37:02 I may be giving the writers too much credit. But that’s quite literally what I thought was going on(though with Magnifico doing it less malevolently and more out of fear and selfishness.) I’ll have to rewatch the movie..but this isn’t what most people assumed was happening?? I was really confused as to why everyone seemed to think Magnifico was in the right.
It did feel rushed though. I just assumed that they went more in depth in an earlier draft and tried to fill in the blanks. It feels kind of like Incredibles 2, where they were still writing the script while doing the voice acting/animating and locked them selves into trying to piece it together into bunch of disjointed and underdeveloped movie. I watched it after already watching a few videos talking about how disappointing it was, so I guess I went it prepared for all of its flaws. I wish other people had that experience though, because I went in preparing to trash it with my brother(who had already seen it) and we ended up having a pretty good time.
47:19 (sorry I can’t shut up) But Magnifico built that society. (Presumably) he’s the one who tacitly encouraged this. Because making the people dependent on him is safer then having people question his rule. He’s banned any use of magic except his. He doesn’t have any other form of assistance or government other then his wife(and eventually his apprentice.) He tries his best to be keep his people happy and safe, but he’s afraid to let them actually grow. I don’t think he’s a bad person, I just think he has a bit of a martyr complex. And I personally love the tragedy of having the villains love/desire to protect something be causes them to go too far, especially when it’s mirrored in the protagonist. Like we see how ‘caring too much’ can be a weakness as demonstrated by THE VERY GUY that Asha looks up to in the beginning. I just wish we got to see more of him and Asha, like if he knew her dad or something. So there would be more of a proper conflict between them. But I guess you could argue I’m just writing fan fiction at that point.
52:10 And also, no hate, this is a nitpick but all of the “classic” villains you’ve shown have been from renaissance films. Golden age Disney villains are just one dimensional fairytale villains. And I personally find Magnifico way more compelling and fun then someone like the Evil Queen. The Renaissance villains are leagues better than modern era disney villains though. No arguments there.
I love this video! Ever since I have seen your defense video of the Railway Series (Thomas the Choo Choo M'Fer for all you normies out there), I have gone on a binge spree of your video essays and I am enjoying them so far. I am not an anime/manga guy and I have only seen a grand total of just 5 animes so far (Death Note, Attack On Titan, Heidi - Girl of the Alps, Another and a little bit of Demon Slayer) but Death Note has been my absolute favourite (AoT and Heidi being very close seconds). This video essay/retrospective was an absolute treat for me. By the way, are you an AoT fan? If you are, it would be an absolute treat to have your video essay on it. Is it a bit too much to ask?
Thanks for this incredibly well argued video. It was a joy listening to it. Plus, it gave me some more insights into the Railway series that I had previously missed. The only thing that I would disagree with Rev. Wilbert Awdry is his notion of Electrics and Diesels not being that ' alive ' or deprived of personality. (Although, I do agree with him that tube trains and some EMUs do look like worms with no sentience. And I like how he argued for the diesels being ' self centred ' due to their purring. XD) I am an Indian who has grown up with the Indian Railways since childhood; and maybe it is due to the design of those diesel and electric locomotives (some look like rugged old experienced gentlemen, some look like the new kid eager to learn and impress, some look grand and some look downright smug), or their constant sounds, but I always saw tons of personality in them despite them not being steam powered. So, that would probably be my only point of contention with Awdry. I wish he was alive so I could have had a chat about it with him.
I was in a twitch chat yesterday and when the topic of AoT came up people immediately started calling the creator a fascist. I was genuinely confused and scared 😢
Absolutely phenomenal video, sick and tired of people spreading this false "Thomas is darker than you think" bs. Thank for making such an informative documentary, definitely deserves more attention.
To add onto the soundtrack segment, Holy BEES one particular track, "Through the Magic Buffers", hit SO. GOD DAMN. HARD., it literally brought me to tears, it was that FIRE. I'd HIGHLY recommend listening to it when any of you get the chance. Aight, I've done enough gushing, imma go.... walk into oncoming rail traffic. K, byeeeeeeeeee!!!😁👋
thanks for the video. she is such a well written character. and i %100 believe that those who hate Akito and criticizes her, have never compromised her. Just like the condition for AoT's Gabi, people always judges the things one sidedly. She'll forever remain as my favorite Fruba character!
