by Emily Nagle
Happy Disney+ Day! This annual virtual event is filled to the brim with upcoming content for Disney’s many streaming services. Unlike last year, it’s being held ahead of the seventh biennial D23 Expo, which is returning for the first time since before the pandemic.
In honor of the celebration, Disney has rolled out special offers and promotions for new and current customers can receive a month of Disney+ for just $1.99 (regularly $7.99/month). They’re also offering non-streaming rewards to subscribers, including 6 free months of Uber One, early entry to Disney theme parks on September 8, and savings at Disney Resorts and Cruises.
However, the perk that has led to the most excitement is the Disney Drop Box. Available for free to existing customers who renew their subscription for another year, this special package is chock-full of exclusive products such as apparel, snacks, and artwork from a selection of Disney’s most popular characters and franchises, including Mickey Mouse, Toy Story, Spider-Man, and Cars. The gift box is only available while supplies last, so subscribers are rushing to claim their Disney+ Drop Box before they run out!
Stay tuned to find out about more announcements from Disney during D23 this weekend!
by Emily Nagle
Happy 29th anniversary to “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog”! On this day in 1993, the first-ever television series based on SEGA’s flagship franchise had its first broadcast on ABC, where it would air for two years before showing reruns on other channels, including USA Network and Toon Disney. Now, all episodes of the show are available to watch for free on Galxy!
To celebrate nearly three decades since Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog‘s television debut, here are 3 fast facts about the nostalgic series starring the speedy blue hedgehog!
It originated Sonic’s love for chili dogs
Fans of the Sonic franchise probably know by now that the hedgehog is a sucker for a good chili dog – the food been featured in several games as a power-up item, and Sonic can be spotted enjoying the dish in other media, including Cartoon Network’s Sonic Boom series and the comic adaptations. But did you know this trait was first introduced not with the first video game in 1991, but two years later, in one of the earliest episodes of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog?
At the end of the second episode of the series, Subterranean Sonic, Spelunk the mole buys Sonic and Tails chili dogs after the three of them escape an underground cave. The food makes appearances in several other later episodes, including in “Robotnikland”, where Tails gives Sonic a chili dog with a candle in it for his birthday.
It’s a niche Internet meme
In the early 2000s, years after “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog” ended, viewers began to find enjoyment in it for an unusual reason. The series became one of the earliest sources for Internet memes and YouTube mashups, most likely due to its familiar characters being placed in absurd situations. Users love heavily editing clips of the show, piling on wacky effects and throwing in assets from other media. Even over a decade later, memes based on the show continue to be uploaded to YouTube.
These videos are an art form. Some of the spins on the trend are pretty creative – a few people have even made original songs with instrumentals created entirely from episode clips! My personal favorite song I’ve heard is probably “Getaway Submarine”.
It received a spin-off video game
However, it was nothing like the platform-style games the franchise is best known for. Instead, it was more like “Tetris” with characters from the Sonic series.
Titled “Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine”, the game is an alternate version of the Japanese puzzle game “Puyo Puyo”, which is another game series by Sega. The company was concerned the concept wouldn’t be as popular with Western audiences, so they inserted characters from “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog”, hoping the familiar characters would attract people to the game.
Sega even created a story for the relatively simple game of colorful beans falling from above: Dr. Robotnik has kidnapped and enslaved the citizens of Beanville, and it’s up to the player to free them. It was originally released for the Sega Genesis in 1993, but has since been ported to Steam, where it can now be played on MacOS, Windows, or Linux.
by Emily Nagle
The first weekend of September was a long one, but even with the extra time off to go to the movies, box office numbers weren’t particularly high due to no new releases (with the exception of the rerelease of Marvel and Sony’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home”, which became 2021’s highest grossing film in the last two weeks of the year!).
Top 5 Highest Grossing Films for Labor Day Weekend 2022
5. The Invitation ($6.1 million)
4. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2022 rerelease) (6.5 million)
3. DC League of Super-Pets ($6.8 million)
2. Bullet Train ($7.5 million)
1. Top Gun: Maverick ($7.9 million)
“Top Gun: Maverick” made nearly twice as much as it did last weekend, climbing back up to number one after being overtaken by newer releases “Beast”, “Bullet Train”, and “The Invitation” last weekend. More than three months after its debut, it has remained in the top 5 almost every weekend of the summer despite ticket sales slowly declining. To date, it has grossed over $1.4 billion worldwide, making it the highest grossing film of 2022.
