Lessons Animation Taught Us - Movies with Mikey

[@JustWrite]

I might try this. Thoughts are percolating!

[@filmjoy]

[m] That would be rad! I'd love to see this keep growing!

[@Dorian_sapiens]

Please do!

[@grimprime0158]

Id totes watch that!

[@jonathanbethards3689]

Just watched CinemaWins version. Man, it's great.

[@christopherfarvour9220]

(Guitar riff from 'Wonder Woman's Theme' begins gently, steadily increasing in Volume until you just cant deal with the exponential growth of a young, hyper-!intelligent, well read man in his 30's with a genius-level-intellect, and the myriad of wants, needs and desires.) Upon Valkries forehead in an especially brutal slapping/snapping of a random belt or hose, once you get beneath the hood if you have a quick eye and sufficent knowledge, it becomes obvious. Regardless, Tara got especially woozy and fainted altogether at once and the 3 of us just do whatever we can to ensure we three all enjoy our relationship and time away from Dwight for at least 30 years or so. [Irritating human beings let and right, these "Terrifying the thought of losing ones copy of that game I love, the Art, the culture, the food!" The cover that goes over the belts on the front of the engine. And, hilariously enough, you would think I know all about shoes or hot topic inventory.

[@KevinCow]

My Japanese teacher showed us Grave of the Fireflies when I was around 14. She didn't tell us what it was going to be about. She just said we were watching a movie today, and it usually means good times ahead when a teacher says that. My experience with anime up to that point was stuff like Speed Racer, Gundam, Dragon Ball Z, Pokémon, Digimon, and weird things my friend pirated like Tenchi Muyo and Ranma. Needless to say, I wasn't prepared. Nobody in the class was. We watched it over the course of two days, and the first day ended with everyone kinda saying, "Okay, but things are gonna get better, right?" Then at the end of the second day, we were just a room full of weeping children. I think that's when I realized media was capable of so much more than I thought. It hit me so hard that 15 years later, I still haven't been able to muscle up the courage to watch it again.

[@quentinsivertson1965]

Wow, that's getting chucked straight into the deep end.

[@lettylunasical4766]

I work in a school and run a film club... now wondering if it might be worth showing my students that film (I'll give warnings though!)

[@lawyerr526]

yup same thing happened in my japanese class. Thankfully the teacher made us watch the end when it was the end of the day so we didn't have to go to a different class in tears

[@lignjahal]

I have never gotten the impression that the ‘Baby Mine’ scene from Dumbo is meant to be positive towards the circumstances in the scene. It always makes me sad, sad for the idea of losing a parent, at being alone, and at being so close to a person yet so far away. Dumbo to me is always a sad story, I never got the impression that he film rejoices in the misery of the story.

[@Donika691]

It seems to me that it's a film portraying things that are horrible and heartbreaking, in circuses, in history, and about racism, that unfortunately did happen and like you said not to celebrate or rejoice in those things but to give the message that things should not be this way.

[@trashbasket11]

Yeah I was confused because like the entire point is how awful everyone is for being cruel to Dumbo. I'll agree it's racist but everything else was meant to be that way to say it's bad so idk man I think he missed the point.

[@Draukagrissah]

I always tell people that Grave of the Fireflies is the greatest movie I will never watch again.

[@TheFabulousRBK]

Hey, you should check out Plague Dogs.

[@pLanetstarBerry]

Right up there with Reqiem For A Dream. There should be a club or something.

[@katiehenderson3879]

snap! even though I grew up constantly watching watership down n Plague dogs, Grave of the fireflies broke me! I only watched it once years ago without knowing what I was clicking on excited for another amazing Ghibli film. I can still easily say its one of my favourite films but the only once that I haven't watch again or really plan too.

[@juanmanuelpenaloza9264]

Barefoot Gen...f*cking nukes, man. We're rationals living in an irrational world.

[@mistersympa15]

I will never watch it. I know I can't handle it. I watched Little Match Girl not knowing what it was and I sobbed for hours after.

[@JINORU_]

The Squirel Girl getting her heart broken is the only thing in that movie that's stuck with me all these years of my life. Randomly comes back to me at times. Golly.

[@EC2019]

The opening song by the minstrel with the lute is the bit that sticks with me. "A legend is sung of when England was young."

[@sarahmeaden7901]

I sobbed as a child watching this scene, every single time.

[@poethewondercat7851]

I firmly place the blame for my deep seated love and empathy with animals (and subsequent fascination with anthropomorphic animals DON'T JUDGE ME) at the feet of The Sword and the Stone, which I watched ad nauseam as a child as well.

[@Titleknown]

Fun fact, there's a popular fan-AU where the squirrel becomes human and continues having adventures with Arthur. Also, a friend of mine made a post related to that that he will never; ever be able to live down: tyrantisterror.tumblr.com/post/163802972814/rocketmantis-tyrantisterror-bugcthulhu

[@paradigmdashed]

Thomas Johnson.. awesome thx for sharing

[@nessunamore]

To a six year old boy who was torn from his mother.... Dumbo was pretty god damn important. Plenty to be learned if when a small child you learned the true definition of a bad day

[@KingOfDoma]

One of the greatest conflicts in my life has been being a black man who loves When I See An Elephant Fly. It's so joyful and fun and buoyant and it makes me smile whenever I think about it. If there's one thing I wish I could do, it's to snatch this film from its awful origins and make that song ours forever. But that's probably not possible. ... dare to dream.

[@artisticinsanite7418]

KoDOmega feel ya on that. Did my thesis and that scene was in it. I like the roustabout song too.. That song damn near worse

[@samcornelius9064]

love the song for what it means to you. Art is all about putting the creations of others in your own context.

[@cedricwublin9306]

Oh man. It'd be so interesting to see a modern black musician do a cover of that song. Like, would that claim it from Disney to now belong to the black community? (Or even if it was sampled in a hip hop song?) Is it possible to do as you say, and snatch it from its awful origins?

[@Jgotmilk555]

I always thought that the crows are encouraging Dumbo to embrace his ability to fly. The crows get to fly everyday. They want to show Dumbo how to fly; how to experience something extraordinary. Whenever, I watched the movie, I though the crows were the coolest characters in the movie.

