#alicewhimzy

[alicewhimzy]

Couldn't finish this one in time for pride month, so I'm making up for it now! Happy Asexuality Day!

🖤🩶🤍💜

It's an upside-down cake. Because I wanted the purple to be on top.

And also ya know, upside-down? Like the opposite of... sexuality... Um...

I'll see myself out.

[321spongebolt]

While there is no combat in the world of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory", I still think a level pack could still work if "Lego Dimensions" added that film into the game. Following Gene Wilder's death in 2016, the "Willy Wonka" level would feature a dedication card after Willy, Charlie, and Grandpa Joe soar into the clouds while riding in the Great Glass Elevator during the end credits version of "Pure Imagination". The tricky part would be if a sound alike could perform Gene Wilder's voice, or if Gene Wilder's footage would be used via archive audio, similar to Doctor Who and a bunch of other characters that use just archive audio clips. As a level pack character, Willy Wonka would come with the Wonka Boat and The Great Glass Elavator.

WILLY WONKA'S ABILITIES

Acrobat

Pole Vault (With his cane)

Silver LEGO Blowup (With his Exploding Candy) [NOTE: Ability suggested by @alicewhimzy]

Character Changing (Can change into the 5 main children from the movie)

Flight (As Charlie Bucket with the Fizzy Lifting Drink)

Dig (As Augustus Gloop)

Gyrosphere Switches (As Violet Beauregarde in her blueberry form)

Sonar Smash (As Veruca Salt)

Shrink (As Mike Teavee)

[alicewhimzy]

Him.

The mind, the myth, the madman.

The greatest chocolatier of all time. Friend to children, host of the Buckets, accomplice of Oompa Loompas, builder of the final resting place of Prince Pondecherry and his wife, master of mad science, karmic arbiter, US presidential malcontent, fluent in gibberish, slayer of knids, creator, inventor, patron, and suspected serial murderer and cannibal (quite unfounded).

Willy Wonka. 🍫🎩🏭

This character is very near and dear to me. I love eccentric characters! I tried to imitate Quentin Blake's style as best I could. No guide-lines no nothing. I hope you like it and I'm glad I got to try it! ☺️

See you at the theater! 🎫🍿

~AliceWhimzy

[alicewhimzy]

Poll results. I like the character of Father Paul Hill/Monsignor Pruitt. He's very interesting and well written.

I'm so happy this turned out well! 😇

[alicewhimzy]

I had to draw him again. In my own style this time.

I made the outfit pretty much identical to the original book, but there are lots of other elements from other versions, like the hair is wavy like Gene's, but black like Douglas', the band on the hat is like Johnny's bht purple, and I just made the eyes and the cane top bright purple because I wanted to. 😁

I couldn't watch the movie today because COVID numbers were worrying, plus I had Christmas shopping to do for my fam, but I will post my thoughts in full when I do. That is a promise! 🎫

Until then, I hope you like this one as much as I do!

~AliceWhimzy

🍫🎩🏭

[alicewhimzy]

11; Wander. 🧭

[alicewhimzy]

Ok. I finally saw the movie today and I loved it. 🍫🎩🏭

Those who have also seen it or are not afraid of spoilers, read on.

It wasn't like the other movies or the musicals or the book, but I don't mind. That's the point, it's a different interpretation and I'm fine with that. One main theme of this story is following and achieving one's dreams, and it shows that theme alongside others in all its glass-half-full glory. It's full of whimsy and camp and its proud of that.

The songs are nice and wouldn't sound out of place in one of the Dahl musicals. One of them, World of Your Own, even reminds me of the Beatles, which is saying something if you ask me. Timothée Chalamet's voice sounded a little meh but I don't mind. He's doing his best and it doesn't hurt the film. I'm sure I'm just used to the bombastic performances of the musical and I'll warm up to this film's soundtrack soon enough. They even put the original Oompa-loompa song to good use, more on that later.

