Why being a Princess isn't a bad thing.

So, as Merida is formerly introduced to the Princess Line at Disney, she received a hand drawn make over.  In case you didn't see Brave, Merida was Pixar's first female heroine.  She loved her family, was unafraid to speak her mind, and preferred the outdoors to "Womanly" pursuits.  (This article will have heavy spoilers for Brave and other games.) 

I'm not here to talk about the actual design change.  I'm sure some of it was simply because hand drawn and CG vectors are two different things.

I'm going to talk about what went on around it.  This IGN article discusses Brave, and then goes on to mention how the original Disney Princesses were terrible role models for young girls.

I actually take offense at that.  These girls are great role models, and so are other gaming princesses.

Yes, I'm bringing Kingdom Hearts into this, but I'll look at others too.  

Looking JUST at Kingdom Hearts (and the sequels/spin offs)  Let's look at the Disney princesses.

In Kingdom Hearts, there are seven Princesses of Heart.  Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty/Aurora, Alice, Belle, Jasmine, and Kairi.  Ariel also appears, but is not a Princess of Heart.  Wendy, Mulan, Meg, Queen Minnie, Jane, Tinkerbell, Elizabeth, Daisy, Esmeralda, and Quorra also appear.  Then we also have Aqua, Xion, and Namine who fit into their own category and are not Disney.

Almost all of them have had their movie story told, but in stripped down format.

With Snow White, she generally does react to situations, and she does fall asleep, but she also takes what she can into her own hands.  No, she doesn't know that the Evil Queen is out to kill her.  She, however, is aware she is in danger and the dwarves offer her a safe space.  In addition, she offers hospitality by taking care of them.  The story's true love aspect in KH is an afterthought.... mostly because the Prince appears in the last bit of Aqua's story.  Snow White understands she is in over her head, but she reacts with aplomb by controlling what she can and never becoming vengeful. 

Cinderella is a hard and cheerful worker.  She puts hope in her dreams, but her dream was to have a good time at the ball.  Falling in love was second. She's kind, she rescues Ven.  But she also allows herself to have emotions.  When Terra finds her, she's broken down because her wicked step sisters tore her dead mother's dress to shreds. 

Sleeping Beauty: Okay, fine, she's asleep for all of Birth By Sleep and most of Kingdom Hearts.  But look who picks up the slack.  The three Good Fairies and Maleficent.  We can't blame her for being cursed.

Alice: for the little we see of her, Alice is trying to make sense of what is going on.  Unfortunately, she is in a land that flat out doesn't.  So, she orders Sora around (well, Sora partly offers)  and instead of just going with the flow, she fights that what is going on because it IS unfair.

Belle:  She got her chance to shine in KH2.  She knows something is wrong with Beast, and she fights what she can.  While she does get kidnapped, she uses her cleverness and wits to save the day.  Namely, she elbows Xaldin to save the Rose.  To get the full context, she's just been kidnapped by Xaldin who's threatening both her and Beast.  Xaldin tells Beast that he can save either Belle or the Rose... so Belle elbows Xaldin, steals the Rose, and runs away to safety.  She can't fight, but she WILL make it easier for the rest. And that's not counting how much she loves to read, and how she cares for each member of the staff. She's a discerning, caring, and clever girl who may be a princess, but wouldn't care if she was.  Her Jiminy's Journal entry also mentions she did this to save her father. 

Jasmine:  While present in KH1, she takes more of a role in KH2.  She knows something is wrong with Aladdin and while she often is taken captive, she also shows she can be a leader.  (And it's bugging me I swore to KH only because Jasmine is my favorite princess.  And I can't really talk about why!)

Kairi: The last PoH, Kairi is unique to the Kingdom Hearts series.  Fulfilling the role of childhood friend, Kairi is, most of all, kind and discerning.  She wants to help people, save her friends, and make sure everyone is safe.  She can get into action, but lacks the other's training.  She is brave (she jumped into a Portal of Darkness) and wise (After realizing in five seconds Axel was up to no good.) she makes friends easily, and finds Riku's heart.  She's closest to the "Classic Princess" trope, barring the first three Disney princesses, but she can and will fight..  And she is awesome.  Pink isn't a problem with her.  All her feminine attributes just make her better.

