Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Story Announcement #3

In early 2008, when I was 11 years old, after hearing about a special Pokemon marathon coming soon, I sung "I Just Can't Wait To Be King". I even acted out part of The Lion King, but since at the time, there were only 493 species of Pokemon, I had to improvise. In 2012, after over 150 new species of Pokemon were introduced, I decided that I should write a Pokemon version of The Lion King, which I wrote a who's who list for in a red book I was supposed to use for school, but never found out what for.
Anyway, one rule I made for myself in this story was that there had to be no Fire-types allowed in the pride lands. However, since Emboar (which I made Pumbaa), a muscle-bound warthog with a fiery mane, is part Fire-type, I would allow him to stay.
 Emboar
For Timon, however, I made him a Mienfoo, which is based on the Indian relative of the meerkat, the mongoose. I know that Watchog is based on a meerkat, but its previous stage, Patrat, is based on a prairie dog, an American rodent who fears the coyote.
 Mienfoo
For the hyenas, many people would probably think I would choose Poochyena and Mightyena, but I felt like they are more like wolves. So instead, I made the hyenas Growlithe, even though that Pokemon has traits of a domestic dog.
 Growlithe
For Zazu, I made him a Xatu, a bird Pokemon with creepy red eye-shaped markings on its chest.
 Xatu
For all the lion characters (except for Scar), I used Shinx, Luxio, and Luxray.
 Image result for Shinx, Luxio, and Luxray
For Scar, I made him a Persian, the evolved form of Meowth, because it would be too confusing with so many characters of the same Pokemon species.
 053Persian.png
And finally, for Rafiki, I originally made him an Ambipom, an evolved form of the fan favorite Aipom with two tails. However, when I discovered that the 5th generation of Pokemon introduced three elemental monkeys, I changed Rafiki to a Simisage, the Grass-type monkey. I didn't choose Simisear, the Fire-type monkey, because I was afraid it would burn down the pride lands, and I didn't choose Simipour, the Water-type monkey, because Water-type Pokemon are weak against Electric-type attacks. If a Simipour tried picking up a Shinx, it could get electrocuted badly.
 Simisage
For all the other characters, I used many different Pokemon, but since this story will take place in Unova, the main location in Pokemon Black and White, there will be absolutely no Generation 6 Pokemon.
The names were probably the hardest part in making the story. It wasn't until I found out on the website TV Tropes that some of the characters in The Lion King were named after terms in Swahili. Simba means lion, Nala means gift, Pumbaa means simpleton, Rafiki means friend, Shenzi means savage, and Banzai means skulk. And so, I decided that the characters in The Shinx That Would Be King should be named after Japanese terms, since Pokemon itself is Japanese. I also renamed Simba Kimba, after the cult anime Kimba the White Lion. For everyone else, I will list their names down below.
Nala- Gifuto, which means 'gift' in Japanese
Mufasa- Raion, which means 'lion' in Japanese
Sarabi- Messua, named after Mowlgi's mother in The Jungle Book book
Scar- Kizuato, which means 'scar' in Japanese
Zazu- Xazu
Rafiki- Yujin, which means 'friend' in Japanese
Timon- Kyatto, derived from Miakyatto, which means 'meerkat' in Japanese
Pumbaa- Baka-sha, which means 'idiot' in Japanese
Shenzi- Yabani, derived from yaban, which means 'savage' in Japanese
Banzai- Akuto, derived from Akuma, which means 'devil' in Japanese
Ed- Oroka, which happens to mean 'stupid' in Japanese
Also, instead of saying 'Hakuna Matata', Kyatto and Baka-sha will say Shimpai Nai, which means 'no worries' in Japanese.
I wrote this story back in March 2015, and will start being posted on June 3rd.

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Movie Review: April and the Extraordinary World

Movie Review: April and the Extraordinary World                                                                      5-14-16
 April and the Extraordinary World Poster
This is the first hand-drawn animated movie I have seen in theaters since Curious George in 2006, though I went to see The Lion King when it was re-released in 2011. I unfortunately missed The Princess and the Frog in theaters because I felt like I was too old for it at the time, and now I wish I could've seen it in theaters. However, today, I got the chance to see a hand-drawn feature: The French-produced April and the Extraordinary World!
April and the Extraordinary World takes place in an alternate timeline in which the Industrial Revolution never happened, and humans relied on fossil fuels and chemistry instead of electricity. In 1931, scientist Paul Franklin is on a verge of discovering a formula that can make humans immortal. However, he was ambushed by Pizoni and separated from his daughter April. Ten years later, April blossomed into an intelligent and confident young woman, and now must embark on a quest with her talking cat Darwin and a street rat named Julius to reunite with her parents and give them the formula.
Now what do I think of the movie? Well, I enjoyed it! The version I saw was in French, but had English subtitles. The 2D animation is lush and beautiful, April is a great female role model, her cat Darwin is funny at times, and the villain is a complete unique surprise. The movie might be rated PG, but the film appeals more to adults than kids.
Rating: 4 and a half stars out of 5