Movies I Saw This Year (and my thoughts on them)

            Well it's that time of year when we welcome in the new year while reflecting on the past year.  2015 has proven to be a pretty tough year for many of us, but one of the bright spots on the year was the great movies that came out.  We got a sequel to one of the most popular superhero movies of the past few years, an Awesome summer blockbuster from Pixar, and even a welcome return to a galaxy far far away.



            Now, during this past year, I didn't get as many opportunities to go to the theater to see a lot of movies and those that I did see I really enjoyed, so I can't really do a best and worst list of movies I saw as there just aren't enough entries for either.  There's also the fact that I tend to be a pretty good judge of what movies I'm going to enjoy over which ones I'm going to ignore.  Very rarely have I ever gone to see a movie that I was disappointed with by the end credits (*cough cough* Frankenweenie *cough cough*).  'Scuse me.



            So, for this blog, I'm going to be going over the movies that I did see that came out this past year and just giving my basic thoughts on each of them.  Something to note is that I'm not limiting it just to theatrical releases.  Part of this being because one entry was the second sequel in a series that had the first 2 released in theaters, even if it was just a limited release.  Because of that, I give this one entry a pass.



            Additionally, I'll try to keep things spoiler-free for the most part, but I make no promises.  Finally, these movies are ranked in no particular order aside from when they were released.  So with all that said, let's not waste any more time and just dive right into it.







I.  Kingsman:  The Secret Service.

            Certainly one of the wackiest movies I've seen this past year, Kingsman is described by many people as a James Bond movie if it were directed by Quentin Tarantino and, in all honesty, it's pretty hard to argue with that.  Directed by Matthew Vaughn of Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class fame, this movie is action packed while at the same time working well as an over the top comedy.

            This movie openly makes fun of the conventional spy-thriller tropes and even has Samuel L. Jackson as the villain who has both a lisp and gets really queasy at the sight of blood, which is even funnier when you take into account that he has a henchwoman named Gazelle who has bladed prosthetics for legs that she uses to slice up her enemies.

            The action is a lot of fun to watch ranging from thrilling and engaging to downright goofy to match the offbeat tone of the film.  Unfortunately, not a lot of the characters got that much development in the movie, Gazelle being one of them which is disappointing as I would've liked to get a bit more of her backstory.  Pretty decent and enjoyable film with a sequel set to come out in summer of 2017.  Hopefully, it'll be just as good.

II.  Ex Machina.

            One of the more thought-provoking movies on my list, Ex Machina is yet another movie dealing with the concept of AI and where technology might eventually be headed.  The acting is very solid, only dealing with a select few actors throughout the film's entirety and all the characters are very engaging.

           The atmosphere of the movie is very tense and unsettling, constantly keeping you invested in finding out what's going to happen next.  Another thing that I feel I must mention is the design of the AI herself, Ava.  Despite the fact that she's mostly seen in her android form, I had no problem believing that she really was there, the CGI on her was that impressive.

            Also, the ending, though I felt it dragged on for quite a bit, felt very Shakespearean or Frankensteinian.  It's quite tragic.  The only downside I could think of is that it doesn't seem to offer that much new in regards to other AI centric movies that have come out before.  Still, the movie was enjoyable and I hope that come Oscar season it'll get plenty of nominations and, possibly, wins.

III.  The Avengers:  Age Of Ultron.

            Going right back into the topic of AI, we have The Avengers:  Age Of Ultron, the follow-up to one of the biggest superhero movies since The Dark Knight.  A lot of people were really disappointed by this movie and felt that it didn't live up to the hype of its predecessor, but, in all honesty, I felt like this movie was just as good as, if not better than, the first movie.

            Now I did like the first Avengers movie when it came out, but as the years have gone by since first seeing it, I've come to feel like it's a really overrated movie.  I mean, 92% on RottenTomatoes?  Like I said before, I liked it, but it wasn't that good.  In fact, I think the reason why Age Of Ultron is ranked lower was because they realized that maybe they were a bit too lenient towards the first one that they felt they needed to balance it out with a lower rating.

            There's plenty of good moments to find in this movie with the introduction of new characters like Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, plenty of character development, and even fun interactions between members of The Avengers.  There's one scene in particular where there's a party at Stark Tower and the back and forth between everyone involved feels very genuine and amiable like you want to be part of that party.

            One of the major props that I have to give this movie was what it did for Hawkeye.  In the first movie, I thought that Hawkeye was the weakest, most bland, boring member of the team until I saw what development he was given in this movie.  Finally, I absolutely loved the music in Age Of Ultron, done by longtime favorite composer of mine Danny Elfman and Brian Tyler.  The music just adds soo much depth and emotion to this movie and I feel like this is what brought Elfman back into my good graces after he did the music for Fifty Shades of Grey.

            However, the main villain and his whole plan are really kind of weak.  Marvel seems to have a real problem with creating interesting villains.  Aside from Loki, there hasn't been a good villain in a Marvel movie.  Hopefully they'll be able to do better come Phase 3.

IV.  Inside Out.

            While the idea of personified emotions living within your head is certainly nothing new, Pixar was able to bring this idea to life in a fun and inventive way with Inside Out, easily one of my new all time favorite Disney/Pixar movies.  There's just soo much imagination and creativity that went into this movie and it all shows very clearly when you watch it.

            Pixar is known for having a pretty rocky past few years with movies like Cars 2 and Monsters University not really doing that well critically and so they really needed a successful movie to get people back into their good graces which they definitely did with this movie.  The voice acting is perfect with actors Lewis Black, Bill Hader, and Mindy Kaling (among others) voicing the emotions going on in an 11 year-old girl's mind.

            The animation is all bright and colorful to match the tone of the movie and they actually come up with creative ideas for how memories are stored, how different emotions handling the control panel affect how the person is feeling, and which memories define who we are as people.

            However, even though the movie is pretty bright and colorful for the most part, it also doesn't shy away from some of the darker, more emotionally tense moments like when certain memories are lost and they don't come back.  Finally, what was really great about this movie, especially in today's culture, was its revelation of the importance of Sadness.  This is especially important as there are many occasions where Sadness is viewed as something negative, in fact the character of Joy has that outlook throughout the film's majority, but this movie shows that Sadness does have a place in life.

            This is just such a great movie that, if I'm being completely honest, I feel should be nominated for Best Picture Oscar it's that good.  Go watch it now if you haven't already.

V.  Hotel Transylvania 2.

            It's no real surprise that Adam Sandler has been getting a pretty bum rap over the past several years, but the Hotel Transylvania movies, I can easily say, are some of his best work in a long time.  I saw both movies in theaters and I was laughing my ass off all throughout (except for during the softer moments that dealt with a character's turmoil).

