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by Moviefan
A Look at Disney: Villains Profile: Franco DiFortunato (Twice Charmed)
November 9, 2022 in A Look at Disney, Blogs
Years ago, I used to do a segment about theme park exclusive characters called Meet & Greet, it was a bit fun even if I didn’t cover that many characters from the Parks. You consider this a return of that somewhat as I’m looking at a character from a Disney Cruise Line Musical titled Twice Charmed.  This musical has a similar plot to that of Cinderella III: A Twist In Time and that movie and this show share the same songwriting team but it has been stated the similarities are merely coincidental.
A Twist in Time was produced around the same time as Twice Charmed, a Cinderella-inspired stage musical hosted on the Disney Cruise Lines, Disney insists that the film is not a spin-off of the production,[18] despite sharing songwriting team Michael Weiner and Alan Zachary.[19] As such, A Twist in Time does not intentionally borrow elements or characters from the stage production, with Nissen explaining that any similarities between the two are merely coincidental.
So, that is a bit interesting, and after A Twist in Time was released, elements from the movie were added to the musical  so that they would more closely mirror one another. This includes putting in a song Jaq and Gus sang to the Prince in the third film.
And I will admit when I first saw A Twist in Time, I had a dumb hatred of the movie because of how similar it was to Twice Charmed. I had the fortune of seeing this show years ago on my first Disney Crusie and I truly enjoyed the show. I have gone back and watched it on YouTube over the years and I do believe that it still holds up. Alas, this is not one the Disney Parks YouTube Channel uploaded during the pandemic as they only uploaded shows that were just adaptions being the Tangled and Frozen musicals that you can see on the ships. I’ve watched both and love them as they are my two favorite Disney movies but there is something truly special about taking a classic story everyone knows and putting a new spin on it, that is part of why I love the Twisted Tale series of books from Disney that I’ve brought up before as they do just that and I will keep suggesting the Cinderella one as it is one of my favorites in that series.
Something this book, A Twist In Time, and this stage musical all share is Lady Tremaine finding a way of messing with the glass slippers. They all have different ways of her going about doing this, it’s been months since I’ve listened to So This is Love so I don’t exactly remember how she pulls it off in that book but both A Twist in Time and Twice Charmed involve magic. A Twist in Time has Lady Tremaine grabbing hold of the Fairy Godmother’s wand.
by Moviefan
A Look at Disney: Villains Profile: Zelly & Stacy (Sneakerella)
November 8, 2022 in A Look at Disney, Blogs
Gender-flipped Cinderella movies are an interesting beast and I am not saying that these are an inherently bad idea as I do think they can work. There have been a few examples of this in the past I know of a few including the Jerry Lewis movie Cinderfella which I love and the Sesame Street special CinderElmo.
Though I think the closest comparison to this movie might be the Nickelodeon movie, Rags
Having watched this movie, I think are enough similarities to compare them but it is the better Cinderella movie of this ilk.  I truly feel as though you could compare these two movies back-to-back and come to similar results. FYI, this is the best modernization of Cinderella.
I know this introduction is taking a bit longer than usual but that’s partly because this movie is so bad. I knew that I was going to run into a bad Cinderella movie eventually but I didn’t think it’d be as bad as it was. Honestly, I was left in bafflement after every frame of this movie. It felt as though this movie only understood Cinderella on a surface level. And after the first twenty minutes, I felt like they somehow made a modern Aladdin instead of a modern Cinderella,
A bad Cinderella movie is one thing but a bad Cinderella movie that reminds me of the animated film is another thing. They don’t even hide it.
Now, this version of the song is not in the movie itself but they dance to this song, which is just no.
But that’s not the only reference to this movie as, during one of the musical numbers, the birds from the animated movie show up. Oh and when the princess character Kira sets out on a search to find the sneaker designer that left his shoe behind, the movie plays the clip of Cinderella putting the glass slipper on from the classic movie.
