Other Fanfics: Rhino's Movie Craze UPDATED (TLK, anyone?)

I plan to post my short non-Pixar fanfics here. I will update the thread’s title to fit each latest fanfic.
The first one is a Coraline fanfic [spoilers ahead!] After having seen that film, I loved the new character, Wybie (though at the same time, I do not like CoralinexWybie ideas). The following story is about the Other Wybie (which I may edit in the future for accuracy because I’ve only seen Coraline once.)

Other Ways

If you could chose whether to always frown or always smile, which would it be? It was an extreme question, as if asking if you would rather be hit in the shin or the stomach. As if asking if you would rather be killed or kill. With questions like these, there was still something you had no option in. Either way, it wouldn’t feel good. Some people would have chosen to always smile, because they misinterpreted it as always being happy. But what if the smile on your face wasn’t yours? If it was forced on you, like painting a doll’s face, your smiles wouldn’t be real.

The Other Wybie knew that. At first, he didn’t. When he was first made, or rather, copied then twisted, the beldam had already given him a purpose. He would be like an accessory to Coraline’s welcome. A grin must always be on his face when in her presence.

At first, it seemed like fun, and even helpful. He thought Coraline must be someone the beldam was willing to take in, to rescue. That was how the beldam had put it, anyway. He was willing to do anything he was told. After all, the beldam had made him, right?

Through the days of waiting, the Other Wybie had gotten smarter. He realized why he was called the “Other” Wybie. That the beldam just copied everything he saw. Everything he knew of was a different version of something else. That he, too, was a button-eyed clone of someone else. He had no real identity. He was just a ripoff of another, used to impress someone. It made him feel really disappointed inside. He was really nobody…he wasn’t special…or real, whatever “real” meant.

But he still was willing to follow through on the beldam’s plans, because he knew no difference between “good” and “evil”, “right” or “wrong”. The only “right” thing for him to do was obey.

One day, while still waiting for Coraline, the beldam called him over, and he obeyed.

“She’s really annoyed with that Wybie,” the beldam said, looking through her doll-spy’s eyes. “But it’s pretty much only because he talks so much.”

The Other Wybie asked, “What are you going to do? I have the same characteristics as the original Wybie.” Oh, please don’t get rid of me just yet…I want to at least meet this Coraline.

The beldam tapped her fingers on the desk of the workshop. “You will always smile for her, correct? To convince her that she’ll be happy here?”

“Of course,” the Other Wybie said. “But just smile? I thought-”

“That’ll be all you need to do,” the beldam decided. “We’ll have to adjust you a little bit…to make you more different from the original Wybie. We’re going to fix you…for Coraline.”

“What do you mean-?”

“We’re going to remove your voice.”

The beldam torn him of his voice, though nothing was really his to begin with. Everything he was had previously belonged to the real, original Wybie…whoever he was…whatever “real” meant.

“You do want to be of use, do you not?” the beldam questioned.
The Other Wybie nodded, but he was still in shock from having lost the ability to talk.

“Oh, you’ll get used to it. That voice does you no good anyway. Your only purpose is to help me lure in Coraline, nothing more, understand?”

The Other Wybie nodded intently. One and only purpose…that was fine with him.

When the time finally came, he saw Coraline before she saw him. He spied on her from the moment she pushed the door open and crawled out.
This was the first and only person he’d seen with no button eyes. She had real eyes that were naturally hers. Nothing was artificial about her. He envied her for that.

When the time came for him to be introduced, he was ready. He smiled like he meant it. He was pleased to meet her, to befriend her.

At first glance, she was annoyed to see another Wybie here. But he kept his smile.

Coraline said, “Hello, why-were-you-born.”

All he could do was smile.

Coraline tried again. “Hello?”

The beldam (which, as the Other Wybie noticed, had changed her appearance and was now to be referred to the Other Mother), stepped in and explained, “I figured you’d like him better if he didn’t talk. So I fixed him.”

“So, he doesn’t talk at all?” Coraline said. She digested that and smiled, too. “I like that.”

And they both left to see the performance of Mr. Bobinski’s jumping mice circus.

On the way there, Coraline asked him, “It didn’t…hurt, did it?” There was a hint of concern in her tone.

He could have nodded for an answer, but decided to ignore the question altogether. He didn’t want to scare her off the place. It would be against his mistress’s orders. And Coraline soon forgot the question anyway.

The next time she visited, he saw her again in Spink and Forcible’s theater and waved. She looked pleased to see him again also, and sat next to him. She was really into the performance. But the Other Wybie’s mind was somewhere else.

He really liked hanging out with her. Lacking communication didn’t create a wall between them. But sometimes he wished he could have cheered along with her, or say something random as friends do, or anything. But he couldn’t.

His developing thoughts, however, were growing fast. And he felt worry and guilt, and questions buzzing in his head. He wondered if Coraline really was going to stay forever…and how? He knew everyone here in this little world possessed buttons for eyes. Coraline couldn’t possibly stay unless she did, too, which she didn’t.

The Other Wybie then realized it. Coraline will get buttons for eyes soon enough. That must what the Other Mother was setting up.

But that didn’t seem like a big deal to him, because he could imagine no pain from it. Besides, he had buttons for eyes himself and it didn’t hurt. In fact, he never remembered a time without them. Then again, it probably wouldn’t have been the same for Coraline…

It was like with the tail of a cat. For a human, who had no tail, one felt no discomfort for the lack of one. They’d be used to it, of course. But for a cat, who always have had its tail, it would be painful to have it cut off and lost.

The Other Wybie realized that it would be terrible torture for Coraline to be without her natural eyes.

But sewing buttons into her eyes was the only way she could stay.

And the Other Wybie liked her company. He would have loved to enjoy shows and explore and hang out with her everyday. He would have loved for her to stay and be his friend.

But was doing any harm to her worth it?

These thoughts haunted his mind, and he feared for Coraline’s fate. He felt torn between what to do…was it really the Other Mother’s intent? To hurt Coraline? Or was it going to be like a little operation? A minor operation, for what’s best?
He didn’t know.

When Coraline looked at him, he suddenly remembered to smile and quickly grinned again. But the grin was like a lie.

When walking back to the upstairs to the flat, he heard Coraline talking and laughing and listened politely to every word. She enjoys it here. He yearned to reply just once. But all he could do was smile and nod. That was all he could do the whole time.

The Other Wybie also wanted to warn her. To secretly warn her to flee from the place before it was too late. He had decided that there were things more important than his feelings, more important than his desire to hang out with her.

But, of course, he couldn’t. Behind that contrived smile, his thoughts were screaming in his head. You can’t let this happen! You can’t let the beldam do this to her! But he was supposed to obey the beldam, no matter what.

As he watched an excited Coraline enter the house again, he just stood outside. At last, he let go of his smile and gave a sad look down to the ground. Coraline was no longer looking. She had thought he was happy. He used to think so, too. But now he felt depressed…what would become of Coraline? Would she the same after this little change?

The Other Mother looked out the door at him and reminded him to smile. But he couldn’t obey her now…he didn’t like pulling off a fake smile the whole way through. The Other Mother then just shut the door.

He still peeked to see how Coraline would react to those black buttons, spool of thread, and needle, waiting for her.

His button eyes couldn’t squint through the cracks. The cracks were little flaws of the house that were practically invisible to Coraline through her real eyes.
He could at least eavesdrop to her reaction.

He heard some mumbles and murmurs, and soft talking. Then, he heard Coraline’s voice shout, straight and shocked, “No way!!! You’re not sewing buttons into my eyes!!”

“Oh, but we need a yes, if you want to stay here,” the Other Mother said.

“They’re so sharp you won’t even feel it,” the Other Father commented.

Coraline didn’t sound convinced that it was worth it. Even after all the fun she had. The Other Wybie listened intently, wondering what she would decide.

She sounded scared now. Really panicky.

“I’m gonna go to bed now…” Coraline said. “I’ve got a lot to sleep on…”

“Do you want me to tuck you in?” the Other Mother offered sweetly.

“No!” Coraline mumbled a few quick excuses about how she was fine.

“Don’t worry. Soon you’ll see things our way…” the Other Mother said.

The Other Wybie heard her rush to her bedroom. She probably hoped to return home by sleeping.

The Other Wybie hoped that it would work. As much as he liked her enough to want her to stay, as much as he didn’t want her to leave, he also didn’t want her to be so frightened. He wished there was something he could do to help prevent any harm coming to her. And if it meant he wouldn’t ever see her again, so be it.