Ariel:  A Princess, though not a PoH, Ariel is a singer with an un mermaid dream. She wants to go to the surface.  She very much makes her own decisions, and she mostly accepts the consequences.    She decides to chase her dream.  The Prince is an afterthought, but a very welcome one. And if something is unfair, like Ursula sabatoging her, she'll fight it, but not at the expense of other's lives.  If you watch the KH2 Boss battle, you can see her repeatedly trying to save the prince's life.  She knows he's human and therefore can't handle himself in the mermaid fight with a sea witch.

Princess Peach: And outside of Kingdom Hearts, meet Princess Peach. A wise ruler, calm decision maker, and she practically bleeds pink.  Her people love her, her economy is stable, and while she may be kidnapped, she can also find a way out of it, especially in the Paper Mario series. She's got a discerning eye about who is, and is not an ally.  In Super Smash Bros Brawl, she makes friends with Zelda/Shiek very quickly and realizes Star Fox is an ally, something Sheik did not.  In fact, she offers them a cup of tea and a place to talk about what is going on.  Diplomacy in a fighting game, who would have thought?

Elika:  A princess of a dead land, she sacrifices everything to save the world.  Then when the Prince may have negated her sacrifice, she abandons him.  Oh, and her land is a desert which she heals and she has magic. She uses the power offered her, but only as far as the heal and save the land.  She rejects her father who has fallen to evil.  She is fascinated with knowledge of all kinds and dreams to see the sea.  She could let the evil have her land, and she retreats to find more allies.  But she doesn't.  She fights for every single bit she has, and she only lets it go when it is truly lost.  But she doesn't give up, she goes off to learn more and to learn who can help stop this, permanently.

Princess Zelda:  Starting off as a plot device, Zelda has grown throughout the years into a capable leader, a trickster, a pirate, and a goddess.  Some of the evolution is simply due to space and programming improving. Other evolutions turn it from "A game about Link" to "The Legend of Zelda."  She, and no one else, knows Ganon is evil in OoT, she gathers other barrier maidens in "A Link to the Past", surrenders and is imprisoned rather than allowing her kingdom to be destroyed in "Twilight Princess" (Then sacrificing herself for Midna), and as the holder of the "Triforce of Wisdom" She's the wisest person in the game.

Calista: Polite, serious, and detesting corruption, Calista escapes the palace due to her uncle's controlling her, and understands politics, especially the ones around herself, very well.  She understands she has flaws, but also understands you don't have to do anything alone. (I need to play The Last Story)

Garnet: From Final Fantasy 9 (Another one I have to play.)  Garnet is discerning, noticing changes in her mother before anyone else does, forgiving, naive, and can both rule with honor and wisdom and can blend in with the common folk.  (Admittedly this does happen over the entire game, but it's there!)  She also realizes she can't do everything by herself and relies on others, though for her it's partly a coping mechanism. 

Merida: Yep, back to Merida.  A key part of the movie was Merida becoming like her mother, and how she (and her mother) by nature of being female had different, and just as valued, talents.  Like getting a bunch of Scottish warriors to stop brawling and listen. Merida had to learn to listen to other people, to understand where they are coming from, and there is a great dignity in activities other then fighting (such as sewing... look, it is actually more dramatic in the movie).  Plus, family is the most important thing a  person can have.  But even with that, the movie NEVER dismisses her love of archery, her horseback riding, and she still does not like corsets.  And that is fine.  She can still ride  ,walk with her elbows out, and she can hold a political conversation.  She's well rounded, and she is still a princess.



All of these girls are, in one way or another, feminine.  The PoH are, in fact, described as pure light.  But this doesn't make them weak or undeserving in any format.  Some are competent rulers (especially Jasmine in the source material and expanded in the TV show.  She ran Agrabah incredibly well). Others are hard workers who love everyone.  Others can cook. Others prefer to fight.  Even more can hold a court.   All are capable of sacrifice.  Their traits are feminine, not weak. And in fact, they are the stronger for it.  

