MCS #17: Donald in Mathmagic Land

Donald in Mathmagic Land (1959)

As the title suggests, this Disney animated short is about Donald Duck learning about the history, use, and application of mathematics.

I watched this before fifth grade. So when we watched it in fifth grade and then had to write a report on it, I felt ahead of the game in that way only experienced by eleven-year-old children who have unintentionally done homework before hand. Granted, I’d only watched the movie, not written the paper, but to me, that was all academic. Literally and figuratively. I wish I still had the report. I drew the absolute worst cover for it. I decided that, since the movie was about math and various games that use math, I would draw a bunch of different games for my report cover. I had a blue and red chess board and a terrible rendition of an air hockey table. That’s all I remember.

But yeah, parents, let your kids watch this. It’s a fun and engaging way to learn about the history of math. It also features classic Donald Duck. Who doesn’t love classic Donald?

Fun fact, did you know Donald Duck’s middle name is Fauntleroy?

Less fun fact, both of my parents can do amazing Donald Duck impressions. I cannot, and I wish to know what cruel fate of genetics kept me from receiving this skill. *sigh*

Other less fun fact, my family owned a pool table when I was growing up, and I thought it was awesomely cool when Donald learned about the math involved in billiards.

But I digress. Watch the movie.

“Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe”—Galilei Galileo

Writer’s Lockbox

Writers can do math, too. That is all.

Last week: Cinderella III

Join me next week for Dumbo.

Thanks for reading.

Mary
@desantismt on Twitter

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-Kit ‘N Kabookle
My book blog

MCS #16: Cinderella III

Cinderella III: A Twist in Time (2007)

Cinderella’s stepmother gets her hand on the Fairy Godmother’s magic wand and turns back time to undo Cinderella’s happily ever after. Can Cinderella win back the prince?

K, the obvious problems of having a III without having an I aside, why couldn’t this be the first movie? This idea is made even more complicated when you take into consideration that it turns back the events of I, but really, this movie had so much going for it. Cinderella does things. She doesn’t sit around and wait for the mice and the Fairy Godmother to make her dresses. She goes to the palace and works to get the prince back. She stands up for herself. She fights. In a nut shell, she’s way more independent than she was in movie I.

So again, I ask, why couldn’t this be the first movie?

This one even had some good songs, like this one.

And this one.

Can we talk about the character growth in this song? Anastasia is a person. She changes. She’s not just the “evil for the sake of evilness” stepsister, and that’s awesome. This is the closest Disney comes (outside of Frozen) to having two equally important female characters who aren’t at odds with one another.

This movie is not without its moments. There are some wonderfully hilarious logic problems, such as when Cinderella (walking) gets to the palace twenty minutes before the carriage.

Writer’s Lockbox

Can we have more female characters like Cinderella in this movie? She wants love, yes, but she’s strong and confident about it. She doesn’t need to wear black leather. She doesn’t need to sleep around to feel like she’s being taken seriously. She’s a woman who knows what she wants, and she fights for it.

So more like her. Please and thank-you.

Last week: Cinderella II

And join me next week for Donald in Mathmagicland.

Thanks for reading.

Mary
@desantismt on Twitter

Follow My Blog With Bloglovin

-Kit ‘N Kabookle
My book blog

Making Out Does Not make Characters Unable to be Killed, Just Sayin

Hey, folks,

I missed last Wednesday. A lot’s been going on. Good news, though. My thesis passed!!!!

Well, the happy parts of this scene, but I love the whole thing. So yeah.

And now to the meat and potatoes of today’s post. I’ve seen versions of the following scene too many times.

*Hero and heroine are running away from something stronger than them that’s trying to kill them. They stop.*
Hero: “You know, I love you semi-randomly.”
Heroine: “You know, I semi-randomly love you, too. Wanna make out?”
Hero: “Yes.”
*They make out*

Umm, hello? Your being chased by something that’s very strong and wants you dead. WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!?

Five ways to avoid death by random declaration of love/very intense lust

-Wait until the danger passes before having your characters admit their feelings/make out

“But having them declare love/kiss while they’re in danger is so romantic.”
It’s also bad for their lifespans and a timing problem. If whatever’s chasing them is stronger, odds are good it’s faster, too. So now hero and heroine are not only being chased, but their pursuer is gaining on them. Now, think, in real life you wouldn’t stop and start making out (or maybe you would if you figured you were dead anyway), but this is fiction. The good guys win. So if they stop to make out, you have to delay the superfast thing chasing them, which, as I said, creates timing problems. I don’t want to be left wondering what happened to the thing that was right behind them.

Also, it’s a beautiful moment when they’ve escaped and can be excited they both survived.

