_Fun Fact:_ The credits for the film has an entire section dedicated to everyone that has worked at Blue Sky, complete with Nimona shapeshifting into a squirrel. A bittersweet, but great note to end on.
I read Nimona's bloodthirsty front as a mask. Notice when the car is about to hit that child, she doesn't think twice. She blocks the car and protects the child. She's NOT bloodthirsty, she's just been treated as a monster for so long that she's started to think of herself as one even as she hates being seen that way. If you treat someone as a monster for long enough, you give them no other option than to become that monster.
And Nimona HAD the chance to kill, while dispatching the knights to break Ballister out of prison and when they transformed into a dragon that shoots cereal, cause we know for a fact that they can breathe fire.
I feel like that was another theme evident when she turned into a big shadow monster. She firmly believed that she was a monster because everyone had been treating her like one. So she became one again.
To me, one of the biggest details about this movie is that Ballister saved Nimona from herself at the end. He didn't save her from some big bad, he stopped her from ending her own life.
Was so surprised Saber didn’t mention that. I’m not too emotional with most media, but that scene honestly made me cry. True testament to how well they fleshed out Nimona and Ballister, definitely an all time classic in my eyes :)
That was REALLY touching aaannnndd touches on the conflict so many LGBTQIA+ individuals are really struggling with now. You don’t see a lot of kid movies with that theme so starkly laid out. Pixar for sure goes dark and is brilliant but this was a new way to portray that darkness we all are capable of possessing in hours of great loneliness
@@MarielShawnaMarqueztf did LGBT have anything to do with this? Goldenloin and Ballister, thats it. Tf did Nimona, whom was struggling with being accepted. had anything to do?
I really like the sudden change for Gloreth to side with her village since to me at least, it was meant to represent how children don't come born with hate and fear but instead follow the leads of adults. Edit Dec 17th: Hi everyone thanks for your support, I get an update for this comment every couple weeks 😂 Edit April 9th 2024: Hello again supportive people glad we all love this movie almost a year later.
I think it's definitely the more realistic reaction to that. A young kid isn't gonna fight the whole village, she's gonna submit to the authorities like most kids would.
Also i think it was implied that nimona later on in the past turned into the Monster we see in the Finale. Only then she was defeated by glorith and the wall was constructed etc
What I absolutely despise is that Disney bought out Blue Sky and then casually shut them down saying it was too expensive to maintain. This was simply them getting rid of competition.
@@akinschalkwyk8998 no, its more like blue sky was rising and disney got afraid that blue sky would surpass them, and bought the small company to shut them down and not lose any more money
I think the point of Gloreth immediately switching against Nimona is the message that senseless hate is not inherent but taught by adults Edit: Jfc I did not expect this to receive sm likes. I just commented off handedly and now there’s a war down there lmfao. My bad.
I actually believe that it makes more sense for Gloreth to immediately turn against Nimona, Gloreth was just a kid when it happened and children are very easily influenced, and I think it really connects into the real world. Kids aren’t evil, just easily influenced.
@jellylezz1890 and saw a side to Nimona's animal forms heavily contrast to how she saw her before. Eg. Kid's find dogs cute n cuddly but when they snarl and bark they look scary.
i disagree, its very clear that the villagers were the aggressors to begin with. nimona doesnt even try to defend themself to begin with, shying away from the weapons that were being brandished in their face. children arent stupid, and theyre capable of making their own deductions about a situation. given the pacing of the scene where gloreth betrays nimona, its a very jarring twist. gloreth has every reason to defend nimona, but instead she sides with the village just because her parents make the assertion that nimona is a monster.
@@incandescentfennec6916 She didn't immediately side with the village. She said to stop because Nimona is her friend and knew Nimona meant no harm. However, a child is more likely to side with their parents the younger they are, especially when they see so many grownups up in arms about something and the village is in danger (albeit caused by the villagers themselves) It doesn't even matter if Gloreth believed in what she said or not, it's self-preservation to cut Nimona off but in a way, by doing so, it also kept Nimona safe from everyone to chase her away.
