Friday, February 26, 2016

Disney in Drag: Top Seven Disney animated movie Drag Queens

I've noticed, not necessarily recently but I've definitely noticed before, that Disney has a thing for putting characters in drag, more specifically the sidekick characters...

Disney has a long history of drag, in fact the villain Ursula is heavily based of a drag queen


But far more often it is used as either disguise (for a main character), or as a distraction (for sidekicks). Drag, by definition is, to dress in clothing of the opposite sex for the sake of entertainment. This is done within Disney via traditional means, as well as shape-shifting, and is done by both good guys and villains for several different purposes. It is often comedic, but can actually drive the action as well as function as a plot device.

So, now you get the gist, and without further ado...
Disney in Drag: Top seven Disney Drag Queens.

Honorable Mentions:
Fidget
So I would like to give a shout out to one of the more underrated of the Disney films, The Great Mouse Detective, and the main villain sidekick, Fidget.  Fidget is only an honorable mention because his Drag performance last for about a second, just long enough to really freak out Dr. Dawson and Basil, as well as several innocent children watching the film.

Pleakly
Now I will admit, Pleakley from Lilo and Stitch may need to switch places with number seven on this list, but the only reason he is down in Honorable mentions is because, while he tends to solely wear female clothing, that is mostly shown within the TV series, not the movie, and being an alien with an interesting body type he doesn't have many options to the contrary.  If this was a Disney drag in TV list he would be very very high on the list.

Hugo
This is from Hunchback of Notre-Dame, one of Quasimodo's only friends, dressed as his love interest, for absolutely no reason what so ever...
No, seriously, this is not important to any part of the movie at all, it only facilitates people's ability to type in the words drag and Disney in the search window and pull up photos of this weirdness.
Yeah, anyway....
On to the List!



7.
Mr. Toad from Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

Remember where I said a main character will dress in drag to facilitate the plot?
Well in the Wind and the Willows the main character Mr. Toad is arrested for supposedly stealing a Motorcar. With everyone else believing him guilty he decides to turn over a new leaf.
That lasts about a minute before one of his only remaining friends gives him another idea; Dress as an old woman to break out of prison. This leads to a wild chase with trains and flying bullets, all while Toad is wearing a dress, a bonnet, and heels.


6.
Timon from The Lion King
As mentioned above.
Timon's incident with drag is possibly the most iconic in Disney lore, mostly because he shouts "What, you want me to dress in Drag and do the hula?!" as Simba tries to get him to play live bait. There's even a small song and dance number accompanying it, which can be viewed above. Despite this being so exceptionally iconic it is only sixth on the list because the actual event is not a very exceptional example of the character in drag.
But don't worry, it gets better...

5.
Kuzco from Emperor's New Groove
Yes, that is a lama, dressed in drag.
This is another example of a main character facilitating the plot by dressing in Drag. Kuzco is the emperor of the Inca empire, who was turned into a Llama, who is trying to get back to the palace so he can be returned to normal. Now why is he in drag? Because he's pretending to be his companion's wife so they can eat lunch. Yeah it's just as weird as it sounds.


4.
Robin Hood and Little John from Robin Hood
Now this is a interesting case, because, while main characters usually only use Drag for disguise, these two main characters are following the more sidekick reasons, distraction. Yep, Robin Hood and Little John intend to use all of their 'feminine wiles' to trick the villainous Prince John and his minions out of their gold. John even goes so far as to seduce one of the treasure guards with his rather... er... enhanced assets...


3.
Pain and Panic from Hercules
You might be wondering why the above picture is some off breed of My Little Pony, well how about this?
Yeah, this is why you should never pick up some random woman in a bar; this happens... kinda sorta...
The first use of shape-shifting for Drag, Pain and Panic, Hades henchmen, use this ability to draw away Hercules' partner, Pegasus, so their master can drain Herc's powers. In the process they traumatize both Pegasus, and most if not all young girls watching this scene.
And yet when I was younger I always hoped they'd make a toy of this...

