The lamp looks at you. The lamp bounces. The lamp illuminates, the lamp deflates. P - I - X - A - R. What’s Pixar? A stamp of quality? A studio bought by the Mouse? A side project by Steve Jobs after getting fired from Apple and before getting re-hired? I don’t know, man. Ask someone who actually works there. I grew up on this stuff, though. I got high on that supply. I… I think I’ve maybe seen all the Pixar movies? Definitely the majority. Wait, I haven’t seen Lightyear, so not all of them. But for the ones I have seen, I have a fondness for them. Even the quote-unquote bad ones. See - and this a particular thing with adults who prefer animation over live-action (not me) - they kinda refuse to meet movies on their level. When I see a movie, I don’t want to see them trying to do some shit I think they should be doing. I just want to see them doing THEIR shit. I don’t really care what shit it is, as long as it’s done with passion and heart. And yeah, maybe Monsters U isn’t Monsters, Inc., but it’s two different shits, man! Two… different… shits!
Disney’s Disney. Disney is a behemoth. There’s no-body like Mickey. And… I actually do LOVE Disney. Disney has some sort of secret formula, in terms of making cozy movies, and they have it down PAT. I’d even say Disney’s more cozier than arthouse-fav Ghibli (though Ghibli isn’t trying to be as cozy as Disney. Again, two different shits).
NOTE: There are shorts reviewed here. But not all the shorts. I’ve seen more shorts than I’m reviewing here, but the only shorts I’m reviewing are the ones I found myself really fucking with. You don’t need me saying “I found this outdated” ten times in a row.
Dumb title. Great short. In this short, Alice, a live-action girl in a 2D-animated world, strolls into town where dogcatchers are luring dogs into a sausage factory to kill ‘em. But - the dogcatchers are wearing Klan hoods. This whole thing is a metaphor for how minorities are treated in 1920’s US, and relax - I know Walt’s said some stuff, but Alice doesn’t side with the Klan. This whole thing has a disturbing tinge to it. The uncanny-ness of live action of 3 year old Alice, the uncanny-ness of a 3 year old opposing the Klan… this feels like something David Lynch would have a nightmare about. Google about Lynch and Woody Woodpecker.
This is so weird, that it feels that the fact that this was produced by JFK’s father isn’t actually that noteworthy. It starts off fine. Like a SIlly Symphony with live-action Alice dancing along with everyone. Then, we begin following this mouse (not Mickey, maybe Mickey in an early iteration, but officially, not Mickey). He tries to make breakfast, he fails. He tries to wash dishes, he fails. And all the while, the same uneasy feeling I had during Alice’s Mysterious Mystery rises within me. I start looking for the exit doors. He needs eggs. He tries to steal eggs from a mother bird. The mother bird gets violent. I get more uneasy. There is no exit door. The bird tries to fly away. I wish I could. The mouse starts flying after the bird with his ears. Like Dumbo. But Dumbo isn’t a morally dark sailor mouse.
Fancy frog does fancy dancing in the night time. To Beethoven. It’s weird, but I’m okay with a bit of weird. This is the same Alfred E Neuman moon that Chuck saw at the end of Baseball camp (and I’m okay if you don’t get that reference), just when he was a lil’ ‘ittle baby. They throw EVERYTHING at this. Have you ever seen Don’t Play Us Cheap - the movie MVP made after Sweet Setback (Pause as I proudly take my Guinness World Record for being the first motha’fucka’ to compare Night to Don’t Play Us Cheap). This feels like that type of party, just if the film stayed around with the rat that sang the first number, and the devil never came a-knockin’.
I’m not saying that is like a great, lost classic. What I am saying is that they played “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love”. That’s a great - no, beautiful, song. I first encountered this piece through my exploration of the works of Fats Waller. Then, I found the Fitzgerald and Armstrong version - strong, as it’s a hard song to fuck up, but not as good as Fats Waller. Of course, I’ve seen maybe the most famous use of this song in cinema - Bringing Up Baby with Katherine Hepburn singing it to a wildcat. And now, this. Mickey and Minnie, playing two different pianos beside each other, singing this great love song. And that scene’s just beautiful, man.
