A little sideblog I created. Basically, I'll pick a show or movie and talk way too much about it -- episode by episode in some cases.
All film and series covered and screencapped on this blog belong to their respective owners. I do not profit from anything on this blog. Please support the owners of this media by purchasing the DVDs or supporting a future DVD release.
How tall do you think Mozenrath is supposed to be? The wiki describes him as tall, but sometimes he looks the same height as Aladdin. Then again, sometimes he looks taller.
Yeah, as @dvdfairy noted, Mozenrath’s height doesn't always seem to be consistent. Even in the same episodes, his height looks a bit off!
It also doesn't help that Al and Mozenrath are constantly in motion whenever they're together. Took me way too long to find shots where they're sitting up (fairly) straight.
So, the most consistent info I could find said that Aladdin's around 5'7." Mozenrath's barely taller than him when he first appears, maybe about 5'8." When when Mozenrath appears next to Aladdin in Two To Tangle, he looks to be about... I'm really bad with math, so maybe around 5'10" or 5'11." I think.
I imagine it's because of them switching animators in the middle of the episodes, but the much funnier option is that Mozenrath is using magic to make himself look taller in comparison to Aladdin. XD
I think it took a while before it was just standard for him to be drawn on-model. But when he is, he's taller. Because those more consistent depictions, esp later on, show him as not only taller but thinner, I'd put him close to 6 feet and kinda gangly. It's really cool watching his appearance evolve, though!
When in doubt tho: if it makes you happy and there is no official confirmation, toy with it and run with those ideas!
I understand this blog is likely abandoned and you won't be returning to it, and this message likely won't ever be read, but I didn't send you this to shame you-I just wanted to tell you how much joy your blog brought me over the years. I started reading your blog when the episode recaps were still ongoing, and even years later I find myself coming back to it as a pick-me-up-I was having a bad day the other day and started reading back through this blog-and I started laughing so hard I started coughing.
Hi anon: I still get notifs, and receive messages and read everyone's tags. I have had a lot going on in my life on top of just not having easy access to episodes to cap and comment on! I miss doing this and it makes me happy that people still enjoy what I wrote! I am always open to bouncing ideas and discussing topics from the show (or any other I have seen) when people ask, but it may be a while before I can do an episode liveblog again.
Probably Beauty and the Beast. Aladdin as a series was my jam as a kid of course, and the movie is one of my favorites, but BatB is probably in the top spot.
Re the Aladdin LA film apparently they DID film a bookend with Genie and fam arriving in Agrabah and meeting Al and Jas at the pier but it wasn't used for whatever reason. And hard agree Jafar had some Moze energy. (That said apparently a sequel is at least being discussed and would looove any combo of Moze, Sadira, and Mirage.)
I would LOVE to know how they think they’re going to do a Return of Jafar story with an Iago that doesn’t have a pronounced personality. His arc is the main arc in that movie, so how are they going to do it? And frankly, I’d rather see Mozenrath or Sadira than whatever poor D-lister Disney currently owns playing the introductory appearance of Abis Mal.
Not a liveblog, but I did want to share my reactions/notes and may do a full delving into it later! (Also hi everybody, not dead, just super busy and poor!)
All in all, I liked it, and I thought it was a better adaptation than live action Beauty and the Beast. Spoilers and commentary under the cut:
- I liked Will Smith as Genie; he had a pleasant singing voice and that was a surprise since I’m just used to him as a rapper. I do think there are places in his songs where I wish he went harder, especially in Friend Like Me, but it seems like the movie decided his showstopper was going to be Prince Ali instead.
- I actually don’t think anybody was miscast in this movie, on that note. I enjoyed everybody.
- I first looked at this movie and wondered whether Alan Tudyk would be playing Iago as a person the way Gilbert Gottfried did or if he’d be making bird noises, and I came to find it was a mix of the two. His characterization and his speech abilities and patterns were actually super reminiscient of Xerxes, and on that note:
- Jafar and Iago read as very akin to Mozenrath and Xerxes in this movie, to me. Jafar is younger, which -- at least makes his desire to marry Princess Jasmine (who is 16 at the youngest [in the novelization] and 18 at the oldest [most other places] in the original, depending on sources) far less barfy and gross. He has a higher body count than Jafar in the cartoon, and the little bits of characterization he’s given suggest that he has sacrificed much and killed many in pursuit of what power he already has. His desperation for this to be recognized and respected just rang as very Moze and was NOT the place he was coming from in the original movie.
