Wonder Park: Why Movies Generally Need Directors

[@FoldingIdeas]

Reuploaded because KZbin scrambled the video in the first one leaving a bunch of glitched frames.

[@someguynamedrob581]

#releasetheglitchcut

[@someguynamedrob581]

Zack Snyder would have wanted it that way.

[@jessecampbell2452]

I legitimately thought it was some sort of meta-commentary on the need of a director

[@honestexistence]

That was super weird. I'm glad you explained it, cause it felt a little like I had just hallucinated.

[@proyectoutopia]

i thought the glitched cut was a choice, some kind of meta comentary on the process or something

[@aacsmiles]

"Don't be sad because it'll inconvenience others" is the kind of thing that would come up in Bojack Horseman's childhood flashbacks.

[@mastermarkus5307]

I wouldn't even consider myself a fan of that series, but that is so _incredibly_ true.

[@marcopivetta7796]

funny this movie was trying to be Inside Out, cuz that's the exact opposite message from the movie. Don't repress your own sadness for other people's sake.

[@FiddlebirdBlue]

Are you my roommate Jaysen, perchance? If not, you guys would be friends.

[@morgansmith4641]

"The most important thing is, you've got to give the people what they want. Even if it kills you, even if it empties you out until there's nothing left to empty. No matter what happens, no matter how much it hurts, you don't stop dancing, and you don't stop smiling, and you give those people what they want." -Bojack Horseman, talking to a 6 year old girl

[@WobblesandBean]

Right?? The message is absolutely vile!

[@LindsayEllisVids]

"Action Park"

[@FoldingIdeas]

Dammit!

[@taylormanes8113]

so glad i didnt mishear that

[@Kaipyro67ALT]

When?? I missed it!

[@JadedJada]

Whatever happened to the little girl who imagined Action Park must have been pretty damn traumatic

[@adams3627]

I want to like this comment but it’s already sitting pretty at 69 likes so I can’t

[@hbomberguy]

Alan Smithee is such a terrible director why does he keep getting work

[@lexsmithee652]

He is a shame upon the Smithee name. (I've never heard about him)

[@casperchristiansen2458]

'Cause he's cheap. Too bad he hasn't gotten work since that fictionalized movie about himself. Dune is probably his best work.

[@eddiedingle767]

hbomberguy his worst movie is “An Alan Smithee film: burn Hollywood burn” Funny thing about that movie is, the director of the movie actually wanted to be credited as Alan Smithee because he hated the final cut so much. So the full title is “An Alan Smithee film, An Alan Smithee Film burn Hollywood burn

[@kaleeshsynth9994]

He never gives up.

[@eddiedingle767]

Kaleesh Synth I do think Hollywood has retired that name, You can’t use a fake name, you gotta use no-name

[@glennrose3388]

Blink three times if the corn plushie is holding you hostage.

[@reizak8966]

I didn't even notice it until I scrolled down in the comments. Now I can't look away. O.O

[@NyJoanzy]

I thought it was corn... Like in the portrait.

[@cheezemonkeyeater]

What?

[@Alia-bc3rc]

I can't move my eyes away from the corn caricature instead...

[@dancooperfication]

that plush f***er staring intently at the back of his head making dead sure he sticks to the script and doesn't spill the beans on their sadomasochistic relationship

[@SiraSpirit]

Ugh, I actually really like the basic premise of “she’s struggling to be creative because she’s worried about her mom” because it feels more accurate to my lived experience than “disappearing into fantasy.” As a “””””creative person”””” with depression, I’m really tired of the message that going through depression or trauma will make me a better artist. I guess losing one’s creativity is a subject better handled in an adults’ movie than a kids’ movie.

[@WobblesandBean]

Not only that, but they kind of give off the message that you shouldn't burden others with your sadness cuz it hurts people you care about, and that's your fault. Then they imply that you can get rid of depression through willpower alone, and it's just....no....

[@kevinm5940]

@@WobblesandBean isn't that _every_ bad piece of media about depression though? A lot of stuff that's supposedly about getting over mental illness is just _about_ a weird personification of mental illness, with the 'getting over it' part not really being the focus. I've seen so much shit where it's treated like you just need to do one simple action and it'll be completely gone, even if it's made by people who HAVE depression.

[@Innuya]

Sounds like you might enjoy the movie FRANK if you haven't seen it

[@edgarallenhoe3518]

There's a really great arc in the last season of Bojack Horseman where one of the characters has to confront her belief that her childhood trauma and mental illness will make her a better artist, and eventually she has to realize that it's just pain. It's not redemptive pain, or artistic pain, it's just pain, and in order to grow past it she has to let go of her attachment to it. Finally she's able to create art that brings her fulfillment, and it's completely different than what she thought it would be.

[@garrettgrisso8180]

this reminds me a lot of kiki’s delivery service in some ways. i think it can be done as a kids’ movie, it’s just gotta be done well

[@victrosia]

I like the idea that June’s sadness is destroying the park as in depression eats away at memories and/or taints them with negativity. Destroying the park AKA June forgetting it, June’s creations blaming her for ruining it AKA self loathing and guilt. With better direction and a more concise plot I think that would be a really strong start for a story, but if it’s a children’s show on Nickelodeon I don’t think they’re gonna follow through with that kind of metaphor.