That night, the Other Mother found him and warned him, “Don’t get any ideas. And keep that smile.”

He didn’t feel like smiling. The Other Mother frowned. “How dare you disobey me.” She snatched him and took him to her secret workshop. “I’ll sew on a smile if I have to!”

And so she did. And it wasn’t even a nice smile.

“Don’t you even think about it!” she yelled as she locked him up in the workshop.

The Other Wybie knew what “it” meant. He was absolutely forbidden to have contact with Coraline, to save her, until she got the buttons sewn in.

The next morning, the door was easily unlocked. By this time, he had heard so many horrible things…screams of Coraline and shrieks of the Other Mother.

He had made his decision. He would help Coraline run away. Even if it meant serious consequences. Even if it meant his heroism and bravery could not be rewarded…or even remembered. Even though he was made to follow the beldam’s orders…he was not going to let her go through any more.

He masked his face so that Coraline couldn’t see what the Other Mother had done to him. He didn’t want to scare her. He even scared himself when he saw his reflection in the mirror.

By the time he discovered she was trapped behind the Other Mother’s mirror, he reached in and heard Coraline’s short gasp of fright as he pulled her out.

At first, she knocked him against the wall in self-defense, and at the same time trying to yank his hands off of her. He would have yelped in pain if he could. Still, he held fast, until they fell to the floor.

“Wybie?” Coraline gasped when she realized who it was. She looked extremely shocked. She removed the pins at the end of his fake smile, and the stitches disappeared. He let his smile go to a worried frown.

“Did she do this to you?” Coraline asked. But of course, Coraline already knew the answer. Quickly, Wybie took her by the hand and led her to the portal door. It was her chance to escape.

“Let’s go,” Coraline said. But the Other Wybie shook his head no. Only she could go through.

“Come on! She’ll hurt you again!” Coraline said worriedly.

The Other Wybie knew this question would come up. He longed to gain a voice again, to at least say goodbye. He also yearned to go with Coraline to the real world. But only the real Wybie could exist there. The Other Wybie didn’t belong there. He didn’t belong anywhere in fact. He didn’t deserve to exist.

He shook his head, the only answer he could provide. He could at least show her that he wouldn’t be hurt. That she didn’t need to worry. He pulled off his glove, took in a deep breath and blew on his fragile hand, watching as it disappeared so easily to sawdust. It didn’t hurt. He felt nothing. It was better than waiting for the beldam to find him and do unspeakable things to him.

He wanted to disappear, anyway. If his only reason for existence was for trickery, if he was never supposed to be someone on his own, what good did it do for him to remain living?

He had heard of people who were mute still having communication by really expressive eyes. But he didn’t even have that. His eyes were just solid, black buttons that stared. He wished he could be real, like Coraline. To have an original identity, to have a life.

Coraline, I would never ever want to help the beldam hurt you, he thought, wanting so badly for Coraline to read his mind. Goodbye. He willed the thoughts to her, though he knew it couldn’t work anyway.

The beldam was coming, so she had to hurry. She kept looking at him sadly. Go! He pushed her through and shut the door as she ran the rest of the way. He wished he could do more, thinking wistfully as she departed. They were going separate ways, now. Other ways.

When Coraline left, he missed her already. If he had real eyes instead of buttons, he would have cried. But there were things more important than his feelings. Things like her safety.

The beldam arrived, furious. “I’ll deal with you later!” she yelled, throwing him aside as she screamed for Coraline to come back.

The Other Wybie had done something right. That was all he needed. And now, he chose, was his time to go. He would rather die his own way than wait to see what the beldam would do. Realizing that he couldn’t blow every part of him, he sneaked away from the distracted beldam, quickly climbed up and hung himself, awaiting the wind to do the job.

It was suicide, yes. But it wasn’t that he encouraged anyone else to do the same. He wished he could shout out last words, and that people in the world Coraline came from would hear them. He wished for people to hear him say, “Don’t practice suicide if you have a true identity, unlike myself. I deserve to die because I am just a useless copy. But you people who take your own lives, freedom, and identity for granted should be grateful.”

But no one could ever hear his message.

And besides, the wind was building up, and he wouldn’t have had enough time to say that even if he tried.

This must be how The Little Mermaid from that novel felt, he thought. Alone, abandoned, and fading.

The next cold breeze came and he vanished a little more. Then, he found that he could talk again. He could whisper his last words. And he had to choose swiftly what they would be, before he was totally gone. He cried out, though he knew he would receive no reply, “Farewell and good luck, Coraline!”

There were other ways things could happen. He wished for when the next breeze came, for his particles to form something else, something more useful and more free.

But what good were his wishes, anyway?

At least Coraline was safe from danger for now. That was all that mattered.

He heard the beldam coming, searching for him, her voice raging. If she found him, it would be worse than death.

But the wind was coming. He couldn’t help but smile, very little, but at least this time he meant it. There was nothing the beldam could do to him, now. Or to Coraline, he hoped.

Then the next breeze came. Soon enough, the Other Wybie was gone.

But what he had done was to not to be forgotten by Coraline.

This is really good. Why won’t anyone come?! I wish I’ve seen Coraline, it would make so much more sense! Rock on!

I read this a while ago but couldn’t get a review in my mind until this morning.

Review-4/5

I thought that you really did a good job doing the behind the scenes emotions and taking the reader through another characters “coals” .

I really got into the story and even though i haven’t seen Caroline i can honestly say that you made the story interesting.

Great job!

Thanks, soue1313 and Al-Bob! (Although I’m glad to have reviewers, just wondering, what are you guys doing reading a fanfiction of a movie you haven’t yet seen?) Still, I’m glad you like it. It’s up somewhere on fanfiction.net now.

I just watched another beloved Disney Classic, and realized that Stitch was not only downright adorable, but the movie actually almost made me cry! I don’t remember it being tearjerking, but when I saw it, while some parts were hilarious, other parts were very touching. The title’s not that creative because I can’t think of anything right now…

EDIT: Changed title. I was thinking of this song called “On the Outside Looking In” which really fits one of the themes of Lilo and Stitch.

Lost On the Outside Looking In

“You know, I really thought they had a chance. Then you came along.” Sighing, David walked away from Stitch.

Those words struck Stitch’s heart. Had he done something wrong? Yes, it was true, he had.

When he had first met Lilo, he played along as a little doggy. But he was using Lilo as protection from the alien government. Using her as a shield against his capture.

But now, he felt like he was almost part of their family. They accepted him. He hadn’t noticed it before, but now he realized that Lilo was the only one who helped him realize he was more than destruction. He had actually survived without thinking about the urge to destroy cities…she showed him how to play music, how to dance, how to play, how to surf. If it hadn’t been for her and Nani and David, Stitch wouldn’t have ever faced his fear of water.

And what exactly had he done in return? Nothing. In fact, he realized that it was all his fault that this broken little family became even more depressed.

It was his fault Nani lost her job.

Therefore his fault Nani couldn’t be the official guardian of Lilo unless she got another job within three days.

And he ruined all her chances for getting a job.

And now, it was his fault Nani couldn’t take care of Lilo.

His fault this broken family had to split apart even more.

His fault Lilo was leaving.

He remembered what Lilo told him. “I’ll bet Elvis had his bad days, too.”

But Elvis was never an illegal alien experiment that was as lost and confused as he.

Walking home, following behind Lilo and Nani, Stitch felt really really sorry but said nothing. On the steps, he saw a white waterfowl blinking at him. The animal was followed by little baby ones and they all walked away from him together.

Stitch found them very familiar.

Yes, he got it! They were the same creatures from that book Lilo showed him: The Ugly Duckling.

Which made Stitch even sadder.

The Ugly Duckling was lost, too. Unwanted. Just like he was.

But the Ugly Duckling got a happy ending.

While Stitch felt anything but happy.

Stitch sadly peered at Lilo and Nani sitting together on a Hawaiian hammock. They were talking slowly and hugging and silently sobbing.

For it was their last night together.

And it’s all my fault, Stitch thought.

Tomorrow, the social worker will come, to pick Lilo up and take her away from Nani forever.

It’s all because of me, Stitch wept in his mind.

Then he heard Nani sing perhaps the most beautiful song he’s ever heard.
And the saddest, though simplest.

"Aloha oe…aloha oe…
E ke onaona noho i ka lipo…
One fond embrace…a ho’i a e au…
Until we meet again…

Stitch watched the blossoms they were holding drift away in the breeze, symbolizing separation. The little alien looked up sadly at the two sisters, the broken family.