Nimona’s muderous sense of humor always to me seemed like a front to hide how she really feels about herself and the world, like she hardens herself as a defense mechanism
i agree, you know gy people started calling themselves "faggot" because that was what they were always told and this was a weird defence mechanism but it also took the power from people who wiould say that bc we were like "yeah i know sunshine, thanks"
@@talhailhan4018 I find it upsetting what you mentioned about homosexuals quite normally addressing themselves with homophobic slurs. One might think it's a case of a person or a group wearing a demonizing and degrading title or name proudly as a badge of honor, but like you said, it's a defense mechanism to take the opportunity from homophobes around them. This upsets me knowing now that members of the LGBTQ+ community choose to accept the gross hatred they get, instead of others around them feeling shame and choosing to accept them for who they are. With that comes happily normalizing being gay or trans, which doesn't even impact a person's life negatively, as they choose to be themselves.
Jep. It makes total sense, and is incredibly common. If someone’s gets slut shamed for sleeping around, or having a sexually confident personality, they will start referring to themselves as all those words, to make hateful words empowering. If someone is used to being made fun of for any reason, like if they’re clumsy, dumb, ugly, or what ever people tell them. They start making the “I’m just so (insert insult)” and then laugh themselves. And, in a very serious example. People struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts, will often have a similar attitude, to try and take power away from the negative thoughts. Or to express them, in a more socially acceptable way. Usually along the lines of “Happiness?! Never heard of it.” “Imagen having friends lol.” “Yeah, I don’t want to deal with life right now, so I’m gonna go jump off a bridge. See ya.” And the list could go on. Humor (or bad attempts at it) is the easiest way to deal with pain, when you have no clue what else to do.
Considering that Disney is responsible for shut down Blue Sky Studio, Nimona being their last film and became successful is the moment when the studio finally got its revenge.
She trying to end her life was way more powerful than a battle whit Ambrosius. When you realize she didn't came back to destroy the city, but herself.. One of the most intense scenes in animation. Ever.
One thing that bugged me about that scene was how Ballister climbed up onto the statue and perched on the end of its sword just to stop Nimona... why didn't he just cleave the arm off the statue? That would have been much more poetic!
As many are saying, Gloreth was a kid when she switched sides, and kids are notoriously impressionable. In addition, you can see her struggling with what she’s being told, and how slow she is to accept what her parents are telling her, it didn’t really come off to me as an abrupt change of heart.
@@Tylendal242Yeah, she obviously was taught to hate "monsters". She just didn't know people like Nimona was what the adults in her life were talking about, so obviously she switches sides when she finds out the "monster" "tricked" her
On that note, there's a sort of... like, Gloreth's crowning achievement was that she built a wall to "keep the monsters out". The knights have never crossed that wall, never left the city. Citadel watchmen, who take shifts looking at the forest to make sure monsters don't approach, don't even seem to exist. I get the subtext that Gloreth didn't actually want Nimona to be hurt or killed, and actually used her position as "The First Knight" to let Nimona escape freely, like how Ambrosius lets Ballister slip away from the other guards. The problem to this is that it kinda... emphasizes a societal structure that shouldn't be so easily destroyed by one single police officer giving an orphan a hug. For Gloreth to not actually be the root cause of the cultural zeitgeist and the city's fears, more world-building ought to have been done to highlight this fact.
I would definitely rather have a movie with pacing problems than a series that never finishes. Nimona's expressions alone make this movie just SO satisfying and inspiring to watch!
The whole point of Nimona being rejected by Gloreth and the villagers is that they're rejecting her for what she IS, and not because she did anything that might have justified it. It happens in real life : kid makes a friend, parents disapprove for a reason or another, tell the kid they shouldn't be hanging out with someone "like that"... For the movie's theme, it couldn't have happened any other way.
I think Glorith’s sudden change in heart was mainly due to her parents reactions. Kinda paralleling the interaction with Namona and that random kid and how she said how disturbing it was that kids were taught to look at her like that, I think Glorith villainized her so quickly because of her parents influence.