[@celinak5062]

Reminds me of rimmer world and pokemon 3

[@nothingreally6680]

It's honestly more directed than most animated films these days. Probably a little unfinished because the director was fired near the beginning of post-production. But it's not like he left halfway through or even less of the way through like it's implied in this video and by a lot of the idiots who read a headline and don't give the movie a chance.

[@diaegou7673]

Celina K - please, tell us more about rimmer world

[@WobblesandBean]

The premise is very interesting, but the execution is just awful. They're basically telling kids "don't burden others with your emotions. Nobody likes a Debbie Downer, so quit acting sad! You can do it if you just want it badly enough. June could will herself into curing her depression, why can't you?"

[@rubywest5166]

@@diaegou7673 It's not really as erotic as it sounds unless you're *really* into Chris Barrie making out with himself

[@bingbangbong5055]

"the homeopathic version of Inside Out" is a phrase I never thought I'd hear

[@mirmalchik]

until he took an eyedropper to the swimming pool it was still sounding pretty worth watching

[@timothymclean]

It's hyperbolic, though. I'm pretty sure the literal homeopathic version of _Inside Out_ would just be a blank tape.

[@BunjiBee]

Brand new sentence

[@FiddlebirdBlue]

@@BunjiBeeThat's what I was going to say! TO THE SUBREDDIT!

[@paradoxacres1063]

2:30

[@PhilosophyTube]

When you said she had to save wonderland from the Darkness I imagined a much better film where she has to fight Justin Hawkins

[@rosebyanyname]

Philosophy Tube Film would have been improved 100% if as the darkness overtook the park it was soundtracked by the guitar solo from “I Believe in a Thing Called Love”

[@jimmyl27]

So far I’ve found Lindsay, Harris, and now Olly in this comment section. What do I win?

[@rhaeven]

@@jimmyl27 The same thing everyone else wins, Comrade.

[@brendanmccabe8373]

Philosophy Tube you 100% seem like the type of guy who would blast the darkness

[@FersusSwingo]

I imagined a rippoff of the neverending story ^^

[@kitwhitfield7169]

You know, there’s a perfectly workable potential moral in that set-up: imaginative, playful little girl is afraid that without her mother, she doesn’t have the power to create joyful things by herself. Wonder Park is an expression of her best self, and she needs to learn that she can be her best self independently. Heck, you can finish by having her entertain her mother in hospital with the All New Wonder Park Adventures; if you establish that the mother was worried and guilty about how her illness affected the family, that could be a happy ending all round. The best way to repay love is to take the joy people gave you and make something beautiful out of it, that sort of thing. Mind you, it doesn’t sound like its makers were in a state of creative joy when they put it together.

[@Chordata-flyer]

I love this retelling idea! I hope someone gets the inspiration to write it as a fanfiction.

[@deadpull7761]

I was physically exhausted by the explanation of the setup.

[@Katy133]

As a series animator, I really appreciate your knowledge on the animation pipeline and for touching upon the allegations surrounding the director. Thank you!

[@FiddlebirdBlue]

Agreed, VERY insightful and interesting

[@Kaiwala]

What stuff did you animatr

[@Katy133]

@@Kaiwala I can't really talk about that, because of NDAs.

[@Kaiwala]

@@Katy133 Even the stuff you finished?

[@Katy133]

@@Kaiwala Yes. I'd prefer not to name-drop for privacy reasons.

[@LostCosmonauts]

Blunder park _lol got em_

[@gangarollo]

I had no idea you would do something else than playing dota and making videos about dota

[@robertbaillargeon3683]

"This movie is the homeopathic version of Inside Out" -Dan Olsen. Blurb for the blu ray packaging, for sure.

[@knofear8859]

The antagonist of the film is called the darkness? So this is part of the Sharkboy and Lavagirl cinematic universe then?

[@andrewollmann304]

Or Twitches, or A Wrinkle in Time (technically that antagonist was called The Black Thing, but still.)

[@Wandervenn]

That actually makes sense since Sharkboy and Lava Girl dealt with similar childhood issues.

[@bakondude2233]

Makes it apart of the FairlyOddparents Wishology Trigology too

[@rasmusdegn9690]

And the Destiny games.

[@alanritchie7850]

@@andrewollmann304 I thought the antagonist of wrinkle in time was It

[@GetOfflineGetGood]

This sounds like a great movie for Big Joel to philosophize about

[@Dorian_sapiens]

Big Joel? He's pretty good. You're pretty good, yourself.

[@GetOfflineGetGood]

Dorian sapiens thank you :)

[@matti.8465]

Shhh! You'll summon him!

[@harrylane4]

@@matti.8465 we need to say big Joel three times to summon big joel. Now, of course I'm not going to say it a third time, because we all know what happens if you summon big joel. *oh shit.*

[@TuesdaysArt]

I misread this as Billy Joel and was really confused for half a second lol

[@merchantfan]

Child dealing with loss of parent with villain called "the darkness" - a lot scarier when it was "the Nothing" in Neverending Story (and man was the nothing scary I think that was my first childhood introduction to a metaphor for depression)

[@tomleonard830]

merchantfan this was the cinematic reference that my mind went to first, also.