Movie, stop reminding me a good Cinderella movie exists if you had tried to stand on your own merits instead of trying to ride the success of a much better movie. Perhaps if you hadn’t used those clips or that song, I’d hate this movie less. It’d still be bad but perhaps I wouldn’t be as angry at it. There are so many things I hate about this movie but if there is one thing I do think could have worked is how the stepfather character in this movie isn’t the main antagonist but rather he is just stressed and does not lead to him treating his stepson the best but he is never malicious in his actions towards our Cinderella character.  Instead, the stepbrothers fill out the main antagonist role and that’s not a bad idea and could work if the brothers had been developed a little better but I’ll be honest and say I can’t tell them apart and they have next to no personality.
by Moviefan
A Look at Disney: Villains Profile: Lady Tremaine (2015)
November 7, 2022 in A Look at Disney, Blogs
I am quite excited to be talking about Cate Blanchett’s take on Lady Tremaine today. So far during this event, I have looked at two versions of Cinderella’s Stepmother and will look at two more.  As I established yesterday, the 2015 remake of Cinderella does pay homage to the animated movie but it is not a beat-for-beat reshot of the animated movie as we have been seeing with the more current remakes. And this is seen with the 2015 version of Lady Tremaine, while she is just as evil and sister as her animated counterpart but this movie does enough to make this version of Lady Tremaine different enough from what came before. As I’ve said time and again about this movie, the thing that makes it work is how it pays tribute while being its own thing. With this out of the way, let’s begin.
by Moviefan
A Look at Disney: Villains Profile: The Grand Duke (2015)
November 4, 2022 in A Look at Disney, Blogs
Today, we turn to the live-action remakes that Disney has been putting out. To say most o these haven’t been that great is an understatement. The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast are two of the worst. In my opinion, the best remakes are the ones that homage to the original while bringing something new to the table and that is why the 2015 remake of Cinderella is my favorite as while it uses base elements from the animated movie it is not beholden to the classic like so many of the later remakes. One of the most prominent examples in this film of it making changes is making The Grand Duke a secondary antagonist. In the original movie, this character was nothing more than a bumbling comic relief character.
This is something I have discussed before as it is my favorite topic to cover for villains, adaptional villainy which boils down to taking a character that initially wasn’t a villain and making them one.  Chris Lang did a rather good blog on this earlier in the year. Â
Two big things have to be taken into consideration when looking at these types of villains, the first being does it make sense. For example, Once Upon A Time did this quite a bit and the best example is their version of Peter Pan who is my favorite villain from any piece of media.
The first Maleficent movie also dabbled in this as they made King Stefan the main villain. Â
This one is a bit more of a mixed bag and also leads into my next point, how different they are from the original character, and someone like Stefan and The Grand Duke is quite different from their animated counterparts. Therefore, while they may share the names of their original animated characters, they are not the same.  Also interesting to note that this is not the only time The Grand Duke would be made a villainous character. In the book, So This is Love from Disney’s A Twisted Tale series, The grand Duke is the main villain as he hates magic and apparently, his father played a hand in outlawing magic. It’s best to think of these books at Disney What Ifs.
It does seem interesting that Disney would go to the well of making The Duke a villain not once but twice. Part of me has to think this comes to mind because he is a character that a lot of people don’t have any strong feelings about compared to the other Cinderella characters. Like I imagine people would be more outraged if someone like say if Gus or Jaq were made antagonists. Whereas making The Grand Duke a villain in the remake warrants a response that is more like a shrug.
by Moviefan
A Look at Disney: Villains Profile: Cinderella’s Stepmother (Into The Woods)
November 3, 2022 in A Look at Disney, Blogs
There are two versions that most people are familiar with when it comes to the Cinderella story, the Charles Perrault version which seems to have been the basis for most adaptions people are familiar with.  This version is the one that influenced the classic animated movie.
The other popular version that people are familiar with is the darker version by The Brothers Grimm.  The darkness mostly comes from what happens to Cinderella’s stepfamily such as having their eyes picked out and the blood that comes from how they attempt to try on the glass slipper.
These elements are used in the Sondheim fairytale musical mashup. While The Brothers Grimm’s tale laid the groundwork for how Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine approached and adapted the characters in this new story. Going beyond that though, we also have to look at what the musical is trying to say in how happily ever after isn’t always what it is cracked up to what we think it is. That is seen with Cinderella’s Prince who I went back and forth on covering but ultimately decided against it as it didn’t feel right to include him.  Henry Kathman in his nearly three-hour video ranking every modern Cinderella adaption brought up that in this musical, Cinderella’s biggest flaw is her indecision and we see that clearly in “On the Steps on the Palace”.