Gloreth immediately siding with her village, despite being friends with Nimona initially, is exactly how deep-seeded racism works. It's grooming that goes unnoticed because it's normalized in a society built around that ideology. That's what the movie is getting at.
I recommend giving this movie a second watching, and trying to compare it to our society, which is its intent. There's a LOT of stuff in our society that you don't realize isn't normal because it's been around for so long. Like a house falling apart but still being lived in because you think you have nowhere else to go. Why do boys wear blue? Why is 13 unlucky? Where did the witch stereotype originate? Start with these if you want to take baby steps.
@@myplaylist7007 we have both sides spreading their own messages of hate and control. One knowingly, one unknowingly. There's no true freedom without anarchy.
@carumsarene9406 although to be fair when anarchist revolution occurs, it often leaves a power vacuum which could make or break the future of that country's government. It usually goes one of two ways, horrible dictatorships or an at least somewhat decent democracy or socialist lean
I think the best part of the movie was the kaiju scene. Not just because it was the climax and just an amazing scene, but because of the symbolism made. For starters, Nimona turns into something she’s never been; she’s always been something with that peachish pink, but now she’s a black and white monster. Along with that, everyone is shooting at her, and while it knocks her over, it never does serious damage to her. This leads to the final part where she tries to take her own life. To me this scene symbolizes how not being “you” and hiding can be so hard. It’ll turn you into something you’re not. Society may say things about you, but nothing they say can physically hurt you. What it can do is push you to the point of wanting to take your own life.
I don’t think so, I think it was more a bailout because the movie needed a climactic scene and they weren’t really going to get it any other way based on the writing.
@@Darkloid21 it might’ve been… I mean… I did need a climax, but even if that was the only purpose of the scene, I think they did a stellar job on the scene
"I don't know what's worse. The fact that everyone in the kingdom wants to put a sword through my heart, or sometimes...I want to just let them." Those words alone were gut-wrenching to me.
Even though Blue Sky's ultimate fate still remains disappointing, watching this movie really emphasizes how held back animated films under the Disney umbrella are forced to be. I don't think this movie would've managed to be this unfiltered if it came from Blue Sky while Disney had them tied to the end of a string. Seeing their name in the end credits showcased just how much passion everyone involved had in bringing this film to life and I'm so happy we got a chance to experience it.
I don’t know why they didn’t see it as profitable because maybe they can’t see past LGBTQ blinders where everything is either walk or not Nimona was a healthy balance between LGBTQ messages and good story Because I never felt like I was being spoonfed propaganda I connected with pneumonia. I felt how she felt because I feel like that every day and not because I suffer from some gender dysphoria, because I feel ostracize from society because of who I am. Everyone sees a monster But no one sees me and why I am not monster they see And sometimes it just takes the words I see you So when the moment Nimona tried to kill herself, and was stopped by baluster, I didn’t see Nimona I didn’t see a movie I saw myself. I love the name and character of nimona so much I want to name my kid after nimona Because I know if I have a kid they’ll turn out exactly like nimona and I want them to be able to be accepted by the world for who thay are
As someone who worked on Nimona, I can tell you it was no where near 75% completed out of Blue Sky. I believe the statistic is actually 75% completed out of "Layout"... which is an early department that sets up the base scenes and imports assets. DNEG Animation had picked up and completed the project from where Blue Sky's incredibly talented team left off. Additionally some of the original Blue Sky crew joined DNEG to help complete the project. Some artist names youll actually see twice in the credits. Once for DNEG and again for Blue Sky. DNEGs work included but was not limited to Set dressing, camera polish, animation, FX, lighting, compositing, etc
I just wanted to say thank you to you and your fellow animators for saving this film. You all put a lot of effort into this. You did a phenomenal job. We are very grateful. ❤️
I had a feeling there was an INSANE amount of work that had to be put in. And it was probably for the sake of run-time filling more-so than fleshing things out lore-wise. It's Netflix, Transformers Prime was a nightmare that Peter Cullen and all the VAs are never proud to be in or talk about again, but it had a lot of success even when no one could get paid right and Breakdown's death was because of failing payments.
