The Amazing Digital Cricus Episode 5 Left me Thinking, this isn't Pomni's Story at all, is it?

So, as a lot of readers may be aware, I am a big fan of the GLITCH Productions series, The Amazing Digital Circus. The aesthetic of the animation and artstyle mixed with the charming and lovable characters really won me over immediately from the pilot, and I, as many others were, was hooked on where the story would go from there. It went places, needless to say, and the latest episode, Episode 5: Untitled, is so far the most... "Places" the show has gone so far.

Episode 5 is where things get really... for want of a better word, real. The show has been real before, but this is where we really get to piece things together. Episode 5 is an episode that will leave you confused about how to feel, but also certain as Hell about what to feel. This is one of those episodes, and I think it largely changes the direction of where the show is going, or our perception of where the show is going.

Ever since the pilot, everyone was damn sure that this story largely about Pomni, how she adjusts to the circus, how she relates to the others, and possibly how she abstracts. Yet, Episode 5 seems to shift the narrative. Pomni is still our main character, but this does not seem to be her story, at least not entirely her story. Episode 5 focuses on Pomni's relationship with Jax and Ragatha, and we learn two important things about them.

With Jax, what we learn is implied, but heavily so. When Ragatha tells Pomni that Jax doesn't have friends "Anymore", it becomes clear who Jax is and why is does what he does. At his core, Jax is afraid, he is a scared little bunny, what is he afraid of? Losing the people he cares about. He's pushing people away so when they do abstract, it doesn't hurt so much. "Let them fall face down if they must die, making it easier to say goodbye". We see Jax look at a door with a crossed out face on it during Caine's intermission. Was this one of Jax's friends? It does seem that he is warming up to Pomni, why is that? Well, I have a theory, but before we look at that, let's look at Ragatha.

What we learn about Ragatha is much more stated, though still largely implied. It is implied in the fact that it is not directly stated to the audience. Ragatha did not have a particularly caring mother, and this is probably why she is the way she is. Where Jax is a nuisance because he doesn't want to be hurt, Ragatha is positive to a toxic degree because she also doesn't want to be hurt, she said it herself in Episode four. "I like, hate you, but I don't want you to hate me." In essence, she is trying to be the one that everyone likes, but this ends up pushing everyone away. She will bottle up her feelings in order to protect herself, and it's only hurting her more.

Ragatha is a rag doll, obvious statement, but what does that mean? Dolls and plushies are popular children's toys, because for a lot of children, they were a source of comfort, a friend that wouldn't judge you or tell you to "Grow up". A friend that was always there for you when you needed them. A friend that Ragatha needs. Similarly, Jax is a rabbit. One may see him as the next version of the "Trickster Rabbit" archetype, like I myself have, but now we see something different with him. Jax is scared, he is a small animal made tall, he is putting on a show to deter predators, or in this case, abstraction.

This is in no way absolving Jax of his actions, by the way. Fandom notoriously has an issue with forgiving male characters for their wrong-doings because of one singular thing. How the fandom is treating Jax is reminding me about... a character from the Sad Wizard Lady's books. I mean, the two are absolutely irredeemable people, but they have one mildly tragic part of their backstory and all is forgiven? Just because we now know why he is pushing people away does not change the fact that he is still doing the things he is doing. Just wanted to Snape, I mean snipe that point before it came up.

Pomni is a jester, not a clown, the distinction is important. Jester's were more than just entertainers, they were also trusted messengers, and were allowed to speak freely without punishment in many cases. To put my theory bluntly, this story is not about Pomni, this story is about everyone else. The show begins with Pomni arriving at the circus because she is the catalyst for change. She is the one who is breaking down the barriers between all the characters, and she is doing so by letting them be honest, listening to them, and doing the things she can to help them.

Pomni saw Gangle and offered to take closing duties for her. She was with Kinger and listened as he talked about his wife. She has broken through to Jax, and seems to be making Ragatha confront a part of herself she doesn't like. Pomni is the main character of the show, but this story is not really about her. The Amazing Digital Circus is really all about the other people in the circus, which makes me wonder... how is Pomni going to get through to Caine, can she get through to Caine?

Gooseworx said that the message of The Amazing Digital Circus is that "there is meaning to be found in a stagnant life". All of this makes me wonder, and kind of reminds me of the Gregory Horror Show. I kind of expect this show to end similar to the first season of that show, something expected but haunting. Untitled was a good episode that makes one shift their perspectives on what they thought they knew. We knew this was Pomni's story, but now it seems like it's really about someone else, or something else. One has to wonder if the circus is changing because of Pomni, if she is bridging the gaps between the others and their previous lives.

Also, because I have nowhere else to put this, I absolutely have to make this observation, Jax and Zooble are trying to out each other without outing each other.

Top 20 Worst Cartoon Theme Songs

So... I've been working on a... certain project. One that involves a lot of heavy and uncomfortable subject matter, and needs a lot of careful wording. It also is a lot of condensing really large stories into a couple of paragraphs, and one story is still kinda sorta ongoing. The bulk of that project is written, and as you can imagine it has taken a lot out of me... So let's do something fun.

Everybody loves theme songs, catchy ones like DuckTales or SpongeBob, Iconic ones like The Flintstones or The Simpsons, epic ones like Batman: The Animated Series or King Arthur and the Knights of Justice, Popular shows like Rugrats and ThunderCats, obscure shows like Cybersix or C.O.W.Boys of Moo Mesa, great shows like Gravity Falls and Amphibia, terrible shows like Sonic Underground. The theme song really is like an advertisement to your show, it has to sell the show to the viewer before they even see the first episode, many theme songs do a great job of selling the show to the viewer while being a pleasant musical experience. We will not be talking about any of those theme songs today.

Some theme songs do not succeed in selling a show, some theme songs are bland, annoying, cringe-inducing, badly-written, badly-sung, incoherent, just all around poorly made. So of course the question now becomes, which ones are the worst? A question that lots and lots of others have discussed, and now I am going to throw my opinion in the ring. These are the worst, the most annoying, the unbearable cartoon theme songs, in English speaking languages that is.

#20. Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century

I like this show, I genuinely do, but I can absolutely see why it has fallen into obscurity. The show is very much nothing special and does have a bit of wasted potential as I have said before. I can also imagine viewers were probably turned off from the theme song. A trend you will notice among theme songs is that a lot of them like to repeat their names over and over again, granted I don't think you really need much explanation for the concept of a show titled "Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century", but that does not change the fact that the theme song is still the show's name repeated ad nauseam  over a weird techno house club beat. There are a lot of theme songs that would have benefited from just being instrumental, but don't let that dissuade you from checking out the show, just be prepared to grab that remote when the "Skip Intro" button appears.

