Yeah, one of the things I haven’t mentioned yet is the company behind Clara. It’s not an indie cartoon because it got picked up by Glitch Productions or SpindleHorse, nothing like that. Clara is actually the debut production of Matt Braly’s own indie animation studio, Fantasy Project! I guess Matt and I have something in common. If you don’t like your odds of making it in the industry, just found your own company! Okay, it’s certainly a little more complex than that. There’s more to getting your show off the ground independently than just looking at the people who rejected your pitch, and saying, “screw y’all, I’ll do it myself.” I don’t know if you know this, but animation costs money. In fact, quite a bit of money depending on how much of it you wanna make. Even though Clara is only planned to be a four-episode limited series, Matt and the handful of Amphibia alumni he brought on board, didn’t just have the cash lying around. They decided to try a Kickstarter campaign, which was already a bit of a gamble. Luckily, there were still enough loyal fans to get the first episode’s animation funded in under 15 minutes. The goal there was just $25,000, but with a final total of $443,662, almost the full series achieved its final funding goal (that being $450,000). It’s not too far-fetched anymore for the rest of that money to be made back in ad revenue. Suffice to say, there’s an audience for Clara, but Matt didn't really know that going in. Even if he knew that there were enough fans of his work that their couple bucks each would add up to 25 grand, there was still an underlying fear ahead of the Kickstarter’s launch: “Is anyone actually gonna give us any money?” Quick reminder: Kickstarter is always at least a little risky. It’s all or nothing; if you don’t reach the goal in the limited time, whatever money you did raise doesn’t count for anything. And even though Matt and the crew passed their goal with flying colors in the end, they were super nervous. Thankfully, the future does look bright.

You might be wondering what the ultimate goal is for Clara and Fantasy Project, assuming all goes well and it’s a hit. This is what Matt shared in his interview with Kevin from The Roundtable, discussing his plans for the future. The thing about Clara and why he’s doing it himself, is that it’s not the kind of series that Hollywood studios would be interested in. It's not planned to be horrifically inappropriate or anything, but it’s certainly not as PG as Amphibia. It’s a gothic horror retelling of The Nutcracker, where the titular Clara has to travel to the mysterious land simply known as the Below, to save her dying ex-military father. She has to fight the spirits of soldiers her father killed in battle along the way, so it’s a classic sins of the father type of story. The dark undertones and concepts are one thing, but it’s also planned to be very light on dialogue. The characters have dedicated voice actors, yes, but they’re probably not coming in handy until the second episode. It’s like Matt saw his movie get canceled, and said, “oh, I’ll freakin’ show you ‘not marketable enough for general audiences.’” However, the plan is to eventually bring the show to theaters. It’s a lot like what’s happening now with the last episode of Digital Circus. It’ll be a two-week theatrical event before it hits YouTube, and thankfully, it’s showing theaters that there’s a way forward for indie animation beyond just putting them up on social media for free. Matt wants to put the fourth and final episode of Clara in theaters as a holiday event movie kinda thing, but that’s of course assuming the other episodes do well on YouTube first. He’s fairly certain that they’ll need at least two of the four episodes out and doing well before they can find a distributor to partner with. Still, he believes that what indie artists need is a regular box office. Successfully selling tickets is the only way for indie animation to become a sustainable career field. His words, not mine, but he would know. Just getting the Kickstarter ready to go put him over 10 grand in debt. From creating and publishing the backer rewards to putting an animation test together so fans knew what they were paying for. All of that was $10,000 of Matt Braly’s own money, and that wasn’t even the hard part. He sort of hated to ask for fans’ money, and he only really resorted to Kickstarter because he was in so much debt. Animated series don’t make their money back right away when they’re posted online for free, and sadly, it’s still the better alternative to pitching a show around town. At least if they hope to make what they’re actually passionate about. Maybe people wouldn’t resort to crowdfunding their projects, if getting greenlit in Hollywood wasn’t like the lottery. Luckily, we now know what a mainstream box office for an independent project would look like, and because of that, I think things are looking up.

Although Matt Braly had already garnered a name and reputation by the time he went indie, his new studio is paving a path forward for smaller creators. If we support Clara and the Below by watching it when it comes out, we’re only getting closer to making indie animation sustainable. Major studios still seem to think that generative AI is where it’s at, but it’s very cynical of them. Human art made in earnest is what people want to witness, invest their time and emotions into, and more importantly, spend their money on. And if at this point, flourishing as an artist means distributing that art yourself, sobeit. We still need to do our part and support indie cartoons when they come out, but with any luck like we’ve seen so far, the internet can bring creators old and new into the spotlight. We’ve seen Glitch put out a bunch of new pilots in the past couple years, including but not limited to Knights of Guinevere from Owl House creator Dana Terrace. Starting your own small business is more feasible than ever nowadays, and while you still have to sell your pitches, the artistry and passion is what will speak to people. I know it seems hard to compete with AI “art” now, but believe you me, humans don’t just wanna see pure products. People don’t like to spend their money on art if there’s no human element to it. I guess what I mean to say is: don’t be afraid to put your artwork out there. Pick up a pencil, make something, take a picture of your work, post it online, and someone will appreciate it, I promise. If you’ve created a world and want others to see it, what are you waiting for? I’m sure your experience making it will shine through, resonate with, and inspire others. If Fantasy Project finds success like what Glitch has had, social media like YouTube and Instagram can become as much of a job market for artists as LinkedIn. One where people can tell stories straight from the heart, and get paid to do what they love. Even if that bright future is still a couple years off, we can still take action now. Please continue supporting small creators, continue to make art and share it with the world, and until we can watch some of the amazing upcoming indie cartoons, don’t forget that art is more than a prompt. Humanity is not done creating, never will be. The world is never done being mined for inspiration as long as we live, and if we work together to prove that, we will come out on top.

With all that said, pretty much any criticisms I have of this special come down to whichever of the Muppets were underrepresented. Now that I think about it, the Electric Mayhem were mostly limited to cameos, which is a bit of a shame, but the backstage bit with Kermit and Janice did get a good laugh out of me. There were a number of characters whose Muppet Show debut this was, since they weren't around during the show's original run. Like Pepe, Bean Bunny, and the aforementioned Rizzo, who have all only been around since the 90s. As nice as it was to see a few sketches with them, that just makes me wonder: what happened to Walter? Was he seriously only created for the 2011 movie? Didn’t he have a whole character arc about finally getting to join the Muppets? His absence didn’t ruin the special or anything, I just can’t imagine why they wouldn’t keep him around. A full series can get away with featuring more or less of certain characters, because you can just go to another episode if you need your fill of a specific Muppet. Yes, this is only an anniversary special/backdoor pilot, but my biggest “issue” is just that it doesn’t feel like there’s enough of it. To be fair, I don’t really think there’s such a thing as enough Muppets, but the fact that this special only left me wanting more is a very good thing. That’s just a series pilot accomplishing exactly what it set out to do.

I couldn’t be happier to see this special doing so well. Seeing the ping-pong-ball-eyed entertainers back in their natural habitat had me grinning from ear to ear, and I know I’m not alone in that. It’s alleged that Disney’s up and coming CEO, Josh D’Amaro, is much more of a Muppet fan than his predecessor, which already gives me hope. Again, I’m glad the sentimentality and nostalgic appeal was kept to a minimum in favor of just proving that sketch comedy still has a place in pop culture. Even as someone who’s more familiar with the Muppet Movies than the Show, I think there’s a ton of potential for a full Muppet Show revival. Not just if Sabrina’s time in the spotlight is anything to go by, but I’m just thinking of all the guest stars they could have in the future. In particular, I’d love to see what happens if they get Lin Manuel-Miranda, or… I don’t know, Andy Samberg? The possibilities are endless is my point. I’m not a strong man for giving Disney your money at a time like this, but if you already have Disney Plus, or maybe you just recorded it when it aired on ABC, give it a watch if you still haven’t! Dare I say, it’s one of the most artistically rich things to come out of the Disney company in recent years, and that’s absolutely worth supporting. Even if you’re like me, and you’re not the biggest fan of the variety show format as it is, I guarantee you’ll have at least a little bit of fun with it. If you can look past the occasional wrong-sounding Muppet, it’ll surely wash the taste of the Super Bowl out of your mouth. Ooh, but on that note, why not get Bad Bunny on the Muppet Show? Seriously, Disney would be so stupid not to pick up a full season of this. I wouldn’t put stupidity past them, but for the first time in a long time, I’ve never been more hopeful for the future of Kermit and the gang. That sense of hope is long overdue.