Honestly, I’m really glad they DIDN’T make the movie this big drama between Ballister, Ambrosias, and Nimona. While I wish Ambrosias was a bigger player in the story and that Ballister’s background was better defined, the heart of the movie was about identity, acceptance, and how bigotry is rooted in fear and glorified into righteously defending it in the name of tradition. It’s a much more positive, focused message which also calls out “traditional” values.
Same. I don't think I would've liked the drama between the three of them as much. Honestly I was worried that's where the movie was gonna go for a bit there.
@@ramonandrajo6348Considering "woke" means for one to be aware of social issues like discrimination, I don't see why you would point it out like it's something bad.
One detail I loved was the highlight in everyone's eyes. Diamonds and triangles are all over the Institute, and Ballister starts out with diamond-shaped eye highlights. When he's cast out, they switch to squares, and in the final shot, they're the same curved shape that Nimona had throughout the movie. Also liked that Ballister's non-Institute-standard armor had rounder divots in the pauldrons that mirror Nimona's scale-mail sleeves.
I kinda noticed that to only past half way through the movie though. But I never noticed that at some point they where like Nimona's. Thanks for pointing it out!
I do think it’s interesting they made a big point of Ballister being a commoner when in the original all orphans were conscripted into the knighthood. Ambrosius claims to be a descendant of a knight in the comic, but it’s probably untrue. I am glad they changed the Director into a human - her being a goblin in disguise would have severely undercut the “evil is coming from inside the house” vibe
12:02 The 'accident' _was_ the town being set on fire, and the entire town attacking Nimona. Not to mention the fact that Gloreth was a _child_ who was told by her _parents_ to fear Nimona, and even then her betrayal was hesitant.
I think the story plot would be cool if the torch that set the town on fire killed Gloreth's parents.And because of that she believed her parents and swore to avenge them.
@@Sunjinwoo02 That would add _legitimacy_ to Gloreth's fear and betrayal, which goes _against_ the core idea and conflict behind the film: the effects of unfounded fear and bigotry on people and society.
The ending with Ballister stopping Nimona from game ending was something I genuinely wasn't expecting. That was such a dark tone for a animated movie, I saw the foreshadowing with the statue of Gloreth but was expecting it to be toppled or the Director to destroy in pursuit of her own motives by throwing aside the institution, but instead they chose to have her try to take her own life by the blade of her friend. From a story perspective it was the most impactful scene in my opinion. Its not a perfect movie by any means but I am so happy to see it come out at all.
I have only seen the movie, no exposure previously. Watched 3 times. Cannot keep my face dry. The movie, as a movie, IS PERFECT, imo. It's so human, the voice acting is flawless, the story is amazing, and the message is clear AND subtle, which is not easy to do. It doesn't shy from the gay, doesn't shy from the harsh, deep feels. I haven't been this impressed and touched by a film in a long time. Hope it blows up and everybody sees it. Love and peace. 💛💚🌈
When I saw her looking at the statue before her kaiju form, I thought “imagine she kills herself with it? Hehe stupid intrusive thought” but then she was actually about to do it, and I was like “EY WHOA I WAS KIDDING”
yeah previous movies i've seen tend to just go with the typical 'toppling the statue' kind of thing at the end, so although i already expected Nimona to give up at some point (bc she said "sometimes i just want to let 'em"), i wasn't expecting that dark twist in a kids' movie. it was a really powerful scene imo
Idk if anyone's mentioned it but I loved when Ballister is saving Nimona from herself at the very end, he reaches out with his prosthetic. He reached out with the physical embodiment of the institutions abuse and manipulation, and the damage that its done to people. And if I remember correctly when Ambrosius and Ballister met at the diner place, the hand Ambrosius reaches for is the metal one. But at the end when they're holding hands, he's holding Ballisters good hand. Just some neat storytelling ive been wanting to scream about :)
I think Gloreth's sudden change made sense: she succumbed to the village's (and her parents') peer pressure, which is also how discrimination works in the real world. Right before picking up the sword, she was clearly distressed by the adults' behavior and expectations, and she couldn't resist it, not even for her friend. The suddenness of it made it that much more impactful: it's also how it happens in real relationships sadly. The scene shows how quickly a beautiful relationship can be sullied by teaching kids hate. It hits hard.
