wait to see what the next movie has in store.
Deadpool 2 is also pretty explicitly no-holds-barred criticism of foster care abuse, child abuse in churches, homophobia, and the way sexual assault is ignored. Deadpool 2 gave all of the fucks and was not afraid to let everyone know.
Right! This post also doesn’t discusss how the mutant ‘treatment’ center portrayed in the film is pretty clearly based on the abuses of “conversion” therapy.
Since childhood, Ariel has been among my favorite Disney princesses. I connect with her deeply – and whenever someone (like Keira Knightley recently) brings up the old line that she is a ‘bad role model’ for young girls because she ‘gives up her voice for a man,’ my heart breaks.
That reading of Ariel’s character is reductive and inaccurate.
Everyone always mentions that Ariel was interested in the human world before meeting Eric, but not as many people point out how radical that makes her in the context of her own society.
Ariel lives in a society that is xenophobic towards humans, Triton at various points calls them “barbarians,” “savage,” and “incapable of any real feeling.” She lives in a society that constantly tells her that her interest in the human world is wrong and bad, something she struggles with at the start of Part of Your World:
By seeking a fuller understanding of the human world, Ariel actively challenges her father’s xenophobia, thinking for herself instead of accepting her society’s fears and prejudices.
The film goes out of its way to establish Ariel as an outsider within her own society. Think for a moment about the opening lines of Part of Your World:
Look at this stuff. Isn’t it neat? Wouldn’t you think my collection’s complete? Wouldn’t you think I’m the girl The girl who has everything? Look at this trove, Treasures untold How many wonders can one cavern hold? Lookin’ around here you’d think Sure, she’s got everything…
People who criticize Ariel so often mis-characterize her as simply a spoiled teenager. The very statement, “She gave up her voice for a man!” implies she’s a foolish girl who throws her life and agency away in a fit of pique.
Yet, the opening of Part of Your Worldanticipates that certain members of the audience will have a superficial understanding of Ariel’s pain and directly addresses that. On a superficial level, Ariel does seem like “the girl who has everything.” She is the daughter of the most important merman in Atlantica, she has countless treasures hidden away in her grotto…
But that’s the thing, you see. They’re hidden in her grotto. Ariel may be the daughter of the sea-king, but the sea-king hates and fears humanity. Part of Your World is the most heartbreaking rebuttal to anyone who sees Ariel as a shallow teenager because it shows how alone she truly is. Except for Flounder, she has no one under the sea she can genuinely confide in. (She confides in Sebastian, of course, but he was sent by her father to spy on her and he does betray her trust
– by mistake, but he does). Her sisters and the rest of Atlantica presumably do not question the prejudices that cause the human world to be forbidden to the sea folk.
Ariel is an outcast, forced to hide who she is from the people who should love her unconditionally.
The more Part of Your World goes on, the more devastating and resonant Ariel’s collection of artifacts becomes.
These artifacts represent a void in her life and, at the same time, are the only means she has of filling that void.
She longs to have knowledge, but her society imposes ignorance on her. She longs to see the human world herself, to ask questions and finally be answered – but it is all denied her. The imposed ignorance forces her to live vicariously through the artifacts she collects.
She cannot see a couple dancing, so she must content herself with a music box.
She can only experience the shadow of fire on oil and canvas.
Her collection perpetually reminds her that there is a world beyond her reach. At the same time, it is her central way of interacting with that world. Yes, she can go up to to the surface and talk to Scuttle, but her collection is something so much more personal. These are items she saved from the ruins of ships, sometimes at the risk of her own life… so she could study them, learn from them, and lament the unjust rules of her society that prevent her from learning more…
Her courage, her curiosity, her thirst for knowledge are all bound up in these precious possessions.
And yes, they are objects. Yes, she wants more than a collection of objects. But this collection is all she has. And, as far as Ariel knows, it is all she will ever have…
When you’re all but alone in the world and you have only meager scraps to cling to, those scraps mean the world to you.
And, I remind you, Ariel cannot even openly enjoy her collection of scraps, the shadows of a world she cannot touch. She has to hide even them, guard them, keep them secret.
Ariel’s grotto is a place of solace and security where she can be herself without fear of judgment.
There is a reason the destruction of Ariel’s grotto harrowed me more as a child than any other scene in a Disney film. I could hardly watch it. I hid my face. I begged my family to skip scene. I was reduced to a sobbing mess. On a personal level, it harrowed me more than the destruction of Cinderella’s dress.
That reason is because, in watching the scene, I felt the pain of a place of refuge being invaded.
By the time we reach the destruction of the grotto, we are as emotionally invested in Ariel’s collection as she is because we see that the objects are more than objects. They are extensions of herself, encapsulating all her feelings of hope and hopelessness.
Destroying those items is like annihilating a part of her soul.
That is why I hate the “she gave up her voice for a man” line of thought so much. Because it so blatantly disregards the context of the film. Because it paints Ariel as a shallow teenager. Because it places blame for what follows solely on Ariel’s shoulders and absolves Triton of any wrongdoing.
I want to tread carefully here because, like Ariel, Triton is a nuanced and complex character. He has good intentions and cares about his youngest daughter.
Yet, even a well-intentioned individual can be in the wrong. Even an individual who is right about certain things (Ariel is indeed impetuous and reckless at times – though I hope my analysis reminds readers that those are not her sole character traits), can be wrong about other things.
And Triton’s confrontation with Ariel highlights his failings and his faults.
Look at Ariel’s face when she first sees her father in the grotto:
The enhancement of expression in animation allows the audience to clearly see the fear in her face.
