R. John Wright Winnie-the-Pooh Bear, picture taken at RJW studio in Vermont. (image source: Wikipedia
I’m not as sure as I’d like to be on this one. Disney just gave us the trailer for their next liveification of an animated work (never mind cartoons are what MADE the company) with Disney’s Christopher Robin, which follows a grown-up Christopher reconnecting with his old friends in the Hundred Acre Woods while dealing with life post WWII. I’ve seen this plot before and it’s usually not done very well. But there does seem to be more heart than some of those others according to the trailer. I don’t know, it might work but I have my doubts.
Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.
Last time we began our look at the period of mourning of Superman’s death. We saw that the main focus was on the usual characters who were close to Superman but time was also given to the rest of the world. That was what set this temporary comics death apart from so many that followed after it: the aftermath. People did mourn, people did react both positively and negatively to the hero’s death as well as people figuring out what they could possibly gain. Westfield wanted to mine Superman and Doomsday like a science experiment because he had no love for Superman and only saw the potential benefit to “real humans”. Lex (as Jimmy noted) used the opportunity to boost his popularity by deciding to build a monument to him, with nobody knowing this isn’t Lex Jr. and this is less about business benefits than personal revenge. We saw Lois in shock having lost someone even closer to her and not being able to tell anyone. This wasn’t just another shock death. This death mattered to people.
Think about the death of a really popular celebrity or political figure. Probably the most recent example was musician Prince but you can also look at Michael Jackson (controversial as he was near the end) or Ronald Reagan as a former President or former Princess Diana Spencer. We sought a reason for their death, with only Reagan dying of natural causes, whether that was his advanced age (he was 93) or his Alzheimer’s. People mourned these deaths in masses (unless you were bothered by Reagan’s politics or Jackson’s actions but celebrating their deaths does still make you an @#$hole by the way). There were huge showing for fans or whatever the equivalent is for politicians and royalty. Funerals were televised and visited live, both with huge numbers, and showings were held for non-family.
You could make the case that Jackson and Prince were treated like a new form of royalty (Jackson was known as “The King Of Pop” and…well, it’s right there in Prince’s stage name, isn’t it?). The same claim could be made in-universe for Superman, only he was known for all the lives he saved, no matter how inconsequential it may seem to others, and trying to do good without forcing others to follow his way but to “lead” by example without being our leader. The last chapter did a good job with this and hopefully this chapter continues that.
Records offer a different listening experience to digital. It goes to show that any format of any medium comes with its own strengths and weaknesses. ScreenCrush’s Matt Singer makes the case that the movie theater experience is no different, and there are some pluses to seeing a movie in the theater versus the living room.
I wonder if this is what it’s like to be a My Little Pony?
I don’t think this style is a good fit for Jake & Leon (at least the main character model style) but it has potential elsewhere.
Over at The Clutter Reports I went through more email because that’s all I had a chance to do. It’s been really warm, humid, or muggy or some combo of the three all week and this is an attic I “work” from.
In the comic reviews this week I’ll be completing the adaptation of the first Incredibles movie so we’ll be moving on to a new series after that. Meanwhile Robotech moves forward in my collection’s chronology to a series set during the 10 years the SDF-1 was being readied for a return to space. While I don’t have any of the Eternity run, I have Return To Macross from Academy Comics starting with #15, which also includes a flip book #0 preview of the miniseries Robotech Warriors. That features an adventure with Breetai during his trip to Earth. We’ll be alternating between the two until the miniseries ends, and then it’s all Return To Macross until the spin-off series begins. Don’t worry, we’ll get to the Comico episode adaptations eventually.
I’m also hoping for a Sing Me A Story feature this week and a Finally Watched if I can fit it in. We’ll see what happens. Hope it’s a good week for everybody!
He was calling her “pretty lady” a little while earlier. I wonder if Marlena ever told Adam about the movie Star Wars?
One of the reasons He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe was so good was the way it treated its female cast. They were all just as strong as the male heroes without giving up their femininity or being all angry and snarky; just the occasional one-liner matching their characters. So I wouldn’t be surprised to see the show was a hit with little girls as much as it was little boys. However, the toy industry has this issue with girls liking “boys toys” and vice versa, leading to the toy shelves being about as integrated as an elementary school dance–boys over there, girls over there, occasionally only meeting to get punch and snacks.
So when Mattel launched a girls version of Masters Of The Universe, entitled Princess Of Power, I’m sure that they planned to give girls their own Masters-type fantasy action line. But don’t play with those boys.
These are the only commercials I know of in which She-Ra is actually depicted fighting evil. Usually it’s about how strong she is and how fun it is to comb her hair. Fans of my Free Comic Inside article series has also seen how girly She-Ra and her friends are depicted as the minicomics is basically She-Ra and Catra fighting over Bow, jewels, and dress-up clothes with one story having her conquer anything. Which I still maintain was Catra getting confused over what a “prom queen” is. Throw in how psycho She-Ra and Castaspella have come out thus far in my readings and I don’t think Mattel understood what drew girls to this franchise.
Compare that to the cartoon, as She-Ra and her friends are fighting a war for control of Etheria against the Evil Horde, a group who on the toy shelves were part of the Masters Of The Universe line. This was a show that was filled with the same action and morals as her brother’s without getting too girly or too butch. And it all started with The Secret Of The Sword. This was later edited into the five part She-Ra: Princess Of Power episode “The Sword Of She-Ra”, with each episode having their own title. I had this in a previous Saturday Night Showcase, but for some reason Dreamworks (who now owns this portion of Filmation’s library–which was sold all over like Rankin Bass’ works) took those down and have been posting She-Ra episodes over on the He-Man channel and it looks like they’re slowly shutting down She-Ra’s channel. With a NEW She-Ra cartoon coming to Netflix (I’ll comment when they release more info about it to see if it will be good or another Thundercats Roar in terms of respecting the source) you’d think they’d push the original channel to give fans a look back…unless they’re hoping to subplant the old show like so many others. They have, however, posted The Secret Of The Sword to the official channel, which means I can now free and clear bring it to you. Enjoy!
