#kipo review

[evilsoup]

"kipo and the age of wonderbeasts" is a pretty good cartoon, basically "what if steven universe was the protagonist of adventure time". it's elevated by its use of music, and has some very nice moments of aesthetic excess, almost reaching the level of paprika a few times. In general it's very well-crafted and occasionally touches on excellence.

it is of course a cartoon for children with the limitations that implies (these people have genetic engineering, but no guns? etc). certain writing decisions in the finale seem a bit arbitrary, and the apparent need to have the protagonist solve all the problems chafes sometimes -- it feels like some of the climactic scenes should have more of a "gondor calls for aid/...and rohan shall answer!" kind of feel, given how much time is spent making friends with various mutes. like, it's there, but it could have been leant on more heavily. most of the secondary cast are underdeveloped (but still enjoyable for what they are). also has tha now-universal american genre fiction conceit of subordinating all conflict to interpersonal issues lol.

wouldn't quite put it in the top tier of american fantasy action-adventure cartoons for kids (atla, steven universe, adventure time) but a strong showing in the level just below that. Definitely worth watching if you like this kind of thing

[popculturegenealogy]

The draw of family and the quest for knowledge

The Simpsons family tree as shown in 1991, in the show's first season, as noted by the editor of Tedium, Ernie Smith in 2015.

There are many shows which focus on families, especially when it comes to animation. Some characters have "non-traditional" families like Philip J. Fry, Steven Universe, and Hilda in the series of the same name. At the same time, a number of animated shows have characters reflect on their families. In The Owl House, Luz fears her mother judging her for being "inadequate" for living in a magical realm rather than "going to camp," while Aja and Krel try to bring their mom and dad back from the edge of death in the series, 3Below: Tales of Arcadia. Similarly, Iris in LoliRock misses her family in Ophedia, while there are family tensions in Mysticons, especially between Arkayna Goodfey and her brother Gawayne,  broken families of Reggie Abbott in Twelve Forever and Judy Reilly in Human Kind Of. At the same time, there are startling family discoveries in many animated series, like Roswell Conspiracies: Aliens, Myths and Legends, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, Sherwood, Adventure Time, OK K.O.: Let's Be Heroes!, Final Space, and Mr. Robot. I may write about some of these shows in the future in a post about shows with family historyish themes. Additionally, Cleopatra "Cleo" in Cleopatra in Space and "Jack" in Samurai Jack miss their families as they have both been flung far into the future. Other characters openly explore their past and want to find their roots, their ancestry, like Carmen in the series Carmen Sandiego, and Sprig and Polly in Amphibia. This article focuses on two other examples: Adora, the protagonist of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and Lisa Simpson, the protagonist in The Simpsons.

Reprinted from my Genealogy in Popular Culture WordPress blog. Originally published on August 12, 2020.

Let's start with Adora. After Shadow Weaver, who was her surrogate mother and disciplinarian when growing up in the Fright Zone, informs her, in the Season 3 episode "The Price of Power," that she is not from Etheria, she freaks out, while her friends don't believe it. Flying to the Crystal Castle, she demands answers from her pseudo-teacher, Light Hope. She shocks Adora, when she reports that Adora was taken out of a portal and onto Etheria by the leader of the villainous Horde, Hordak, and is one of the planet's first settlers, called The First Ones. She then wonders if Etheria is even her home and worries about the birth family she was taken from. Light Hope cares little about this and ignores it, acting like it isn't a big deal, even though it is! Adora proceeds to have a bit of an identity crisis as a result. Unfortunately, this subject is dropped and is not a focus of the show until later in the show. Adora learns, in the final episode of season 4, "Destiny Part 2," the real history: that Light Hope brought her to Etheria, finding her across the cosmos, bringing her to the planet. This still raises the question: who are Adora's birth parents? That is not answered by the end of the show, with the last season bringing the story to an end and bringing her relationship with Catra to a dramatic conclusion. However, perhaps she will meet her parents when journeying across the galaxy (or universe) with Catra, Bow, Glimmer, and possibly Entrapta, as they plan space adventures in the show's last episode. In the same show, there is another non-traditional family, the one of Scorpia. She has two moms, who are featured in the episode "Princess Scorpia." While they, sadly, do not appear in any other episodes, they clearly mean a lot to Scorpia, as does her grandfather.

Next is Lisa Simpson. The episode "The Color Yellow" begins delving into the family history of herself and her immediate family. She gets a school assignment to research her family tree, with Lisa finding out that most of her ancestors awful and not "heroic," with her grandpa, Grandpa Abe Simpson, not giving any further hints. Searching through the attic, she finds "The Diary of Eliza Simpson" and is shocked to learn the Simpson family descended from those that owned slaves, the story that Eliza helped the slave of Colonel Burns, Virgil, escape to freedom. Unfortunately, their dog destroys the book accidentally, at the urging of Lisa's mom, Marge, so they go to the library, with her and her mom learning that Eliza and Virgil got home, with Eliza's father saying that he would help Virgil go to freedom. After presenting this to her school, Milhouse says that a diary from one of ancestors shows that Eliza was cowardly. Lisa is outraged by this and rejects what he says, travels to the library and finds an oral history interview with Eliza saying she had one regret, that she held her tongue when she witnessed a  "great injustice." Forlorn by this, she gives up, with Grandpa telling her the whole story, that Colonel Burns surrenders, with Mabel, the mother of Eliza, bringing Virgil to freedom, and they cross the Canadian border. Later, Mabel marries Virgil, and divorces Hiram, naming their child Abraham, who is the great-grandfather of Abe Simpson, meaning that their part of the Simpson family descends from Virgil, not Hiram. Overjoyed by this, Lisa declares that they are 1/64 black, with Abe saying he kept the secret because those in his generation are racist, and Marge does not know why it is big deal because no one cared that her father was French. Homer absurdly declares that this the reason he likes drinking a lot, with Marge reminding she has French ancestry, not him, but he ignores this.

The Simpsons is a more interesting case than She-Ra. The family, is many ways, very traditional, with some talk about the Irish roots they have in other episodes, as shown on Frinkiac. Miss Cellania over at Mental Floss cited the show, while talking about family trees in other shows like Bewitched, Donald Duck, Lord of the Rings, and a number of other awful shows/franchises which I'm not even going to mention or ever write about this blog, ever, along with a couple I don't know.

That's all for this week. I have some other posts about the family tree in Outlander, in the comic book world, and some other topics. As always, comments are welcome!

© 2020-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[starry-eyed-psychopomp]

Remember when Steven Universe almost ended over Ruby and Sapphire’s wedding, but when the network understood how popular it was they continued the series for a movie and a spin-off?

And then She-ra was able to capitalize off of that success and get approved to have Adora and Catra kiss and end up together at the end of the series?

And then The Owl House was able to capitalize off of that success and was allowed to have Luz and Amity be canon love interests from season one?

And in the meantime there was show after show featuring queer main and side characters to rave reviews and success?

And we all thought, this is it. The domino effect is working. We’re making progress. And animation was the industry with the most and some of the best queer representation in all of visual media and it was only growing?

And then The Owl House got canceled with nothing to replace it. And Kipo and OK KO and Dead End and every other queer-inclusive show that had popped up in the meantime all ended quickly or were canceled with nothing new to fill their holes.

And now we have nothing left. And the trend that had been escalating for the past 10 years to create a golden age of queer animation has seemingly been shot dead with nothing to show for it.

Remember that?

[hezuart]

Why did you switch from animation to reviews? Also, do you still plan on doing CGI like you mentioned multiple times?

oH BOY..... you may need to sit down for this one

So it all started back in 2012. I was around 14 years old and just saw Rise of the Guardians and Wreck it Ralph. The stories, the characters, the world-building, the animation... now I never really went to movie theaters as a kid, but as a teen I started going and I instantly fell in love.

I went to community college for a few years and made some amazing friends. Loved some of my teachers and we participated in fun events like the 24-hour challenge and Campus Movie Fest. I had gotten in the top picks for Campus Movie Fest at some point and was supposed to go to the Cannes Film Festival in France to showcase my short film, but then the pandemic hit and it got canceled indefinitely.

So get this, for community college, I got a certification in 3D Animation and Video Game development. It's basically an AA degree but without general ed. (Why do you need general ed to get a degree in something? Math and PE have nothing to do with Animation. College is ridiculous. People have to pay you more simply because you were forced to spend more money in college. Wild.) Out of the 20 classes I had taken to get this certification, only 3 of those courses were hands-on 3D animation. And only one of those courses was hands-on video game development and I dropped out of that class because it was PC only and I only had a Mac at the time. I applied to the class without realizing it was accommodating only to PCs. So even my certification is barely reaching the basics for the title of it, but I did take another online course or two for 3D animation which I have a different certification for.