2.
 Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po from Mulan
You expected Mulan didn't you?
While Mulan is a convicted cross-dresser, since she is female she does not qualify for the title of Drag Queen.
That doesn't mean there aren't others from her movie that do qualify. Example: these three.
Soldiers who form a friendship with Mulan when they think she's a man named Ping, they quickly come to her aid when she alerts them to an imminent attack on the Emperor of China. So, for their equivalent of king and country, they trade in their man-cards for fans, sashes, and dresses, disguising themselves as some of the Emperor's concubines...
Yes, I said Concubines.
They seduce, then beat the crap out of the Huns guarding the Emperor, allowing Mulan to get in and save him. They spend the entire rest of their time on screen still dressed as concubines, 
and they are Fabulous!
Honestly this entire movie is a study in cross-dressing, but saddly it didn't make top spot, that spot is reserved for...

1.
Genie from Aladdin 

There is no possible way you can beat the Genie in the Drag Queen game, simply because he does it

All...


The..


Time!

And don't even get me started on all the sequels. Seriously, don't... 
But the Genie is the absolute Queen of Drag, using his shape-shifting to great effect, 
and the kicker...? 
He does it for absolutely no reason but comedy! 
Genie fulfills the entire definition of Drag Queen to its fullest, and all as he is making our sides split with laughter. I mean, who can forget in the Prince Ali number when Genie bursts out on a balcony and immediately begins to practically belly-dance?!
It sticks with you.
There's no doubt Genie takes top spot on this list.

Thursday, November 26, 2015

WTH: Is that Charlie Brown's kid?

This post is done in the spirit of the upcoming christmas season, and is honestly something that's concerned me for a long time...

Has anyone seen those multiple rip off sequels to frosty the snowman, the ones where the animation doesn't even attempt to match the origional or there is some completely conveluted story involved? Well one of them was called "Frosty Returns", and honestly was the second less irritating out of the bunch. Even if the animation was off, the songs were good.
It wasn't a direct sequel, it wasn't even produced by the same company, but it was alright. It focuses on a town where the adults hate snow, while the kids love it, and follows a lonely girl and her nerdy friend as they attempt, with the help of Frosty, to stop an evil business man from eliminating all the snow in town and taking it over. While it is obviously not the best, there was one character I really liked, the nerdy friend Charles...
Recognize him? This kid is totally the spawn of Charles m. Schultz's Charlie Brown and Marcie.
I'm dead serious, look at him! and this isn't even that implausible of a theory. In the Peanuts strip Marcie actually acknowledges that if Charlie Brown were to ask her to marry him, she would say yes.
Plus the Kids name IS Charles, as Charles Jr. maybe? not to mention those familiar glasses, outfit color choice, that the film itself was directed by the same guy who directed Charlie Brown Christmas, and, if you go by Marcie's first real appearance being in 1971, and this film takes place in 1992, that would put the two of them in their late 20's and in a ripe age to be married and have a kid already in elementary school. And I'm not even going to get started on the other children of the Peanuts characters.
Pig-pen's kid and Franklin's kid sit in the front. The blond either belongs to Sally or Schroder. The red head looks like Pepermint-Patty's kid, while the guy with glasses could belong to Violet. The Kid on the end is Lucy's.

Friday, November 13, 2015

WTH: Aladdin, AKA oops, forgot you were dead

I apologize for being absent for so long, I am a procrastinator by nature, anyway...

WTH: Aladdin, A.K.A. Oops, forgot you were dead

Ok, so does anyone else see this plot hole?
So Jasmine sneaks out, dresses like a beggar, and falls for a street rat while breaking the law.
After which she is returned to the palace and Aladdin is arrested. Not wanting to see the guy she likes, might possibly love, imprissoned for no reason she confronts Jafar to have him released. 
Jafar tells her Aladdin is dead.
She believes him,

Here's where the plot hole comes in. After meeting Prince Ali, she begins to suspect he is Aladdin, and eventually confronts him, accuseing him of lying to her about being, well, himself.
See the hole yet?

Not once does Jasmine question the fact that he is alive, even when he confirms that he did meet her in the market place (dont even get me started on how flimsey that lie is).
Seriously Jasmine? 
You spent a period in mourning over this guys death, threatened the job stability of, essentially, his killer, and even got your father in on the action, then the guy shows up alive and it's like 'Meh, you're alive. So what? Why did you not tell me you were the filthy, homeless, poor kid I met the other day?'
Are you serious!?

