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Culture

Artist gives a modern twist to Disney's most beloved characters to explain today's world

"Disney characters are so iconic that I thought transporting them to our modern world could help us see it through new eyes."

via Tom Ward / Instagram

Artist Tom Ward has used his incredible illustration techniques to give us some new perspective on modern life through popular Disney characters. "Disney characters are so iconic that I thought transporting them to our modern world could help us see it through new eyes," he told The Metro.

Tom says he wanted to bring to life "the times we live in and communicate topical issues in a relatable way."

In Ward's "Alt Disney" series, Prince Charming and Pinocchio have fallen victim to smart phone addiction. Ariel is living in a polluted ocean, and Simba and Baloo have been abused by humans.


Not all the news is bad though. LeFou form "Beauty and the Beast" has finally come out of the closet and his crush, Gaston, appears to be pretty accepting of the revelation.

Although, was it really such a shock?

Ward believes that his illustration of Artur from "Sword and the Stone makes" a particularly strong point. "I also think the message of Arthur from The Sword in the Stone sitting on his phone has some resonance today," he said. "He's too engrossed in his phone to experience other opportunities and realize his true potential in life."

You can see more of Ward's work on Instagram. Click through the photos to see the slideshow.

1. Pinocchio's selfie

This article originally appeared on 9.18.20

Lee Loechler's incredible "Sleeping Beauty" proposal.

There are creative, romantic proposals, and then there's this one.

Lee Loechler recently proposed to his girlfriend, Sthuthi David, by taking her to a packed theater to see her favorite Disney movie, Sleeping Beauty. Little did she know that Loechler had spent six months altering the animation of the film's most iconic scene, changing the characters to look like the couple themselves and altering the storyline to set up his Big Question. And that's only the beginning.

Watching David's face during the scene change is sheer delight, as her confused look proves that she has no clue what is about to happen.


The set-up is great, but the magical moment when Loechler's illustrated self tosses the engagement ring to his real-life self? That's when we all toss up our hands and say, "OKAY, man. You win at proposing. Everyone else must bow before you now."

The whole proposal—the re-illustrations, the heart jokes (David is a cardiologist), and the bride-to-be's surprise when she finds herself surrounded by friends and family—it's all perfection. Just watch:

Amazing, right? Lee Loechler set the bar ridiculously high, but even the most cynical among us have to give him props for his creativity.

Reddit users' responses to the video were hilarious, and reflect what we all feel watching this masterpiece.

"Welp this guy went and did it, theres no point in any of us proposing now he's out done us all." - XXLpeanuts

"I was just gonna propose to my girlfriend in the Starbucks parking lot where I first told her I loved her. Welp, that ain't gonna do anymore..." - mattrva

"I proposed to my wife in front of Disney Castle in Orlando and I've never felt less proud about it than after watching this video lol. For real though this is one of the best proposals I've ever seen, bravo." - thenaniwatiger

"I thought I was smooth with my bridge and lilyponds on a blacksand beach in Hawaii..... this guy just went and rewrote theatrical history, broke the forth wall, made a 4th dimensional joke and timed it perfectly, made a highbrow doctors joke, conspired with the internet, and filled a theater with family and friends." - ooooopium

"Goddamn I am cold, cynical bastard and you just warmed my heart with how hard you just crushed it, my dude. I'll say it. I am flat out envious." - Dr_Frasier_Bane

Congratulations and best wishes to the lovely couple. May you truly live happily ever after.


This article originally appeared on 01.09.20

Pop Culture

Man's epic rant about streaming services is so relatable people are applauding

"Everything was faster and easier and worked better 20 years ago and we ruined it. We were all scammed."

Representative Photo credit: Canva

Man's epic rant about streaming platforms has people applauding.

Something happened nearly two decades ago. There was a shift where video rental stores were shutting down because Netflix (who used to deliver literal DVDs) and Redbox were causing a significant decline in customers. Then Netflix became a streaming service, making it even easier for you to get access to the movies you would normally rent for a flat fee and reducing the stress of losing or damaging a DVD.

This jump into streaming created the demand for more streaming services at a time when cable rates were skyrocketing. It made practical financial sense to move over to a couple of streaming services and let go of cable. That is until the streaming services became obnoxiously plentiful.

Anthony Robustiano recently went on an epic rant about his frustration with streaming services after he tried to find a movie to watch. He explains that in order to even know which streaming platform to watch the movie on he first had to Google the movie. That's when the rant turns up a notch.


"To then finally finding the movie on a streaming service that you own and you get excited and you go to the movie and then Prime Video is like, 'well we're going to need an additional $3.99 from you.' Why? I'm already paying you a monthly fee what are you talking about? And they're like 'well you can rent it or buy it for seven grand.'"