 

#19. Potato Head Kids

 

They gave a cartoon to everything in the 80s, didn't they? I really don't want to be too hard on this one, frankly I didn't even want to put it on the list. Nothing about these theme song is inherently terrible, the lyrics are bland and tell us nothing, and the music is kind of standard for the time, those don't help matters but they really are not "top 20" worthy. However, leniency only stretches so far, and having the main cast sing the song is what warrants the placement on this list. Whoever thought these voices were good enough to sing a theme song, they are wrong and if nobody had a better idea for a theme song than that is very sad.

 

#18. Hong Kong Phooey

You might wonder, how far back do "bad" theme songs go. Surely someone has been complaining about how bad music and lyrics were for television theme songs as far back as the 1960s, but for the purposes of this list, we're only going as far back as the 1970s, 1974 to be exact. It starts with a spoken dialogue bit that is meant to build interest but is just kind of slow, and when it does get to the theme song, it's just kind of bland until around the fifty second mark when they just make a bunch of noises that vaguely sound like kung fu noises... I guess? I dunno, something about this show just rubs me the wrong way.

 

#17. Shirt Tales

I think I've found the most boring theme song in the world, seriously. There are three main parts to this theme song, the introduction, the role-call and the title drop, they do this twice and the lyrics are about as generic as you possibly can get. It's all "Who do you call when you're in trouble" stuff, which only makes me want to listen to "Ghostbusters" which at least has that iconic keyboard riff. The role call isn't really good either, it's like they're trying to keep in beat but just can't quite keep up. Also, poor Bogey is always the last one to be named, justice for Bogey.

 

#16. Super Duper Sumos

Hey, another theme song that repeats it's name over and over again. Okay, that is a bit unfair, there are other lyrics just shouted at you. Otherwise it's just "Super Duper Sumos" and how they got guts and big butts... which is a pun and a butt joke. Having "Guts" means that they are brave, courageous, risk-taking, but they're also fat, so they have a massive gut. I am not worried about explaining the joke here, it wasn't funny to begin with.

 

#15. Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series

Believe it or not, "Ducks Rock" is not the reason this song is on the list. What puts this theme song on the list is that it is some of the worst sounding "Trying to be hip" music I've ever heard. The show premiered in late 1996, so what kind of music should we make our theme song to interest the youths of the time? I know, out of date Glam Rock, and let's get the guy who sang "We Built This City" to sing it. I can think of worse combinations, I guess. In 1996, Alt Rock was the popular form of rock music, Glam Rock was so passe, and stuff like this is the reason why. Cheap Mötley Crüe sound-alikes aren't going to bring the genre back, especially since they weren't even doing their brand of Glam Rock by this time either, Generation Swine was released in 1997. Also, the theme song's title... It actually is "Ducks Rock"... give me Disco Duck anyway of the week.

 

14. Pickle & Peanut

It's just a list of things. The bulk of this theme song is literally just a monotone voice listing off items over a (trap?) beat before "singing" the title of the show. Is it really that easy to write a theme song? let me try.

Pens, cap guns, grapes, erasers, lip balm, duct tape, hey!
Rope, candles, weights, newsprint, aloe, spice mix, yum!

There, that's the theme song to my brand new show, Joe and the Henway, coming to streaming in 8995 AD. Enjoy.

 

13. Pokémon: DP Battle Dimension

Okay, hot take, but Diamond and Pearl is not the worst theme song Pokémon ever had. It is a cringe-inducing attempt at rap, but you know what's worse? The Battle Dimension theme song. Believe it or not, I've always found this theme song worse than Diamond and Pearl's rap, but I couldn't quite figure out why. I assumed it's because of the pillowy-soft music, but on closer inspection I think I know the real reason; this song doesn't feel like a Pokémon theme song. The lyrics are all "brave and strong" and "We can be heroes and change the world" and I'm thinking, "What does this have to do with Pokémon?" When did Pokémon become a generic magical girl anime?

 

12. Breadwinners and Angela Anaconda

I'm putting these two theme songs together because they both have one major problem, and they're both really short.

Breadwinners is the most recent show, so I'll start with that. The instrumentation of this show is obnoxious, it's like dubstep from people who don't know what dubstep sounds like. Not that the lyrics are much better, but it's basically lazy puns (get it, Quazy! Because they're ducks!) and juvenile humour. Really though, it's blessedly short, and that would grant it some leniency, but there was another theme song that was very similar.

Angela Anaconda's big problem is the singing, this girl can't sing. I wonder if this was intentional, like the director said to the voice actress, "alright, we want you to imagine the worst singing voice for your character". This song also has similar issues with lyrics, it's just kind of a nothing sandwich, it's "This is me, this is my show" and nothing else of substance. Between the two of them, I think Angela Anaconda's is worse, but I find them similar enough to warrant making this entry a tie, and it won't be our only one.

 

11. Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island

I think I actually wanted to leave this song off the list, not because I have any fondness for it, but because... it's biggest issue is that it's just kind of confused. What does this theme song want to be? A tropical thing? Something with sci-fi tones? A theme song that shouts it's name over and over again? An instrumental? Something with beat-boxing? This theme really is just the definition of "Throw everything at the wall and see what sticks". Also, never end a theme song to any show with the main character saying "Yay Me!".

 

10. Kung Fu Dino Posse

Another theme song that kind of has no clue what it wants to be, so it does all three weird genres. Generic superhero introduction, cringe rap theme and... epic Broadway choir? The rap part of the theme song is so horribly sung, like the singer is intentionally putting on as nasally a voice as they can, and it has some of the worst jokes you've ever heard, like hilariously mispronouncing the word "pterodactyl". Really, the only reason this show is not higher on the list is because... really who cares? Nobody cares about a show called Kung Fu Dino Posse... note to self, make a blog post about Kung Fu Dino Posse.

 

9. Rugrats 2021 and The Magic School Bus Rides Again

Yep, another shared entry, reboots with remade versions of the original theme songs that are infinitely worse.

Rugrats 2021 decided that it would be a good idea to add a buzzing synth to the start of the theme song, seriously, why did they pick the fuzziest, most unlistenable synth sound they could have picked for this theme song? At the very least, the song becomes tolerable after that, not necessarily good, but tolerable.

The same cannot be said for The Magic School Bus Rides Again, which decided that Little Richard needed to be replaced by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Look, I don't hate Lin-Manuel, he's done stuff I liked and has been in things I really liked, but he just missed the mark for this theme song. A lot of the punch and tight performance from Richard is replaced with trailing off on certain lines, so a line like "Raft a River of Lava" has the final syllable elongated for no reason. Honestly, I could have mistaken this for a Will.i.am cover at points.

Sometimes remaking the theme song for a show can lead to good results, there are lots of people who will argue the 2017 DuckTales theme song is better than the 1987 DuckTales theme song. Really though, that may be the exception rather than the example, because if these two theme songs prove anything, it's that the originals are often untouchable.