Still, the new Instagram will be another way to see new comic strips and updates from me on behalf of this company. I don’t really know why I say it like that, I’m pretty much a one-man show here anyways, but you know what I mean. So! Bottom line: stick around on either this website or the Comix Instagram for new comic strips and business updates, but bear in mind that more of the comic strips will probably show up here first. Check the Latest Works page… I don’t know, once a week? There’s no set schedule for how I go about posting, but I’d say I probably update it that frequently. All this, and follow the theo.n.abe account for more of me and Abe specifically than just our growing brand. I guess I should mention that I also have a personal account on Bluesky (residentcartoonist@bsky.social) in case you have that. Hope that makes sense! I don’t know how to end blog posts.

Have I let my Wicked obsession bleed into my official website yet? I don’t even think so. I’m surprised, Wicked has been all over my mind for the past year and I haven’t even written on my blog about it or anything like that. Welp, there’s a first time for everything, right? Especially with the recent release and divisive reactions to Wicked: For Good, I have a lot of thoughts of my own. Seeing as I’ll explode if I don’t talk to someone about them, it’s high time I wrote them down and made you listen. That sounded… Nevermind.

You can’t really talk about one without the other, so I’ll give a quick-ish rundown of my thoughts on last year’s Wicked movie. I mean… I don’t think I have a ton of things to say about it that others haven’t already, but… I love the shit out of the first Wicked. It’s really well cast for the most part, the sets and costumes are absolutely gorgeous, it’s super funny, super emotional, and the already great songs take great advantage of the medium of film by doing things you really can’t in a stage play. What Is This Feeling is the example that comes to mind with that, zipping through different scenes at the school, showing different perspective shots in the same room, all that good stuff. Really great movie is my point. Stretching out a two-act, two-and-a-half-hour Broadway show into two separate two-and-a-half-hour movies sounds like a pacing disaster, I know, but I could tell that a lot of time and care went into that choice. I won’t speak for anyone else, but I’m never bored watching Wicked Part 1. It felt like it slowed down when appropriate, allowing the story and characters necessary room to breathe, while still never going too long without a song. This is how it felt for me as a theatre kid, mind you. A movie’s runtime is different for everyone in terms of when it hits you how long it is. Everyone can only sit still for so long, I mean, don’t I know it, but the long-ass runtime of each Wicked movie never felt like a detriment to me. I do have a couple issues with the movie, but I’m always kinda surprised to remember how most of those critiques amount to nitpicks. The color and lighting are inconsistent, some of the blocking is kinda boring relative to what’s happening in some of the songs, and the sound mixing during some sequences stood out to me in a bad way. Particularly during Dancing Through Life, it kinda teeters on not being able to hear the rich vocals over people stomping their feet, but that’s genuinely about it in terms of my problems with the film! Especially as someone who admittedly wasn’t super into the musical until the movie rolled around, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Wicked Part 1 changed my life to an extent. On top of an entertaining story with some very effective and well-timed political commentary, I honestly don’t think there’s much wrong with said story. At least in the first act, and this movie is just that! Of course, now we gotta talk about the inferior second act, and as such, the inferior second movie.

I admit that I still haven’t seen Wicked onstage, but I’ve been obsessed with it long enough to know the general consensus about the musical. Act 2 is the bad one, or at least, the lesser one. Mainly to do with the prequel writing elements, or the need to explain how every little bit of the original Wizard of Oz story came to be. Although, with a couple exceptions, those origin bits are pretty strictly in the second act. I had a suspicion that this was why Wicked Part 1 was so well received, because obviously, it didn’t have to deal with any of Act 2’s problems if it was just adapting Act 1. Lo and behold, the movie that was just adapting Act 2, was about what I expected. That’s to say, it wasn’t anywhere near as good as Part 1. To be fair, though, few things are. I still liked Wicked: For Good overall. I didn't love it like I did the first, but I don’t really understand where the haters are coming from. Sure, it’s far from flawless, but I can’t call it half bad. I almost wonder if the drop in quality from Movie 1 just clouded people’s judgment. It feels like a letdown if you go from borderline perfect to borderline good, but I’ll say this about both movies: each one is as faithful to the source material as ever. And sadly, part of what people loved about Movie 1, becomes detrimental to Movie 2.

If there was one thing that got me hopeful that Wicked For Good would stick the landing, it was the expanded runtime. Turning an hour-long musical act into a movie that’s over two hours really worked in the first one's favor, and it still did for the second, just to a lesser extent. It certainly wasn’t rushed, which automatically makes it better than Act 2 of Wicked on its own, but it can still only do so much without changing any plot points. Now if you thought this whole thing already peaked at the end of the first movie, you’d be right. Don’t get your hopes up for anything that rivals Defying Gravity, because much like the two acts of the musical, it’s the peak of both movies combined. Act 2 of Wicked notoriously has a less coherent story and less memorable songs, but if you like the musical at all, and more importantly, you don’t dislike the second act, you’re most likely gonna have at least an okay time with this second film. Whatever your opinion is of the first movie, just take whatever you’d give it on a scale of 1 to 10, then subtract two. That’s what you’re gonna think of For Good. I do wanna be totally fair and say that a lot of the first film’s positives are maintained here. With both of them being filmed concurrently, you have all the same cast and crew working on it. The visual scale, fantastic acting, and jaw-dropping sets and wardrobes are all present and accounted for. I appreciated the darker tone to accommodate the heavier themes of oppression and lying for political gain. Off of that, the notion of losing things and people you care about depending on how much you submit to a corrupt regime. It’s all handled pretty effectively for the bulk of the movie, but I regret to say that the shoehorned Wizard of Oz references and origin story bits did start to take a toll on it. The popular opinion that Act 2 of the musical falls apart because of all that, really started to ring true. Me being someone who hasn’t seen the show live, just went into this film knowing what happens in it. Now that I’ve seen both movies, I hate to say it’s all kinda clicked how the prequel elements get in the way of Wicked as its own story. Genuinely, I was really into this movie, liking it more than well enough. The songs were a little fewer and further between, nor were they as catchy as some of the more lively and upbeat songs from Act 1, but the story was captivating on its own. Glinda's character arc was more compelling where it felt like Movie 1 was Elphaba's time to shine, Marissa Bode and Ethan Slater really got to show off their acting chops in their scenes together, and Fiyero's change in attitude was also shown off very well. While I'm here, I know this is about the positives, but if you're gonna have shirtless Jonathan Bailey in your movie, have him in it for more than five minutes. I was two thirds into this movie before anything really stood out to me as being better or worse than the first film. I was getting invested in it as a follow-up to Part 1 that effectively uses the time jump to display the consequences of the characters’ choices, but those last 45 minutes, man, what happened?