I absolutely agree. Right before she picks up the sword one woman (her mother?) tells her that Nimona is a monster. It shows how adults can shape the way children think and behave. Of course it feels very fast. But that's also because it's a flashback story. It's not a correct time line but more a general overview of Nimona's past. It's about moments like the little friendship scenes to sum up something that would actually take more time
I believe Gloreth symbolizes how easily children get their minds washed by their parents/society, hence how quickly she turned on Nimona. Here shown as Gloreth being best friends with Nimona up until the adults told her Nimona is bad, and Gloreth immediately internilized the adults' fear and hatred. Showing how children dont grow up with such hatred or fear towards people who are different, but instead get taught to.
yep, people forget how much influence parents have on children forming opinions in early age, up until the age of 13 its difficult for a child to tell the difference between a tv show and the ads in between because their brains just aren't developed enough for that level of independence yet so its not so much that children are forming their own opinions rather than having them installed, its the same old story where racism is taught but not "learned" if that makes sense and its illustrated so well in such a relatively small scene
@whitmanmaleman Being taught culture is stuff like specific outfits, music, literature and so on. Hating people for a certain reason like culture or looks and teaching your kids to hate them because they are different is not teaching kids culture. So yeah, there is difference.
@whitmanmaleman damn you really did just compare basic survival instinct to internalized bigotry and hatred towards other people. You're a special one, aren't you
My main gripe with your review is that you completely skirt past the emotional climax of the film. The reason why Nimona in her kaiju form walked through the city is to literally commit suicide after believing that she will always be seen as a monster, which was alluded earlier in the film. It was until Ballister came in and saved her from ending her own life, accepting who she is. That segment brought me on the verge of tears. How could you not praise the film for this?!
ik i was watching it with my aunt and my throat was burning so bad during that scene trying to keep my tears in 😭😭 from the moment she had those flashbacks by the well to the moment ballister stops her from killing herself, i was STRUGGLING 💀
Maybe he just couldn't personally relate to that aspect of the film so he didn't think very much of it. I think that in fairness he should of atleast mentioned it.
Few things I noticed... 1. ND was a lead producer for the movie, so I think it's fair to say that any changes to the source material were intentional. 2. Nimona -technically made the village catch fire- *had a torch thrown at her which made it look like she started a fire,* so Gloreth's reaction makes sense, especially considering the fact that she's a child. The story being skewed to say she was an adult was likely propaganda from the royal family to instill fear in the commoners. The world beyond the walls being perfectly peaceful is proof of that. 3. Nimona never actually destroys anything during her "rampage." All the damage to the city is caused by the guards either missing or knocking things into her. It's meant to show that a society that seeks to destroy what it doesn't understand is doomed to destroy itself. 4. I put quotes around rampage because Nimona doesn't actually want to hurt anyone; she just wants to get to the sword to end her own life.
2. Technically a torch just bounced off Nimona and started the fire. Gloreth initially defended her friend, but only turned on her because of parents. And even her betrayal was hesitant.
As a queer person who grew up in a White Evangelical Conservative town... Gloreth's "sudden" switch makes perfect sense, because that is how it feels to go from the innocence of childhood friends to suddenly being told that you're a monster for something you can't help. To go from playing with each other to suddenly having slurs screamed at you by someone who was your friend, because they're parroting what their hateful parents have been spewing. Nimona's experience with Gloreth felt like my lived experience. The only thing I would change about the film would be to actually have it be a series, because I want more of that worldbuilding. I wanted more time learning the history of that place, getting to know the people who filled it, and getting more of Nimona not only learning to be more comfortable in their own skin but also watching them feel the growing joy of having friends who accept you, of finding your chosen family. But for how the queer relationship and gender non-conforming identities are handled.... to me, it was perfect.