8. Hammerman

Hello easy target. Yeah, you all knew this was going to make the list, and you all know the reasons why it was going to make the list. If by some blessed miracle you don't know, seriously thank every god you do and do not believe in if you have not heard this theme song. It's almost so bad it's good, but the crushing length is what brings it down to just being "bad", and you wouldn't think that if you looked it up online, one minute and nineteen seconds, that's a bit on the lengthy side but it's still pretty standard for a cartoon theme song. It's not that the song itself is long, it's that it details every single part of the origin story, straight up to even explaining "Gramps opened up the bag and took out the magical shoes". It drones on giving you every detail of an origin that would have, and should have been shown in the first episode. But again, you knew all that.

 

7. Mew Mew Power and One Piece

 

This is the last shared entry here, and you probably knew these were coming too. Hello 4Kids, nice to see you here. 4Kids is notorious for terrible dub jobs that made anime "more appropriate for children" by which they mean they made everything Americanized and ruined a lot of anime. It didn't help that a lot of their dubs came with awful theme songs.

Mew Mew Power is probably the better of the two here, in that I can see people liking it, but that doesn't mean I get it. This is one of the most generic sounding theme songs in existence, literally any anime could have the lyrics "Team up 'cause it's not too late/We can save the day if we collaborate", I think those were from the scrapped lyrics bin for Sailor Moon... no that's too harsh, Sailor Moon's writers didn't even consider writing those lines. Funny enough, for the theme song to a show called "Mew Mew Power" they really don't have any cat related imagery in the lyrics, they mention birds though! Also, "It's hard to save the world when you're falling in love"? This is a Magical Girl Anime!

Of course, you're not here because of Mew Mew Power, you're here for the infamous, the notorious, the cringe inducing, One Piece rap. I mean, I guess the only thing I have to ask is... why? Why did they decide that an adventure anime about a rubber pirate needed a rap theme song? Really, this is just adding insult to injury, it's like "Ha ha, we're gonna censor the anime to the point that it has no bite to it, remove several episodes and change the story to this anime, and we're also going to give it the worst theme song we possibly could give it."

This is why 4Kids went defunct in... 2017? Really?

6. RoboCop: Alpha Commando

I think the real tragedy of this theme song is that it opens really good. It's got that vibe to it that would totally fit a cyberpunk setting, really if this track was an instrumental, it probably would have been a theme song that people remember fondly. Unfortunately, they had to include lyrics. This is another theme song that has to shout the name of the show for the duration of the theme song... except it doesn't even do that, it just shouts "RoboCop" a bunch of times and hopes that you're find it cool. RoboCop is one of my favourite movies, the satire is still wildly relevant and the action scenes are perfectly bloody, and I guarantee you, adding this theme song to any action scene in the movie, makes it ten times funnier. It's not a good thing, but if you want a good laugh...

 

5. High Guardian Spice

Ladies, gentlemen and everyone outside the binary, I present to you, the literal most generic theme song you will ever hear. Fun fact, I initially put this theme song on my shortlist as a joke. Like I knew it wasn't going to be good, but like I thought it would be Honourable Mentions material at worst. I mean, how bad can it possibly be? Oh... oh dear god... it was bad. I had such a negative reaction hearing this theme song, it says nothing about the show, it says nothing about the characters, it has no identity outside of being tied to... High Guardian Spice... I should have guessed that one of the most generic animated shows of all time would get one of the most, actually no, the most generic theme song of all time. This theme song is so generic it actually makes me mad, like Pickle & Peanut was befuddling, Mew Mew Power was boring, this is actually aggravating. Remind me to watch this entire thing for another blog post in the future.

 

4. The Nutshack

It's the nutshack... it's the nutshack... it's the nutshack... it's the nutshack...

That is the first half of this theme song, just repeating those three words over and over again, until we get another bad rap theme song that is either so poorly sung, so poorly mixed, or both, that it is legit impossible to understand what is being said without using a lyrics sheet to follow along. This is another theme song that has achieved infamous status and memedom, this theme song is so bad, it actually falls into "So bad it's good" territory, because I don't think I have ever heard a theme song this incompetent before. Clearly this is the second worst example of a theme song that sings the title of the show on repeat until it ends... what is the worst?

 

3. Dragon Ball Z

Apparently, this is the Canadian version of the intro, because why did Canada need it's own intro to Dragon Ball Z? Did America just not want to share it's dub intro? Whatever the case, this is another theme song that so bad it's good, because legit, this is hilarious. It's the plainest sounding guys singing "Dragon Dragon Ball" followed by what I can only describe as an "epic toy commercial voice" sings "Dragon Ball Z" for the duration of the theme song, save for one bit in the middle where they sing "Rock the Dragon/Dragon Ball Z", I am genuinely surprised this hasn't fallen into Memedom like The Nutshack theme has. If you're wondering why this is higher on the list than The Nutshack, it's because The Nutshack theme song has actual lyrics. Cybersix this really is not.

2. The Brothers Flub

Finally, the last obvious entry on this list. Come on, as soon as you hear the words "Worst Theme Songs" the first three words you immediately think of are "The" and "Brothers" and "Flub" specifically in that order. This theme technically doesn't count as an instrumental theme, but that's only because the lyrics to this song are literally just "Flub flub flub flub flub!" sang over the most annoying "la-la-la" you will ever hear. I think the only reason this theme song has instrumentation is because some producer had enough common sense to realize that the A Capella la-la flubbing would probably make people go deaf by the desire to cut their ears off with rusty hedge trimmers. it may also explain why they try to drown out the theme song with constant obnoxious noises. I refuse to believe that nobody behind this theme song thought it was a bad idea, someone had to realize that this was awful, but either didn't care or didn't want to throw away all the hard work they put into making this. The only real question is, why the heck is this not number one?

 

1. The Adventures of Kid Danger

I think this is it, the worst cartoon theme song in the world, it is poorly sung, lazily written, has obnoxious dialogue in the middle for no reason... yep, calling it now, this is the worst. it ticks off all the boxes for a bad theme song. Bad lyrics? "This is the song for the Adventures of Kid Danger", I think that counts as a yes. Annoying? Absolutely. Cringe-inducing... You know what, yes, it is cringe inducing. It makes me cringe that anyone thought that this was okay. Like, on some level, Brothers Flub is at least memorable, you're never going to forget it no matter how many spork lobotomies you receive. You might think that would make it worse, but at the very least the "Flub" singing was listenable. This is unlistenable in every aspect. One may argue that it isn't the most bad, but I'd counter by arguing that it is the least good, I can literally make a defence for every other theme song on this list before this one, yes even One Piece, even Coconut Fred, even The Brothers Flub. This is the worst cartoon theme song, and it wasn't even close.