You know someone's a peak frustration when they're making up ridiculous numbers to express how expensive something is. But Rubstiano wasn't alone in his irritation with the high price of multiple streaming platforms. Commenters joined in and agreed that maybe cable was actually superior to streaming services after all.



"Also? The entire appeal of Netflix was ‘no ads.’ As a single person I relented and subscribed to Netflix sometime after COVID screwed the world, when tired of having to put up with ads while watching ‘free’ movies on cable or YouTube or a few other free show sources online. Now, they want me to choose between paying a lot more, which I cannot do, or…. Putting up with ADS. Good-bye, Netflix," one person writes.

"THIS!!!! It’s awful. There’s nothing to watch. Mostly because I can’t find it and get overwhelmed," another says.

"Everything was faster and easier and worked better 20 years ago and we ruined it. We were all scammed," someone complains.

"ALL WE EVER WANTED WAS CAFETERIA STYLE CABLE. Let us pick what we're paying $70/mo for. GOSH," another person shouts.

The consensus seems to be that since the streaming services now all come with ads and additional fees, bringing back Blockbuster or cable would be preferable. Although some people shared that they kept their old DVD/Blu Ray players so they could physically own a copy of what they purchased, pointing out that when a streaming platform loses rights to a movie or show, you no longer have access even though you may have purchased it.

In a perfect world, a cable company could strike a deal with the streaming services giving you access to all of the platforms for one price along with basic cable. Until then, stores still sell DVD players.

Flynn Rider is a Disney fan favorite.

Disney princesses have become such an ingrained part of our collective conscious that most of us can rattle off the names Cinderella, Snow White, Jasmine, Belle, Tiana, Ariel, Moana, Mulan, Rapunzel and so on without having to think too hard about it. Disney princes, however, are another story. There's the classic Prince Charming, of course. Aladdin is hard to forget, since the story is literally named after him. Beast doesn't have a name, and beyond that, most Disney princes just don't stick in people's minds.

Flynn Rider from "Tangled," however, might be the exception.

There's something about Flynn Rider that has made him a Disney fan favorite, and a behind-the-scenes video explains one possible reason why: He was designed by a room full of women.


First, here's a reminder of Flynn's character for those who haven't seen "Tangled" in a while:

"Tangled" directors Byron Howard and Nathan Greno shared in a Q & A what they were thinking in the process of creating Flynn.

“Flynn’s character, from the get-go, had to be a charmer,” Howard said. “He had to be this charming kind of swashbuckling, amazing action guy who you had to love from square one…We always kind of compare him to characters like Indiana Jones, who have confidence about them but they’re human at the same time. Because you have to relate to these guys. They can’t just be Superman.”

Greno added that Flynn is one of the funniest characters Disney has created. “He’s this really smart, witty guy. He’s an action hero, he’s also very handsome."

Flynn's handsomeness ended up being highly curated. Howard and Greno shared that after the animators had come up with hundreds of mockups of potential Flynns, they invited the women from around the animation studios to come and weigh in on the sketches, as well as images of leading Hollywood men over the years, to determine what features would make Flynn the most attractive.

This "hot man meeting" yielded a lot of strong opinions, which Howard said was "tough."

"The hot man meeting was hard to go to, for us," said Greno, "because everyone had opinions on what works and what doesn't work. And occasionally things would come up that don't work, and those were things that, you know, we have."

Watch the women in action:

@ashley_tropea

Never forget The Hot Man Meeting #disney #tangled #flynnrider #animation #menwrittenbywomen #disneytangled #disneytiktok

Designing a male hero based on what women actually find attractive vs. what men think women find attractive turned out to be a solid approach. It may be worth imagining what would happen if the idea were reversed—a group of men in a "hot woman meeting" to piece together the ideal woman would likely be received a bit differently—but the consensus in the comments was that the meeting achieved its intended goal.

"This makes so much sense. Flynn Rider is elite."

"And in the end, they nailed it."

"My girls KNEW what they were talkin about."

"And they did a FANTASTIC job."

"Those women did amazing bc that man is FINEEEE."

"THAT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE! I always felt like he was such a female gaze character I was surprised they nailed it…now I get why."

Several commenters also wondered if that meeting was the genesis of the WANTED posters and Flynn's "They just can't get my nose right!" line in the film.

Of course, as much love as Flynn got in the comments, some people disagreed that he was for sure the most attractive prince. There was a lot of appreciation for Prince Naveen from "The Princess and the Frog" (that voice), Li Shang from "Mulan" and Eric from "The Little Mermaid" in the comments.

Thousands agreed, however, that Disney should have used an approach like this to create Beast when he turns into human form because that reveal left a lot to be desired.

Ultimately, asking women what they actually find attractive instead of assuming or guessing led to the creation of one of the most beloved princes in the Disney lineup. If the goal is to have the female audience swooning over a character, it's definitely something for creators to consider when designing a leading man.