Willy Wonka himself is eccentric and creative but also naive, and throughout the film he gets more clever as he gets more experience, which is good character growth right there. He has talent for his craft, as well as passion for it, but he quickly learns that that alone won't be enough to achieve his dreams. In addition, he comes from poverty, doesn't even know how to read and has to work his way up to his own store, and eventually factory. Not only is that something I can admire and relate to, but it reminds me of one particular lyric from the character's entrance song from the West End musical, It must be Believed to be Seen:

"Despite the man seen at these doors, my childhood home was bland like yours. But I knew how to look to find, a world that wasn't colorblind."

Beautiful. Just beautiful. And sure he's not quite as deranged as most other Wonkas but it's a prequel. That's the point. He hasn't reached his final form yet. This story shows that at heart he is an unorthodox but sweet person who doesn't want to hurt anyone for no good reason. This one's a good bean.

Noodle makes for good thematic balance in her friendship with Willy, because she is the minder to his cloudcuckoolander. Her skepticism and realism balances out his optimism and naivety. They are good friends. No more, no less. They don't need to be anything else. By the end of the film, they have left a substantial impact on each other. Noodle isn't such a downer anymore, and Wonka will think twice before blindly trusting someone.

Willy's fellow tenants, whom for simplicity's sake I'll call the Scrub-mates, each have their own talents, quirks and goals unachieved just like him, but unlike him they all have little to no hope left. As they help Willy and Noodle, who haven't completely given up, they are able to bring that sense of hope back until they are able to get what they want as well.

Mrs. Scrubbit and Mr. Bleacher are a riot. They are both goofy and greedy and willing to trick anyone who comes into their clutches into indentured servitude just for the sake of their own selfish desires. I can just hear these two singing Master of the House. They are a small-scale example of the kind of rigged system that Willy and Noodle and the Scrub-mates must outsmart if they want to achieve their dreams. Fortunately, outsmart it they do and Scrubbit and Bleacher both get their just desserts in the end. However, despite their arguments, it was surprisingly touching to watch them grow closer together over the course of the film, culminating in only the grossest of pre-arrest kisses. What are the chances these two turn out to be the Twits?

Ficklegruber, Prodnose and Slugworth are also great villains. They are the cheesiest flavor of evil and they know it. This trio made me laugh so many times. They provide the big-scale rigged system in the form of the chocolate cartel. It's clear from the moment they show up that they are only in it for the profits, and are firm believers in quantity over quality, as opposed to Wonka who is genuinely passionate about the art of candy-making. Fantastic funny foils for much of the film.

That is until the twist regarding Noodle. A twist I genuinely didn't expect.

So Arthur Slugworth stopped Noodle's parents from getting married because yadda-yadda upper class balderdash, and then afterwards he knew this little sick infant was his niece, and he dropped her down the laundry chute of Scrubbit and Bleacher's and lied to her mother, telling her her baby DIED, all just to get the inheritance. Wow. What a scumbag. It shows just how consumed by greed the man is, as well as how much harm he's willing to cause for his own gain. He and the other two get their comeuppance in the best possible way. Willy uses their greed against them, tempting them with the best chocolate he ever made™, he tells them to give it to Lofty the Oompa-loompa, they eat it themselves and it backfires on them. Wonkish karma at its finest. The trio end up undone by their own chocolate and are eventually arrested. Good riddance. Although there is a chance they could come back with spies and such...

The idea of the local church being a front for the chocolate cartel is very unsubtle in terms of showing hypocrisy but I don't mind it a bit. It's funny. The choco-holic monks chant-singing "GIRAFFE!", and Rowan Atkinson as their boss- I mean, cleric!? Just plain funny!