[@artisticinsanite7418]

Cedric Wublin would be interesting..if done right

[@lysrobinsdaughter6599]

One of my first favourite movies as a kid was the Disney version of Robin Hood. It made me want to be a hero and taught me that it's more important to do good than to follow the rules, because rules and power can be abused.

[@Dorian_sapiens]

Same for me. The Disney version was my introduction, and I went on to be a big fan of several other versions of Robin Hood as a kid. They had a huge influence on my ideas about justice and goodness and our responsibilities to each other.

[@woodrowjang]

Ego's review at the end of Ratatouille has had a huge influence on my opinion of art and criticism.

[@cedricwublin9306]

++

[@ExhaustedElox]

Mikey: "Grave of the Fireflies..." Me: *clutches chest and keels over* "Oh god, please don't make me remember that movie. I've just gotten over it..."

[@jeffreyjoseph6756]

Exhausted Elox That movie does the same to me too whenever anyone mentions it.

[@martinheidegger441]

I made the mistake of listening (yes, audio is enough to me) to this in public. Barely possible to hold back my tears as soon as I heard the title.

[@Justanotherconsumer]

It’s odd - I’ve only seen the whole movie once, but even talking about t has much the same effect on me even though that once was nearly 20 years ago. There’s an uncanny valley aspect to tragedy, where hyper-realism in storytelling just makes it seem all the more artificial, and Fireflies hits that sweet spot of just unrealistic enough that you focus on the story, rather than where the art fails to live up to expectations of realism.

[@stevenchoza6391]

Wrong... you can never get over it.

[@BeeepBo0op]

Steven Choza it's true. I watched that movie more than five years ago. Started crying almost immediately after it got mentioned

[@pastlife960]

You know, when I was three and I first saw Dumbo I thought, "hey, this ain't so bad it's got a funny mouse and bright colours" And then the baby elephant started crying. I just...I just can't even....I need some chocolate milk and some alone time...

[@SimplyAnime101]

When the mama rocks Dumbo through the bars of her cage. I tear up just thinking about that scene.

[@EC2019]

If you ever have children of your own, that scene will take on a whole new horror and you will cry a whole new layer of tears. No escaping it.

[@pilotman012]

My mom died recently. Watching the Baby Mine scene was therapeutic. The lyrics are not what I thought.

[@LemonCurry.]

and a dumbo live action movie directed by Tim Burton is getting released next year...

[@Site_42]

New series? New series. I’m all about this. This KZbinr has some things to consider

[@rafaelmarkos4489]

Is it going to be about George the Chinchilla?

[@ty12450]

“Kids don’t get that” as the much needed response to “It’s a product of its time” is exactly what I’m going to say next time I get into an argument about why I loved Disney’s Peter Pan when I was kid, but will never show it to my future kids if I ever have them. And you are not alone about that poor lady squirrel; her heartbreak will haunt me until the day I die.

[@creatingkinok]

Look. You're kids aren't going to become bigots from watching Peter Pan. They will only become racist if you are racist and you show racism in a sympathetic manner. I'm sure you, me and millions of others didn't espouse racism from Peter Pan. Why should it be any different with your kids?

[@pipothefiddler]

It made me very happy to see you cover both Sword in the Stone and Dumbo in this episode. I grew up watching both very often and I still keep fond memories of both. Like, I would still consider these two of my favorite childhood movies. That being said I’ve since seen them again as an adult and am almost disturbed by how much more - really uncool - things I see in them now. I do think that one thing I learned from them is that really bad things can and do happen to good and innocent people. Dumbo is a great example of that for me - not only because of the obvious “Dumbo is constantly abused by everyone around him” theme, but every character - except for Dumbo - is also abused, repressed, or tortured. On a meta level I now even see the repression of the black workers (which essentially mirrors that of the show animals) as part of the abuse, though at the time of the movie’s release the population at large (ie: white America) wouldn’t even think twice about that aspect. It’s a world full of hate and anger with Dumbo as a single shining light out of that. It’s an inspiration on that one hand and I think that - maybe - this is what drew me into that one in particular. It’s similar for Sword in the Stone, but on a much different level... maybe? I see the movies now and part of me feels so uncomfortable with much of the racial and sexist undertones, but also conflicted because I do feel I got something out of them as a youth. I think that the part of me that still enjoys these films is a direct result of being able to hold both reminiscence and disgust at the same time.

[@nemowindsor8724]

Ah man, Dumbo was one of my favourite films growing up. While I will admit it has issues now, I think it's history is actually really interesting. It wasn't produced by Walt so much - it was produced at the newly opened Disney branch on the East Coast, which had a very different style and approach to traditional Disney. Hence all the surreal and off-putting imagery that fascinated me as a kid. I think there are wonderful things in Dumbo - not least of which is its depiction of bullying and animal cruelty. This movie ends with the animals buying out the humans (not one of which is sympathetic, a deliberate creative choice) and running the circus their way. At the time, circuses were beloved and animal cruelty not really considered, so that was pretty radical as messages go. Dumbo faces great cruelty, unfair things happen, but at the end, Dumbo flies - they don't keep him down, because there were a few people who believed in him and helped him believe in himself. I think that's pretty beautiful. Spirited Away was a transcendent experience for me as a kid. I've never gotten over that film.

[@FalconPaladin]

Bingo. I think Mikey is confusing the portrayal of animal cruelty and bullying as the endorsement of those things.

[@ChrisMaxfieldActs]

I still like Dumbo for all the reasons you mentioned. The animation is first-rate in a much simpler style than Disney's earlier features. I saw it as a boy in re-release and later on video, and I understood as a child that the bullies were being exposed, not lauded.

[@JasperJanssen]

Falcon Paladin it’s the racism that makes it really problematic to show to children. The cruelty angle is just a little bit much for young kids, but the causal racism is something you really don’t want to expose them to.

[@TheDahaka1]

The racist parts are harmful only if you live in a racist family or society. When I was a kid, Dumbo was one of my favourite movies, and any racist parts just flew over my head because no one was giving them any thought. Nowadays I'm one of the most unprejudiced people I know, because growing up I had examples of what real cruelty was like. It's like the bullying and the exploitation of the weak, not like a bunch of colorful crows bumming around and having fun. If a piece of media doesn't explicitly commend a racist behaviour, it's not harmful by itself. But still, I would argue that whatever racism comes out of Dumbo, it's more a product of the environment around the child than anything else

[@chelseacohen-bryan7750]

For an Australian, I still can't see the racism in the crows (or a lot of early Disney) I just don't have the context for it. They are just crows. There were 3 black kids total in my entire year of about 125 kids, they are the only black people I really saw or interacted with for ages. If there is race tensions its usually with the Asians, who seem to make up 1/2 of my engineering classes.