Mickey’s hanging out in French Canada. You can tell, because Pete is now Pierre. It’s also Wild West times. Really, the best part is the first part. It reminds me of the film A Million Ways To Die In The West, by the Family Guy guy. I don’t know, I don’t watch Family Guy. I watch A Million Ways To Die In The West. I like the dancing, and Mickey playing piano. It’s kinda like the vibes of Mickey playing “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” in The Birthday Party. Honestly, if they made a Silly Symphony set in the Klondike bar, that’d be cool. Or made a film with the title “The Klondike Kid”, because it is a good name for a Western.
Snow White is a classic. The animation is second to none. I really love that old style of cel-over-painted-background animation. Is the story mind-blowing? No. Doesn’t have to be, and not really trying to be either. Just a showcase for the songs and the animation. You don’t complain about the story of a theme park ride, right? Well, in 1937, THIS is their version of a theme park ride (and for that, it’s got a pretty good story). In 1937, less than 50 years ago, people screamed and ran away from a 50 second short film of a train heading towards them. In 1937, the first film with sound was eight years ago. This is … this is an Avatar film. Do you ever hear anyone talking about the story of the Avatar films?!?
Which makes sense, knowing about Walt Disney. He was less of a Mark Twain and more of an Edison. Google about his original plans for Tomorrowland.
To really hammer this home, Snow White’s Oscar (technically eight Oscars, ‘coz the Academy’s quirky and not like other award bodies) is an honorary one for technical innovation. See? It’s an Avatar movie.
I do like the songs. They’re not Nirvana, but Jesus, if you go into this expecting the songs to be Nirvana, then … like… I don’t know. I like the songs. I’m happy to step outside of my comfort zone. “High Ho” is a classic one, a great thing to sing to parents/bosses/teachers when not afraid of rebuke and doing demeaning work - a little tip for those sarcastic people in the back of the class.
Donald is unlikable in this one. He literally beats his child nephews in hockey just for bragging rights. Not that they’re much better, they play hijinks and pranks on him that at points are life threatening. Guess he’s where they get it from. But, anyway, when I do stuff like that (colour inside the lines while taunting toddlers) I get labelled as weird, but you can take pictures with him at Disneyland. I mean, you can take pictures of me too at Disneyland, but I’m hardly ever there, and Donald lives there. It’s a lot easier to take a picture of Donald at Disneyland, than one of me.
This film may be … not AS important as Snow White, but still pretty important. Firstly, you got the song Wish Upon A Star. Before that, Disney movies started with “Crank That Soulja Boy”. Completely different vibe, but not an unpleasant one…?
The second reason this film is sig-nif-icant, is because of it being Disney's first realm attempt at building and telling a story in a feature length film. Yeah, Snow White does have a story, but it really is purposefully bare bones, and the focus is on the animation and songs. Say what you want about Pinocchio, but that shit isn’t barebones.
A puppet becomes alive due to a fairy, who grants a talking cricket the responsibility of being the puppet’s guardian, the puppet joins a travelling show, then the puppet leaves the show, the puppet then goes to a boy’s island, the boy’s island is secretly turning everyone into donkeys, the puppet leaves that, the puppet finds out that his creator is in a whale, the puppet goes into the whale…
This isn’t like Once Upon A Hollywood, a 3 hour hang-out epic, where we see Pinocchio get involved in all kinds of shit over a long time. This is an hour 28. It’s just ram-packed.
So, what works better for Disney - barebones like Snow White, or ram-packed- I’m not gonna finish that question. It’s barebones. Snow White gives time to develop the world and characters. Therefore I care about the world and characters. Pinocchio, where the main appeal should be the main character, and seeing him drift around, doesn’t give two rat asses about trying to develop the world and character. It’s all plot, baby. But that means I don’t really care about this little puppet dude. It feels less like a well-crafted tale, and more like the scene from The Office where Andy ruins Jim's joke by saying that he cuts off Phyllis’ head with a chain-saw.
I feel like an unbelievable idiot for saying this, but…
I don’t get it.
I’m fully aware that this is a me problem, not a “the film” problem, and maybe it’s the ADHD, but I just find it hard to stay engaged with classical pieces for so long. Even when the animation’s cool, like the demon one. But the cherub one (I’m writing this a long while after watching this, so apologies for spotty memory) felt way too cutesy. And I’m not problematic about my masculinity or anything. I have no problem watching and enjoying feminine media. What I don’t like is this cherub stuff. Yeah, it’s a me thing (spoiler alert - the whole review is a me thing), but, seriously. And if you don’t like a section, because it’s fucking classical music, too bad ‘coz it’ll last like 17 minutes. And I get it’s a showcase for both the orchestra and Disney, but aside from the aforementioned cool demon one, and the crazy famous Sorcerer's Apprentice one (this one with no Nic Cage), none stick out in my memory in a good way.