Any real issues I have with the story of Wicked only kick in when it finally catches up to the events of The Wizard of Oz. The ways the stories intertwine at least make sense, but they take away a lot of the room to breathe that the first movie had. Particularly with how Dorothy is kept as a faceless figure in the movie. I know it was a choice, I saw the vision, it allows her journey that we all know and love to stay separate from Elphaba and Glinda’s, but it just feels off when put into practice. I think the priority to make sure Dorothy never spoke or showed her face, started to overshadow the need for the movie to slow down and be emotional when appropriate. The pacing just skyrockets as soon as the twister comes in from Kansas, at least relative to the first hour and a half of this movie. It feels like there’s barely anything important that happens between Elphie and Glinda while Dorothy’s not looking. Until of course they start singing For Good. Yes, we all know how things go from Dorothy’s perspective, but did nothing else happen on the witches’ end while she was following the yellow brick road? I guess I only bring it up because the editing gets really choppy from here to avoid showing Dorothy’s face. It feels like the different perspective shots from The Wizard of Oz overshadow the character progressions of the witches we’ve been watching this whole time. Take Elphaba’s big Act 2 song, No Good Deed. The vocals are incredible, you can feel the emotions swelling as she sings, and it acts as a declaration that Elphie is done trying to do good if the world is only gonna villainize her for it. She’s made her choice to embrace her wicked label, so are we actually gonna see that besides a few lines with quick scene changes in between? We see Dorothy and her friends from a distance in a lot of the scenes, but it just feels like watching a highlight reel with all the jumpcuts and barely any dialogue. It’s more than a little at odds with a movie duology that really liked to take its sweet time up until this point. We see Glinda waving off to Dorothy, not the events that led up to that, then Elphie and Glinda very briefly mourn the loss of Nessa, then start bitch slapping. Tonal whiplash would be one thing, but surprise surprise, emotional moments don’t land if you give them choppy editing and abrupt transitions. Are there some impressive shots with how they meticulously avoid a Dorothy face reveal? Sure, but it doesn’t save the story’s shortcomings in this last third. I’m not saying there was no added nuance at this point in the film, I mean, they added a new song for Glinda towards the end. Know what? Maybe I am saying that.

I hate to say that a lot of the small nitpicks I had for Wicked Part 1 were kinda amplified here. I knew going in that the songs wouldn’t be as exciting, but seeing how they turned out as scenes in the movie, that’s not really an excuse for the directing to be flatter and less ambitious. Please understand that this isn't a criticism of any of the songs on their own. They're still incredibly well-sung, but this is just about the visuals that accompanied them. Even for the greater amount of slower songs and power ballads this time around, a lot of them just look bland. There’s a lot of factors at play, like the color and lighting, cinematography, and how pretty the physical location of the scene is, but the resulting mixture just doesn’t match with the characters singing their hearts out. Whether it's As Long As You're Mine, or even For Good. It happens more than a couple times, because there are more than a couple slow songs and ballads here. Maybe a couple too many, because the new songs didn’t really do much for me. I mean, Elphaba’s new song was alright. Maybe it didn’t need to be a song, but you know what? The same can be said for a lot of the songs old and new. This is still a musical, and one I was interested in for the songs at that. It has a nice message, ties into a famous Wizard of Oz quote well enough, and does its job to display her motivations to fight the Wizard. Glinda’s new song though? I gotta be honest, I wasn’t a fan. Well, okay, I didn’t really react to it one way or the other, but that’s what I’m saying, it made no difference to anything. The song didn’t sound bad or anything, but I was just like, “yeah, I kinda got that from what I just saw.” I don’t wanna get too spoiler-y in terms of where it exactly is in the film, but I genuinely think you could cut it and nothing would change. No diss to anyone who worked on it, it’s really not a bad song in its own right, it just felt entirely unnecessary. I genuinely kinda doubt that the song was added because “the story required it,” it’s more likely to me that they just wanted to give some new content to the Ariana stans in the crowd. I feel kinda bad for this movie, because the faithfulness as an adaptation eventually kinda broke what made the first movie. Sure, I still cried a little bit, but I feel like the last act of this movie could’ve held a bit more space for the emotional final moments. And that’s something I never would’ve said about last year’s movie. Y’know, the movie that invented holding space in the first place. Wicked For Good is already a little shorter than Part 1, as it is with the musical, but I don’t think it would’ve hurt if this movie was made a little longer to do things that a 22-year-old stage play couldn't. Whether it was to incorporate montages when appropriate, or give Ethan Slater a little more screentime so he could be a more serious contender for an Oscar. Actually, maybe he can still get it. If Jamie Lee Curtis can win Supporting Actress for Everything Everywhere All At Once, I guess it doesn’t matter how much of the movie you’re actually in. Admittedly, I’ve only actually seen bits and pieces of that movie, I just know Jamie Lee Curtis really didn’t get to do that much in the film to justify her win. No slight against her though. I’ll give her this: I still remember her acceptance speech three years later. Hers and Ke Huy Quan's. Now I’m kinda developing a tinfoil hat theory that maybe the Academy lets certain nominees win certain categories. Like, they let the winning nominee know in advance and make a deal that they just give a speech and a half to distract from the amount of time they got in the movie, but anyways, what was I talking about?

Okay, my initial point was that Wicked For Good didn’t really take as much advantage of the medium of film as the first movie did, but honestly, bringing up Everything Everywhere All At Once makes a good segue. Michelle Yeoh! Live laugh love Michelle Yeoh, but with all due respect, she’s really not that stellar in this. It’s misaligned with how good of an actress she usually is, I swear. I know she’s not usually in family films, but out of everyone here, she just feels the least committed to the bit. Rarely is she effectively intimidating or authoritative, and I don’t think you need me to tell you this, but she can’t sing. I didn’t mind her verse from The Wizard And I in Part 1, but the few singing bits she has in this movie really stuck out like a sore thumb. Jeff Goldblum isn’t a particularly good singer either, but at least it kinda works out in his favor when his song, Wonderful, plays up the sleazy businessman tendencies. Michelle Yeoh knows she’s not a singer, she warned Jon M. Chu in advance, but he cast her anyway. I could see what he was hoping for, they’ve already worked together as an actor and director in Crazy Rich Asians, but I don’t really think Michelle Yeoh needed to do her own vocals. I know how mean that probably sounds, but I don’t think it would’ve been out of the realm of possibility for her to have a cover singer, or at least get some voice lessons ahead of time if he really did want her to sing. Genuinely, I couldn’t even tell if she was singing live like everyone else, and whatever effects they added in post only made her vocals sound more stilted and awkward. Seriously, that autotune was rough if there was any. But if her voice wasn't autotuned and it just sounded that way, I suppose that's still an accomplishment. And I do feel rude to say this about an actress who has accomplished more than I probably ever will. I’ve seen her in press interviews, and she seems genuinely enthusiastic to be a part of this movie. I can only assume she’s an incredibly nice person independent of her work, which even then, is still usually excellent. Truly, I’ve been ripping on her and this whole movie a lot, but I promise I do still like it.

Wicked For Good gave me a pretty good idea of why everyone likes the first act of Wicked better than the second. It’s a much less consistent film than last year’s. The pacing is way out of whack, the songs aren’t as great overall, and a lot of the Wizard of Oz references feel shoehorned in there, but I acknowledge that most of the film’s biggest issues were problems with the stage show first. I can’t get upset at the movie’s faithfulness as an adaptation, it’s just inevitably more of a double-edged sword when the source material has a lot of its own shortcomings. Plenty of things are consistent with the first film, like the production design, most of the moments of emotion, and generally incredible cast performing it all to life. Those net positives still being present were enough that I had a good time with this one, despite the messier story which wasn’t even the movie’s fault. It’s only frustrating because I can’t help feeling like it was possible to stick the landing and create something even better with just a little more time and context. I won’t get too hung up on that anymore, because I still liked the movie we got. I can’t in all good conscience dislike a movie that made me cry. I’d still recommend the film, even though logistically, you’ve already seen it. It’s just kinda fun to think about how I recommend this film to someone who really fell in love with its predecessor like I did. There are still several things to genuinely like about Wicked For Good, but I do suggest lowering your expectations a bit. Like, go in ready for something good instead of great, but also not as fun as the original. Of course this movie was never gonna be as lighthearted, but if you don’t mind a movie with a darker tone that’s still well-acted, then you’ll appreciate it nonetheless. It may be disappointing to find out that the story already peaked last year, but at least the final shot is really sweet. So whatever opinion you gather from this movie, you’ll probably be smiling as you get up and leave the theater. Honestly, the movie is inoffensive at worst. I can’t get that mad at any aspect of it. Even when I really tried to be polite as I tore Michelle Yeoh a new one, you know, who could forget, Madame Morrible, MM, flip it around, WICKED WITCH!!!!!!