And he departed to the room he shared with Lilo, feeling very guilty.

He pulled out the picture Lilo had yelled at him before not to ever touch.

And he realized why she hid this.

It was a picture of her family- her whole family. Lilo had not wanted Stitch to destroy what she had left of her lost family. But where were these people now?

“That’s us before,” said a sad voice. Stitch turned and saw that Lilo was in the room now. “It was rainy, and they just went for a drive. What happened to yours?”

Stitch was too shy to answer. Also too full of heavy emotions. He didn’t have any family to begin with. He was just an experiment brought to life in an alien science lab. Just a miniature monster.

“I hear you cry at night,” Lilo continued. “Did you dream about them?”

Stitch was surprised to hear this. He? Cry? He was capable of crying? And was he capable also of dreaming? He didn’t know. He didn’t remember. What could it be that he was crying about at night? He looked away from Lilo shamefully to think about it.

“I know that’s why you wreck things…and push me…” Lilo went on.

Stitch was still speechless. He couldn’t tell her why he wrecked things. He wrecked things because he was dangerous. Not because of taking things out on someone. But if that’s what Lilo wanted to believe, he was okay with that.

Lilo was feeling sorry for him. It made Stitch feel worse.

“Our family’s little now,” Lilo said as she got in bed. “And we have very few toys. But if you want, you could be a part of it.”

Stitch took out his favorite book out of his dog bed. The Ugly Duckling.

“Ohana means family,” said Lilo. “Family means nobody gets left behind. But if you want to leave,” she added uneasily. “You can.”

Stitch glanced at her, feeling the pains of holding back tears, hugging The Ugly Duckling. He hesitated. He thought it was best to leave. If he stayed, who knows how much worse he could make things get? Then he turned, and left out of the window.

“I’ll remember you, though,” Lilo whispered softly. “I remember everyone that leaves.”

Stitch didn’t flee far. He went into a little woodland area, and stopped to look at the book he brought.

He turned to the page he just loved to look at. The one where he could relate so much to the Ugly Duckling.

The page where the Ugly Duckling was lost, alone, and abandoned.

And the next page, the happy ending. Stitch glanced at that page. No, the happy ending part wasn’t real. He stared at the poor little Ugly Duckling on the other page again.

Why, the Ugly Duckling was definitely not ugly at all! Who could ever reject such an innocent, adorable little thing, helpless and lost?

For the same reason bullies reject Lilo as a friend, and for the same reason everyone hated Stitch and blamed Stitch.

Stitch read the words on the page out loud…

“L-L-Lost…”

And he knew that was exactly what he was. He was just like the Ugly Duckling, only he had no family to find him and he had caused misery to the closest things he had as a family.

“I’m lost…”

bright dot-dasher, this is truly a touching piece of work. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen this movie, but you made me relate to the characters as if I’ve known them all my life. I loved how you went into Stitch’s thoughts; I’m not sure I’ve ever read something like that before. Your writing in itself is a refreshing read; the sentence structures are just right, and the use of grammar is excellent. (If I read through a story in which the grammar is the slightest bit off, I have a hard time actually enjoying it.) I read through the Coraline one as well, but I had a hard time getting into it because I’ve never seen the movie.

Your writing style is so fresh and vibrant; I like that! It draws the reader in from the first sentence and gently pulls them through the entire piece. At least, that’s how I feel when I read your stuff.

Like I think I already said, this story really, really touched me; just about moving me to tears as you did when watching the movie all over again. Man, now you made me want to watch it again…! I don’t think I have the DVD anymore…

Keep up the great writing, BDD. Sometimes it’s really good to read something non-Pixar for a change - and something that actually grabs my attention and makes sense to me, for that matter. Consider this a great compliment!

little chef

Why, thank you very much (mahalo plenty), little_chef_eva! I am very glad to read in your honest review that you enjoyed it.

NOTE: OK, so I’ve been taking a break from doing any fanwork for Pixar (doesn’t mean I stopped loving Pixar though). I mean, heck, I didn’t update Finding Nemo’s Sister in about half a year already! Sorry about that!

Anyway, this short fanfic is just a sort of drabble. It’s not exactly a story, just thoughts and perspective from a character point of view. And it’s written to be more like a mental journal, like, your thoughts just kinda go on and on without really knowing when to stop.

EDIT: Huh. It turned out it was a type of poetry.

And I don’t know what is with me and writing stories about how I feel sorry for a character? I’ve got to come up with a more light-hearted one soon.

Anyway, hope you like it! This is for The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride. I don’t think the Outsiders are that evil. Yeah, they wanted to kill Simba, whom we all love, but if you think about it, so would you if Simba treated you like dirt.

Sorry it’s not that good!

An Outsiders Journal: Vitani

[i] I see it.

The Pridelands.

It’s so grand I see it out here

Despite the dust

That heavily roams like fog

As I see it, I bare my teeth

I mutter a curse at the ones there

Then I turn around

Because my home is here, in the wasteland.

While they feast on fine prizes, a buffet of delicious meat fresh hunted,
We must hunt desperately each day, hoping for some little field mice
Fighting for the leftovers, let’s hope the bugs haven’t devoured it yet

Tugging at the roots, to try my strength, I catch a glimpse of the Pridelands again.

And I growl and hate them

For they banished us here

While they drink out of the clean water in the beautiful water hole,
We must search for the little water to save in a weekly drought, and cannot take any for granted.

My throat is parched with thirst.

I hate them

The Pridelanders

Outsiders, are we?

Have they ever noticed how this place rots like heck?
How if we have lived all our lives here, the only colors we would’ve known would’ve been black, gray, and dirt-brown?
How we feel like we would die any night?

As I trudge into the creepy den, into my room for bedtime, I have to find a “comfortable” position.
The ground is so hard and rough, and it never keeps still
There may be bugs crawling all over.
Termites everywhere.

And as I shut my eyes, I pray that
They will pay…the Pridelanders.

They seem so proud, as if nothing’s wrong with them.
So blind are their eyes, so cold are their hearts.

For as I struggle to sleep in this dungeon-style den,
They sleep in a high place, with a window to great views
They sleep in peace, having more than enough room
Never worrying about the darkness

I hate them.

I never met them, but I know well enough what they’ve done
And I must never forgive.

For they are the reason I must live this life
For it’s because of them that I feel better off dead

Luckily my mother has a plan…

And they will indeed pay.

That is the only thing I look forward to

Vengeance, sweet vengeance…[/i]

Such a refreshing read!!! I haven’t read any fanfiction of any kind over the past month or so, and this was the perfect thing to come back to!!! Oh where do I start…? First of all, this is so the type of stuff I like to write - getting into the minds of the “bad guys” is always so much more intriguing, and you kind of learn to feel a strange sympathy for them. No matter how horrible any of my original characters may be, I feel for every single one of them because I know what they go through on a daily basis. You seem to have captured this mentality perfectly.

The way it reads like a thought process makes it so natural, and my eyes could simply glide over the words without getting stuck on something. There’s something about reading out of a person’s mind that makes it all the more interesting. Plus your writing style is excellent (which I think I’ve already mentioned, but I’ll say it again! ), so it makes your little pieces an even better read!!

Augh, I could go on and on but I would probably make you fall out of your seat and drop dead if I did. Always remember this: never give up on your writing, because it is seriously filled to the brim with extreme talent, and I never want to see you give up on it! Never, ever give up! I love it so much!!! <3

little chef

Wow, not only are you a great sigs and avatars maker and budding video editor, but a talented writer as well!

I had to skip the Coraline fanfics because I haven’t watched the movie yet, but I just read Lost on the Outside Looking In yesterday, and it was beau-ti-ful! That part of the movie was the one that made me cry when I first watched it in theatres, and I just love your interpretation of that poignant sequence.

Grammar and spelling is perfect… I love the way how you separated Stitch’s train of thoughts by paragraphs. Your writing style feels very natural and gentle, yet knows when to pull emotional ‘punches’ when need be, if you get what I mean. Honestly, your prose feels heartfelt, and not really forced or ‘manufactured’ to elicit a response, so just keep that up.

For some reason, that sentence snapped me out of the melancholic mood and made me chuckle. Maybe if you said “a lie”, it would sound more dramatic.