Funnily enough, I watched Fantasia 2000 before this one (apparently there was supposed to be a new Fantasia every couple of decades or so originally), and I really remember liking the Donald Duck Noah-themed short. That made me chuckle, but I can’t really remember why. I watched it a while back, like.
You know what this feels like? A more serious version of the Silly Sympathies. Just put into a collection.
A Donald Duck short. He hangs out in an arcade. Gets into some shit. Some mischief. Has a bit of a look at erotic (for him, not me) photos of Daisy. There’s not really a story. Not really a link. Just Donald trying different nickel-machines. And he’s got a full dime-bag (not weed, an actual bag with dimes and nickels and such) to spend here. It was quite a good time. Accurate title.
It has the same vibes at the place Ben Affleck takes Joey Lauren Adams in Chasing Amy to play skee-ball. You think those two ran into this horny-ass duck?
This is a short film. Not like a short film, it’s feature-length, but it’s like a short feature-length film. I dig it, at times. The drunk elephant sequence is famous for a reason - the music works with the loopy visuals, and it is groundbreaking for a mainstream Hollywood release in 1941.
The film is kinda forgettable. Honestly, the thing I remember most about it is once seeing online someone claim that we’re making fun of Dumbo by calling him Dumbo because that’s the name that the old elephant women and young human men call him to make fun of him. To which, my reaction was a disagreement, because Dumbo reclaimed the name Dumbo. Oh, and also the ending’s weird - to avoid exploitation, Dumbo becomes a… a child star in Hollywood (I only half remembered that take, and had to check my Letterboxd for more clarification).
The scenes with Dumbo and the mother do pull on some heart strings. Also, is this where the myth that elephants are scared of mice comes from? It’s also in the 1960 short Goliath II. Is it a myth, or is it real?
Okay, I searched it up. It’s a myth. Two things - one, it doesn’t come from Disney, but some Greek fables, and two - elephants do recoil and try to avoid mice. It’s more like how we don’t like stepping on bugs though, and not a genuine fear. Elephants are smart. Appearantly, they’re the 5th smartest.
The crows are racist, but nobody talks about the Roustabouts song. That one is SO racist (not that we should be trying to qualify such a thing). Apparently it inspired a song in Frozen. Another reason to dislike Frozen.
So - spoilers - Bambi’s mother dies. Like famously. In fact, if you’ve ever heard of Bambi, you probably know about Bambi’s mother, and her ability to bite the dust. But, what you may not know is that Bambi’s mother dies somewhere around 40 minutes into the film. So, what happens before those 40 minutes, and what happens after?
It’s a hang out movie. And I L-O-V-E myself a hang out movie.
It’s a good, easy, breezy, sleazy (not actually sleazy) time. Don’t worry about plot, or what might happen next. See Bambi hang out with Thumper and Flower. See him get into hijinks. See him learn. But honestly, if this section was written with the explicit intention of being a hang out movie, instead of… being the consequence of not having a tightly plotted story… it could verge from cool to great. But, it does and probably is just filler. But it is a hang out. So I give it a solid blue ribbon badge of good.
I can’t talk about Bambi without talking about its tragic circular structure. In real life, the male parent is absent in the deer’s life. This is true in Bambi. His father is often depicted as a tall shadow over the distance, refusing to help out Bambi’s mother. In the end - spoiler - Bambi’s girlfriend gives birth. And so, Bambi then becomes a shadow in his own son’s life. After seeing his mother struggle, obsess over him, and eventually die for him, he ends up taking that role for granted, and isn’t willing to do the work to pass the good deed on to the next generation. He takes and emulates the role of his own absentee father. This maybe makes Bambi the most complicated Disney protagonist there is. Yes, it’s his nature, but we as an audience, you know, seeing Bambi talk and shit, hope that there is room for an epiphany, somewhere. But I guess it’s an empty hope.
Mickey isn’t here. It’s weird, his two bros (Donald and Goofy) are here, but not Mickey. It’s a bro on bro con bro. “Con” - isn’t that Spanish? Si. Some more Spanish. This feature - well, it’s like 40 minutes, so the word “feature” there is doing a helluva lot of heavy lifting - is set and is largely about Latin American culture.