Truly, Moana would just be another soulless Disney live-action remake that wasn’t worth getting mad about, but for the lack of time since the original alone, this feels like a new low in terms of shamelessness. Moana 2 was already like one of the direct-to-DVD sequels, in that it didn’t get the original directors back, the original songwriter back, and was really a TV show retooled into a movie at the last minute, and it shows from the episodic structure. As a result, it’s really not that great. All common stuff for the direct-to-DVD sequels of the 90s and 2000s, only this one came out in theaters, and is forever part of the Walt Disney Animation Studios library. And it sets up another sequel at the end, so the animated franchise and the live-action remakes can go on concurrently. Like, I know this is the depth of Disney’s depravity when it comes to making money, but this just borders on disrespecting their artistic integrity. I honestly didn’t think this kind of MCU-ification would bleed into the main animation studio like this, but here we are.

I literally hate to see this. I didn’t think I would mind the brand of Moana being so exploited for money, but it’s really not anything Disney has done before. They’ve milked their animated franchises in the past, but they would at least be through television, or movies released straight on video. If they didn’t care about quality control, they would keep those capitalistic endeavors separate from the artistry of their main studio to an extent. Again, I look at all these Moana projects coming out in theaters so shortly after one another, and wonder why it had to be Moana. Well, okay, honestly, it makes some sense. You probably know that the 2000s were kinda rough for Disney Animation, so there’s not a lot of stuff besides the already done Lilo and Stitch that they would really consider remaking. Thus, we make our way to the following decade. Not only is it kinda terrifying that we’re officially entering the era of 2010s Disney nostalgia bait, it just makes me sad to see Moana become such a victim of franchise fatigue so suddenly. Not even the Disney princess movies it was rubbing shoulders with that decade, or hell, the ones that came out first. I’m not saying Moana doesn’t have franchise potential, but it sucks to see the recognizability of the brand be prioritized over making good content, because, well… Moana was a good damn movie. That’s what made it such a hit in the first place. Because it was a highly enjoyable film with an effectively simple story, catchy songs, gorgeous visuals, and likeable leads. And even if I don’t necessarily care how many original movies, remakes, or sequels Disney pumps out, I hate to see it happen to what I felt was a nice reminder of how great original animated family films can be. The original Moana felt like it was plucked straight out of the Disney Renaissance, and now I finally understand what it’s like to have a live-action remake targeted at my wallet specifically. I was already getting the sense that Disney was running out of things to remake, but getting this taste of the 2026 Moana movie, it just feels like they’re now shoving what little artistically rich content they have left into the megacorp machine. That’s why this trailer upset me so much. Obviously Lion King 2019 is gonna stay the most ridiculous of the bunch, because the creative team should’ve known that animals don’t talk. But even though I acknowledge that this trailer is only a minute long, this arguably looks like the most pointless Disney remake since Lion King 2019. I see minimal changes, and I can definitely see a future where this movie does similarly well at the box office purely because young adults’ nostalgia makes them see it. This is already the bare minimum in terms of a movie that could have any nostalgic appeal, so I don’t want Disney to see this movie’s success as a sign that they can just lower the bar from there. What, are we gonna get a live-action Encanto like six years after the original? Like I said, I didn’t think I cared enough to get to this point, but this is my declaration that I reject paying for the same movies repackaged with less color. I don’t have to settle for whatever gruel Disney serves up under the guise of comfort food, and neither do you. What I’m trying to say is: please do not see the Moana remake in theaters. I know me saying that won’t change anything, but I don’t think I can bear to see Disney sell out any further than this. Either that or they’ll just run out of things to remake, which is a conclusion they’re more likely to come to if this movie doesn’t do well. It’s probably wishful thinking, but all I want is for the viewing public to take a good look in the mirror, and ask, "what happened to shame?" Would that be too much to ask?

This is why there is no time like the present to prove to Trump and his cabinet that we cannot be silenced. Even if he was elected President by a majority vote, he does pose a threat to democracy. The concept of people being detained for protesting against Trump’s handling of the economy, the conflicts in both Ukraine and Gaza, the Epstein Files, et cetera, is Un-American. As if anyone who doesn’t kiss his ass at all times can just get out of here, no due process of law necessary. Yes, big corporations like Paramount may bend the knee to him for money, but is any amount of money worth being put in his selfish, soulless machine that strips any corporation of differing opinions? Yes, these companies may see funding cuts as a necessary evil for $8 billion mergers, but a non-zero amount of that money came from how successful shows like South Park, The Daily Show, and yes, even The Late Show, continue to be for how confidently they call out political bullshit. Almost like paying Matt and Trey $1.2 billion was necessary to keep the company afloat. So they maintain their legitimacy as their own company in bending the knee to the President, because a show as opinionated as South Park continues to be successful for striking a chord with its audience on both Comedy Central and Paramount Plus. This is what I'm talking about when I say, there’s no way to eliminate disagreement altogether without having to sacrifice something else as a result. Like a company’s artistic integrity or financial status. Even if my little internet business that you’re reading the blog for right now, hasn’t been shoved into the corporate merger machine just yet, it’s why I continue to make political comics. Critiquing Trump’s decision making changing on a dime, or asking big questions others won’t apply cartoon logic to. Like, if Jesus returned anytime soon, what would he think of the current state of America? A leader, their supporters, and their opponents are what make up a country. And if anyone tries to deny or fight that fact, they are the ones infringing on our rights. If you want to just stay out of politics, fair. But if you have strong opinions that you've been afraid to let out, I beg you to share them! Don’t be afraid to let your thoughts out, because that fear is what will truly kill our democracy if we just ignore the things we wanna say. It is more important than ever to be political. To show the world what we think and be the change we wanna see. Because without trying to stand up to Trump, he’ll only get more power-hungry and willing to attack anyone who disagrees. It's gotten harder for Americans to respectfully disagree with each other in the past seven months because the President and his cabinet normalize the unwillingness to accept criticism. And it's only once we fight back to get rid of auhtoritarianism, that true Americans can make America great again.

So Fixed! Like I said, I’m still willing to give it a chance after a trailer that I admit put a bit too much emphasis on sex jokes alone as a source of comedy. Can’t say the same for everyone else with all the hate it’s getting, though! People knew this movie was coming out for a while, but never when it was coming out. Until recently, of course. Knowing the basic premise for years, people were pretty well aware of how bold the movie was even for existing. Traditional hand-drawn animated films and adult animated films are both rare specimens in their own right these days, so to get them both in one is a cinematic unicorn. But where do people get the gall to use the quote that “you either die the hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain?” The originality problem isn’t that only sequels attract an audience, it’s the amount of people willing to give up on original movies before trying them. More importantly, how the people turning on movies they were looking forward to, are the same ones who don’t shut up about preserving artistic integrity in the film industry by supporting original projects that take risks. Don’t act like Fixed, a movie from the Dexter’s Lab/Samurai Jack/Hotel Transylvania/Primal guy, was some sort of chosen one just because of its concept that people knew about years ahead of time. Why are you surprised that a movie about a dog living up his last night with his balls looks raunchy? Yet alone saying, “oh, when this movie inevitably fails, they’re gonna use it as an excuse never to use 2D again.” Like, ok self-fulfilling prophecy. You’re the consumer, and it’s your reception that tells major studios what’s a good or bad investment. If you want more 2D animation in mainstream Hollywood again, then this is the film to support by watching it. Not judging the movie by its trailer. It’s still unknown whether the trailer we have now is indicative of the movie’s quality anyway. If the movie doesn’t look like it’s for you, the solution is: don’t watch it. I know your problem is that the trailer seems explicitly focused on sexual humor, but it’s entirely possible that the movie itself could be better than that. I am begging you. Please don’t base your fully formed opinion around the initial sample. And even if you do, don’t blame anything or anyone else for the originality crisis. It is absolutely senseless to blame this original project’s existence for Hollywood’s inability to land an original hit, instead of your own damn self choosing not to try it. You don’t have to watch a movie that doesn’t look good to you. It’s common sense. Just quit your bitching about the importance of supporting original movies, traditional animation, or adult animation, if you’re so willing to shit on those projects ahead of time for giving you what you signed up for. You’re the problem.

