I watched "Frozen"!

[SPOILER-FREE "FROZEN" REVIEW] 
Ok, so Mom and I finally saw "Frozen" over the weekend. We also plan to see Mr. Miyazaki's "The Wind Rises", but that later.

First, if you're like me, Disney had begun to get on my nerves for several reasons: their lack of diverse character ethnicity, stereotypical ideas of gender roles, annoying sidekicks that you wanted to choke, and the nauseating musical scores that seemed to pop up at the most inopportune times.

For those that may not be in the know, "Frozen" is a loosely-based adaptation of Mr. Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen" for a contemporary audience.

"Frozen" is the story of two sisters in Norway, Elsa (the Queen) and younger Anna (the princess). There are the prerequisite dire circumstances that bring about dire consequences, but, Disney has arrived, mature, sophisticated and worldly.

The characters act as real sisters: one was beautiful, demure, insecure and reserved, while the other was cute, socially awkward, self-deprecating and hyperactive. Yet, they resembled physically enough to look like siblings and had similar interests though they came about those interests in unique ways.

The songs were not the mind-numbing, noise pollution of old, the bane of many musical animations.
Each song in "Frozen" rose organically. "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?" is the song that not only shows the emotional dynamics between the sisters, but, sets them up for a fall later.

Next are the men, Hans and Kristoff. Hans is a prince and the most well-developed character that no one expects in a Disney film.
Kristoff is an everyman, with his prerequisite animal companion, a reindeer named Sven (I don't think many of Disney's animals constitute as 'pets'. They've moved beyond to an almost symbiotic bond with their human counterparts).
Wait for the inside-joke Kristoff says when he introduces his reindeer companion.

Olaf is a snowman and the required 'Disney Sidekick' or 'schtick'. Don't hate him. Don't judge him. He is adorable, and amiable enough to the other characters, and Disney gave him the showmanship of the actors of old (Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Judy Garland) and other stars from the 30s-50s. 
He sings and dances as if in a famous MGM Musical during that studio's golden age. The animators even make his lips quiver as he belts out part of his songs! Olaf wasn't annoying, he didn't screw up any plans, but was actually of help and meaning to all the cast. In his naivete', he still possessed wisdom.

"Frozen" is also PRETTY. It's just enough to make one reach towards the screen to touch someone's cheek. The snowscape becomes its own character in the film. The level of detail makes "Avatar" look like a 2-D animation. Sorry, this film was just pure SUGAR COATED EYE CANDY, and for Disney animators to have used such a limited palate of cool colors (blues, greens, whites, grays), this was an impressive feat of design indeed.

Also, I had mentioned on YT that there were so many references I picked up on, and I know it will be like reading a book again: you will see more that you missed the previous times.

Wait for Olaf's singing "In Summer". There is a reference to the "Coppertone" ads and the more obvious MGM musical feats.
Lastly is Anna singing "For the First Time In Forever", there are Disney versions of actual paintings in the palace ballroom. As an Art Major, I recognized a few. See if you can spot them.

And, did I mention the humor? The humor was mature and worldly. Wait for Kristoff's take on life and how he interacts with Sven. Wait for Anna's self-deprecation. Wait for Olaf. No juvenile fart-jokes to be heard here. Disney animations have FINALLY grown up. And they still retain their child-like qualities to be fun for everyone. Bravo Disney. Bravo "Frozen". You've restored my faith in your studio.

Oh, how can I NOT mention the pre-feature? Adorable. Cute! Also, please wait until the credits to see a little surprise at the end.

Inspiration in strange places

A B-movie fantasy watched in 1980s.
A first and second title from an author that becomes one's favorite.
An early obsession with Greek myth.
An early obsession with Sword and Sorcery ephemera.
A fantasy novel read in junior high.
Another epic fantasy series that blew the mind in high school.
These are just what is remembered that served for inspiration to the series worked on now.

'Stacey Hankin' as a little girl (circa 1922)

Yay! Art again! Sheesh... It's not productive OR fun when one's sick for awhile.

Here is my heroine, as a very tall 7 year old in the year 1921. So that puts her birth year in 1914, and the next year (1915) should be an important year North Americans, as well as anyone else who cares about history, should know. That is the year when the film, "Birth of a Nation" was released in theatres.

What is "Birth of a Nation"? Well, controversial is too mild a word to use.
Simply put, based on a bigot's book by the same name, both movie and book claim that the Ku Klux Klan won the South and freed it from the tyranny of blacks, who were demonized in both the book and film.

The author, whose name I will treat as Harry Potter's nemesis, I will not write it here on my blog, became a celebrity and his viewpoints were agreed by other racists across the country.
When Hollywood got wind of the book, instead of letting this dangerous volume remain within pages, decided it made a good film, no matter how disastrous and historically inaccurate it was!

Now, you see a cute picture of my protagonist and wonder why I am such a downer about mentioning this? Simply put, while researching my characters and their background, I began to wonder, what it must have felt like, being Black, or being any kind of minority, and what were the emotions when this film was released?

What terror could many American blacks have felt? What measures could they have taken to protect themselves and their communities? And worse of all, I have learned that the Civil Rights' Movement did not start in the late 50s and early 60s as many of us are taught in History class, but actually, many decades before.

What damage did "Birth of a Nation" do to the Movement? How much did this book and its companion movie set progress back?
****
Research this, DON'T use Wikipedia, I implore you, but more legitimate sites to research the author, his book, and the movie.
Maybe the film is even on YouTube, but PLEASE, see for yourself... And ask me why I write this with my character's art.

"Firestarter" in 1983

When I saw the movie, "Firestarter", in 1983, it influenced me to the fact that little girls don't have to be portrayed as powerless in modern entertainment.
This movie changed me forever to portray sweet, innocent girls as some of the most powerful beings in my future writings and stories.