PattyCake Productions is an independent studio that is filming and releasing content in episodic form. Usually taking Disney characters (while being careful not to use their exact names) and creating parodies and original songs. They have a show called "The Villain's Lair," which has its own album of songs available on Spotify.
So what is "The Villain's Lair"? Glad you asked! The creators have made a story line where most of the villains from classic Disney movies are collaborating together to reverse their timelines and re-write the endings to their own happy endings. I'm a little fuzzy on the details of the plot; it's the songs that I can't get enough of.
Yes, PattyCake has written songs for these characters, and the actors and actresses all have spectacular talent and professional voices. The songs themselves have that whimsical Disney feel, and definitely a Broadway spin on the style of lyrics, which is as pretty much "My Thing," as it gets.
"Disney villains?" you may protest. "You--Cadenza of all people--nerding out over additional source material made about villains??"
In THIS case? Yes. This post is to explain why.
On principle, I am always very cautious about spin-offs from good stories. Today, the "politically correct" has absolutely overrun Hollywood and the Arts. I don't agree with the PC messaging, but even if I didn't, such a climate is stifling for actual creativity. It's clear that people have lost faith in heroes, preferring conflicted "anti-heroes," who are more defined by their flaws than their struggle to overcome them. The victim mindset is set up to be cool, which makes for wimpy, whiny main characters. You're hard-pressed to find an honest-to-goodness villain these days. They are usually written as misguided, misunderstood, or, you know, "traumatized." What we're left with is a hodge-podge of sympathetic characters stuck in a struggle where you, the viewer, aren't sure who to root for. When there's a cast of victims and no actual evil to win against, the writers are forced to make a convoluted plot in which everyone shares blame, everyone does horrible things, and everyone has a "reason," for what they did.
It's boring. It's sloppy story writing. And people like me are sick of it.
You cannot write a good story in such constraints. People like to have stories where someone that they can relate to is set up against a daunting struggle and prevail. You want to see those who started all the trouble get their comeuppance; it's satisfying! You want to see the hero struggle and fail and grow in character. You want to watch him (or her) win because of what they have learned that made them better than they were before.
The folks who are doing the writing of these stories must realize that they aren't resonating with folks. They're being consumed, sure, but the lack of substance makes them outdated almost immediately after they are watched. Writers are hard-pressed to keep churning out material, something that will make a lot of money fast. So what do they do? They go after rights to older, classic stories, and begin "remaking" them, always with politically-correct "messages," infused within them. Fans get more "content" of already beloved characters on screen, and the producers rake in millions; everyone wins, right? Wrong.
What they are doing is retconning the older stories, changing the characters with no understanding of, or else no respect for, the messages in the original story.
Maybe Luke Skywalker wasn't such a great guy after all. Maybe Captain Kirk was actually just an arrogant jerk. What if the evil witch had some legitimate reasons for what she did? What if the Good Guys were bumbling idiots all along? Or what if our Heroes really had sinister motives for what they did? What if they pretended to be good in the public eye, but on their own time they were petty and greedy?
By retroactively re-writing our heroes and villains, they are hollowing out good stories, and simply shoving their politically-correct "Messaging," down our throats, wearing caricatures of our beloved heroes like meat-suits.
I hate it. Make your own politically-correct stories, and leave the good stories alone!
Which brings me back to PattyCake's "The Villain's Lair."
They don't attempt to pretend that the villains were right all along. They don't change any of their characters. What you are watching is the villains trying to work together to strike another blow against the heroes. In their songs, each is represented truly in accordance to what we already knew of them in their movies. They believe they are justified, of course, but the lyrics are written so that we can see how wrong they are. It isn't propaganda in your face, it's a creative way to work within a story while still making something new from it. That takes creativity, talent, and most of all, love for the original stories, and it's inspiring!
What I've come to see over the past few years is that there is a right way and a wrong way to make additional material from already-established stories. Retelling a story in a modern setting can be done with excellence as long as the motive is to stay true to the original. Here are two examples of that done well.
There's a "Disney High School," story on Deviant Art drawn by a gal with the user name "Morloth." She sets five Disney plots as characters within a high school. Sure, the circumstances are different, but the characters are the same. They're lovable, relatable, with the same charm and turn of phrase that they had in their movies. The villains are still horrible and mean; bullies or turncoats or just plain petty. The story is engaging, and the art is beautiful!
"The Lizzie Bennett Diaries," is a Youtube series with over one hundred episodes. It's a modern retelling of "Pride and Prejudice." I watch it every year, and each time I marvel at the painstaking attention to detail that the writers and actors put into this show. It's hilarious, relatable, and beautifully heartwarming. It rings true and authentic with its audience just as much as the original novel does.
Also there are more whimsical ways to expand on a universe. "Robot Chicken," has done episodes of "retellings," of Star Wars episodes, mostly sketches which didn't actually happen, but are done very much in the spirit of the characters--or perhaps I should say an exaggerated version of them.
Obviously, it's Robot Chicken, and a lot of their material is raunchy and irreverent. But at least with most of the Star Wars sketches, I see that they poke fun at the story in a playful way, not to tear it down or hollow it out.
One more example would be "Chanwills0" on Youtube, and all her Harry Potter content. I do not agree with everything she says about Harry Potter, and certainly I do not support all her choices she makes as a person. But she makes this charming alternate universe Hogwarts, where Dumbledore and Minerva and Severus are all best friends and play games making fun of other members of staff in their spare time. Everyone is an exaggerated version of themselves, but absolutely recognizable. The parodies are clever and play with unexplored plot holes and discrepancies in characters' actions. But you can tell that even though she makes fun of certain things, she has a deep understanding and love for the series.
Is it weird to see Lizzie Bennett doing a Youtube show from her desk? Maybe at first, but she's still the witty, thoughtful, and charming Elizabeth Bennett I first found in Jane Austen. Is it jarring to see Minerva McGonagall with a huge eyes and lips filter? You bet, at first. But hearing her roasting Professor Umbridge is thing of beauty and a joy forever, and very much in the spirit of the original! I feel like I'm getting to know these friends of mine even better than I did before. I find it leaves categories in my mind for not only "Head Canon," but also just fun content that I can laugh at or enjoy. The nonsense or gross things I don't have to accept, and I don't have to be mad about them. It was just someone's wrong interpretation. But when it's done right, I'm getting to share in a content creator's love for a story that I also love!
I think that's what a lot of this boils down to: love. Audiences can tell when the original story is being drawn from in love and appreciation.
In the case of "The Villain's Lair," I see love for the original stories and characters. I see clever lyrics and delightful songs made which are new, and yet feel familiar, since they are from characters I already know. Not to mention the actors are professionals, which just scratches that Broadway itch of mine. I had to write a post about it because I want someone out there to share my appreciation for this independent creative production!
PattyCake makes new content from established stories in keeping with the characters and stories that have stood the test of time. That's why I love PattyCake.
~Cadenza