Game Design: Luigi's Mansion

I would like to tell you something.

I LOVE Haunted Mansion and Phantom Manor.  The sights, the sounds, the scares that can get you year after year...  Admittedly, Disney does refresh the rides (For example, track Madam Leota when she appeared to the most recent update.  She hovers now!)

Anyway, getting back on point.  The reason why the ride still works is because the scares are classics.  They always have enough punch to get you each time, you feel happily unnerved at the end,  and even when they repeat you still enjoy it.

That's how Luigi's Mansion works.  (Ignoring the several parallels and nods to the mansion itself.  Yes, Japan has a Haunted Mansion, it's the same as the Disneyworld one)   The scares are built to creep you out and to repeat.   It has it's jump scares, the dancing ghosts, the ones which only appear when you face away, and those twins.  Those creepy twins.

Actually, it may be because it's inspired BY the Haunted Mansion.

(the Japanase and Walt Disney World are virtually identical.  The main difference is that the Ghost Host speaks in Japanese instead of English.)

One of the most obvious links is Madam Claravoya to Madam Leota.  Aside from their name, they are both Crystal ball hoisting Gypsies.  More importantly, they are the first obvious and friendly ghost in each mansion.  Madam Claravoya wants to help you.  She offers to help and does not struggle after she finds Mario for you.  (Okay, she struggles a little.)  Madam Leota is the first ghost to appear in The Haunted Mansion.  Everything up to this point has been effects in the environment.  She is the first to actually appear as a ghost, and she does not harm you.  Instead, she kicks off the party!


Next up is the eternal debate... the hanging Luigi glitch.

Simply stated, the debate is over if Luigi's Shadow is intended to appear like that, or if it's a simple glitch.  If it's a glitch, it would explain the E rating when that shouldn't really be E.  However, it's noticeable and has turned up in almost every copy.  Anyway, if we assume hanging Luigi is canon (and I did when I first saw it)  It would draw correlations to the Ghost Host.  He appears in the opening as a hanging body (this is late game though) Also appears in a lightning flash, and hints that suicide is the only real way to escape the mansion.  The Boos could be threatening Luigi this is the only way for him to escape.

Once you hit the ballroom in the Mansion, you find the dancing ghosts where women lead the men.  This happens in a ballroom.  The same happens in Luigi's Mansion, a pair of dancing ghosts are found in a ballroom. 


Our first bit of in game weirdness is the talking paintings that threaten you.  One of the first things you see in the Mansion is Gracey's portrait changing and then the room with the stretching portraits.  (though the Host narrates there, where the talking paintings take over the Host's duties.)

And then there is a piano player in the conservatory.  Okay, that would be generally assumed, but she's playing a very famous Mario song in a Mario game on a piano.

In the Haunted Mansion, we have an pianist whom we can't see in the conservatory and a organist in the ballroom which we can see.  Both are playing versions of the Haunted Mansion theme. 


Admittedly, there are some more iffy proofs, such as Luigi being the only mortal in the graveyard, and how there may be a pet cemetary in both,  and there's NO Bride character in Luigi's Mansion while she's one of the most adapted one in the Haunted Mansion. (We have "Emily" of the beating Heart and Candle, "Melanie" from Phantom Manor, "Priscilla" who was the first one, Elizabeth from the movie and most recently Constance Hatchaway the Black Widow Bride) 

But, enough is there to make you wonder....

Musical Monday: Ducktales

I was torn.  Today's April Fools day, and I was NOT going to fall for something like  last time. (In my defense, part of the proof was that not the normal translator "Translated" the page.  I do not go to that site, so I didn't know it.)  So, I'm just going to post.my own thing.  But, should I prank the music or do it honestly?

I did Ducktales' main theme because it's good and it's licensed, not what I normally do for Musical Monday.

So, sing along, especially as the game is coming back.

Why Wreck it Ralph worked as a video game movie

Video game based movies tend to be more miss then hit.  While I'll fully admit to loving the Prince of Persia movie (It was honestly pretty good!)  Other ones like Mario fell flat.