-Have them admit their feelings/make out before the threat shows up

This works because, well, they aren’t in danger yet. It’s also a great way to break up the romantic moment. (What, I’m the only one who enjoys torturing their characters by having the big romantic moment interrupted by a three-headed dragon? Fine then.)

-Temporarily trap the threat

This is particularly doable if either the hero or heroine has strong enough magic/access to sufficient technology to make this happen. It’s also a cool moment where you get to show off your character’s talents.

It also gives a moment for making out where I’m not wondering why they haven’t been eaten/burned to a crisp/carried off to be forcibly married to the president of the underwater basket weaving club.

-Make it a quick kiss/confession

*Stopped to catch breath (preferably somewhere where the thing chasing them has to break down a wall before getting to them)*
Hero: “So in case we die, I love you.”
Heroine: “Same here”
*quick kiss/almost kiss right as wall crashes down and then back to running*

There’s nothing wrong with this. Well, there’s nothing wrong with this providing neither dies, and since they are the hero and heroine, they most likely won’t be dying anytime soon. So we’re good. This is also very comical.

-kiss/confession on the run

Hero: *running and possibly ducking flying objects* “So in case we die, I love you.”
Heroine: “Same here.”
*air kiss*

Romance and a chase scene. Everyone’s happy.

So, authors, I am begging you. Please, no more “we’re in immediate mortal danger…let’s make out” scenes.

Find me on Twitter @desantismt.

MCS #15: Cinderella II

Cinderella II: Dreams Come True (2002)

IMDB Blurb
Jacques and Gus tell the story of how Cinderella becomes a princess but loses touch with herself.

I watched this once…on YouTube. No joke. I discovered there was a Cinderella II and was possessed by a sudden curiosity to know just what they could have done for a Cinderella II.

Remember Belle’s Tales of Friendship? Cinderella II is the Cinderella equivalent. Basically, the mice want to tell their own story. So they enlist of the Fairy Godmother and tell two stories about Cinderella learning to be a princess. The only line I remember is from Cinderella: “I think that day is today.” Don’t ask me to recall what this was in response to.

Honestly, I was disappointed. I’ve always had a lot of problems with the original Cinderella story. What kind of prince doesn’t know what the girl he danced with for three nights looks like? I would have loved for Disney to explore some deeper issues, but this was before the Tangled/Frozen era. So mice and Fairy Godmother it is.

Writer’s Lockbox

See Belle’s Tales of Friendship. I don’t remember enough of Cinderella II to pull anything from it, and the Lockbox for Tales pretty much covers it.

Last week: Cinderella

And join me next week for Cinderella III.

Thanks for reading.

Mary
@desantismt on Twitter

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-Kit ‘N Kabookle
My book blog

MCS #14: Cinderella

Cinderella (1950)

IMDB blurb
When Cinderella's cruel stepmother prevents her from attending the Royal Ball, she gets some unexpected help from the lovable mice Gus and Jaq, and from her Fairy Godmother.

Oh man, where to start? Walt Disney said "She believed in dreams, all right, but she also believed in doing something about them. When Prince Charming didn’t come along, she went over to the palace and got him.”

Except she didn’t.

She kind of continued cleaning, tried on a dress made by the mice/birds, let her stepsisters tear up the dress made by the mice/birds, ran crying into the backyard, was startled by the arrival of her fairy godmother, and let said startling fairy godmother make a dress/send her to the ball.

Where in here is Cinderella doing something?

Needless to say, this wasn’t my favorite Disney movie. I actually can’t remember when last I watched it or if I even watched the entire thing.

And then there’s the sweet irony that I was cast as Cinderella’s mother when I was in Into the Woods in college.

K, now, Cinderella isn’t all bad. It had some fun songs, namely the mouse’s song. Please don’t get me started on how annoying Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo is? I won’t torture you with it.

Actually, yes, yes I will.

That’s what friends are for, right?

I’m a big fan of Cinderella retellings, especially ones where she does stuff. So to make up for that musical business earlier, I’ll supply you with some awesome Cinderella reading material.

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles, #1)
by Marissa Meyer

Goodreads blurb

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

I actually love this entire series. They are sci-fi retellings of Cinderella, Little Red, Rapunzel, and Snow White. The last book comes out at the beginning of next year, and I’m very impatiently waiting.

“The Wrong Foot”
by Stephanie Burgis

This was published in Daily Science Fiction a while back. I loved it and then promptly read Burgis’s novel-length work. So let this be a stepping stone for you to get your glass slipper-clad foot to some great books.

Last week: The Black Cauldron

And join me next week for Cinderella II.