 

Honourable Mentions:

Mega Babies - I mean... barring the bodily noises I'd dare say this one almost sounds pleasant. It's like a tolerable version of The Brothers Flub.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - I was so tempted to throwing this one on the list, it's just another pillowy soft cloud of nothing, but I guess it kinda sorta fits with the show.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power - After High Guardian Spice I realize that I was way too harsh with my initial disdain for this theme song... that doesn't make it good though.

Pac-Man - It's an arcade having a seizure before someone growls "Pac-Man" twice. It's not on the list because I only barely consider it a theme song.

Shaggy and Scooby-Doo, Get a Clue! - Heh heh heh... what a bunch of nonsense. I don't think this is the worst, but uh... yeah it is worthy of disdain.

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure - I left this one off the list solely because it absolutely is the kind of music that Bill and Ted would be all over. It's like if Jay and Silent Bob had a cartoon and the theme song was just stoned mumbling over a Morris Day esque beat, how mad can you really be at that?

Fanboy and Chum Chum - This one was left off the list because it very clearly intended on being annoying... it just failed at being annoying properly.

The Wacky World of Tex Avery - Gross and Annoying... what a winning combo...

My Gym Partner's a Monkey - You know, this show would be a horrible title if it wasn't absolutely literal.

Movie Review: Dinosaur Adventure - The WORST Animated Feature Ever

So, you might have noticed I'm not doing a lot of Movie Reviews this year. Basically, I've found that I enjoy writing editorials more and they get more views so I decided to step away and take a break from movie reviews. Really, it's a good thing though because after a hundred reviews you kind of start to run out of ways to say things like "This animation is Bad" or "These characters aren't interesting", so really editorials are just easier to write as well. I mean, is there any kind of animation that is so abysmal, so poorly-constructed, so infamous that it could not only reinvigorate my need to be a critic, but also offend me on such a deep level that I can actually be pissed off at what is ultimately an inoffensive and mostly harmless movie? I mean, what kind of movie would exist that is both harmless and completely offensive? It would have to be something so cheap, so poorly made, so transparently blatant that I would have no choice but to review it, but a movie like that could never exist right? Every one who works in any artistic field has to have some amount of love and passion for what they do, even if it doesn't always end up with a good product. Anyway, this is my review of the Dingo Pictures movie Dinosaur Adventure.

And yes this movie qualifies for a review, it's a "technically" review since the movie is under an hour, but over forty minutes.

This is usually where I would recount the plot. So, a young dinosaur hatchling is forced to go to a dinosaur class where they learn that a volcano is about to erupt and destroy their homeland. Nobody believes the teacher, and then the volcano erupts and destroys their homeland, so the last half of the movie is the dinosaur hatchling, their teacher and another friend looking for dinosaur survivors, including the hatchling's parents. Pretty basic plot right? It is, and you know what else it is? So very ungodly boring. Like I was watching this movie with a friend, and I was zoning out so many times because the movie was just so boring, not that it does any good to zone out because by my friend's words, the movie is full of the characters standing around and doing nothing but talking, very little is shown to progress the plot, everything has to be explained verbally. If you are not paying any attention, or you don't have any audio because you're watching this over a Discord call, you might miss some information. Granted most of the information is absolute filler, but you might miss something.

Of course, you may also miss something because of the awful audio mixing and voice acting. I have heard awful voice acting before, but Dingo Pictures productions really take the cake. It really does sound like they pulled random people out of their offices, gave them one take to record something and didn't bother giving them any directions. It also hurts a lot that a lot of the actors speak so softly that they are almost whispering sometimes, it is not too bad in this movie, Animal Soccer World is far worse in that regard because the voice tracks absolutely get drowned out by the music track in that one, but second worst is not that much better. Speaking of Animal Soccer World, the music is lifted right out of that animation. I bet they reuse that music in other productions too, because why bother getting a cheap keyboard at a second-hand store and futzing about on it?

I will give the movie this over Animal Soccer World, it looks somewhat, maybe even partially better. The animation is horrible, some characters look traced from other properties (Cough, The Land Before Time, Cough), some character designs are just absolutely baffling, lip-sync is almost non-existent, There is a scene with a realistic dinosaur skeleton just photoshopped into the environment, movement is stilted, and sometimes the characters heads just vibrate because... animating laughter is hard. However, everything in this movie mostly looks like it belongs, you're not going to get a dalmatian and a jungle panther standing next to a duck biker gang for instance. Still, that may be a knock against this movie because it is absolutely nothing special to look at, like most of the scenes are filled with nothing and are completely barren to look at. Animal Soccer World at least, I can't believe I'm writing this, retained some interest, even if that interest was just by wondering what could be stranger than an anthropomorphic bird in a trench coat or cheerleader pigs.

I mean, you knew all this right? This movie and company are notorious thanks largely to memes. They are worse than Golden Films, WowNow Entertainment, The Asylum, arguably even worse than Vídeo Brinquedo. Is that really fair though? It's not like they're making anything that is genuinely harmful or offensive, they just make cheap kids movies right? Wrong, they make cheap, soulless, transparent cash grab kids movies. I'm fairly certain showing this movie to children counts as child abuse and a violation of the Geneva Convention, and I'm not even being facetious when I say that because watching this movie was torture. I Have never had such an unpleasant movie viewing experience in a long time, and the fact that this movie is just a transparent attempt to swindle people into buying a movie because it looks like another movie, or has something that kids might like on the cover. That is what offends me, that they could not even pretend to care about the movie they were making.

I have said it before that I have less respect for those kind of "-Lite" knock-offs, you know movies like The Swan Princess or Quest for Camelot, movies which are very clearly knock-offs but they have a budget and are released theatrically. I said that I have less respect for those movies than direct-to-video mockbusters, largely it is an elitism thing, I think that there is more meaning and prestige to a movie that gets released theatrically and putting a prettied up mockbuster in theatres is just kind a waste. The truth is I don't really have respect for either, but direct-to-video releases are easier to ignore. Still, I think this might be the least respectable movie I've ever seen, it is also the least good, least entertaining and least redeemable movie I have ever seen. The mere existence of this movie offends me, which is not something I can say about The Misty Green Sky, yes, this movie is worse than The Misty Green Sky. At least that movie had ambition, ideas, I'd even argue passion. Do I even need to say it? This movie gets the rating of "AVOID".

And I didn't even watch the Italian version with the "Yee" meme, I watched the English dub!

7 Animation Myths, Rumours and Urban Legends Busted, Debunked and Questioned

 Trigger Warnings:

-Suicide
-Phallic Imagery

 

The world is full of urban legends, and honestly, these can be some of the most entertaining rabbit holes to explore. You get legends like "Dial a certain number on your cellphone and it magically charges it for you" to things like "The Cat-wolf-goat witch of Butt-knuckle nowhere who eats your eyes unless you offer her a cup of sassafras tea while singing old English sea shanties", these urban legends can get absolutely wild. Unsurprisingly, the art world is also full of these myths and urban legends, and they are especially prevalent in animation.