[@zygoncommander1239]

Man, I was so taken with that movie as a kid before I got the metaphor, and now whenever I think about it post depression diagnosis that makes so much sense to me. I don’t know if you can be depressed that young but I was definitely lonely and constantly retreating into fantasy worlds where I was happier. I think that’s what makes the movie timeless, every kid can understand feeling like an emptiness is eating you up at some point in your life, even if you can’t articulate it then.

[@loislane7482]

The Nothing inspired my most terrifying childhood nightmare when I was about 5 or 6. And yes this definitely sounds like a knock off Neverending Story.

[@ArturoStojanoff]

It's funny that the main girl, by whispering the ideas to the bear, is basically like the *director* the park had lost and needed back not to be a wreck. Almost ironic.

[@rasmusdegn9690]

It's like poetry, it rhymes.

[@Cerise4697]

"A childhood safe place called Wonderland that was just a figment of a child's imagination is being corrupted by The Darkness but protagonist defeats it through willpower" sounds like a G-rated movie version of American Mcgee's Alice tbh. The naming must be a coincidence though.

[@gwendolynstata3775]

It also sounds like The Never-ending Story.

[@jesslavender8852]

From his description it would also appear that the movie doesn't present it as a figment of the child's imagination, but as some real thing? Eh

[@b.parker1740]

America McGee's Wonder: coming after whenever Oz comes out (meaning never). Also, I just realized that you literally named yourself after Alice. Coolio.

[@zachreddy]

Bruce Parker Lidderelly.

[@jonathanjoestarwithpluck4930]

Sounds exactly like Little Nemo to me.

[@wegogiant]

We had The Art of Editing and Suicide Squad, then The Art of Storytelling and The Book of Henry. Will we get a The Art of Directing and Wonder Park? I get the feeling directing is one of those jobs that everyone knows, but nobody knows exactly what they do and how they help produce a great film. Even if this isn't the movie to base it on, I'd love to see a "The Art of Directing" vid from you at some point. Thanks for your work, Dan.

[@simongunkel7457]

"Of all the movies Wonder Park wants to be, it wants most to be Inside Out". But from most of the plot all I can think of is "Neverending Story" retold by somebody who didn't get the central metaphors (and these are pretty on the nose).

[@TheBonkleFox]

To be fair i never got the metaphors either. I just saw it as a sudden shift to the story having actually been real all along and then the kid rides the dragon and spooks the bullies. That part kinda dampened the metaphor for me.

[@simongunkel7457]

@@TheBonkleFox Well, that's one of the things, one probably should call out as not being in the book and added to provide the movie with an ending (the movie adaptation get's through roughly a 3rd of the book). But basically you have a kid whose mother recently died and whose dad is so consumed by his own grief he can't provide any solace. So the kid tries to escape by reading fiction and a book called neverending story appeals to him precisely because it promises a permanent escape from reality. It turns out the book really is about him and his issues and the threat to the word is his struggle with depression. When he names the Childlike Empress he takes control of the story, at which point he starts to try to remain in the story not because he needs that escape from the bleak reality, but because it fulfills a power fantasy.

[@lyndonwesthaven6623]

I particularly liked that in the book version, his wishes were in exchange for his memories- his ability to create the fantasy world came from his experiences, at the cost of him completely losing who he was.

[@nothingreally6680]

Inside Out is a psychotic and dehumanizing metaphor which reduces our species to giant fleshy robots, inconveniently operated through abstract suggestion by way of dystopian control panel. The reduction of emotional complexity within our thoughts is not a good model for kids to learn about psychology through. What understandings will anyone come to through having seen that movie? "Oh, I'm sad. Sadness needs to get off the controls!" It's a commercialized vehicle for emotional detachment. Wonder Park, on the other hand, utilizes a mental/emotional metaphor in a way that urges and invigorates the autonomy of our youth, instead of strategizing amongst cute, creepy, cartoon imps. Compared to Wonder Park, Inside Out feels Orwellian. Honestly feels like Wonder Park was trying to fix Inside Out, if anything. Did a good job making it more than bearable. Far better directed too, just has some pacing issues and terrible marketing.

[@Saramusvasque2838]

God, remember Kubo and the Two Strings? Or Song of the Sea? Weren't they great?

[@mastermarkus5307]

I thought Kubo and the Two Strings was incredibly predictable and generic despite the initial premise. It had good visuals but was kind of dull in my opinion. Song of the Sea WAS great though.

[@pokemario6456]

Haven’t seen Song of the Sea, but I loved Kubo. Shame it got practically no advertising and just sort of came and went

[@herpderp3916]

I have yet to watch Song of the Sea, but Kubo is one of my all-time favorites. Admittedly it doesn't do anything super unique story-wise, but it tells itself so well and with so much heart that it's still great.

[@boiledelephant]

Kubo is a feast for the eyes and imagination more than anything, and that was enough for me.

