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So happy to see this article! While Disney deserves much of the praise it gets, it’s important to remember that it’s not the be-all-end-all of animation or musicals. I’m most familiar with Anastasia on this list; I love that movie because its themes and characters hold up even today. And, the animation is enchanting–I love that they didn’t shy away from a bit of gore with Rasputin, and made Anya a worthy adversary. I’ll have to check out the other ones on this list!

I initially wasn’t going to watch Into the Spider-verse because, while I’m a fan of superhero movies, and MCU/Spider-man ones in particular, I didn’t think it was a film made for me (a girl who’s never read any of the comics). I am so glad I did; I remember telling anyone who would listen in the weeks after that the creators of this movie truly re-invented the wheel with this one. I had never seen any animation style like this one, or frames like the ones in this film; it was simply stunning from beginning to end. This essay did a great job of contextualizing just how great a feat it was; thank you for filling in the blanks!

Loved reading what you had to say about this! Your identification of the three models of cult films really resonated with me; it made a lot of movie-watching experiences make sense in retrospect. I found the part about the movie being misrepresented by its advertising particularly fascinating. It called to mind this article about the marketing for Jennifer’s Body (https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/louispeitzman/jennifers-body-diablo-cody-karyn-kusama-feminist-horror) I read a while back that really provides a case study for exactly what you’re talking about here. Thanks for this!

This essay does a really thorough job of explaining the philosophy behind the show in a digestible way–admirably, just like the show does! To that point, I think it’s important to address how well the show balances accurate education with entertainment value, as you point out. As the show itself says, it’s not as if everyone loves moral philosophy majors, but seemingly everyone I know who has watched this show likes it, which I think is a testament to the writers’ ability to take a hefty academic topic–moral philosophy–and distill it into tangible actions and relatable stories that resonate with people more than simply reading theory ever could.