[@sdlstr91]

Thanks for making this one Mikey. I think one of the greatest animated films I have ever seen was Porco Rosso (another Miyazaki classic) and spoiler alert for it. Maybe I’m wrong but I think it’s one of his most overlooked films. Not underrated or anything, but kind of forgotten amidst his amazing catalogue. I first saw this when I was 25 and oh man, it blew me away. I’m a veteran and I hardly see movies about veterans, let alone anything that moves me. But when I saw this one it actually resonated with me, which surprised me because I’m super cynical about my time, which was short lived. But it helped me be okay with my time in the military despite how little my time in was, and spoiler alert, Porco Rosso has to accept something about himself in this story. It’s about survivors guilt from a pointless war, and oh dang America kinda loves pointless wars, sadly. I hope this comment doesn’t get me blocked, or get deleted, but that’s one reason Porco Rosso resonated with me so deeply. Porco Rosso’s about the guy that has to keep going with his life after he lost everyone he knew and loved. And he does figure out how to live after he loses that future. Maybe I’m crazy, maybe that’s not what the movie is really about. But oh man, every time I see it, it does help me feel grateful about still being here, and helps me see who I can still serve, even at home.

[@romanalvarez9663]

I love that movie although I don't resonate with it for the same reason you do, I feel it's more of a coming to terms with your inner demons story that uses war to portray that. It also uses his transformation to make it pretty clear wether he fells more of a beast than a man because of how hung up on his past sins regardless of wether he truly is a monster or not, he just feels too much like one that he shows himself as one.

[@christheleavittman7080]

Dumbo is a film that connects with us in a crazy, disturbing way. However, the relatable things about it connect so much for so many people. I enjoyed this episode a lot.

[@farhan-616]

I think Death Note truly made me understand how much power corrupts and that good and evil isn't black and white, its a gradient. It also showed me how we are easily moldable when young. (And it's also just amazing watch the anime if you haven't it's on Netflix or you can read the manga)

[@chelseacohen-bryan7750]

I wanted Light to win, after L died. Before I just wanted the cat and mouse to never end.

[@farhan-616]

I kinda wanted Light to win as well but the ending in the warehouse was amazing and that final conversation between Light and Ryuk gave me goosebumps. It still is a masterpiece in my opinion

[@chelseacohen-bryan7750]

The conversation yes (was amazing ) but the ending, I'm still mad about it, Light didn't mess up his pawn did- which could be argued was the point, especially since he was facing off against L successors but- arrg. I didn't like Near or Mello, the serise should of ended when L died, I wish I had stopped reading there, but for a few moments.

[@phastinemoon]

Eh - Light’s story is more about how giving power to a person doesn’t corrupt them, it just gives them a chance to do what they always wanted to do. I didn’t want to see Light win, I wanted to see him get his comeuppance. Hard.

[@love_tammy]

you just made me cry over movies I (mostly) never saw, thanks. what a brilliant start to a series, I can't wait for more

[@julesroy3469]

I'm only a few minutes in, but one of the animated movies I watched as a kid was Les Triplettes de Belleville, which is not necessarily for kids. A whole lot of animation is not for kids.... BUT, the ability that animation has to communicate and teach about abstract and complex ideas... A lot of kids animated movies have made me who I am today....

[@SoranMBane]

I actually decided to watch a random animated film from my movie collection after watching this. I picked out Balto (one of my favourite childhood movies) on a whim, and, no joke, I ended up with tears in my eyes during the first 25 minutes because a lot of the stuff Balto goes through at the start of the movie just reminds me of stuff I went through when I was an unusual kid growing up in a small town. No wonder I liked that movie so much back then; I related to it too much, and it gave me an uplifting narrative where I could see someone else who was bullied and shunned by their peers and authority figures, only to overcome it all and find happiness.

[@rjmayo]

So I am absolutely have to give this more thought, and I fully intend to do so, but something that springs to mind right away is what happened during my recent rewatch of My Neighbour Totoro. My sister and I watched it a lot when we were younger and when I watched it a couple months ago I ended up crying over a lot of it because of a bunch of tiny similarities between what we were like as kids and how Mei and Satsuke interacted. The movie and the way it treated family really got to me now, and I appreciate the optimism and hope it ends on, even if there aren’t magical forest spirits to fix problems in the real world, it’s still possible to get through it

[@mikd7413]

Totoro used to drive me nuts as a kid, I don't know if it was because Mei and Satsuke reminded me so much of them. But I rewatched it within the past year and was just totally engrossed. I love that it ends with the mom in the hospital and doesn't have a positive or negative ending, it just ends as a story or life does, in the middle.

[@ProjektBurn]

If u wanna completely ruin the movie, there's a theory on it that in a nutshell states that the 2 sisters actually died and Totoro and the cat-bus and the rest are the shinigami-like forces that bring them to the "other side". They're spirits themselves for the rest of the movie and this is their final goodbye to their mom, thus why she didn't see them. It makes the whole movie very.... I don't wanna say dark cuz that's not right, but from this angle, the entire movie changes.

[@Qrofol]

Grave of the Fireflies destroyed me. I'm never going to watch it again. But I'm so glad I've seen it. I've actually done way more cartoon watching as an adult that I ever did as a kid thanks to discovering anime - Pokemon was just another cartoon when I was a kid, I didn't realize there was a whole complete sub-category of cartoons behind it that I would fall in love with as a young adult. But looking back at the cartoons I remember from my childhood, I do often wonder if they taught me things without me even realizing. Especially since a lot of the series I remember are weirdly...dark. Or serious. Not what you'd show kids these days, I think. Stuff like 'Alfred J. Kwak', 'Around the World with Willy Fog', 'Animals of the Farthing Wood', 'Ren and Stimpy' etc.