This film, an US Government funded film meant to promote FDR’s Good Neighbour policy, and to dissuade some countries from their ties to Nazi Germany, is the first Disney package film (well, arguably the first Disney package film is Fantasia, not Saludos Amigos, but Fantasia did that on purpose, while Saludos Amigos did it for budget).
The Goofy as a Cowboy sequence is cool, and the Donald with one of the future fellow caballeros is a fun, if not a bit Marvel post credit-y.
A large part of it is live action, and with most of my non-Disney reviews being about live action films, I feel like I can do a deeper dive than I may normally: they do colours well. This is clearly a skill they’ve taken from their animated work. The camera action is a bit stiff and they tend to overstay their welcome in a shot, before going to the next one (golden rule is 3-5 seconds unless there is a specfic reason why or the camera is moving in the shot). But the live action parts are also documentary, not fictional, and the camera action in that space generally is a bit stiffer (but has a lot more camera movement) than fictional films.
When America went to Europe to fight the Nazis, so did their finest duck. Weird it was Donald and not Mickey, since Mickey, at least mid-century Mickey, was meant to be a role model, and Donald was the goofy to his gallant. Not actually goofy. My American partner doesn’t know who they are, and I only know who they are because of Mad Magazine, so … goofy to his gallant. This is a bog standard affair until the third act. Donald believes that due to him and Pete rough-housing, his legs have been cut off. They hold a funeral for his legs. He takes out his service pistol, Taxi Driver style, and goes to shoot his fuckin’ brains out. WHAT THE HELL? Yes, the ending isn’t bye bye birdy, but … I don’t want to tell you. Go watch it for yourself.
Donald’s now back in the states. Huey, Dewey and Louis try to make Donald think that he's dying. A year before, in The Old Army Game, Donald tried to kill himself, and they’re making him think that he’s dying? I’m not gonna get into it. They’re creative, too, with the ways that they convince him that his end is close. He takes out his will, and it appears the only thing listed on it is his golf clubs. Hey, don’t hate the (golf) player, hate the (golf) game. Who cares who gets the house, who gets custody of the three kids, let the lawyers sort that out after Donald dies. But the golf clubs - those need to have documentation.
The three caballeros, such gay caballeros (I know it meant something else back then, and I’m being immature, but singing about how gay you are with your mates to try to seduce a live action lady is something modern Donald wouldn’t do.) This is a weird film. A bit of an anthology (or a “package film” as Disney fans call it, because EVERYTHING Disney does has to be unique), and also an anthology for budget reasons, not for artistic reasons, just like Saludos Amigos. In fact, it’s a bit of a spiritual sequel.
This starts the way all great cinema - The Godfather, Citizen Kane, Apocalypse Now - starts. With the main character watching completed unrelated short films about a penguin for 20 minutes. Then, Donald opens up a present - apparently it’s his birthday - and Joe, from the last movie, has mailed himself to Donald along with a picture book. Joe keeps talking about the town the book’s about, and how many women there are. Donald sure loves the human women in this one. They go there, and casually stalk a woman, but it’s okay (sure isn’t) because she’s singing a song. They meet up with the third caballero, and they just… visit different Latin American towns through picture books, and hit on women. They also learn about Latin American Christmas…
There are about five of these package movies. This is the second one, because the reviews are late, I’ve seen three of them. I have two more (you have three more) to go. We can be honest with each other, right? When we started on this journey, it was for the Princesses (Snow White, Cinderella, Moana) or maybe childhood classics (Toy Story, Big Hero 6, Wreck It Ralph). I don’t think anyone was like “Oh boy! Do you think he liked the penguin short in The Three Caballeros?” (I hope not, because I can’t remember it well enough to have a strong opinion on it). So, I know this, the one before it, and I’m guessing (sigh) the next three are going to be a slog. But after that… we have Mr. Toad. And then AFTER THAT we have Cinderella.
This is set in the National Park. I can’t remember which one, I don’t think it’s confirmed that every single US National Park exists in the Mickey Mouse cartoon version of America, so we can just call this The National Park. It’s really funny. Donald Duck gets chewed out by his boss over the phone because of Chip and Dale, and them eating trees. You know, ‘cause they’re chipmunks. Even though it’s really beavers, it’s Chip and Dale. Who knows, maybe in the Mickey Mouse cartoon version of America, chipmunks eat trees?
Would recommend a watch. Watching Donald get annoyed at anything and everything is a good cure to modern melancholy.