Now even with my 3D animation, I was never taught the physics engine. I was never taught hair or cloth simulation, but I do have modeling, rigging, animating, and texturing experience. For gaming, I have very little experience. I've only modeled things and found my way around Unity, but otherwise, I suck at coding. I hate coding with a passion. Making a video game without coding isn't really possible.

Now, when the pandemic hit, a lot of things were shutting down. I had no idea where I wanted to go next. People kept asking me where I was going for my higher education, but I kept getting warned not to waste money on college if you're trying to become an artist, especially at University. It's a money pit, and competition is so high, you're not guaranteed a job, you're just gonna be in debt. Even colleges like Cal Arts, who charge over $1K per class, I've been told are a "Pay to get in" kind of place. Where the money is used to nab professionals from their work to teach students or talk about their company or programs, and through that, you get a bigger chance to get your foot in the door because you know someone. I've unfortunately been told that's the more realistic way to get into animation: networking. If you're a shy introvert who doesn't know any famous people, you need to be extremely talented and unique to stand out to get the chance of being noticed. I don't really want to suck up to people nor do I want to waste thousands of dollars and 5 more years on college that I may not even need (let alone be able to afford) especially if there are online classes that may be even more valuable.

Now after I got out of college and started applying a few places, I discovered a LOT of unfortunate information.

Most animation these days is done overseas. South Korea, India, Japan, and Canada are the big ones.

Invader Zim, Steven Universe, Miraculous Ladybug, The Simpsons, OK KO, Star vs the Forces of Evil, Kipo and the Age of the Wonder Beasts, Adventure Time, Twelve Forever, and the Powerpuff Girls Reboot were animated in South Korea. The Ghost and Molly Mcgee is animated in Canada.

(The first four seasons of the Simpsons were animated in America until it switched to South Korea and India.)

2D traditional animation is no longer viable. Puppetry is the industry standard because it's the cheapest. Luckily, Toon Boom Harmony has allowed us to push the boundaries of 2D puppetry. Puppetry these days, if done well, can look really great, like Tangled the Series, but if you don't have Toon Boom Harmony, you're probably not gonna be hired.

Not even all 3D is made in the USA. If it's Disney, Dreamworks, or Pixar, then it's usually USA. But streaming service movies, like Sea Beast, Kid Cosmic, The Willoughbys, and Klaus, while they claim to be a "Netflix Original" that "Netflix Animation" animated, that's a lie. Klaus was animated by Yowza! Animation in Canada. The Willoughbys: Bron Animation, Canada. Kid Cosmic: Mercury Filmworks, Canada. Sea Beast: Sony Pictures Image Works, Canada. (X)

Go Go Cory Carson is written and storyboarded in America, but the animation is shipped out to be done in France. Sonic Boom is also French Animated.

Even Sony Pictures? Open Season, Surf's Up, Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, SMurfs, Hotel Transylvania, Over the Moon, The Angry Birds Movie, Sea Beast? Sony Pictures Imageworks is based in Canada. They're doing all the animation for them. It's not animated in America, it's merely funded by them.

I should also clarify: I only want to participate in stylized animated media. I don't want to do CGI for hyper-realistic films, which eliminates most of the animation jobs out there these days. It's just not my thing. The insane amount of details and uncanny valley are just so unappealing, I can't do it.

The closest animation studios are still far away. Most companies are located in LA. I'm over 7+ hours away from there. LA also has a high poverty rate, terrible air quality, is overcrowded, and is just generally not a good place to live, especially if you're low middle class. You're not gonna survive there.

Pixar is located in Emeryville, a few minutes north of San Fransisco city. Emeryville is the most crime-ridden city in that area. They tell you not to walk home alone at night. You're more likely to get robbed there than anywhere else according to the population ratio there. There are a lot of gangs that hide up there, and there's a lot of poverty there, even outside of San Fransisco. It's basically a trash pit. Not an ideal place to live, and commuting through 3-hour SF city traffic is also not gonna work. (X)

I have also been informed some people who work at Pixar are petty that the interns use their facility. Pixar has a heated pool, soccer field, gymnasium, and a few other nice things on their property. I was informed there was a person or two who got mad that an intern was using their basketball court.... when the intern was on break. As though they weren't part of Pixar, as though they had no right to touch the property. Apparently, they also used to make the interns push around little tea carts to serve refreshments as a way to "talk to the fellow animators" to probably get them interacting, but hearing that the interns were basically chored with butler duty to bother the animators hard at work seems like such a forced thing. That makes me uncomfortable. Of course, the person who told me these stories has been working with Pixar for over a decade or two now, so things could be very different as the years went on. Pixar itself on the inside of the animator building is gorgeous. They all decorate their office spaces in crazy ways, it looks like a movie set. But they have a bar and "whiskey club". They're apparently allowed to drink at work and have often had parties that got a little out of hand. There's also an old chain smoker room where the founders used to play poker and spy on people outside of their room with hidden cameras; I've even been inside. I don't think they use it anymore, though I'm not totally sure. Some of this info was fascinating, but the drinking made me uncomfortable. I kinda want to work with sober people here.

The sex ratio in the animation industry is also interesting and unfavorable. 70% of the animation and art school ratio is women, but only 34% of the actual animation workforce is women. 34% female to 66% male. More women study animation than men, but more men get hired and hold positions than women. Animation, ironically, has always been a male-dominated workplace. This unfortunately contributes to the "you have to know someone" or "be rich" to get-in situation. Men know a lot more men and not as many women. So the 30 to 40-year-old guys hire the other guys they know rather than a young poor girl with a passion. This makes it even more difficult for me to get in. (X)

20th Century, Netflix Animation, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Bento Box, Vanguard Animation, Universal Studios, Titmouse, 6 Point Harness, ShadowMachine- all LA / South California.

There are a few places I could apply to, but what they do, I just don't care for. Niantic(Pokemon Go), Lucasfilm(Effects), Whiteboard Animation(Marketing), Sharpeyeanimation (Marketing), EA games (Mass Effect, Battlefield, Dragon Age 2, all those hyper-realistic war, sports, or fantasy games.)

So whether it's outside of the USA or within the USA, I need to move. I don't have the money for that yet.

Just find a company that does remote work, right? It should be easy, especially in pandemic times! Wrong. Most animation companies don't permit remote work. It's probably a security issue. But I've done research on this. The only big animation company I've found (so far) that allows remote work (or is HIRING for remote work) is Mainframe Studios in Canada. They have a 3D animation job list, and I guess they focus on animating Barbie movies(???). (X) But that's about it. And even if you're a remote worker, there's a high likely hood you still need a Visa to be allowed to work for a company belonging to another country. So that's a whole other legal process to deal with.

Disney is becoming a huge corporate monopoly over American animation. They bought Blue Sky only to kill them off. (Disney also just recently laid off 7,000 people due to their stock price drop and failed movies they released the past year with deliberately bad marketing for political reasons. (X) Disney also bought Pixar and is pushing for sequels because weird or bad, sequels and terrible live actions make them a LOT of money. Did you know Disney's terrible Lion King CGI remake is amongst the top 10 highest-grossing movies ever made? It's criminal. (X)

Because Disney is such a big name in the USA, there's a huge association of animation = children's media, which is not true. Animation at the Oscars also has its own category, when it's not a genre, is a medium. Disney often wins at the Oscars too because no one sees the other animations. Granted, Disney has an insane marketing budget in comparison, but it's clear no one cares to seek out animation outside of heavy CGI live-action these days. No small-time studios, no limited releases, no anime. The fact that Disney also now OWNS the Oscars is SUS as hell. (The fact that Disney-owned ABC threatened the Oscars, forcing them to cut 8 categories or else there wouldn't be a show that year is wild. There isn't even an oscar for stuntmen. What the fuck, Hollywood?) (X)

Dreamworks nearly went bankrupt and sold itself to Comcast back in 2013. Comcast also owns Illumination. Dreamworks has been focusing on making bad tv show adaptions of their IPs. So yes people, Jack would sooner meet the Minions than meet Elsa. Disney is the biggest corporate monopoly, but it's definitely not the only one. The animation industry in America is snuffing out its competition by buying it out for itself. It's insane the kind of power they have.