            Directed by legendary animator Genndy Tartakovsky, famous for such work as Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack, and The PowerPuff Girls, this movie does a very good job with showing the relationships between its members while throwing in some great comedy.  The animation is soo colorful and is constantly moving with often hilarious results.

            Similarly to the first movie, Adam Sandler does a great job voicing Dracula.  I know that at first he may seem like a terrible choice for the role, but he just completely disappears into the character.  You'd almost never know that it was him voicing Dracula.

            The only problems that I had were that, without giving anything away, the movie starts to go down this one path of a character accepting that a certain change might not end up happening, but then, after this character has learned their lesson, it decides "Hey.  Let's just give him that happy ending he wanted".  That was kind of annoying (P.S.  Kung Fu Panda did something similar).  Additionally, the character of Vlad, voiced by Mel Brooks, was kind of a "take him or leave him" character.  I personally didn't have a problem with him but I know others who might have.

            In the end, I say the Hotel Transylvania movies are harmless and serviceable.  There's nothing wrong with showing it to your kids and even some teens and adults might enjoy it.  But if you hear anyone being like "OHMYGAWD!!!  Hotel Transylvania is an abomination to kid's movies!!!  It's the cancer of animation!!!" you just tell them to shut the fuck up and get off of their pretentious high horse because this isn't even close to scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to kid's movies.  I have seen far worse animated movies than that.  I saw The Legend of the Titanic.  (shudders)

VI.  My Little Pony:  Equestria Girls - Friendship Games

            This is the movie I was talking about earlier when I said that the 2 predecessors were given a theatrical release, even if it was limited, and any of you out there who are fellow Bronies or Pegasisters probably saw this movie coming if you know how closely I follow the show and movies.  Before I begin talking about this movie, I feel like I should give you all a little background into my Equestria Girls viewing experience.

            The first Equestria Girls movie I only saw in March of 2014 after watching the first 3 seasons of Friendship Is Magic off of Netflix and, despite the fact that a lot of people hated it, I thought it was O.K.  Nothing great but still passable.  The most enjoyable parts of the movie are when you see Twilight trying to learn how to function in her human body and they are hilarious.  Additionally, the songs were a lot of fun to listen to and I still listen to them even now.

            The problems that a lot of people had with the first movie I didn't mind (for the most part).  The characters are still the same characters I grew to love from the show, just human.  The character of Flash Sentry (one of the most hated characters in the fandom who many derogatorily refer to as "Brad".  God I hate when they do that), despite not having much of a personality, I thought was a pretty decent, stand up guy.  He actually helped Twilight out of a problem and I was like "Good for you man".  The climax, which one person compared to what it would be like if you were watching High School Musical and then the ending cut to a battle in Narnia, I thought was pretty entertaining and I felt like I had a good understanding of it where most others were confused.

            But the movie still had problems that I couldn't overlook like the plot being very unfocused and all over the place.  Also, the villain, Sunset Shimmer, was awful.  She was just a terrible, terrible antagonist.  I would be glad later on when she's reformed and actually gets some good development in the sequels because she was a tough character to endure.

            The sequel, Rainbow Rocks, I felt was much better.  The villains, The Dazzlings, were plenty of fun to watch, the songs were memorable and catchy (as I type this, I'm singing "Better Than Ever" in my head), and I really loved the climax of the movie, which had a very strong Scott Pilgrim VS. The World vibe to it (this came after I saw the epic Season 4 Finale that had a battle epic enough to put DragonBall Z to shame).

            Plus, like I said before, Sunset Shimmer receives great character development as a reformed villain trying to overcome the demons of her past and she comes soo far in this movie getting to the point of being accepted.  By my opinion, Rainbow Rocks is the superior Equestria Girls movie.

            Friendship Games has plenty of things that make it better than the first Equestria Girls movie but still keep it from reaching that pinnacle that Rainbow Rocks reached.  To be completely honest, I went into this movie with pretty low expectations as the plot seemed to revolve more around Canterlot High's version of the Olympics (the Friendship Games even happen once every 4 years if you can believe that) against rival school Crystal Prep Academy which wasn't as interesting to me.

            After seeing it, though, it was entertaining.  The songs that were featured were great as usual and I really enjoyed how each of the members of the "Humane 6" had a foil character from Crystal Prep.  For example, Applejack, the Element of Honesty, has a Crystal Prep counterpart who is unbelievably blunt in everything she says and Fluttershy's, the Element of Kindness, is a bipolar chick who starts off talking in an obnoxiously sweet manner before changing her tone to a more aggressive and annoyed one.

            Plus, just like Rainbow Rocks, Sunset is given more development as she finds herself trying to figure out a problem unassisted.  There was even a moment in the movie where she angrily snaps at one character, almost like she's reverting to her old self, but it's almost justified as she's concerned for her friends' wellbeing which is being constantly put in danger by this character.  At the end of the movie, Sunset even takes part in somewhat of a role reversal from the first movie that was plenty entertaining.

            But there were some areas of this movie that I had problems with.  The first being that a character creates a device that's supposed to collect magic, but she has no way of controlling it, so why the flying hell does she keep bringing it with her?  Also, the climax, while I still enjoyed it, I felt was resolved way too abruptly.  But the biggest problem I had was with the villain, Principal Abacus Cinch.

            This character is the worst.  She's even worse than Sunset Shimmer in the first Equestria Girls movie.  She's just the stereotypical head of Crystal Prep with the tie and the puffed out chest who just looks down her nose at everyone else and is obsessed with keeping the school's reputation as winners.  One of her lines in the movie was "... it doesn't matter if Crystal Prep wins or loses.  The important thing is that we are expected to win because Crystal Prep has a reputation."  That just caused me to facepalm.  I was just like "Oh god another one of these characters."

            Speaking of reputation, ya ever count how many times they use that word throughout this movie?  I swear you could make a drinking game out of it.  Some even have.  Another huge problem that I had with her was the fact that she blackmails one of her students to take part in the Games.  DUDE!!!  Do you realize how super illegal that is?  You can go to jail for that shit.  The only good thing that I can say about Cinch is that she has a pretty cool villain song with "Unleash The Magic" full of ominous chanting and a pretty epic buildup with a nice payoff, but aside from that, she's a terrible character.

            Many people have problems with the Equestria Girls movies because they say that it's a cheap cash grab to sell more toys.  But I'm just like, "Oh yeah.  And I'm sure that Transformers, G.I. Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and countless others aren't like that at all."  People seem to forget that products like these are part of a business which is going to need to grow if it's going to remain sucessful.