This feels like a thriller with a very clear, very stereotypical moral message. Which is fine when it’s a Disney cartoon, and the message is that adults shouldn’t steal from children. I watched this with my partner, and she laughed and giggled the whole time - maybe that’s affecting my review. She has a beautiful laugh. But also, I laughed. It’s funny. Donald’s a very paranoid character, and deciding to focus on that is a smart movie on part of the Disney team.
Bet you that date was worth working the night shift, though. He really liked looking at Daisy in Good Time For A Dime.
This is really a spiritual sequel to Fantasia. That’s not a compliment. This is even more uneven than that! A lot of the segments are crazy long, crazy S-L-O-W and not as clever or pretty as they think they are. I can relate, as I am also not as clever and pretty as I think I am.
The baseball one’s a good time. It’s not like high art, but it’s a good time. Made me laugh. Casey is truly the Jared Leto of baseball. I’m pretty sure I saw this in Mad Magazine before? Well, it reminded me of Mad Magazine, and who wouldn’t want to be reminded of that? Went on too long, but so did (checks notes) all of them. Look, this is the third package movie. We’re over the hump.
My favourite is the sock hop one. Weird, because it feels like a kitcshy retrospective, but it was made during the 40’s. Arguably before the sock hop craze reached its peak. I like the playfulness of the pencil adding and taking away things, but the girl asking the artist to make her ass smaller makes me think that this girl is in another piece of media - she’s the girl at the spoken word start of Sir Mix A Lot’s I Like Big Butts.
On another woman who’s only in two pieces of media, me watching Louis Theroux’s Into The Manosphere documentary means that, according to Letterboxd, I’ve seen 50% of all films with Bonnie Blue in them (it only counts that and the Channel 4 documentary). It’s a bad look, aight?
Okay, so this has a turtle in it. I like turtles. It’s not a remarkably interesting or really even nice turtle, but still. I like turtles. I promise you that you couldn’t convince me otherwise, and turn me to the hating turtles dark side.
Pluto hates the turtle in this. That’s bad. Of course it’s bad, because I like turtles, and I like people who like turtles. My feelings are more murky on people who hate turtles. But, like many of the Disney cartoons, this has a moral. Pluto in the end learns to love turtles. That’s beautiful, isn’t it? I like Pluto more.
… Not a whole lot more, granted. I can’t believe how many cartoons he got given.
Another Donald one, and a strong argument against wallpaper too! Donald puts up flower pattern wallpaper, and it confuses a bee. Must be a bit blind. The bee goes to pollinate the flower, can’t, gets confused, good ol’ double D pisses the bee off… and they fight. I was just about to ask you to imagine getting into a fight with a bee, but there’s the Netflix show Man Vs. Bee, which I think has two seasons? I’m not fact-checking it. Anyway, you don’t have to imagine it.
You could just watch two seasons of Man Vs. Bee.
Or this short.
Part One - Bongo. Cricket’s annoying in this one. He sees a record called Bongo, and doesn’t automatically assume drums? I guess it’s probably because he’s from 1600s Italy, but still. The songs in this are fun. I like the slapping one. I don’t like the contents of the song, just the tune. And Bongo’s right to be pissed off - you can’t just slap people! And even if it is the bear equivalent of kissin’, you gotta be asking consent there. He shouldn’t have shrugged it off. And if he doesn’t like it, they need to find a better way to express (and make) love that works for both of them! Open communication, guys!
Overall, big Jungle Book vibes. I really like the 2d animation, and the painted backgrounds. I know it’s crazy labour intensive - I’ve seen the Miyazaki documentary - but the new computer artist stuff just can’t compete. Just can’t.
Part Two - Mickey Mouse And The Giant Beanstalk. Okay, so this is a genuinely good time with a lot of out-there decisions. And I know the sensible thing would be to look at what works, and why it works, and so on… but the out-there decisions are what you remember, at 4:25 A.M.. The Alfred E Neuman puppet, the weird 4th wall breaking ending, the removal of the golden goose from the original tale, making them poorer by a cow still by the ending… but the scene when they’re on the boat. Donald, you’re a duck. You can swim. Goofy’s a dog (I think?) He can swim. Mice can swim. Why the hell are you on a boat? Especially when it keeps getting knocked over.
This has a turtle in it. I like turtles. Clearly, Pluto’s learnt his lesson from his other turtle-related short two years ago. He’s largely very nice and kind to this turtle, which is good. Everyone should be kind and nice to turtles.
