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00:00:00Greetings! Now, I don't know if you have noticed this, but most modern Disney movies aren't that good.
00:00:11But every once in a while, the company drops a masterpiece beyond our imaginations.
00:00:21Okay, maybe once in a while is too generous. It's more like once in a blue moon.
00:00:25And usually that movie is from Pixar and not Walt Disney Animation Studios, who is kind of the main subject of this video that I'm making right now.
00:00:34Like, why is Walt Disney Animation Studios just so not good these days?
00:00:43And how come, if they're so consistently not good these days, do they accidentally make a movie as good as Encanto?
00:00:51So, at this point, I'm pretty certain most people are convinced that Disney just accidentally made Encanto as good as it was.
00:00:58While it's not an out-and-out masterpiece, like, say, Wreck-It Ralph, which was the last 10 out of 10 rating I've ever given a Walt Disney Animation Studios movie,
00:01:09it's by far the closest they've come to that since.
00:01:14And so, I figured I may as well go through exactly why I think Encanto actually works as a movie,
00:01:21whilst modern Disney's other output of animated films just don't.
00:01:27I suppose we should start at the most obvious thing, the characters.
00:01:32Now, of course, all of these movies have protagonists in them.
00:01:38And let me discuss, one by one, each of these protagonists and why they just aren't that good.
00:01:46Except for Mirabelle, of course.
00:01:48Now, personally, I'm going to cut off the range of what I call a modern Disney movie, starting at Moana.
00:01:55I could also throw Zootopia in the mix, but that movie's actually mostly pretty good, so I don't see any reason to pick on it.
00:02:02And then there's a year gap between that movie and Big Hero 6, so I figured I'd just leave out those movies that come before.
00:02:09Especially when Big Hero 6 is pretty good, minus, you know, a few problems that have been pointed out multiple times by certain YouTubers.
00:02:17He went in there to save you!
00:02:19That was his mistake!
00:02:20Now, whilst I certainly could say some stuff about Frozen, after that, you just hit Rick and Ralph, and I'm obviously not going to complain about that movie.
00:02:27So, anyways, we're starting with Moana.
00:02:30Now, I know what you're thinking.
00:02:33Moana is a great movie, right?
00:02:35Well, I hate to be the contrarian.
00:02:38Okay, that's not true.
00:02:39I do kind of like being a contrarian sometimes.
00:02:41But I swear, it's not on purpose.
00:02:43I don't really like Moana that much as a movie.
00:02:46Like, I have infamously ranted about why I do not like Moana that much as a character back in my Disney Princess ranking video from several years ago now.
00:02:54And I mostly still agree with what I had to say in that video if you have seen it.
00:02:59Be warned, if you watch that video and you like Moana as a character, you will not like what I have to say about her.
00:03:05And whilst I don't intend to go into quite as comical of a rant mode in this video,
00:03:09I will still state some of the problems I have with Moana as a protagonist.
00:03:13First of all, I think the movie poorly sets up Moana as the protagonist in the story.
00:03:19It just, it makes it really hard for me to root for her as a character when the movie makes it so clear that she really wants to go to the ocean and set sail.
00:03:29And that's her biggest dream.
00:03:31But then the movie basically makes up the only way to solve all her problems is to do the very thing she wanted to do in the first place.
00:03:38Set sail and go out to the ocean.
00:03:40I mean, there's no tension whatsoever.
00:03:43In order to save us all, Moana, you must do the thing you always wanted to do anyway.
00:03:48You see what I'm saying?
00:03:49Like, I've heard people respond to me on my Disney Princess ranking that she was just trying to save her people.
00:03:54But if that was the case, wouldn't it make more sense to have her personality be basically the exact opposite?
00:04:00And be someone who's afraid of the ocean, who doesn't want to go out?
00:04:03But she has to anyway to save her people?
00:04:06I don't know.
00:04:07I just think that would have been a much better character personally.
00:04:10Well, he's got me there.
00:04:11Like, and it would have been so easy to change it too, in my opinion.
00:04:15And there's still two other big problems I have with Moana.
00:04:18You know, if you're still listening to this video and not swiftly clicking the dislike button as fast as you could possibly imagine.
00:04:24I think that she's just too self-centered of a character personally.
00:04:29Yeah, sure.
00:04:29Maui is also pretty self-centered for most of the plot.
00:04:33But like, he actually tries to change for the better at the end.
00:04:36But there's never a point in the movie where Moana is forced to confront her selfish personality.
00:04:43Essentially, by putting her with another selfish character,
00:04:46the movie's using that as an excuse to seemingly make her look less selfish.
00:04:50Just so that it doesn't have to tell her she needs to change or be better?
00:04:55I don't know.
00:04:55Maybe I'm looking too into this.
00:04:56Maybe you already hate everything that I'm saying.
00:04:58I fully admit that disliking Moana is probably the most unpopular opinion I have ever conceived.
00:05:05But like, let me just end what I have to say with Moana real quick and then we'll move on.
00:05:09Because trust me, I have problems with other protagonists too.
00:05:11This isn't just a Moana thing.
00:05:13By the end of the first movie, she still hasn't learned anything or changed as a person.
00:05:18The only thing she seemingly learns is to be herself or some other generic message.
00:05:24But the problem is, because she's acted so selfishly in the plot,
00:05:26that moment in the song where she's like,
00:05:28I am a woman!
00:05:31really ticked me off personally.
00:05:33Because it doesn't sound like she learned that she needs to be herself.
00:05:37It sounds like she learned that she's already perfect as she is
00:05:41and she doesn't need to change anything.
00:05:43Which isn't learning anything at all.
00:05:44Now, I should probably also throw the second movie into the mix here,
00:05:47since she's also the protagonist of that film as well.
00:05:50Now, believe it or not,
00:05:52despite the second movie being critically panned by many people,
00:05:56I actually think it's a better movie!
00:05:59By one point.
00:06:00Yeah, I don't really like either Moana movie, if I'm being honest.
00:06:03However, I do think Moana is like, slightly less annoying in this movie
00:06:07and that's one of the very few reasons why it's
00:06:09very, extremely, slightly, marginally better in my opinion.
00:06:12Well, except the soundtrack, of course,
00:06:15but more on that when I get to the soundtrack section of this video.
00:06:18But yeah, unfortunately, by the end of Moana 2,
00:06:21spoiler alert,
00:06:22Moana still doesn't really have to face any consequences
00:06:26for, I guess, anything she does.
00:06:28You know, not that she actually does anything particularly, like,
00:06:31that annoying or bad, in my opinion,
00:06:33but by the end of the second movie,
00:06:35she basically sacrifices herself to achieve her mission.
00:06:38Oh, but then she just gets resurrected as, like, a demigod now or whatever.
00:06:41So, that's what I mean by, there's still no consequences.
00:06:44Like, these movies just have too much preferential treatment for Moana
00:06:48and it's really, really hard to root for her.
00:06:50She's, like, the exact opposite of an underdog.
00:06:53Now, I may have infamously called her a Mary Sue
00:06:56in my original Disney Princess ranking,
00:06:58but that was probably going a step too far
00:07:00because she does technically make a few mistakes here and there.
00:07:04But I still think she gets dangerously close
00:07:07to Mary Sue territory, personally.
00:07:10And then we have Ralph Breaks the Internet.
00:07:12Do I even need to discuss why the protagonist sucks in this movie?
00:07:15You know what?
00:07:15I'm not even going to bother.
00:07:17Just put the Ralph's character traits thing
00:07:20from my Ralph Breaks the Internet video on screen
00:07:22and you'll understand what I'm talking about.
00:07:24Ralph is, like, literally one of the most despicable people ever
00:07:27in this movie for some reason.
00:07:28I mean, obviously he's going to be impossible to like.
00:07:31And worse yet, it's a disgrace because he was actually
00:07:34a fantastic character in the first movie.
00:07:36Anyway, moving on.
00:07:38Frozen 2, I guess.
00:07:39You know, honestly, I don't actually have a ton to say
00:07:41about Frozen 2 here.
00:07:43Neither Anna or Elsa are horrible protagonists in this movie.
00:07:47The movie itself just kind of sucks with its plot.
00:07:51I do think that it's very selfish of Elsa
00:07:55to just completely abandon Arendelle at the end
00:07:58and just go off and do her own thing,
00:08:00which is not very likable.
00:08:01But I really don't have that much negative to say about Anna.
00:08:04She's probably the next best protagonist worth bringing up
00:08:07of everyone that I'm going to talk about in this video.
00:08:10But she's just given nothing to work with
00:08:12in Frozen 2, unfortunately.
00:08:13And then there's Raya.