            Another complaint is that people are like "Well now that they're human, people can have dirty thoughts about them" and I'm just like "Have you been online lately and seen what people do with them as ponies?"  While I don't condone any of this, I have to agree with my buddy Andre when he said that "... making them human or not making them human is not going to stop people from 'Rule 34ing' all over that shiznit".  Every fandom has a dark side to them if you look hard enough.  No fandom is perfect.  As for me, if they decide to make more sequels out of the Equestria Girls series, I'll still watch them, although I'm mostly looking forward to their big screen theatrical release in November 2017.

VII.  The Hunger Games:  Mockingjay - Part 2

            Now we go from Friendship Games to Hunger Games.  LOLZ!!!!!!!!  Many of you most likely saw my review for this movie earlier in December so I won't focus as much on this.  All that I can say was that this was a fitting end to a great franchise (at least until the inevitable prequels) that I had just started to fall in love with a few short years ago.

            Everything gets wrapped up perfectly, every plot thread is resolved by the time the end credits roll around, and, like some of its predecessors, it dives into the tortured psyche of our main characters all while displaying great camaraderie among them making it all the more tragic when certain characters don't make it out alive.

            Even with Lionsgate announcing the possibility of them doing prequels, I feel like it's almost unnecessary.  The original saga is perfect as it is and anything else would just feel like a quick cash grab.  But anyways those were just my thoughts about it.

And finally...

VIII.  Star Wars Episode VII:  The Force Awakens

            This is yet another movie that I did a review on a few short weeks ago and, now that I've let some time pass since seeing it, I feel like I can give a much more in depth look at the movie instead of just singing its praises.  Not that the movie was bad by any means.  I just feel like I can be a little bit more critical about it.

            Looking back on it now, I can see a lot of the criticisms that people have with the movie in the sense that it mostly seems to copy a lot of elements from A New Hope like the robot with secret plans, the young naive main character, the mentor figure, the giant evil base that can destroy planets, it even borrowed a bit from The Empire Strikes Back with its revelation of one character being related to the main villain.  To quote a popular sketch,

            However, even with it borrowing elements from the original trilogy, there are 2 things that I can say in support of it.  1.  They changed enough stuff around to make it interesting.  Sure we've seen the Death Star destroy a planet, but the First Order's Starkiller Base is literally a planet itself that has enough power to take out entire star systems from a great distance away.

            2.  I feel like incorporating these elements from the original trilogy was a smart move on JJ Abrams part.  He knew how much people had a hatred for the prequels and so he brought this movie back to the basics as a way of showing that this franchise was in capable hands, hitting all the right nostalgia marks to put audiences at ease, that way it would be set up perfectly to embark on new territory in the upcoming sequels in the following years.

            So when all is said and done, Star Wars Episode VII:  The Force Awakens is still a great film deserving of all the praise and attention it's getting and I look forward to where this saga will go in the near future.

            And so those were my thoughts on the movies that I saw this year and, if you've seen any of these movies, what were your thoughts on them?  Additionally, since I'm positive that I left a buttload of movies off of here, what were your thoughts on some of the other movies that came out this year?  Feel free to comment below and I hope you guys have a Happy New Year.  Later.

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens Review

            Ever since the big news a few years ago that Disney had bought the rights to Star Wars and was going to be releasing the first in a planned trilogy, fans have had a pretty mixed and somewhat hesitant reaction.  Sure the movie had renowned director JJ Abrams helming it and the trailers looked very promising.  But at the same time, back in 1999, a lot of Star Wars fans were really hyped for the release of The Phantom Menace, 16 years after the original trilogy ended, and we all know what a disappointment that was.  So, after all these years of waiting, will The Force Awakens live up to the hype surrounding it or will it prove to be yet another steaming pile of... Jar Jar?  Well, let's take a look.

            So The Force Awakens takes place 30 years after the original trilogy.  In that time, many things have changed.  Luke has gone into hiding, from the ashes of the Galactic Empire, there has risen the First Order, led primarily by Captain Phasma and Kylo Ren, and Leia has ditched the title of Princess and is now a General of the Republic-backed Resistance.  But news reaches both the First Order and the Resistance of a map that could lead to Luke's location.  As the story unfolds, there's plenty of action, secrets are revealed, and the First Order tries to destroy the Resistance with its latest super weapon.

            Now I was fortunate enough to buy tickets for me and my brother, Stephen, to go see the very first showing, in 3-D no less, the exact night they went on sale, before selling out fast, as an early birthday present for him and after waiting months to see it, what were my thoughts?  Well, in the words of one of my favorite characters from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, "It.  Was.  AWESOME!!!!!!!!"

            Guys, the hype is real and Star Wars has come back with a vengeance.  There's soo many great things about this movie it's hard to keep track of them all.  First off is the new worlds that are shown.  They are just beautiful to look at from the desert planet of Jakku to the Resistance Base on D'Qar to even the Starkiller Base (or as I like to call it, the "Death Star 9000") which is actually built inside an Arctic planet.

            Next is the characters.  Now, obviously, fan favorites like Han Solo, Chewbacca, Leia, and even C-3PO will get a big cheer once they show up onscreen (at least they did in the showing me and my brother saw), but we also have plenty of new characters.  Daisy Ridley is great as "rough around the edges" Jakku scavenger, Rey, and John Boyega is likable as Finn, a redeemed First Order Stormtrooper, but, out of all the new characters, few stand out as much as Kylo Ren.

            Let me just tell you guys right now, this dude is super intimidating and ruthless, but, at the same time, he's not entirely bland.  Hell, he's given a very tragic backstory as well as plenty of dimension for his character (which I won't give away as it has major spoilers).  However, just like Darth Vader before him, Ren serves a much more sinister figure in Supreme Leader Snoke, played by the "Master Of Motion Capture" himself, Andy Serkis.  He doesn't appear much in this movie, but I don't mind it that much as Emperor Palpatine didn't show up until The Empire Strikes Back, very briefly, if I remember it correctly, so I can only assume that Snoke will have a much larger role in the subsequent sequels.

            Another quick thing to mention is keep an eye out for a famous British actor who has a cameo in the movie.  All you fans of the new Star Trek movies, the 3 most recent Mission Impossible movies, and/or the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy will know exactly who I'm talking about and should be able to pick him out relatively easily.

            And, while we're on the subject of the characters, the chemistry between them, both new and old, was a lot of fun as there was plenty of playful banter to go around, making this a fun and funny experience in the process.  But, at the same time, there were still plenty of dark and dramatic moments scattered throughout as this movie holds no punches.  There are quite a few shocking instances that will leave you gasping.