One thing that is funny to me about the criticisms is the idea that it is a "capitalist hell-scape" and the idea of being "really useful" is exclusively capitalist. These critics will suggest that the trains rise up in a worker's revolution, likely referring to ideas of communism. However, the system in place on the Island of Sodor is, to me, quite similar to the idea of "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs", a quote from Karl Marx. Many capitalist will argue that to incentivize someone to do a difficult or unfavorable job, they must be payed more. On the other hand, many communists would say that the idea of bettering society and providing for the system that provides for you, would be incentive enough to work hard, and do unpleasant tasks, or in other words be "really useful". While I highly value the ideas of capitalism and liberalism/individualism, I feel that one weakness is that they undervalue the power and importance of community. I, however laugh when someone has some issue or complaint about a society and assume that is is the fault of capitalism, even when it just as bad or worse in any other economic system.
I love and highly respect Reverend Awdry so much. He has changed my life for the better. I so wish I could write to him but unfortunately there is no address to the hereafter wherever he may be. In my wholely unhumble opinion (I am NOT a humble person at all) I believe he should be considered for sainthood!
its so weird that so many people think machines should stop working so much and "free" themselves from control if your machine stopped working you would replace it for a new one, sir topham is keeping his old machines running far longer than anyone else has bothered to do
There's even the issue with the MC or other characters sticking to their ideals throughout the show and suddenly drops them at the movie's climax. I didn't see that film nor the show so I can't assume much, but I did see the example in other movies like Ralph Wrecks the Internet, Toy Story 4, How to Train Your Dragon 3 (that has a reason why it was done). Seeing that throughout 2019 had me wondering why all that happened. You know what I mean?
I didn't see the film, but from first glance it looks more like a fanfiction story getting officially put into a film and not being well thought out, even having too many references that look out of place. Like Space Jam Legacy and the Resident Evil films directed by Paul W. S. Anderson aside from Apocalypse and Extinction.
such an astonishing and deeply appreciative analysis of the writer and his writings. your understanding of the series is certainly well beyond most fans' comprehension of it, and thus, your input is dearly valued. this was a great watch.
I really dont understand why it has to be a choice between polar opposites. Why cant people just be themselves without fitting into traditionalist archetypes? "Oh Im not the manliest man to ever man boo hoo, I should just be the womanliest woman instead" Like what kind of bipolar braindead logic is that? Your sex is determined by your genetics, so is your body. If you're lucky enough to be born fully male or fully female . . . you shouldnt seek to muddy the water. Intersex people (who have rare conditions that trans people DO NOT HAVE but pretend to) live really really hard lives. People shouldn't be trying to emulate that. If someone comes to me with depression, should I hand them a bottle of whiskey and a gun? No. If an anorexic comes to me for help, should I tell them they look fat and should eat less? No. So why are we encouraging an extremist swing when people have gender dysphoria? The majority of people in the trans community dont even have the mental condition. They either crave a place to belong, or are seeking to feel unique and special without actually doing anything. And of course plastic surgeons line up with endocrinologists in pocket ready to gouge your medical insurance for procedures that will most likely screw your body forever.
I find it hilarious how seriously Thomas fans take this and how butt hurt they get over people saying something vaguely critical about the series. And similarly: people digging up things to criticize about it. It's not that serious, it's a children's book (and show), it's not that deep. Chill. Thanks for a fun watch! Keep it coming! I admire the work you put into this!
it's still wrong to spread misinformation, it can tarnish the name of the show which quite many people love? What do you expect really, those people throw pinata at those who spread misinformation?
@@cardiv5zuikaku944 Also... how can fan theories about a FICTIONAL railway be misinformation...? Nobody is presenting it as facts, even if some people seems to treat it like such.