00:08:15One of the most nothing-burger characters I've ever seen.
00:08:19She's supposed to be the hero of this movie
00:08:20that we're supposed to root for
00:08:22and she has, like, almost no personality.
00:08:24Like, she's outclassed in the personality department
00:08:27by every single other character in the movie, pretty much.
00:08:29And, like, the main growth that she's supposed to have as a character
00:08:33is, like, learning to trust people
00:08:36and then she has to trust the villain
00:08:38because that's the message we gotta learn.
00:08:40Which isn't exactly the greatest message ever.
00:08:42More on that in the themes section.
00:08:45You know who Raya really reminds me of?
00:08:47Merlinis from Fire Emblem The Binding Blade.
00:08:50You see, despite being a significant character in the plot,
00:08:54like Merlinis, all she ever really does
00:08:56is exposition dump
00:08:58and make random comments every now and again
00:09:00whilst failing to have a significantly interesting personality.
00:09:04Although, to be fair to Raya,
00:09:05at least the other characters in this movie have personalities.
00:09:09Unlike Roy.
00:09:10Rest in peace, Roy.
00:09:11He's still our boy anyway.
00:09:13And then we have Searcher Klaid,
00:09:15who I guess is the main character of Strange World.
00:09:18Like, you know,
00:09:20his son and father are also pretty important,
00:09:22but I think Searcher's still technically supposed to be the main focus.
00:09:26I'm pretty certain the movie was actually originally gonna be called Searcher Klaid
00:09:29before they changed the name to Strange World,
00:09:31so that pretty much proves my point.
00:09:33Anyway, I mean,
00:09:35he's alright, I guess.
00:09:37The thing about Strange World is it's, like,
00:09:39literally the most mid-movie ever made.
00:09:42And not even ripping off the world of Xenoblade Chronicles
00:09:46can save this movie from being neck deep in mediocrity.
00:09:49There's, like, nothing special about Strange World,
00:09:52except, I guess, the fairly interesting setting of the movie.
00:09:56But in terms of plot and character,
00:09:58it's just so aggressively average.
00:10:01I kind of like the theme that he's got going with his father and son,
00:10:06but that's, you know, mostly relevant to the theme section of this video.
00:10:10But talking about him as, like, a character and his personality,
00:10:14I suppose he does have at least the fear in him
00:10:17that his son will turn out like his father
00:10:20and not like him or whatever.
00:10:22But he does kind of constantly end up in these arguments
00:10:24all the time throughout the movie.
00:10:26And they do get a little bit tedious to watch sometimes.
00:10:30And, well, does anyone even care about Searcher Klaid?
00:10:32Like, I'm serious.
00:10:33Am I wasting my time trying to explain this character?
00:10:36Oh, well, if anything exciting happens, wake me up, will ya?
00:10:39I'm in the middle of a lovely dream.
00:10:41His best moment is just when he, like, apologizes to his son or whatever
00:10:44for when, you know, for trying to force him to be like him or whatever.
00:10:47But, like, other than that, like,
00:10:49there's nothing that makes him at all anything noteworthy as a Disney character.
00:10:53And by the way, you should totally play Seen of the Blade Chronicles.
00:10:55It's a very good game.
00:10:56Oh, boy.
00:10:57Asha from Wish, the greatest Disney princess of all time.
00:11:02Isn't she so quirky?
00:11:04You'll absolutely love her because she's so adorkable.
00:11:09Yeah, so...
00:11:09Why'd you say it like that?
00:11:11Like what?
00:11:12What are you up to?
00:11:13Oh, she's a personality.
00:11:16Disney is trying so hard to get you to like her.
00:11:20But I don't think it quite worked out the way they were hoping.
00:11:24She's less quirky and fun.
00:11:28And more just...
00:11:29awkward.
00:11:30My interview is in one hour, and I'm so nervous, I think I'm going to explode.
00:11:35I'm so nervous, I'm going to explode.
00:11:38I have no words.
00:11:40My mouth's rubbing.
00:11:41I feel like I'm stupid.
00:11:43Quick, ask me an interview question.
00:11:45Okay.
00:11:46Why?
00:11:47She's a very boring protagonist in reality, who has basically no flaws, which is her biggest
00:11:54flaw as a character.
00:11:56That she never actually is challenged in any meaningful way.
00:12:00She's always right from beginning to end of the story, and her only wish is to help people.
00:12:05I mean, the movie just straight up basically tells us she's flawless by saying her only problem
00:12:10is that she cares too much.
00:12:14I care too much.
00:12:18Wow.
00:12:20Like, there's nothing inherently offensively bad about Asha, but there's just nothing for
00:12:26me to care about.
00:12:27It also doesn't help that her songs in the movie kind of suck as well.
00:12:32But that's, of course, another topic for later in the video.
00:12:35And now, Mirabelle, who is not only a real character with an interesting personality, to
00:12:41be fair, she also is a quirky character.
00:12:46But she's a quirky character done right.
00:12:48You see, Mirabelle, unlike, say, Moana, has her story set up much better.
00:12:55She's the only person in her family who doesn't have a magic power.
00:12:58You know, other than relatives who've married in to the family.
00:13:01And so it automatically puts her into a unique position in the story.
00:13:05She's automatically the underdog because of the fact that she doesn't have a power.
00:13:09And so we want to root for her because we feel that it is intrinsically unfair.
00:13:14On top of that, she's often mistreated by her sister Isabella, and especially her abuela.
00:13:20And so because of this, we want her to prove them wrong.
00:13:23So right off the bat, we already have a character who has a much stronger motivation that we can
00:13:27latch onto.
00:13:28And even though she personally has that quirky personality, she packs it up with other traits.
00:13:33Not to mention the jokes about her being quirky are more funny than the jokes in, like, Wish.
00:13:39I don't think I laughed a single time in that movie.
00:13:40We see Mirabelle get sad at points in the story.
00:13:43We see her get excited, happy, empathetic, curious, brave.
00:13:48She's very clearly a fully formed, three-dimensional character.
00:13:52And honestly, she's probably one of my favorite Disney protagonists of any of their films.
00:13:57Her mission to help the family comes both from a personal perspective of, you know, just
00:14:02actually wanting to help her family.
00:14:03And the way that she gets to know each of her family members more as she does this along
00:14:08the way just adds to that.
00:14:09Like, she learns something, unlike Moana.
00:14:12And her relationships with her family members improve even her abuela, who is very, very
00:14:18hesitant to listen to her.
00:14:20Until the climax of the movie, which is very emotional.
00:14:23More on that in the theme section.
00:14:25Listen, I could go on and on about Mirabelle, but it's more than just having a good protagonist,
00:14:29of course.
00:14:30You also have to have good side characters and a good villain.
00:14:33But let me just pinpoint a few particular examples of those who do and don't work.
00:14:39Maui is an interesting character, to be fair.
00:14:42But as I kind of pointed out when I was talking about Moana, he can get a little bit frustrating
00:14:46being so selfish at first in the story.
00:14:48But he does learn something by the end, so he may be well deserving of a free pass from
00:14:54my criticisms.
00:14:55Well, except for the pee joke that can go die in a fire.
00:14:58The real problematic side character in Moana is Tama Toa.
00:15:03No, I'm lying.
00:15:05Tama Toa is the best part of the whole movie.
00:15:06The real actual problematic character is the stupid chicken.
00:15:11Oh, and I mean that literally.
00:15:13This character is literally stupid.
00:15:17And I genuinely don't know why so many people find him funny.
00:15:20Like, can anyone explain to me why he suddenly gains brain cells at the end of the movie to
00:15:25save the heart of Te Fiti from falling in the ocean while Moana is rushing.
00:15:28Towards the island at the end.
00:15:30But he's literally brain dead for the rest of the movie.
00:15:33I smell contrivance.
00:15:35Okay, I admit, some people will probably still find the chicken funny.
00:15:38But you know what I don't think is funny?
00:15:40Kristoff getting super duper ultra sidelined in Frozen 2.
00:15:43Or the fact that Olaf is just a complete and utter idiot in that movie for no reason.
00:15:47Like, sure, he wasn't the smartest dude in the world in the first Frozen movie.
00:15:51But like, there were actually funny jokes with him in that movie.
00:15:54But like, he is literally incapable of having good comedy in Frozen 2.
00:15:57Oh, and regarding Olaf, the fake out death with him at the end of this movie is one of
00:16:03the most insulting things I have ever seen in cinematic history.
00:16:08Like, they have the gall to actually make a genuinely emotionally effective goodbye death
00:16:14scene for Olaf here, essentially.
00:16:16But then just completely undo it at the end anyway.