Goddamn, does it feel good to let that out.

Happy summer, squad! Aren’t all of you in school glad that you’re done with finals? No more math that doesn’t make sense, information you have no idea when will be useful, and, God bless us, using AI to help yourself sound smarter. Discussion of artificial intelligence is everywhere these days. It’s been pretty prevalent for the past few years, yes, but I’m not here to tell you what you already know about the drama of AI replacing human jobs. That’s something I’m passionate about as it stands, and I said in a different blog post from a couple months ago that I would talk about it another time. So now here I am! I’m also not gonna explain what AI is or does, because you already know what’s going on. I overheard my mom having a meeting with co-workers the other day, and having everyone use AI to create portraits of them as a “team-building exercise.” I hated to interrupt what she was in the middle of, but as an artist, I had to make it known how insulting it was to me. I’ve been worried about whether I'll be able to land a creative job in my adult life for years now, just because people think that artists can be replaced by AI. And even though I recognized that it wasn’t a personal attack, here she was running a meeting and being unabashedly pro-AI. It’s honestly not funny to me if people have ChatGPT generate art just for laughs. It gave you an extra leg? Cool, what else is new? I recognize the irony in a child telling a parent not to use AI in excess, usually it’s the other way around, but I certainly think there are better ways to build a team than to laugh at the silliness of AI art. Even if it’s for a group of people taking a class on how to use AI responsibly, I don’t really see how that makes a faculty any more tightly knit other than maybe developing inside jokes. Even then, that can be done without using a machine that consumes energy at such a high rate. Need I remind you that everything AI-generated comes from something? Talking about AI has become tiring after a couple years, especially being in high school at a time like this. It wasn’t until I started taking IB classes that I realized the benefits of using AI to help with school work. The keyword there of course being “help.” I still understand that ChatGPT is no replacement for human work, but I think teachers who are vehemently against the use of AI altogether, are just jealous. Yeah, the use of AI can be embarrassingly obvious, which is why I think it works best as something to rattle off ideas or provide information to help you understand. ChatGPT alone is very comprehensive, and while I am strongly against AI art, it’s kinda become my go-to for when I have questions too specific for just a regular Google search. It works pretty well in that regard, but not without other expenses. Said expenses may not have a direct effect on me, but the point is that we’re screwing up the planet.

I despise how much of a buzzword AI has become in itself. We’re very familiar with AI-generated things now that they’re so widespread on social media, and I won’t speak for anyone else, but yeah, I’m pretty quick to recognize when something isn’t authentically made by a human being. Like I said, everything AI generated comes from something. It just uses what it already knows to search through a stupidly big amount of information at a much higher rate than any human can, despite being made by humans, and churns out something factory fresh. At this point, people see the word “AI” and either freak out at it, or just shrug and move on with their lives. We’re all too familiar with teachers or bosses being against AI because it’s not an excuse to cut corners, but nobody talks about the environmental consequences. Well, that’s not true. People have raised the alarm about AI’s damage to the ecosystem, but it’s what people pay the least attention to as we normalize using it. If you have any tinfoil hat theories about AI planning to dominate the human race, I got news for you, buddy. It already has. Generative AI engines that give especially comprehensive answers to your questions are an evolution of the search engines that we were already using like Google. This is just what happens as humans and technology coexist over time. Both evolve. At least, I think that can be said about humans. ChatGPT just seems so easy to use, though, that no one thinks of the possibility that it’s too good to be true.

Think about how ChatGPT almost always gives you the long answer. Listing out the variety of factors to a multifaceted political issue you don’t understand, or helping you fudge your five-paragraph essay. It’s more important to keep in mind than you realize, the amount of energy it consumes in the process, and the rate at which it happens. Data centers exist in our real world, being exactly where ChatGPT searches through all the information from. Heat is energy, ChatGPT consumes energy quickly, and data centers end up needing more and more water to avoid overheating. This would be enough for me to explain the problem, but you might be wondering why you probably haven’t seen stuff about this on the news. You need a real world example. A few, perhaps. Where am I to find something like that? Ironically enough, I asked, who else, ChatGPT. For all the people denying that global temperatures are going up, you’re contributing to it. The entire state of Iowa for example. Microsoft built a bunch of date centers in the Des Moines area, using upwards of 25 million gallons of water within July and August of 2022 alone. Residents remarked on their dry taps and poor water taste. The Associated Press themselves also study that one person using ChatGPT in one sitting with anywhere from five to fifty prompts plugged into the search engine, uses about half a liter of water to cool servers. AI is technically everywhere. Yes, I had to Google conversions for us Americans, because we just can’t adopt the metric system unless it’s for guns. LOW BAR! That’s really just a calculator, though. It’s something we’ve had around for years upon years. Think about how many people you see using ChatGPT at school or work, however old you are, I don’t judge. I know people who are conscious of their daily water intake, which I admit I should really practice more. They make a concerted effort to fill up their 40-ouncers four times a day. Can you imagine if everyone who did that, because they’re human, downed each of those in two big sips? ‘Cuz uhh… that’s what ChatGPT has been doing for the past few years.

Sucks, right? People don’t pay attention to AI’s false promises and the environmental degradation it leads to, because it’s not what they see on a surface level. AI has advanced a lot over the past few years, just compare AI art from two years ago to now. We’re letting AI progress more and more to where it’s like having a real conversation with another guy. All Google searches now are prefaced with an AI overview, and an option for a full AI mode where your prompts and AI’s answers are treated like a real text conversation like ChatGPT does. The AI overview already gets the job done for me anyway, but now knowing what happens to the Earth the more I use it, I implore you not to rely on full AI modes, or exclusively generative AI engines like ChatGPT or Gemini. At least to the best of your ability. I mean, who needs an antithesis to humanity like AI art when you’re as autistic—I mean artistic—I mean—can’t it be both—as me! That’s what we here at Comix (by which I mean just me) are all about! Just to reiterate it, if you ever do wanna submit your art to be featured on the Latest Works tab, leave and don’t come back if you’re gonna use AI art. AI is evolving, but so can we. The moral here is, don’t give up on the human race. People still tend to shaft AI’s environmental consequences in favor of it replacing creative jobs. Both are bad, but don’t let people tell you that global temperatures aren’t going up, and that generative AI isn’t contributing to the planet burning through energy. Yet alone that literal billionaires like the CEO of Google can’t afford so much energy to be used up. They absolutely can. We can still turn this around, but don’t ignore environmental degradation just because it’s not affecting you personally. Yet. It’s difficult. Like I’ve discussed time and time again, we live in the age of tailoring our news. Hearing what we wanna hear through social media, which in itself is a machine that will make us subservient to it if we’re not careful. People don’t care so long as it doesn’t have a direct effect on them, so the best I can say to make you wanna turn the environment around by cutting back on your AI reliance is that, well, you’re gonna be sorry when you don’t have a liveable planet. Make of that what you will.