[@CadDriftarus]

I thought The Secret of Kells was the best until I saw Song of the Sea. (Castle in the Sky's my favorite film of all time, but I think Song of the Sea is the best animated film.

[@pinkwings8036]

The delivery of the last line was chilling man. There's a joke in this about Action Park's infamous reputation and this movie's plot somewhere.

[@WobblesandBean]

Yeah, that last bit really hit me, too. As someone who has been struggling with depression since childhood, I was often told that by my mother. "Don't let anyone else know you're sad, it'll make them not like you." I'm 35 and STILL trying to unravel all the damage that did to me.

[@Avossk]

Only real 2019 kids remember the glitchy version

[@catnium]

👌

[@stevegeorge6880]

Kids watching it now don't remember the glitchy version, and it shows.

[@Avossk]

@@stevegeorge6880 Back in my day we suffered from the eye strain and we liked it!

[@hectormanuel8360]

I want to see it

[@J11Boy299]

yessir

[@aimeemariet]

"Yeah, she should have thought about how her sadness would make other people feel" is basically how I was raised. It's a fantastic message for children and doesn't lead to deeply internalized problems at all (obvious sarcasm).

[@WorkingonTwos]

Yep, don't talk about your emotions because I don't want to deal with them is a wonderful thing to teach children! /s And actually that could have made this film really stand out if it had been the opposite of Inside Out where June reaches out for comfort for her sadness and is rejected. Then all her sadness, fear, anger and the rest has no where to go and threatens to consume her through the metaphor of the theme park. And maybe she has to incorporate the darkness into the park, using a creative outlet for the expression of her pain.

[@AntiFaGoat]

@@WorkingonTwos Not just avoid talking about sadness- avoid EXPRESSING it at all!

[@pansymoons9536]

I can't stop staring at hbananaguy in the background, staring existentially at a banana.

[@dojokonojo]

So that's who the people in those panels are.

[@notnotkavi]

Who's the middle one?

[@JM-fu6vy]

@@notnotkavi lindsey ellis maybe?

[@JM-fu6vy]

or jenny nicholson idk

[@LARKXHIN]

Basically - Go see "A Monster Calls". It's wonderful and not enough people saw it.

[@Wandervenn]

Yes. The book is also really awesome and fills in some of the subtle gaps in the film.

[@LARKXHIN]

@@Wandervenn Ah man, I read the book exactly 2 days before I saw the movie and thought I'd be ok and not cry. Spoiler alert: I cried anyway.

[@eddiedingle767]

LARKXHIN At least the director of that movie got to do Jurassic World fallen kingdom

[@SylentVoidkeeper]

Probably because the studio advertised it like shit. I guess it’s not an easy sell tbf.

[@guavajagular]

I watched Captain Marvel last week, at a busy cinema, and Wonderpark was greatly advertised, with a large cardboard stand and hanging signs. I legitimately assumed it was because it was some independent Australian made animation. Little did I know...

[@Chadius]

As soon as Dan mentioned Nickelodeon it all made sense to me, haha.

[@Reddebrek46]

"an army of Chimpanzombies" 10/10 film of the year.

[@BroadwayBrittany]

Honestly, I’m just glad you made this because ever since the first trailer came out, I’ve been STRUGGLING to figure out just what the hell this movie was even about. Because every time I’ve seen advertising for it, it just looked so bland and pointless-the marketing focuses solely on the characters riding rides. Like, that’s cool and all, but what’s the freaking STORY??? I also had no clue this was a tie-in to an upcoming Nick show, and now that you’ve explained that, everything makes a LOT more sense. Still, that’s no excuse to just make a cheap, substance-less movie to help launch the show; just look at the original Jimmy Neutron movie. It was fun, had a coherent story, and character designs were interesting and memorable. Not only that, but they even CHANGED some character designs specifically for the show-Cindy’s pigtails and pink shirt were changed to a ponytail and green tank top (likely because a single ponytail was easier to animate than the double pony action).

[@tyblazitar]

i feel confident that in the genre of "white late 30s guy ranting about contemporary children's media", this is probably as good as it gets in 2019

[@boiledelephant]

I dunno man, it's a big subgenre!

[@Flowtail]

boiledelephant how many of these have you watched? I mostly stopped when i stopped being a teenager

[@blapis-blazuli]

I'm not sure if it's really that fair to lump this into the "adult white guy rants about kids' media" subgenre: he's fairly calm and has a more meaningful analysis about why he thinks the movie has the problems that it does than something like, say, Nostalgia Critic (I know that's not a great comparison, but when someone says "ranty internet reviewer" it's hard to find a more obvious example that most people know).

[@serioussaitama4071]

It certainly is. The genre is overpopulated with what I like to call “rant creators” who don’t say much of substance.