[@JasperJanssen]

Qrofol Alfred J Kwak was never particularly subtle in the lessons it imparts - particularly in the second season, when Dolf turns out to be Adolf Hitler and Alfred falls in love with Winnie Mandela. There’s a lot of unsubtlety to 70s-80s Dutch children’s lit as well - think of De Koning van Katoren, Oorlogswinter, Oosterschelde Windkracht 10, or even De Kinderen Van Moeder Aarde.

[@yltraviole]

Jasper Janssen still, young children will often need to have the messages in their media to be super obvious, or else they miss them. I remember reading koning van katoren en kinderen van moeder aarde and feeling so smart because I understood the message of the story. Of course, that does tend to mean that these books don't really hold up as an adult.

[@JefferyBlue]

I am duty bound as a FilmJoy sub to listen to Set it Free every video. Skipping is a crime against humanity.

[@AlexBalhatchet]

Wow, that Dumbo section had me shook. I hope this takes off, amazing idea

[@LexYeen]

Dude, this is ambitious AF and I _hella_ look forward to seeing where it goes.

[@meganh7526]

Great video and I look forward to seeing follow-ups. For some people the animated films we loved as kids will continue to travel with us in life even if our feelings about them change. The films that probably taught me the most were The Last Unicorn (regret), Beauty and the Beast (redemption), Kiki’s Delivery Service (depression), Aladdin (authenticity), The Lion King (grief), and the Land Before Time (the parental bond). As you said in the video, the medium of animation is limitless. The animated films I loved showed me a glimpse into worlds that I wanted so much to be real. A few live action films have come close to that feeling, but certainly not to the same extent.

[@LemonCurry.]

My older sister loved the sword in the stone while I (as a little girl) loved more pinocchio and peter pan more than any princess movie. I don't think it matters if girls can relate and identify to the female characters, but on what the story really is about. I remember hating the female characters of almost every disney movie because of how flawed they were: dense, superficial, jealous, or evil. So I related more on the male characters because they were far more reliable and likeable than their female counterparts. Male protagonists are like the "default vessel" in which children, without regards to their gender, could see themselves in them. EDIT: your video made me cry. too many feels.

[@isabelr3467]

"Beautifully animated tome of misery" is kind of the perfect description of Dumbo

[@JohnSagin-SimViDeLucis579]

Omg, Puff the Magic Dragon was my most influential movie.

[@eldritchautomaton]

Dumbo was...an interesting experience for me when I was a kid. On one hand, I really enjoyed a lot of the darker, trippy-er elements of the movie, but on the other hand it was one of those movies where I just didn't want to watch it all that often. Back then, I wasn't picky about what I watched, but Dumbo...man that movie, something just didn't sit right with me. After watching this video, I am pretty sure it was my empathy for animals kicking in. Though if anything i am glad I watched it, as someone on the spectrum it helped contextualize the concept of pain, loss, and suffering and made me realize that I never want to be personally involved in any situation that involves the abuse of animals. In that sense, the movie had quite a bit of value.

[@galactic85]

Me: Alright! Time to get back to finishing my essay! (Mikey uploads a new video) Me: Damn it.....

[@egirlSkeletor]

Last semester I fucked up my midterms after discovering his videos lol.

[@TheBluemechanic]

There's a large amount of fan art based around the idea that Arthur goes back for the squirrel girl and Merlin turns her into a human. Like a surprisingly large amount of fan art.

[@cedricwublin9306]

*holds up hands in 'aliens, bro' gesture* ... _furries_

[@Thiefree]

I really like this. I agree that taking a fresh look at the movies that we saw in our formative years is important, and hard. the Dumbo bit really got me. I'm glad you want to make more.

[@magoilic1048]

When I was a kid I watched a lot of animation movies yet I barely remember them, the ones that I remember the most are Lion King and Toy Story, and I think half of it is because the media talks about those two all the time. But having said that I do remember all the animes that I watched when I was yung. Both Dragon Ball and DBZ marked me as a child in ways I only came to realize as an adult. Anyway, great episode!!

[@brianlynchehaun7079]

This was amazing. You're the first American I've seen talk about the firebombing of Japan since Robert McNamara in Fog of War (where he rightly called it a war crime). I really appreciate you highlighting this when talking about Graveyard of the Fireflies.

[@Joosejpr]

Mikey, you've outdone yourself. Never has a piece of art ever made me think "I wish I knew the artist" like this video has.

[@NevRmind182]

I was around nine or ten years old when Spirited Away was released. It was a time when the worst abandonment I had known were the fifteen seconds between not seeing my mom in the grocery store and running into her arms crying my eyes out. So Chihiro being separated from her parents and having to fend for herself was very relatable conceptually, even if our individual situations differed in parts. I only noticed its delayed impact on me several years later, when film in general and anime in particular turned from simple afterschool entertainment into an actual passion and the writing about these things got me my first income. Thanks, Miyazaki!

[@terrasnover6625]

As a kid I was like, "Merlin turn that little girl squirrel into human!"

[@ntm4]

IKR?

[@GrahamChapman]

I used to wonder why he didn't do that. Like, there were no problems I could think of (like, "maybe she'd be confined to the life expectancy of a squirrel,") that couldn't be solved with more of Merlin's miraculous magic. Not until many, many years later did I arrive upon an answer that sat well with me: Merlin knows. He knows that Arthur is going to grow up to become an important person, but Merlin's role in Arthur's life is to be a teacher, he's not supposed to change the course of history, but merely provide the means for it to become realized in the most favorable circumstances possible. If he had turned the squirrel girl into a human, then he could've messed up the course of history, and that's not what he was supposed to do...

[@RoseRamblesYT]

And this is what I love about not only Movies with Mikey, but all of your videos; they always make me think. I think one of your consistencies is that I always walk away from your videos with the thought "huh, I never thought of it like that." Sometimes I can draw conclusions - if that makes sense - and sometimes I don't, but that's okay. You still get me thinking about films in a new light, and that is just really cool to me. I'm totally on board for this new series. Awesome stuff, Mikey.