00:16:19Like, that's what really annoys me here.
00:16:20Is if it wasn't undone, it would actually be a really great scene.
00:16:24Like, it would be really moving.
00:16:26And that is why I hate it so much.
00:16:29Because it's just pure emotional manipulation of us, the audience.
00:16:33To get us to feel something, even though the movie is not willing to commit to it whatsoever.
00:16:37Vanellope is probably more of a protagonist in Ralph Breaks the Internet than a side character.
00:16:43But that doesn't make her suck any less.
00:16:45Considering she literally wants to do something in that movie that goes against the lore of the
00:16:49first movie that you can't go turbo by going to another game that you're not a part of.
00:16:54But that's literally not even brought up in the second movie.
00:16:56Because guess what?
00:16:57It would destroy the plot and her entire character arc.
00:17:00Or how about all the various side characters from Mariah who are more interesting than Mariah
00:17:03herself?
00:17:04Like, the chef boy and the bulky guy voiced by Wong from Doctor Strange are both pretty
00:17:09decent characters for the most part.
00:17:12But they just, they get no screen time.
00:17:14And it's clear the main reason that they're in the movie is just so that we can have one
00:17:18person from every country come together.
00:17:20But sadly, due to the fact that the runtime of this movie is not nearly long enough to
00:17:24actually develop all these people in their different countries, none of them end up being
00:17:29fleshed out characters that you truly love by the end.
00:17:33I think Raya and the Last Dragon just tries to do too much with just way too little time.
00:17:39Wait a second.
00:17:39I have a feeling I forgot to mention a certain somebody from this movie that's not completely
00:17:43inoffensive.
00:17:44That's right, everyone's favorite dragon girl.
00:17:46It's the Awkwafina character.
00:17:48And she's definitely, most certainly, the most annoying character in the movie.
00:17:53Look how close my butt is to my head.
00:17:56And I mean, really, who thought it would be a good idea to get Awkwafina to play the legendary
00:18:00dragon character in an epic fantasy movie?
00:18:02She's just almost incapable of making good jokes.
00:18:05I think maybe the first time I watched the movie, I kind of laughed at the joke about making
00:18:10peace and giving a gift to the villain girl or whatever when they were discussing ideas
00:18:14of what to do.
00:18:15But yeah, other than that, all her jokes suck.
00:18:17See, this is what happens at Disney when you try to make every single character in the
00:18:20movie some sort of comedic genius.
00:18:21Too many comedians, not enough comedy.
00:18:24And then they try to get all serious with their plot at the end, when the idiot villain
00:18:27girl tries to kill her.
00:18:28Oh, but then she just, you know, comes back to life at the end anyway, so it kind of meant
00:18:31nothing.
00:18:32Strange world side characters.
00:18:34A whole bunch of nobodies I don't care about.
00:18:36But Grandpa's probably the most interesting, Jaeger Klaid to be specific.
00:18:41I kind of like that he has to learn to not be completely selfish by the end.
00:18:46But like, the scene where he learns that is ridiculous.
00:18:48Like, he stops two feet away from being able to see the other side of the mountains and
00:18:53then goes back to help search her.
00:18:55I mean, at that point, he may as well just go, like, what, two minutes longer and then
00:18:59go back for search her?
00:19:00Like, there's actually no reason for him to give it up.
00:19:04It's not like he knows that if he doesn't go back immediately, search her will die or
00:19:07anything like that.
00:19:09And when search her son, who quite frankly, I've already forgotten the name of, even though
00:19:12I just watched the movie, his primary personality trait is that he's not confident and that
00:19:19he wants to become a explorer so that he can gain confidence and supposedly go brag to all
00:19:25his friends, essentially, and impress, like, the person that he's interested in or whatever.
00:19:29But the movie doesn't really sell us on, like, this being a major thing he has to improve
00:19:34because it's not like any of his friends have any problem with him at the start of
00:19:38the movie.
00:19:39So there's really not many stakes in his character arc.
00:19:42I guess he also likes playing cards or whatever.
00:19:44That's probably the best scene in the whole movie.
00:19:46You know, the one where they joke about how not having a villain is bad writing.
00:19:49You know, that part.
00:19:50The mom, who I also forgot the name of.
00:19:53She also doesn't really have much personality to speak of, I'm afraid.
00:19:56The only thing I can think of off the top of my head, and I just watched the movie once
00:20:00again, just saying, is that she can fly a ship and she's nice.
00:20:07Wow, I have no idea how to respond to that.
00:20:10The side cast of Wish is extraordinarily underwhelming.
00:20:15Like, first up, you have the seven dwarf knockoffs, who you might think, oh, that's a cute reference
00:20:21that they've got seven friends for Asha, who are based on the personalities of the seven
00:20:26dwarves for the 100th anniversary Disney movie.
00:20:29Except here's the problem.
00:20:30One, it's too many characters.
00:20:33Considering they actually genuinely try to give these characters a certain level of personality,
00:20:38they just don't have enough time to make us care about any of them, in a similar fashion
00:20:42to Raya and the Last Dragon, but arguably, maybe even worse here.
00:20:46Especially because of the fact that they are deliberately one-note characters.
00:20:51And unlike the seven dwarves whom they are based on, they don't have the excuse of being
00:20:56one-note for the sake of comedy.
00:20:58Like, the reason the seven dwarves work and are so endearing is because they're actually
00:21:02genuinely funny and the jokes are actually good.
00:21:06But nobody in this movie is actually funny.
00:21:09In fact, the comedy in this movie is just really, really underwhelming.
00:21:13Another notable character, of course, is Asha's grandfather or great-grandfather, maybe?
00:21:20Either way, the old guy.
00:21:22You know, that one.
00:21:23And to be fair to the movie, he's probably, arguably, the best character in the movie.
00:21:29Only because there's something to his personality.
00:21:32But he also doesn't have a ton of screen time.
00:21:35And he mostly exists as the motivation for why Asha is doing what she's doing.
00:21:39So his agency is very low, even though he is mostly likable.
00:21:45There's Magnifico's wife, who, like, immediately betrays him the second that he gets possessed
00:21:51by evil and is like, you've gone bad.
00:21:54Never mind that you've been obviously possessed by evil.
00:21:56I'm just going to assume that you were just always a bad person, even though I'm your wife
00:22:00and I should be the most understanding person who wants to help you.
00:22:03Why is she so smug and smirky about her husband being locked in the dungeon?
00:22:18Even though she knows that, like, at least 60% of the reason he did anything was the forbidden magic.
00:22:26Oh, well, he can't be redeemed now, so I guess I'm just going to hate him, because why not?
00:22:32I'm so loving, aren't I?
00:22:34Oh, how about Star?
00:22:36You know, the character who's a star that is named Star and has the personality of Star.
00:22:44Star-star-star-star-star-star-star-star-star-star-star-star-starEN
00:22:48Literally, there's nothing to this character.
00:22:50It's basically just a Luma from Mario Galaxy
00:22:53but with only 20% of the personality of a random generic NPC Luma in that game.
00:22:58It's so tragic, they have to say goodbye to him at the end!
00:23:01Except for the fact that it's not, because nobody,
00:23:03I repeat, nobody, actually cares about this character.
00:23:07And nobody is sad that it has to leave.
00:23:08It's so sad saying goodbye to this star who has so much personality.
00:23:22There is zero emotional bond created for this climax to work whatsoever here.
00:23:27Oh, and I've been waiting for this moment.
00:23:29The true!
00:23:30I want you!
00:23:32Like, who are these people?
00:23:34Why'd they just invent a bunch of randos, throw them on a boat with Moana, and think
00:23:39that we'd just fall in love with them?
00:23:41You know, it's the greatest company of all time.
00:23:45A frequently selfish jerk, a Maui fanfic writer, a girl who's just too quirky for her own good
00:23:52because we needed more quirky female characters, don't you know?
00:23:56We don't have enough hoes!
00:23:57And an old guy.
00:23:59All of whom are supposed to be comedic characters.
00:24:02Because, don't you know, having over half your main cast being comedic characters is
00:24:06the best way to write a movie that's technically supposed to be focused on action and adventure?
00:24:11Oh, and like, none of them are funny, by the way.
00:24:13Did I mention that?
00:24:14Yes!
00:24:15It's really simple, actually.
00:24:16The motto of Otto, till the very last breath, is really only failing, then learning, then
00:24:19death.
00:24:20And don't even get me started on the animal sidekicks!
00:24:24I've already mentioned the chicken.
00:24:26And even though I've never been a big Sven fan, he can get a free pass, personally.
00:24:30I don't care enough to rant about him.
00:24:32Or how about the splat thingy from Strange World?