[@tabithaprovan957]

I think it is some of the better content, but as far as I can tell this type of genre (or whatever you wanna call it) is improving across the board. A lot of the current millennial movie reviewers on youtube seem to be bending towards more accessibly thoughtful content now, as opposed to earlier (and maybe a little more angry) stuff. Sure, someone pulling apart a movie is fun to watch, but Dan is one of the calmest deconstructers I've ever seen, Ryan from Pitch meeting delivers his criticism like a compliment, Red Letter Media give off overall mellow "just chatting" vibes that can suck you into listening for hours, and even Tubers like Mauler, Robot Head, and YMS who go insanely hard when they're agitated with a film still put admirable amounts of research and articulation into their reviews. The stuff we have access to now isn't just amusing--it's often more thoughtful, passionate and informative than "professional" critics can manage. I know that sounds like something people just say to diss mainstream critics, but as far as I can tell, it's getting truer by the day.

[@ian_b]

I've noticed that animation without directors (e.g. short films made by one guy with Maya/Blender/Whatever) or just with animators as directors, seem to suffer from the syndrome that affected 90s desktop publishing. You know when it was new, and a magazine cover would have 25 different fonts, each in a different size and colour, just because it was possible. They tend to have shots that are too long, too tricksy, etc, just because the animator wants you to see their beautiful work. Instead of because it's good for storytelling.

[@WobblesandBean]

You just described the entirety of Thief and the Cobbler. Although, I think that is literally the only case where the spectacle is so good, so immaculate, that the total lack of plot or character development is almost intangential.

[@Tama_Abiru]

This reminds me of all the artists I follow online who have a bunch of OCs, a setting, and a rudimentary story but never actually make a comic because they know they can't actually write/direct one. It makes me wish there were more writer/artist collaborations.

[@ian_b]

@@Tama_Abiru Writing is a lot harder than people think, I think :) Having an idea for a story is not the same as being able to tell that story.

[@dannybeeblebrox754]

Today when I was at work a kid described a movie to a coworker and me and we just kind of looked at each other like "what?? is this kid talking about?? Do you think they made it up??". I realize now that they were actually describing the plot of this movie, with a pretty high degree of accuracy. I'm actually quite impressed

[@LynnHermione]

I'm reading that the original director *did* get replaced? By David Feiss, who made Cow and Chicken and I Am Weasel. He didn't get credited because he didn't direct enough of the movie.

[@Hypeathon]

Lady Sugarquill Holy shit! I haven’t heard of that name in forever!

[@RoboZombie777]

Yeah I've been reading into this and apparently Feiss and two other people were brung on as basically hired guns go help finish whatever parts of the movie weren't done but because none of them didn't actually direct enough of the movie according to the DGA rules none of them were eligible for a director credit and Paramount didn't want to credit the original dude given his firing for being a sex pest.

[@dare2bawesome]

A Monster Calls is based on a book by my favorite author of all time, Patrick Ness. If you liked that movie, please check out his other work! He mostly writes YA novels about coming of age, struggling with mental illness, and overcoming grief. His works are realistic and honest and very raw. My favorite book of his is The Knife of Never Letting Go, which is the first of a trilogy, but if you want something shorter and easier to get into I would recommend The Rest of Us Just Live Here, a story about the other teens in magical YA novels who are just trying to go to school (think background Hufflepuffs in Harry Potter).

[@CTAigis]

I honestly thought the video's glitches were some kind of meta commentary.

[@cheezemonkeyeater]

"An army of chimpanzombies . . ." First thing, I literally almost had a spit take there. And I do mean literally. Second thing, I am so going to introduce that in next week's D&D session. I don't know how, but I will make it happen.

[@o_o5210]

Best D&D session ever

[@WobblesandBean]

I wish you were my DM! Do you have any room in your campaign? 🥺👉👈

[@cheezemonkeyeater]

@@WobblesandBean Alas, we really don't have anything set up to do campaigns online.

[@doyleharken3477]

I'm sure they wanted to call it just "Wonderland" but then it occurred them they couldn't, so they moved from "Amusement Park" to Wonder Park. ...really should've remembered Deadman Wonderland is a thing that exists, tsk tsk

[@subspacesausage5918]

Wonderman Deadpark animu

[@BingFox]

Alice in Wonderland?

[@daegan_ftw]

@@BingFox or Canada's Wonderland.

[@eddiedingle767]

Doyle Harken there’s also that really really awful direct to DVD horror movie “Amusement”

[@MattMcIrvin]

I recall seeing a trailer for this movie that was one of those trailers that essentially contains the entire plot. That setup is even more exhausting when it's compressed into the length of a trailer.

[@marcomeme4875]

N... no Dan! You can’t put My Neighbor Totoro in a blender. It’s too pure and beautiful

[@ZimMan2]

It's kinda weird to hear that they still call it "Wonderland" in the movie. I remember the initial trailer (which I got with some kid's movie late last year) had "Wonderland" in the dialogue, then subsequent trailers had the characters saying "Wonder Park." I guess the title and re-dubed trailers were to avoid any sort of confusion with Alice in Wonderland, but to hear they didn't re-dub the actual movie? That's just gonna add more confusion.

[@indiciaobscure]

The way Dan introduces his videos always gets me so amped. "There's this MOVIE that just CAME OUT called WONDER PARK."

[@andrewkful]

It's come to my attention that they DID hire a couple of directors, but due to DGA rules they aren't allowed to credit them.