[@ma-ri-ko]

My grandfather survived the firebombing of Kobe when he was 17 or so. It’s actually part of the reason he met my grandma, her brother ran a prosthetic shop after losing a limb serving in the Japanese American unit in the US Army. He introduced them after my grandfather became a customer of his. I’ve seen Grave of the Fireflies and my soul exited my body for the whole runtime but I didn’t actually know it was set in Kobe. Thank you for giving me the perspective that the movie hangs on to hope no matter what. When I watched it, I couldn’t see that. My grandfather left Japan because he genuinely thought it was the end of Japanese civilization. He met and married a woman who had a kid in a Japanese American work camp and made a life in California for a while. He refused to teach his sons the Japanese language or traditions, and when it looked my father would get drafted in the Vietnam war, he tried to get Dad to flee to Canada. My grandfather died at the age of 54 from alcohol related liver disease with shrapnel still working its way out of his body. I never met him. My dad gave me a Japanese name. Sometimes it takes a few generations for hope to return. I’m still getting a grip on the tragedy and I’m looking for hope where I can. Thank you for illuminating where it lives in some of the darkest family history I know of. 💖

[@ma-ri-ko]

Also, please watch Avatar Last Airbender if you haven’t already in the intervening year. The portrayal of the Fire Nation is another one of those hope spots for me

[@nevar108]

As a parent, i am continuously judging/appraising what i want my son to watch. I have these fond memories of movies like Dumbo, Song of the South, etc. from my youth and with 20 years since last watching them, and watching them with a parents lens on... i am aghast at what i loved; how we have changed socialy is remarkable. In turn, it resulted in long discussions about topics like abuse, racism, depression, etc with a 6 year old, that is difficult to have, even with other adults. Surprisingly... it seems he is better equipped to handle these kind of conversations because of inexperience or childhood ignorance. He does grasp on quickly, and his questions relating to these topics is enlightening to me; gives me hope. I just hope trying to understand these things at his age, doesnt erases that childhood ignorance to early.... kids really do grow up to quickly these days.

[@IreneiosOP]

Spot on with the Sword in the Stone. Fate of that poor girl squirrel still haunts me...

[@jacobgarrison1510]

Mirko Vlk I'd say his complaint about sexism is overblown seeing as how it's literally a depiction of medieval society. So not spot on but good regardless.

[@ChrisMaxfieldActs]

There were women in medieval times who were not scullery maids, witches or squirrels. It's a "fathers and sons" story of sorts that is uninterested in women. Made by nine old men. Hmmm.

[@jacobgarrison1510]

So your saying it should depict literally all types of women? Or that it should only depict only the types of women you think it should?

[@IreneiosOP]

Clarification: I felt he was spot on with his statement how such an insignificant detail as a heart-broken squirrel stays with you decades later if you see it as a child. How animated movies as a form of entertainment for children can form, in this case, your capability for and expression of empathy.

[@jacobgarrison1510]

Of course I agree with that one hundred percent.

[@TheB0sss]

As always, the editing is on fucking point in these videos and i look forward to them everytime

[@Smogget]

I stumbled across this series for the first time today, and it's been wonderful. I've loved animation since I was old enough to recognize it, and seeing people talk about the value and substance of it as an art, as a formative childhood experience, as an engine for reflection in adulthood...it's amazing.

[@CupcakeNavi]

I absolutely loved your thoughts about how these movies affected us as kids. Especially the part on Spirited Away. And it also made me realize just how much I would love it if you discussed more Miyazaki films. Kiki's Delivery Service is my particular favorite because it is full of this spirit of service - being helpful to everyone around you. It's so full of positivity, which reminds me so much of your channel. Thank you so much for sharing your joy with the world.

[@angelshake]

you're a magician. don't stop. i watch colbert and then watch you if you've got new stuff. it's always a treat to see you've thrown another one at us. keep it up. you're a fucking genius of a different order that needs to be respected.

[@Keera2288]

Miyazaki films are what inspired me to start drawing. My Brother was a huge fan and sat me down to watch Castle in the Sky when I was about 8. The movie became one of my all time favorites and to this day Miyazaki films are my inspiration. The stories, music, and artwork all combine into some of the most beautiful creations cinema has to offer. I've shown His works to friends and they never seem to appreciate them the way I do. They see only the surface; the weird Japanese influences and the quirky sometimes crazy characters. They don't look at the story and see something that speaks to you so much deeper. Americans seem to always expect other cultures and countries to know our movies, but how many watch foreign films? There are some incredible movies made and produced, written and directed, and drawn and animated over seas. I appreciate Japan's animated films, such as Miyazaki's, because they give a different take on subjects we think we know about. Japan doesn't soften the blow for children either. When they produce an anime or animated film, they talk about death like it's just a part of life. There are subtle nods in Disney films, mentions in passing, but nothing as in your face and real as Grave of the Fireflies or as intense as Nausicaa.

[@HermanFalckHow]

I never thought about Dumbo that way... Like ever. You're totally right! It is so easy to disqualify something for being of it's time when it is animation because it just looks so timeless, while it most certainly is not! Completely agree Grave of the Fireflies should be shown in schools.

[@Solnai42]

Thank you for this Mikey. With a lot of discussion about things being "made too political" nowadays, many people forget that art, film, animation, and everything is always political. These messages have been inherent to art as long as there has been art. I hope to see a lot more of these lessons! And I'll definitely be thinking about them for myself.

[@ocsartobi6844]

"kids don't get that." Holy shit that was a powerful line dude.

[@Chris-ov9se]

TMNT - Taught me that a whole person with wisdom is the greatest thing. Not anger, not intelligence, not balance, not talent, not wisdom but all of them, together.

[@Vorfalath]

This idea is incredible, and I already love soooo many of the response videos people have made on this topic. This made me think way harder on how media geared toward me when I was a child shaped my entire world view- and probably still does. Thank you again for the video

[@MattRio42]

I had to pause at the 1:54 mark to say GO CARDS! That's an adorable picture.

[@billydoyle7415]

Beautiful @ all levels... especial fave: "You owe it to the Earth to see this film" Thanks, Mike

[@Spaceboy709]

Mikey, I've been going through your videos and I'm really impressed. You've got a great voice, great projection but your writing is on another level. Thanks for all the awesome insights and personal reflections.