- The parallels deliberately drawn between Jafar and Aladdin made for the most interesting thing in the movie and it made Aladdin’s conflict and need for character growth a lot more dynamic. Jafar is a former thief and stands as an example of what Aladdin could become if he goes down the wrong path. Genie differentiates between Aladdin and that guy, and that guy is somebody Genie’s met a thousand times already. He knows the signs and he knows when Aladdin is headed down that road. And Aladdin starts to go down that road when he considers not freeing the Genie with his third wish. It’s not just that he is afraid of Jasmine finding him out; it’s that he’s gotten a taste for his new identity and wants more.
- Jasmine. Jaaaaaasmine. Gets so much more to do in this movie and got her own arc. She wants to be diplomatic. She wants to help her people. What’s more, her motivation isn’t “I want to marry for love” it’s “I am not interested in being married. I want to be the Sultan so I can help my people.” She is bred for office; she wants to rule and she wants to make her kingdom better, and she never wavers in this. Her arc is not completed when the Sultan changes the law about marriage for her -- it’s completed when the Sultan makes her the new Sultan and says whether she gets married and to whom is now her decision because she makes the laws. She also got her own I Want song and it’s short but substantial. (I was confused when she reprised it after Jafar’s takeover and suddenly guards started disintegrating around her because it’s not immediately clear we’re in her head so I’m going when did she get super powers)
- Carpet was animated so well in terms of movement that the character translated as the same character from the original, and that in itself is impressive.
- On that note, VENGEANCE FOR CARPET.
- I want to welcome Frank Welker back as like, the ONLY actor to reprise their roles. And a special welcome back to his Megatron voice when he spoke (read: screamed) as the Cave of Wonders.
- So did Genie lose all his powers at the end of the movie? I don’t feel like this is clearly communicated.
- Also just like the original film, they forgot about their storytelling bookend. And that’s a shame because it should have ended with the kids asking their dad if he still had any magic and there just being a kind of a wink and a smile as he goes back to work, and then him using some to subtly mend a sail or something else while they’re not looking, shooting the audience a knowing look, etc. Woulda been better, that’s all I’m saying.
- Genie and Dalia was cute but completely underdeveloped and they jumped to “let’s run away and get a boat and have babies” really fucking quick. Ali has been there like two days, slow your roll.
- I think the Sultan was underdeveloped here. I liked where they went with him. I liked seeing a severe and wise Sultan and not a manbaby parody, because it also shows how much more sinister Jafar’s power is? But he didn’t get enough to do, and there’s a lot of TELLING us that he won’t let Jasmine go out because he’s afraid for her after his wife dying, but we’re not really shown and there should have been a scene where we saw him wrestle with that a bit.
- I get what they were doing by jumping right to Jasmine in the marketplace with Aladdin and I think the way they did it let the two develop and grow together a little more, but it’s still a little rushed.
- Making the first Cave of Wonders scene part of the montage in Arabian Nights was a mistake and it made me feel like they were counting on you having already seen the movie. I almost suspect that there’s a longer version of this scene somewhere and they trimmed it down to make it less scary.
- I said it’s better than the live action Beauty and the Beast because it closed virtually every character arc as opposed to forgetting them/disregarding them completely, among other things.
You mentioned times are tough for you, do you have a ko-fi or venmo or something to donate to to help you get through this? You always make me laugh, I hope things get better for you soon!
Thank you for asking, and yes! My Venmo is here. My PayPal is here.
I understand you may never come back to this blog and never read this message, but I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your recaps. Even now, years later, they still make me laugh and I still go back to read them when I need a pick-me-up. Thank you so much for doing the episodes you did, I enjoyed them!
I really want to! Esp now that I know Tumblr isn’t likely going to take it down! I have the rest of Love at First Sprite pretty much scripted, I just need to do the rest, but times have been tough and I haven’t had the energy to focus on it! Someday, but your feedback means so much! Thank you!
Hi all, with the changes to tumblr and places like the wayback machine being blocked, I don't trust tumblr to keep going as it should!
As such, I have imported this blog to WordPress.
Fandom Liveblogs
I am still in the process of building new infopages to make each episode more browsable! This is precautionary, just in case the entire site goes down.
Hahaaa, you remember when I was like “I’ll continue this tomorrow” and then I turned out to be a liar? Work’s been crazy (I’m doing fortunetelling to make up the difference my job leaves; it’s been THAT kind of month).
I do intend to continue and shall soon (just not at work because it’s not where my screencaps and scripts are). In fact I have my talking points and screencaps for the rest of the episode already planned out. Looking forward to seeing you there!
Because Carpet doesn’t want to spend an entire episode solving a mystery, he delivers the captured sprite immediately, and credit where it’s due: While Aladdin and company are quick to assume he did something wrong, they also figure out just as quickly that this tiny fairy-bug-thing is what made the mess.
Carpet knew they had it in them.
What ensues appears to be what is going to be the main focus of the rest of this episode:
Cuteness overload.
Somehow I suspect there might have been a plan to sell toys at some point.