What it is about animation and urban legends is hard to guess. It might be because some people misremembered something, misunderstood a scene they watched, or just retold a story they heard the wrong way, sometimes things get misreported, sometimes opinion gets confused as fact, sometimes Fact A combines with Fact B to make Possibility Z, things happen. Regardless, there are a lot of rumours, urban legends and myths about animated shows and movies that just are not true, and some that are. So I figured it would be fun to talk about some of these myths and see if I can find the truth about them. So, with all of that said, here are five animation myths busted, and some others confirmed.

Before we begin I want to give an honourable mention to the Sponge Boy story. The story that the original name for SpongeBob, which was Sponge Boy, was already taken by a mop or cleaning product and so could not be used. I was tempted to include this one on the list, but I learned of it literally two days ago, so I'm gonna leave this link to a video by YouTuber Kid Leaves Stoop about the story.

7. Literally anything regarding creepypasta

Thumbnail Credit: "Cartoon Creepypastas are Dumb" by LS Mark, "Top 10 Worst Nickelodeon Creepypastas" by PhantomStrider, and "Top 10 Worst SPONGEBOB CREEPYPASTAS (Feat. PhantomStrider)" by HoodoHoodlumsRevenge

Okay, this one is kind of cheating, but I have to mention this because I know someone is going to bring up this "Lost SpongeBob Episode for being too dark" or "How everything in this show is actually just a dream or hallucination" or something like that, so let me break this down; the general rule is that, if it's a creepypasta, it's safe to assume it isn't true.

I feel like the big reason people even humour the notion that anything creepypasta related is true is simply the fact that, on some level, we all want it to be. We want there to be a lost Mickey Mouse short film that is satanic and evil, why? Because we want to expose every bad thing The Walt Disney Company ever did, and a short film that causes people to go crazy? That would be a perfect thing to dirty up Disney's squeaky clean image. A lost SpongeBob episode involving suicide? Of course we want that to be real, because it would explain why an episode like One Course Meal or A Pal For Gary exist.

What also gets to me are all the theories that people make about certain shows. Pokémon is actually all Ash's comatose dreams, Ed, Edd n' Eddy takes place in purgatory, the children in South Park are all ghosts, Family Guy is actually a mental delusion by Peter after his kids died in a car accident and his wife committed suicide. I did not make any of these theories up by the way. I think on some level we talk about these theories because, they are some explanations as to why the usual quirks of cartoons are the way they are. Like, why does Ash Ketchum stay 10 for his entire pokémon journey? Well of course it's because he's actually in a coma. Why do the kids in South Park never age despite the world around them changing? Well obviously they are all the ghosts of murdered children. Like, I get the temptation and the need to look deeper into things, but sometimes the curtains are just blue, you know.

I almost don't want to give too much guff about this, I fell into these traps too as a kid, and it's not like this is a new thing. I remember talking about a "Lost SpongeBob Episode" which was supposedly the final episode of the series, an episode where SpongeBob smoked, swore, and killed Mr. Krabs and Squidward. Still though, one does have to apply some common sense and logic to these cases, Disney making a short film that makes people kill themselves? Walt Disney was a lot of things, but a satanic sorcerer who put curses on his short films? I doubt he was that. The South Park kids being ghosts because they never age? I think a floating timeline is a better explanation.

I like to think that Creepypasta is losing its popularity, but recently I got a creepypasta screamer add-on for Garry's Mod, so maybe not. Creepypasta is so early 2010s.

 

6. Class of 3000 was dropped because of a lawsuit

Class of 3000 was not a cartoon I grew up with, I don't really remember watching much TV when it was airing, and it was never on when I was watching TV. Me not watching Cartoon Network because I had Teletoon instead might have also had something to do with it, though it's not like it wouldn't have aired on Teletoon. Anyway, the point I'm making is, the only times I ever heard of this rumour, was when it was being debunked.

Class of 3000 was a Cartoon Network show created by and starring musician André 3000, the premise was about a music teacher who taught about music, from the history to the creation of it and everything in between and beyond, and each episode featured one original song. Then, one day in 2008, the show just disappeared, and no real explanation was given, but there was a possibility. Around the same time, someone allegedly sued Cartoon Network over infringement, because they also pitched an idea about a music teacher who taught about music, from the history to the creation of it, and everything between and beyond, and each episode would feature one original song. This lead to people assuming the show was cancelled because of said lawsuit.

I'm not a lawyer so don't take anything I say as legal advice, but this kind of reminds me of two cartoons from the 1980s. You know why there were two different shows titled "Ghostbusters" in the 1980s? because one was based on the 1980s movie, with the characters and objects from the 1980s movie, titled "The Real Ghostbusters", and the other was based on a 1975 sitcom, and had characters and objects based on things from the 1975 sitcom. So, while someone did in fact sue Cartoon Network, as well as André 3000 and Turner Broadcasting, he lost the suit because Class of 3000 was determined to be different enough to not violate any copyright.

So why was it cancelled? Well, according to a comment designer David Colman made on DeviantArt, the ratings of the show were too low to justify the high cost of making it. It also appears that it was not an easy show to make, especially since André was probably busy with... you know other priorities since he is a musician. So, there you go, it was not due to a lawsuit, it was due to ratings... it's funny how this lesson of "It's usually pulled for ratings" is not a lesson we learn easily.

 

5. Korra was pulled from air for homophobia

Okay, of all the rumours on this list, this is probably the most believable, given the time period it was happening, frankly I can't blame anyone for believing it, honestly I'm not even sure if I fully disbelieve it. However, fair is fair so let's talk about The Legend of Korra, and how it was treated by Nickelodeon.

The Legend of Korra was the sequel series to Avatar: The Last Airbender, it featured the new Avatar, Korra, and her own journey of becoming the Avatar. Regardless of what you think about The Legend of Korra, and frankly I'm not the biggest fan of it, but the show was not treated well by Nickelodeon. In the late 2010s, Nickelodeon was pulling shows left and right because, the late 2010s was a transitionary period that nobody was prepared for, people were ditching cable to move towards streaming, and this meant that ratings started to dip for a lot of shows, even popular ones. However, something else was happening around the late 2010s, there was more of a push about queer rights and representation.