But yes, this is very good. I love it! Didn’t make me tear like the movie did, but my heart felt like it was being ‘squeezed’. Keep up the awesome work!

little_chef_eva09 and thedriveintheatre: I can’t tell you how happy it makes me feel that you enjoy my stories. It’s feedback that encourages me to keep writing, so thank you! (I’ve always wanted to be an author, and I write fanfiction for practice.)

little_chef_eva09: You think An Outsider’s Journal’s style is nice as a thought process? That’s great! I’ve been worrying if it wasn’t that good, but to hear that it’s honestly a refreshing read makes me more than glad.

Thanks, except I don’t know how to make graphics. If you’re referring to the Classic Disney avatars I wear, I just find them off the internet. Still, thanks!

Ok, thanks for the suggestion. I edited it to say “wasn’t real”. Does that sound better?

Oh, and yeah, I remember being that part of the movie bringing tears to my eyes, too. Once again, glad you liked it!

Okay, recently, out of boredom, I started writing a little funny fanfic about Rhino (from Bolt)'s obsession with TV. As you may or may not know, I am on this quest to indulge in as many Disney Classics as possible. I’ve become more and more obsessed with Disney that I was inspired to have Rhino go crazy about it as well.

Once again, please tell me how you honestly feel about it. I don’t really know if it’s that good or worth continuing, because I do plan to continue it sometime, if it’s good. See, I kinda fooled around on this fanfic.

Rhino’s Movie Craze

“I can’t believe he can last that long without so much as resting his eyes!” Mittens whispered.

Rhino had been attentively absorbed in the T.V. screen for 5 hours straight, even through the annoying commercial breaks.

“Rhino, have you been on just Disney Channel for 5 hours?” asked Bolt in
disbelief.

“5 hours and 12 minutes of teenage comedy!” Rhino shouted. “A few reruns, some jokes I don’t get, and what is with young humans and always making it so dramatic about a crush then the next episode they forget about it? But I didn’t have the heart to change the channel. The superdog-” at this, he turned to face Bolt, the first time he’s taken his eyes off the screen in a while, perhaps-“is no longer on T.V. So I thought I would settle on Disney Channel for something else decent, because who doesn’t love Disney, right? I’ve learned and memorized at least a dozen songs today. Wanna hear one? You get the be—e-e-e-st of both worlds-!”

“No!” shouted Mittens. “I’ve heard you sing in your sleep. I told you before. I’m not a fan of it.”

“You’re not a fan of Disney?” gasped Rhino dramatically. “How could you! What monstrosity is this?!”

“No, I’m not a fan of your singing!” Mittens retorted.

Rhino stepped back. “No need to yell.”

Mittens rolled her eyes and hopped up on the couch. She took just one glance at the Disney Channel shows and grumbled, “Rhino, I was annoyed with you when you were all fanatic about Bolt over here, though I could live with it. But
this isn’t really worth watching.”

“How can you say that?” snapped Rhino. “You never gave it a chance.”

“I’ve heard the reruns over and over. I practically know all their lines against my will. Can’t you watch something else for a change? I’m surprised Penny hasn’t stopped you yet.”

“Yeah, the jokes do wear off the second time around,” Rhino admitted. “But come on, this is DISNEY Channel. I have faith in Disney. Sooner or later it’ll get better. I mean, I would never ever give up on Disney. Ever!”

Bolt finally came closer and stared at the screen.

“You know, it might be a good idea to have a movie night at home. The whole family, including us, settling down to watch a nice film. Know anything on, tonight, Mr. the-TV-guide’s-my-favorite-book?” The dog’s eyes shifted to the round fanatic hamster.

“Um, there’s High School Musical. Wasn’t that an awesome movie? I mean, the songs were so cool!”

“Don’t even start!” exclaimed Mittens with a hiss. “Don’t sing.”

“Yeah, it was pretty good the first time. Then there was the second time. And the third, and the fourth…and the dance-along/sing-along wasn’t that much of a big deal…and the rerun with the double feature…then the original again…” Bolt mumbled.

“Ok, ok, fine. So you guys don’t like Disney? Fine! I’ll just stay right here and wait for the awesomeness you’ll miss,” said Rhino.

“High School Musical isn’t the only Disney there is, FYI, Rhino,” Mittens informed as-a-matter-of-factly. “Disney’s a huge range of all sorts of movies, games, parks, shows, etc, etc. Who can say we don’t like Disney just because we’re tired of you going all crazy about High School Musical weekly marathons?”

“There’s also Jonas Brothers’ concert,” added Rhino.

“Do you even know anything about Disney besides that?” Mittens questioned.

Rhino inquired, with as much enthusiasm as Simba had in The Lion King about being king, “There’s more? Lemme guess, lemme guess…Bolt’s gonna join, right? I mean, he’s a super legend! He’s got to join! That’s a big surprise you’ve been keeping from me, right?”

“Um…” began Bolt. Then he shook his head and turned to Mittens. “I don’t know much about Disney, either. It doesn’t look like much from where I’m standing, though.” He nodded his head toward the television screen.

Mittens sighed. “I pity you guys. I may not be a movie geek like Rhino over here, but I at least know good entertainment when I see it. The thing is-”

“Hey!” Rhino jumped up. “Are you hinting that Bolt’s not good entertainment? You savage! You’re just jealous of him…”

Mittens gave him a look that made him shrink back.

“See, back when I lived with another human, their kid was growing up with
Disney movies. And I know them quite well, too. I’ve gotten Disney character toys and even yarn with Mickey Mouse’s face printed on it, for goodness sakes! And this is how well I know them. When Rhino yelled ‘Savage!’ for example…”

“Sorry, got carried away,” interjected Rhino quickly.

“…I thought of Pocahontas. There was this intense song towards the end entitled Savages, I think. If only we did have that movie night you suggested, Bolt, we could see that and I’ll show you the real good stuff from Disney.”

“Is it anything like Hannah Montana?” Rhino asked excitedly.

Mittens didn’t answer, but gave a look that said “No comment.”

Rhino thought, I can’t wait to see this other side of Disney…hmm…the other side, the other side, the other side of meeee….

He sang in his thoughts instead of watching television after the conversation.

---

By some coincidence, Penny suggested that they do a family movie night.
Bolt’s ears perked up in excitement.

Mittens thought, I wonder if that girl can communicate with that dog
telepathically.

Penny noticed the worn-out hamster lying on the table in front of the television, snoozing.

She laughed. “Hey, Rhino. You couldn’t turn off the television, could you? Do yourself a favor and don’t get too attached. I know what shows you’re watching, and no little hamster should be caught watching those. It does stuff to ya. Bad enough we got kindergarteners trying to act ‘cool’ and date early, but not you, too, okay?”

She was half-joking, mused Mittens.

“So, how do you guys feel about watching a Disney movie tonight?” Penny announced.

Bolt’s tail wagged in anticipation. Mittens meowed her approval. Rhino immediately awoke from his slumber and said, “Did somebody say Disney? Movie? Oh, boy, we’re watching High School Musical!”

Her parents were out for the night. They had rented a movie for Penny to be kept entertained while they left.

Penny untied the plastic bag and took out a DVD case. Rhino peeked at the cover, but Penny opened it so fast and popped the DVD in the DVD player connected to the television that he didn’t get a chance to see what it was, try as he might when Penny put the case back in the bag.

A Disney logo flashed on the screen.

“Bolt, are you okay with watching this instead of more recorded episodes of your old TV show?” Penny asked.

Bolt didn’t seem to mind. He really didn’t. He had always wondered what other movies there were. He sure hoped these Disney movies were better than Disney Channel.

Penny, for some reason, didn’t skip any of the previews. She probably wanted to see what other movies were by Disney. She took out a note and scribbled down a list of Disney movies to see.

At last, the movie came up.

And, by another coincidence, it was Pocahontas.

Penny explained to her pets, “My parents thought it’s good because of the real-life history in it.”

Rhino had low expectations at first. He didn’t know much about history, and wondered if this was more like a school review than a movie. And, since he had never been to school, he wondered what he was supposed to make of it.

But after a while, his boredom evolved to wonder. He was absolutely blown away by everything afterwards. Sometimes, a little too much into it.

“Ahhh! Let me at ‘em, let me at ‘em! I’m gonna tear those guys apart! How dare they dig up all the land and cut down all the trees! It’s not even their land!” He ran up face-to-face with the screen. “I’m your worst nightmare! You’re gonna wish you’ve never been born!” he screeched when Ratcliffe and his men appeared.