That is also somewhat true of Cinderella’s relationship with her stepfamily and that is something I’ll discuss more in-depth during the relationship section as this version is quite interesting in that regard because while Cinderella is put upon like most other versions of the character, Into The Woods makes her complaints loud and clear. That’s not to say other versions don’t but the musical feels more upfront in that regard.
Also, in all fairness, the Stepmother and the Stepsisters are rather minor characters compared to the larger ensemble of Into The Woods but they still felt worth covering. Now yes like yesterday’s entry, Into The Woods originally started life on stage and I know so many prefer the stage version to this musical adaption and that is a fair take as the film is missing some key elements that make the stage musical a classic. Having said that, the film adaption was my introduction to Into The Woods and in that regard, I think it’s fine. Though considering she’s such a minor character, I’ve decided to skip Most Evil Deed and Grand Desire.
by Moviefan
A Look at Disney: Villains Profile: Cinderella’s Stepmother (1997)
November 2, 2022 in A Look at Disney, Blogs
Earlier this year, I did a series of Villains Profiles that were some of the most fun I’ve ever done looking at three different takes on Long John Silver. I’ve decided to return to this idea with something similar. Over the next couple of weeks, I will be looking at live-action Cinderella villains. Note, I did not say Cinderella’s Stepmother and that is because three of these villains do not fit that category. And ironically all of them are male but we will come to that when we get to them.  Today though, we are starting with an iconic performance from the 1997 Wonderful World of Disney adaption of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Cinderella. This version by the iconic musical theater duo was first written for television in 1957 starring Julie Andrews. The Stepmother was played by Ilka Chase in this original version.  And it was staged for television once again in 1965, I have seen this version alongside the 1997 version, and the Stepmother in that one was played by Jo Van Fleet.
Oh, and one of the Stepsisters in the 60s version was played by recently departed Disney Legend, Pat Caroll.
My heart does truly belong to the 1997 film adaptation as while not being the first version of Cinderella I’ve seen, it was the first version of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Cinderella that I have seen and it is perhaps the version I have watched the most.  For so many that grew up with this version, it’s iconic and well, it’s easy to see why so many love it considering ABC just aired a 25th-anniversary special.
Before I get to the usual categories, there are a few that will be replaced. I’ll still use Actor, First Appearance, and Fate but instead of Lackeys, that’ll be replaced by Stepsisters or in the case of one, Stepbrothers.
Yeah…. no. There’ll be one exception to this when we get to the OUAT villains (if I decide to include them) as Drizzella from season seven will get her entry. Now besides those categories, another key one that’ll be included at least for the step-parent’s entries, and that is the relationship they have with Cinderella.  The Stepmother/Cinderella relationship is the most important aspect of understanding the Stepmother character in my opinion considering it is her hatred that drives who she is and what she does to torture her stepdaughter.
by Moviefan
Trotting Towards Nightmare Night: Top 6 MLP Villain Songs (With The Creature)
October 31, 2022 in Blogs, Trotting Through Life
Moviefan12: Ah, another Nightmare Night has approached and this past month I have spent celebrating MLP movie villains. I have decided to cap off this year’s Nightmare Night celebration by counting down my six favorite MLP Villain Songs. A couple of caveats should be known though as this is a G4 and beyond blog series. Nothing from earlier generations will be included. Also, I will not be doing this alone as a fellow MLP fan, The Creature will be joining me to count down his favorite MLP villain songs as well. So please welcome him.
