Toy Story 3

The concept behind the third inception of Toy Story is dope on sooooooo many levels. First off, the idea of leaving one's toys behind as he goes on to bigger and (sadly) more important things, is something that we all can confer on as 80's and 90's babies. I distinctly remember the day I came home and found that all of my Transformers had been shipped down to Jamaica for my younger cousins and the feeling of not being able to transform Optimus Prime or Megatron again. Secondly, the movie (maybe this is just one of my weird interpretations) has a subtle metaphor about the state of the economy. When the toys find out that they're being thrown out, it's almost as if a once-booming company was downsizing. The employees don't know how to feel, just as the toys try, albeit unsuccessfully, to prepare for their 'downsizing'. Third of all, Toy Story 3 more or less is delving into a category that only its series has been able to pull off for Disney: sequels. I'm sure you all remember the Lion King 2, The Santa Clause trilogy, and 102 Dalmations (yeah, I've been trying to erase those for a minute too). Toy Story made it to three movies, and hopefully this one wows me just as much as the last two...

Dear Marvel Comics

The last super-empire is finally falling to the Magic Kingdom... SMH

via The Guardian:

The Walt Disney empire is to buy the superheroes stable Marvel Entertainment for $4bn (£2.5bn) in a star-studded Hollywood deal that unites family names such as Mickey Mouse with lucrative characters including Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk and the X-Men.

Disney hopes to put Marvel's 5,000 characters to work on its television channels and in video games, theme parks and movies. The agreed takeover is for a mixture of cash and stock, with Disney shares accounting for roughly 40% of the buyout price.

While Disney has traditionally been known for its wholesome family creations ranging from the Little Mermaid to Lion King, Hannah Montana and Pocahontas, the purchase of Marvel adds an edgier, more violent element – it recently scored a box office success with Iron Man, a movie starring Robert Downey Jr as a billionaire inventor who creates a hi-tech suit of armour to battle evil.

I suppose the recession had to hit every sector in some way. It's just a shame when its an entity that doesn't need it. Marvel, for over 70 years, you've blessed my preteen fantasies with images of superhumans in the most human of situations. It's been nothing short of fantastical how comic books shape young men. Even if comic books and their sharp decline in sales were the reason for your bankruptcy in 1996, I still see the genius in your art. What I can't see the genius in is being sold to Disney. Though economic pundits (who are basically speculators) write the move off as brilliant, I can't help but thinking the Magic Kingdom and the Marvel Universe wouldn't be able to coexist well. By that I mean, if Zac Efron shows up in the next Iron Man movie I will burn any Disney or Marvel paraphernalia that I've ever owned. I'm serious. And if Tobey McGuire breaks into song during the next Spiderman, there will be riots. No, I'm not prophesying that Disney will take the hotness that is Marvel and turn it into a superhero-laced High School Musical, but it's a far stretch for Disney to venture into this lane. Hannah Montana's secret identity seriously cannot compete with that of Bruce Banner, nor should it have to...