Masters of the Universe Bubble Up in Ocean Waves - Renegade Animation #30
Tonight, on a very POWERFUL episode of Renegade Animation, Captain Kaye and the Animation Guru dive head first into the dirty mind of Kevin Smith to check out his and Netflix’s reimagining of Masters of the Universe!
What’s up, fellow Renegades? I hope you’re tapped into the power of Grayskull, because THE DIRECTOR is here to bring you a hidden gem of a Renegade Animation episode, as we give our thoughts on Masters of the Universe: Revelation!
Now before I go ahead and toss everything over to Captain Kaye’s thoughts on the show and other films covered, I just wanted to say… as a resident Kevin Smith fan, the one thing that has absolutely confused me (and maybe I’ll write an editorial about it real soon), the fan outrage on the direction the show has gone in is absolutely confusing and disheartening.
There may be some outrage in the fact that Kevin Smith is not a major fan of He-Man before making the series (reading the comments he’s said about hate-watching it when he was younger out of context SOUNDS bad, I’ll admit), but the fact is that as someone who has seen the original series before, I’ll say that even though I wasn’t a hardcore fan, the series is clearly made with a lot of love for the lore and the characters compared to the original show, which was clearly only made to make toys. I never once found myself caring for the characters when I watched the other incarnations, but this series made me care for Cringer, for Orko, even Prince Adam and Evil-Lyn! All the outrage about Teela too… while I’ll admit she’s as of this writing a pretty underwritten character in my eyes, I never thought in all my years I’d see people complain about a character played by Buffy the Vampire Slayer herself.
In my mind, Kevin Smith is handling the outrage very well, holding fast, and I think that people are being way off base with the show’s execution. It’s like people are afraid of change, and the irony is Smith was chosen to help ease people into this. I guess “He-Man outrage” wasn’t on my 2021 bingo card, but here we are. At least everyone’s not complaining about Star Wars or Spider-Man again.
Well — I’ll go ahead and pass it off to the good Captain! Let’s hear your thoughts!
MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: REVELATION (2021 - PRESENT)
“This iteration, more so than other adaptation feels like it lives up to its reputation of "Star Wars meets Lord of the Rings," building off the foundation of the classic Filmation cartoon from the 80's while taking things in a whole new direction. Some of those changes have gotten a certain group of people very upset, but to me it just sounds like a case of ‘I ordered a pizza and instead they gave me ice cream.’ While 5 episodes might not seem like enough, they were smart to end on this cliffhanger, leaving the audience begging for more.” - Captain Kaye
OCEAN WAVES (1993)
“On the one hand, this movie is quite the departure from the type of stories most people associate the Ghibli brand with. There are no fantastical elements to be found, it's just a sweet, if not a little off-kilter, romance drama between two former high school students. The one thing it does have in common with the rest of the Ghibli library is the gorgeous animation, which of course came at a hefty cost for the studio. As far as the pacing is concerned, I thought it was okay for the most part, but admittedly it took me a while to really get invested in the narrative. Your mileage may vary when it comes to each individual character, but at the very least, Nakamura did a surprisingly good job with her portrayal of teenagers and all of their angst. We all either knew someone like Taku, or we were Taku at one point or another, and maybe that's why the ending was so satisfying. After everything they've went through, it was just nice to see him and Rikako happy. Ocean Waves is nowhere close to my favorite Ghibli film so far, but watching this is a good reminder that there is more that this studio has to offer beyond Miyazaki and Takahata. I hope movies like this can continue to exist after Miyazaki retires for good.” - Captain Kaye
TIG NOTARO: DRAWN (2021)
“So here's the thing, I don't really watch a lot of comedy specials unless they have a particular hook. For example, the reason I checked out Bo Burnham: Inside is because of the gimmick of Bo having written, directed, and performed the entire show by himself throughout the pandemic. That turned out to be one of the best works of art I've seen all year, and while Drawn might not be quite on the same level, content wise it's right up my alley. There isn't a whole lot of information available about the production of this special, but one thing I really appreciate is the variety of styles on display. Each joke was brought to life with a different art style, one that worked surprisingly well with Tig's deadpan sense of humor. If you were already a fan of this comedienne, than Drawn gets the easiest recommendation from me. But if this is your first exposure to her, or even stand-up comedy in general, this was certainly a fascinating experiment in mixed media, and I'd be curious to see other comedians try something similar in the future.” - Captain Kaye
WORDS BUBBLE UP LIKE SODA POP (2020)
“I don't know if I'm ready to call it the best movie of the year, but it's certainly in my top 5. For starters, the animation is simply breathtaking. It's a Signal.MD production, so of course they're going to pull out all the stops, even for a rather simple love story like this one. Mind you, simple isn't a bad thing, and that simplicity only leaves more room for a really fun and unique cast of characters. The one I related to the most was Cherry, our main protagonist. Nobody detests the sound of their own voice more than I do, so I completely understood his hesitancy to read his haikus aloud, preferring the internet as his primary outlet. However, like him, I'm slowly but surely gaining some confidence as a podcast host. The chemistry he shares with Smile is wonderful, and I love just how much of a positive influence they are on each other. Since this is also a FlyingDog production, I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the beautiful music in the film. In fact, one of the best subplots involves Mr. Fujiyama, the owner of a rundown record store, searching for a lost record of his late wife. I don't want to say too much, but for now, Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop is one of those movies you have to experience for yourself.” - Captain Kaye
Welp, that’s all for now! Special thanks once again for Cameron for editing this episode, and we’ll see y’all in the next episode. Take care, and keep a weather eye to the horizon!