00:24:35He's a show-don't-tell character, because he doesn't actually talk.
00:24:38That must mean you love him, Rock-O-Tar!
00:24:41No, you silly livers!
00:24:44No!
00:24:45This character was clearly thrown in just to try and sell a bunch of toys.
00:24:49Too bad the movie flopped, Disney!
00:24:52Yeah, this character is unremarkable at best, and marginally annoying at worst.
00:24:59Kind of just fitting into that extraordinarily mid-zone that Strange World inhabits.
00:25:05And then there's the goat.
00:25:08I don't mean the greatest-of-all-time character.
00:25:11No, I mean...
00:25:12The goat.
00:25:14It didn't work!
00:25:15When does the magic happen, huh?
00:25:17Oh, something's happened.
00:25:19I'm talking!
00:25:20I am talking!
00:25:21Who knew my voice would be this low?
00:25:23Why'd they have to give the goat a voice?
00:25:25Why?
00:25:26Why?
00:25:27Why?
00:25:28Why?
00:25:29Why?
00:25:30Oh, good find, Valentino.
00:25:32My butt found it.
00:25:33He is a disgrace who deserves to go down to the pit.
00:25:37No, no, no!
00:25:38Anything but the pit!
00:25:39Bon voyage!
00:25:40Losers.
00:25:41So, believe it or not, when you watch Encanto, the characters are actually good.
00:25:55And not just good, but like, genuinely good.
00:25:59Like, you know we had some passable people in Raya or whatever.
00:26:02But I mean characters who aren't just inoffensive and acceptable, but are actively interesting.
00:26:09Like I mentioned in the bit about Mirabelle, her sisters, Louisa and Isabella, both grow
00:26:15as people when they open up about their deeper fears and anxieties.
00:26:19The things that were closing them off and making them act the way they were.
00:26:23A bit more cold and seemingly independent.
00:26:27Except what they really needed was a stronger relationship and understanding.
00:26:31Not to mention they have interesting traits because of their magical powers of being very strong
00:26:35and being able to create flowers and other planned life.
00:26:39Mirabelle's mom is also a way better mom than any of the other moms that I've mentioned so far.
00:26:43Which may actually just be the mom from Strange World now that I think about it.
00:26:46Though there were other moms in the other movies I'm sure, right?
00:26:48Uh, Asha had a mom, right?
00:26:50I'm kind of blanking like she's fading from my mind because if she exists she had almost no personality worth clinging onto.
00:26:56Anyway, you could see an actual genuine caring bond between Mirabelle and her mom here.
00:27:02And it's not in just like one scene, it's throughout the movie.
00:27:04You could see that her mom actually understands her and is trying to help her even though she doesn't fully grasp the entire depth of Mirabelle's problems.
00:27:12Her father is also pretty interesting.
00:27:14Like they have this joke about him getting stung by bees that is oddly used twice in the movie for some reason.
00:27:20But other than that, I like that he shows a similar sense of care for Mirabelle.
00:27:23And they don't try to like have the mom and dad have some sort of opposing opinions or they like actually agree.
00:27:28What's that? A not toxic relationship? Unbelievable!
00:27:32And I love the bit where he discovers that Mirabelle has found like the prophecy of the destruction of their house and family or whatever.
00:27:39And he like actually tries to help Mirabelle hide it because they know it's gonna cause a disaster if anyone else finds out.
00:27:44So I love the chemistry between the two of them during that bit.
00:27:47The cousin who hears everything is also like really funny.
00:27:50I mean, what's that? A comedic character who's actually funny?
00:27:53And I love the way that she like drops subtle hints about the truth of Bruno and that he's not like just some sort of mischief maker who ruins everyone's lives.
00:28:02But that he's seemingly still around and living next to them even though he's not doing anything.
00:28:08And speaking of Bruno, what a fantastic character we have here.
00:28:11Someone who is sort of set up for you to think that he would be the villain of the movie.
00:28:15Only to discover that all he did was predict the future but whenever he predicted that something bad would happen, people disliked him.
00:28:21Say, that sounds familiar.
00:28:23So eventually, he decides that because he still loves his family, that he thinks it's for the best if he just leaves.
00:28:30But he doesn't really truly leave, he just takes himself out of their lives.
00:28:34But he's still there keeping an eye on them because he wants what's best for them.
00:28:37And he wants to be there in case they still need him.
00:28:40And I love that once Mirabelle gets in trouble from Abuela after she discovers what she's been up to and all that stuff.
00:28:47Bruno tries to swoop in and take all the credit for everything that went wrong just to protect Mirabelle.
00:28:52Which is why he hid the prophecy in the first place.
00:28:54And on top of that, he has a pretty interesting unique personality too.
00:28:57What? A quirky character in my Disney movie? That's not a girl?
00:29:01Listen, I could go on.
00:29:02But I think the key point here is that the relationship between the protagonist and the side characters in this movie is the reason why they're all such strong characters.
00:29:13Because they bounce off of each other and add to each other.
00:29:17The connections between their relationships are what make them interesting.
00:29:20Not their distinct traits on their own or being the funniest character you ever saw!
00:29:24Haha! Or,
00:29:25Ain't she so quirky?
00:29:27Please relate to her and give us your money!
00:29:29The family in Encanto feels like a real family.
00:29:32They feel like distinct individuals who are still one whole together.
00:29:36And it doesn't have to be a literal family in a story for this same dynamic to work.
00:29:40A group of friends, or even enemies, can still have similar interesting relationships to each other.
00:29:46It's mostly about finding the ways in which these characters relate and differ from each other.
00:29:51Not how much they relate or differ from us, the audience.
00:29:54Oh, and best of all, there's no animal sidekicks in Encanto!
00:29:58And the funniest thing too is there's actually a character in this movie who can talk to animals.
00:30:02And yet there's no animals that talk to us!
00:30:04It's a miracle!
00:30:06And now, we shall discuss the villains.
00:30:09Well, I guess in most cases it's more like lack thereof, since so few of the modern Disney movies have proper villains.
00:30:17But let's just go through whatever each movie has for its antagonistic force, at least.
00:30:23Well, in Moana, we have Takah, and technically also Tamatoa, and the Kakamora Pirates or whatever, but they're more minor.
00:30:30And, like I said, I kind of do actually like Tamatoa. He's pretty good, and so is his song.
00:30:35But, you know what? I can't just let the Kakamora Pirates off the hook.
00:30:39Like, this might just be the most pointless scene I have ever seen in a Disney movie ever.
00:30:46Specifically the Kakamora scene in the first movie, not the second movie, since they kind of have a purpose in that one.
00:30:52But, like, look at this. Moana.
00:30:54Because she's so upset at Maui, decides to just shout at the top of her lungs about how she's got the heart of Te Fiti.
00:31:01This? The heart? You mean this heart right here? Come and get it!
00:31:06And I kid you not, in this very same moment Maui's like,
00:31:09Well, what if somebody hears you, and then they might come to try and steal the heart?
00:31:14And literally, moments later, these Kakamora Pirates show up.
00:31:19What?!
00:31:20Were they just sitting around the corner just off screen where we couldn't see them, watching Moana this whole time?
00:31:26If they only found out that she had the heart of Te Fiti because she was just shouting it right now, did they teleport here?
00:31:32Did they go so fast the moment they heard her that they could come up immediately to attack her?
00:31:37And worse, nothing important happens in this entire sequence.
00:31:40Like, the situation is identical before and after these guys attack.
00:31:45Moana, Maui, on a boat with a chicken and the heart of Te Fiti.
00:31:49Nothing changes.
00:31:50The only reason this scene is in the movie at all is just to throw in some action because they realize two dweebs driving a boat to some island is too boring of a concept for a movie.
00:31:59So they threw in this literally pointless action scene, where Moana gets to flex how perfect her skills are, of course, just because they knew that we were going to be bored if nothing happened.
00:32:09Like, I genuinely don't know how nobody else that I've ever seen has pointed out the utter pointlessness of this scene.
00:32:14Like, every writing advice video ever will tell you that if there's a scene in your story that doesn't change the characters or the plot in any meaningful way, then you either need to change it or get rid of it.
00:32:25And this is exactly the kind of scene that we're talking about.
00:32:28Oh, and don't even get me started on Ralph Breaks the Internet.
00:32:30You know, I said Ralph was the protagonist of that movie, but he may as well also be the villain, you know, considering his character traits and all that.
00:32:37And especially because, like, the viruses at the end are literally just clones of his negative personality in that movie.
00:32:43And I'm not going to go into a depth about it, you know, like I did in my Ralph Breaks the Internet video, which you can watch if you've not seen it already.