Creature: It’s no surprise that the villains can be one of the more entertaining aspects of any media, and Friendship Is Magic was no exception there. I liked a lot of the villains that were in the series and a few of them ended up being some of my favorite characters. With that in mind, some of their songs ended up fairing over well for me and I would like to share what my favorites were on the show.
by Moviefan
Halloween In Stoneybrook: Dawn and The Haunted House
October 30, 2022 in Blogs
When I decided to look at stories from The Baby-Sitters Club, I had no intention of returning to the TV show from the ’90s until I saw the title of this episode and which BSC member it was focusing on. Considering my other two BSC Halloween reviews dealt with Dawn, this felt right. What’s interesting is that while none of the episodes from the original TV show were adaptions of the books (score one for the Netflix series), this one seems to have pulled from the books. Though weirdly more so the spinoff, Baby-Sitters’ Little Sister as there is a book in that series titled Karen’s Witch
by Moviefan
Monstrous Muppets Mayhem: Monster Munch (The Muppet Show # 10)
October 29, 2022 in Blogs
Last year I looked at some Muppet Halloween-related material including an issue of the old Marvel Muppet Babies comic that dealt with a Haunted Nursery.
Overall, that was pretty cute and while the Muppet Babies comics from what I’ve heard beyond that one are pretty good, they were not the only comics to feature everyone’s favorite felt stars. As a comic series simply titled The Muppet Show was launched in 2009.
And it just so happens that it had a Halloween arc that included a werewolf story. We are looking at Issue # 10 titled Monster Munch and this arc is titled after a popular song for this time of year.
by Moviefan
Back In Time: Witchcraft (Back To The Future: The Animated Series Episode Review)
October 28, 2022 in Blogs
The Salem Witch Trials is one of the most tragic periods in our history where anyone could be accused of being a witch. Something so many people seem to forget that is men could be accused of being a witch. Â
This is something that this episode of Back To The Future: The Animated Series seems to deal with as Marty travels back in time to 1692 to help the Browns and he is eventually accused of being a witch by the daughter of a Tannen.
Besides being the daughter of a Tannen, this character seems to have been inspired by Abigail Williams, you should be familiar with this person if you ever read The Crucible. Though she was aged up from a 12-year-old in real life to 16 in the Arthur Miller play.
by Moviefan
Trotting Towards Nightmare Night: Villains Profile: Sprout
October 27, 2022 in Blogs, Trotting Through Life
Today brings us to an exciting point in Trotting history as I am looking at G5 for the first time. And I remember when G5 was first announced, I was nervous considering how big a fan of G4 I was. Thankfully, those fears were quelled as the movie that kicked off G5, A New Generation was quite good and it even showed that it wouldn’t ignore FIM as this generation is a direct follow-up to what came before. This makes so many things about G5 so fascinating and left many G4 fans with a lot of questions as the main theme of this movie is overcoming prejudices against people or ponies that are different from you.  So many fans wondered how this could have happened under Twilight’s reign as princess. Well, there are a couple of factors including that most ponies in this new generation don’t believe the Mane Six existed.
This is such a sad state of affairs considering G4 fans know how real they are, thanks to the nine seasons we spent with them but to these new ponies, the thought of pegasi, unicorn, and earth ponies being friends seems impossible. As revealed in the IDW tie-in to G5, there is a dark force that was behind the separation and hatred of the pony races but I don’t know if I am a fan of that explanation.
I think I’m of two minds on having an evil force being behind the division of the three races. On the one hand, that means the blame doesn’t entirely lay on Twilight Sparkle but at the same time, there is a part of me that believes the fracturing coming about naturally would have felt more honest. I know this is a long introduction but I have a lot of thoughts on this. Do not misunderstand as I do greatly like this movie and think it might be better than the G4 movie but considering G4 is what made me a fan, there’s some sadness that comes with this generation’s theme.
by Moviefan
Trotting Towards Nightmare Night: Villains Profile: The Storm King
October 26, 2022 in Blogs, Trotting Through Life
As we leave behind the EQG DTV movies, we hit a milestone movie. Not since the G1 movie had an MLP movie been released in theaters and that happened here with the G4 movie.
And considering how large the fanbase for FIM was, it does make a bit of sense that a movie tied into Friendship is Magic would see a release in theaters. I still remember seeing this movie with my friend’s daughter in my Mane Six tee that my big sister gave me and I had as much fun watching her as I did watching the movie. Oh, and FYI while Tempest does serve under The Storm King, I won’t be covering her here as I have her own Villains Profile entry years ago.