It's so bad I can't find a simple clip on youtube.  The whole movie is up there, but I just want a clip.

(This should give you a hint on the movie quality)

However, movies like Tron and Wreck it Ralph have done pretty well. Possibly because they invoke the tropes and well known genres with other aspects going on instead of telling the game.

(This may be why PoP worked well too.  While it drew a lot from the game, it wasn't a remake of the game.  Tron also falls into this category, it uses some tropes and data in order to tell another story entirely.)

Wreck it Ralph succeeds by invoking three well known genres of gaming that would appear in an arcade.

Platforming:

90's Kart style racing

And competitive Shooters:

The concepts in these games are well known, and they concepts are also easy grasp by watching the brief gameplay in the movie.


As a result, the actual game parts are limited to cameos.  Zangeif in Street Fighter, Pacman appearing at the party, Tapper is it's own scene, etc. (More examples here )  By making sure they are cameos, they keep from having the nods from overwhelming the plot which runs on a mix of video game conventions and traditional storytelling of sacrifice and character redemption.  (Actually, they had to put a sacrifice play in place because most games have a respawning attribute.) As a result, we get a movie that USES games to tell a story of treachery and redemption; therefore embraces a wider audience instead of getting bogged down in condensing a 60 hour plot or risking alienating a non gamer audience.

Besides, everyone's played 2 of the 3 styles of games at some point.  

Legal history- Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

The legal issues in games and media fascinate me (at some point, I WILL do the Modern Warfare 2 legal controversy)   so I'll cover one that has covered more then 80 years.

The history of Oswald the Lucky rabbit.

Oswald was designed by Walt Disney in the 1920's when Walt worked for Universal studios.  Oswald made his debut in 1927

(please note the film was silent in it's debut, sound was added later)

Oswald became a run away success, Walt Disney managed to create and perfect several animation techniques, his team was coming together... and Universal told him they had to cut his funding.  He either had to cut his (small) staff or stop using some of the more time consuming techniques.  Neither of these options was acceptable to Walt Disney, so he left Universal with his artists. He attempted to take Oswald too, but Universal said they held the copyright. (This is the story I've heard from respected Disney blogs, but Wikipedia is citing a physical text that states that Universal hired away most of his animators and Walt signed a contract who's fine print said that Universal had the copyrights)

So, Walt Disney started over with a new IP (Mickey Mouse!)  a new studio (which he ran so all budget and artistic issues went by him)  and he took the world by storm.  In the meantime, Oswald was a successful competitor for a few years, but he gradually faded away.  Oswald grew more and more distant from his Disney base and grew less popular as Mickey grew.  His last main appearance was in 1943 and he had a cameo in a Woody Woodpecker short in 1951

(Yes, Oswald turned into a grey and white rabbit)

Oswald faded into obscurity and many of his cartoons were lost to time.  (Universal would snip frames for things, and others were just lost)

Oswald was known among Disney fans for a while, but he didn't attract any wide attention until 2007.

At this point, Disney (the company)  went to Universal and said they wanted to buy Oswald back.  After much debate, Disney traded Al Michaels (A NFL sports announcer. ABC lost NFL broadcasting rights and Al Michaels wanted to join his old NFL partner on NBC) The Disney Company owns the character in 2007 appearances on and they own all Disney produced shorts.  Universal retains rights to Oswald from c1929 to 2007 (Oswald appeared in some merchandise and comic books)As a side note, this is probably why Oswald's design is still very "original flavor".  While Mickey and his group have had a lot of time to go through redesigns and personality shifts, Disney has not had the chance to do this with Oswald.  He has very little brand awareness, so they need to establish a base look (his original one) then develop it from there.

Disney didn't do much with Oswald,( he cameos in some park stuff, appeared on a bit of merchandise, and a DVD of his shorts was released) until Epic Mickey (2010). However, considering a game's development cycle, it can be inferred that Oswald may have been bought for Epic Mickey.