00:32:49But basically, even though there's a interesting idea behind some of this stuff, it is so horrendously poorly executed that it really honestly makes Ralph into quite possibly one of the worst Disney villains of all time.
00:33:00And the worst thing is, too, is that part of the theme of the original movie is that even though Ralph is called a villain, that's just his job and he's not really a bad guy.
00:33:08But everyone, you know, treats him as a bad person just because of the fact that his job is to play the villain in the game.
00:33:14But although in the second movie he actually is the villain, this definitely doesn't betray the themes of the first movie at all.
00:33:21So yeah, and then after that, we've got Frozen 2, where the villain of the movie died before the movie even started. Yay.
00:33:29Yeah, this old king guy or whatever who built a dam or some nonsense and then they gotta break it down, whoop-de-doo.
00:33:36Frozen 2, something-something, magical snow text messages, giant rock monsters, bada-bing, bada-boom, Arendelle is almost destroyed but conveniently saved at the last second.
00:33:45Almost not even worth talking about, quite frankly.
00:33:47And I think the annoying thing here, too, is that Frozen 2 just has this mysterious atmosphere to it the whole time, but it extraordinarily lacks tension because of the fact that everything bad the villain did was in the past,
00:33:59and it's barely relevant for most of the movie until the final third, and then in the final third, all the drama feels super contrived and it's extremely underwhelming that the solution to the problem is just destroying a dam.
00:34:10Like, it's just so incredibly underwhelming in its entirety.
00:34:14Namaari has to be one of the stupidest Disney villains of all time, and, like, I mean that she is genuinely stupid.
00:34:21Like, nothing she does in this movie makes any sense.
00:34:24Like, ooh, I'm just gonna oppose Raya throughout the entire plot even though she's trying to save the entire world,
00:34:32and then I'm going to kill Sisu at the end for no apparent reason whatsoever.
00:34:37Even though she's the only one who has the power to save us, and by killing her, I've doomed us all to the villains.
00:34:43Including my own nation.
00:34:45Like, seriously, and this is the person the movie expects us to think it's a good idea to trust at the end.
00:34:50More on that in a bit.
00:34:51And also, I just, I can't get over the way she reintroduces herself to Raya after the time skip near the beginning.
00:34:57What's dripping, Depla?
00:34:59Like, that's another problem that Raya and the Last Dragon has.
00:35:01Like, it tries, like, way too hard to be, like, modern and cool even though it's, like, a fantasy epic in concept.
00:35:09Like, there is so much anachronistic language used in this movie that it genuinely is immersion breaking and takes me out of the experience.
00:35:17Yeah, basically, everything about this character is not very good, and she's easily the weakest part of the entire movie.
00:35:22And that's saying something when Sisu exists.
00:35:24Strange World basically doesn't even have a villain.
00:35:27I mean, it doesn't even hardly have anything that comes close to a villain.
00:35:30Well, unless maybe you count, like, that one girl who's kind of leading the expedition who I also forgot the name of.
00:35:36Because pretty much everyone in this movie is forgettable.
00:35:38And, like, at the end, she's like,
00:35:40No, you can't do the right thing! We need to save our plant!
00:35:43Except that lasts all of, like, 10-15 minutes, maybe.
00:35:46And then everyone's friends again by the end, so, whatever.
00:35:49It's pretty underwhelming.
00:35:50She's an underwhelming character. Her minions are underwhelming.
00:35:53There's that one guy who's supposed to be funny because he's, like, such a dork and a wimp or something.
00:35:57I don't know, but he's really not that funny.
00:35:59Yeah, honestly, this is the Disney movie that is most guilty of straight-up not even having a villain.
00:36:04And it's the one that has the goal to have a joke about not having a villain being bad writing!
00:36:09Do the Disney writers think that this was, like, gonna be taken as, like, sarcasm and they're like,
00:36:13See? You can have a good story without a villain!
00:36:16Yeah, you're just an idiot for asserting that!
00:36:20And don't get me wrong. You can have good stories without villains.
00:36:23But it is very, very difficult to do so.
00:36:25You have to have a really strong core theme to your story and a focus that's not on just, you know, action and adventure.
00:36:33Which, you know, usually end up being the areas that Disney movies fall into.
00:36:38Plus, I don't understand why Disney has been so allergic to traditional villains recently.
00:36:43Especially when many of their most popular movies had such great traditional villains.
00:36:48What's that? Wish actually has a traditional villain in it? Oh, thank goodness, Disney!
00:36:53Wait. No. I take it all back.
00:36:56There's probably a genuine argument to be made that King Magnifico is probably the worst of the villains on this list.
00:37:02Some people seem to think that, like, he was in the right or something for stealing people's wishes, but I don't really buy that perspective.
00:37:08I just think that he's an idiot because his plans make no sense.
00:37:12Try as he might, Chris Pine can't save the writing of this character, who is inconsistent especially in his motives,
00:37:20and is ultimately one of the biggest wastes of potential that I've ever seen.
00:37:24Mirrors, mirrors on the wall, who is the handsomest?
00:37:29Me!
00:37:31I win.
00:37:33Who's the handsomest?
00:37:35This is really to come true.
00:37:37Like, they take what could have been a genuinely interesting character, who it seems like they're setting up to be at the beginning of the movie,
00:37:44but then, a little bit over halfway through, he just uses the Forbidden Magic book and turns into generic evil guy number 137.
00:37:51Like, and they have the gall to include that bit about how, once you use forbidden magic, you can never go back,
00:37:56to basically say that he's just completely irredeemable, which is such bogus, and a complete cop-out from actually giving us a story worth telling.
00:38:05Since it basically removes all redemptive aspects of his character at that point, which he genuinely SEEMED to have at the start,
00:38:13but the fact that he even uses the forbidden magic book in the first place doesn't even make any sense.
00:38:17I mean, why does he even have this magic book?
00:38:20Embrace forbidden magic just once, and you commit to it for eternity.
00:38:26Oh, you embrace the forbidden magic once, you're committed to it for eternity.
00:38:30It's like, giving like, no weight to it.
00:38:32Like, oh, Magnifico is just 100% doomed.
00:38:35We're just gonna like, make that a 30 second, not even 30, probably like 20 second long clip.
00:38:40And how come him reading the book to use the magic, like, curses him,
00:38:44but then later when the other characters are reading the book to find out that it's forbidden,
00:38:48nothing happens to them?
00:38:50Inconsistency after inconsistency.
00:38:52And like...
00:38:53Why is it that all he cares about now is, like, the power?
00:38:59I mean, I'm assuming, of course, it's probably because of the, like, the corruption, right?
00:39:03But, I mean, then you have to ask why did he want the corrupted power of forbidden magic in the first place?
00:39:09You know, like, I thought his whole point was that he took people's wishes because he genuinely thought that they would make their lives worse by putting them into situations where...
00:39:22You know, they wouldn't be able to achieve their dreams even no matter how hard they tried.
00:39:29Which implies that he, you know, genuinely cared initially even if his ideas was wrong.
00:39:35So why is his motivation, like, completely changed now?
00:39:39That he doesn't care about anything except just, like, you know, keeping control of the wishes?
00:39:48Like, and of course his, the only, the only reasoning we're given is that he thinks some wishes are dangerous, which is, like, ludicrous.
00:39:56Basically, Magnifico is, like, one of the most illogical characters ever in any Disney movie. I'm just saying.
00:40:02The way he gets beat at the end, too. He's so pathetic and cheesy and stupid.
00:40:06Where he, despite having literally all the power in the world, is magically defeated in an instant by people singing.
00:40:13The power of friendship. Because Disney. Or some such utter nonsense.
00:40:19Why does his staff suck him in?
00:40:25Explain this to me.
00:40:28He should have just lost his power, not got sucked into his staff for no apparent reason.
00:40:35Yeah, basically, King Magnifico is not the good.
00:40:39Moana 2 kind of makes you think that it's going to have this one Batgirl be the villain,
00:40:44but then, oh really, she's actually betraying the real villain of the movie,
00:40:47who is off-screen for 99.99999% of the movie, and basically only shows up in an in-credits scene at the end.
00:40:53But otherwise, he only manifests in legends and this storm that they have to face at the end.
00:40:59And so far, we don't know enough about him to derive anything more than he is evil.
00:41:04So quite frankly, it's too soon to say anything definitive about this character.
00:41:08But having him be off-screen for so much of the movie is definitely underwhelming.
00:41:12Hopefully, if we're lucky, he'll actually be okay in Moana 3, which is definitely inevitable at this point.
00:41:20I'm not exactly looking forward to it, considering my opinions on the first two.