            An interesting nod to the earlier movies is during a scene that many faithful Star Wars fans will recognize as feeling very similar to the Mos Eisley Cantina scene from A New Hope.  Seeing that whole environment just brought back a fresh wave of nostalgia from having first seen the original trilogy as a kid countless years ago.

            Even though this is kind of a minor thing in the grand scheme of the movie, I really loved Abrams' insistence on using practical effects for the different aliens and even the landscapes of these different worlds.  In our CGI obsessed culture, it was nice to see some good old fashioned puppet work as well as real locations.  I already knew all about how Abrams shot the scenes for Jakku in Abu Dhabi and the fact that some filming even took place in England.

            At one point close to the end, there was a scene on a distant planet that I saw and I turned to my brother and said that it almost looked like it might have been filmed in either Scotland or Ireland.  What's really funny though is, after doing a little bit of research, I found out that that scene in particular was filmed at Skellig Michael island, which is just off the coast of Ireland.  Score One for me.

            Next, let's talk about the action.  The action in this movie is lots of fun to watch.  Because me and my brother saw it in 3-D, I thought that the aerial dogfight scenes were amazing to behold.  You feel like you're flying through the air with these characters and it's such a rush.  I remember a lot of my friends talking about how amazing the 3-D was in the How To Train Your Dragon movies during the flight scenes.  Sadly, though, I only ever saw the first movie once in regular theater format and the second one I didn't see until it was already on DVD.  This movie, I feel, makes up for that.

            The lightsaber duels, few though they are (understandably as Jedi are few and far between), were also very engaging, intense, and sometimes even brutal.  There were plenty of moments where certain characters would be injured by their opponents' lightsabers and the audience would let out a gasp.

            And, finally, the score was beautiful.  When I first heard that JJ Abrams was helming this movie, I was slightly concerned that he'd bring Michael Giacchino on to score the movie as they're frequent collaborators (and no this is nothing against him as I do like his work on The Incredibles, Up, Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, just to name a few).  But, when you hear that infamous John Williams score during the opening scroll, it's just soo invigorating and it gets you pumped up for what's about to follow.  They even update it some to have a satisfying blend of old and new themes.

            If I did have anything to take issue with, it would probably be that I was slightly disappointed that there was no Dramatic Choir incorporated during any of the fight scenes as I really enjoyed those moments from the prequel trilogy.  But, in all honesty, that's really scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to nitpicks.

            Overall, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens is a welcome return to the franchise, breathing new life into the series with great characters, thrilling action, amazing effects, and a cliffhanger ending that will leave many eagerly waiting for the next chapter in the Star Wars Saga (and in case you were wondering, no, there is no post-credits scene).  So, for those reasons, this movie gets a perfect 5/5 stars.  Go see this movie as soon as you possibly can.  It's well worth the money.

            And that was my review of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens and I'd like to know what your guys' thoughts are for those of you who've seen it.  Feel free to comment below and I'll see you guys on the next post.  Until then, though, if I don't get a post out before 2016, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Later.

A little something extra for you guys on my birthday.

            Hey guys.  David here with yet another blog post.  This one just so happens to be on my birthday.  Anyways, I decided to make this blog post as sort of like a special look at what goes on with some of my posts that I put up, in this case, one of my Top 12 Lists.



            With any list that I put together I always have to do a lot of research for the entries that I feature as well as looking up pictures, movie posters, and even YouTube videos that tie in with their respective entry (not to mention going through countless revisions and moving entries around before I get to the final product.  My Top 12 Movies I Like, But Everyone Else Hates and My Top 12 Cartoon Crushes lists were prime examples of this).  But as I'm doing my research, I sometimes come across some unexpected surprises.



            One example of this was in my last list of My Top 12 Cartoon Crushes.  While I was looking up pictures of Fluttershy on Google Images to feature in the list, I actually came across a piece of fanart from a DeviantArt user named Liggliluff that portrayed her as a Mermaid.  In fact, the picture can be seen down below.

            Now, of course, fanart like this didn't really fit in with Fluttershy's entry on my list, but, at the same time, I felt like this picture was too good to let go unnoticed.  So here it is.  A little something extra for those of you who follow my posts.  Hope you guys have a great rest of the weekend and I'll see you guys next weekend with my review of Star Wars Episode VII The Force Awakens.  Til then, take care.

The Hunger Games - Mockingjay Part 2 Review

            Hey everybody.  It's David here with a review for you (late though it is) of The Hunger Games - Mockingjay Part 2.  The final chapter in the Hunger Games Saga until Lionsgate decides to make prequels out of it.  I know that it's kind of weird putting out 2 blogs in one day, but this was the first opportunity I actually got to see this movie after a pretty hectic past couple of weeks.



            So Mockingjay Part 2 picks up right where Part 1 ended with Peeta having been brainwashed by President Snow to kill Katniss and District 13 preparing to go to war against the Capitol along with rebel forces from the other Districts.  But as the stakes are raised and Snow becomes more and more obsessed with destroying Katniss, what happens next will shape the future of Panem itself.



            Now to give a little bit of background, I had read all 3 of the books (though I had only read the first 1-2 chapters of the first book before seeing the first Hunger Games movie back in 2012) and fell in love with the series pretty easily.  As a brief overview of my opinions on the previous movies, The Hunger Games was pretty O.K. even though they changed a lot from the book and the shaky cam was kind of bothersome even during the calmer scenes, Catching Fire, I believed, was the high point of the franchise, and Mockingjay Part 1, even though it severely lacked action, I found decent enough.



            But now that Mockingjay Part 2 has been released, and after finally getting around to watching it, how does it fare?  Pretty well actually.  What I really loved about the movies from Catching Fire forward was how much they delve into the personalities and motivations of their main characters and Mockingjay Part 2 is no different.  We dive into the psyche of the main characters who have witnessed many horrors since the first movie and it's very engaging.



            Additionally, the camaraderie between the characters is very believable, making it all the more tragic when certain members don't make it out alive.  The action scenes were really captivating and had me on the edge of my seat and you're completely invested in the strategies and decisions that are made as this grand war is going on for the future of Panem.



            This movie also doesn't shy away from showing the ugly side of war as there are heavy losses from both sides, including the countless innocents who are caught in the crossfire.  The struggle to hold on to one's own humanity is explored as the characters discover how far they're willing to go to overthrow the corrupt government that rules over them with an iron fist.