Penny laughed, “Rhino, get away from there. Not too close. Aren’t you cute…”

Mittens grumbled under her breath, “You only think that because you’re lucky enough not to know what he’s saying. For a rodent, he sure has a loud voice, at least for me.”

Bolt silently agreed. Penny was lucky she couldn’t hear much of Rhino. Here he was, watching his very first Disney Classic movie, and Rhino had to ruin it with his over-enthusiasm and occasional approaching the screen.

Rhino laughed hysterically for about five minutes after every part with Meeko in it.

Everyone else laughed, too, but for the animals, Rhino distracted too much.

“Well, at least he’s enjoying it,” Bolt whispered to Mittens.

Rhino wouldn’t stop singing along, sometimes off-key, by following the captions provided.

For Penny, she found it adorable that Rhino was squeaking in tune.

For Bolt and Mittens, they found it ultimately irritating, because their hearing was sharper, and they knew it was not in tune at all.

“He’s ruining my favorite song in the movie,” complained Mittens. She and Bolt tried to ignore Rhino, and secretly forgive him. It was hard to get into the movie with Rhino’s semi- commentary.

“Lucky Penny,” muttered Bolt under his breath. Then he couldn’t help but smile at his own little joke.

During the scenes when John and Pocahontas were together, Rhino seemed to think of himself as the laugh track that you hear on TV show comedies. He went like, “Awww…ooooh….hahahahaha!” too loudly.

“One of these days, I’m gonna pounce on him,” Mittens mumbled. “I may not
eat him, but I swear I’ll use him for prey practice the next chance I get…”

Penny didn’t mind Rhino at all. She was both lucky and clueless.

Bolt and Mittens, however, finally adjusted to this, and finally were able to watch the movie and block out Rhino’s nonstop comments towards the end.
During the “Savages” song sequence, Rhino finally shut up. He was probably speechless at the darkness and intensity of the lyrics.

And finally, Bolt and Mittens could enjoy it as well as Penny did.

It was nice while it lasted.

Rhino was babbling about how awesome the song was, or rather, how be-awesome it was, after it ended.

Though there were captions, it didn’t have the same effect as the voices of the characters in the movie. Bolt never could hear whatever speech Pocahontas had. And he desperately wanted to. It must’ve been good, since it stopped all the fighting. Or most of it anyway. He was shocked when Ratcliffe shot John Smith.

Rhino just about cried hysterically when Pocahontas waved goodbye to John Smith.

“That’s it?” he cried. Then he brightened up. “Oh, you’re right, Mittens, the movie is so ROCKIN’ AWESOME! And it’s based on a true story, apparently. How cool is that? It’s beyond rockin’ awesome- it’s be-rockin’ awesome! Rockin’ be-awesome!”

The hyper hamster rolled off in his ball singing songs from the movie. It being his first time watching it, he couldn’t remember some lyrics. He skipped some, hummed some, and replaced some lyrics.

“…for glory, God, and gold, and the Virgin-yeah company-eeee! One thing I like about rivers is you can’t slip in the tame river’s heights, they’re always…uh, something…but people I guess can’t be like that, we all must something about rice, and we give up without ever showing, what’s around the riverbend, just around the riverbend…I look once more, just around the riverbend, beyond war somewhere past the trees, somethin’, somethin’ somethin’…oh, just around the riverbend…….you think you own whatever land you land on, the earth is full of dead things all the same, but I know every rock and tree and bleacher has a life, has school spirit, has nicknames…the rainstorm and the river are my brothers, the hair and the helicopters are my friends, and you have to paint with all the colors of the mountain, and sing with all the voices of the wind…oh, savages, savages! Barely even human! Savages, savages, they’re not like us, so they must be evil, so we have to have war!! Oh, how I love it! Heynonnynonnyheynonnynonny….dig dig dig diggety dig, mine~ Mine! Mine! ….Oh, if I never knew you, if I never felt this love, then I would not know a stinking thing of- oh, wait that’s not it, oh well- how precious liiiife can beeeee!!!”

Mittens growled. “And I thought it would’ve been a great time, and a good thing. Just when you think that little hi-bounce ball with fur couldn’t get any more annoying…”

“Well, maybe he’ll calm down a bit and we could watch it again some other time,” Bolt suggested, trying to be positive.

“Oh, come on, admit it, you hated it, too,” Mittens snapped.

Bolt looked shocked. “I couldn’t hate it. It did look like a really great movie. The savages song was really good. Not that I agree with what they said, but…”

“No, not the movie! The way Rhino acted! He ruined the movie for us. The only one who wasn’t disappointed was Penny, lucky thing. And Rhino himself, I suppose.”

“Oh. Yeah, I know,” Bolt agreed. “But we can’t leave him out next time. He’s attracted to movies like a magnet to metal. I wouldn’t be surprised if he decided to marry the TV! On the bright side, he likes this Classic more than Disney Channel.”

“Ugh, but he’s going to make me hate Disney for making him act like that,” sighed Mittens. “I never thought I could hate Disney. But if I’m watching it with Fuzzy TV Frenzy over there, it ruins everything.”

“Hey, so what do you think of the movie? Pretty amazing, huh?” smiled Penny. “Guess what? The video rental place we go to is having this great deal. We can rent more Classic Disney stuff. Aren’t you excited? So, next week, who’s up for The Lion King?”

“Oh, no, I don’t think I can live with Rhino singing Hakuna Matata through all of my nine lives, much less during the movie!” Mittens panicked.

“Hakuna Matata?” Bolt repeated questioningly.

“Oh, they’ll explain it to you in the movie,” said Mittens. “Let’s hope Rhino doesn’t ruin this one, too. It’s a fantastic story! I recommended Classic Disney because it’s good, but I didn’t expect Rhino to go head-over-heels for it so quickly!”

“Maybe he’ll stop watching 4 hours straight of Disney Channel,” said Bolt, pointing out the positive.

“It was 5 hours,” said Mittens.

“And 12 minutes!” shouted the hamster from a distance.

I liked the Rhino ‘Movie Craze’ story! The most interesting stories, I believe, are those that come across clearly with the author’s stand or message on a certain issue. In your case, it seems to be an argument for Disney to return to its ‘entertainment-for-the-whole-family’ roots instead of pandering to the pre-teen crowd.

Personally, I’m also quite tired and disenchanted with all the teeny-bopper flicks that Disney is churning out nowadays (like Hannah Montana The Movie, Band Slam, Jonas Bros, High School Musical series). Although I don’t hate them with a vengeance as some more unforgiving movie critics do, I am disappointed they lack the courage to take storytelling risks and cater to a wider audience than just the adolescent market. What happened to all those epic adventures, sweeping romances, the classic ‘hero’s journey’ of old Disney classics of yore? All replaced by crass commercialised tripe that preach the old “Believe in Yourself” or “Be Yourself” or “Let’s All Get Along” morality messages starring questionable role models.

Okay, end of diatribe. What I did like about your fanfic? Well, I liked how you kept the personalities of the characters from the movie. Rhino being his usual excited fanboy self, Mittens the cynic, Bolt the peacekeeper, and Penny taking care of all her ‘brood’. I liked Rhino’s ‘change of heart’ from liking Disney Channel shows to admiring the Disney classics. His pastiche of the songs after watching the film was funny, as was his last line correcting Bolt and Mittens of the amount of TV he watches.

Things I didn’t like so much was that Rhino’s overreactions started to get grating after a while, but I guess that’s the point. I know how Mittens feels (although I’m guilty of heckling and running commentaries when I watch films with my siblings sometimes ).

Regarding Pocahantas as the movie choice, it’s one of my favourite films and one I remembered watching in cinemas along with Toy Story as a kid. I remembered when I first saw it, I couldn’t believe that was the ending. I asked my parents and when they confirmed it, I cried! It was so sad! Of course, Disney ruined it with a mediocre sequel, but I liked the first movie for its message of acceptance and environmental conservation. After recently watching it again last year on Singapore Free-To-Air, I fell in love with the love theme “If I Never Met You”, which I thought they shoulda left in the movie! That aside, I don’t think it was quite as well-received as other Disney classics, but I think it deserves more credit.

If you’re planning this as a series where you recount the Bolt gang’s reactions to other Disney classics (since you hinted at The Lion King as the next film), I’m interested!

TDIT: Sorry for it being belated, but thank you, thank you very much! Glad you enjoyed it! I had fun writing it. And oh, don’t get me started on Disney Channel. Disney’s about appealing to family, not teens! What a plague it is now, very dry and in need of a serious turnaround. Not that I hate every teenager who acts on there. It’s nothing personal, I watch it once in a while, but it’s the fact that they’re TAKING OVER that gets me grinding my gears.