00:41:23But hey, there's always a chance it'll be good.
00:41:26Not a very high chance, mind you, but 3% is still a chance, you know.
00:41:30And that leads me to Encanto, which kinda also doesn't really have a villain if I'm being super honest.
00:41:37However, Abuela is close enough to a villain that I'm willing to counter.
00:41:43While she doesn't actively try to do villainous things,
00:41:47she is the biggest antagonistic force since she's so against Mirabelle and what she wants,
00:41:52and she just refuses to listen to Mirabelle the whole time.
00:41:55And obviously, she's the best character out of all the ones I'm mentioning here.
00:41:58The reason she works, and the other ones don't, is that she's given a good reason for why she is the way she is.
00:42:05And she grows as a person.
00:42:07Because, of course, in her past, her family was attacked by, I guess what you would call the true villains of the story.
00:42:14And her husband was lost even though the rest of her family was saved by the miracle.
00:42:18And so because of the time in which these events took place, she sees this miracle as being intrinsically linked to her husband.
00:42:26And that she has a duty to protect this family and the miracle because they wouldn't have it at all if it weren't for his sacrifice.
00:42:33And so when she sees that Mirabelle doesn't get a miraculous power, and there are signs that things may crumble and fall apart,
00:42:40she's unable to see that this is because of the way she is acting.
00:42:45That she's become so stubborn and reluctant to listen, very legalistic in a sense about how things have to work.
00:42:51She has forgotten that the whole reason that they were given the miracle in the first place was so that she could love and protect her family.
00:42:59And it took her losing everything that she was trying so hard to protect that she had put above her family,
00:43:06in order for her to remember how important her family actually was to her.
00:43:11In a lot of ways, this connects very heavily to the theme of the movie, which is basically the next category I was going to jump into.
00:43:17So, you know, I may as well just swap things around and start with why Encanto's theme works and other themes more or less don't.
00:43:23You see, the theme of Encanto is basically is that family is more important than other things that we think are important,
00:43:31such as our skills and talents, the home we live in, our position in life, etc.
00:43:36And that we cannot show biases towards certain people over other people just because of what they're capable of doing that other people are not doing.
00:43:44Because all of us are created equal, even if someone has a certain talent that doesn't make them better than someone else who doesn't.
00:43:51And also, you can't force people to fall in line with the way that you want them to be.
00:43:57And all of these themes are executed very well, in my opinion.
00:44:00And part of the reason that these themes are so well communicated is via this movie's excellent soundtrack.
00:44:05But I'll come back to that after I discuss the other movie's themes.
00:44:10You see, I have heard many times from many people that Moana has deep themes.
00:44:16About as deep as a puddle!
00:44:18Sorry Moana fans, but I just don't get this movie.
00:44:22There's only two possible themes that this movie could have, and neither of them are very impressive to me.
00:44:26As I mentioned, one of them is this idea of being yourself and doing what you want or something.
00:44:32I don't know.
00:44:33Which just seems like a very self-centered kind of message to send to people.
00:44:36And don't let anyone tell you what to think!
00:44:39Just do what you wanna do!
00:44:41And if that really is the message of Moana, then the movie stinks even more than I think it does.
00:44:44But I try not to take the message that, you know, negatively.
00:44:48Because I don't think that's exactly what they were trying to send.
00:44:50And if they weren't trying to send that message, and they were trying to send some sort of motivational message to people about, you know,
00:44:55you don't have to be what your parents want you to be, then I think they kind of failed that too.
00:44:59Because it really doesn't come across very strongly that that was the point of the movie.
00:45:03And the only other possible message could have to do with this whole Heart of Te Fiti thing and Takah turning into a lava monster.
00:45:09And if you think that's the deep message of the movie, then honestly, I genuinely don't know what to say.
00:45:14Like, what?
00:45:15She lost her heart and that made her bad.
00:45:18Whoa!
00:45:19Such a deep movie!
00:45:21Okay...
00:45:22Moana just feels like a movie that...
00:45:24I don't...
00:45:25I just don't understand.
00:45:27Maybe I'm an idiot.
00:45:28Maybe...
00:45:30Maybe...
00:45:32But if this movie's trying to convey some sort of deep and meaningful message, then I'm just not seeing it anywhere.
00:45:37Well, at least Moana tried.
00:45:39Well, and then again, Ralph Breaks the Internet also tried to send a message about being clingy and...
00:45:44insecure and all that stuff.
00:45:46And it flopped tremendously, even though it actually was a pretty clear message that would have been meaningful if it was executed properly.
00:45:54So I guess I'll take a muddy message that doesn't really come through clearly over a good message that's executed so horribly that it backfires and assassinates the characters it's trying to attach itself to.
00:46:06You know, if you want to hear more about that, once again, Ralph Breaks the Internet video.
00:46:10Link in the description down below.
00:46:12Raya and the Last Dragon actually just straight up has a terrible theme.
00:46:15This idea that everyone needs to trust each other and then we can all live in harmony.
00:46:18Just to explain, like, the reason why the theme of this movie fails so much is because of the fact that it wants us to think that before people will trust us, we need to trust them.
00:46:28Which doesn't sound like it would be a bad theme on its own, but it's the specific circumstances in this movie that make the theme fail catastrophically.
00:46:37Because this is a movie where everyone just completely mistrusts everyone for no good reason.
00:46:44And every single time that Sisu or Raya ever trusts anyone, something bad always happens.
00:46:51So why does the movie want us to think that it's a good idea to trust these people?
00:46:55What they needed to do was put scenes in the movie where Sisu is proven right that by trusting somebody, something good happens.
00:47:02But that doesn't happen. Throughout the whole movie only bad stuff happens when the characters trust people.
00:47:07Which just makes Raya look stupid in the end for putting all her trust in Namaari.
00:47:10We've been given zero evidence all the way up to the ending in this movie that Sisu's idea would actually work.
00:47:16Her evidence is literally just, trust me bro.
00:47:19And that's why it actually can end up being a dangerous message.
00:47:22If you genuinely think that even after people betray you when you trust them, that you should still just blindly trust them and they'll totally trust you back.
00:47:30It doesn't work like that.
00:47:32Like you can't just magically make somebody who's completely mistrusting of you and abuses your trust suddenly trust you and treat you fairly.
00:47:39The people in this movie that we're expected to learn a lesson from that we need to trust are exactly the kind of people that you need to be wary about and not trust in real life.
00:47:47Like it's good to trust people, but trust is a mutual thing.
00:47:51I mean, it's kind of like what this movie is trying to say.
00:47:54But if those people have already proven themselves to not be trustworthy, then it's not exactly a mutual thing anymore, is it?
00:48:01Yeah, so anyway, as you can tell, the theme of this movie is not very good.
00:48:06Strange World's theme is very obviously this idea of generational trauma and, you know, I guess what you could say, bad parenting.
00:48:15The idea of fathers trying to force their sons to be like them.
00:48:19Now, this is actually probably my favorite aspect of Strange World.
00:48:22For a movie that's so aggressively mid, this is like the one area that it's actually okay in.
00:48:27I don't actually dislike the theme of this movie, but it is still a little bit undercooked compared to what it could be.
00:48:33Maybe that's just because it's a very basic theme and it's not really explored in any way further than just a father who didn't want to be like his father ultimately does become like him when he tries to force his son to be like himself.
00:48:47Great! That's a good premise.
00:48:49Now, where's the extra special sauce on top of that?
00:48:52Oh, what's that? There is none?
00:48:55Okay!
00:48:56Yeah, that's the thing about Strange World. It's a very predictable movie in terms of its plot and characters.
00:49:00It feels like Disney's trying so hard to subvert our expectations by not having a traditional villain in this movie, only for it to end up being even more generic by not having one, ironically.
00:49:09But hey, at least its theme functions.
00:49:12The theme of Wish is very wishy-washy.
00:49:15It basically just boils down to,
00:49:17Don't try to stop people from believing in their dreams or else you'll become an evil magical tyrant who wants to destroy the world or something like that.
00:49:26And you might think, well, it's the Disney 100th anniversary movie. They gotta do something wishy-washy.
00:49:35Okay, fine. I'll grant you that. But it's still executed. Very poorly.
00:49:41Too little emphasis is put on the actual meaning of these people's wishes and more just that they have some sort of vague power to them.
00:49:49And interestingly, we're hinted at early on that there could be bad wishes that could lead to someone becoming a bad person if they were fulfilled.
00:49:58But the movie does nothing with that idea, even though that would have been way more interesting than, you know, what we actually got.
00:50:03But instead it's just something-something believe in your dreams or whatever.
00:50:06And ends up feeling really generic and has absolutely no depth to it and is barely even a focus of the movie.