Meanwhile, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” swung back into theaters around the United States to celebrate 20 years of Spider-Man films and 60 years of Spider-Man comics. With 13 minutes of bonus scenes, an introduction from all three Peter Parkers (Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire), and an additional post-credits scene, Sony described the poster for the rerelease, which featured all the characters they tried to keep under wraps during the film’s initial release, as an “Avengers-style poster [with] a perfect blend of the multiverse feels, combined with the ‘Where’s Waldo’ effect”.
by Emily Nagle
Happy September! Fall vibes are officially in, and for the biggest streaming platforms in the industry, so are a bunch of new shows and movies. To kick off the new month, here’s a list of some of September’s most exciting new arrivals.
Critically acclaimed and popular films including “A Clockwork Orange,” “American Beauty,” and “The Notebook” (September 1) are rolling out to the platform at last. Several series are making their debut this month, ranging from crime documentaries like “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” (September 21) and “Indian Predator: The Diary of a Serial Killer” (September 7) to Netflix originals like “Fakes” (September 2) and “Little Women” (September 4).
Hulu subscribers can look forward to new seasons of their favorite hit shows this fall, including “The Handmaid’s Tale” (season 5 coming September 14), “Abbott Elementary” (season 2 coming September 22), and “9-1-1” (season 6 coming September 20). Movies coming to the platform include popular films such as “10 Things I Hate About You”, the first two “American Pie” films, and “Fight Club” (September 1).
After becoming the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2022, Elvis entered the building today on HBO Max. Aside from that, this month is quiet for new additions on the platform, which recently cut dozens of titles in a move to save money. New episodes of “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon” will continue to premiere each Sunday, and all five seasons of “Gotham” are arriving on September 30.
There’s lots of exciting new things in store for Disney+ fans, with “Pinocchio” premiering on Disney+ Day on September 8 (amongst a slew of other premieres). Star Wars prequel series “Andor” is premiering on September 21, and the platform will continue to roll out episodes of “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” each Thursday. On the film front, long-awaited Halloween flick sequel “Hocus Pocus 2” will premiere on September 30, preceding the spookiest month.
by Emily Nagle
The first trailer for upcoming independent slasher film “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” – based on the fictional characters created by A.A. Milne nearly a century ago – has made its debut on Jagged Edge Productions’ official YouTube channel.
“Blood and Honey” reimagines the silly old bear, along with shy, sweet Piglet, as a vicious murderer with a taste for blood. Pooh no longer spends his days playing in the forest with Christopher Robin (Nikolai Leon), who has abandoned Pooh and the gang as he has grown up, graduated college, and gotten married. All these years later, Christopher has returned to the forest to introduce his new wife to Pooh and his friends. However, Pooh has other plans in mind: slaughtering everyone in his path, including a group of college girls staying in a nearby cabin.
Much of the characters from the “Winnie the Pooh” canon are still owned by Disney; however, the company’s copyright for depictions of Pooh expired in January, leaving the anthropomorphic teddy bear in the public domain.
While it’s a completely new spin on the nearly 90-year-old character, it has been met with mixed criticism due to the concept being unnecessarily dark – why would a beloved, timeless childhood character be turned into a bloodthirsty murderer? Of course, “Blood and Honey” isn’t the first film to do this; “Bunny the Killer Thing” does something similar, introducing a killer who’s a giant fuzzy bunny.
“Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” does not yet have a release date, but is said to be “coming soon.” Other names involved in the project are Rhys Frake-Waterfield as the director, and actors Amber Doig-Thorne, Natasha Tosini, and Danielle Ronald.
by Emily Nagle
Today is National Grief Awareness Day. Observed every year on August 30, this day sheds light on the many ways that people process loss. It’s a reminder that grieving is a nonlinear experience that varies from person to person. In honor of this important day, I watched a selection from Invincible’s catalog that details one young man’s unique journey through grief, titled “In Memory of My Father“.
Released in 2005, “In Memory of My Father” follows Chris (Chris Jaymes), the youngest son of a dying Hollywood producer who has decided to go out with a bang as he has bribed Chris to document his death. While the movie spends much of its time focusing on Chris and his brothers Matt (Matt Keeslar) and Jeremy (Jeremy Sisto), it also examines how the death is processed by multiple people, as their father requests that the brothers throw an extravagant farewell party at his home.
The way that this film takes a look at the grieving experience is an unexpected one, because it’s not all about dying. In fact, their father is barely onscreen for much of the movie. Instead, it’s about how people process trauma; the brothers are wrapped up in drama as they each have their own relationship-related problems, ranging from breakups to reconnecting with an ex. At the party, the brothers and their guests sat around and sang a ridiculous song together about how “our daddy’s dead”.
Because of all the chaos, it’s hard to understand what’s going on in the movie at times, but that’s also what grief is like. Despite this, “In Memory of My Father” is still a creative exploration of grieving. It has that homemade indie film energy to it, not to mention an excellent soundtrack.
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