Competition is HIGH. Because of this, the only ways to get in? If you're rich or you know someone. Pixar gets over 3,000 intern applications every summer. Less than 100 are seen by actual hiring managers. The most interns Pixar has ever taken in a single year were 12. The least they ever took in a single year was two. A 12 to 3,000 ratio is not favorable. That's a 3% chance to get into a big-shot animation company.

And again, because remote work isn't permissible to new hires, you need to live in the area to commute to the campuses. This is one of the reasons why LA is so crowded.

If you get into an animation company purely remote and maybe even for a different country? You are the luckiest person alive.

Programs are expensive. The animation industry is very strict on what programs they use. The industry standard for 2D puppetry is Toon Boom Harmony; the industry standard for 3D animation is Maya, and the industry standard for video game development isn't as clear but Unity is one of them.

Some of these programs are free, as long as you are a student. If you are attending college or a certain online program, you can use your school-issued email through them to apply to get the program for free for about a year. Otherwise, if you're using it to make your own animations solo?

Autodesk Maya: $225 a month or $1,785 a year (X)

and guess what? Maya removed its free render service. Arnold is now built in by default, however, if you want to BATCH render (Meaning render a full scene or several slides) it will slap it's ugly watermark over it.

Fun fact, this very rendered watermark can be seen accidentally in a single frame for the Kingdom Hearts Frozen cutscene

Well, you need to batch render if you're trying to animate so let's see what Arnold costs- $50 monthly to $380 annually.... are you kidding me?! The rendering PLUG-IN BUNDLED TO MAYA COSTS MORE TO USE THAN THE OWN PROGRAM?! (X)

Now, there are other rendering plug-ins you can probably use with Maya. But they all have their ups and downs and their own costs as well. (X) Pixar's Renderman is $595 per license. I can't seem to get info on Octane. V-ray solo is $39 monthly while premium is around $60 monthly.

Now there IS Blender, an alternative to Maya. It is free and I have it. That is ideal to work in for people like me. I tried it a while back, but I hated the interface windows. It was hard to work on it when you can't close them properly. It's possible they've fixed this in an update, but I haven't touched the program in over three years so I wouldn't know. It's different from Maya a little, so it has ups and downs in comparison too. But Blender is a savior to 3D artists everywhere.

Toon Boom Harmony isn't as bad but still high: Lowest price is $27 monthly / $220 annual and the highest is $124 monthly / $1,100 annual (X)

Unity has a basic version that is free, but Unity Plus is $399 yearly while Unity Pro is $2,040 (X)

So some programs are clearly more viable than others. But imagine you're trying to model, texture, rig, animate, simulate, and render a short film all by yourself in Maya. That's gonna take you over a year or two, and you'll have several thousand dollars out of your pocket by the time your free trial ends. And might I say, for an industry-standard program, Maya sucks. It's almost unusable without those plug-ins for not only rendering but also for the models to even be able to SELECT their BONE rigs.

Do you want to practice on your own when school is out of session? Fuck you! Fuck subscription services! Welcome to capitalist hell, baby!

Again, using Blender is more viable, but you're still going to be basically doing everything yourself. That's gonna take years. Do you have the patience for that? Do I?

Because of the pandemic, movies aren't even hitting theaters anymore. They're going straight to streaming services. Streaming services of which, gain sole rights to and can take media off their platforms at any time without warning. Thanks, Discovery+ ! Does everyone remember the HBO Max Animation & DC purge? It could happen to other streaming services too. Piracy will save the future of animation at this point. (X)

And again, Streaming services like Netflix will purchase films and claim they made them by slapping their logo over it; but no, they either bought the distribution rights or produced them through funding and maybe storyboarding. Often times from a Canadian film studio. (Link again X)

Even stop motion companies like LAIKA are losing money and may have to shut down or be bought out in the future, especially considering how much work and money they put into their films vs. how much money they actually make. (X)

All of this? Naturally made me fall into a depression. My god, the layers of hopelessness. My animation and modeling is pretty average too. I'm decent. I can maybe make a good shot. But I can't blow people away like James Baxter can. I mean, I shouldn't compare myself to people. If I worked really hard, maybe I could get into a good company. But again, I have to move! A part of me gave up. I don't really do 3D animation anymore, though part of me misses it.

I still 2D animate. I'm trying to make a short film and though my college friends who were working on it with me have given up, I have done my best to keep going. Even if it has been produced at a snail's pace for the past three years, I still intend to finish this animation. It's gonna be beautiful when it comes out, and it will be a wonderful portfolio piece regardless.

So with nothing else to do and no other kind of job experience really under my belt(plus my family is prone to covid so getting a job in the pandemic was just kind of out of the question) I decided to go to youtube. I heard some people can make a little money on there, but the truth is I had actually wanted to become a youtuber for a few years prior. I've always looked up to animators and reviewers on youtube, I've loved the stories they tell and their incredibly detailed analysis essays on movies, tv series, books, etc. I wanted to be one of them. I wasn't sure exactly what I'd do, so I just followed the Youtube Partnership program set up which took a few months, and then jumped in! I found I only had the time to upload once every month or two. I had a ton of audio issues and I'm not outputting at the proper 1920 x 1080 quality that I should be doing either. It's a huge learning process that I still haven't perfected, but I'm taking notes to try and get better.

Even though Youtube is fun, I only make $300 a month, and that isn't even consistent. With patreon, I make maybe another $80 or $100 on top of that, so overall $400 a month average. That's really nice and pretty cool! But it's not enough to survive.

Now I work part-time at a coffee shop. My mental health is a lot better and I love my coworkers. I make roughly $400 a week in comparison to the $400 a month. It's still not enough to live off of (the cheapest rent around is over $1,000 a month, not ) and it's still a temporary job in the long run. I intend to work here for maybe another two years to save up money.

But what do I do now?

Am I welcome in animation spaces anymore?

As a critic of popular media, it could be likely that they could fire me or deny my application because of my critique of their past films or tv series. They could see my youtube persona and assume I'm a raging untrustworthy nitpick instead of a passionate, kind person.

Vivziepop's Spindlehorse company? What Viv was doing was a dream. I was so inspired by her. She made her own company, made a super successful pilot, and was even creating more jobs for traditional, high-quality animation. However, for Hazbin Hotel, she required more funding, which is why she sold it off to A24, who now has corporate say in the show. A24 is known for letting creators be more lenient, but otherwise, Viv won't have full control over it anymore unless she managed to get them to sign something over to her; but with the rumors of her being kicked off season 1? I don't know anymore.

Her own company Spindlehorse; they rely on youtube revenue and/or merch sales to fund Helluva Boss. That's a tricky business practice, but it's kept them afloat so far.

However, Spindlehorse is hiring a lot of people as of late. This could be a bad sign; that people might be leaving the company due to potential mistreatment or unhappiness. With the way the show is going, I don't really want to be part of that company regardless, but maybe before season 2 of Helluva Boss, I would have considered applying. Had I made any critique videos prior, there's no way they'd accept me. "Aren't you that one YouTuber that said my writing is bad for season 2 episode 2?" And you expect me to hire you?" Like yeah, that application process would go down well. Not. By critiquing artists' work, some of them are very sensitive. I'd be kicked out for a lot of things, when really, we artists should be critiquing each other all the time, trying to improve. That's how the writer's room always is, ahaha... hours of fighting goes down in those meetings. It's intense, but fun.

But yeah, it's such a shame. Even small companies need to sell out to corporate to survive. Either that or be HEAVILY crowd-funded, which again, can be a slippery slope.

I see a ton of small projects on Twitter looking to hire people, or looking to become a big studio to release a pilot or game. I've joined a few of them, but most are unpaid because of COURSE they are, and then these projects?? Just don't go anywhere. Because it's unpaid. Because we can't afford to work on a project for free. IRL comes first. Some of these projects seem so great but they don't go anywhere, and it's hard to have faith in start-up studios anymore. (Game creators might have a chance, but tv series or films? Good luck, folks.)

At that point, should I just make my own company? I don't have the money or knowledge for such a thing! It's insanely expensive to start a business and get licensing. So much paperwork, so much everything! And the USA Government is so behind in understanding technology. If you want to create a remote business and/or copyright something, you're still required to put an advertisement in a local newspaper about it, even if your business isn't selling to locals. 💀 The number of fees and ridiculous legal hoops you need to jump through... it's a ridiculous waste of time and money. But you need to do it. The question is, am I willing to do it? Am I willing to tackle such an insane thing by myself?