00:50:13The movie really likes to spend way more time on Asha being quirky or the GOAT.
00:50:19I also think the movie really fails to demonstrate to us how King Magnifico keeping these people's wishes is genuinely affecting their society.
00:50:29Like, sure, we get a little bit of that with the character of Simon.
00:50:32Hey, he has the same name as me.
00:50:34But even that's just played out really vaguely.
00:50:37Because we're never shown what he was like before he lost his wish.
00:50:40And we never really see him dramatically change once he gets his wish.
00:50:44First of all because he gets possessed by Magnifico for a significant portion of the time after he gets his wish granted.
00:50:49And then at the end he's just apologizing and that's basically the last we see of him other than group scenes where everyone's talking at the same time and so there's nothing for him to show.
00:50:57What do you have to say for yourself?
00:51:00Why is it the GOAT who convicts him?
00:51:03You know, I could go on and on, but I'd just like to make a wish of my own.
00:51:08I would dearly wish that this movie had a way better soundtrack than it actually has.
00:51:13I can't help it if mirrors love my face.
00:51:17It's genetics!
00:51:19Yeah, I got these genes from outer space!
00:51:22Keep the name, I'm magnificent!
00:51:24I point the eye and I'm omnipotent!
00:51:26Wish has by far the worst soundtrack I've ever heard in any Disney movie.
00:51:31I don't think Wish has a single actually good song in it.
00:51:33Every song tries so hard to be a pop song, probably because they were written by pop singers.
00:51:39Except none of the songs make sense.
00:51:41Virtually none of them are well integrated into the plot and story.
00:51:44Not that there was much plot in the first place, or story, or good characters.
00:51:48I'm past dipping my toesie, but I'm not, no I'm not past diving in.
00:51:53If I could just...
00:51:54The songs feel so out of place.
00:51:55Like, they don't feel like songs that the characters would naturally sing.
00:52:00They feel like they're pop songs just inserted into the movie and given to the characters to sing.
00:52:07You know, unlike most Disney movies with songs where the characters just sort of naturally start singing.
00:52:14And, you know, it actually feels like them pouring out their hearts in the moment.
00:52:18But hey, the songs still could have been good.
00:52:21You don't have to have all those things to make great songs.
00:52:24Even though it would make your job way easier.
00:52:26That's a lie, lie, lie, lie.
00:52:29It's a lie, lie, lie, lie, lie.
00:52:31But you see, the thing about Wish's songs is that they very often not only use very odd choices of words,
00:52:40that sometimes don't even rhyme.
00:52:42Hey, did I mention when you turn 18 you get to give your wish at a ceremony?
00:52:4818 and ceremony don't even rhyme.
00:52:58How is that supposed to rhyme in any way?
00:53:00But they frequently try to squish half a billion words into a single section of music.
00:53:06Like, it sounds like these songs are a translation from another language,
00:53:10where it's difficult to get it to say the same thing and match the background music.
00:53:15But no, this is the original language.
00:53:18That's what makes it baffling.
00:53:20Like, listen, I don't know all the proper terms for music.
00:53:22I'm sure there's music experts who could break down why this movie's soundtrack sucks even more than I can.
00:53:28But I'm just telling you what I'm listening to doesn't sound right.
00:53:32With lighting for hands, they're the eyes that can blow.
00:53:34No, no, no, I'm totally kidding.
00:53:35But he is powerful, he's just like us.
00:53:38But he is powerful.
00:53:39Such a bad lyric.
00:53:41The songs are utterly incapable of being catchy.
00:53:45In fact, some of them are just silly.
00:53:47They actually take away from the atmosphere of the story.
00:53:50And not to mention, many of them are pointless.
00:53:52Like the pointless song about how they know the truth about Magnifico.
00:53:56Okay, what does this add to the story?
00:53:57Because they already knew the truth before they were singing the song.
00:53:59They're not convincing anyone who doesn't already know.
00:54:02It's just a song for the sake of having a song.
00:54:04Or how Magnifico's villain song is kinda ridiculous.
00:54:07Even though it's probably the best song in the movie.
00:54:09And it's still bad.
00:54:10Because like I'm saying, it's hard to take him serious when his song is just
00:54:14This is the thanks I get.
00:54:16Like, it's genuinely comical.
00:54:18How are we supposed to take this guy seriously?
00:54:20Now, we could skip Raya and Strange World because they don't even have songs.
00:54:23Ralph Breaks the Internet, believe it or not, actually does have a song in it.
00:54:27And it's literally one of the worst songs I've ever heard in my entire life.
00:54:30It's a completely nonsensical and stupid song sung by Vanellope as she's dreaming of the life she's always wanted.
00:54:36Or should I say dreaming of going turbo?
00:54:39And don't even get me started on that part where the clown just drives up in the middle of the sky or something.
00:54:43Complete and utter nonsense.
00:54:45Happy dreams, not creepy clown dreams.
00:54:50Like, the whole song is just pure nonsense.
00:54:53Like, I get that the joke is supposed to be that Vanellope is such an unusual princess
00:54:58that she's not going to be dreaming and wishing of the usual princess things that the princesses sing of.
00:55:03But it tries too hard to be different and unique that it actually just becomes ridiculous.
00:55:08Frozen 2 has a soundtrack that's more of a mixed bag, personally.
00:55:11Like, everybody I'm sure knows how absolutely atrocious the Olaf song is.
00:55:18This will all make sense when I am older.
00:55:22Someday I will see that this makes sense.
00:55:26Like, I'm pretty certain that is the worst Disney song ever made that isn't explicitly racist.
00:55:41But most of the other songs aren't exactly offensively bad.
00:55:44I do think that there are a lot of generic songs.
00:55:47Into the Unknown is decent, though.
00:55:49And the Kristoff song actually kind of low-key slaps, if I'm being honest.
00:55:53But I think the biggest issue here is that outside of Into the Unknown,
00:55:57very few of the songs, like, actually have a purpose in the plot.
00:56:00Well, okay, I guess the one that Anna sings, which is pretty underwhelming in my opinion,
00:56:04that they, like, try to be overly depressing and dark when they were writing it for no apparent reason except they wanted to.
00:56:10Oh no, it's the end of the world!
00:56:12Except, never mind, because every single thing that Anna is afraid of is just going to be completely undone by the end of the movie.
00:56:16Because this is a Disney movie!
00:56:18We don't even understand the meaning of the word consequences!
00:56:21Like, as much as the Kristoff song slaps, it is basically pointless in the grand scheme of the story.
00:56:26I mean, the Olaf song is definitely pointless.
00:56:28The opening song is, like, one of the most generic opening songs you could ever hear.
00:56:32It feels like it's straight out of a straight-to-DVD sequel movie.
00:56:35Like, it gives off big, you know, Little Mermaid 2 opening vibes.
00:56:39And you know what else is very guilty of that?
00:56:41The opening song in Moana 2, as well!
00:56:43Moana 2 is another movie that has a very underwhelming soundtrack, in my opinion.
00:56:47I admit, I kind of like the Batgirl, Get Lost song, It's Alright.
00:56:51But, like, the rest of the soundtrack?
00:56:53Yeah, nice try, Disney.
00:56:55Like, especially the Maui song.
00:56:57Like, seriously, what were they doing with that one?
00:56:59Now, you probably noticed I didn't mention the original Moana yet.
00:57:05And that's because it basically does have a pretty good soundtrack.
00:57:08As I mentioned, I like Tama Toa.
00:57:10So, naturally, I like Shiny as well.
00:57:12And it is the best song in the movie, easily, in my opinion.
00:57:15Now, Maui's song in this movie is actually pretty good.
00:57:18You know, you're welcome.
00:57:19Pretty much everyone knows this song.
00:57:20It's basically a meme.
00:57:21The song at the beginning of the movie, Where You Are, I believe it's called, is also a decent opening song as well.
00:57:26However, I do have some problems with Moana's songs.
00:57:29And I know that's not a popular opinion.
00:57:32But I'm not the agree-with-all-popular-opinions guy, you know?
00:57:35So, I unfortunately have to disagree.
00:57:37Yes, they're very well-written songs.
00:57:39Very well-composed.
00:57:41Very well-sung.
00:57:42Dare I say, if you removed it completely from the context of the movie, then it would actually be a pretty good song.
00:57:48However, as I mentioned, I'm not a big fan of Moana's motivation in this movie.
00:57:52So, to have her sing a whole song about how she just wants to go to the ocean,
00:57:55which is essentially her just wanting to do something selfish,
00:57:58and ignore anything anyone else says to the contrary,
00:58:01it's not really gonna win me over.