Agreed. God, I love this movie. I cheered when I saw Nimona breathe fire in the LGBT colors during the end credits. I'm so happy Blue Sky stuck to their guns, y'all deserve a film like this.
very late commenting, but this exactly! the sudden change was definitely deliberate. it shows how humans are not inherently bigoted and cruel, but that people are taught that by society and the adults around them.
Not sure why you didnt touch more on the su!cide aspects, especially in the finale (which you dubbed a kaiju scene). And while thatd the impression you get at first, you quickly realize its not a big action scene but rather a painful, deeply emotional scene. And not a kaiju going on an emotional rampage either...if you watch her as she strides through town, she never goes out of her way to destroy/ hurt anyone, she just has the one goal. That ending sequence tore me up
Honestly yeah! The only destruction she brought was from stumbling a f t e r she was hit by the knights, and those kaiju shouts were literally her screaming in pain
One of the things I loved about the character Nimona is that everytime she was asked what she is she was like "I'm Nimona". Meaning it does not matter what she looks like, how she presents herself, how different she is or how confuse you are by her existence. What truly matter is that she is herself, she is Nimona. The external does not matter. It kind of goes with race, gender, and sexuality in the sense that even if she differs from you she is still a person with her thoughts, feelings, etc. She isn't a thing, she is her.
It goes a little deeper than that too. We see by the movie’s 3rd act that there might not even be anything *else* like her. “What are you?”…Nimona’s answer for the longest time was probably “I don’t know, do you?” But of course, when everyone else sees her as “you’re an outsider, freak, monster” etc etc….it becomes apparent how the “what” is put in front of the “who” far too much. So she answers the “what” question with a “who” answer, to plant that seed. She is Ninoma, and who she is far more important than what.
i was waiting for Nimona to have this part of shapeshifting explained- so that Ballister would then accept her pain. but it was more effective to me that she didnt have to! all she wants is to be accepted because she isn't a bad thing exisiting she just wanted to exist while being herself. We as audience needed to know her pain but Ballister didn't have to and it was awesome
It's more likely that she actually has no idea what the is and she has to hide the pain by simply saying her name. But hey, people need to look further because they themselves aren't sure what they are either.
I honestly wished they expanded on who she believes she is, yes she’s Nimona but who is Nimona, it’s a question that so many people ask themselves and I wish to learn more from her
I think, with Gloreth, her village just exaggerated her legend. They saw her repel this supposed monster and over the years this became some huge legend. Things become exaggerated the more they're retold and ancient people loved to exaggerate.
Case and point King Arthur of Camelot and his Knights of the Round Table. We don't even know if either of these three existed at all. And if they did I am pretty sure that Lancelot didn't take on an entire battalion of enemies by himself. Naked and unarmed. And easily won.
We didn't know about Nimona at all when it showed up on Netflix one day and we had a blast. In fact the kids requested to watch this 3 times in a row and we're still notching up that view counter every once in a while. It's nice to get some more context on this. I understood the vibes and that the production was almost cancelled thanks to my timeline on the Fediverse that was all over it for weeks but that was all over the place so… great write-up👍 Great movie and full ack: Desire to know more about the world building intensified. Hoping for a sequel or a series. Random trivia: The 9 yrs old watched the kissing scene in the beginning and was like "They are gay!" and I was like "Yeah, they are". And that was it. She just accepted the fact and since the movie didn't make any fuzz about it we didn't have to as well. And I think this is the best insight. This is really the red string for us in the movie: Acceptance.
I'm very glad that I'm willing to accept members of the LGBTQ+ for who they are. While your kids might have simply accepted the fact that Ballister and Ambrosious kissed, which I was perfectly chill with from the beginning (along with their relationship), believe me I was extremely excited when they actually kissed.
@@yellohammer8571yessss omg I was thinking “maybe they’ll dance around the kiss not to offend anyone” but fuck that. Love between two consenting adults shouldn’t be demonised because of anything.
