Pocahontas: The Romeo And Juliet Trope

Intro

One popular, and one of my favorite tropes in fantasy books (at least the ones I have read), is the Romeo And Juliet trope. Two main characters that belong to two separate groups who hate each other, but they fall in love. Or two characters who are supposed to be enemies. Can their love win and end the war between their two groups, or will it all end in ruin?

There are at least two movies I can think of who have this trope. But today, we are going to dive into the story of Pocahontas. A young Native American woman meeting a handsome young man who she does not only teach about nature, but soon falls in love with. Sadly their separate groups are not too found of each other... 

Disclaimer: I am aware of the second movie where she doesn't stay with John Smith forever and ends up with John Rolfe. I am also aware that Pocahontas was a real person, and this movie is very romanticized. But in this article, I am choosing to analyze specifically the first movie of the Disney adaptation and the storytelling devices used within, rather than how it adapts the true story.

The Truth Behind The Facáde

All Heroes and Villains have side kicks or allies. People who will stand by their side, no matter what happens and adore the hero or villain through and through. But what if that was just something they pretended? What if they didn't always agree with them or maybe even straight up hated them?

 Prompt: Pick a side kick/ally of a hero or villain and write a scene in their POV, where they reveal their real thoughts about them.

Perhaps the Villain's side kick is secretly kind and helping people the villain wronged? Perhaps the Heroes side kick is secretly siding with the villain, or maybe even trying to bring them both down? Or perhaps it's just a light annoyance, or a deep love for them they cannot express... They don't have to be standing against them 100% or hating them. It could be just a scene where they look back and don't agree with a certain action. Either way, it's up to you.

If you're planning on using this, feel free to let me know what you've written or how you would interpret this. I would love to see all of your takes on this, so don't be shy! 

 

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The Black Cauldron: Disney’s bold take at dark fantasy

Intro

The Black Cauldron was an experiment from Disney, and sadly for them not too well received. It is one of Disney's lesser known movies. It is not even on my favorites myself, but I have seen it a few times. This movie is a lot darker than most of them.

Still when you're old enough, you can learn to appropriate it. Despite it being Disney, they made a bold take at dark fantasy. Something they haven't done before. Filled with fantasy elements like pixies, witches and magic. Even bringing back the dead, and not in the standard Disney way with a kiss or a tear. It even follows the basic Hero's Journey structure fantasy books are known for.

So, today we will dive into the plot of The Black Cauldron, analyzing the structure and characters. 

The Beast and Gaston: Mirrored Personality With A Different Fate

Intro

While talking to a few friends of mine who are all big Beauty and the Beast fans, we came to the discussion about how Gaston was a representation of how Adam used to be before he became the beast. I had never really thought about it, but I realized that they were right. Gaston might be the villain of the movie, but to be honest, in my eyes he started off as just an antagonist. His arrogance and desire for Belle turned him INTO a villain. Adam was just as arrogant and mean as he was. Still, both of them had different fates.

So that is the topic of what we are going to discuss today. Two characters with the same personalities, but mirrored fates in the end.

Prompt #7 - A Different Life For One Day

 It's a classic we have seen in a lot of movies and fairy tales and something that is often re-used in different ways. There are two different people who look exactly alike. One rich, one poor. And they decide to trade places. So that is the kind of event I would like you to explore today.

Prompt: Pick any two characters with two different lifestyles and let them trade lives for one day. Either agreed, or perhaps it is a magic spell and they simply wake up as each other one day. What happens? How do they spend a day in a completely different lifestyle? 

It doesn't have to be your main character. Maybe a side character wants to be a hero for one day? Maybe your hero wakes up as the villain, and they find out it was a wish the villain made? Or maybe the hero had just wished to be normal and traded places with a normal character for a day? The sky is the limit! Go crazy. 

  

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Villains vs Antagonists

Intro

In my Brother Bear post, I mentioned that there was a difference between an antagonist and a villain. In this blog post, I would like to go deeper into it, so I can give a good understanding of it for your story. Of course, we will be using Disney as an example, but not just one movie this time.

What Is The Difference?

Let's start with the obvious question about this topic. What actually is the difference between a villain and an antagonist. Both do get in the heroes way, so technically a villain is also an antagonist. Think the obvious old Disney villains like Scar, Jafar, Evil Queen, Maleficent etc. These are obvious villains who want to destroy the heroes life.

With an antagonist, things are a bit more complex. They are not villains. They don't want to ruin the heroes life and they don't want to hurt them. But their actions and character traits do hurt the hero. Most of the time by the end of the movie, a villain is defeated, but an antagonist learns from their mistakes and changes.

Writer's note: Sometimes, the antagonist maybe does not learn, but they have to live with the consequences of their actions if the hero has had enough and cuts them out of their lives. Maybe the antagonist becomes the villain by the end? Of course there are countless possibilities of how the story can go for them. There is no set ending for an antagonist, hero OR villain. These are just examples of existing pieces.

Prompt #6: Wishes And Consequences

Almost everyone has a wish, good or bad. But wishes do not always turn out the way you would have expected them to. In most stories, people realize what they had before, and that their wish is not everything they have wanted.

Prompt: A character makes a wish — and it comes true — but not the way they expected. Write the fallout.

 

Gothel's POV: A villain, but maybe not wrong

Intro

We all know the story of Rapunzel. Even before Disney made a movie about it, it was a beloved fairy tale that a lot of people knew. Rapunzel is one of my favorite movies, and I could go into the full story. But one of the most fun and interesting characters to me is the villain, Mother Gothel.

Today we are diving into her character and personality. Of course she has some villainous traits, but there are also some good traits. Good traits that she has been using the wrong way. We will dive into her story, but there are a few characteristics that I can think of.

• Manipulative: That one is kind of obvious. She manipulates Rapunzel during the whole movie, and others too. Just to get what she wants.
• Vain: Her wish to stay young and beautiful forever. (And to be honest, they have made her very beautiful in the movie too.)
• Resourceful: One of her good traits, although not used for good. It kind of ties in with her manipulative character.

Now, without further ado, let's get into the movie and see things from our villains POV.