[@bubbles093]

Grave of the Fireflies is the best movie that I never want to see again. It broke me, but it is definitely a must-see. I would love for this to become a series! I learned a lot from Disney movies, Ghibli movies, Dreamworks movies, etc. Don't even get me started on anime. Everybody touts Cowboy Bebop as the best anime of all time; it's really good, but I would point to Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. In terms of telling a complete, wholly entertaining, always compelling story where nothing happens inconsequentially, it is in my opinion, the best anime of all time. Phew. I'm glad I was introduced to this channel! :D

[@SheWhoWalksSilently]

The part where Dumbo gets rocked by his mom with her trunk upset me deeply as a child, it still makes me teary. UGHHHHH - *_ugly crying ensues_*

[@nix6940]

Man, this channel is severely underrated. You make me think about film in a way I never have before.

[@olliollioxinfree]

I was born in 83 and I know that specifically the animation of Don Bluth shaped my childhood. Specifically 'the land before time' as well as my favorite movie of all time, 'all dogs go to heaven'. A sad, or ambiguous ending really spoke to me, as it continues to do so, to this day.

[@Hairibar]

It's not fair how every Movies with Mikey video you put out is somehow better than the last.

[@bmobert]

I just need you to know that not only is your creation, this episode, great but that you've been the catalyst to making others make great works. But, even more, this catalyst has.made others, like myself, think deeply on this subject. This is the first time I've seriously considered making a KZbin video because I know no one else will point out the things I learned from animation; because those things, that helped to create and mold my POV, are uniquely mine. So, for every creation you know about, there are dozens if not thousands of minds you've inspired to think about and examine themselves, both as they are and as they were. That's not a small thing.

[@gonzo6489]

Loving these non-movie-specific-broad-category essays. Also as a fellow childhood lover of Sword in the Stone, the squirrel girl part left the most impact on me of the entire movie. Fully looking forward to more installments of this. Goofy Movie is, to this day, one of my top 5 favorite Disney movies.

[@MatthewBosk]

Just came back to watch this after showing my 5 year old "Spirited Away". Amazing movie, and I love your take on it. Thanks for doing this project! It took me down a rabbit hole when it came it originally, and, well, here we go again.

[@SalvinRampalamp]

You make some really thoughtful points about these films, but your personal feelings and gut reaction to Dumbo has really not allowed you to think about it clearly and about how important it is as a film. First, let's consider your point of what the film taught you as a child viewing it in the context of the 80's. I would have watched this in the early 90's myself, and let me tell you I freaking hated this movie, always, actually just watching those clips was enough for me to immediately pull my toddler out of bed and sleep with her all night to make sure she woke up feeling safe and loved. That's how deeply this film scarred me. But it TAUGHT me something. It taught me in a way that 90's films did not, that the world is unfair, that adults can make bad choices, but that we can be an agent for good. (Also, that your mommy loves you no matter what, even if you're separated from them, your mother's love is unconditional and more powerful than anything.) It was up to all the sketchy characters in the film to make their decisions on how they treated Dumbo, even a small child can understand that, that they made poor choices, the mouse even goes out and overtly tells us that in the monologue in case we don't figure it out (classic Jiminy Cricket little voice of conscience). How is that not a deep and powerful lesson? It makes it's point in a gut wrenching and traumatic way, but it is important and raw and relatable to every child. Which brings us to my next point. Secondly you're missing the point of the context of this film being made in 1941, three years into WW2 or it's place in the Disney Canon right after Fantasia (which explains the quite frankly overly long drunk musical scene.) There are no fathers in this film, they even have that ridiculous stork business happening to drive that point home. But Pinocchio had a father, so it's not like Disney is hiding the fact that they exist. The fathers are conspicuously absent because they would have been in the middle of a terrible war. The only males who remain are the circus folk who are morally defunct and even in the style they are drawn in, fat and ugly (which begins a long tradition of fat people in Disney being incompetent gullible or weak and cowardly-that's another discussion) we are meant to understand they are not "REAL men," then you have the mouse who functions as kind of a strange guide/occasional voice of conscience for the film, and you have the disenfranchised transient black crows (you also fail to see that although super racist, this is a huge moment for Disney, it's a big step that they have even given a voice to the black crows who are probably the most kind to Dumbo and sympathetic despite everything else. This is 1941. There will be no black humans in a Disney feature animation until the mid 2000's. Starting here on in, Disney allows non white characters to exist in their films but does not award them humanity/personhood. They can be kind or helpful/good like Sebastian or Mushu but they are never granted personhood. Personhood is a huge thing for Disney films starting with Pinnochio all the way through to the Little Mermaid...which is why the choice of making the first black princess The Princess and the Frog was incredibly insensitive, and very tongue in cheek-that's also a different conversation.) Anyways back to 1941, the experiences of a child during this war were likely fraught with complicated feelings of abandonment regarding their fathers, and having their mother's living in this terrible time of trying to raise their children alone in a society of catty mean other women also having a hard time, and the men remaining being seen by society as sketchy cowards. This is a portrait of their reality in it's own way. But Dumbo finds his own power. Dumbo finds friends. Dumbo's mother loves him no matter what. There is good in all the bad but choices must be made, hardships are endured, that's really real. It was probably relatable to a lot of children in 1941. You need to separate your gut feelings about this film, which I admit is hard to do, to see it's importance.

[@aquaislyfe9510]

Seeing Grave of the Fireflies in August. Thanks for making me even more excited

[@Mishkedehbizikhe]

I've been wanting to do videos a little like this, but now I'm going to in order to join this idea you made. I'll try and tweet it at you when it's finished. love your work and thanks so much for the inspiration!

[@AwesomeKnightTheConfused]

This, this was awesome. Animation shaped so much of our lives, it deserves to be discussed thoroughly. Thank you for a great video and conversation starter!

[@utkarshed]

Avatar: The Last Airbender is absolutely your thing. Highly recommended.

[@tomwilliams4246]

Brilliant. Perhaps your eccentricities are what draw us to your videos. You have the time and focus to let us know what we were thinking all along. And then, you let us know how to continue our perceptions for those who follow us.This is incredibly valuable, even though it feels like you're telling us what we knew all along.

[@maelgwyn]

Thank you for giving animation the love and recognition it deserves as an art form. I've greatly enjoyed your videos and I look forward to more in the future!

