Walt Disney Princess Academy (Short Fan Film Project)

[Super Aurora]

But come on, Hilter comparisons are fine but John K is too harsh?

Who said that Hitler comparisons were fine?

He was asking that in a rhetoric question. Of course he didn't think it was fine.

[Super Aurora]

Who said that Hitler comparisons were fine?

They didn't say anything, that's just it, no one objected. Someone did object to the jonk k comparison however.

Divinity thought that it was ridiculous and stupid too. I dunno why you thought no one had problem with it.



EDIT: wait where the hell did kyle's post go?? Did he delete it?

[SWillie!]

Who said that Hitler comparisons were fine?

They didn't, that's just it, no one objected. Someone did object to the jonk k comparison however.

No one specifically objected to it because its a whole different thing. He was comparing ideas, not individuals, an it obviously an over the top exaggeration. It wasn't meant literally.

[Kyle]

EDIT: wait where the hell did kyle's post go?? Did he delete it?

I'm certain I haven't a clue what your referring to. Ha, you two are quick. After seeing your post about the question being rhetorical I decided my comment just wasn't necessary anymore.

[Sotiris]

They didn't say anything, that's just it, no one objected. Someone did object to the John K comparison however.

Any comparison to Hitler is so obviously ridiculous that doesn't even deserve going through the trouble of objecting to it.

[pap64]

Oh wow... What a mess. Here are my thoughts on all of this:

Remember last year when Thomas Kinkade, the painter of light, passed away, and a lot of people on this forum were celebrating and mocking his death because of his behavior towards a lot of people and overall attitude? What we are discussing right now is just that: should we let an artist's attitude, personality and beliefs take objective points away from his own work?

The Nostalgia Chick talked about this in her video about Ender's Game, how the author's extreme views on homosexuality and religion made people question the book series, and in turn she compared it to the Chick-fil-A fiasco of last year, that people felt torn between their own moral beliefs and their love of the quality food they serve at the food chain.

What we often tend to forget is that David, and to an extend Walt, are human beings that have their own beliefs, made mistakes, and their attitudes weren't always the brightest. That is because their work can be so enduring, so powerful and so good that we imagine them to be almost as flawless as their work. So when an incident like that happens, we don't know what to do or think.

To be honest, I was annoyed by David's thoughts on Tangled before and after the release, because I would think that he of all people would understand creative endeavors and the need to evolve beyond our traditional beliefs. I think he does need to be careful with how he interacts with others as people will often judge someone's work based on their personalities.

[Disney's Divinity]

The Nostalgia Chick talked about this in her video about Ender's Game, how the author's extreme views on homosexuality and religion made people question the book series, and in turn she compared it to the Chick-fil-A fiasco of last year, that people felt torn between their own moral beliefs and their love of the quality food they serve at the food chain.

That is a great comparison, actually. I love Orson Scott Card's work, but I don't really like him ever since reading about his anti-gay views. This is also how I feel about Jodi Benson for the same thing--I don't like her work as Ariel any less just because her voice actor may or may not be ignorant. (I don't think Chick-fil-A is the same, though it's off-topic. I might like their food, but I'm not giving them the money to support organizations against my rights.)

I know next to nothing about John K. I looked on wikipedia that he worked on (created?) The Ren and Stimpy Show, and I've always thought it was awful.

Although I don't disagree with anything I've said, and don't think my opinion matters less because I'm not involved in the animation industry (writing does count as art, however; and I do create art in the more literal sense also, though not in any way on a professional scale or intended for a product like with my writing), I do apologize for reacting strongly. It's perhaps because I do like and have followed David K.'s work, and have never found anything off-putting about the few comments I've read. But, really, this is almost nothing compared to some disagreements I've had on a music forum with some Britney Spears fans.

[SWillie!]

Great thoughts pap64. All great examples, and I definitely still think that in all the examples given the issues make me, personally, enjoy the work or product less.

I've never been a fan of Kinkades work, but I can understand the mass appeal it has, but after learning all the crap about the way he runs a business, basically totally lying about the fact that he painted these paintings on his own when in fact he did not... That just leaves a bad taste in my mouth and it brings the work down for me.

And while no one can deny that chick Fil a is delicious, you certainly won't find me there.

And Divinity, I don't think you should have to apologize - you haven't done anything wrong. You're arguing with perfectly solid logic. I find debating with you fun, partly because we're usually polar opposites and partly because you do so in an intelligent manner.