00:58:03Now, this song essentially gets a reprise at the end of the movie.
00:58:05And, quite frankly, I like it even less.
00:58:08Because this is the part where she comes to the conclusion that the thing she's been missing this whole time,
00:58:13her greatest character flaw was that she has not been admitting how perfect she is the whole time.
00:58:19You see, her secret to winning against the villain is that she is Moana.
00:58:24She doesn't need to change or learn a lesson.
00:58:26She just needs two T-pose and assert dominance.
00:58:30Then Tekka will bow at her might.
00:58:32Look at how epic she is when she slow-mo walks towards her at the end.
00:58:36Only Moana could do this because she is Moana.
00:58:39Listen, if the movie was trying to send a message about how you're special just as you are,
00:58:43and that, like, you don't need to change yourself or something,
00:58:46then it catastrophically failed.
00:58:48Because the problem is Moana is, like, good at everything in this movie.
00:58:50If Moana was bad at stuff, or she was afraid she wasn't worthy,
00:58:54like I proposed as an alternate way to start the movie,
00:58:57then this would make a lot more sense as a motivational song, would it not?
00:59:00That she doesn't need to give in to her fears.
00:59:03That the bravery to keep going is deep within who she is.
00:59:07But that's not what happens, and that's why I'm not a fan.
00:59:10Now, in Encanto, as I mentioned a little while ago now at this point,
00:59:13the songs are actually so good.
00:59:17Like, all of them are at least decent.
00:59:19My least favorite is probably the Isabella one.
00:59:21Probably because it is a little bit quick how fast she ends up changing her mind about Mirabelle.
00:59:27But it's still a decent song, I'll give it that.
00:59:29But like all the other songs in the movie are great,
00:59:32and they serve a purpose in the plot and add to the themes of the story.
00:59:36The opening song isn't just a generic song,
00:59:38it's used to introduce us to all the characters who are in this movie,
00:59:41because there are a lot of characters.
00:59:43And we could just have them all conveniently walk up and explain themselves,
00:59:46or we could have Mirabelle sing about it.
00:59:49Plus, if you listen to the song and the soundtrack later over and over again,
00:59:51it'll help you to remember all the characters, their names, and their powers.
00:59:54So it's actually a clever way to make it easy for people to remember all these characters.
00:59:58But of course, we also have to talk about Mirabelle's song,
01:00:00Waiting on a Miracle, which is honestly a fantastic I want song.
01:00:05You know, the classic songs that tend to be some of the best, when done well at least.
01:00:09My personal favorite being Reflection from Mulan.
01:00:12In Waiting on a Miracle, we see that deep down inside Mirabelle,
01:00:16even though she feigns to be satisfied with her life,
01:00:19she feels a deep sense that she is not living up to the standard that people expect her to.
01:00:26It shows us both that she's a bit insecure, even though she tries to hide it,
01:00:30but also that there's a problem in her family,
01:00:32that people have these unrealistic expectations of people,
01:00:36even those who weren't given gifts.
01:00:38And if they weren't given a gift, then they have this idea that there's perhaps something lesser about them.
01:00:43Because it's clearly affecting Mirabelle, the fact that she doesn't have a gift.
01:00:47Of course, in No Pressure, we learn about Louisa's deeper anxieties,
01:00:51which in a way are similar to Mirabelle's, but from her own unique perspective.
01:00:56That because she does have a gift, everyone puts unrealistic expectations on her.
01:01:01Instead of treating her as lesser, they treat her as more than she can even handle.
01:01:05Just because she can do these things doesn't mean that she has to be the only one
01:01:10who's always doing these things and taking no breaks.
01:01:13But because of Abuela, she thinks she has to constantly go like this.
01:01:17The bar has been set so high, ironically, by her own actions,
01:01:20that she feels like if she takes a break, she'll be letting people down.
01:01:23And so it adds a lot to her as a character.
01:01:25And of course, I can't forget to talk about Bruno.
01:01:29Or should I say, we don't talk about Bruno.
01:01:32Obviously the most famous song from this movie, the catchiest and probably the best if I'm being honest.
01:01:38Sorry to be so generic.
01:01:40I'm the generic contrarian, you know.
01:01:42Not only is this song really catchy, but it fills us in on two aspects.
01:01:46One, details about Bruno as a character, but also the way that everyone sees Bruno.
01:01:52It sets up an expectation in our mind of what he'll be like.
01:01:57So when we finally do see him and see that he's so different from what people said,
01:02:00yet simultaneously there was truth in their words,
01:02:04it adds depth to both him as a character and everyone else
01:02:07because of the unique connection they have to each other.
01:02:10And the difference between reality and what people think.
01:02:13Basically, all the songs in Encanto serve a purpose as well as just being good songs.
01:02:19I mean, that's kind of like how things were back in the Renaissance days.
01:02:22Honestly, if Encanto came out during the Renaissance and was 2D animated, it would fit in perfectly.
01:02:28As a whole, Encanto felt like a movie that was a return to form for Disney,
01:02:33giving us a taste of what they used to be like on a consistent basis.
01:02:37And I think if I had to boil down the entire point of this video and everything I've had to say on every topic,
01:02:42it would essentially come down to this.
01:02:44Encanto works while other modern Disney movies don't because it has depth.
01:02:49Its characters have depth.
01:02:51They aren't shallow.
01:02:52The characters are likable.
01:02:54And even when they're supposed to be antagonistic,
01:02:56they still have interesting aspects to their personalities that show us both good and bad sides to them.
01:03:02The plot and themes have depth.
01:03:04Meaning is hidden throughout every scene in the movie,
01:03:07and no time is wasted on something that isn't important.
01:03:10Encanto has good comedy, but it doesn't try too hard to be funny.
01:03:14Less comedians, better comedy.
01:03:17Write that one down, Disney.
01:03:18The soundtrack has meaning to it.
01:03:21The songs aren't just there to exist and be songs.
01:03:25Each one is intrinsically linked to things that happen in the stories and with the characters.
01:03:30They add depth to the characters.
01:03:32And they add depth to the story and the relationships between the characters.
01:03:36And even though the movie doesn't have a traditional villain in the normal sense,
01:03:39its antagonistic force, and basically the villain of the movie, Abuela,
01:03:43works because she's given a logical backstory that shows us who she is deep down,
01:03:49and her actions make sense on why she chooses to be an antagonist.
01:03:54She's not just pure evil for the sake of being pure evil or anything.
01:03:58She's not a pointless twist villain.
01:04:00Not that I have time to get into that.
01:04:02Since, quite frankly, that's kind of a thing Disney's mostly left behind at this point.
01:04:06And her redemption at the end makes sense because of how it directly connects to the themes of the story.
01:04:11She's a character with a lot of depth.
01:04:13Depth, depth, depth.
01:04:15Put that in your mind very hard, Disney.
01:04:17The other movies fail because they're too shallow.
01:04:20They focus too much on things that don't matter, or they just fail to develop anything at all.
01:04:25Whereas yet, they may even assassinate things that used to be good,
01:04:28like Ralph Breaks the Internet and occasionally Frozen 2 as well.
01:04:31They try too hard to force songs in and force comedy in because they think that's what people want,
01:04:36when what we really want is a good story with good characters and something more meaningful to take with us when we leave the movie.
01:04:43Encanto gives us all of that, and more arguably, since it also gives us pretty good comedy and great songs too.
01:04:50But those aren't the main focus.
01:04:52Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this video.
01:04:55I may have gone on a few rambles here and there,
01:04:57but I hope I got the point across and I dearly hope some people working at Disney managed to see this video as well.
01:05:03Even if you disagree with me on Moana 1, I hope we can still be friends.
01:05:07Anyway, I also gotta give a massive shoutout to my patrons who help support me in an extra way,
01:05:12and by the way, they get access to early videos.
01:05:15And all videos on Patreon are ad-free, by the way, too.
01:05:18I wish I could offer more exclusive content,
01:05:20but I do have an extra video that should be dropping on Patreon sometime in the near future as well,
01:05:25that will be an exclusive about how I edit my videos,
01:05:28but I can't promise there's gonna be a lot of videos like that.
01:05:30Well, if you enjoyed this video, then maybe you might enjoy my opinions on some of the other
01:05:35Walt Disney Animation Studios films that are, you know, earlier than these ones.
01:05:40I've got a whole playlist covering stuff like that over here,
01:05:43or perhaps you're a fan of my more negative opinions for whatever reason.
01:05:48I don't know.
01:05:49I've got a whole playlist of rant-related videos over here if you're interested in that kind of stuff.
01:05:54But yeah, most importantly of all, always remember to be iconic.
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