            And finally, and this is more of a selfish thing, I really liked the designs of the lizard mutts in this movie.  A problem that I had with The Hunger Games and Catching Fire was that I didn't feel like they got the designs of the wolf mutts and monkey mutts, respectively, quite right.  A friend of mine even showed me some concept art from the first movie of what the wolf mutts were originally supposed to look like, seen here, and those designs were more what I thought they should look like.  The lizard mutts in Mockingjay Part 2, I felt, were perfectly designed.



            But, even with all those positive aspects of the movie, there were still some areas that I took issue with.  First off was the fact that certain characters seemed to almost be sidelined, hardly ever showing up in the movie.  Some examples of this were Haymitch, Plutarch (which is understandable as Philip Seymour Hoffman tragically committed suicide while filming of both parts of Mockingjay was still going on), but I feel like the worst example of character sidelining was with Effie.  This was one of my favorite supporting characters in the series and I don't think she even got 5 minutes of screentime.



           Another problem that I came across was close to the end when 2 of the main characters had a falling out and parted ways.  That moment just seemed needlessly cruel and, I thought, kind of out of character, especially with these 2.  Admittedly, it's been 3 years since I've last read any of the original books so I don't know how faithful that scene was to its source material, but, to me, the bad blood between them was really uncalled for.



            And the last issue I had was that the ending seemed to drag on quite a bit.  It felt almost like it was going at the same pace as the ending to Return Of The King, which is understandable as it pretty much has to wrap up every little detail and make sure everything is resolved.  It's just a minor nitpick that I had with it.



            Overall, though, even with those few elements that I had issue with, Mockingjay Part 2 is a solid movie.  The characters are all interesting, the action engaging, and it leaves you wanting to know how it's going to end and, when it does end, it proves to be a proper send off to a great series.  So, for that reason, I give Mockingjay Part 2 a 4/5 stars.  Definitely go see this movie while it's still in theaters.  You will not be disappointed.







            And that was my review of Mockingjay Part 2 and, for those of you who've already seen it, what were your thoughts on the movie?  Feel free to comment below and stay tuned next week when I'll be giving my review of the most anticipated movie of the year, Star Wars Episode VII The Force Awakens.  This will hopefully be the start of a new series of movie reviews whenever I get the chance to see them.  Hope you enjoyed this and I'll see you on the next post.  Later.

My Top 12 Cartoon Crushes

            Hey everyone.  It's David here back with yet another Top 12 list on my blog and since my birthday is this coming weekend, I wanted to do a little something special this time around.  As you've already seen from the title here, I'm going to be counting down my Top 12 Cartoon Crushes.  As I've seen many movies and TV Shows (and even some video games) that incorporate hand drawn animation and even CG animation, there's a pretty fair amount of animated hotties that I've come across in my time with plenty to choose from.  This list is probably going to be one of my more polarizing lists as I focus on what I personally find attractive.



            With that said, looks aren't everything in this list.  I'm also going to be including my selections based on their characteristics and personality traits as I often find myself getting very invested in those aspects and being able to relate more with them.  Some characters that you might find attractive I might not necessarily have on my list and that's fine.  Everyone has their own opinions of what they may see as beauty and not everyone will agree 100% of the time with everyone else.



            In addition to that, not all of these characters are necessarily human so be sure to keep that in mind as you're looking through this list.  Finally, I'm officially bringing back the "Honorable Mentions" category.  I know I didn't use it in my past 2 countdowns, but that was because I wanted to keep it fair and even between both of them.  So, with all that said, sit back and enjoy My Top 12 Cartoon Crushes.







XII.  Rapunzel - Tangled

            Tangled is one of those movies that I really enjoyed the first time I saw it and still enjoy even now.  One of my favorite aspects of it was how it cleverly fixed some major plot holes that the original Grimm Brothers fairy tale never even addressed.  But one of the most enjoyable aspects is the character of Rapunzel herself.



            After her mother, the queen, was given a magical flower to heal her from an illness she suffered from while pregnant with her, Rapunzel gained the ability to heal others and restore youth with her hair when a special incantation is sung.  But Mother Gothel, who had previously horded the plant's power for herself for centuries, breaks into the castle and steals the infant Rapunzel, hiding her away in a secluded tower where she can constantly take advantage of her magic hair to stay forever young.



            Rapunzel isn't that much different from some of the other Disney Princesses who "long for more than what their current life has to offer", but you know what?  She's been locked away in a tower for most of her life, never having the opportunity to go outside as Mother Gothel tells her of all the horrors that lurk out there to keep her in that mindset of staying where she is so I think we can let it slide here.



            When she does finally leave her tower, with the help of a dashing thief named Flynn Rider (AKA Eugene Fitzherbert), we get to see that she's very adaptable and has hidden strength that she never even knew she had.  I mean, her ability to stand up to a gang of ruffians and thugs is super badass.  She can even utilize her long hair (which is 70 feet long) as a weapon or use it as a rope to swing away from danger.



            While she does have some of her more serious moments, where we get to see that she won't just take shit from anyone, she also has a very fun, bubbly side to her, but not to the point where she's a ditz.  She's just an overall fun character which is why she makes my list.








XI.  Holo - Spice And Wolf

            Holo is a rather interesting entry as her youthful appearance hides the fact that she's really hundreds of years older than she looks at a first glance.  Despite her teenaged appearance, she's actually an ancient wolf deity, a goddess of wheat harvests.



            Holo had stayed in the small town of Pasloe as part of a deal made long ago that she would provide the villagers with good harvests every year, but the people there found alternative means to ensure plentiful harvests therefore no longer having any need for her.  So when a travelling merchant by the name of Kraft Lawrence comes across her, they make a deal that he'll take her back to her home in the far north which she has been away from for centuries.



            The design of Holo herself is particularly interesting as, in her human form, she still retains her wolf ears and tail (both of which she takes great pride in).  Another aspect is how she talks.  In spite of her teenaged appearance, she speaks with great wisdom (sometimes even pridefully, though not out of conceitedness), but at the same time, she can also be a great jokester.  She's just a lot of fun all around.







X.  Yuko Kanoe - Dusk Maiden Of Amnesia

            First an ancient wolf deity and now a ghost.  Y'all are probably wondering "What the fuck kind of list is this?"  XD  Yuko is the ghost that haunts the old building of the school that Teiichi Niiya attends, but she knows next to nothing about her past.  Along with Teiichi's friends, Momoe Okonogi and Kirie Kanoe (the granddaughter of Yuko's sister), they set out to find the answers to Yuko's mysterious background.