[@hind__]

Oh holy shit, what happened? If you don't mind me asking

[@cleargreen123456789]

@hind those directors did not work on enough of the movie according to the rules

[@mistergremm735]

I'm just paying attention at that "Ps3 Prison break game" in backround

[@EmeraldLavigne]

Pshaw - real 90s kids just pay attention to Rise of the Machines box in the background

[@thanatosdriver1938]

I was curious about it too, metacritic gave it a 40/100 on Xbox 360 and IGN (gave a 35) said “The events of Prison Break: The Conspiracy run concurrently with those of the series’ first season. It’s outcome is the same... and it doesn’t reveal anything that will please fans or cast new light on the show’s characters or plot lines.”

[@ronnickels5193]

The other thing I saw was the Feivel goes West tape. Possible foreshadowing?

[@rebeccagoldberg5331]

watched the entire glitchy version earlier because I knew if I refreshed the page it would be gone 😂 glad to see you were able to fix it though

[@TraceMyers26]

I thought maybe that export error was intentional and leading to something. It took me ~5 minutes to figure out otherwise. I am not a smart man.

[@fabianavalentino6304]

Thought the same! I was like: i love how Dan is committed to a Point, bless. Xd cant wait to see how it lands xdd

[@emilyg2451]

Hey man! I love your videos. The topics you choose and your perspective is unique and interesting, and I love your voice and your mannerisms. You're great at explaining a complicated thing by using all these rabbit trails, then bringing them all together. I'm a fan. I think you're pretty great.

[@wadespencer3623]

All I can think of when I see that blue bear is Charmin commercials.

[@LordEvilmancer]

I mean, the one thing that society has hammered into me is to hide my depression and don't talk about it, because it inconveniences other people that don't want to help you, but also don't want to feel bad seeing you suffer.

[@MammaApa]

I know right. Add autism to this and you'll have a whammy of a fun time masking your every god damn mood. I am 40 now though and has given up silence, suppression and masking and speak openly about it. No-one listens but venting is good and spreading awareness is good. I don't care if my depressing Facebook-posts are making you sad and the friends that can't accept that you sometimes/often can't hang out because depression aren't real friends. Normalize it.

[@SemiIocon]

Every time he says "The Darkness" my mind goes "Guitar!"

[@ethansloan]

"GIMME A D!" "D!" "GIMME AN ARKNESS!" "ARKNESS" "PUT EM TOGETHER! "DARKNESS!"

[@Matrim42]

CHARLIE MURPHY

[@bretsheeley4034]

Every time he said "The Darkness" my brain replaced it with Cheap Generic Version of "The Nothing".

[@ronnickels5193]

I BELIEVE IN A THING CALLED LOVE!!!

[@MajaBiana]

I read the comments just to see if I was the only one doing that. I'm happy that I wasn't :)

[@overlookers]

A film so inept not even Alan Smithee will touch it.

[@andreimileti]

I find it super interesting that he contrasts it with A MONSTER CALLS. Both that and WONDER PARK are Spanish co-productions... just stuck out to me as an American living in Spain and, if I didn't know any better, the marketing for both in Spain is so enormous I'd think they're the biggest films of the century.

[@glennrose3388]

The corn: soon, my friend. Soon.

[@mitkitty]

Wouldn't it have been more impactful if the mother actually had died early on, and this whole Wonderland thing was meant to be the girl accepting her grief and treasuring the world and memories they built together instead of retreating into unhealthy coping mechanisms? But...she lives at the end? Weird

[@UberMan5000]

One movie I never hear this compared to, but I think is a dead-ringer for it, is 2005's MirrorMask. It has many similar themes: a young girl retreating into her own fantasy to cope with her mother's illness; characters kind-of created by her but who act unpredictibly; an external threat within the fantasy that could unravel it all and leave the protagonist broken, etc. The key difference is: it's smart and funny, because it's written by Neil Gaiman. It's gorgeous and visually innovative, because it's directed by Dave McKean. Its design is first-rate, since the makeup and effects were the work of the Jim Henson Creature Shop. Unlike in Wonder Park, there is actually an analogue to the sick mother within the fantasy world, which represents the protagonist's feelings towards both her mother, and the illness. Furthermore, there's the added element that the main character partially blames herself for her mother becoming ill. Granted, it skews to an older audience, since the protagonist is in her mid-teens, and the reason it never seems to be compared to Wonder Park is because I'm fairly sure next to no one remembers it after 14 years. It's admittedly a slightly shallow and tedious film, but anyone who finds themselves curious what Wonder Park could have been, should seek it out.

[@brookeworley5140]

Took me 11 minutes to realize he was saying Inside Out not Get Out hoo boi

[@Grace-tg4oy]

The Sunken Place is the protagonist retreating to a fantasy land where he doesn't have to constantly question the racist society he lives in.

[@RickRaptor105]

Did he purposefully call it "Action Park" instead of "Wonder Park" at one point?

[@nunouno001]

Both titles are so generic, would it have made any difference?

[@megancox4908]

@@nunouno001 Action Park is an infamous theme park that had an extremely high frequency of death and injury due to unsafe atractions and cost cutting risks. So if it was a slip of the tongue, it's a funny one because Action Park is synonymous with disaster.