Thanks for reading.

Mary
@desantismt on Twitter

Follow My Blog With Bloglovin

-Kit ‘N Kabookle
My book blog

As I write this post, I grumble about as/ing constructions.

There are other blog posts on this topic. I’m sure of it. I just feel the need to address it because as/ing constructions bug the sh*t out of me.

What’s bad about them? Nothing, if used sparingly. When overused, they present the same problem as any other craft element. Repetition is annoying.

The reason I hate them has nothing to do with their actual existence. I’ve seen them used well. It’s just that 99 times out of 100, they don’t do anything. Consider the following.

Holding my breath, I contemplated the situation.

This feels like a sword strike on my ears. Not only is nothing happening, it’s drawing attention to thought processes. In a nut shell, this sentence is stagnant. Just cut it.

The following is a bit better.

Standing tall, she entered the room.

We’re moving now, but it’s very mechanical. First I did this. Then, I did this. This could be rewritten to give more.

She straightened her spine and strode into the room.

Now we have a lot of active, well, action. Our person is doing stuff, and we’re seeing her actually straighten—stand tall. Then we replaced the not-so-showing “walk” with the much more informative strode.

As she walked into the room, she took in the painting on the wall.

Personally, I think as constructions are worse. Absolutely nothing interesting happens in this sentence.

She entered the room. A painting of a ship at sea dominated the left-hand wall.

Look at all that information!

Case and point, 99 times out of 100, there is a stronger way to phrase as/ing constructions.

Happy writing.

-See you on Twitter: @desantismt

MCS #13 - The Black Cauldron

The Black Cauldron (1985)

The Black Cauldron is based on the first two books in Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain series—The Book of Three and The Black Cauldron. The movie, as you can see, was very originally named.

Before I get into what it’s about, this movie is Lord of the Rings meets Star wars, which is hilarious because it came out before the LOTR movie adaptations. Think I’m nuts. Below is the beginning of the Wikipedia plot summary. The stuff in brackets is what I’ve added.

Taran [Luke] is "assistant pig-keeper" [assistant farmer] on the small farm [planet] of Caer Dallben [Tatoowine], home of Dallben [Gandalf] the Enchanter. Taran [Luke] dreams of becoming a great warrior [fighter pilot/jedi], but must stop daydreaming because his charge, the oracular pig [droid] Hen Wen [R2D2], is in danger. The Horned King [Sauron], a fearsome, skeletal, undead king [floating eyeball] who wears antler horns on his head, hopes she will help him find the Black Cauldron [one ring], which has the power to restore a kind of life to the dead [his full power/existence], as Undead slaves called "the Cauldron-Born" [[nasgul/ringwraiths], which he will use to rule the world. Dallben [Gandalf] directs Taran [Luke] to take Hen Wen [R2] to safety, but the lad's daydreaming results in the pig's capture by the Horned King's forces [the empire/Sauron’s guys].

Taran [Luke] follows them to the Horned King's stronghold [Mordor] and acquires the small, pestering companion Gurgi [Golem] along the way. Taran [Luke] leaves Gurgi [Golem] to sneak into the castle and rescues Hen Wen [R2], who flees, but he is captured himself and thrown into the dungeon, soon to be released by Princess Eilonwy [Leah], a girl his age who is also trying to escape. In the catacombs beneath the castle, Taran [Luke] and Eilonwy [Leah] discover the ancient burial chamber of a king, where he arms himself with the king's sword [lightsaber]. It contains magic that allows him effectively to fight the Horned King's [Sauron’s] minions and so to fulfill his dream of heroism. Along with a third captive, the comical, middle-aged bard Fflewddur Fflam [Pip/Merry], they escape the castle and are soon reunited with Gurgi [Golem].

No really, especially Gurgi…really Gurgi.

Don’t believe me? Check this out.

All we need is a “my precious.”

Okay, super cool moment here. Eilonwy is voiced by Susan Sheraton. Who, you ask? The voice of Trillion in the original Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy radio show.

*insert fangirl scream type sound*

Anyway, I recommend this movie at least once. It’s rather cute with a fun ending. I also recommend the books. They are something of a classic.

Writer’s Lockbox

After some thought, I’ve got nothing from the movie specifically. So I’ll reiterate what I said about reading the book because it’s somewhat of a classic and expand on that to say read all the classics in your genre. As The Sound of Music says “Start at the very beginning. It’s a very good place to start.”

Last week: Belle’s Tales of Friendship

And join me next week for Cinderella.

Thanks for reading.

Mary
@desantismt on Twitter

Follow My Blog With Bloglovin

-Kit ‘N Kabookle
My book blog