I didn’t mind that there was no direct reference to Halloween in this animation film, as ‘trick or treat’ tends to degenerate into threats from large teenagers to damage your property if you don’t give them money, in certain UK locations!
Overall, I loved this animation, and until the ‘transformation’ scene I would have given it a good 9.7 out of ten. It made me cry (when MJ appeared) and I loved all the ‘Michael’ references. It was clear that the production team are fans, and packed in as much ‘Michael’ as possible
I thought there were a few ‘missed opportunities’, but I can understand why most of these points might have been difficult to overcome:
I was sorry that 'MJ's Halloween' wasn’t able to ‘trend’ heavily on Twitter, as worldwide coverage was patchy, and missed even English-speaking regions. (Like the 65 million UK population!) I’d happily buy the DVD, and hope that it will also be available either dubbed or with subtitles for non English-speaking countries.
I thought that the dog (Ichy / Icky!) could have had more character and a stronger story-arc, although he did push the story along quite well. I’d have liked to see him ‘transformed’ at the end, maybe with a nicer, freer (more playful) character.
The 'travelling lift' sequences were a bit dizzying, and didn't seem to have much of a link to Michael. It would have been good to maybe have the lift convert into a roller coaster cabin?
I would have liked to see the three ‘MJ’-linked characters display three distinct elements of MJ’s talent, but both ‘Hay man’ and ‘Meryweather’ seemed to be predominantly dancers. It would have been nice if one was more predominantly a singer. Franklin Stine seemed to portray ‘inventiveness’ quite well (and I liked the ‘cat / dog’ humour).
Sadly the last ‘missed opportunity’ (for me) puts this animation firmly in the ‘outdated’ category, and really spoiled the transformation scene. I had been thinking all along how clever it had been of the animators to make ‘Conformity’ such a typical ‘female plaything in entertainment’ figure. Triple digit chest size and hips, tiny waist, and lots of 1940’s ‘Jessica Rabbit’-style leg exposure. The younger female protagonist (Victoria) had been portrayed very well as ‘realistic and relatable’, so I looked forward to Conformity’s transformation into another ‘real’ woman. How totally disappointing and outdated her transformation turned out to be! Her enormous chest practically blotted out the screen as she woke up! And then she joined in with the ‘zombie dance’. Really, guys???? (I’m assuming there were no female animation ‘lead’ staff???) I wouldn’t want to show this animation to a young female relative as sending a message of ‘be yourself’. The message it sent to me was ‘women in entertainment are there as idealised playthings for men’. Aaaargh. Post Harvey Weinstein and #Metoo this message just doesn’t play any more.
I really longed for a post credit clip (where the outtakes usually go) showing the transformed Conformity ripping off her tiny corset, slapping a telephone on her head , climbing on a table and doing a mashup ‘Lady Gaga does BOTDF’ dance.
Ah well, another time maybe.
I’ll still enjoy re-watching this (at tea-time, with scones, pumpkin jam and (s)cream), but I’ll probably stop at the transformation scene, and imagine better days to come.
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