@@Jormyyy Reminder that Disney is on extremely serious financial deficits. 1) Disney is on track to losing $1 billion on movie losses this year alone; none of their movies have generated profits (Guardians 3 was the only exception). 2) Disney park attendance is at alarming lows while Universal Studios attendance is surging like never before. 3) Disney's total liquidity (assets minus liabilities) is running barely at $200 million which is alarming. 4) Disney is laying off thousands of employees all over the place. 5) In early 2024 Disney is legally required to buy Hulu and pay between 9 to 24 billion for it. It's July 2023 already, where are they going to get billions of $ by January 2024 when they only have $200 mil. on hand?
@foxkenji homie the first dang Google search says: Disney revenue for the twelve months ending March 31, 2023 was $86.981B, a 13.52% increase year-over-year. Disney annual revenue for 2022 was $82.722B, a 22.7% increase from 2021. Disney annual revenue for 2021 was $67.418B, a 3.1% increase from 2020. "Go woke go broke", amirite?
I'm glad Disney didn't finish Nimona because then Ballister and Ambrosius wouldn't have gotten the relationship they deserve and they definitely would have toned down Nimona herself. Nimona was a massive W, in spite of the awful production troubles it went through.
yeah if they handled Nimona not only would they have to erase/tone down aspects of the characters, they'd also have had to tear up the very heart of the movie, since the majority of the themes are queer metaphors
I actually think Gloreth turning away from Nimona was super realistic. Kids do what they're told. All that Disney shtick where kids are the first to accept and be all innocent and shit kinda ignores that most kids are little shits. I had neighbor kids who tried to bash my brains out with a brick once. Just because they're you're friend today doesn't mean they won't fickle up some reason to betray you the next.
I think gloreth betrayed her because she felt pressured by the people and her parents. Her expression seemed confused and as if she didn’t want to do what she was doing.
From my reading, Nimona was leaning very hard into the same Nick Wilde headspace of "If that's how they're going to see me, that's how I'll be". However, despite her vocal bloodlust, she mostly incapacitates people. The mounds of guards we see in the end of combat, all unconscious but still a few move to show us they're still alive. Even as a rhino, she doesn't actually skewer anyone, she just knocks them down or away. She never uses her fire breath to hurt anyone. It's almost like every fight is just a game to her and she's "playing" the villain. It would be absolutely lovely to get a second movie that could focus around restructuring the city, exploring outside the walls, and Nimona learning to play a role other than villain, a role she seems to desperately want but may not fully know how to play anymore. It would also allow the creative team to do more world building.
I think the Rhino is actually important and instructive for this facet of Nimona's character. She *draws* the Rhino skewering people, but when she *actually* becomes the Rhino, the horn is *broken*... it's blunted. It means she will "break stuff" but really doesn't want to kill anyone, despite her bravado, as well as being very capable of it. (even though, I guess, the comic/graphic novel *does* have her kill somebody, but I haven't read it so could not speak to the context...)
@@cdbosh Some comic spoilers in this? Not very much but you know how it is Yeah, the comic was not afraid to shy away from Nimona's blood lust. She was perfectly fine with the whole murder and pillage anyone and everyone that got in her way thing, and Ballister was the 'let's not do that please' like he was in the film - even if he _did_ murder a guy halfway through. But it was for love or something, so It's fine. Though I was disappointed that they toned her down, the film is telling a different story, with a different audience in mind, so I get it
@@Dilligff It wrecked the story and it did well precisely because of it. You would be correct. That’s because it wrecked the story to create a better one. Still a fact that the story was wrecked. Not being faithful remains an inherent flaw, and the shows which do it well are very rare exceptions. The Boys was an exception. Nimona absolutely wasn’t. In this case, it wrecked a story for the sake of making a transexual analogy. Do you really not see the difference.
I get you! Nimona is more of a masterpiece than ppl would be willing to confess/conclude, and I think only LGBTQ+ members that got the short end of the stick will fully realize that, no matter how professional we mean to cristique Nimona as is.