I share the same feelings with you about Pocahontas’s ending when I was a kid! Not the expected “happily ever after” chorus, that’s for sure. But still beautiful, I guess.

So, after SUCH A LONG TIME of writer’s block and being a bit lazy and forgetful, here’s the next part of Rhino’s Movie Craze!
I stayed longer writing this out in almost one sitting. Earlier, I had written drafts, but lost them. So I started from scratch, almost.

Oh, and two reasons that got me back into this again was:
I had this friend who said he hated The Lion King because it was boring. And then, just recently, another friend I have made him watch it, and then the next time I saw that guy, he geeked out that he LOVED that movie now. Wish I was there to see his reactions to the movie and change of heart.
Aaaand another thing was announced on that same night. Turns out one of the Disney animators who worked on The Lion King is coming over to our church! I’m so excited!

So, anyway, this chapter is longer because I rather like The Lion King more. And here it is!!

Rhino was in the living room again, watching the music videos of songs from High School Musical translated around the world. It was one of those specials on TV.

He danced and grooved to every language. He knew the tunes by heart. The hyper hamster was practically partying over it. The music was danceable and catchy. After all, how many modern movies were musicals?

Mittens came in and admitted that it was a bit original. “But,” she said, “I wish they would put just as much energy and emphasis on their other stuff. Look at this- around the world translations of pop or hip hop songs. That’s pretty big. But Disney made movies for classics around the world, you know that? I’d like an around-the-world appreciation day using that, too.”

“Hm,” said Rhino, not really listening as he tried to follow the dance steps and memorize them at third try. “That’s cool.”

“Hey, that’s pretty neat,” said Bolt, coming in with his favorite toy Mr. Carrot.

“It’s nice to know one of you is listening,” said Mittens, lounging on a pillow.

“Huh what?” said Bolt. Then he turned his head toward the screen. “They have those songs in different languages, too?” His tail wagged against the floor, tapping to the beat.

“Yup!” Rhino grinned. “Sounds cool, don’t it?”

Later on, Rhino settled down to watch a special commercial of the Jonas Brothers. And a music video.

“Aren’t they soooo awesome!” Rhino exclaimed, bouncing as he said it. What he said was not a question to be answered.

“Well they’ve got talent,” Bolt said. “Not that many bands are solely brothers, right?”

“Yeah, they’re an interesting team,” Mittens said.

“And they write their own songs based off experiences,” Rhino added.

“Ok, that’s cool, too,” Mittens agreed. “Pretty cool.”

Then an “I Heart Jonas” commercial came up.

“ARE YOU SERIOUS!” Mittens snapped at the screen.

“What? They’re just granting wishes of fans,” Rhino said defensively. “ I know how that feels.”

“You love the Jonas Brothers?” Mittens said, appalled. “Not as in love their music, but as in you’re in love with them? Cuz that thing over there was about a Valentines Day thing- ring a bell?”

“No, silly! I worshipped Bolt,” Rhino said.

“Oh. Ok granted, people can be big fans of something. But is that a reason to be obsessed and fall in love with them just for what you see them perform? Much less advertising that kind of behavior. And selling it?! I mean, what are the world’s children going to come to?!”

“Calm down, Mittens,” Bolt said to the raging cat. “You’re scratching up the softest pillow.”

“Oh, sorry,” Mittens said, retracting claws.

“So you feel pretty strong about this,” Bolt said.

“Yeah, I guess,” Mittens confessed. “It’s not the Disney I saw earlier…ok I’m cooled.”

“Hey guys,” Penny said with an ecstatic smile on her face. “Ready for The Lion King?”

Rhino was excited about this one. Pocahontas had been breathtaking last week, even more (though he wouldn’t admit it) impressive than HSM.

The screen was black.

Then a Disney logo, a soft light orange, appeared and faded like it was in the dark and a candle was near it and then left. Soft animal sounds were in the background.

Rhino wondered when something would pounce right in. It was usually quiet right before something struck out of nowhere.

Walt Disney Pictures….the words appeared small and humble as they faded as quickly as they came in. Rhino could have sworn it was like a breath….

All of a sudden, a loud and clear voice cut through the mysterious peace. Rhino jumped up at the sound of that bold singing voice, and the steady orange making its way through the dark. The sunrise. Hm, looks dramatic.
The orange shone light on more around it, and animals were looking up, and making their way to go somewhere. Rhino looked like he was puzzled, straining and twitching his ears.

“Rhino, what’s wrong?” Bolt asked, though his eyes were fixed on the beautiful beginning. Why wasn’t Rhino just mesmerized?

“It’s awesome, but I think it’d be more awesome if I KNEW WHAT THEY WERE SAYING!” he grumbled.

“It’s in Swahili, an African language,” said Mittens. “I don’t know what they’re saying, but just listen to it and watch-“

“WAIT I THOUGHT WE WERE WATCHING A MOVIE IN ENGLISH!” Rhino
interrupted.

Mittens shushed him and said, “It IS in English, just be quiet and wait for it! The beginning’s just so you know it’s in Africa.”

“Oh ok,” Rhino said. The moment he paid attention to the animals, the exotic variety of wild creatures approaching a grand Pride Rock, he exclaimed, “WOW! How’d they catch that on the magic box?”

“What do you mean, catch that? It’s animated, hand drawn,” Mittens hissed. “Would you please let us enjoy the movie?”

“But it is most definitely NOT hand drawn!” Rhino argued. “Look at it. It’s so smooth and lovely and awesome and amazing and- and too real to be- oh, it IS in English-“ he realized as he listened to the song- “And just look at it, it’s
NOT a cartoon. I’m not stupid!”

Penny looked down at the squeaking furball that defined hyperness and fury. She giggled. “Rhino calm down. You know, sometimes I worry…if the movie scares you or anything, you can go ahead and head on over to bed….”

“Bed, my butt! You’re kidding me….I’ll be quiet now,” Rhino said.

“That’d be a miracle,” Mittens whispered.

“Hey,” Rhino snarled.

But he looked at the screen just in time to see the baby lion cuddled in his mother’s arms. The purring and the eyes and….the innocence. It was only natural for Rhino to squeal:

“D’aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwww!” More high pitched as he stretched the reaction. “SO CUTE!”

Penny didn’t hear it. She was too busy thinking the same thing when that baby Simba came up. “Almost as cute as you, Bolt,” she grinned.

Bolt wasn’t in the mood to look up at her and smile, as he would’ve. He was too busy looking at that cute little infant, so tiny, so sweet, and his sneeze was adorable….

Mittens strained to ignore Rhino’s swallowed-helium-sounding gushing, and the baby Simba also won her heart already as she got past the annoying hamster.

And as he was lifted up, the crowd of animals burst into cheers and sounds of celebration, and they began bowing. It was a capturing, powerful moment that seized the audience.

Then BANG. The title hit the screen, bolder and more fearless than the logo at the very beginning. THE LION KING.

“Wa-wa-wait that’s it?!” yelped Rhino, thinking it was now going to head to end credits.

Then a mouse crawled out of the dark pure black screen, and into sunlight.
“Oh-ho look at that!” Rhino said. “Lemme guess, it’s gonna be like the lion
and the mouse story!”

A paw smacked the mouse down and picked it up. A brown, thin lion, with a black mane and a scar shown later appeared.

“Whut, you mean that adorable little baby cub turned into THAT?!” Rhino said skeptically. “Well there goes all my hope for this film.”

“No,” Mittens laughed at the thought. “Just don’t jump to conclusions, all right, and just enjoy the movie. Laugh when you need to, cry when you need to, but please no more commentary.”

Rhino didn’t listen. He was too busy shuddering at Scar about to eat the mouse.

Mittens saw this, and slyly whispered, “That’s me snatching you if you ruin this movie, too.”

Rhino didn’t know whether to respond, “If that’s you, then you’re kinda ugly” or “Hey, what do you mean ruin?” So he kept still.

“Oh now look, Zazu, you made me lose my lunch.”

There were a few chuckles.

A few moments later, Rhino cheered when Mufasa appeared, “Now that’s more like him!”

Later, as Mufasa and Scar were talking about the “Presentation of Simba”,
Rhino said aloud, “Ohhhh so this is still the same day?” Which would’ve been an okay comment if he hadn’t said it so loud like he was declaring “Eureka!” or something.