I definitely didn't mean that your opinion matters less because you aren't a visual artist, just that someone who is might have a different outlook on this sort of thing.

We can agree on one thing: Ren and Stimpy is awful, but if you think that's bad, you should see John K's more recent work. Check out the Simpsons opening title he animated. He doesn't even deserve to be called an animator in my book.

[Kyle]

We can agree on one thing: Ren and Stimpy is awful, but if you think that's bad, you should see John K's more recent work. Check out the Simpsons opening title he animated. He doesn't even deserve to be called an animator in my book.

I don't know why people here hate on R&S so much here. It was obviously a hit, just look at all shows that imitated that style, Rocko's Mondern life, Cow and Chickin, etc.

As much as I like a lot of his stuff, I cant defend the Simpsons opening. I mean, I liked the designs themselves actually, but the animation...it was like he threw out the idea of holding poses, you had no idea where you were supposed to look, I mean what was that?

On Kinkade, I never liked his stuff to begin with, but yeah, once I heard he was actively training people to do work for him so he could slap his name on it, what little respect I had for the guy is just gone. This isn't even taking into consideration the other stories floating around.

Generally I think people can and do separate people from their work. Look at Tom Cruise, his movie career seems fine despite being a part of that cult. It takes a while before you end up with someone like Mel Gibson. There's a certain threshold where how people look at you affects their opinion on your work. People just draw their lines in different places in the sand I suppose.

[pap64]

Going back to David for a bit, what I think is that he should be careful with letting internet fame get to his head. The internet has the wonderful ability of convincin people that internet fame is just as equal as real world fame, when it isn't. Oh sure, you may get a lot of fans both online and the real world, and you may generate something that evolves into something much better (as many a pop singer will tell you). But when you begin to think that you are much better than you are because of the fame you gained online, then it is time to humble yourself before it is too late.

The Noah Antwiler story (aka Spoony from That Guy With The Glasses) serves as a good cautionary tale about that. He let the fame he obtained with his talents get to his head, to the point where he gained a lot of enemies, fans became tired of his antics and ended up destroying him.

I doubt David will go that far since he seems to have a decent enough mind, but he does need to be careful and not think that because he gained this talent he needs to act a certain way towards people and about his art. He is still mainly a nobody and thus if he wants to become a famous artist, he needs to first be humble, be realistic and approach things in a calm manner, not shoot his mind and make statements he might later regret.

[SWillie!]

Agreed. I think some people don't put enough weight in the importance of modesty in the creative world. I think its one of the most important traits you can have as an artist. It's very very easy for something to come off as immodest.

[WillytheDino]

David Kawena has addes some new art and descriptions to his facebook page for the Princess Academy.

New online re-visiting of 'Princess Academy' had me pulling out some work from the vault. In these 2 shots I've been playing with the idea of a 'Princess Tea Party' in honour of the little girl who was the star of story.
In the first shot, there's a more conventional framing of the camera where we have Alice in charge of the tea-party, of course. In the second shot I went for a different point of view and opened the frame more. This gave me the opportunity to have a separated table for what I call 'Duncan's Holy Trinity' - Jane, Amelia and Megara - who are completely forgotten from any Princess related material by Disney, and are probably some my all time favourite girls.
This quote goes with this picture and this one.

There is another picture here.

More of 'Princess Academy' coming your way. This frame was part of same transition sequance featuring the 'Princess Tea Party' posted earlier today. Here the little girl is having musical lesson/fun.

Visually, I tried to keep a balance of showing well known princesses and forgotten heroines in each shot. Here I also felt a strong desire to have the girls with their casual outfits - Aurora with her Briar-Rose dress, Mulan with the green-yellow dress and Esmeralda with her street-dancer gown. To me, it shows a more free spirited side of them while playing instruments outside in the gardens.

[Disney's Divinity]

I love seeing pictures with obscure characters interacting with the more popular ones. That's the best sign that Disney would never be involved. They probably don't even remember they have characters named Amelia or Megara.

[Prince Edward]

David Kawena have now been employed by Disney to make new character art, for new merchandise apparently. His designs for Robin Hood and Tinkerbell, the 2 characters so far released on his social media plattforms, are looking really good. They have a classic feel and are done to resemble how they looked in their original movies. I hope we will see more of his official Disney work in time... Disney could need better art for their merchandise, that's for sure!

[Kyle]

Wow, good for him.