See that? Look at that. Anything underlined is a direct link to the source. Notice how both the FBI and CIA are cited. Oh, I’m sorry, did you think those links on this government website, which “deemed it likely” that COVID was all a lab leak, were to the actual FBI and CIA websites? Nah, they’re both Fox News articles. I checked. Of course Trump’s cabinet says that PBS is too radical because Sesame Street will brainwash your kids into thinking that basic equality is a good thing, but Fox News is neutral for reporting literal conspiracy theories. The Trump Administration doesn’t give a rat’s ass about unbiased news. Their definition of “keeping news sources unbiased” isn’t to make sure it’s based on facts and not opinions, it’s to make sure it’s not reported in a way that offends them. Nobody’s neutral to them unless they’re agreed with at all times. It is no way to live, and they will not drag PBS, NPR, and the viewing public down with them.

Y’know how right before and after every PBS show, they’ll tell you the show is made possible by contributions to PBS stations viewers like us? Like you? Well, how about we make that official? Yes, this story is getting to be relevant all over again as PBS has sued President Trump for his bullcrap. First of all, classic PBS W. But more importantly, PBS and NPR still need our help now more than ever. Rest assured, we can indeed help! Below are links to donate to PBS and write to politicians about the importance of a broad spectrum of opinions in public media. Because by Gawd, If I gotta live in a country where wokeness is bad, and being woke just means having a basic education and believe in human rights, then I’m gonna choose to be woke. Now this is where you come in. Please, take it from here. We don’t know how it’s gonna go in court for PBS, so the best we can do is lend them a hand regardless. No time like the present.

https://foundation.pbs.org/ways-to-give/

https://protectmypublicmedia.org/

Suicide trigger warning, just skip to the next paragraph if you don’t wanna hear about that, but this Rick and Morty episode about spaghetti was so good for how much it took things back to basics. Rick’s secret to the best spaghetti is, of course, finding a planet wherein people that kill themselves turn into spaghetti. People across the multiverse discover spaghetti, start pressuring the people on the planet to kill themselves, until it ends with a guy finally doing the deed, but getting people to stop as they see the value of the lives they brought to an end through a beautiful montage. It’s also pretty self contained, starting and ending at the Smith house with jokes, all the heavy stuff being in between. Did I mention their explanation for people turning into spaghetti as a result of suicide specifically, is that the mass release of cortisol increases the starch content in their bloodstream, turning their intestines into one long noodle, and their remaining blood into a bolognese?

Did that really just happen? Did this show really just turn out a solid-all-the-way-through episode that comes up with scientific explanations for the most randomly morbid stuff imaginable, and features profound commentary about the effects of consumerism on mental health, all with plenty of dark humor to boot, and absolutely no winking at the audience? In Season 7, this show did exactly what people liked best about it in its first few seasons. That alone is an admirable achievement. Don’t get me wrong, Season 7 still has a few duds, and when it gets bad, it gets painful. Even if it is the best season since 2 or 3, it does contain the worst episode of the show. Rise of the Numbericons or whatever, MAKE IT STOP, the whole thing is just a bunch of letter and number puns, do you find that funny? No? Cool, congrats on getting through grade school. But that doesn’t change that the good episodes this season really breathed a lot of life back into the show. It’s almost like the show learned to love itself again when it was no longer given its voice both figuratively and literally by (someone who might’ve been) a domestic abuser. Who’d have thought? Over ten years after it started, the show may just be in the hands of the people who were fans in its heyday. Them being able to take the reins and give their own interpretations of a classic Rick and Morty adventure is a beautiful thing. And even if the show analyzed the usual character dynamics, the framing devices became more inventive than just going to therapy. Think about the season finale, Fear No Mort. The whole episode is Morty trying to figure out what his greatest fear is through a simulation, only to realize after countless fears conquered that it wasn’t what any of them thought. Nothing in the hole is real, so the manifestation of Rick’s late wife raises the alarm that Morty fears Rick not needing him anymore. After all they go through though, Morty realizes that his fear isn’t Rick not needing him, it’s Rick not valuing him. Morty’s inability to figure out what he’s afraid of until the end sees him going through social anxiety. Rick is one of the first and only people to give him a greater sense of purpose, and Morty got so complacent in relying on Rick for a sense of belonging in being his partner in crime, that he didn’t realize he was afraid of their dependency not being mutual. A simulation that doesn’t let you out until you can put a finger on your utmost inner turmoil is such an amazing concept, and it explores the psychology of the titular duo’s dynamic without talking at the viewers whatsoever. And to my surprise, the Season 8 premiere, which came out while I was writing this, almost has the same plot. With Rick putting the kids in a matrix to teach them a lesson about stealing his phone charger, and the dark glimpses into their worst possible futures manifesting in such a haunting way that they both just go ahead and try to fulfill their own prophecies. It was surprisingly depressing, but I’m nonetheless optimistic for the future now. I don’t suppose the rest of the season will take on quite a similar tone, especially with the episode ending in a memory wipe, but that doesn’t change that it was a unique and smartly written piece of television. Knock on wood, but I think it’s uphill from here. As long as they don’t make another Pickle Rick or Numbericons, we’re gonna be fine at the very least. Call me a snob, but I don’t like alphabet and math jokes as the primary source of comedy in my adult cartoons. At least now we have a trajectory of episodes that shows a little more artistic integrity and self respect. I can’t say the show is good again overall just yet, but I’m confident that I’ll get there in the next few weeks, and that’s why I’m gonna keep watching.

If I had to pinpoint where it went wrong for the Muppets in the 2010s after the brief renaissance that the 2011 movie brought, it would have to be the 2015 mockumentary series, again simply titled “The Muppets.” I don’t think putting the Muppets in a mockumentary style in a similar vein to The Office or Parks and Rec, was an unworthy experiment. The choices made within it were the bigger issues contributing to the series’ failure. It’s the story of Kermit and Miss Piggy going through a rough patch, and the gang navigating through the trials and tribulations of Kermit being the backstage boss of Piggy’s late-night talk show, Up Late with Miss Piggy, in the aftermath of their breakup. This is not a bad premise, so what went wrong? Why did audiences reject this series to where it only lasted one season, and even a mid-series rework of the marketing couldn’t save it? I sat down and watched the series for myself, and I can confirm it was the tone and comedy. It’s way too PG-13 coded for a Muppet show. I’m not gonna pretend that the Muppets don’t have an adult audience, just ask my parents or yours. However, part of their charm, like I said, is the appeal they have regardless of how old you are. With the OG Muppet Show or any of the movies, you can always laugh at the physical comedy, dialogue, funny voices and personalities bouncing off each other, pick your poison. Except Muppets Wizard of Oz. If that sounds like the easiest movie in the world to get right, trust me, it’s not. Don’t bother seeking that out. It’s a TV movie from the mid-2000s that’s not even on Disney Plus, but back to the mockumentary show. It’s funny how Muppets Wizard of Oz has a sorta similar problem to the 2015 series of the humor just being way too sexual and inappropriate. Of course Muppets 2015 gets away with it a little more for having a more famously PG-13 framing device, but adult jokes in the Muppets land a lot better the fewer and farther between they are. I’m not saying I never laughed at the 2015 show, that’s far from the truth and would be snobbish of me. Putting to the side this show’s objective failure to make a dent, I’m really split on it as far as personal opinions go. There’s plenty of stuff I did like, but sometimes the adulty tone just got to be too much. Humor is more fun when it’s left to the imagination, but it also depends on what it’s alluding to. Like on one hand, you have a bit where Fozzie says, “when your online profile just says ‘passionate bear looking for love,’ you get a lot of wrong responses. Not wrong, just wrong for me.” That’s an awesome use of subtlety that really cracked me up when I saw it. But on the other hand, you have Zoot thinking he’s at an AA meeting, and a running gag where Kermit has to ask Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker why they’re wearing each other’s clothes at the morning meetings, and then I’m a little put off. I don’t need to know how sexually or romantically involved the Muppets are, Kermit and Miss Piggy are already plenty for me. Thinking about it now, Fozzie in this show is really funny. Not just because he’s the crew’s resident comedian as it is, but he’s doing his own thing free from Kermit and Piggy’s relationship drama most of the time. I won’t spoil anything (even though I know you’re not gonna go out of your way to watch this forgotten series that only lasted one season in 2025), but there’s this bit where he gets tranquilized in a forest, and it just killed me. I know I just complained about the drug references feeling out of pocket in a bad way a second ago, but high Fozzie is funny as hell. So yeah, I don’t know how to feel about this show overall, like I said, it wasn’t a bad idea, and I do think it deserved more than what it got overall. It was just a little misguided in its lack of general appeal, and I don’t know what it is, but the Swedish Chef’s human hands really freaked me out in this show. I think it has something to do with the lighting and the cinematography. It has a lot of handheld wiggle, which I can appreciate, but I don’t know. The Swedish Chef’s human hands were extra noticeable, and not in a good way. It’s hard to explain why, but hey, I’m sure it’s somebody’s kink.