Triton has created an environment where his own daughter is afraid of him.
No parent should do that to their child.
Confronting Ariel, Triton says, “I consider myself a reasonable merman. I set certain rules and I expect those rules to be obeyed.”
On one level, Triton is right to expect his children to respect the rules he sets in place.
What I feel Triton misses, however, is that respect is not the same as intimidation.
Since Triton wants Ariel to accept his rules based solely on his authority as her father, he makes it impossible for there to be any communication between himself and his daughter.
This dynamic means that he will not listen to Ariel even when Ariel is in the right and he is not. Children should listen to their parents, but in the same way, parents should listen to their children.
Triton may be in the right to worry about his daughter’s safety, but his fear is still born of bigotry – bigotry that Ariel recognizes and rejects.
Triton, after all, grows angry at his daughter because she wouldn’t let another living being die. He specifically calls her out because she “rescued a human from drowning.”When Ariel counters that allowing someone helpless to miserably drown is cruel, he shuts her down with:
When Ariel points out the illogical nature of her father’s brutal line of thought and says, “You don’t even know him!”, Triton responds:
Even if a viewer is largely sympathetic to Triton, that viewer cannot ignore Triton’s prejudice in this moment.
He generalizes millions of people.
And if the rules he sets down include the tacit understanding, “Let innocents die because, by virtue of their humanity, their lives have no value,” then maybethose rules deserve to be broken.Maybe those rules need to be changed.
Ariel may be a teenager, but she is wiser than her father here.
(Also, can I say that Ariel’s body language here breaks my heart every time I see it? She’s swimming away from her father, recoiling…
…until she’s cowering behind Eric’s statue. She looks like she’s about to cry as her father pours forth more vitriol…
…and after she bursts out with the exclamation, “Daddy, I love him!”, she’s terrified that she’s said it.)
Triton believes that he alone is in the right and destroys the grotto because he feels it is “the only way” to “get through to” his daughter. He believes he must be cruel only to be kind.
Yet, in the end…
…he only succeeds…
…in being cruel.
Triton’s unwillingness to listen to his daughter
– his unwillingness to treat her with the same respect he demands of her –
only widens the gulf between them.
Ariel does not go to the sea-witch because she has been mooning over a man.
Ariel goes to the sea-witch because she has no voice in her own home. Becoming human, she gains the ability to live life on her own terms. Becoming human, she ironically gains the voice she has been denied for so long.
Ariel goes to the sea-witch because her father sends a message to her – a message that she does not matter, that there is no place for someone like her in Atlantica.
Triton may never have meant to send that message, but send it, he did… and he should be held accountable for that.
Indeed, the film does hold him accountable for that.
After destroying the grotto, Triton realizes he has done a horrible thing.
Look into his eyes after Ariel falls to weeping:
Look at the regret in his eyes. Look at the remorse. He knows he has gone too far. He never meant to hurt his daughter like this.
And when Ariel vanishes from Atlantica, Triton takes responsibility for his actions. What does he say when his daughter cannot be found? Does he say, “What folly has my daughter gotten herself into now?”
No. He says:
Simply saying that Ariel ‘gave up [her] voice for a man’ ignores the painful complexity of the situation in which she finds herself. It ignores the depth of her motivation. It ignores Triton’s culpability. It ignores her best character traits and only highlights her flaws (and yes, she has flaws, for she is a multifaceted, well-written character.)
But Ariel’s rejection of prejudice, her ability to see beauty in a group that nearly everyone around her demonizes, her courage and determination and love, are all venerable traits…
…and Ariel’s courage, determination, and love are what inspire Triton to open his heart and change.
Some people say that The Little Mermaid is more Triton’s story than Ariel’s. I disagree and feel that assessment unfairly dismisses Ariel’s emotional journey. Triton has a compelling arc in the film – but that arc is only set in motion because of Ariel’s agency.
He learns from his daughter’s example.
He grows because of her.
Why don’t we talk more about Ariel, the young woman who always challenged her father’s prejudice? Why don’t we talk more about Ariel, who actively spoke out about the flaws she saw in her society? Why don’t we talk more about Ariel, whose actions helped change that society for the better? Why don’t we talk more about Ariel, who formed a bridge between two worlds and enacted positive change?
Why don’t we talk more about that Ariel?
I know Ariel can be impulsive, but she is sixteen years old, and her impulsiveness only makes her character realistic. She makes mistakes but, like her father, she owns up to those mistakes and learns from them:
There are critics of Ariel’s character who want to make the story of The Little Mermaid black and white. Because Triton recognizes Ariel’s impulsiveness, they ignore Triton’s faults and trivialize Ariel.
Yet, the story the film presents is not so black and white. Ariel and Triton are not so one-dimensional.
They both learn from each other and grow together.
This embrace is so meaningful because, by the end of the film, Triton finally shows Ariel the same respect he asks of her and in so doing, he earns her respect.
Ariel, meanwhile, recognizes her own mistakes and gains a new appreciation for her father.
The Little Mermaid is a beautiful film and Ariel is a brave, inspiring, complex heroine.
I also want to point out, Howard Ashman, a gay man who died of AIDS, was a key creator in this film. He also had a key role in creating Beauty and the Beast. The films we worked on were about outcasts.
@the-blue-fairie thank you so much for putting into words what I felt but couldn’t explain! Ariel has always been my fave princess as well, and as I grow older I’ve come to realize more and more how she will never stop being a great representation of me. Exactly because of all what you wrote above. Thank you. I’m a complete emotional mess but happy, too. ♡
Queer Fiction Writer 