When Rhino saw the beautifully animated plains and trees and rain, his jaw dropped.

When he saw Simba, a bright, energetic, impatient, excited cub on the edge of Pride Rock, pouncing along, his heart leaped. Which was understandable.

[i]“Checking in with the morning report.”

“Fire away.”

“Chimps are going ape, giraffes remain above it all, elephants remember, though just what I can’t recall….”[/i]

When Zazu starting SINGING the Morning Report, Mittens’ eyes went wide.

“Wait, this wasn’t in the original- since when was there- Zazu doesn’t SING- this is-what in the world….” the confused cat said.

She was the only one who had problems with it. Penny and Bolt didn’t mind, because they thought it was rather cute and funny, and they didn’t know it wasn’t originally part of the movie.

Rhino, of course, liked it the most.

Oh, great, Mittens thought, there’s another song he’s gonna sing on and on.
“ON THE MOOOOOORRRRRRNIIIIIINNG REPORT!” Rhino howled melodically.

“Oh how cute,” Penny laughed.

Mittens was about to growl and roll her eyes again at this, when she realized Penny meant Simba, not Rhino.

“Oh, well….it’s okay, I guess,” the cat murmured. “It’s just not what I remember.”

Later, when Rhino saw Scar again, he scoffed. “Again, this guy? Wait a minute. He’s the UNCLE of this Simba?”

“You’d know if you paid attention,” Mittens growled.

When Scar mentioned the Elephant Graveyard, Rhino could already picture it now. Simba would kick dead elephant butt there! Elephant zombies, elephant skeletons…he figured it was like a haunted house but in the wild.

When Nala came up for the first time, Rhino was in puzzlement. “Is that his sister? Half sister?”

“What are you talking about?” said Bolt.

“There’s only one father…” Rhino said.

“Oh. Huh, I didn’t think…” Bolt whispered.

“Oh please don’t think about that right now!” Mittens said. “It’d ruin it for later.”

During the song I Just Can’t Wait to Be King, Rhino was back up on his bouncing feet.

Don’t hear Rhino, listen only to movie, don’t hear Rhino, listen only to movie…Mittens tried to will herself to do.

When Nala and Simba were wrestling, and Nala pinned Simba twice, Rhino was about to yell out that there should’ve been an instant replay when-

HIIIIISSSS

Rhino was silenced all over again as he saw they were in the Elephant Graveyard. He gaped at it.

“I wonder if its brains are still in there,” Nala mused to Simba in the movie.

Rhino was torn between saying “Yeah go on in and let the fight begin!” and “Don’t go in- I know something creepy’s gonna come, I just know it.”

“Danger, ha! I walk on the wild side. I laugh in the face of danger-HAHAHAHA!”

“That’s the spirit!” Rhino rooted. Now he was leaning more towards wanting Simba to go in so bad.

Then the laugh of the hyenas started echoing.

It was enough to make Bolt, who once faced very real-looking bad guys with dangerous electric hands and the green-eyed man, cower and cuddle closer to Penny.

Penny stroked his fur and Bolt calmed down a bit. Though his fur stood on end when the hyenas showed up.

What were hyenas doing there?

Rhino gasped in horror.

“FIGHT THEM! BITE THEM! KICK THEM IN THE BEHIND AND RUN!” the rodent screamed at the screen.

Bolt wanted to will Simba to be brave enough to protect Nala and Zazu and scare the hyenas off. It was obvious they didn’t respect their king- oh, future
king.

….Simba slapped the hyena, claws merciless, across Shenzi’s face to protect Nala. Then they kept running…

Rhino was on the edge of his seat, so to speak, and chanted, “Come on, come on, come on!”

….But the cubs were cornered and there was nowhere to run….Simba gathered up his courage and opened his mouth.

For a second, Bolt and Rhino had slightly expected something like the Super Bark.

A feeble roar was all poor Simba could bring out….

“NO!” Rhino said dramatically. “MORE SUPER THAN THAT!”

The next roar was a lot more fearless and loud.

“YES! Like that!” Rhino said.

Then it turned out to be Mufasa, who had come to Simba’s rescue and got rid of the hyenas.

“Oh, that’s why,” Rhino said. “AND DON’T COME BACK!” he yelled to the hyenas. When he caught sight of Scar watching the scene in the dark all along, he yelped. Really loud.

“HE’S BEHIND THIS?! I SHOULD’VE KNOWN.”

Later, during the scene between Mufasa and Simba, it was enough to touch everyone. Luckily, Rhino didn’t ruin it.
Except that he went “AWWWWWWWWWWWWW” a lot. Also really loud.
Penny’s response to this was as usual.

When the next scene revealed the Elephant Graveyard again, Rhino shuddered. “But- but the hyenas were supposed to be outta here!” His face easily turned to a smile and he burst into laughter at Ed, the demented hyena.
When Scar appeared, Rhino, well, practically attacked the screen. “What, were you trying to kill your own nephew?!”

As Scar began to start his evil song, Be Prepared, a chill went up everyone’s spine. Bolt was getting nervous again. Get a grip, I faced danger all the time. Why is this so scary? It’s not like they’re part of the green-eyed man’s army of…

Mittens tensed as her fur stood on end. This is spooky. Gets me every time.

Rhino would never sing to this song. He couldn’t believe it…Scar was going to kill Mufasa and Simba?

“NO! How could you?!” he wailed to the villain on screen. “They are so happy, and Simba the SWEETEST THING EVAH, and Mufasa is so awesome, and you’re going to take that away, YOU’RE A MONSTER! And this time I mean it more than I’ve ever meant it!”

[i]“Hey Uncle Scar, will I like the surprise?”

“Simba, it’s to DIE for.”[/i]

“NOOOOOO, SIMBA!” Rhino whined. “Your uncle’s a monster!”

During the stampede scene, everyone got even more chills than before. It was the most intense thing so far.

When Rhino saw Mufasa lying dead, he said, “No, he’ll come back to life. They always do,” very positively. “He’s playing dead, or knocked out, or something. I know they won’t let someone die in a Disney movie…would they? NO, it can’t be….Mufasa, did you miss your cue…get up….NOW. NnnnnOW. Now? Oh my….no, no it’s not….CURSE YOU SCAR!!!”

Mittens didn’t bother to remind Rhino that there definitely was a death in the last Disney movie they saw (Kokuum). She was too caught up in the scene.

Everyone was.
Rhino sobbed more than the rest of the audience. Which was a lot.

“It’s just…so sad…” Bolt said to himself. He whined and nuzzled Penny beside him, and licked her hand as he shortly remembered that he had almost lost her once. He was lucky that she lived. But he felt so bad that sometimes for others, it wouldn’t be that way…poor Simba….

Penny’s eyes were brimmed with tears. She wiped them away quickly.

Mittens got up closer to Penny and tried to cuddle, too. She knew she wouldn’t feel the same as she did with her past owner. She wasn’t as close to Penny. And Penny wasn’t as close to her. But the scene…it made her want a hug, even if her own loss wasn’t as deep as Simba’s….

Rhino hated Scar’s guts after this. “You crossed the line, pal!” he said threateningly to Scar as he appeared on screen.

“If it weren’t for you, he’d still be alive.”

“NOOO SIMBA DON’T LISTEN! HE’S AN EVIL JERK AND A STUPID LIAR AND A MURDERER-“

Scar told Simba to run away, and a scared Simba obeyed…

“No, Simba, TURN BACK AND FIGHT! BITE HIS HEAD OFF, TEAR HIM APART! HE KILLED YOUR FATHER!” Rhino screeched.

Rhino got up close to the screen as if he decided that he would do it to Scar for Simba.

Coincidentally, at that moment, Scar’s calm voice said, “Kill him.” And the hyenas started to pounce out-

“AGH!” Rhino screamed before remembering he was too close to the screen, and Scar meant kill Simba, not him.

After that relief, Rhino instantly got up again and yelled, “RUN SIMBA RUUUUUN! Oh yeah! See, he listens to me now.”

He decided it was okay to laugh now when the hyena Bonzai fell into the thorns.

During Scar’s pretend grieving for Simba and Mufasa, Rhino shouted in fury, “YEAH RIGHT, YOU MONSTER!”

The hyenas came into Pride Rock, and Rhino wailed, “He’s a monster…”

Then the movie shifted its views back on Simba, now dying in the desert…

“NO!” Rhino yelled. “NOT SIMBA, TOO!”

The vultures closed in….

“No-hoooooooo!” Rhino wailed.