I want to keep my internet persona and IRL persona separate, but can I? I value having a private, quieter life away from the screen. I worry about getting doxxed one day because of the nature of the internet. I worry about people finding my IRL resumes or profiles for work I want to do outside of youtube for security's sake. My art style is unique and very recognizable. I don't have a lot of private art that is worthy of being in a portfolio. But for absolute safety, I'd need to password-protect my websites or portfolios so the public doesn't have free access to them; only companies I'm applying to. But at that point, does password-protecting my resume and portfolio make it less likely I'd be hired due to the inconvenience? Due to the private, hard-to-find nature of my work? Being a YouTuber with great story skills and art skills with a fanbase could be a big plus to getting hired somewhere, but it could also be a horrible disadvantage that would get me fired. It's a double-edged sword that I cannot work around and I don't know what to do.

I've considered the video game industry, but even that isn't ideal. A lot of the indie ones I adore aren't made in the USA. Gris and Monster Camp were made in Spain. Ori and the Blind Forest: Austria. Hollow Knight: Australia. Little Nightmares and Raft: Sweden. LIMBO & INSIDE: Denmark. Outlast, Don't Starve, Spirit Farer, Bendy and the Ink Machine: Canada.

SuperGiant Games did Hades, Transistor and Bastion and is located in SF, but they're not hiring. Janimation, a multi-media company located in Texas isn't hiring. Frederator in New York isn't hiring.

I don't want to work for a studio that does nothing but first-person shooters or sports games. If I want to get into the gaming industry, I probably need to crowdfund and make a company to make a game myself.

If I make my own game, which I've wanted to do for a long time now and still want to... I can't code. I guess I could try to hire someone that could? But a game to the extent I want... I'd need to start small. I'd need to practice. It's several years of work. Will it even be worth it? I don't think I can do it alone. I'd need crowdfunding and workers; which again, here comes the "make my own studio" issue...

Do I even want to animate anymore? I prefer traditional animation in comparison to puppetry. I prefer 2D animation to 3D animation simply because it is more accessible. But even then, I'm finding myself drawn more and more to writing, storyboarding, and character design. If I were a 3D animator, this is mostly what I'd be working with all day: Naked models in an empty room. I'd do none of the physics simulation or texturing or lighting.

Animating naked & bald people all day... I don't know... 3D Animation kind of lost its appeal. You only work on such a small portion of a film, you almost never have the bigger picture. You won't see the final result until the film is done. As an animator, you're almost kept in the dark. Maybe that's how they want it anyway, since leaks are a huge issue they keep quiet under strict NDA.

But yeah, anyway... I'm an artistic digital generalist. I can do almost anything. 3D animation, storyboarding, writing, photo editing, illustration, rendering, modeling and so much more. It's hard to choose what you really want to be in this industry. I feel like Barry Benson dfklgjdflkjg

I don't know what I'm gonna do anymore. There's gotta be a solution to this but I just can't figure it out. I don't want to give up my youtube channel so I can be an animator. I don't want to give up a safer, quiet countryside house to be able to survive financially. Am I even willing or able to move countries? Is my career more important than friends and family?

I think I'm thinking too much about everything. I should start small. Move less than an hour away first and move in with roommates to get a feel for independence instead of jumping into it immediately. Get a job at a small time company, maybe not for what I want at first, but it'll get me some experience and maybe I'll learn some things along the way to understand where I can go next. Take it slow and don't panic too much over trying to be a young big shot. Take things one day at a time? That's my current goal, I suppose.

So you know... to answer your question... why did I switch to youtube for a current career? Because of a classic existential & career crisis in my 20s. Will I ever go back to 3D animation? Maybe. Maybe one day.

[historyhermann]

Unicorn: Warriors Eternal Spoiler-Filled Review

Unicorn: Warriors Eternal is a mature supernatural fantasy comedy with steampunk elements. Genndy Tartakovsky, who is well-known in the animation industry, is the director and creator. He is best known for Dexter's Laboratory, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Sym-Bionic Titan, and Samurai Jack, and more recently, Primal. This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, Unicorn: Warriors Eternal, being reviewed here, wouldn't exist.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs and Wayback Machine. This was the forty-first article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on July 24, 2023.

This series has a simple plot: a group of heroes are inadvertently awakened by Copernicus, a steam-powered robot, in bodies of three teenagers (Emma, Alfie, and Dimitri), rather than in bodies of adults, like in the past. These heroes are opposed by a mysterious foxlike woman (voiced by Grey DeLisle), who embodies evil.

Unicorn: Warriors Eternal drew me in as a person who enjoyed watching Star Wars: Clone Wars as a kid (and have re-watched it various times), and liked Samurai Jack and Sym-Bionic Titan. Voice actors like Jacob Dudman (voice of Edred) who voiced two characters in Primal, and DeLisle, voice of the mysterious woman and the original Melinda, strengthen this series.

Delisle is well-known for her work in animation, including voicing characters in Invincible, Kid Cosmic, The Owl House, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, DC Super Hero Girls, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Elena of Avalor, Star Wars Rebels, The Legend of Korra, Young Justice, and My Life as a Teenage Robot. In contrast, Hazel Doupe, the voice of Emma in this series, is unique. This is her first voice role, as she has only done live-action series before.

I wasn't as familiar with Jeremy Crutchley, Demari Hunte, Alain Uly, Tom Milligan, Ron Bottita, or George Webster, the voices of Merlin, Alfie, Seng, Lord Edward Fairfax, and Winston in Unicorn: Warriors Eternal. I say this even though Crutchley voiced Glad-One and One in Infinity Train, and Uly as Lieutenant Maylur and two stormtroopers in Star Wars: The Bad Batch.

Others, such as Hunte, Milligan, Bottita, Webster, appear to be new to voice work. Rosalind Ayres (voice of Lord Katherine Fairfax) previously voiced characters in video games while Robbie Daymond (voice of various one-off characters) lent his voice to the notorious Curious Cat in Volume 9 of RWBY! He voiced Jesse in Infinity Train season 2, Raymond in OK K.O. Let's Be Heroes!, and many other English dubs of anime characters.

The steampunk setting in Victorian London, in 1890, in this series, reminded me of Steamland in Disenchantment, the upper city in Arcane, or the similarly steampunk action anime, Princess Principal, which spawned a multi-part film series. The steampunk genre has even reached into indie animation and comics. It includes films like Snowpiercer, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and Howl's Moving Castle, along with animated series like Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water and The Legend of Korra. I am even reminded of an unaired 2001 pilot for Constant Payne, by Indigenous writer Micah Wright. It has a strong steampunk aesthetic.

Unicorn: Warriors Eternal is different than all of those previously mentioned. It is unique in its own way. Just as Samurai Jack was set in the future, with magic, robots, lasers, and the like, this series is set in an alternate world. Unlikely the haphazard and strange inclusion of futuristic technology in the far-too-short Yasuke, this series is much more complete. It draws inspiration from works by animators Max Fleischer and Osamu Tezuka, films by Hayao Miyazaki (like Howl's Moving Castle) and other steampunk aesthetics.

The show's character designer, Stephen DeStefano, worked on Sym-Bionic Titan, Primal, and other projects, with Tartakovsky. He pushed, as did Tartakovsky, to ensure the series had an "old aesthetic" but was told "in a very contemporary way". The studio producing the series, Cartoon Network Studios, has produced many of Tartakovsky's previous projects. Some of the same animators who worked on his previous projects may be working on this series.

These animators could not do their work without the writers. If a recently circulated spreadsheet is representative of Cartoon Network Studios as a whole, it would mean that, for animators, there is repetitive work, little opportunity for advancement, sterile environment due to the Warner-Discovery merger, disorganization, burnout, and overwork. There are two primary show writers: Darrick Bachman and Tartakovsky. While the latter is more well-known, the former is not, despite his work on Primal, Samurai Jack, Regular Show, Star Wars: Clone Wars, and many animated series, some of which he worked on with Tartakovsky.

If Glassdoor is accurate, each of these writers makes somewhere between $46,000 to $83,000 a year. I would guess that Tartakovsky is paid more than Bachman. In any case, the conditions the writers work in influences whether a show is "high-quality" or "low-quality". High Guardian Spice was said to be the latter, until it was revealed that the working conditions at Crunchyroll were horrendous. This does not appear to be the case for Cartoon Network Studios. The recent closure of the iconic studio's headquarters, with employees told to move to a sterile, lifeless Warner Bros. building instead, it does not bode well.