Monday, August 24, 2015

So... that's a magic trailer





I really am sorry I haven't updated since, like, June, but I've been busy.
Yeah... so...
Alright I know this is a bit nerdy, but so is everything else on here. Anyway, I was recently re-watching Transformers Prime, and in one of the earlier episodes we get to see Optimus' trailer, and as I watched the whole episode I had to admit that the saddest thing wasn't all those bad guys whose 'deaths' occur in the car chase, or in the skirmish later, or even the thought that the human protagonists were about to shoot off the edge of the train tracks and crash and burn in a fiery explosion.
No, it was that the bad guys blew up the magic trailer.
So now you're probably wondering, why should I care? Or, where am I going with this? Or, why am I on this blog when I typed that scene in from the wizard of oz instead?
Rest assured there is a madness to my method.
First of all, to really appreciate what the heck it is I am talking about, one really needs to understand why I call it the 'magic trailer'. 
So the series itself is part of a vast, um, universe I guess, of stories that have been around for about 30 years, give or take, which center around alien robots that turn into cars. 
Yeah. 
Anyway they are in a millennia old civil war that has spilled over onto Earth (because EVERY alien in the history of EVER, lands on earth at some point in their lives), and the good ones are led by the big red truck in the middle.

In just about every continuity he has transformed into some form of semi, or of a fire truck with a detachable bed, all complete with semi trailer attachment.
That isn't so much of a problem, as the newer shows tend to have the trailer solely as an accessory, to be attached for random episodes. It is not a part of his transformation.

However, when he first débuted, every time he transformed the trailer was suddenly there, and then gone when he got back up. It always bothered me as a kid, but not enough for me to get super worked up.

And why does he even need the trailer anyway? What functionality could it possibly have if it disappears every time he goes into attack mode? Even the show's/comics/toy-line's creators had a problem with this.
So, in all the subsequent editions after G1(Generation one), Optimus' trailer gets upgraded into either a portable battle station, extra armor, or both.







So what exactly is this mystical, magically appearing device that has raised questions for generations of loyal, nerdy transformers fans, and what is its purpose?

Well... I have a theory...

Something a lot of fans appeared to have missed concerning the beloved leader of the Autobots, besides the fact he is guaranteed to die at least once per series, (GUARANTEED! Fastest death and revival, 72 seconds), is that he is actually a member of the original thirteen transformers (not that he remembers of course), also known as the thirteen Primes. Each Prime had some mystical weapon or object associated with them, one that defied all laws of science and logic. And, while they confirm the names and powers of the other twelve objects/weapons, sort of, Optimus'/Thirteen's artifact/weapon is never confirmed. 
Do you see where I'm going with this?
Oh Yeah!
Yep, I am pretty darn sure the magic trailer is his epic weapon/artifact. 
I mean if you watch some of the original, and the newer shows, that thing can re-purpose into just about anything. It can even 'clown car' like ten Autobots into itself before either becoming a battle ready station, or just ceasing to exist so any bad guys can't use it for evil. 
It's even got a space satellite mode apparently.
That'd do it. And lets not forget that anyone who tries to become prime after Optimus ends up with a trailer too.

 
 Hot rod goes from that, to this. Yikes.  Small mercy, he loses it when Optimus comes back from the dead a second time.(Yes, he not only comes back from the dead once, but twice within the EXACT SAME SEASON of G2!!!)


 The magic trailer strikes again! You cannot escape!

But seriously, the magic trailer is very deeply embedded into transformers pop culture history. It just defies all logic and boggles the mind. Now, if you like I've included some videos that make an attempt to solve the trailer's mystery, so watch if you will, if not have a great night.


 
 personally I believe this one



 

Saturday, June 20, 2015

WTH: National Treasure

I can't be the only one who's noticed this. So if you've seen the National Treasure movie you would remember the scene where you watch Ben and Riley preparing to steal the Declaration of Independence. They have this whole elaborate plot to make the document accessable by getting it moved to the preservation room instead of the high security vault that is technically impossible to break in to. Well at the same time this rival treasure hunter guy is also plotting to steal it. Pretty sound so far right? well when Ben is in the preservation room unbolting the Declaration display case the bad guys show up and start shooting at him.
Have you spotted the problem yet?
These guys show up at the preservation room to steal the Declaration, only no one knew that it had been moved there, Riley and Ben had only gotten it moved that afternoon, so how did those guys know where to go? Since they obviously couldn't have known the Declaration was moved then their plan must have been to storm the vault, something they would have needed more than just the small explosives they were carrying to accomplish, and how did they plan to escape hmm?
This plot hole is big enough to drive their escape van through, not to mention that for some reason, even though the bad guys only ever have like 25% or less of a clue Ben and his group can barely stay one step ahead. Yeah, the British must not have been very bright if they couldn't find the treasure, just saying.