“AAAAAAAAH!” came two new voices on the screen.

Rhino immediately liked the characters Timon and Pumbaa for saving Simba.
“Hakuna Matata, huh, I like the sound of this!” Rhino said.

Rhino laughed outrageously at the fart joke with Pumbaa. More than it needed.

The movie switched scenes to back to Pride Rock.

“Oh lighten up, Zazu, and sing something with a little more bounce in it.”
“It’s a small world after all-“
“NO! Anything but that.”

This won so much laughter they almost couldn’t hear the next song Zazu sang for a bit.

“Ok, so maybe Zazu does sing after all,” Mittens shrugged, chuckling.

“Huh, a song killjoy, sounds like someone I know,” Rhino smirked. He burst out laughing again as he remembered the old Small World song.

The scene switched to a beautiful scenery.

“Ooh, pretty…” Penny said.

A belch echoed through it.

“I take that back….”

Rhino guffawed, literally rolling on the floor laughing. “That was a good one.”

Simba was stargazing with Timon and Pumbaa, and they were discussing what the sparkly lights were.

When Simba mentioned what Mufasa told him…Timon and Pumbaa burst out laughing.

And Rhino growled, losing his respect for these characters. “What do you know?!” he yelled at them.

When Simba left and Timon inquired, “Was it something I said?” Rhino pulled his ears in frustration, yelling, “YA THINK?!”

Rafiki, that baboon from the beginning, came in and found out Simba was alive, and began leaping with excitement.

Rhino gaped. “Wow what a wizard.”

“How’d he know that?” Bolt wondered. “He’s incredible.” The dog had a mini flashback of when he first met Rhino and thought Rhino was a phantom, knowing everything about him. Was Rafiki a phantom?

Mittens also wondered how Rafiki got that, but she figured maybe he had a direct line to special senses or something….

Penny might have thought the same thing, but she only said, “Rafiki’s so funny, he’s my favorite character.” Which puzzled Bolt and Rhino since the baboon was barely in the movie so far.

Then, Rhino thought it’d be a good idea to bring up his favorite part from Hakuna Matata again….

“Rhino,” Mittens said through clenched teeth. “We’re at an important new scene now. Get over it, please.”

When they saw the adult lioness attack, Rhino yelled out as if he were watching a wrestling match with animals,.

Coincidentally, he used the same yells Timon in the movie said!

It was because of that that Mittens didn’t grab him and kick his hamster ball out.

“Get her! Bite her head! Go for the JUGULAR- THE JUGULAR!!!”

Then it turned out to be Nala, and Rhino went all giddy on how they found each other and maybe they could start new life away from Scar….

“I can see what’s happening.”
“What?”
“And they don’t have a clue!”
“Who?”
“They’ll fall in love and here’s the bottom line: our trio’s down to two.”
“Oh.”
“The sweet caress of twilight, there’s magic everywhere,
And with all this romantic atmosphere, disaster’s in the air!”

This brought a smile on everyone.

Rhino attempted to memorize those lines somehow, though they weren’t going to rewind it.

Bolt thought, Good thing our group wouldn’t go down to less….

Mittens thought, Haha, disaster’s in the air!

The beautiful Can you Feel the Love Tonight song was enchanting and silenced Rhino again….

The ending of the song made him laugh all the more, as Timon and Pumbaa burst out in tears. He could tell it was safe it laugh if the tears were flying like in cartoons.

Afterwards, Simba and Nala had a fight. Nala wanted Simba to go back and be the king, and Simba wanted to leave behind all his past…

That silenced Rhino, too. So, they weren’t going to listen to him and stay away.
Well….GOOD! He decided in his head, rather than out loud, for once. Simba needs to beat Scar senseless and go for the jugular on HIM!

“It’s because of me…it’s my fault…”
Simba was weeping, alone, remembering his father’s death.

“NO IT’S NOT THAT WAS A LIE!” Rhino was about to say.

Right after the sad part, a rhythmic, happy humming was heard.

Mittens growled, at first thinking Rhino was spoiling this sad scene, but then realized, to her surprise, it wasn’t Rhino, but Rafiki. “Ohhh. I forgot about this guy.”

It didn’t take long until everyone saw why he was Penny’s favorite. Laughter took up the entire living room. “It’s a secret. Asante Sana SQUASH
BANANA!!!”

Laughter built up again. And again, and again.

When Rafiki said Mufasa was alive, Rhino jumped and geeked out, “I KNEW IT! THEY ALWAYS COME BACK!”

But it was different than he expected.

“Oh, wow, that’s different but…so nice….” Rhino murmured, touched by the scene again.

“What was that! The weather. Very peculiar.”

Laughter started up more when Rafiki smacked Simba on the head with his stick.

When Simba decided that he was going back, Rafiki howled to the sky victoriously and excitedly. And the same could be said for Rhino.

But now, Mittens didn’t mind as much. It wasn’t as bad as last time.
Simba was running back…

Rhino whooped nonstop, “YEAH GO OVERTHROW SCAR! TELL HIM THAT’S WHAT HE GETS!”

When Timon and Pumbaa showed up as live bait to distract the hyenas, everyone tumbled over in laughter.

However, Rhino was still laughing, his ball rocking back and forth along with his laughs, long after everyone else was like “Ahem” and focused back on the
fight at hand.

Rhino kept yelling out curses to Scar and screamed at Simba “Finish him!

Finish him! Die, Scar, die! Die, die, die, die!”

And Scar did die, but in a creepier way than Rhino thought he would. A cold shudder went up his little spine.

But then, Rhino cheered like never before.

And as Pride Rock healed and the Circle of Life came about as a reprise, he screamed out, “AWESOMENESSSSSS! I LOVE IT! LOVE IT!”

“Oh dear, poor Rhino’s lost his mind,” Penny said. “I didn’t know it was that intense, I mean, it’s probably not appropriate for little hamsters, huh. All those carnivorous lions….”

“What are you talking about,” Rhino laughed, though of course Penny couldn’t hear. “I LAUGH IN THE FACE OF DANGER!”

And so Rhino rolled off, Hakuna-Matata-ing all over the place. I Heart Jonas didn’t cross his mind any more. He wondered why there wasn’t an “I Heart
Simba” instead, now.

It also turned out that he missed a rerun of his favorite two part episode of Hannah Montana. But he didn’t care anymore. After all, “It’s about Hakuna Matata, not Hannah Montana!”

It’s great you’ve restarted this series. Here are my thoughts:

• I like how you are expressing your opinions and observations of Disney films, but through the Bolt cast as ‘mediums’, while still maintaining them ‘in-character’, so to speak.

• I love listening to alternate language dubs. Some movies have voices in other languages that I actually prefer to the original English versions! Interestingly, Tarzan has been the only Disney film to be dubbed in the Malay language, and I had the opportunity to meet the voice actor for Professor Porter as my speech and drama teacher as a kid.

• I love the ‘Bang’ of The Lion King title card, but I was terrified of it as a kid!

• I haven’t watched The Morning Report scene, though I knew about it when they released the special edition DVD a few years ago. I am curious how Mittens did get to see the movie before (this wasn’t revealed at the outset). Perhaps her previous owner has watched it with her before?

• I did wonder who was Nala’s father if Mufasa was the only male in Simba’s pride (besides Scar, but I always thought of Mufasa as the Alpha Male). Perhaps her father died or ran away, and Mufasa adopted her mother into his pride?

• I love Rhino’s reactions to Scar’s deception of Mufasa’s death to Simba. It would probably be how I would feel if I watched it now, but as a kid, I was utterly devastated. I almost didn’t want to continue watching, but my aunty (who was watching with us at that time on her visit) coaxed my siblings and I to stay, and we actually felt better when Timon and Pumbaa came in (which is great story planning on the part of the Disney scriptwriters!).

• I didn’t know there was a reference to It’s A Small World!

• I love the differences in Bolt and Mittens thoughts during the ‘Can You Feel The Love Tonight’ scene. Really shows the distinction in their worldviews!

• I like your final sentence, that’s a great ‘circular tie-in’ to the beginning of the chapter!

Overall, I enjoyed ‘reliving’ the film through your chapter. Rhino’s ‘fan-gushing’ does get a bit grating at times, but I guess that’s his personality to a T. I also liked seeing the others’ reactions, and how Rhino had a change of heart at the end, which is what great, powerful movies are all about.

Now I feel like watching TLK… Do tell us how your experience with the movie’s animator went. Whatcha gonna do next?