Even some predicted that under David Zaslav, it is difficult to "imagine a future in which the studio’s original animation output can match what it has been in the past," with a strong shit to reboots rather than original series. However, if the writers, and actors, are successful in their strike, these conditions may change for the better. On the other hand, the studios are doing all they can to burn down motivation of actors and writers, while stockpiling completed works and scripts before the strikes began.

Coming back to the series, Unicorn: Warriors Eternal is a relatable coming-of-age story. The protagonist, Emma (who can transform into Melinda) is struggling to determine whether she is "Emma" or "Melinda". She loses control of her powers after any emotional outburst she has. Having one's powers tied to their emotions is not new. In the last half of Elena of Avalor's final season, the protagonist, Elena Castillo Flores, had to wrestle with the fact that her magical abilities were tied to her emotional moods. The same was the case for Steven Universe in the series of the same name, and in Steven Universe Future.

For Emma/Melinda, her anger and fury seem to be how she expresses her power, in a super saiyan esque transformation. While this expression of raw power can be effective in defeating enemies, it doesn't prevent her from hurting people, unintentionally, in the process. For instance, in the second episode, she uses this power to defeat a huge magically possessed elephant. However, her fiancé Winston is badly hurt in the process and the surrounding area is nearly obliterated.

The use of her abilities in Unicorn: Warriors Eternal are complicated by her relationship with Edred, a warrior elf. He reincarnates in the body of a wanna-be magician named Dimitri. After Copernicus resurrects him, he rushes over to Emma/Melinda, and kisses her. While he has memories of their relationship, Melinda-as-Emma does not. Making matters worse, she still has some romantic feelings for Winston, who wants to "rescue" her from her "new" form.

This contrasts with Edred. He can effectively fight with a sword in manner which almost seems reminiscent of the sword-wielders in anime or those in Western animations like Amphibia, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and Steven Universe. Like all Tartakovsky productions, Edred has his own specific style. Every character is stylized in their own way. This is thanks to the aforementioned character designer, DeStefano, and work by many others at Cartoon Network Studios. The same is the case for their battle moves and attacks. It sets the series apart from others with similar themes.

The team of Emma/Melinda, a cosmic monk named Seng (in the body of a young Black ruffian named Alfie), Copernicus, and Edred, make an interesting combination. Each has personal issues they must overcome. Seng cannot fully comprehend the cosmic plane as a young child. Edred has a "clouded" mind despite having a largely intact memory and retains his power. Emma/Melinda has an identity crisis. She even tells Winston, at one point, that she isn't Emma anymore and that the Emma he knew is dead. This is a cold, hard truth which is hard for him to accept.

The complications in each character's lives make it an increasing challenge for these heroes, whose souls are tasked with protecting the world throughout eternity. With the scrambled memories, especially of Emma/Melinda, and the fact that only Edred remembers the most about their role in fighting evil, it makes the story that much more intriguing. The secretive villain is almost as devious as Shadowy Figure in O.K. KO!, but shares more characteristics with Kilgore in Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes and Huntsmen, Part 1. He aimed to change the Justice League into teenagers, so they are "vulnerable", are ripped apart by the world, and have to deal with emotions they ignore or regress as adults.

There is one major difference. The villain in Unicorn: Warriors Eternal never intended on awakening the Order of the Unicorn (Melinda, Seng, Edred, and Copernicus). Instead, she wanted to destroy Copernicus so the order would cease to exist. The villain exploits the situation for her own ends. She hopes that these heroes will be resurrected one final time. The heroes will do anything they can to stop this evil, with Edred declaring that the villain will "not succeed".

In future seasons, Melinda's insecurities may be exploited just as Invictus did with Ash Graven in Final Space. If so, she may turn against her friends. It is hard to say whether the series villain will be as devious as Aku, who had built an entire empire and dedicated many of his resources to track down Samurai Jack.

By the show's third episode, there is a clear focus on discrimination, specifically how humans will "other" that which they don't understand. The response of the British police and Scotland Yard to a theft of priceless artifacts bound for the British Museum is to arrest anyone engaged in "magic" in London. There are mass arrests of soothsayers, fortune tellers, and anyone else on Mystic Row.

To make matters worse, they put up a Wanted poster for Emma/Melinda. Even when two spiritualists, Clarice Leydoux and Lao Xi Sheng, tell the police detective the reality, he doesn't believe them. Clearly, the police in this series, including Inspector General Hastings (voiced by Gildart Jackson), do not know how to deal with the situation at hand. People such as Agatha (voiced by Rosalind Ayres), another royal official, try and put in place more order.

Through it all, Emma/Melinda tries to figure out herself. She isn't sure of her connection with Winston, who she inadvertently injured. She even goes to a seance which separated her two identities, making her question whether she wants to be a hero or not. As a result, she declares that she hates the other part of herself. Her father even realizes that she is different, remarking "that is not our daughter". Winston remains in pursuit, even when he clashes with Edred on who "truly" loves her.

After the first two episodes, the series explored the insecurities of Seng. The villains cause him to be swallowed by a cosmic fox. The latter, known as a Lady Fox, attacks them. An amazingly animated chase scene on the rooftops follows, reminding me of similar scenes in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Samurai Jack. In the fourth episode, this is more apparent. Seng is unable to use his powers while he is trapped on an abandoned ship with other Unicorn team members. He even starts to become translucent! Although they escape this predicament, it could foreshadow more trouble for Seng in the future.

As Emma/Melinda learns more about the story of her Melinda side, with the child version of original Melinda voiced by Marley Cherry Hilbourne. She learns that her mother, Morgan Le Fay (voiced by Peta Johnson), was terribly injured, thanks to her. It is revealed that Merlin (voiced by Jeremy Crutchley) is her father. The conflict between the two halves of herself remains an important part of the story. This is especially the case when they all fight a big squid threatening to destroy the town. Her attempts at reconciliation do not go well, even though she is making some progress by the seventh episode.

At the end of the fifth episode, Unicorn: Warriors Eternal takes a bold step: it appears to kill off one of its protagonists, Copernicus. This is comparable to a similar "loss" of Octus in Sym-Bionic Titan. While Emma/Melinda is most distraught, she works together with Edred to find someone to repair Copernicus. They find an inventor named Otto (voiced by Jason O'Mara), thanks to a robot named Dashwood (voiced by Chris Butler). He works on a huge floating airship, which functions like a space station.

He remarks that Copernicus is like a robot he hasn't created yet, but he says it feels familiar. Copernicus cannot fully come back until his magical power is restored. He is a futuristic magical being. The power from an ancient magical stone is used by Merlin. He brings Copernicus back to life. Even so, this sequence implies that Copernicus can die, in certain instances.

The seventh episode of Unicorn: Warriors Eternal is a rollercoaster ride. It is revealed that Edred left his bride-to-be, in an arranged marriage meant to unite two clans, to be with Melinda. At the same time, it is further implied that Emma/Melinda somewhat remembers this. The quest to get the necessary magical power, the presence of Merlin, and restoration of balance, causes Edred's brother, Aelwulf (voiced by Jack Bandeira), to regain respect for him.

At the end of the seventh episode, the Unicorn team learns that they still have evil to fight, and that their time in this world has not ended. It is implied that Merlin will help they stop it. The eighth episode throws this into question. Out of nowhere, Merlin appears and tells them to come "quickly" to battle an evil machine killing the land. While they meet the mighty tiger Rakshasa (voiced by Sunkrish Bala), Merlin attacks Emma/Melinda, surprising them all.

The last three episodes of Unicorn: Warriors Eternal lay bare tensions between the group members. This is clear with the addition of a new member, Winston, who can become a werewolf. Predictably, Edred objects, as Winston has feelings for Emma/Melinda. All the while there is the fight against evil, which exudes dark magic.

This reaches a critical point in the ninth episode when the evil leaves Merlin and enters the cosmic realm. They meet an older Seng who has been fighting it for over 20 years, with no success. It is said that if the evil devours everything, the world will end. Merlin and Rakshasa remain optimistic until  Emma and Melinda are split apart.

I wish Unicorn: Warriors Eternal had been longer. By the eighth episode, it appears that Melinda is coming to peace with the part of her who is Emma, and vice versa. This seemed too quick. Her struggle with her identity could have stretched across an entire season of 20 to 26 episodes. Take Cassandra in Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, for example. She is mentally manipulated by Zhan Tri. Even so, she tries to figure out her identity and how she feels about Rapunzel. Like that series, which ended with a bang, this series is burdened by compulsory heterosexuality. Tangled differs by featuring well-recognized gay vibes between Rapunzel and Cassandra, shipped by fans as "Cassunzel".

