Animated Kids shows I refuse to let go of

Putting aside the whole "Princess trapped in a tower" symbolism which is *painfully* explicit here, this conversation with her father makes it clear what role she's supposed to play: while it's not clear if this scene happens at the beggining of the Park's history or if it had already existed for a while, what IS clear is that Olivia's father is, well, grooming her to continue his legacy and take over the Park's operations, watching over the guests from afar and keeping the magic flowing while sitting contently in her gilded cage, with all her shiny toys and machines. He frames it all as a big shiny gift for her, compensation for something that happened in the past while also urging her to forget that same past and accept the now

So naturally Olivia complied and became some sort of "ruler" of the Park, at the very least acting as a (human) face for the public. And she has kept this role for YEARS, so much so that in the present she STILL remains on the same damn room, just now bedridden and surrounded by medical staff and freaky androids instead of toys. She's a much of a prisoner of the Park's underlying structure as Guinevere is, the main difference being that while Gwen apparently recognizes that and is constantly trying to escape, Olivia probably never realized she was one to begin with (how could you, if most of what you've ever known was a prison?)

That is also the reason why adult Olivia seems so distraught about Gwen's scape: she doesn't realize she's living in a cage and so can't for the life of her understand why Gwen, her friend/toy/surrogate mother figure(?), keeps escaping. She rationalizes it as an error in Gwen's programming and thus is always trying to "fix her", not necessarily out of malice but because she's desperate to keep her one and only companion at her side, jailed together, forever

She's everything we were told as kids that princesses are meant to be. Friendly, graceful, wanting to be there for and protect children. She is a princess in need of rescue who tries over and over again to rescue herself while waiting for her knights. She is just as abused under the corrupt system in place, if not more so. Yet she still fights to protect the people who are trying to save her when she is broken. The surveillance system used by the corporation over it's citizens is something she uses to fondly remember the children she befriends.

I just love that despite how scathingly and rightfully this show criticizes Disney as a company, it never points the finger at the audience for loving princesses and wanting to indulge in fantasy, and the creativity that brought these fantasies to life were done so out of genuine love.

What I’ve gathered so far is that Frankie is meant to represent the initial idealism of artists and creators when wanting to work under these companies (I should just say Disney, shouldn’t I?). It’s all about the dream of wanting to be apart of something that once reached out to you and mesmerised you. That “magic” you felt once is something that you want to make other people feel with your own creations. Hence, she tells Andi it’s cool that she’s apart of something like that.

Andi, on the other hand, is frowning when Frankie says this, it’s a little detail that’s so nicely done as Frankie is expressing these opinions. She is also very possibly sick considering her spit was blue so that makes sense.

Whilst Frankie dreams about being an engineer throughout this episode, we see Andi struggling through her job: she’s overworked, unsatisfied and ill bc of the conditions down there. As Frankie fawns at the park whilst paying no mind to the trash it tossed down, Andi is flipping the Gwen statue off (I have a feeling she quit instead of getting fired bc illness and Frankie doesn’t know). When Frankie is viewing our Gwen as Princess Gwen, Andi doesn’t see the “magic” and she’s the one who breaks her out of it. They’re very much foils.

It’s interesting how Olivia originally had black hair like Orville before becoming a platinum blonde as early as her little childhood. Was this the color of her mother’s hair?

There’s some Loss of Innocence vibes I’m feeling with this pilot as a whole. Not just LoI for our protagonists disillusioned by Park Planet but also with Gwen as well. It’s clear Gwen was created as… some sort of replacement for Olivia’s mother.

But how can you be a mother to the one who made you? That’s not how it works. Perhaps some commentary on adultification. Gwen’s entrails almost resemble an umbilical cord here and the way she clutches her abdomen as the cord trails all the way to her “child” at the end. Blood leaking. It almost feels like a metaphor for childbirth? For breaking the water?

She was just made and already she’s being made to bear children and be a mother. It’s implied Sparky’s plan was to sell Gwen as a sex doll. Something something the way young girls are thrust into womanhood immediately. Sexualized at a young age. Olivia becoming a mother to her own machine at a young age.

And now she’s an elderly lady raving on about Gwen like she’s her daughter who’s run from home, who will be exposed to the dangers of the outside world! The loss of innocence for her daughter! The daughter fleeing from the isolated tower where she was meant to be a mother. I’m thinking of how early Disney had Snow White as a teenager and yet she was almost like an adult in her portrayal and being all but set up to marry Florian at the end.

I dunno just this like. Sense of perversion of childhood innocence and the transition to adulthood. Gwen has escaped Olivia yet Frankie and Andi are still seen by her as these two girls to take care of. But they’re adults now. Frankie protecting Gwen because she represents her childhood innocence which makes the refusal to hand her over as an implied sex doll. But Gwen has already been “tainted” and she’s already lost that innocence and Frankie and Olivia don’t recognize it? Frankie’s fondness involved fixing Gwen as a kid, she’s supposed to repair and fix her to be happy again!!!

Low-key fear about this lady considering this face preceded this:

How strong is she? How strong will she be when she's fixed?

Sharing my end credit illustrations for Knights of Guinevere to celebrate the premiere! 🥳🥳🥳 The pilot is up now on YouTube, please go check it out. Everyone brought their A game for this and it really shows. ;_;