Lofty the Oompa-loompa is 25 inches of snark and smugness, and I mean that in the best way. I never thought I'd hear Hugh Grant singing Oompa-loompa doo-pa-dee-do, but every day we learn something new. Not only that, but Oompa-loompa doo-pa-dee-dix, the dreaded backstory has also been fixed! Lofty/shorty-pants has been stealing Wonka's chocolate because he fell asleep while "guarding" one of the few cacao trees in Loompaland, and Wonka picked that tree's beans, unaware that they belonged to someone else. Neither of them do anything to the other out of malice in that flashback. Just a nap and a misunderstanding. We also see that the other Oompa-loompas are dressed in their own style of clothing and are carrying halberds, and Lofty left Loompaland in a motorboat. Their society is clearly not tribal anymore. Good move. Lofty and Wonka gradually stop being enemies, Wonka pays him the chocolate he owes, Lofty saves his life and Noodle's, and at the end he stays on as Wonka's taster, meaning most likely one the spy problem happened he told the others about this friend of his who can grow a TON of cacao trees and they willingly wanted to come over and get in on it. In their position, who could blame them? I know I wouldn't!

Most importantly this movie is FUN! That was one of the most important things and they nailed it! If it's not fun, why bother? And oh boy, did they bother!

I'm glad the zoo-keeper and the chocolate vault security guard rekindled their relationship. Best subplot ever.

Noodle got the happily ever after she deserves. She has finally found her long lost mother and is able to bring her dream of living in a house of books, a library, to life.

Willy wasn't given his success on a silver platter, he had to earn every sovereign of it, work smarter as well as harder, risk life and limb for what he wanted to achieve. It took time, effort and two assassination attempts, but when he was finally able to say goodbye to his mother and saw the secret she left for him, in gold no less, it moved me to tears. All this man really wanted was to use his talent to help people who needed help and bring joy into the world. Good for him!

Wonka is a win. This is a wonderful whimsical movie. I loved it and I hope any dedicated Wonkites in search of a delectable December treat will love it too.

You're off your rocker Wonka, and that's why we love you. 😁

🎫

[alicewhimzy]

Winners of the last poll; Father John Ward and the Giant Rat who makes all the rules.

I don't know what they would need that thing for.

Let me know if you want me to draw John Joseph Jacobs next.

[alicewhimzy]

08; Toad. 🐸

(late again. 😑)

[alicewhimzy]

16: Angel. 😇

I love him. His name is Pat.

Pat the angel.

[alicewhimzy]

Here are my thoughts on Barbie in full as promised. 🏩💃💄

It was okay.

Right away I noticed how self aware and unsubtle movie this movie is. It wears itself proudly on its sleeve. Barbie is both a feminist icon and something that feminists have criticized, so I can understand why they did this. By turning the dial up to eleven and saying its message as loud as it can, the movie is trying to avoid being misinterpreted. Didn't work for some but that's okay. You can't please everyone.

Barbieland at the beginning is a pretty pink paradise, but it's not perfect. The Kens are pretty much just there to be boyfriends and look cool, and the Barbies are meant to achieve their dreams and be content with them. But before long Barbieland is faced with the horror that no girl's toy company wants to face. Real emotion.

When Barbie starts having morbid thoughts it disrupts the perfect pattern. She is comfortable in her routine because it's all she knows, so she wants things to go back to normal. At first.

Barbie is kind of a diva but not to the point that she's unlikable. She prides herself on making her own choices. There is almost no job she hasn't had, meaning that there's nothing she can't do. We're used to seeing this archetype in an antagonistic role, like Sharpay in Highschool Musical or Regina George in Mean Girls, but this movie doesn't do that. What Ruth, and by extension Barbie wanted most of all was to inspire girls and women to be what they want to be. That's not quite what happened in the real world. But I'll get to that later.

The pink drip in this movie is unreal. YOU GET PINK, AND YOU GET PINK, AND YOU GET PINK! EVERYBODY GETS PINK!

The details like Barbie floating instead of walking downstairs and all the water being either plastic or imaginary were hilarious, like toy story humor.

Ken is a fascinating take on finding a healthy way to express masculinity. He's a bit of a simp but he learns to improve and grows out of it over the course of the movie. Since the world kinda revolves around Barbie, she doesn't have much of a filter, particularly regarding her interactions with Ken. He asks if he can stay for a night and she bluntly refuses him. This shows one of the themes that I noticed; much of the conflict in this movie comes from an inability or unwillingness to see things from the other person's perspective.