Why is that latter bit necessary? Because it was rumoured that the reason Korra was officially pulled from the network and dumped online, was because it was known that Korra and Asami were going to end up in a relationship at the end of the finale. Again, it is easy to understand why one would think this, many companies, especially Disney, have been very... apathetic about queer representation, preferring to make very minor queer characters that can easily be erased for markets that don't allow these characters on screen. The thing is, unless you were super into subtext, the only hint we got that Korra and Asami were going to get together, was right at the very end. To be fair, it is kind of hard to address your feelings in the middle of a giant mech fight, because Korra had a giant Mech fight, what was this show‽

Also, it is worth pointing out that, while Nickelodeon did treat this show horribly, it wasn't the only show of the 2010s that they mistreated, Harvey Beaks is also very much in this group chat, also according to Bryan Konietzko, the show did way better online and in streaming than on TV, so with all of that, I am going to go on a limb and say that it wasn't because of some light evidence of a same-sex relationship. You don't have to believe the official statement, but the official statement is made.

 

4. The Road Runner Rules

This one is... questionable, in that we have information to verify one part of this rumour, but not enough to fully confirm nor debunk this, so bear with me because this one may be true, may be false, or may just be true but misrepresented, or false but based on some truth, lots of rumours and urban legends fall under one of those four categories.

The Road Runner and Coyote are a famous Looney Tunes duo who debuted in 1949 in the short film Fast and Furry-ous, and have starred in a total of 41 cartoons from 1949 to 1966, with an additional nine cartoons from 1979 until 2014, and they have been mainstays in the Looney Tunes ensemble since their debut. These shorts were created by Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese, both of whom are animation legends. Famously, Chuck Jones had a list of nine rules that he laid out in his book Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist, these rules pertained to the Road Runner cartoons, and all the writers behind these cartoons had to stick to them.

Now, here is where this gets fuzzy, because Chuck may have had these rules, however it is also possible that these were just rules that he stuck to when he wrote these shorts, or rules he wrote down for other future creators to follow when making Road Runner cartoons, because Michael Maltese never actually heard about these rules. It also doesn't help that another writer, Jason Kottke, had a different list with eleven rules, so what does this mean? It means either, Chuck Jones ever actually wrote down these rules and only did so later in life, or these rules never actually existed in the first place, because some of these rules are just strange.

Rule 5 states that "The Road Runner Must stay on the Road - Otherwise, logically, he would not be called a road runner". There are many instances of the Road Runner running on not road things, including cliffs, fake roads and even the air. Rule 2 states that "No outside force can harm the Coyote - only his own ineptitude of the failure of acme products." There are moments where the Road Runner does actually cause harm to the Coyote, not directly of course, he usually just beeps at him and makes him jump off a cliff or into some rocks. Also, there are a couple times the Coyote gets hit by a vehicle or directly run over by the Road Runner, which also breaks Rule 1, which states that "The Road Runner cannot harm the Coyote except by going 'Beep-Beep!'". One of the extra rules from Kottke states that "The audience's sympathy must remain with the Coyote." which, I feel just kind of misses the point of the whole concept of the shorts, and directly contradicts Rule 3, which states that "The Coyote could stop anytime - if he were not a fanatic."

It might be fun to go through each cartoon and see how many times the rules are broken, but for now, I think with the fact that Michael Maltese never heard of these rules, there is contradicting evidence about how many rules there are, and the fact that some of these rules are very much not followed, or at least were not initially followed, I think it's safe to say that this is not one-hundred percent the truth.

 

3. Little Mermaid, Big Phallus

Alright, almost everything else on this list has been, and will be heavily involved, so let's do something that's relatively simpler. It was common rumour at the time, and still today that there is a phallus drawn on the cover of the VHS release of Disney's The Little Mermaid, and some even make the claim the it was a deliberate move by a disgruntled artist who was being laid off from Disney.

According to Snopes, this is not true. It is true that there is a tower in the background of the image that looks like a male phallus, actually there are a couple but one in particular that looks really phallic. The truth is that it was completely accidental, according to Snopes, the artist rushed to get the video release cover finished and did not even notice the resemblance until he heard people talk about the controversy. It also is not true that this was just for the VHS release, it's also on the theatrical posters.

Really, I could have gone with any weird Disney renaissance sex rumour, like the word "sex" appearing in dust and pollen in The Lion King, which was actually meant to be a nod to the Sound Effects crew of the movie by spelling "SFX", and I remember one person online claiming that Aladdin was telling people to take of their clothes, when he was whispering for a tiger to "Take off and go", it is easy to see these things, especially when we are looking for them, but it does not change the fact that none of it is true.

There is also a claim that Disney has a whole bunch of pornographic drawings of their characters that were drawn by Disney staff, whether or not this is real is debatable, I can see arguments being made on both sides, of course the rumoured Mickey and Minnie sex tape can also be thrown into this section, but the main point of this bit was the untrue stuff about Sex and the Disney Renaissance movies, so there you go.

 

2. Hey Arnold had a Suicide in it

Alright, back to the heavy stuff,  on November 20, 1996, the Nickelodeon show Hey Arnold! aired episode 14b, "Pigeon Man". The episode is about Arnold meeting the mysterious recluse known as Pigeon Man, in hopes he will take care of one of Arnold's sick pigeons. In the end, Arnold befriends Pigeon Man, but Arnold's friends trash his place, causing Pigeon Man to fly away towards the setting sun.

The rumour is that the original ending of the episode was that Pigeon man jumped off the side of the building and died, and that Nickelodeon had to step in and reject this ending outright, this leads to a similar theory that the ending is an allegory for suicide with the image of Pigeon Man flying towards the sun being Arnold blocking out the image of Pigeon Man jumping to his death.

Craig Bartlett has admitted that he hates this theory and he specifically put Pigeon Man in The Jungle Movie to put the rumours to rest. Pigeon Man was never meant to commit suicide, and he was never meant to be considered an allegory for suicide. I think this one was though about because, Hey Arnold! is one of the darker Nicktoons, not as dark as Invader Zim, but it was definitely darker than something like Rocko's Modern Life or KaBlam! was. It did seem plausible that the writers would try to get something like a suicide allegory into the show. Funny enough, in 1999 the episode "Dino Checks Out" aired, which was about the character Dino Spumoni faking his own death, and in 2003, the episode "Ghost Bride" aired, where Gerald tells the story of a ghost bride who was left at the altar and her fiance married her sister instead, so she murdered them both and jumped out the window to her death.

I think because of these later episodes, and the general tone of the show, it made sense for a lot of people that "Pigeon Man" would have such a dark ending, but the reality is that it was never the case, Pigeon Man was always going to fly off into the sunset, and he was always going to be alive at the end of the episode.

 

1. The Who and What Bears?

Let's finish this by discussing probably the most well known myth about... well okay this isn't about animation but it is animation adjacent, so I might as well talk about it. So, here's a question, were the books "Berenstain" or "Berenstein" for you growing up? That's a fun question because it has lead people to what is known as "The Mandela Effect", which is a term given to false memories, and has devolved into a conspiracy about parallel universes, named after Nelson Mandela, who people believed had died in prison in the 1980s, even though in 1993 he was one of the recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize.