So why do I bring this all up? What does it have to do with the Muppets’ downward spiral similar to what they faced in the 2000s? Two words: Steve Whitmire. Muppet veteran of 40 years, performing the role of Kermit from Jim Henson’s passing in 1990 all the way to 2016. The 2015 mockumentary series was largely what got the man fired from the role. There’s a certain rigidity to the Muppets that’s plagued the IP for at least the past decade, and in my opinion, it’s why figuring out what to do with the Muppets as a whole has felt so directionless ever since the axe fell on the 2015 show. It was the last mainline Muppets project wherein Whitmire played Kermit. About a year after the show wrapped production, the Henson company let him go, saying they should’ve gotten rid of him before they even sold the Muppets to Disney. Unfortunately for objective observers like you and me, it’s one of the harder cases of behind the scenes drama to make heads or tails of. Disney and the Hensons claimed that Whitmire had exhibited hostile business behavior on the set of the 2015 show, becoming increasingly territorial with the Kermit role as production went on. Losing his temper when they weren’t filming, lashing out because “Kermit wouldn’t do this, Kermit wouldn’t say that,” as well as offering notes that the cast and crew weren’t very receptive to. Not to mention, the notion of having the Muppets available in different places at a time. Whether it’s Disney’s parks, or whatever new project they were cooking up for the screen. Disney wanted understudies, and even got to the point of auditioning and casting backup Muppet performers. Whitmire was allegedly so obsessed with the notion that he knew the character better than anybody else, that he went on to blacklist any Kermit understudies. Despite the monster the Muppet studio was making out of him at the time, Whitmire managed to weather this storm enough to share his side of the story with the public. He owned up to offering notes on the set of the mockumentary series, but claimed that he never lost his temper when doing so. When it came to blacklisting understudies, Whitmire also denied that he even had the power to do such a thing. He simply took responsibility for offering notes, but didn’t own up to anything else. Personally, I don’t know how to feel about this either. I do understand that 20-odd years of playing a character can create the sense that you know said character better than anyone else possibly could. In Disney and the Hensons’ defense, however, giving out notes is a big no-no if it’s not explicitly your job. Having done theatre for a couple years now, I know that actors act and directors direct. Yes, actors are free to suggest lines, actions, mannerisms that would be in character, et cetera, especially if they’re creating something from the ground up. At the same time, though, I know that it should be in collaboration with the production team at the very least. When actors start taking on the responsibilities of directors without their input, it pisses them all the way off. While I understand where both sides were coming from, the bottom line is, I wasn’t there. I don’t know who was exaggerating or downplaying the production drama, and I probably won’t. Whitmire’s been gone from the Muppets crew since then, and what’s done is done. In spite of how this blog post that… I guess you could call an op-ed has gone up till now, I’m genuinely not here to pass judgment on Steve Whitmire being let go one way or the other. People are still really mean to Matt Vogel’s Kermit, and Disney has pretty much put the Muppets in their storage closet. After the underwhelming performances of both the 2014 sequel to the 2011 film, Muppets Most Wanted, and the 2015 ABC show, Muppet projects have been churned out very infrequently. Effectively shutting down the Muppet buzz that the 2011 film created just as quickly as it started.

Since then, the Muppets have of course found a new home in the streaming age via Disney Plus. The entire show and most of the movies are available to subscribers, which is nice, but barely advertised. As for exclusives on the streaming service, there was the 2020 unscripted series Muppets Now, the 2021 Halloween special Muppets Haunted Mansion, comparatively the most successful of the Muppets’ works in the past decade, and the aforementioned Muppets Mayhem. Very few of these have truly been remembered in the grand scheme of the Muppets’ entertainment catalog. I suppose they were okay attempts at keeping the Muppets in the limelight, but they didn’t feel like particularly earnest attempts to do so. They still show up in commercials from time to time, but the Disney company has all but lost interest in them. I wouldn’t make such a blanket statement, but enter Bob Iger. The former Disney CEO who is now the current Disney CEO after Bob Chapek. From one Bob to another, it’s kinda like trash vs garbage. They’re both awful humans, but Iger especially for the purposes of this discussion. This man famously does not care about the Muppets. His perspective was always, “who needs those overly excessive sock puppets when you have Marvel and Star Wars?” Not like there’s any necessity for less ambitious projects to have going on the side. The fact that no new Muppets projects have entered production since he reclaimed the mantle of Disney’s CEO should tell you all you need to know that this perspective never changed. Of course we no longer live in a golden age of puppetry, but we cannot let the Muppets rot away or die. If Disney’s not gonna use them, I say let them go. Even if they’re not in quite the same limelight they used to be, you can’t deny their cultural impact. I still have plenty of family and friends who quote and meme them, either in person or online. A lot of time has passed, a lot of people like Steve Whitmire have fallen through due to creative differences, but we don’t have to let a group as timeless as the Muppets fade into relative obscurity. The theatrical reboot duology from the early 2010s proved this to a tee, but it was only a duology because the company distributing the movies are all cowards who act surprised when the IPs they have the least amount of faith in turn out successful, but then they make a sequel with high financial targets, but it comes out just in time for the hype to have died down and then they shelve it all over again, DISNEY, WHY ARE YOU SO ALLERGIC TO RESPECTING YOUR OWN PROPERTIES—

Sorry, sorry, I won’t lose my cool like that again, just, y’know. Corporate greed. Why did I start yelling anyway? That’s the real question. Is me saying this gonna change anything? Probably not. Yes, I personally think the Muppet studio should go independent from Disney, or at least be sold to another parent company more passionate about them, but that doesn’t change how much easier said than done it is. I pointed to the hesitancy to evolve as a critical mistake as to why the Muppets are losing the spotlight all over again, but if the Muppets returned to their roots with the variety sketch show they’re best known for, I don’t think that would be an unworthy experiment either. Some say that sketch comedy is just not the juggernaut it once was, and that’s true. At the same time, though, a new Muppet show could give them a fun second life through social media. Think about how people are talking about SNL for the right reasons more recently. Commenting on real world events in celebrity news, pop culture, and politics, it’s striking a chord with people all over again, and doubling as really good short form content for TikTok or Shorts. The Muppets rose back to fame in time for the 2011 film through recreating iconic music videos when YouTube was still relatively new in the late 2000s and early 2010s, so it’s all about starting with the risks Disney is unwilling to take. Imagine a Weekend Update type of sketch series with Kermit and Fozzie, or any of the Muppets really. How fun would that be to see on your For You page? You can say “sketch comedy is dying,” or “the Muppets are dying” however much you want, but that’s on you. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy if you don’t take action. It’s never too late. We can introduce new Muppets and performers to breathe new life into them, give a new take on the Muppet Show, and make sure they stick to the form of comedy with clear mass appeal that they know how to pull off so well. Again, I alone won’t move the needle in any meaningful way, so… I don’t know, is anyone else passionate about these guys? What do you like better, #SelltheMuppets or #RevivetheMuppets?

