Friday, February 17, 2023

Green Phoenix - Bear in the Big Blue House Retrospective

 

I consider myself quite blessed to have grown up during a golden age of children's television, as my childhood was marked by the rise of Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, as well as the children's block of PBS and, of course, the Disney Channel. For a kid in the mid-90s and early 2000s, the world was my oyster as far as good television was concerned.
 
Of course given my rather conservative upbringing, my parents didn't care for me watching Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon, believing them to be far to anti-authority and immoral for viewing (not that that stopped me from watching some shows on the channels). Because of this opinion, I grew up largely watching the Disney Channel, especially its early children's block Playhouse Disney.
 
Playhouse Disney during the late 90s and early 2000s was, in my opinion, a glorious time for children's entertainment, filled with so many shows that I still hold close to my heart even to this day. We had Out of the Box, a musical show that focused its lessons around physical activity and arts and crafts, as well as Rolie Polie Olie, a CGI show about a family of robots created by the author William Joyce, just to name a few. But if there is one show that seemed to stand above the rest in terms of popularity and personal affection on my part, it would have to be Bear in the Big Blue House, produced by the Jim Henson Company.
 
Initially I wanted to do a review of Bear in the Big Blue House in order to convince you guys how good this show was. However, I actually realized that I didn't want to actually critique the show so much as I just wanted to go on about how this show made me feel and what watching its episodes are like now as an adult. To reflect upon my feelings rather than convey those feelings with numerical ratings.
 
So that's what this article is going to do. Rather than quantify my opinions numerically, I'd rather just create a reflective retrospective of the series in my mind (also because it would take too long to watch all the episodes of the show to truly get my take). This will be less a technical explanation and more a subjective self-analysis; so let's get going.
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Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Power Rangers Dino Force Brave King 8: Revival! Giga Bragigas!




We have reached the point where the Rangers have decided to go on the offensive. Last episode ended with the team agreeing it was the right time to try and free Giga Bragigas, their most powerful Zord that was sealed at the beginning of the season for plot convenience by the villains Neo Deboss. Now, they have the Gold Ranger on their side so click "read more" and let's see how this is all handled. 

Friday, February 10, 2023

Green Phoenix - 6 Noteworthy Disney/Pixar Villains

When one thinks of villains in media, I genuinely believe that most people tend to consider Disney or Pixar villains before almost anyone else, especially if they are from my generation. The Disney Renaissance had a profound effect upon my childhood and it has often been said that some of the most interesting parts of those movies tended to be their villains; as strange as that might sound to the uninitiated. The exceptional quality of those villains made by eclectic personalities help to define a generation of filmgoers and it made almost too much sense to do a countdown list about the Disney/Pixar villains.

And yet, when I actually stood there and began to outline my rules and the prompts behind the list, I was struck by just how few Disney/Pixar films actually do have villains when you stop and actually analyze it. Most Disney films actually tend to be pretty light on villains or treat the environment itself as an antagonist. Though most of the films do end up with some kind of rival or antagonist, someone who opposes the hero, they aren't really villains (evil characters that do what they do for evil reasons rather than simply being a person in opposition of the protagonist).

With this in mind, my mind immediately turned towards figuring out a list of particularly noteworthy Disney/Pixar villains. My criteria for noteworthy being reasons that help the villain to stand-out from among its peers or which help to identify and characterize that villain in the larger cinematic zeitgeist of Disney/Pixar films. The villain doesn't need to come from a great movie, only be a particularly stand-out example of its kind.

With my thought-process in mind, let's get to it.

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Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger Predictions

 


In just one month the 47th Super Sentai will debut and it will be arthropods and royalty themed. I have always thought royal knights could be a good theme for Super Sentai/Power Rangers. So, click "read more" and let's try to guess what will come.

Tiger Claw Radio #439 - AI Abominations

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