So a lot of people swear that the spelling of the name of both the bears and the authors of the books was spelled "Berenstein", however all the books are spelled "Berenstain", so what gives? Well, Mike Berenstain, current author of the books and the son of Stan and Jan Berenstain, has stated that this confusion actually predates the books, as one of Stan's teachers in elementary school said that "Berenstain" was not a real name and changed it to "Berenstein", but the name "Berenstain" is on the birth-certificates of Mike's grandparents, and other documents.

It might be due to the fact that the family was Jewish, so a "Stein" suffix to their surname would be expected, but the family was also Ukrainian, so the pronunciation of their names would have been different, so if they immigrated to the United States, whoever was documenting their arrival might have tried to spell their name phonetically, though Mike also says that spelling it as such was what the family did.

Of course, it is not out of the realm of possibility that the Berenstein surname was also used to sign the books a couple of times. Shakespeare had several ways to spell his surname, which leads to the theory that he either did not exist and was the sixteenth century equivalent of Alan Smithee, or that Shakespeare was not actually the writer of any of his work. The difference of course being that the Berenstains died in the twenty-first century, and have a lot more records about them written down.

 

So there we are, seven famous rumours, myths and urban legends about animation completely busted, or partially busted. I think ultimately there is an importance to doing stuff like this, Todd in the Shadows did a similar video about James Somerton and a bunch of mistruths and lies he spread in his videos, and the thesis of that was that the truth matters, and in some regards that is also the thesis of this blog. Really though, this is not spreading misinformation about medicine or even making weird claims about Nazis and fitness culture, at best this is silly nonsense kids talked about at school, and at worst it is accusing companies of things, neither of which are really crimes or even really wrong.

But still, eventually you are going to have to learn the truth behind these rumours. I don't really want to think about people who hold on to the idea that Hey Arnold! was going to have Arnold witness a suicide. Like, why do you still want to believe that? Do you really want to believe that the spelling of a surname is the proof that there are multiple universes that we jump between at random? What do you get from that, outside of people looking at you like you have a second head? I think the reality is that when you just accept something as a fact without looking into it, it only proves you're more gullible than you think.

Glitch Pitch Pilot Play: The Gaslight District vs The Amazing Digital Circus

April 18th, 2025, Good Friday. That was the day that GLITCH Productions premiered the pilot to their latest show, The Gaslight District. I've gotta say, this show was pretty hyped, the trailer got a fair bit of attention on social media, and on the pilot's premier date, amassed 3.6 Million views. To put that into perspective, that is almost 0.5 million views away from surpassing the teaser for another Glitch Production, Knights of Guinevere, the show that Owl House creator Dana Terrace is working on with Glitch. The teaser for that show was published on January 17th, and it has amassed 4.1 Million views, as of The Gaslight Districts release date. I'd say that the hype reminded me of another Glitch Productions show, but that would be untrue, from my perspective The Amazing Digital Circus kind of came out of nowhere and caught me off-guard. I've never heard of GLITCH productions until then, though I might have heard of Murder Drones, but it never really stuck in my mind.

So The Gaslight District pilot premiered, I checked it out, I liked it. Genuinely, I do like it, I would definitely rank it higher than the pilot to LS Mark's show Catching Up. The Gaslight District pilot is about a crime family in a post apocalyptic world pulling off a major heist, stealing "The Human Egg", which is problematic because one of the members, Mel, is prophesized to bring the end times to this world. I gotta say, I am definitely engrossed in this world, these characters and this scenario and I definitely want to see where it goes from here. I do really like this pilot... but do I love it? It's got everything here, good characters, great artstyle, fantastic premise... and yet, I don't know if I love it. Why?

I hate to do this... seriously, I genuinely do not want to make this comparison, but I think it would be pertinent to compare it with The Amazing Digital Circus pilot. To be absolutely clear, I am not making this comparison to bring down The Gaslight District, I think The Gaslight District is a good pilot and absolutely warrants a viewing, this is entirely an examination of why I had strong feelings for one and not the other. This is self interrogation, not an indictment of any pilot or show.

It would be wise to begin with what both pilots got right, and that is character designs. I can't say that either show has wholly unique character designs, but they absolutely stand out even among similar character types. What separates Ragatha from Raggedy Ann? Well Ragatha has a simpler style dress, she has a shirt button for an eye, and a less round head shape. What separates Mel from other Mummy type characters? She has red eyes, big gloves and boots, and also she doesn't have zombie green skin. Both shows have recognizable and identifiable characters, and that may be one of the reasons I'm not as much a fan of The Gaslight District. The characters are identifiable, and I've seen them before, the protective but loving father, the rambunctious daughter, the shifty-slimy side character. Granted these are not bad takes on the characters, in fact I actually really like Mel and Mud quite a bit, but I've seen them before.

"So what?' I hear you asking, 'It's not like the Amazing Digital Circus has wholly original characters either."
You're absolutely right, if anything the characters may be less original in Amazing Digital Circus, because let's see, a rabbit character who likes pulling tricks and getting under people's skin? Yeah, Jax is pretty much just the next "Trickster Rabbit" character, made popular by the likes of Br'er Rabbit or Bugs Bunny, but an archetype that has existed since Native American Folklore. Amazing Digital Circus does not have the most unique characters either, so it clearly is not the characters. Besides, it wasn't until episode 2 that the Digital Circus crowd got any real depth, so it's highly likely that the same will happen with The Gaslight District.

Maybe then it's the artstyle? Amazing Digital Circus has a much more colourful and cleaner artstyle than The Gaslight District does, but that is kind of the point, The Gaslight District is a gross, disgusting looking show, and it is meant to be. Amazing Digital Circus was meant to look like a more polished early 90s 3D animation, that is the artstyle that fits with that show. Gaslight District is meant to be an ugly looking show with violence, disgusting imagery and other nasty stuff. I think the moment I knew that I was not going to hate this artstyle was when Mud coughed up a bullet for his rifle in the opening, that was gross, absolutely, but it's the kind of gross that sets up the world and character. Really, I think The Gaslight District is visually more interesting than The Amazing Digital Circus, solely because it is darker, grittier and grosser.

I mean really, on a technical level The Gaslight District is fantastic, I really do like a lot of the visual flairs that give it almost a comic book kind of feel, like I can see this pilot being adapted into an amazing comic book, it took me by surprise when The Amazing Digital Circus was announced to be adapted into a manga, but I would not be surprised if a comic book adaptation was announced for The Gaslight District. Plus, the music is great, maybe not as memorable as The Amazing Digital Circus, but it might grow on me, and the voice acting is once again perfectly cast. Allanah Fitzgerald really did capture that spunky and rambunctious vibe of Mel, Jason Marnocha as Ken was just a role I can not imagine a person in the booth, it really did seem like that voice was meant for that character. of course, Michael Kovach is also in this, but he's in every webshow by now.

