November Bday 1

And now, the cards for the comic book/cartoon characters celebrating their birthdays this month.


Again, November is a very busy month for Disney, starting in November 8, 1973, with the 21st animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, based on the legend of Sherwood's Forest famous outlaw, but uses anthropomorphic animals instead of people. The hero was played by a fox who protected the poor and oppressed from a cowardly, phony king who ruled England while the legitimate, lion-hearted king was away.

In November 14, 1989, the 28th film in the Walt Disney animated features canon became the first of the Disney Renaissance. The star was an aquatic princess, and the script was loosely based (as usual with Disney) in the famous story by Hans Christian Andersen. The redhead heroine was dissatisfied with life 'under the sea' and curious about the human world, and despite a certain musical crab telling her that it was a bad idea, she decided to take a look, and ended saving a prince… with the classic love on first sight effect. Due to this, she got help from a sea witch, obtaining the ability to become a human in order to gain the prince's love… and of course, the witch tried to ruin everything even if she had already claimed the princess' voice. Luckily, things ended well for the couple.

The things got even better in November 22, 1991, when Disney released the very first animated movie that got an Oscar Nomination for best picture. the film is based on the fairy tale La Belle et la Bête by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont and uses some ideas from the 1946 film of the same name. The film centers around a prince who is transformed into a huge, chimeric animal, and a young woman named whom he imprisons in his castle. To become a prince again, the transformed guy must love the woman, and win her love in return, or he will remain a furry creature forever. Of course, things would get even more complicated, as if being an odd couple wasn't enough; the thing was, a certain jerk was already after the woman, and he had a very big ego problem, claiming that one's slick,as quick, and no one's neck's as incredibly thick, for there's no man in town half as manly… perfect, a pure paragon (according to himself and his 'yes-man'). Of course, love was victorious in the end, in this tale as old as time, and song as old as rhyme.

Later, on November 25, 1992, Disney premiered a movie based on is based on the most famous Arab folktale from the One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. The hero was a 'street rat' that, as he admitted, come from a land, from a faraway place where the caravan camels roam, where it's flat and immense, and the heat is intense.. it's barbaric, but hey, it's home. Later, when falling in love with the local princess, someone he wanted to share a whole new world, he'd retrieve a magic lamp, that contained a certain blue guy… and definitely, the hero never had a friend like him. The movie was so successful it was followed by 2 direct-to-video movies and a television series.

In November 22, 1995, Disney made history again by releasing the first feature length computer animated film and the first film produced by Pixar, following a group of anthropomorphic toys who pretend to be lifeless whenever humans are around… except when they need to give a bully a very well-deserved scare; the stars were a pullstring cowboy doll and an astronaut action figure who wanted to fly 'to infinity… and beyond' … and actually did it, when he got his own cartoon. The movie, no doubt, is Pixar's most successful one ever, as it originated a very acclaimed trilogy, that ended when the toys' owners grew up yet still showed gratitude to the toys that gave him long hours of joy by finding them a new home… yep, the toys really got a friend in him, and this friendship was very reciprocated.

In November 25, 1998, Pixar and Disney did it again, with a movie starring anthropomorphic insects, and that was pretty much a a retelling of Aesop's fable "The Ant and the Grasshopper"… this time, of course, things weren't nearly as friendly among both species, and the grasshoppers weren't just a bunch of lazy jerks, but lazy and bully ones as well, forcing the ants to get 'warriors' to help defend their colony… only to realize they never really needed any help, as they outnumbered the invaders in such a way that even the Main Bully knew it, and tried to keep them scared and submissive. It didn't work forever, and the ants came on top... and in this pic, the ant is in the cowboy's hand. Just in case you can't see him.

In November 2, 2001, we finally got to see the whole 'monster in the closet' myth from the monsters' point of view; it's their work. And even if they're scaring kids, in fact, they're the ones risking their lives when doing this… or so they thought, until a certain blue, large furry guy saved a little girl who couldn't stop calling him 'Kitty'. With some help from a one-eyed, spherical monster, the furry guy proved that kids weren't toxic to monsters and that they could in fact accomplish their jobs without needing to scare them. Not bad, Big Blue. No wonder you and your buddies are getting a 'prequel' next year.

In November 5, 2004, Pixar made the general release of an 'incredible' film; way before Marvel Comics and 'Civil War', this movie showed the consequences of trying to regulate superheroes and/or making them illegal… not the wisest move, in deed. Written and directed by Brad Bird, and the sixth film produced by Pixar Animation Studios, the story follows a family of superheroes living a quiet suburban life, forced to hide their powers, until they find out a former fanboy-now psychopathic villain is hunting former 'Supers' to get rid of competition before becoming a public hero himself, even if he has to destroy dozens of former heroes (and their families) and endanger thousands of lives to do it. He later found out two things; never, ever, threat a superhero's family (especially if said superhero can throw a car at you), and also the reason why most superheroes and villains no longer wear capes.

Finally, in November 21, 2008, Disney gave us a super dog… or, more precisely, a dog raised to think he was 'super', dedicated to protect his human friend from evil villains; the plot for a televised series. The thing works fine until the director is forced to make changes in the show, and the dog gets lost, finally realizing he has no real super powers… but also finally finding out how a normal dog is supposed to live. And also finding out that, even without powers, he's still a super dog.

Happy Birthday to you all, guys, and thanks for the laughs, the drama, the music, and finally making kids stop worrying about the monster in the closet.