Much of the internal struggle that Emma/Melinda experiences is couched by a love triangle. Emma loves Winston, while Melinda loves Edred. However, Edred hates Winston and vice versa. Due to the propensity of male characters in this series, there isn't any character, female, non-binary, or otherwise, written for Emma/Melinda that would allow her to have a queer romance.

Even so, the struggle of Emma to reunite with Melinda, resulting in defiance of her by-the-book parents, is promising. Considering this series is set in the 1890s, it is no shock that Emma's parents try to hold her back. They think she is out of her mind and want to bring her to a doctor, who will commit her to an asylum. Her actions, including drawing on equations on the walls of the bathroom, akin to the oft-memed scene from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia in which Pepe Silvia goes on a conspiratorial rant, don't help her case. In her defense, she is desperate and wants to get back to the cosmic realm at any cost.

This episode goes off the rails when two huge men try to capture Emma and bring her to "the doctor". What follows is an intense chase scene in which Emma has many near-death experiences, and barely escapes those trying to get her, even riding a steam-powered tram to Mystics Row. Two mystic warriors (Clarice Leydoux and Lao Xi Sheng) offer to help her. With their assistance, she uses the Heart of the Forest to get to the cosmic realm.

The Unicorn: Warriors Eternal finale concludes strongly. Emma inspires everyone, reuniting with Melinda, and convinces them to combine their powers into one. They strike a decisive blow against evil forces. This is blunted by the surprising revelation: Morgan is trapped in the heart of the evil beast! At the end of the episode, the protagonists find themselves in a bizarre world in which "the evil" has changed everything. Emma/Melinda gets the last word, noting their determination to save Morgan and defeat the evil being no matter what.

The ending is not definitive, but is open-ended. The central conflict rings true, especially if seen as a metaphorical extension of Genndy Tartakovsky as a Jewish immigrant who faced pressure to support his mother and live up to the myth of a "model minority". A possible second, or even third, and fourth season, could expand upon these characters and their struggles. Possibly, the series may go an Infinity Train route, having different characters for each season.

I hope that any possible future seasons of Unicorn: Warriors Eternal would increase diversity of the cast. Surely, there are talented voice actors like a Black men Demari Hunte (voice of Seng) and Victor Alli (voice of Adult Seng). They are joined by a Filipino man, Alain Uy (voice of Lao Xi Sheng), an American actor of Tamil descent, Sunkrish Bala (voice of Rakshasa), and a British actor of Iraqi, Lebanese, and Indian descent, Brian George (voice of Darvish).

From the available lists of the cast members, I'm not seeing much diversity beyond the aforementioned individuals. A quick read of the cast list for Primal, indicates that the series has a much more diverse cast than this series! Perhaps, this is just reflecting the fact that historically, London was ethnically homogeneous, composed primarily of White British residents, until after World War II. By 1891, over 5.6 million were living in Greater London, a number which would grow in later years.

Cartoon Network Studios president, Sam Register, is an executive producer, and Shareena Carlson is supervising director. Unicorn: Warriors Eternal is expertly animated thanks to Studio La Cachette in France and Studio Zmei in Bulgaria. Cartoon Network Studios is the aforementioned production company. This is reinforced by the show's music, composed by Tyler Bates and Joan Higginbottom. It is effective, connecting the action with the story. It makes you excited to watch each episode, and become more invested in the characters.

None of this is much of a surprise. Bates is a well-known producer, composer, and musician, primarily of action and horror media, including the John Wick franchise. He was probably chosen because he composed the music scores of Sym-Bionic Titan, the fifth (and final) season of Samurai Jack, and Primal.

Similarly, Higginbottom was a composer on the same season of Samurai Jack, Primal, and John Wick Chapter 4. Tara Billinger, known as the creator of Long Gone Gulch and a storyboarder, did production work on the series as well. The animators either worked on French productions not known in the U.S., or series such as Love, Death & Robots, and Primal. Even Tartakovsky did some storyboarding. The animation, background art, and set pieces are strong in this series.

Unicorn: Warriors Eternal may have been a passion project for Tartakovsky. However, it is incorrect that the plot is "humdrum". Furthermore, Emma/Melinda is not a "poorly written" character, nor does she have a "pat dilemma" or lack emotional complexity. Her struggles are at the series' center. On the other hand, this series, like Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Sym-Bionic Titan, and Primal, is male-centered. In fact, Emma/Melinda is the only female protagonist.

The series has "urgent stakes" and the characters are intriguing. This accompanies amazing mythologies and some worldbuilding. It could be better, but it is not missing "the magic of Tartakovsky". Instead, this series is unique and different from other Tartakovsky series in the past. Surely, I'd love to have queer characters and even have a love triangle akin to the one between Hazumu Osaragi, Yasuna Kamiizumi, and Tomari Kurusu in Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl. Unfortunately, this series did not go that direction, instead having male-female couples, without any one-way crushes.

Overall, despite my criticisms, Unicorn: Warriors Eternal is an enjoyable series and I'd recommend it. I can hope that it improved to become even better, breaking out of the good-evil dichotomy, and other common tropes used in Tartakovsky's work.

Unicorn: Warriors Eternal can be watched on Adult Swim or streamed on Max, DirectTV, and Spectrum. It can be purchased through Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu, or Microsoft Store.

© 2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[whumptywhumpdump]

🦚 - Are there any queer books/shows/etc. that you would suggest?

🦚 - ARE THERE?!?! YES!!!

Okay, I'll start with the basic and say Heartstopper because that has been holding my heart and watering my crops for years. The Netflix adaptation is really great and a good way to start if you know nothing about it, but I highly recommend the webcomic! There's a lot more story there by now and some of it is different, so it's worth seeing both.

The Owl House is a Disney cartoon series with some amazing representation, some really well written characters and honestly just a great story in general (some good whump as well, considering it's a kid's show). On that same vibe, Kipo and She-Ra, both from Netflix, are incredible and have some good queer rep.

For anime lovers, I cannot shut up about Given! High school boys navigating their crushes, communication, some heavier subjects (non-related to homophobia or anything) and they're in a band!!! The songs are great, the characters are lovable and the movie after the series, focuses on the relationship of the other two members of the band who are already adults, which I also love!

For books, I Wish You All the Best is one I read a while ago and absolutely adored! It's about a high-school student figuring out they're nonbinary and navigating their first love. Another book I enjoyed but which should definitely be taken with a grain of salt is Docile, it's whumpy, it's got some very fucked up relationship dynamics, and it reminds me a lot of the BBU, but I'd say to read some reviews first to make sure you're down for it xD

[theliterarywolf]

So basically, animated series wise, we need more like Castlevania.

I wouldn't just brush it off as 'we need more like Castlevania' because Netflix tried that approach with Dragon's Dogma and Blood of Zeus and the results of those attempts are middling at best and shit at worst (according to reviews I've read).

I would, instead, say that all these networks and streaming services need to realize that 'look, you can have animated content that stands out and draws viewership to your network/service. You just need to let the creator you just picked up? Have their own free-reign of what to produce. Yeah, give them a budget. But stop trying to throw arbitrary guidelines at them'.

We don't need instances like Bjoack Horseman being canceled and forced to wrap everything up in Season 6 because Netflix hates unions.

We don't need Netflix, in a continuation of their hate-boner for unions, to give Lisa Hanawalt the permission and resources to make Tuca and Bertie, but do nothing to advertise it so they can cancel it for low-ratings... And still make it impossible for S2 to be aired on HBO Max, despite Adult Swim being the one to foot the bill for it.

We don't need instances like the creator of Kipo being almost halfway done with writing S1 just for Dreamworks animation to tell him 'Yeah, we need you to make Kipo's dad black'.

We don't need instances like Jeffrey Katzenberg trying to force Pixar to make the original Toy Story into an adult comedy with jerkass!Woody, the universe only being saved from that due to a disastrous showing of the initial 'Black Friday Incident' cut.

We don't need instances like the infamous "Everyone Knows it's Bendy" episode of Foster's only resulting in the way it did because Lauren Faust original had a more complete story that would have run 22 minutes but Cartoon Network kept badgering her to crunch it down into the truncated version we got

We don't need instances like what The Owl House is currently going through

We don't need instances like how Adult Swim initially tried to bully the creators of Venture Bros into not only changing the episode lengths but also into rewriting the character of Doc Venture because they thought he was 'too mean' and apparently regret that the creators never bowed down to the changes.

Just let creators CREATE.