Now that Disney owns Oswald, they need to increase his brand awareness. Other then Epic Mickey, they do have a few options. (What follows is pure speculation on my account)

1) Mickey Mouse Clubhouse:  the core group is the "Sensational Six"  (Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Minnie, and Daisy) while characters who debuted with them or in the same time period make up the rest of the cast (Clarebelle Cow, Pete the Cat aka Pegleg Pete, Chip and Dale, Willie the Giant, etc) with a few original characters sprinkled into the mix.  Oswald has interacted with several of the characters in the past  (For example his foil in "O, what a Knight" is either Pete or someone who would develop into Pete.  Clarabelle is also somehow linked to him)  so his time period fits with theirs.  In addition, this would be a good way to introduce him to children so they can identify him later on in life.  While it would be slightly awkward to introduce him now, the episodes are stand alone and not every character appears in every episode.  That, combined with the target demographic, indicate a good way to at least test the waters of Oswald's sustainability outside of Epic Mickey.

2) Kingdom Hearts:  While we have visited a past version of Mickey before (Timeless River AKA Steamboat Willie), the development team has set up three alternate realms to the main KH verse.  We mostly play in the "Realm of Light", but there is a previously established "Realm of Darkness" in which several characters have gotten lost.  In fact, at one point there where three or four groups of people in or near it and they only reason they interacted is due to characters seeking the others out.  Kingdom Hearts II and Birth By Sleep mention a "Realm of Twilight"  which hasn't received  much elaboration.  All we know is that some worlds live inbetween the realms of light and dark and are a bit of a buffer or barrier between the two.  Finally, KH:3D is introducing a "Realm of Sleep".  Apparently, it is for those worlds which should be back in the light, but could not make it and now sleep instead.  We'll find out more when the game actually comes out.  Any of those realms would be a decent excuse for why Oswald hasn't been mentioned before.  (This would work even better if Oswald was a lost keyblade wielder who got sucked into the realms while traveling)

3)  The parks themselves:  Oswald has only cameod in the parks.  Toontown would have been a very good way to introduce Oswald, but it was demolished last year.  Oswald cartoons can be put in the main street theater, but he needs to be expanded beyond there.  I'm not sure where, but the parks would be a good way to attract attention.


Why am I bringing this up?  Because a few days ago, a respected Disney fanblog called "Stitch Kingdom" posted and then removed an announcement for Epic Mickey 2.  While it has been confirmed Disney was looking into Epic Mickey 2 (A survey went out to gauge people's reactions to several titles a few months ago) If the information is true then Epic Mickey 2 will be multiplatform (which makes sense, motion controls on the non Wii systems have improved dramatically), and it will have 2 person split screen Co-op with one person controlling Mickey while the other person controls Oswald. 

What do you think?  Do you like Oswald?  Do you want to see an Epic Mickey 2?  How should Disney use Oswald now that they own him again? 

Deleted Content - Kingdom Hearts part 1

Hey? Isn't this Kingdom Hearts, the Disney/Square Enix mashup? I've never seen THIS world before.... What is it?

It's the Jungle Book. And, yes, those are fully functional models of Terra, Ven, and Aqua. As you can see, Jungle Book was fairly late in development when it got scrapped. Why?

Well, we don't know. But I do have a guess.

Did you ever watch Talespin?


By the time Talespin was created, Louie Prima (note, I originally put in Louie Armstrong, but it appears I was wrong. My apologies)(King Louie's Original Voice Actor) had died. So, Disney hired a very good voice actor named Jim Cummings (He's also Pooh, Tigger, Ray, Don Karnage, Darkwing Duck, NegaDuck...) Jim Cummings has a skill in imitation so he imitated Louie Prima's performance.

Apparently he did it too well and Disney was sued by Louie Prima's widow for breech of contract. Since then, King Louie either does not speak or his cousin "Larry" shows up instead.

Now, look at the only perfectly complete room in the video. Apparently Terra was to interact with... King Louie.

My idea is that they started to program this world (and got very far!) by the time the legal issues with King Louie were made known. They were too far along with the project so they dummied out the world instead of reworking it. All hope is not lost though! Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance is confirmed to consist of worlds that were highly considered for the other games. With the world partly built, we can assume that DDD is considering Jungle Book as well.