So, I guess the truth of the matter is, I just prefer the kind of Show The Amazing Digital Circus is a lot more than the kind of show The Gaslight District is. The Amazing Digital Circus is a dark comedy with a more psychological edge to it, whereas The Gaslight District is a crime drama, the video description for the pilot even says as much. I love me some crime movies, but I'll admit I'm pretty basic with the genre, The Shawshank Redemption and The Usual Suspects are my two favourite crime movies for example. The Amazing Digital Circus on the other hand reminded me a lot of things like The Gregory Horror Show and The Stanley Parable, and I am just going to gravitate more towards that kind of thing, I think. I definitely think this is the kind of show that I will grow to love as it goes along, but it's probably not something I would have checked out if it wasn't associated with Glitch Productions.

Again, I don't want anyone to come out of this thinking that The Gaslight District is not at all worth watching, it absolutely is, and I really can see arguments for people saying it's better than The Amazing Digital Circus. Honestly, I think it has the potential for being better than The Amazing Digital Circus, but I think I'll still like The Digital Circus just that tiny bit more. Still, I am absolutely down to seeing more of The Gaslight District, I have no worries that it will get picked up and we'll get a good selection of episodes. So, right now I may not love it, but I am open to the possibility of the show making me love it. Well Glitch Productions, you seem to have another hit on your hands, keep up the fantastic work,

Autism Awarness Month: Is the Media's Representation of Autism Actually Good?

It must be annoying to hear another person complain about representation in media. I get it, trust me, I hate talking about it as much as people hate listening to it, arguably even more because people hate listening to it. Representation is important though, it matters to people, it used to not matter to me because I internalized my ableism thanks to years in a school system that tried its best but was still not as accommodating as I needed it to be in hindsight. In recent years I have been better at accepting, accommodating and adapting with my Autism, I have found comics and graphic novels to be a good alternative to traditional novels, I'm finding new stim-toys that I enjoy, and I'm doing what I can to educate people about autism.

I think ultimately, the answer I can give is "No, but yes, but absolutely not, but kind of, but really I don't know" and that is sadly the straightest answer I think you'll get from me. The media representation of autistic, and really most other neurodivergent people, has never been particularly favourable, with one end of the spectrum being cases like Forrest Gump and Rain Man, the character who is not very smart except for one or two very specific interests, typically some form of mathematics or science, not socially bright, usually needing someone beside them to get them through life, you may also notice that these characters tend to be on the scrawnier, beanpole-ier side of physical builds. This kind portrayal is usually offensive to those in autistic communities, but on the other end of the spectrum, you get things like Music. The problem is, those are cases where the characters are confirmed, or heavily implied to be on the spectrum, it really is sad when the best representation autistic people have comes from characters who are not canonically autistic.

I did a blog last year where I talked about characters that I related to, and the sad thing is that not a single one was canonically autistic, but they had so many traits and characteristics of Autistic Spectrum Disorder that, canon or not, they resonated with me, and some of them have resonated with other people as well. It really does make me question why autistic traits can be given to characters who are not officially autistic. I have to wonder if the creators of these characters were undiagnosed or knew undiagnosed people, which would not surprise me because... well something you may notice about "Hollywood Autistic" characters is that a good number of them are white men. Media does not reflect reality, it reflects ones perception and opinions of reality, and the perception really does seem to be that only certain people get autism, and sadly, people are not helping the perception.

Something that really bothers me is the "Cutie-fication" of autism, largely because it plays on another big stereotype of autistic people, infantilization. It really does feel like a lot of people want to focus on the "cuter" parts of autism, you know the plushie collecting and the stimming and hyper-fixations and the like, rather than the uncomfortable parts. The parts like not being able to sleep because every piece of physical stimuli is causing you agony, emotional outbursts and the mountains of unfinished projects that you never got around to finishing because your hyper-fixation lasted less time than you anticipated and now you're obsessed with something completely different. If I were to hazard a guess, I would assume that this is a response to all the "Autism is evil and a disease" rhetoric that groups like Autism Speaks have been spreading over the years. So instead, let's focus on aspects of autism that are not that harmful, adorable even, stuff like the ability to build Minecraft mega-builds in an hour or "Autism Nests", because we don't want people to associate Autism with the bad stuff.

It's kind of a horribly imbalanced scale, because in media representation, Autism representation is terrible, and I haven't even listed the worst examples, I don't even want to dignify Music or The Good Doctor, but on the other side is people going too far in the opposite direction. It reminds me, on some level, about portrayals of disabled people, how they're often made to be super competent despite their disability as some kind of inspiration, or on another hand are made to be bad guys because of their disability. I remember one journalist being mad at Detective Pikachu because the antagonist of that movie was a disabled man in a wheelchair, and his entire plot revolved around him being a disabled man in a wheelchair. I think to me, the problem lies in the fact that for disabled people, including neurodivergent people, there really is no in-between, it's either one end of the character spectrum or the other, with very little in between. Sure wheelchair users have Joe Swanson, Professor X or that episode of Little Clowns of Happytown, but they also have Elijah Price from Unbreakable. It's either, "this character might as well not be disabled" or "This character's arc entirely revolves around being disabled".

I guess the deeper issue here is that media representation of all disabilities is kind of awful, so I guess the next question is "what do we do?", and the answer to that is really simple. People like to think that getting into media creation is difficult, and yes it can be, if you're aiming to be a Steven Spielberg. The thing lots of people don't really talk about is how much media is created by independent, underground and smaller creators, we all like to dog on Kevin Smith but he was an independent film creator when he made Clerks. I want to give this advice to everyone who says things like "Hollywood should tell this story" or "There should be more of these characters", tell those stories and create those characters yourself. It's kind of harsh advice, I get it, but it is the truth, you can't just wait until business folk decide that this super-niche story is worth telling.

To wrap this up, I guess it is only fair if I do my part and point you all into some directions of autistic creators. My go to recommendation for autistic and neurodivergent content creators is usually Animation reviewer TheMysteriousMrEnter, and as he is the first person I learned about Autism Speaks from, I think his video is a good place to start. YouTube user I'm Autistic, Now What? also has a video about Autism Speaks, and a video about Hollywood's representation of autism, full disclosure I haven't watched these videos, but that latter video came upon my feed and seeing the title gave me the inspiration to write this. Paige Layle also has a video about Autism Speaks, PhantomStrider has a video about busting myths about autism, and to wrap this up, Amethyst Schaber also has a video about Autism Speaks, yes it is a very popular topic amongst autistic people. This is by no means a complete list, but it should be a good start. I think proper education is always the first step in fighting any adversary, and while the media might not represent autistic people very well, we can at least do our part to change that.