[@RLanceHunter]

I see the DGA's check cleared. Shameless shilling for Big Director...

[@rbfloat]

Honestly, I think the issue with Wonder Park is that it wasn't dark enough. I know that sounds weird but I really think if they had treated the movie more serious and at the same time, actually talk more loss, the movie would be better. The reason Pixar films are always praised is because they don't talk down to the audience. They treat kids with respect and don't treat them like they're stupid. I feel like that is the main problem with Wonder Park

[@Seyiall]

Man, "A Monster Calls" has not received the recognition it deserves , such a good movie. "Gut wrenching" is absolutely apt. We had to drive to another city to even see it, because our local (not THAT small) cinema didn't have a single screening.

[@MrsYasha1984]

always interesting to hear your thoughts, but I'm thrilled you mentioned a Monster calls. I know almost nobody who knows this film, and it touched me so very deep

[@Bustermachine]

I remember watching this and getting much the same vibe. Thiugh not as articulate. I especially remember the opening act being very VERY long and rather complex. But the existence of the movie as essentially an extended pilot explains that. Honestly I was expecting the core message to be something like 'to truly put away childish things is to stop fearing the appearance of being a child' and that the main character was destroying the park simply by trying too hard to adult. Making herself miserable in the process. Making her sadness a tangible force causing the destruction just weirdly invalidated that and serves as a prime example of less being more.

[@SomeoneBeginingWithI]

I don't know if you've seen Never Ending Story, but the Darkness in Wonder Park sounds quite similar to The Nothing in NES.

[@daegan_ftw]

My Nintendo Entertainment System has the nothing in it? Oh no!

[@JackCipherCreations]

I swear I was following along, but I had to stop the video when you called it Action Park because I was laughing so hard trying to figure out how to make a family-friendly film out of the deadliest theme park in America. Hell, I'd rather see THAT.

[@callies8907]

Defunctland has like a twenty-minute video on the history of Action Park. Watching it was my first introduction to Action Park and it was the wildest possible ride (no pun intended....). I felt bad because people got really hurt but also HOLY SHIT LMAO.

[@str00p]

Coming back to this after realizing the animated series still hasn't released lol. Wikipedia says the first season has been finished already.

[@bingbangbong5055]

Are those pictures at the back Hbomberguy and Lindsay Ellis? Because if they are, I *love* that Dan art (tried to type "fan" and mistyped "Dan" but hell, I'm keeping it)

[@FoldingIdeas]

It's Hbomb and my stream co-host ClearAsCrystal

[@bingbangbong5055]

@@FoldingIdeas Oh wow that's so cool! And I love your videos by the way, keep them coming please 🙂

[@bingbangbong5055]

(I've lost count of the number of times I've watched your Fifty Shades videos)

[@harrietpotter649]

@@bingbangbong5055 lol me too. The 50 shades playlist is what I fall asleep to almost every night. I don't know why the subject of evil bdsm-obsessed billionaires soothes me so much, but boy does it :)

[@Anglerbe]

GreySMR @@harrietpotter649

[@sarcomeresarecool]

I've been reading The Neverending Story so when he starts talking about the park being consumed my brain immediately went "...by the Nothing?"

[@Little1Cave]

It’s sad that other Nickelodeon film projects made to spawn tv shows were more successful than this. “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius” had a competent director and “Barnyard” had a director.

[@bingbangbong5055]

Yay! I was so confused when the link didn't work

[@Inlelendri]

You said "Action Park" once instead of "Wonder Park"...boy, wouldn't that have been a different movie, a magically created version of the death park...which actually could tie in with the process of grief, come to think of it. It wouldn't be a children's movie but having Wonder Park become Action Park as a result of dealing with grief destructively/unhealthily, that...that might actually work.

[@fafofafin]

I can't stop looking at the Rise of the Robots box... I rented that game once about 25 years ago and I still have flashbacks of how bad it was.

[@jsc315]

That's the proper and only response that have should ever get.

[@kudosbudo]

It was certainly no ONE MUST FALL!

[@honey-bagder3451]

This video is only 15 minutes long??? Bro, I remembered it being at minimum 30 with the plot! That train wreck plot made this video feel so much longer than it actually was 😭 Rewatching this made me curious about that new Hatchling movie. I want depth with puppets and whimsy!

[@IsaacMayerCreativeWorks]

Wonder Park director: *accused of sexual harassment, fired* Studio: "Now what?" Hundreds, if not thousands, of talented women trying to make it in the field: "Hi?" Studio: "We don't know what to do!" Women: "Hey, we're right here! Look!" Studio: "I see absolutely nothing. Oh well, better go without a director then!"

[@tawdryhepburn4686]

Isaac Mayer the woman in question would get no credit and infinite blame. It’s a Faustian bargain.

[@LynnHermione]

They actually did replace the director, with David Feiss. I don't know why the video says they didn't.

[@Wandervenn]

Pretty sure they did get a director... But even then, they would have had to overlook all directors... Not just women. It isnt like all the dude directors were busy or on holiday so only women were left in the choice pool and the producers actively chose to overlook them. That isnt how it works.

[@tawdryhepburn4686]

TempleAmarok no. They just choose to overlook women 93% of the time in ALL films in Hollywood.