           Yuko herself is very interesting as she's very playful and mischievous especially with Teiichi.  At first, she's kind of a character that one might have a very hard time trusting early on, but as the series progresses and we discover the circumstances that led to her death, which I won't give away what happens, you find yourself feeling absolutely devastated for her.  There's a particularly emotional scene where Teiichi experiences how she died and he feels completely helpless to prevent it and rightfully so.



            If you guys haven't seen Dusk Maiden Of Amnesia yet, check it out sometime.  It has a great story, great characters, and some awesome animation.  Seriously, their use of color throughout the series is beautiful to look at.







IX.  Lucy/Nyu - Elfen Lied

            This is definitely shaping up to be an interesting list as I've now gone from a deity to a ghost to essentially a mutant.  Lucy is a Diclonius (a mutant recognized by a pair of horns on her head and her ability to summon invisible hands known as "vectors" which she often uses to kill people in gruesome fashion), trapped in a facility where Diclonii are subjected to inhumane experiments.  Managing to escape, she gets shot in the head, resulting in brain damage and the creation of a childlike split personality named "Nyu", and gets taken in by 2 cousins (one of whom has a past connection with her) who care for her as government agents scour the nearby city looking for her.



            This character has 2 separate personalities that couldn't be any further apart from each other.  Lucy is a cold blooded killer with very little (if any) remorse and Nyu is a wide eyed innocent who wouldn't harm a fly.  Much like Yuko, though, there are a few episodes dedicated to Lucy's backstory as a little girl that, again I won't give away but, you just really sympathize with her and find yourself unsure of whether you should fear her or hug her.  Doug Walker mentioned in a video that "one of the scariest things about the scariest creatures is that they are human and that any of us can become these things at any time" which I believe is what helps make Lucy a very relatable character in the process.



            For anyone who wants to watch this Anime, I give you my warning that it's not for the faint of heart.  There's some very graphic and often disturbing imagery used throughout the series.  If you can stomach it, though, go right on ahead.







VIII.  Mikasa Ackerman - Attack On Titan

            O.K.  Heading back to some sense of normality, we've got one of the last known remaining Asians in the world of Attack On Titan.  Mikasa's parents were killed by slave traders who then took her captive when she was young... well... young-er.  Series protagonist Eren Yeager discovered her and the 2 of them effectively killed off her captors.  Because of this, Mikasa is very protective of Eren who's become an adoptive brother to her.  So, when monstrous zombie giants known as Titans attack, threatening to end humanity as we know it, she and Eren undergo training to fight off these monsters.



            Mikasa, for the most part, is a very stoic and quiet character except when Eren's in danger.  This partially comes from her having to kill one of her captors at a young age to save Eren's life.  In the military training program, she graduates at the top of her class and is acknowledged as a prodigy, being the first in her group to successfully take down a Titan.



            Her stoic nature hides a very warm and heartfelt sibling-like relationship between her and Eren and those moments are pretty nice to see.  An undeniable badass with a heart, Mikasa slices her way to the #8 spot.







VII.  Katara - Avatar: The Last Airbender

             Avatar: The Last Airbender is very easily one of the greatest animated shows of all time.  It had great writing, memorable characters with excellent development, and engaging dilemmas.  So, very easily, one of my absolute favorite characters from the show would be young Waterbender, Katara of the Southern Water Tribe.

            Despite being only a teenager, Katara finds herself having to grow up relatively quickly over the course of the show's 3 seasons.  She's shown to be very caring with strong motherly instincts (presumably after her own mother was killed by a Fire Nation soldier), but at the same time she proves her badassery at countless moments when fighting off enemies, displaying great strength on numerous occasions.

            One of the more interesting Katara moments was in a Season 3 episode where a reformed Zuko, in an attempt to get back into Katara's good graces, offers to lead her to the man who killed her mother so that she can get her revenge on him.  When she's finally face to face with her mother's murderer, she sees how truly pathetic he is and decides not to kill him.  But in a shocking moment, she refuses to forgive him.

            This seems almost like a really big "no no" for most shows, especially kids' shows, but at the same time it's something quite ingenious as it more closely mirrors real life with its handling of the subject in question.  Katara is just a really great character by every means of the word.

VI.  Yuno Gasai - Future Diary

            Anyone familiar with Future Diary already knows full well about Yuno's background as the essential "poster girl" for the yandere character type in Anime.  What's that?  You don't know what a yandere is?  Well, for those of you who don't know, the word yandere is a portmanteau of the Japanese words "yanderu", referring to someone with a mental or emotional illness, and "deredere", which refers to strong feelings of love for someone.  Thus a yandere is a person who is initially very kind, loving, and gentle to someone they truly like and care about until they become mentally destructive in nature, usually, but not always, through either overprotectiveness, violence, brutality, or all three.



            Yuno is definitely someone you do not want to get on the wrong side of.  She proves herself to be very protective of/loyal to main protagonist, Yukiteru Amano, when both of them are thrust into essentially a more badass version of The Hunger Games with the winner becoming the new god of Time and Space, where she's shown to be quite handy with an axe, hacking her way through any foe that gets in her way, but she still has some of her more softer moments where she's genuinely caring towards Yuki, willing to protect him from anyone who tries to harm him, while he slowly starts to gain feelings for her in the process.



            There's also a very interesting twist that plays out in the final few episodes that I won't ruin but is still cool to see.  If you do decide to watch this, be sure you watch the OVA afterwards as it properly wraps up the series.  Even though she's a bit psycho, I'm still pleased to have her on my list.







V.  Elsa - Frozen

            I know that this is kind of a more recent Disney character, but I can't help it.  It's just a really nice design and a great personality to go along with it.  You guys all know the basic story here so I'm not really gonna talk about that and instead focus on the character of Elsa.



            Elsa is a character that I really related to a lot as both me and her were kind of reserved and somewhat insecure.  Those emotions were very relatable for me as I happened to be going through a particularly hard time myself of nervousness and uncertainty.



            But the one part that I always enjoyed watching was the "Let It Go" scene where I got to see Elsa letting her guard down and being able to let loose with her abilities.  Just the look of joy on her face as she's singing and testing out what she can really do with her magic is soo much fun.



            She's also very protective of her sister, Anna, who she doesn't want to hurt again after nearly killing her accidentally when they were younger so as a result she distances herself from her.  That was also very relatable for me as I can be very protective of some of my own younger siblings, but not to the point where I distance myself from them.



            What I really liked about Elsa though was how she does move on to becoming queen, but, at the same time, isn't evil (like many queens Disney has had in the past) and is actually quite dignified, intelligent, and likable.  Hopefully, there will be plenty more well developed animated female characters like Elsa in the near future.