That said…
Why the hell - or, more like, how the hell, are there two different Pluto turtle shorts in as many years? Were they pumping out just that many Disney shorts, that they had to recycle ideas that quickly? I assure you, the demand for the next - fucking PLUTO short - was completely imagined. Like, for real, you didn’t need to do this. I don’t think anyone wanted you to do this. I like turtles, but my recommendation would be to do a turtle short without Pluto. My favourite planet, my least favourite Disney cartoon franchise.
Donald’s such a fanboy. He has his wee radio, and he’s got his baseball bat, and he’s listening… and there’s this bee, just dicking around. It might be the same bee from Inferior Decorator. I googled it. It is. The bee’s name is Spike.
In a world of initials being the same letter (Minnie and Mickey Mouse, Donald and Daisie Duck), you get plain ol’ Spike the Bee. I mean, there’s a type of bee called Stenotritidae, but those are exclusive to Australia. Spike does have a sort of an Australian ring to it.
So, Donald Duck wants to listen to baseball, and Spike Stenotritidae wants to listen to classical music. Mayhem ensues.
Part One: Bunnies On Ice - This is so fucking weird. It’s so cutesy, then turns into a disaster movie halfway through. It’s like seeing Hello Kitty try to beat up Godzilla. Except that sounds better than this was.
Part Two: Bumble Bee Jazz - better than the bunnies, but the bunnies were dreadful, and as a white guy who’s seen La La Land, I have a certain fondness for mid-century inspired jazz. Which this was.
Part Three: Johnny Appleseed - I’d heard the name before, but never knew the myth, so this was an interesting watch for that reason alone. Very Christian-y, but has a weird logic to it. God smited him because God wanted apples, famously the fruit he kicked Adam and Eve out of Eden for eating?
Part Four: Little Toot - very cutesy mixed with disaster, like Bunnies On Ice. But there is an important key difference to note - The Andrew Sisters deliver a clear moral. One life for a life. The reason Little Toot’s redeemed is because he saved a boat after killing a different boat. Maybe people on Death Row should become paramedics in the Disney universe.
Part Five: Tree - okay, a simple animation, simple poem, simple melody. I can dig it, can you? Except the poem is… not great. The first two things you want to mention about trees is that they suck titties and praise the Lord while doing it. Okay, I guess.
Part Six: The Three Caballaros Reunion Tour: I am sick of these three birds (really two birds, I’m fine with Donald). They are maybe the only characters to have recurring roles in Disney movies (Goofy in Saludos Amigos and Goofy in Fun And Fancy Free doesn’t count because it’s two different universe versions of Goofy) until The Rescuers Down Under in 1990. They are the only Disney characters to be in THREE movies until Frozen Three comes out in 2027. Holy shit.
Part Seven: Cowboy Bill: I have a certain fondness for Roy Rodgers, which I like to maintain by not watching any of his movies or shows, or listening to his music. I guess my fondness is of the idea of Roy Rodgers, and that fondness was definitely challenged here, especially with the length of the section and the depiction of Native Americans. High highs, low lows.
Okay, so there’s two parts to this. The next film does have only one story, and it is Cinderella, so look out for that. I was hoping for a quick death for the package film genre, but this is the death rattle.
The reason (I’m guessing) that this isn’t considered a package film by Disney fans is that it’s actually good. Like, 5 star good. Hey, I’m as surprised as you.
Part One: Toad of Toad Hall. This wasn’t as good as the second part, but I did really enjoy it for what it is. It really only kicks into action halfway through when, to spoil a book older than my grandfather, Toad starts escaping prison. It is a bit harder to enjoy an upper class Brit failing upwards post-Boris Johnson, but at least Toad’s mishaps didn’t result in Brexit and the rise of Nigel Farage. So, he does have that going for him. And also, I thought that the bartender was a Snow White dwarf in disguise at first.
Part Two: Sleepy Hollow. I had seen the Tim Burton version of Sleepy Hollow and thought that was the definitive version - not this thing, with the headless horseman being a - Hey! If you don’t want to be spoiled, don’t read this. Anyway, I was surprised with the twist of the headless horseman - dude, just watch the film, then come back to this. The twist where the headless horseman - shut up - was a prank.
I really enjoyed the snotty intellectual being shown up and ran out of town. I’m sure all the kids hated him - imagine knowing that not only is your teacher fucking your mother, but that she’s scheduled into only a single night of the month due to him fucking all the other mothers of the town!