I’m a firm believer in the notion that it’s not about what you buy, it’s about why you buy it, so let me put it to you this way. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is one of my favorite video games I’ve ever played, and cashing in at $60, it’s still on the expensive side. I assume that the developers were worried about potentially not having enough content to justify such a price tag, because as you may know, completing Crash 4 is a tedious nightmare. Most of the completionist stuff is just recycled content from previous levels to artificially extend the game without actually giving you, the player, any new content. For a casual playthrough, though? Oh man, it’s amazing. Purely in terms of the controls that feel just right and the varied, colorful level designs, it’s probably the single best Crash Bandicoot game. I like it well enough just for those reasons, on top of a very well-written story that's fun to play through with both physical and dialogue-based comedy aplenty. The developers clearly had a ton of fun making the game look, sound, and play the way it did. For how much fun that alone is, I’m glad I have it. The only problem is that just playing through the story isn’t much of the completion process, what with the amount of times you have to replay every level just to get all the collectibles. By God, Crash 4 is five or six hours of an excellent story-driven adventure for casual players, and another 100 hours of a completionist game. Please, don’t go for completion on that game if you love yourself and value your thumbs. That’s my point though. The question then becomes: do you think five or six hours of some incredibly high-quality and aptly challenging 3D platforming is worth $60? Personally, I think it is, but it’s hard to say the same if the game costs another $10-20 AND has to be purchased alongside the $450 console you need in order to play it. I know Mario Kart games aren't platformers, but I think you know what I mean. When it comes to a game with time and effort poured into it that offers plenty of variety in things to see and do, how much of your money do you think it's worth? What's your limit? Of course, what I recommend goes beyond personal preferences. Paying for the Switch 2 at launch or ahead of time will give into corporate greed, but it truly is your choice. I understand that patience isn’t easy, but if the Switch 2 sounds like a lot of money to spend in one spot, there’s this thing called waiting for a sale.

Doesn't January 2025 feel like it was forever ago already? Los Angeles was on fire, a peaceful transfer of power was going on at the White House, and most namely to the subject of today's post, TikTok was finally and officially permabanned. After it almost happened, like, every year since 2020, TikTok was finally gone for real. For about 12 hours. Look, as someone who doesn't avidly use TikTok, I just looked at the ban situation earlier this year and thought, “how many times can we do this?” Yes, it was looking more likely due to the national security concerns related to the Chinese parent company, ByteDance, with America’s change in presidency imminent. But I just shrugged at the idea of a TikTok ban because it wouldn’t even affect me personally. While I’m not here to say “I told you so,” I’m not not saying it. I just had to make a comic strip about the whole turn of events, including finding alternatives to TikTok that were clearly more hellbent on selling your personal information. I shouldn’t have to say that an app requiring you to engage in the practices of Communist China just to use it isn’t a good alternative if it’s replacing the app that was disabled to protect your online security. Nevertheless, RedNote was a thing that happened. I drew Crazy wearing a Communist China outfit and speaking Mandarin, and I thought it was pretty funny. Call it offensive all you want, you can’t tell me I was inaccurate in depicting him as a convert. South Park gets away with worse anyway.

So what could I possibly regret about this comic strip with silly political commentary and funny visuals? It was one line that you may have missed. The one in the notice that Eggward gets on his phone, reading: “Nevertheless, all of your personal info got sold to China after you ‘moved to RedNote’ when Instagram Reels was right there.” It wasn’t saying that this one Chinese app you’ve never heard of was trying to sell your personal information. That was at least semi-accurate. It was the mention of Instagram Reels as a good and safe alternative. As of the past few months, I would not endorse Instagram in any capacity. And I am deeply sorry I made it sound any better than TikTok. Since December of 2024, I have learned how little Instagram cares about its users. As some of you may know, my Instagram account was hacked back then. Yes, I may have been baited and hooked by someone posing as my classmate without me knowing that classmate quite well enough to be able to tell it wasn’t them until it was too late, but we don’t talk about how gullible I am. This is really just the tip of the iceberg, but Insta’s help page in case of your account being hacked is useless. Not only does it essentially go in a circle by just bringing you back to the starting page after you report the hacker, but even if you got a message that said, “we’ve received your report, expect to hear back from us soon!” I’ll save you the suspense; no you won’t. I lost my account with 300-odd followers and everything I posted on it. I still have access to Instagram with an alternate account (via Abe the puppet), but the “theomstudios” account is no more. Though I was pretty upset when it happened, I didn’t realize at the time what a blessing in disguise it was.

Instagram is infamous for how easily it allows comparison to be the thief of joy. You’ve probably seen a million PSA’s about how people posting about their best lives on social media makes it easy for you to compare yourself to them and feel insecure, unsuccessful, et cetera. Intentionally or not, Instagram is practically designed to let this happen. Your success literally being quantified by views and likes as people only post their highlights, brings about insecurity. It’s like there’s a literal popularity chart, but instead of it all being in your head, it’s on one of the most popular social media platforms run by billionaires. Checking on that to see how you measure up is unhealthy as a concept, let alone a daily ritual. It’s so refreshing just to have a smaller account that’s not even really supposed to be me. I have less mutuals to worry about, less people to compare myself to as a result, and even if we post about big events in our lives, it’s usually theatre-related (so, a measure of success that I can relate to more). Not everyone at school knows who Abe the yeti puppet is. More people know who Theo is, but the theatre peeps know who Abe is. Better yet, they see Theo and Abe as two different dudes with their own specialties, and love Theo as much as they love Abe. They can respect that I only post goofy puppet videos under the alias of Abe even after I lost my main account, which I commend greatly. Isn’t it funny? I lost Instagram, at least at the larger scale, and I’ve been significantly happier ever since? Go figure.

While I’m at it, I keep seeing people say they’re deleting Twitter or Facebook in favor of moving primarily to Insta, so let me be the one to enlighten you. THAT’S NOT ANY DIFFERENT. Back in February, there was an outbreak if you will, of gore and other NSFW content on Reels. Y’know who had to send out a public apology for their own unwillingness to moderate potential triggers, calling it a "glitch?" Meta Platforms, Incorporated. Yes, the Facebook company. The one that also owns Instagram. The corporation owned by Mark Zuckerburg, who announced that fact checking and protection against hate speech was leaving his platforms for becoming “too politically biased.” I wonder why that is. I really don’t think I need to explain why Twitter isn’t fairing any better in this regard, but rest assured, it’s why I’ve cut back considerably on my Instagram use. Historically, the normalization of violence and spread of hate has been a stepping stone to genocide. You might think genocide is rare because of how infrequently it happens at a mass level or impacts you personally, but frankly, it’s all easier than ever with social media. Sure, it’s all in the name of “free speech,” but leaving free speech completely and totally unmonitored can lead to the one thing it doesn't permit: clear and present danger. Hearing what you wanna hear is like living off of one food for the rest of your life. You can say whatever you want and not be called out if you lie on all Meta platforms, but that dynamic does not change the easy and addictive trap of social media letting you filter your intake of the news. Reinforcing what you believe in and keeping out what you don’t prevents you from hearing any other perspectives. Might not sound so bad on a personal level at first, but you make very few friends if you can only speak the language of liberals or conservatives. No dip, that’s blatantly unhealthy.

The future of social media is in the hands of platforms that you don’t constantly see compared to Nazi Germany for their normalization of hateful rhetoric. Maybe it’s time I download BlueSky or something else like it, just to see how refreshing it is in terms of allowing social media to connect us, like it's supposed to. Not tear us apart through comparison, standardized success, violence, or hate speech. We are the people, and we are what we can control. We have the power with the internet to share what we want to share, and choose how we go about it. That’s a big part of why I created the Comix website. Creating a new platform by myself is a nice and viable option nowadays. I realize now that none of this is even mentioning the AI slop, but no social media seems to be vehemently anti-AI. Except this website. We here at Comix feel very strongly about AI, but that’s a topic for another day. Bottom line… yeah, sorry I said Instagram was good. It’s not. It’s time to move on.