[@cleargreen123456789]

Clare Kilner, said to habe been one of the co-directors, is a woman. But who they hired would not have mattered as that director would not have worked enough to get credited according to DGA rules.

[@thrownstair]

No biggie, just means I get to watch the video twice!

[@maluegawhale1562]

My friend used to work at a movie theater and at some point in summer 2019 he came over for a bonfire. He offered to provide paper for kindling bc I didn’t have any newspaper, and went to his car to go grab it. He came back with like 10 or 15 giant promotional posters for wonder park he got from work. We burned some of them but it turns out they weren’t great for kindling (they burned too fast for the wood to light???) and made giant paper hats out of the rest

[@DJTea]

I remember seeing the trailer for this when I went to see the Lego Movie, and it looked really confused story-wise.

[@sobertillnoon]

I'm so glad you were able to put it back up so quickly

[@christianpaystrup4427]

Yay! A mention of A Monster Calls! Such an underrated gem.

[@v6243_____]

weird comparison and four years late i realize, but the "rejecting fantasy because of traumatic life events" is VERY much the theme of the peter pan sequel (return to neverland) that i watched a bunch as a kid

[@acelyasummer422]

From a distance the American Tail cover art looks like a blushing face.

[@WobblesandBean]

Lol pareidolia

[@mmmmmmmmnm259]

Totally unrelated to the prompt, especially given this video's age, but after watching your NFT video I can't see the banana people in the back as anything but painted NFT caricatures...

[@NaiaPhykit1]

A monster calls was the 1st film I saw in 2017 (or was it 2016?). It was great and one of my favourite of the year. It was beautiful, touching, subtle and had a great cast. I don't understand why nobody talked or talk about it.

[@lengarion]

I can barely listen to this, I'm too distracted by the blue butt-chest man. Who did this.

[@ethosbass]

I think Pan's Labyrinth is my favorite 'retreating into fantasy to escape the pain of reality' movie.

[@kudosbudo]

My favourite one is Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island, because its the villain that does the retreating into fantasy manifested in reality.

[@TheLunaLockhart]

you know that feeling of kinda falling asleep while listening to someone speak, so you end up skipping through the video chunk by chunk from nodding off? yeah, this video gave me that feeling and I'm not nodding off. what a vapid directionless movie x.x

[@lujho]

What the hell, they went back to Wonderland for the name of the park? That’s bonkers. There’s an actual trailer out there where they say “Wonder Park” all through it. Also, they couldn’t have come up with a better name for a theme park than EITHER of those? Wonderland manages to be extremely generic, the name of several real world parks AND a reference to a Disney-related IP. Baffling.

[@JennWanderer]

That Feivel Goes West poster looks like a creepy face and it's wearing a top hat and it's freaking me out

[@mrwerder616]

I worked as an (\unpaid\) intern in the studio for a couple months in the development of this movie. With now a couple of years in the industry i can say that 9:00 is what i felt during my internship.

[@joshuacaulfield]

Minor disagreement: Based on plot plagiarism I posit that this movie wants to be “The Neverending Story”, but made by committee. (As opposed to “Inside Out”, though I see your point.). Yes, I am 4 years late. (Shrug).

[@sildaz]

Wow, Folding Ideas foreshadowing NFTs 2 years before they existed. That´s what I called good world-building

[@PainCausingSamurai]

How was "I Kill Giants" anyway? I remember enjoying the comic.

[@lonerChise]

wait wait... so... it's basically Neverending Story idea of "you stopped imagining it, so The Darkness came" as filtered thru lazy trope-names like "wonderland" and... ..

[@mrheisenberg83]

That picture is on a cob. That plush is on a cob. EVERYTHING IS ON A COB! RUN!

[@lauramcastro4897]

Oh please oh please oh PLEASE do a video on A Monster Calls!! The book and movie are two of my favorite stories of all time and it deserves so much more love than it gets!!

[@LithiumThiefMusic]

Heyyy! Didn't quite work the first time, you had me worried Dan!

[@shannonoborn9158]

This is actually one of my favorite movies and I was sad to hear your review but I do understand your opinion of it.

[@michaelhuber5364]

The Cloud of Darkness and some of these ideas, it reminds me of "The Never-ending Story"

[@cheezemonkeyeater]

Did they ever actually make a TV show off of this, or was it such a failure that they dropped the project? I never did find out and really can't be arsed to go to the trouble.

[@windowcreeperbird9669]

From what I remember, despite there being a few episodes finished it never aired.

[@alantremonti1381]

Had to upvote purely on the quip that ended it, lol. Took me totally off guard.

[@MsFeyCreature]

I'm actually really into the horror or thriller movie take now. Themes could be the growing awareness of mortality, youthful recklessness, fear of loss of control. You could have a twist where the protagonist was actually in a coma from an injury during the rollercoaster incident and make the whole thing more surreal and dreamlike. She could be losing it because she blames herself for her mother's illness, seeing her own reckless actions as a monstrous, evil part of herself represented by Peanut manifesting in real life (yeah I know Mirrormask did it better). Like....there are seeds of something there.