[@neosaneo2]

i was a kid, i used watch this movie about tiny people throwing a tiny wedding all the time. they had help from squirrels and they wore tiny little acorn hats, they wove an arch out of flowers for their friends, that movie always made me appreciate the finer details of the seasons. i can't remember the name of it, but it had wonderful attention to details, i liked it a lot. it's one of the first movies that made me realize that movies don't have to be big, or have a large climax like movies always think they need to have(any movie ever) but a movie can just be about a tiny people with tiny stakes living in tiny houses riding tiny carts. it's also why movies with unnecessarily long whiplash-inducing climaxes make my blood boil. but i can't find the VHS and searches on google have proved fruitless, who knows what it's really like? i also watched this TV show called "Jane and The Dragon" and i remembered it being this great show about a girl who wanted to be a knight instead of a princess with a friend who was a dragon, and she would go on adventures and do knight training and she had a cute barmaid friend and a jester pal who was sometimes funny but nobody laughed at his jokes. and then i rewatched it it looks terrible jane and the dragon taught me that toy story was a miracle and nostalgia is meaningless

[@leevaughngraves1069]

I'm glad you started doing videos about animation.

[@MrAlReMa]

I have seen many of your videos. Always puts me in a good mood. As a fellow borderline millennial...you perfectly express my feelings about all of these films. Makes you take a look at why we are the way that we are. The influences we all shared...the zeitgest that has shaped us...that we are currently in. Thank you for making these. Please keep making more.

[@katiehenderson3879]

Grave of the fireflies is one of my favourite films and I've only watched it once years ago. It gave me nightmares, but it spoke to me so deeply and in such a unique way I've never forgotten a minute of it . Always say to people they need to watch it just once!

[@TeagueChrystie]

Mikey, for real: you're one of the best things about KZbin. This is such a great idea.

[@HumbleWooper]

My favorite movie ever, even as a 32-year-old, is The Lion King. Not because of the jokes and fun songs, though those are great. I love it because the message I get from it is to take responsibility for my actions and the direction of my life. Admit when I make mistakes, and try to fix them. It saddens me that "hakuna matata" is what most people think of as the key theme of the movie. It's on most of the licensed (and unlicensed) merch and memorabilia you find. The attitude that "Life is what it is. There's no changing it, so just have fun when you can. No worries!" Simba LITERALLY gets that smacked out of him just a few scenes later. Right after a heart to heart talk with his dad about remembering who he is. A reminder to "Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become." The Lion King taught me that I CAN decide how I deal with what happens to and around me. How I act and react. And so can you. Hakuna matata does take away all personal responsibility for what happens to me and those around me. But it also surrenders countless opportunities to change things for the better. To BE the better person I know I'm capable of being. It taught me a big part of what honor is, and what it looks like in action. Do I live up to this all the time? Not hardly. But I want to, and it does affect my attitude. It's one of my biggest aspirational goals. It can be yours too, if you want.

[@hollandscottthomas]

The fact that there is a nacho cheese warning leads me to be concerned that there was an incident, thus necessitating the warning.

[@brosephene_]

Love this, mostly for two reasons: 1. It's absolutely crucial we consider the things that influenced our worldviews as kids, and consider how they play into our current worldviews. 2. The [healthy] comments on this video already demonstrate your point that kids pull out a surprising amount of deep meaning from film *and that it can vary from person to person,* which makes discussing and exploring it even more important. Dumbo is a perfect example of a movie where some kids resonated with it as hopeful and defending the weak, while others absorbed the sadness and oppression on the other side of the storyline. Neither side is necessarily wrong, but realizing where other people are coming from is a *critical* starting point for mutual respect and understanding (like... In life).

[@tbranson9543]

Super excited for this new video. Missed you

[@trottheblackdog]

The audiences of Dumbo just came out of 9 years of poverty so bad that they had to send their children away and break up their families. They didn't know it yet, but almost a half million of the men would die in the next four years. They were hard people that came from hard times. This was in many ways a reflection of many of their own childhoods.

[@placeb0fication]

Grave of the Fireflies... one of my favourite movies that makes my heart ache just hearing it's name. I accidently watched it when I was about 13 years old. I fell in love (okay, obsessed) with Miyazaki films at a very young age, so my family would get me Ghibli films whenever they could; sometimes even copying VHS tapes or giving me untranslated versions. SO when my older brother came back from asia he brought me a dvd collection that included copies of ones we had and didn't have (many hadn't been released in North America yet). My best friend and I went through them all and thus stumbled upon Grave of the Fireflies. It ended with us both in tears and to this day she blames me for the traumatic experience of watching it. Though, she admittedly also loves it and has since collected any reference from it she comes upon (like the container of candies). It was so intense, I wish I had been a little older or at least forwarned. I have rewatched it since then (which was hard to make myself do) and am going to crush my soul once again by showing it to my boyfriend. It's so hard to watch but so worth it, and worth sharing.

[@wwklnd]

I'm only watching this now because of reasons, but the part about Grave of the Fireflies reminded me of how many such atrocities go essentially forgotten. I spent some time a while ago reading about the US bombing of Pyongyang during the Korean War, which levelled 75% of the city and took the lives of about a third of the country's population, and now almost no one knows about it. Seeing people talk about war without thinking about the human cost is... heartbreaking.

[@vicenteortegarubilar9418]

I had the same Sword in the Stone VHS when I was a kid. It was great.

[@withalittlehelpfrom3]

Me too!

[@eemelikuusela6712]

I had it too but didnt really like it

[@anonymousfellow8879]

I...kinda hated that movie. I remembered it as “boring”, and “bad kind of weird”, and “what’s WITH these adults?!?” (as if I didn’t already have pretty severe mistrust of authority issues developing) ...and the squirrel always freaked me out because of the whole Consent Thing and He’s a CHILD, well before I even knew what those things were... but sharing his sister’s reaction to it/revisiting it as an adult? OH. That’s why, in addition to the rest.

[@aolson1111]

@@anonymousfellow8879 Is distrust of authority supposed to be a bad thing?

[@anonymousfellow8879]

A Olson Growing up in the culture I did? Apparently “yes”. Which I told them the “polite” version of “fuck off” every time...but it still sucked

[@wolpertingera5829]

Two movies I grew up with became really important to me in understanding the hard reality of life. The first one was Dumbo. I freaking loved Dumbo since I could see myself in the title character the most out of every other cartoon character. I was a shy kid that got bullied a lot, so seeing that little elefant going through the same and overcoming it in the end always gave me a feeling of hope. The second one was The Land Before Time. Death is a concept that is so hard to understand and accept, even as an adult now. Yet I always took Littlefoot moms words close to my heart. I was never upset or sad during this movie since I somehow accepted that although she is dead she is still in some special way with him. That later helped me when my father died.