IV.  Tiana - The Princess And The Frog

            This is a really interesting character as I believe that she was essentially Disney's first workaholic.  Tiana is busy working 2-3 jobs in order to raise enough money to build her own restaurant, a dream that she shared with her late father.  Already, that's a character you don't typically see in kids' movies.  Not the one with the dead parent, but the one with a strong work ethic.



            Aside from a really great design, Tiana is a well grounded person full of determination and willingness to work hard to make her dream a reality.  Even after she's turned into a frog, she doesn't let that stop her.  If anything, she's even more driven than ever.



            Something that was kind of interesting was how, while the movie does do a good job of showing the importance of a strong work ethic, it also shows the workaholic aspect as a flaw in the sense that she never gave herself a break or a chance to just enjoy life, which is especially interesting when compared to Prince Naveen, who's the exact opposite by being too much of a party animal always avoiding responsibility, and how he eventually learns that life isn't just a party and you have to actually work in order to make a living.  It's a very delicate balance between the 2.



            The only downside to Tiana was the fact that she spends a majority of the movie as a frog.  Not that her frog design isn't good, but her human design was just soo great that when she's a frog I'm just like, "No!  She already looked great before!  Don't ruin it!"  But that's a minor gripe in all seriousness because she truly is a great character all things considered.







III.  Fluttershy - My Little Pony franchise

            Yeah yeah yeah.  I put a pony on my list.  Bite me.  If Doug Walker can put a gargoyle on his list of Hottest Animated Women, I can put a pony on mine.  And you know what?  She actually has a human counterpart in a parallel world.  So SHUT UP!!!!



            Now anyone who saw my Top 12 Movies I Dislike, But Everyone Else Loves list probably remembers a certain joke I made about how Fluttershy was basically telling Willie Scott from Temple of Doom to "grow a pair" and some of you might've thought that I was of the mindset that Fluttershy was a really weak character as might've been implied by that remark.  With all that said, nothing could be further from the truth.  I have nothing but extreme respect for her (originally I was going to use Bella Swan from Twilight in that joke, but then decided against it as I wasn't going to allow her to be dignified through that joke while I had absolutely no problem with dignifying Flutters).



            In the TV Show, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Fluttershy is a very timid and socially awkward Pegasus who would much rather prefer the company of her animal friends than other ponies... at least that's how she starts off.  As the series progresses, we get to see her become a much stronger character.



            As I watched this show, I began to see Fluttershy grow as a character over the course of 5 seasons.  One episode earlier on in particular had her going along with her friends to get a dragon (which she's deathly terrified of) to leave before their town was covered in his smoke.  But when her friends get attacked by the dragon, suddenly, Fluttershy.  Is.  PISSED!!!  Despite the fact that she's about the size of this dragon's eyeball, she swiftly and angrily berates him, giving him such an intense verbal lashing to the point where she actually reduced him to tears.  I was just like, "DAAAAAAAAYUM!!!  You go girl!"



            She also gets plenty of moments to grow when she faces such challenges as overcoming her fear of failure from her fillyhood years at Summer Flight Camp to her fear of performing in front of an audience to even learning the very hard lesson that sometimes the kindest thing you can do to someone is to push them away.  Not to mention, whenever there's trouble, in spite of her fears, you always see her running with her friends towards the danger no matter what the threat.



            One moment that I particularly liked was in the Season 5 opener where they essentially made her the hero.  While I won't spoil anything plot wise, let's just say that she discovers a conspiracy within a rather shady group and she reveals it causing the whole infrastructure of that group to collapse.  It's definitely up there with my favorite episodes.



            Now, as I mentioned before, Fluttershy has a human counterpart in the Equestria Girls universe and she's still pretty damn cute.  A lot of people were probably bothered by the fact that these pony characters were portrayed as teenagers.  I wasn't personally (I had heard from somewhere that series creator, Lauren Faust, was quoted saying that a lot of the pony characters, particularly the Mane 6, were fully mature physically, but that their mentality was more along the lines of teenagers so I think it works fine here).



            When I was watching the first Equestria Girls movie, I was eagerly awaiting the first appearance of human Fluttershy.  When it finally did come, this was the first thing I saw.  My heart just melted instantly.  Some of my favorite aspects of her were on full display there from her long, smooth, flowing hair to her big, expressive eyes.  One of the things that I've really loved about Flutters was how kind her eyes appear.  The shape of them is just soo unique and perfect.  They just have a delicate softness to them.  You look at those eyes and you know that this is a kind character, which is pretty understandable when you take into account that she's the Element Of Kindness.



            There's also the fact that she's a major animal lover, something that I share with her.  In fact, seeing all 3 Equestria Girls movies has only further convinced me of what I've believed since first starting the show that she's Hasbro's version of a Disney Princess without actually being a princess.  In her reaction video for Friendship Games, YouTuber CellSpex said it best when she said that "Disney Princesses wish they had this girl's preciousness levels".



            I should probably also say that my heart breaks a little every time Flutters cries.  She's soo kind hearted it's really hard not to tear up when she does.  She's just such a sweet character and well deserving of the #3 spot.







II.  Belle - Beauty And The Beast

            As a kid growing up in the 90s, it only makes sense that Belle would be one of the first animated women I came across and with good reason too.  She's one of the first Disney Princesses that, while undeniably beautiful, is viewed by everyone else as being unconventional and odd (something that I'm sure many kids could relate to), but even then she has such a kind and compassionate personality to her.



            She sacrifices herself to remain the Beast's prisoner just to allow her father to go free which is definitely worth mentioning.  Additionally, she's one of those rare characters who seems almost like the best of humanity personified.  Not to mention she has such a beautiful look and voice (both speaking and singing).  Some people might point out that she's kind of "Mary Sue-ish" or not really having a lot of flaws to her, but she does have to look past the hideousness of the Beast to see the person inside which could technically be counted as a flaw.



            Beauty And The Beast came out in November of 1991 (approximately 1 month before I was born) and was the very first animated movie to be nominated for Best Picture Oscar (and is the only hand drawn animated movie to be nominated) which was unheard of at the time.  Belle was just such a great character and role model for many and rightfully so.



            Something that I was unaware of at first was the fact that a lot of people say that Belle was supposed to be a teenager in the movie.  But personally, I call bullshit on that.  Even as a kid, I knew that she looked and sounded like an adult.  Early 20s, maybe, but not a teen.  Still, this Beauty is definitely sitting pretty as runner up.







            Before I reveal my top pick, as promised, here are some Honorable Mentions.