[clowncalvary]

Reviewing Every Animal Crossing New Horizons Villager (Because I Have Fallen Down The Rabbit Hole) Part 4

Chrissy: I am endeared to her face because it looks like she is wearing a mask! Kind of gives me The Stranger energy from TMA. 700 Bells.

Claude: They have done this rabbit dirty. He also looks like he is hiding a few women in his basement. 10 Bells.

Claudia: I need this kind of tiger energy in my life. This is like if a family friendly animated studio was designing a girl tiger versus a boy tiger. 320 Bells.

Clay: I thought at first he looked like a luchador, but then I zoomed in and went "Ah! He's possessed!" 53 Bells.

Cleo: I like her colors and her eyes, but these are her only redeeming traits. 60 Bells, but for you I let her go for 50.

Clyde: Ope, just ugly all the way down, huh? 0 Bells.

Coach: This dude looks like he fell off the ugly tree and hit every branch and the way down. 0 Bells. - I was asked to retract this statement, but I refuse.

Cobb: He is a green pig, but he could be worse. I might be biased because I was told he was a mad scientist and I do love a good feral little man. 200 Bells.

Coco: HONEY YOU ARE MY- ANGGGGGGGGGGEL!!!!!!!! I have loved her since the moment I saw her! Possessed in the best way possible! I will NOT rest until I get her on my island!! SHE IS PRICELESS IN MY HEART!!!! 500,000 Bells. I Will Pay More For Her.

Cole: Wait, wait, they are so cute. They look like they have no clue about anything that is going on. Damn, most of the rabbit villagers are just going to be this charming, huh? I don't think I have enough room on my island for them all :( 2222 Bells.

Colton: All good things must come to an end and seeing this horse truly is the end of a good streak of villagers. He does kind of look like he belongs on Fred Jones' island though if he played Animal Crossing. 30 Bells.

Cookie: Stop looking at me with those big old eyes. The patterning would be cute without the eyes, but not enough to redeem this dog. 60 Bells.

Cousteau: I was going to say he was irredeemable, but then I realized that he kind of reminds me of the frogs from Kipo. 80 Bells.

Cranston: More like Crankston. Gross little man. Gonna put this man's head back into the sand. 0 Bells.

Croque: Go back to the opera where they can't see your face. 0 Bells.

Cube: I keep thinking of those weird ass small penguin animations that I've seen all over tumblr. Do with that as you may. 42 Bells.

Curlos: Ah, this dude belongs on Mabel's island and she would cherish him so much. Personally though, I'm going to have to pass on this man. 10 Bells. (Good luck getting him though, Mabel won't give him up).

Curly: ....This is just motherfuckin' Peppa, ain't it? You ain't as charmin' as you seem to think, Peppa! 20 Bells.

Curt: This is a bear that looks like he either needs to be a wrestler or in a biker club. I can see this dude riding a motorcycle. 20 Bells.

Cyd: Look. I wanted to like him. I wanted to like him so much because I love the colors and his mischievious look. I just can't get past him looking like shit. 0 Bells.

Cyrano: Why does he look like he's a villain from One-Punch Man? I hope he gets flattened soon. 36 Bells.

Daisy: Now that is one cutie patootie of a dog. I really hope I encounter them when I am island hopping just so I can say I met them! Put them in my little island scrapbook. 700 Bells.

Deena: *squints* A duck? Why do they look like a yokai? Either way my lack of trust in them is pretty high! 0 Bells.

Deidre: What secrets are you hiding behind that smile? Where did you hide those bodies? Why is there a strangely shaped red stain on your carpet? 60 Bells.

Del: Mechanical Alligator vibes right here. I am just not digging them. I kind of wish that he was more ugly because then at least he would stick out? 50 Bells.

Deli: JUST IMAGINE ME HISSING AT THE SCREEN SEVERAL TIMES LIKE A REALLY DISGRUNTLED KITTEN. THAT IS HOW I FEEL EVERY TIME I SEE ONE OF THESE UGLY ASS MONKEYS! -500 BELLS.

Derwin: The kids in highschool definately called him "Derpwin" and they were right. 25 Bells.

Diana: Now this is a lovely villager! A good use of the deer design too! I wonder if one of my friends already has her? 620 Bells.

Diva: Horrifying. Ugly. Disgusting. There is a circle of hell just reserved for this Frog. -1000 Bells.

Dizzy: *sigh* Okay, this is literally identical to a different elephant villager that I saw earlier. I feel like I need to barely dignify this guy with a review. 0.50 Bells because he is a rip off.

[mother-snake]

my review on what ive seen on netflix, having never had it before

so far on the completed netflix list i have: race to the edge, tales of arcadia, daniel spellbound, voltron, ninjago

spoiler warning

race to the edge: Growing up with httyd, i was bound to fall in love with it. ive only seen clips on youtube and im still pissed that they killed grimborne. dagur is still my favourite and snotlout still for no reason makes me mildly angry, for no reason. (riders of berk is slowly being bought. i got most of the two seasons. just need part two of s1 i think)

tales of arcadia: Holy shit. i love this. the only one i couldnt connect with really was 3below, wasnt too keen on the first few episodes, but it quickly picked up. trollhunters is still the best, wizards is amazing, rise of the titans could have done without steves sublot. if you know...well. you know :/ (will be getting the books using any christmas money one gets)

daniel spellbound: was a bit hard to get into at first. the pie witch was....mmm. no. but after that it was fucking amazing. currently in the midst of getting fanfiction outta my system for this one. daniel and the sea queen absolutely have the, oh fuck. ive adopted a child that thrives on adrenaline, better give him a fucking weapon energy and i fully intend to use that.

voltron: everything was going smoothly, until season 8 attacked. what the absolute fuckery was that shit. anyways. rewatching cause its been years and i miss lotor.

ninjago: having grown up with it and keeping up to date, i was sad to see it end. but am happy with the 'reboot' netflix is doing. the budget clearly shows and it looks so stunning. cant wait to buy this months ninjago magazines.

going to finnish up kipo and the wonderbeasts, lego dreamzzzz (started buying the magazines), sweet tooth will happen soon. watching umbrella acadamey, stranger things and breaking bad with the family once we get our shit together and have some time to do so. (im paying for the netflix and i intend to let them use it as i do like disney from my mums account :P)

any suggestions

[animated-dragon]

Amateur Reviews

I am going to review stuff just for fun. Will be animated shows (cartoons and anime, why do have different names for the same thing?), may occasionally include live-action spin-offs.

Shows and movies I want to review:

Time-Travel series I got for my birthday

Magi-Nation

Digimon (series/season 1-4)

Teen Titans (seasons 1-5, I did not know there was a fifth movie until I got the dvd set)

Young Justice

Justice League and Justice League Unlimited

One or two of the Pokemon series (I am not doing all 20+ series)

Trollhunters

3Below

Wizards

Lion King Remake? maybe

Bofuri: I Don't Want to Get Hurt so I'll Max Out my Defense

The Legend of Vox Machina

Zak Storm (season 1 - 52 episodes)

Miraculous Ladybug

Matt Hatter

Maybe a transformers series

Storm Hawks

Slugterra

Rollbots

Scooby-Doo

Spider Riders

How to Train Your Dragon (specifically movie franchise/trilogy)

Dragons Rescue Riders

The Lion Guard

Not Quite Narwhal

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts

Voltron (Netflix)

Avatar: The Last Airbender (3 seasons/whole series)

My Little Pony Friendship is Magic

My Little Pony The Next Generation

Avatar: The Legend of Korra

The Legend of Zelda

Rayla and the Last Dragon

Turning Red

Surf's Up

Scooby-Doo and the 13 Ghosts and sequel

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island and sequel

The Deep

Sea Beast

Inspector Gadget

Whatever else I watch/remember/feel like

[xxfrizzyxx]

I posted 810 times in 2022

56 posts created (7%)

754 posts reblogged (93%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@sabertoothwalrus

@not--amanda

@fangirltothefullest

@medievalthymes

@pleaseletthisjimbetaken

I tagged 131 of my posts in 2022

#the owl house - 10 posts

#university - 9 posts

#doctor who - 9 posts

#art - 8 posts

#toh - 7 posts

#the doctor - 5 posts

#the doctor x yaz - 5 posts

#asexual - 5 posts

#thirteen x yaz - 4 posts

#digital art - 4 posts

Longest Tag: 120 characters

#but when someone proves themselves to not even be a normal good/decent person you are allowed to be disappointed by that

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Can we please get more ace characters in non-mature content? I’m sick of seeing “oh! X character is asexual!” And then when I look up the show it’s very sexual in nature.

