We'll be living in color

My ultimate comfort place is always a Disney park, and I booked to go on three seperate days which felt just right: two days in DisneySea, and one day at Disneyland. Disneyland is actually my favorite and the bigger park, but there's only one DisneySea in the whole world so I felt like that was the one I should make the most of. And as it ended up raining the entire first day I was at DisneySea I was even more glad I'd planned that! I did enjoy DisneySea in the rain though, it makes the outside areas of the park really quiet and I enjoy just sitting down and taking in the atmosphere.

The second star to the right shines in the night for you

This is my second batch of film from when I went to Disneyland Paris, and it might just be my favorite. Like I said in that last post, I'm really not a photographer and I'm not interested in trying to be and because of this I'm really not a perfectionist about it. And there's so many things that I am a chronic perfectionist about that I really try and protect this carefree attitude I have towards it because it excites me like when you're a kid and you don't care about the outcome because you're just delighted by the experimentation and process. I sent these reels off to be developed professionally, and there was a mistake during the process which "ruined" the film and they were so apologetic about it. At first I was disappointed I'd lost the photos however they may have come out, until I realized that they'd been sent to me anyway and they're perfect. It's a black and white film, so to me the textures just make the photos look about 100 years old, like the kind you'd find at a flea market. It also gives me that nostalgic feeling for old social media, when we'd delibrarely add grain and frames and light leaks to digital photos to try and make them look more tangible.

Is that the magic music from beyond the laughing sky?

When I went to Disneyland Paris back in 2019 I was very conscious of how I documented my trip as it's something I've over done in the past and ruined my own time by doing so - I've been so wrapped up in getting enough photos to remember it just right, instead of simply living in that moment and soaking it up. And I guess I must have gotten the balance exactly right as it's one of the best trips I've ever had! To ease myself out of feeling like I have to photograph everything just in case, some days I took my vintage film camera with me and nothing else. There's nothing quite like knowing you've only got 30 shots and no idea how they'll turn out! I did two reels of film, one an expired color and another black and white, but due to getting ready to move and then the whole craziness of the pandemic I didn't get around to developing them until now. And honestly I'm glad I waited, as with everything that's happened since that trip has only become more important to me, and getting to see something brand new from it is so exciting.

I figured I may as well split each film up into it's own post. My camera is an Olympus OM-10 SLR, and I'd be lying if I pretended I knew much about it. I'm not a photographer, I just enjoy taking photos, so there's a lot of pressing the shutter and just blindly hoping for the best. This was the color film which was expired, and I'm obsessed with how it's given the photos a dreamy 1970s vibe.

I am a lonely painter, I live in a box of paints

I was determined do something a bit different in London yesterday, as I've fallen into the habit of visiting the same haunts every time I go which is getting a bit predictable. I felt like going to a gallery and picked the Tate Britain, which I didn't have very high hopes for as I found the National Gallery so incredibly dull the last time I was there, but the Tate was incredible! I loved it! They had so many famous paintings that I was really excited to see in real life, like Ophelia, and my favorite painting The Doctor which I first saw in a gallery but could never remember which to see it again. And now I know it was this one!

I've been struggling so much with my illustration work this past year and it just felt really special to feel so excited by art again, and I got some books I'm really excited about in the gift shop too. One is general advice for artists, the other is about sketchbook practice, both are no doubt full of stuff I already know but need reminding of just the same. They felt really special in my hands too, like I was supposed to find them and I'm excited about what I might learn from them.

I also saw Frozen, and it's the most I've enjoyed a show in a long time, I just felt really engaged with it. I love this show and have seen it several times now (including on Broadway), and I love it just as much if not more every time. It was the same cast as usual, with the exception of Hans who was played by the cover who was wonderful!! My biggest and really only complaint with the musical is how Hans is made out to be this plotting villain throughout, whereas this actor played him much more earnestly like he is in the movie, so I was thrilled with that (Hans is my favorite character, and I have a whole essay explaining why) His timing in the reveal scene was also so much better - he actually paused between leaning in to kiss Anna and dropping the "if only there was someone who loved you" and let that sit for a moment instead of just rushing through his lines as fast as he can 🙃 Definitely the best Hans!

There'll be actual real live people, it'll be totally strange

I went to London Comic Con this weekend, it was a bit of a last minute decision but I obviously haven't been able to go since 2019 and it felt really important to get out and do things I enjoy as this year has felt a bit weird and isolating. And I think I enjoyed it more than last time! I always feel really comfortable at cons, I really love people who are passionate about stuff as I can relate. I'd like to get a table and sell my illustrations there someday, I've never sold at cons before but I'd love to meet the people buying my art instead of the anonymity of online sales. The whole experience was really inspiring and I came home brimming with ideas for future illustrations and things to make!

I obviously had to go in cosplay, and as it was October and a bit chilly I decided to go as Anna from Frozen. I went as Elsa last time so it only felt right!

Because I had to stay in a hotel I made a proper weekend of it and went to see a couple of shows. On the Friday night I saw the new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cinderella, which I didn't know a whole lot about before going other than it was an updated retelling, but as I love fairy tales so much I wanted to give it a chance. And oh boy! I really hated it!