[@phelanii4444]

Find the time and watch Avatar. You won't regret it. It's definitely a piece of animation that shaped both me and my sister into the people we are now. It does not fail to make me laugh and cry every time I rewatch it.

[@GingerPiper81]

I'm so jazzed for the series this can become. I've never made a youtube video, but I want to now because the stories that shape us as children will matter to us in some way for the rest of our lives and discussing how these movies affected us is deeply DEEPLY important. Also, I'm watching the Avatar: The Last Airbender series for the first time so I'm also way behind the curve, no worries my guy

[@esg6stringer]

I remember Dumbo and Pinocchio being the two Disney movies I actively didn't like as a kid. While I wasn't a big fan of ones like Cinderella and Snow White it was Dumbo and Pinocchio that made me uncomfortable.

[@danielwolf7494]

Balto!!! Please do Balto! Movie got me through some rough times. Also love your videos so much!

[@ammie341]

Grave of the fireflies messed me up for WEEKS. I can’t unsee their dead mother. I can’t forget Setsuko sucking on her marbles. I can still hear Seita encouraging Setsuko to eat, knowing that he was too late. I cried for hours after watching this film, and I don’t know if I can stomach a second viewing. But it is probably the one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.

[@peterclancy8501]

I don't usually comment on these things, so first- Mikey my man I love your content like I love me some peanut butter- it's delicious, sustaining, and wholesome. Thank you. Next, I was also a 6 year old who loved me some swordfights and this movie, and while watching this I realized that the squirrel girl thing also bothered me in a deeeep way even then. I wanted to share that 6 year old me made my own headcannon about this winsome squirrel- she becomes Guinevere! This smitten squirrel turns into a girl (through some kind of magic shenanigans) and the entire arthurian cycle with Guinevere finding love with Lancelot and the fall of Camelot finds it start with the awkward and thoughtless spurning of one very cute little girl squirrel. You probably won't ever read this, but sending good vibes your way broseph.

[@ILikeBleachItsTrue]

Dumbo had the exact opposite effect on my when I watched it as a kid. Looking back now as an adult it very well could have been one of the main reasons (next to the way my parenty raised me) why I always strived to be a good person. Even as a kid I was appaled how Dumbo and his mother were treated. Bullying and exploiting other people just cause you can and don't care if it's wrong was clearly shown to be a horrendous thing in the movie (as it hurt innocent baby elephants). So growing up I always tried to be polite, helpfull and always made sure not to inconvenience people through my own actions regardless of if I knew them or if they were strangers. Which wasn't always easy because in school there were always people who apprently followed the opposite lesson. That bullying people or taking the easy way that sees other people suffer was the best thing a person could do. And our peers would look at the bullies and be like: "Wow beeing an asshole IS the best way." aiding the spread of bad behaviour. And every year there would be more and more bad people. But I stuck to beeing a decent person despite all those things. And I can't really say I regret it even tho my school-life really wasn't fun as a result.

[@ILikeBleachItsTrue]

... wow you and your amazing videos always manage to pull weird emotional stuff out of the back of my brain. Keep it up Mikey!

[@NatesBestLife]

I thought this was v. good, it's the first episode of MwM I watched, and I went back and watched most of your catalogue. Thank you for making this; I look forward to the next episode of LATU Also, shout out to Innuendo Studios for sending me here

[@juliettemoss5048]

I want nothing more than to see your take on "The Iron Giant" Your vids are expertly composed, and phenomenal in explanation!

[@divisionbell143]

Mikey I just want you to know how much I love your videos. Your words and insight are just a light in this world (at least for me) and I will never stop looking forward to new videos. Thank you. On a side note, I’m dang curious how you felt about the iron giant.

[@MrP4rker]

This was Spectacular. Can't wait for more.

[@billydoyle7415]

Animation has taught me to "... see with eyes unclouded (by hate)" and i struggle to heed that lesson every single day

[@senorflan8313]

loving the childhood foto's little Mikey is the best thing ever

[@janet6421]

Even as a child one scene from Sward in the Stone stuck with me. Kay comes home after abandoning Wart in the woods that are "crawling with wolves." Kay's father, Sir Hector, is upset that Wart might be dead. Kay says "I'm not the Wart's keeper." Hector replies "Well dash it all, I AM. After all I took the boy in, raised him, …" When Wart comes home there is a moment of relief on his face before he scolds the poor kid and confronts the strange man he brought home. Hector is the ONLY person in that whole movie who cares if Wart lives or dies. He might exploit Wart's labor and treat him like a servant, but he does care about his wellbeing and safety. He is a jerk, but he is the only one with an ounce of human compassion other than Wart.

[@missminerva4ever356]

Grave of the Fireflies is one of those films I want to see. I've even found the dubbed and subbed version on Hulu, but every time I see clips, I burst into tears. I know what happens, and I want to see it, but I know that I will burst into tears as soon as I put it on. I also wanted to add something to your bit on Dumbo. When I was under the age of 6/7, I included Dumbo as one of my favorite films, and looking back on it, I think that's because at that time, my mom was one of the few people who were there for me, especially when she was getting her marriage annulled from the man who tried to take advantage of me, and tried to take me away from her, making up a lot of lies about how she was treating me (and to an extent him) at the time. Around the time I was 8 (he was long gone by that point), I started to notice just how cruel she was, though it wasn't affecting my everyday life until I was 12. I'm 23 now, and I wouldn't include it on my favorite films list, because I can see myself as Dumbo, just like I don't include Tangled on my favorite films list (even though I like some of the songs), because I can still see myself trapped in my mother's abusive household. Not sure why I felt I should share that, but I wanted to include my experience with that film. Edit: I wanted to add that this is the reason why I don't want to see the remake of Dumbo. It reminds me of my childhood, but at the same time, those memories will always be tarnished because of how my mother thought she should treat me, and the reason why we had a falling out a couple years ago. Films, whether live action or animated, will always be tarnished to me if they feature an abusive relationship between mother and daughter.