13 notes - Posted February 21, 2022

#4

Okay I might figure it out later but I really feel like there could be some meaning behind the IRIS acronym

I’m too tired to think about that right now tho

14 notes - Posted August 23, 2022

#3

You know since Thasmin will probably end sadly even if they get together I’m just gonna do the Voltron thing and pretend it never happens and they live happily ever after and NO THAT DOESN’T MAKE IT BORING

21 notes - Posted July 9, 2022

#2

So we all agree that Badyah is ace right??

25 notes - Posted October 29, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Dear cartoon lovers,

I’ve just finished Star vs the Forces of Evil and now I’m back to not knowing what to watch. I want more cartoons like it but I’m not sure there are any left. I’ve seen Adventure Time, Voltron, Gravity Falls, Steven Universe, Craig of the Creek, Infinity Train, The Owl House, Amphibia, She-ra, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, Over the Garden Wall, the Dragon Prince, Avatar the Last Air Bender, the Legend of Korra, the Hollow, Dragons: Race to the Edge and DuckTales. Please give me recommendations for cartoons with lore or a story like these.

194 notes - Posted January 24, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[biberrymuffin]

I posted 17,138 times in 2022

That's 5,965 more posts than 2021!

18 posts created (0%)

17,120 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@anoddreindeer

@peri

@transbaphomet

@rainbowchibbit

@stemmmm

I tagged 190 of my posts in 2022

#biberrymuffin - 26 posts

#axe talks abt stuff - 24 posts

#toh spoilers - 17 posts

#the owl house spoilers - 15 posts

#reblog - 11 posts

#answer - 7 posts

#text post - 7 posts

#axe talks bout the toonz - 6 posts

#ask meme - 4 posts

#anonymous - 3 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#lol i was so made after two years of going through hoops tryna get on t when my friend told me he just went to planned parenthood and got it

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

The Kipo soundtrack didn't have to go that hard but they did and I'm OBSESSED.

6 notes - Posted January 27, 2022

#4

See the full post

6 notes - Posted October 31, 2022

#3

See the full post

12 notes - Posted August 21, 2022

#2

So, I swore to myself for the longest time that I would never do one of these posts, but I’m a broke college student and I’ve been paying out of pocket and for my medical bills for my HRT all by myself recently and it’s made quite a LARGE dent in my bank account as of late along with tuition. I currently only have 8 or so dollars in my bank account, and have some upcoming fees I need to pay, and until I have access to my college fund (which is on hold due to me recently becoming the shareholder cuz my grandparents were just moved to memory care and can no longer manage the funds) or my next paycheck, I’m in a bit of a bind. You don’t have to donate anything if you don’t want to but anything is appreciated, even the smallest amount, as well as just reblogging this post if you can. Here are my links:

ko-fi.com/axeking

https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/axemcavinue

Again you don’t have to send me anything, but if you can it’s much appreciated. 

36 notes - Posted May 24, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Baymax: You are getting older. Your body may change, but you will always be you. 

This scene in the Baymax! animated series almost made me cry as a transmasc person. I remember when I got my first period and was so scared and confused, and I wish I had a sweet lil marshmallow robot helper to help me deal with the emotional turmoil I went through. Someone to let me know it was OK if my body was changing, because it was just biology and no matter what I would always be the same person. I think a lot of kids who go through puberty need to hear that message. Not just trans kids or young women. 

I also rewatched Big Hero Six after Baymax! and the movie also mentions masculine puberty. When Baymax first scanned Hiro after Tadashi passed away, he mentioned that Hiro was dealing with mood swings, and that his pituitary gland had increased activity (on his sensors) and had high testosterone levels, GPR54, GnRH, and that his voice was fluctuating. Meaning not only was Hiro dealing with loss, but also puberty which as I am currently going through my own masculine puberty, can be just as confusing and nerve-wracking for guys. 

It just made me realize that we could have gotten an entirely different movie, where the whole time Baymax was trying to help Hiro with his puberty. 

And also how much we need to properly explain puberty to kids and help them cope with these changes, instead of making it out to be a taboo or completely life changing thing. Puberty is a natural part of life, and therefore, should be treated as such. 

Overall, I’m just really glad we got such good representation about this.

150 notes - Posted July 8, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[tomjust]

Bookends kailua

We’re a family oriented site focusing on bringing trusted reviews and recommendations to moms and others. Whether you’re looking for a specific business or just trying to discover great places we make it easy. Judy’s Book has millions of listings and reviews for the best and not so great. Queen Emma Summer Palace, 2913 Pali Hwy Honolulu, HI 96817.From family friendly trips with kid friendly activities to local plumbers lawyers, spas, and contractors.May 23, Thursday, 4:30 – 7 PM, Daughters of Hawaii Get Friends of Kailua Library Bookstore reviews, rating, hours, phone number, directions and more. 1,021 Followers, 615 Following, 70 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from BookEnds Kailua (bookendskailua) bookendskailua. 5 PM Book Signing – Barnes and Noble Tent.2 pm – 4:30 PM, with Nainoa Mission Memorial Auditorium About Us BookEnds in Kailua is an independent neighborhood bookstore, with an extensive selection of new and used books and an excellent staff of helpful people. BookEnds is a bookstore located in Kailua, giving customers a place to find education, imagination, and explore their love for reading The 24 year old bookstore has an amazing selection of books, ranging from old and new material.May 18, Saturday, Hawaii Book and Music Festival, F rank F. Chris Vandercook – The Conversation – Hawaii Public Radio, KIPO 89.3 fm, KIPM 89.7 fm and KIPH 88.3 fm. Gift cards for Bookends In Kailua, 600 Kailua Rd, Kailua, HI.He has sailed aboard Hokule’a on three voyages, from 1999 to 2007, and is the author of many articles on the canoe and her meaning to Polynesians. (Fair warning: It’s organized chaos in there.) It’s the perfect place to grab a cheap book for the beach or get recommendations from the helpful staff. In 1983, after traveling throughout Polynesia, Sam produced his award winning film, The Navigators – Pathfinders of the Pacific, which told the story of the Polynesian settlement of the Pacific on PBS nationally and internationally on television venues throughout the world. Located near Kailua Beach, BookEnds has an extensive selection of new and used books, and an incredible array of reads on Hawaiian history and culture. Kailua is also home to one of Oahus last standing bookstores, Bookends on 600 Kailua Rd. They even have a wide selection of used books, providing a bargain for interested customers. degree from Harvard (in anthropology) in 1975. BookEnds is one among many hidden gems you'll find on the island of Oahu. BookEnds is a bookstore located in Kailua, giving customers a place to find education, imagination, and explore their love for reading The 24 year old bookstore has an amazing selection of books, ranging from old and new material. Our Address 600 Kailua Rd 126, Kailua, HI, 96734, AU Nick Ponte Marketing. Navy in the Pacific from 1964 to 1966 and earned a Ph.D. I was excited to pay a visit to my favorite bookstore - BookEnds Kailua, who was named the city’s Best Neighborhood Bookstore by Honolulu Magazine This. Bookends In Kailua 600 Kailua Rd 126, Kailua, HI, 96734, AU. Contact info: Find more info on AllPeople about Maile Meyer-Brodric and Bookends In Kailua, as well as people who work for similar businesses nearby, colleagues for other branches, and more people with a similar name. To read a synopsis and the foreword by Nainoa, go to Sam’s Hawaiki Rising web page. See the April 25 post for pre-publication reviews.Ībout the Author: Sam Low served in the U.S. There is 1 other person named Maile Meyer-Brodric on AllPeople.

[historyhermann]

My Adventures With Superman Season One Spoiler-Filled Review

My Adventures with Superman is animated superhero series which mixes the romantic comedy, action-adventure, and sci-fi genres. It’s the latest adaptation of Superman, a DC Comics character. DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation produce the series. Studio Mir was contracted for animation services. Studio Mir, a South Korean animation studio, is known for its work on The Legend of Korra, Kipo…

[newsmafia]

'Dead End: Paranormal Park' review: If the gay Babadook made a kids' show, it might look like this

‘Dead End: Paranormal Park’ review: If the gay Babadook made a kids’ show, it might look like this

A must-see for Pride Month (and beyond), Dead End: Paranormal Park is Netflix’s newest animated release. Following in the footsteps of shows like Steven Universe, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and Owl House, it’s a kinetic and heartwarming adventure cartoon that also happens to be proudly LGBTQ.  But what’s it all about? Imagine if Gravity Falls were set in…