@@LittleRedToyota Fan theory? Which one? The one that made an article with very bad research as this video shows? Are those people really fans? Or are just journalists looking for clickbait content? Even if those journalists don't "present" it as fact, it can damage the reputation of the show or the character, this happens a lot of time to fictional characters, which ends up becoming Flanderization.
ngl, I justify this entire movie's existence as "stories are always written by the victors". Anyone ever hear about Twisted, the Untold Story of a Royal Vizeer? It's a parody of Aladdin, but from the perspective of Jafar. And the merchant narrator at the beginning? The one "telling" the story of Aladdin? Well, while fandoms theorize it was the genie, this play took it and made it ALADDIN. The antagonist to Jafar, the hero... The victor who tells the tale in a twisted way to make themselves the hero. That's what Wish is. A story that forced Magnifico to break his fucking back to be a villain because of COUSE a bunch of entitled revolutionists had to blame someone. I literally felt bad for Magnifico in that scene after "At All Costs", I felt so bad for him when he expressed to Asha what he so desperately wanted, only for her to be just life everyone else. It's depressing that they wanted us to see him as a villain.
54:49-57:12 - this whole New Yorker article becomes even more invalid once you find out that its author's parents did human trafficking for a living, and she went on a full defence rant for it.
In regards to the animation… (2D and 3D CGI) we see that in the younger years there is a perfectly animated Blaster from transformers… additionally… in all my watching of that show…! There was never an animation of him clapping to my knowledge and he was clapping!!! (Blaster being an autobot) also assuming that… CGI surgeries don’t just affect how they appear… (Cuz let’s be fair… the transformers are literally shown to be taller than humans in both 2D and 3D (by three to four stories most… accurately shown in the 3D era) how did Pete take down Optimus? Who is like… a hundred feet taller than he is (sorry for the ranting)
I swear that article claiming Thomas and Friends is antisemitic has to be one of the worst articles I've ever seen. There is obvious clickbait, and then there is just plain shamelessness. I genuinely cannot understand how anyone can come to such a conclusion over most if not any kids show at all, let alone Thomas the fucking Tank Engine.
Likewise have you ever seen the level of rage and fear people get when they think there's "queer coding/insemination" or "wokeness" in books and other media ?
Prepare your downvotes: Nah...I don't think you made a compelling point here against the criticisms. (Yes I finsihed the video and *then* edited this...some comments were too hasty) Lots of your criticism misses the point of what people are trying to say. Either, you don't know *why* people are drawing these social parallels, or you don't quite understand what the terms imply or entail. ie: "the fat controller isn't an abuser because he only lightly scolds engines and sometimes he admits he's wrong" That's...so not the point being made. The point is the application of the manipulation - how he uses incentives, unfairly applies punishments, to keep engines performing behaviours which suit him and not them - part of that is establishing trust. Abusers can be nice, charitable, unconscionable, a whole range of things. They have *patterns* of behaviour which limit your ranges of expression and trap you within the relationship dynamic. or "this discussion of class isn't relevant because the story is about a railway". Yeah good one, and Animal Farm isn't about communism because it happens on a farm with animals. Any basic experience with anlysing media would allow you to know that the societal structures presented in media can be commentaries (intentionally or not) on modern and relevant societal structures even if the presented story does not match the real world. I think a better criticism is that to get these readings, you have to view the engines as *adult* anthopomorphised trains - to imbue with them the sense that they're an oppressed class who should have grater rights within their context, who should be more self deterministic. Who shouldn't be under the influence of some abusive ruler who hands out strange punishments against things that aren't really their fault, and who twists them down paths where his validation is the carrot-on-a-stick. But they're not written as adults. They're written as *naughty children*, as least initially. The dynamic between them and the Fat Controller is a parent-child relationship. Children are expected to operate under a very different rule-set than adults. And if you read that as an adult-adult relationship dynamic, you're going to draw some weeeeird implications from the subtext. Anyway, calling anybody who wants to engage with a text as a 'hater' or 'enemy' of thomas is cringe and wrong. It's fun to break down and analyse text, especially ones you enjoy.
