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NOTE: This is the opinion of one writer on the Rotoscopers team, as is evident by last years Frozember content event. While Frozen has taken the world by storm, there are still others who don’t hold the film in such high regard. This is an article showing the less-popular perspective.


*The original article posting can be found here.*
**Mild Spoiler Alert**

Some of you might remember an article I wrote in November titled 5 Reasons Why I’m NOT Excited for ‘Frozen‘, leading up to the release of the latest Disney Princess film. This article received a huge reaction from passionate fans in support of the film, so leading up to the moment that I finally got to watch the film, I kept asking myself, “Did I put my foot in it?”

While the financial success of the film can not be argued, nor the instant loyalty it received from fans, I still find a need to represent the other side of the coin. As I mentioned in the original article, I was really hoping to be proven wrong on all accounts in regards to my lack of enthusiasm on the film. While certain aspects of the film did surprise me in a positive manner, I was still left displeased with the film as a whole when the credits started to roll up the screen. Instead of going head first into a whole review, this article will look back at those 5 points from the original article.

*Continued onto the original article posting found here.*

 
*The Princess Profiles is a series of opinion articles on the Rotoscopers website which takes a close look at the Disney princess in the wake of the release of their most recent film "Frozen" last November. This article was originally posted here.*

As any young girl growing up, I was in love with the Disney Princess. She was everything I wanted to be, everything I wasn’t. And there was one particular princess that held my heart hostage; Aurora.

Aurora was the daughter of a king and queen whom had waiting a long time for a child. During the gathering to celebrate Aurora’s christening, we meet the three good fairies, all of which want to bestow a gift to Aurora. Flora gives the princess beauty, Fauna gives the gift of beautiful song, but before Merryweather can present her gift, Maleficent shows up angry because she was not invited to the shin dig, and bestows Aurora the gift of death upon her 16th birthday via pricking her finger on a spinning wheel. Left with no other choice, Merryweather gives the gift of sleep to counteract Maleficent’s evil spell. The fairies then take Aurora in secret and raise her for the next 16 years.

*Read the entire article here*
 
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Today is the kind of day where I have to choose what I am going to do. Oddly enough, I am not alone in this routine. But I wake up, and choose to get out of bed, or I chose to keep my eyes closed for a little longer. If I choose to get up, I must then choose to either eat breakfast, or begin my day. It's later in the day that I make the most difficult of choices, do I go to an audition, or stay in and write some more? Do I take this job even though the thought of meeting new people makes my chest contract, or do I help make myself feel safe at home? Do I attempt to socialize with other human beings, or continue to live a hermit existence where only I can know the extent of my work? These choices may not seem like a whole lot to consider from an outside perspective, but they are the battles that I have to overcome on a daily bases. As an actor, these are harder battles for me to overcome aside from winning an audition or getting seen. These are the battles that define me on a daily bases. And these are the battles that not a lot of people understand. 


 
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If you are an avid Studio Ghibli watcher, you know that many of Hayao Miyazaki's films incorporate some of the toughest themes to be covered by animated films. Studio Ghibli doesn't just do coming-of-age stories (Kiki's Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro), or romance based stories (Only Yesterday, Whisper of the Heart) they also do fantastical moral stories (Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle). But the biggest theme Studio Ghibli covers is the theme of the morality of war and violence (or lack thereof). From Miyazaki's pre-Studio Ghibli days, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, to his most noted, Princess Mononoke, and even his most recent, The Wind Rises, Hayao Miyazaki chooses to highlight humanity in the midst of violent turmoil, and war. But the reasons the studio chooses to do so can be more striking than the films themselves. 

*The original article can be found here.*

 
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I have called myself an actor from the age of 15. Now, nearly a decade later, I'm struggling to continue to call myself by the very title that I have set out to achieve. Mostly because I'm not sure I personify everything an "actor" is supposed to be. According to all of the submission requests I keep receiving, an actor is supposed to be charming, interesting, funny, beautiful, but most of all an actor is supposed to be "fit". Or "athletic", or "thin", or, or whatever trigger word suits you best. 

This little pity party isn't coming out of left field. I've recently decided to focus on my acting and writing careers by auditioning and going to background gigs as much as possible instead of maintaining part-time jobs. I've always known that this career path would never be easy, and I've particularly known that my castability is somewhat limited, but I never thought I would question myself, my strength, and my self-esteem as much as I have in the last 3 months...at least not as much as I questioned myself in my emo/goth-wannabe days which are way behind me. 


 
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**This review is mostly spoiler free, but proceed with caution.**

Studio Ghibli has been known for its amazing imagery and intricate storytelling, incorporating everything from the supernatural (Kiki's Delivery Service), to the futuristically natural (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind), to the anachronistically wonderful (Castle in the Sky). However, every once in a while they do something a little different. Similar in tone and approach as Only Yesterday, From Up on Poppy Hill is a rarity in the world of animated films. It attempts to balance a coming-of-age romance story, with the pivotal self discovery of our two protagonists. 

*The original article can be seen here.*

 
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I would like to preface this article by saying that I have thought long and hard about this and by no means is anything following this meant to offend any nation or institution. This is an article of pure opinion with a foundation of research and serious, sensitive contemplative thought. (Also, please note this article will only focus on Pocahontas and not the sequel as that lends for enough material to fill an entire novel.)

I was only 6 or 7 years old, and already in love with animation when my parents took me to the cinema for the first time. As we walked down the darkened isle to find our seats, an electric feeling of overwhelming excitement took me over. The Disney logo lit the screen and I was soon submerged in the story that I have now, many years later, come to love, and hate with a conflicting passion:Pocahantas. Having spent my childhood and adolescence romanticizing this film, and now my adulthood rationalizing and deciphering every inch of it, I am no closer to feeling resolved about it. I have, however, finally begun to articulate my mixed feelings about one of the most topical films Disney has ever released.

*The original article can be seen here.*