I especially like the original story of Cinderella because it's a really important story about abuse, grief, and hope. Cinderella loses both of her parents and is enslaved in her own home by her legal guardian while she's a minor, and her step family attempt to completely erode her feelings of self worth out of sheer spite. Even when she goes to the ball, whether in the Disney version or the original folktale, she never went there hoping to meet the Prince, she didn't even recognize the Prince, she just wanted a night out to go dancing and forget her troubles. She never dreamed a Prince would come and save her, she just hoped that one day she might be in a better position to be able to leave her step family behind: "No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true." And I hate this modern "empowered" interpretation that she just waits for a man to save her because she never once does that. And while I knew this musical was a retelling I was hoping it would still have some of the spirit of the original, but unfortunately they just went down the "not like other girls" route instead.

It's set in the town of Belleville, where everyone is basically like the Plastics in Mean Girls except for Cinderella who is a tomboy 'Goth' (because an outcast always has to be a goth 😑) and Prince Sebastian who is nerdy and introverted. Naturally they're both hated by the townsfolk for being so different, and they've been friends their whole lives despite coming from entirely separate social backgrounds and are secretly in love with each other. It's just so boring and predictable that I was rolling my eyes the entire time. Some elements of the show are so over the top and ridiculous that it almost feels like pantomime, but it also takes itself far too seriously and straddles this really weird line where it can't decide what sort of story it wants to be. Even the Fairy Godmother is entirely changed; originally she's the literal embodiment of Cinderella's faith in her own abilities, now she's a plastic surgeon who Cinderella goes to and pays so she can look like everyone else. And this is such a horrifying message and not anywhere near as subversive as it thinks it's being!

This next bit is a huge spoiler, but the 'twist' at the end is that Prince Sebastian's older brother Prince Charming isn't actually dead like we're told throughout the musical, and naturally he interrupts Prince Sebastian's wedding to announce that he faked his death to avoid an arranged loveless marriage to a woman because he's actually gay and in love with the Duke. Which could have been an incredible social commentary on the whole royal thing, except it's the punchline. Also it's immediately accepted by absolutely everyone in the town, including the Queen who is thrilled with her gay son and accepts the Duke, so why exactly did Prince Charming feel like he had to run away in the first place? The plot line has no substance because there was seemingly never anything to overcome, it's like the writers just thought to themselves "what do young people like right now? Ah, the gays!" and just slapped something in to look woke. Especially when compared to something like the recent Netflix series Young Royals which genuinely dealt with a storyline of a young Crown Prince realizing he's queer and dealing with the consequences of that in a very realistic way.

On Saturday night I saw Frozen, which felt appropriate as I was cosplaying Anna that weekend (not at the theater though!) I saw Frozen when I went to New York in 2019, and I didn't think I was going to get to see it in London. It's changed quite a bit from it's Broadway run, so I'm glad I got to see it before. The London theater is larger so some of it's been restaged, they've included references to Frozen II which I was less happy about, and they've included a new song and cut and shortened some others.

Anna's lost her only solo song True Love, which was one of my favorites and one of the moments where Anna has the most growth so I was really sad to see that go. It's always been my complaint even on Broadway that the betrayal scene between Anna and Hans is far too rushed, and unfortunately it's even more so now True Love is gone. I've also always felt like they missed a trick by not giving Hans his own song here - a mocking reprise of Love Is An Open Door would be absolutely perfect detailing how vulnerable and easy to fool Anna was. It's the linchpin of the whole final act so I've never understood why it's so hurried, but they have at last given Hans a couple of lines to sing if not a full song, and it's yet another reprise of his Hans of the Southern Isles track. I don't know why I'm surprised, they always do Hans dirty.

Overall I really loved it though! I loved Oliver as Hans, and the Duke of Weselton is always a character I don't take much notice of but he was wonderfully slimy here, and Samantha Barks is an absolute powerhouse and it was very exciting getting to see her live! I know it's not important and coincidental but I feel like she even looks the most like Elsa too in her face shape and features. And I always love seeing different interpretations of the character - on Broadway I saw Charissa Hogeland who played Elsa very anxious and timid, whereas Samantha was much more proud and you could feel the weight of her duties on her. The cast performed it with American accents too, which I appreciated. Wicked is performed as British, and it always feels really jarring to me as Oz is an American story and I'm so used to the OBC, and although they could technically get away with British accents for Frozen with it being European I'm glad they stuck with what sounds more familiar to the characters. I definitely need to see it again!

Tokyo Disneyland

I was dreaming of visiting Tokyo Disney before I even moved to Japan, it's always been my dream to live so close to the magic! But then the pandemic happened and threw a wrench in the works, and when it reopened back in July I spent some time wondering if it was even worth going with all of the restrictions in place. Don't get me wrong, I'm in no way complaining about safety measures, but when so much of the park is either out of access and with features closed down, is it really worth paying the same amount to get in? But with the weather finally cooling down I knew I had to go at least once as who knows when/if I'd ever even get to go again in my whole life. I also really wanted to see it again as since my first visit I'd been to the California park, and I had such an incredible time on my last trip to Disneyland Paris that I was excited to try and recapture any part of that.

I'm sorry, I still think Phantom Manor is the best Haunted Mansion ride!!

I love how much they appreciate my favourite Disney movie! I was surprised at the lack of Frozen though as I'd heard it was super popular in Japan - there wasn't even anything in the shops.