Friday, June 12, 2015

IT"S ALL OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's over, it's all over. HOLY CRAP IT'S OVER!!!!!! PHINEAS AND FERB IS OVER!!!!!!!!! why? WHY!?!?!?!?!?

The very LAST Phineas and Ferb episode premiered about an hour ago from when I'm typing this. It came, it saw, IT CONCURRED!!! I am not going to spoil the whole thing, but I will say it ends with Phineas waving good-bye to the audience before closing the door. IT WAS THE MOST PERFECT BEAUTIFUL ENDING FOR THIS SHOW EVER!!!!!!!!

And now that it's over I don't know what to do with myself. I mean it was possibly one of the most freaking fantastic shows Disney has ever produced. They were a mixed family, but they never brought up the 'other' significant others, the kids never had problems with their parents being remarried. The boys weren't annoying little brothers (at least never on purpose), they loved their sister, their parents, their friends, and they loved them back. They never purposely broke the rules, and if something was dangerous they used all the correct safety procedures. They had such in depth characters too, and their relationships:

Candace embodied every single teenage neuroses ever and helped us to realize just how stupid and pointless they all were.




Bufford and Baljiet had a frenemy relationship that could rival Doof and Perry, and showed us that being friends with someone didn't mean they have to like the same things, or have a similar personality, and that who we appear to be originally is not who we have to be for real.
Isabella, proof that girls can be put in, and navigate out of, the friendzone, and can be completely BA without being any less of a girl.

And Stacey, Stacey's character development came out of nowhere, she was one of the most constant spectators and gave us such a wonderful view of how a 'normal' person would respond to all this craziness,
Linda and Lawrence showed kids, and more specificly parents that being a in a relationshim didn't mean there needed to be fighting, or threatening, or turbulence. It didn't need cheating, and any problems could be solved by just talking and actually trying to work things out.

Doof and Perry, evry hardship ever faced in adult life, every relationship struggle, every possible error in family life, friends, society, all rolled up into one duo, who then proceed to work it all out. Doof shows us a mirror in which we see our pettyness, our greed, our struggle to be on top reflected back in all it's ridiculus glory. We see how our selfish struggle is doomed to failure, but if we look around there are people there willing to help us, who care about us, and that we are never truely at the bottom of the heap if we have them. They showed all the adults that watched this show that, yes, life can be hard, but we don't have to give up or give in, we can push through and become better people. We need to stand tall in our values, and not let ourselves get thrown in the dust. We don't have to let our past define us, because we make new experiences every day. Hate doesn't have to be hate, and love can be found anywhere, we can form a new destiny, if we only try.
And Phineas and Ferb... oh where do I begin?
"The only thing that's impossible is impossability." We can become, we can do anything we dream up, we can make every day the best day ever, we can stand up in  the face of a challenge and say 'ok, let's fix this.' LEt's do something for someone because we love them, let's try to include everyone, regardless of race, sex, or creed. Let's live every day like it can be the BEST DAY EVER. If we can dream it we can do it, and all without having to break the rules or hurt somebody. We can care about everybody, and try to leave our mark on history. We can Carpe Diem, and "keep moving forward".
So Phineas...

And Ferb...




We will always love you and always miss you. You have made our lives a little brighter, and we thank you. And so as I depart I will leave you with this.

Friday, May 8, 2015

My mom thinks I'm crazy, but...

I would like to begin by apologizing profusely for my lack of posts. I hate it when people do stuff like that to me and I'm sorry for putting you through that.

Anyway, as the title sujests this is an opinion of mine that is not shared in any way by my friends and family, but bare with me.

Ok so you've seen Castle right?
or at least heard of it somewhere, well it's a show about a mystery writer who is following around an NYPD homicide detective, at first against her will, because he decides to use her as his new muse. As it turns out his creative turn of mind actually helps them unravel some of their most difficult cases, and trust me, there are a TON of bizzare cases. If you haven't seen it, you should, and I am about to lay down some major spoilers for season four so... yeah read at your own risk.
Well, since you're obviously still here....