Honorable Mentions:







Sunset Shimmer - Equestria Girls franchise

            It's incredible how a simple character can go from being one of the worst villains ever to easily one of my favorite protagonists.  While I didn't hate the first Equestria Girls movie like everyone else did, I knew that Sunset Shimmer was a pretty weak antagonist (though I now personally think that Principal Abacus Cinch from Friendship Games is even worse).  But when Rainbow Rocks came out, she was given excellent development as a reformed character struggling to overcome the demons of her past and Friendship Games brought her character arc full circle rather well.  In the end, she won her way into my heart with very little effort.







Kasumi - Dead Or Alive franchise

            This teenage shinobi princess is the main protagonist of the Dead Or Alive video game franchise.  Entering the DOA tournament to avenge her brother Hayate, who was left comatose after an attack by their renegade uncle, Kasumi becomes an outlaw of her own clan, constantly being sought after by assassins.  Kasumi has become very popular as one of the hottest video game characters ever with very good reason.  But she also kicks some serious ass when she needs to.







Kida - Atlantis: The Lost Empire

            Like Holo, Kida has the appearance of someone in their late teens/early 20s when she's actually about 8,000 years old.  However, while Holo was a deity, Kida looks young because of a crystal that she and other Atlanteans wear that's connected to the Heart Of Atlantis, which is essentially their life source allowing them to live 300 years for every one human year, making Kida physically about 26 in human years.  Aside from her looks, she has a very strong sense of loyalty to her people and a hunger to remember more of Atlantis' culture that's been lost over millennia.  So yeah.  Definitely an unusual one, but still well worth mentioning.

Misty - Pokemon

            This trainer of Water-Type Pokemon and leader of the Cerulean Gym was my first crush to ever come from Anime as she traveled alongside Ash and Brock for about 5 seasons, proving herself to be a rather loyal ally.  Her wardrobe is definitely interesting; the whole yellow tank top and jean shorts with suspenders is kind of unusual, but, strangely enough, she really manages to pull it off well.







Hazuki - Moon Phase

            Can't really have a list like this without including a vampire, even if it is only an Honorable Mention.  Hazuki is a young vampire who's been trapped in a castle for most of her life before being freed by photographer Kouhei Morioka.  Despite Kouhei being immune to Hazuki's vampire "kiss", the act of drawing blood from a mortal making them the feeding vampire's unwilling servant, Hazuki continuously refers to him as her slave, but over time the 2 genuinely start to care for each other.  Hazuki definitely has a very bossy and overbearing side to her, but she does prove to be truly loyal to those she cares most about which is enough for her to make this category.







Jasmine - Aladdin

            Again, growing up in the 90s, Jasmine was among the first animated females I was ever introduced to.  She definitely had some good characteristics to her such as sassyness, compassion, and being headstrong.  What kept me from putting her on the list, though, is the fact that she kind of falls into that "damsel in distress" category for the film's majority.  She fights for her independence like 1 time, but then just goes right back to her normal life after being brought back by her father's orders.  Still, those good qualities I listed earlier are enough for her to at least be mentioned.







Ruby Rose - RWBY

            The leader of Team RWBY in the world known as Remnant, Ruby Rose is a very fun loving and bubbly character with a great design.  But at the same time, she proves to be an undeniable badass as she wields her combination scythe/assault rifle, lovingly named the Crescent Rose, in the ongoing fight against the dark and deadly Creatures Of Grimm.







And finally...

Violet Parr - The Incredibles

            As I've mentioned before in a past post, The Incredibles is one of my all-time favorite Pixar movies and Violet is one of my favorite characters from the movie.  Aside from her powers of invisibility and force field projection, which I'm completely jealous of BTW, we get to see her grow throughout the movie from a quiet introvert with very little self confidence to being more sure of herself and more comfortable with her abilities.  Brad Bird always does a great job with creating animated women and Violet is no exception.







            So we've gone through a great number of animated hotties and it all comes down to this.  So without any further delay, my #1 Cartoon Crush is...







I.  Ariel - The Little Mermaid

            Many of you are probably upset that I didn't put Jessica Rabbit in this spot, but I don't care.  In all honesty, I've never really found her that attractive.  Her design I just find to be really weird, overexaggerated, and kind of gross actually.  There's just no way that a body like that can exist in real life.  I honestly think she makes Anime females look subtle, but I digress.



            Anyone who followed my previous blog posts will remember that I mentioned The Little Mermaid as one of my all-time favorite Disney movies and Ariel is a very strong reason why.  Not only was she beautiful, not only did she have a great design, not only did she have a great personality, not only did she have a beautiful speaking and singing voice, but she was also Disney's first ever proactive princess.



            Before Ariel, the only Disney Princesses we had were Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora, all of them being relatively passive.  Aurora was the worst offender of this as her whole plan was to basically sit around, doing nothing while her true love comes to save the day, which is exactly what happens.  Not necessarily the best role model in that sense.



            Snow White and Cinderella, on the other hand, despite being limited with what they could do and still relying on someone else to save them, at least had some good virtues.  Snow White's personality serves as almost a mother for the dwarves and Cinderella is constantly working her ass off serving her evil stepmother and stepsisters and yet, somehow, manages to keep a positive outlook and sure enough both of them are rewarded for their hard work in the end, but I digress.



            Going back to Ariel, what I really loved about her was, again, how proactive she was.  She starts off as a very curious teenager, wanting to know as much as she can about the human world up above.  She even collects various human knick knacks in her own personal grotto.  One night, while exploring above, she spots Prince Eric on his ship celebrating his birthday and, when the ship winds up in a hurricane and he nearly drowns, she saves him.  Once she decides she wants to be with him, nothing will change her mind as she does whatever it takes to be by his side, no matter what the obstacles.



            Ariel was the first princess I felt actually did something about her situation.  She didn't even start off as desiring to meet her true love, but instead was more interested in knowing about this world up above that she has such little knowledge about.  But when she meets Eric and decides she wants to be with him, once again, she actually does something about it.  She's not just someone who just sits around waiting for "The Fates" to decide her life for her.  She has a goal and she's willing to fight to make her dream a reality.  Plus, while she does have to be saved by her prince in the end, she saved his life not once, but twice before that, making her more than just a simple case of "damsel in distress".



            Ariel is a character that I can, without a doubt, say that she was my first love as I had such a huge "little boy crush" on her back then and, in all honesty, I still kinda do to this day.  She certainly was the originator of my Mermaid fetish which is why she is my #1 Favorite Cartoon Crush of All Time.







            And that was my Top 12 Cartoon Crushes list.  I hope you enjoyed it and I'd like to know, "Which Cartoon Characters do you fancy?"  Feel free to comment below, hope you guys have a great week and I'll see you on the next post.  Take care.