Ken's problem isn't that he's a misogynist. He acts like one in the third act but it's clear he's just trying to act like he's on top of things when he hasn't yet figured out what he really wants. The entire purpose of the Ken doll was to just be an optional boyfriend to Barbie, so of course he defines himself by how she sees him. He relies on her external validation because it's what he was designed for so it's what he thinks he wants.

Allen never wanted power. He already made peace with himself in a way so, yeah. He's okay.

Barbie is used to things working out perfectly and when she reaches the real world she sees for the first time just how messy and complicated things can be in reality. This kind of loss of naivety culminates in the unironically best scene in the movie, where after she and Ken split up she just sits on a bench. She sees a girl and her mother playing with her and watches as the girl grows up and eventually leaves her folds, including Barbie behind. Barbie opens her eyes and looks around her. She sees people having arguments, laughing, hanging out together and just living. Existing. Glancing next to her she sees an elderly woman reading a book. Barbie looks at this woman and says "You're so beautiful." And you can tell she means it. The woman says "I know." This moment is where Barbie first starts to realize that things may not be as perfect and she's used to back in Barbieland, but that's okay.

Weird Barbie is fabulous. She can't fit in with the pretty pink paradise of Barbieland, so she is ostracized by the others. Despite this, her confidence is unwavering. From the beginning she is aware that things in reality aren't as simple as they are in Barbieland. Throughout the movie she unapologetically owns her own weirdness. She doesn't need to learn the same lesson that Barbie does because she's already learned it, and in the end the others finally give her what she needed; Respect. She steals every scene she's in and I love her.

Taking control of Barbieland didn't bring Ken happiness, because he didn't want control. He wanted to feel validated. Like a person. Just like Barbie. And when she tells him that he can find his own validation without her, it's one of the most honest moments in the movie. It's where he learns that he can be okay with himself as he is. Just like women don't need a man to complete them, vise versa is also true. Being a man isn't about physical strength or material possessions, or dominance. It's about maintaining a healthy attitude about oneself. You are Kenough.

And the Kens should form a dance troupe. They're great at it and they've got the outfits for it.

Sasha and her mother Gloria have opposing ideas on the idea of Barbie herself and what she says about femininity. Sasha takes a blunt critical approach, putting the "look pretty, be happy" idealism and the adherence to unrealistic beauty standards on blast, and while she does come off as harsh, she still has a point. On the other hand, Gloria found Barbie comforting and empowering, which was why she started drawing ideas like "irrepressible thoughts of death Barbie" and "depressed Barbie", using her own fears and insecurities as inspiration to give Barbie more depth than Mattel was willing to give. Eventually, both mother and daughter are able to reconcile these views and repair their relationship.

It's okay to enjoy a story or a character even if other people don't like it. No matter what they say, that doesn't mean that you can't still enjoy it. Just because it means a lot to you doesn't mean it's flawless, and just because it can be interpreted in a troubling way, that doesn't mean it's ruined. It can always be changed and improved on with each new version. This is something I definitely agree with.

There's nothing much I can really add to Gloria's being a woman monologue. It sums the whole issue up and it shows that the more people that are made aware of it, the closer we are to fixing it. Brilliant.

Barbie has to take control of her life away from Mattel. She has been living under the control of men and she never even knew it. She comes to learn so much about herself and the world around her that she doesn't want to be Barbie anymore. She wants to be Barbra. She knows that the real world isn't all she thought it would be, but that's okay because she's ready to tackle it. She's not afraid to leave paradise anymore. She's not afraid of cellulite, she's not afraid of the patriarchy, and she's not afraid of death. Like all the women she wanted to stand for, Barbra is finally a real person with real feelings.

Her first stop; A gynaecologist.

This Barbie is okay.

🏩💃💄

~A.W.

[alicewhimzy]

24: Shallow. ⛵

This one's a little messy but at least I learned how to draw weeping willows. 😊

Also Pogo.

No reason. He's just there.

[alicewhimzy]

Hi.

It me.

🙂

[alicewhimzy]

06; Golden. 🪙