Season four picks up from a major cliff hanger, the homicide detective, Beckett, has just been shot in the chest by a sniper somehow involved with her mom's murder. The rest of the season revolves around her recovering from this, I mean they actually show her going to therapy, and around her relationship with Castle. Oh did I forget to mention? In a fit of panic upon seeing her start dying in his arms Castle tells her that he loves her. Yes, he uses the "L" word. Gasp! And this is where my problem starts.

You see for the first few episodes Kate claims to have no memory of what happened immediately after she was shot, however you quickly find out this was a lie, she remembers everything, including Castle's profession of love. But she does nothing about it. She lets it hang there, allowing him to wallow in the purgatory of should he admit it again and risk her refusal of his advances, or keep it hidden from her but never be able to move on because of his true feelings.

When I considered this, and Beckett's obvious lack of care for Castle's feelings in the matter, I promptly told my mother (who introduced me to the show) that I viewed Castle and Beckett's relationship as an abusive one. She did not take it well, she promptly told me I was wrong and gave me that kind of half glare-half frown-half squint that clearly said "you are completely flipped."
 
BUT I STAND BY MY STATEMENT!!!!!!!!!
 
At this point in the story this is an abusive relationship, not the physical kind but an emotional one, and Beckett is the abuser. She openly avoids Castle in the beginning because she doesn't want to deal with her feelings on the matter, but gives him no explanation, making him think HE must have done something wrong. She does nothing to dissuade that opinion, instead she lets him rot in friend-zone purgatory, the worst punishment for men EVER designed by women, and all because she doesn't want to acknowledge her feelings, or even that she has any, when, for the past two seasons, it was quite obvious that she did. This isn't one of those 'I don't want to ruin my friendship' things, no, this is one of those 'I am what's most important right now, everyone else just stop feeling until I can GET OVER MYSELF!!!!!!!!!!' I hate. hate! HATE! When people do that! YOU ARE NOT THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE YOU KNOW!!!!!!!!!! Just sayin...
 
And to make matters even worse, she eventually lets slip to castle that she does know how he feels, but she just cant be bothered enough to care about his feelings at this point. She basically says she doesn't want to care about him right now, and she doesn't feel any regret for leading him on and torturing him like this. She was ok with it as long as her own little world didn't get thrown off balance. Castle is of course crushed, so he does what any sensible person would do, he tries to move on, but suddenly Beckett drops another bomb shell, He's not allowed to. Beckett basically throws a raging hissy fit when he tries to get over her, Apparently he has to keep taking her torture until she decides she's ready to give a _____! <---- (insert expletive here). So still in love with her, but not allowed to either admit or acknowledge his feelings Castle still tries to protect her and keep her away from the people that have it out for her. Well Beckett finds out he cut a deal to protect her, because he loves her, in a 'brilliant' moment of utter selfishness she yells at him about it. No he's not allowed to want to keep her safe, or help her on the case, or have feelings in any way, only she can have them to fuel her self-destructive anger filled quest for revenge. Yeah, real smart there Kate, can you hear me rolling my eyes?
 
Now here is what I like about Castle, after she does this, after an entire season of emotional abuse, after her giving him nothing but ______<-----(Insert expletive) for the past 22 episodes, Castle does exactly what Beckett thinks she wants, he leaves her to her case, takes away any input, even deletes her file off his home server, and just plain leaves her, leaves her abuse, and walks away. This is great because he doesn't cause a big scene, he doesn't go out on a low note, he just leaves, leaves her to feel exactly what he has felt coming from her for the past season, cold, emptiness, and lack of feeling there. Beckett of course comes to realize what a _____<-----(insert expletive) she was being when she almost falls of a building and calls out for Castle, only to realize she chased him away and he's not coming back for her. This, of course leads to a great scene where she shows up at his apartment and the first thing he says is "What do you want?" perfectly mirroring her emotionlessness that has up until now permeated his life. She promptly confesses her feelings , practically crying in regret, and then proceeds to make out with him, ending the season.
 
I do love this show, the drama, the stories, Castle's character, almost everything, Except for this relationship in season four.  Yes the individual stories are good, but this just leaves a dark undertone in the episodes that makes them harder and harder to enjoy. I know for a fact there are hundreds upon hundreds of people out there who would probably disagree with me, but hey, that's cause they're not me.