Same 100% first time watchng the movie was so heavy and the subsequent 3 times i watched it i still cried a lot, it is such a strong movie and i can relate so hard. I dont think i can ever stop getting emotional at this movie, it means so much to me and im so glad i got to see it
Same here. The story is undeniably queer and I love that it can exist as a film that both helps queer/lgbtqia+ adults and helps educate young queer/lgbtqia people. Growing up, a film like this would have completely changed the trajectory of my life for the better.
I personally loved the detail that when showing Nimona’s backstory, they treated the well as a trigger. She starts to remember things, and then during the scene when she was attacked by the village, we see her re-in acting the combat she was in in current day as we watch the battle in her past. This is a really great detail and when she transforms after it makes me think that the writers wrote her to have PTSD, which is a FANTASTIC detail that nearly made me cry
It made me cry a whole heck of a lot. This whole backstory did, since we already knew if wasn't gonna end well, so seeing her happy just hurt more and more, until she wasn't happy anymore, for the better part of a thousand years.
@@Gortall Exactly! This movie had such good writing oh my goodness- I also personally related to the scene, as I've gone through similar scenarios where I feel completely alone, trapped, and hopeless, when remembering people who used to lpve me but who left me for being who I am- a *monster.*
Honestly what I love the most (other than the chaos entity that is Nimona, herself) is the way the queer couple is presented. My friend recommended the movie to me and mentioned there was a queer couple. I saw those two "bros" interact for literally 3 seconds or less and went "Ah. Found em" but my MOTHER on the other hand (I was watching with her) didn't actually understand that those two were in a relationship until Ambrosius referred to Bal as "the man I love". THAT'S when it all clicked for her and she kind of jumped back in shock. It was pretty much so "subtle" and real that she didn't think of it as a "Netflix being woke" moment. She just saw it as a good relationship between two people, which I can appreciate from a writing standpoint.
Watched it with my 14 year old son. Opposite situation. Thinking that maybe the first scene didn't register with him as he had utterly no reaction at all I said, "They are gay." He looked at me like I was a total idiot and responded, "Yeah, I got that." Zero F's given. Didn't even register as reaction worthy for him. God I love Gen Z.
I think the reason why Nimona is so obsessed with being all about destruction is that her entire life she’s been told that’s what she is, so she internalized that
I noticed pretty quickly that Nimona only ever deliberately attacked the institution, besides scaring the occasional pedestrian she only ever attacked the people who hurt her
I noticed that her horn was blunted/broken when she was a rhino in the institution. She didn't want to kill anybody, despite her drawings where she impales half a dozen guards.
She also like, *could* breathe fire the entire time. She turned into a dragon, and she made the deliberate choice to not breathe fire, but to spit cereal. It's only after that when the audience and Ballister learn that she could have *really* hurt a lot more people a lot more seriously
May I just say that I am **so** happy that Ambrosius didn’t turn out to be the cocky, air-headed dirtbag stereotype that is often associated with popular and jockey characters like him. I watched this movie with zero knowledge about the comic, and the first time I saw Ambrosius, I was like, “Okay, so this guy is going to be the insufferable jerk.” But then immediately afterwards there was the “TOTALLY just dude’s being bros™️” scene and my expectations were positively subverted. Of course, the honor of being the insufferable jerk was handed over to another character, but I’m glad they took Ambrosius’s character in a different direction that made him much more nuanced.
I don't know how many other people noticed this detail, but the pupils of characters would shift depending on which side of the conflict they were on. When Bal was with Ambrosius, their eyes were both diamonds, which was the same for the other knights. However, when Ambrosius was on the director's side, his pupils were triangles just like here. While Bal had squares and Nimona had slanted diamonds, this was more to communicate that their on the outside while most other people had the normal diamonds. Finally, Gloreth and Nimona both had slanted diamonds, but his became straightened out when betrayed her, mirroring the pupils of the knights in the future. It's such a small detail that they didn't need to do, but did.
Awesome thing about the gay relationship in this movie is that it actually served a narrative purpose. Had they not been lovers it would've taken away a lot of the drama from their conflict. And having said that I wish the conflict between Ambrosious and Ballistair was actually more serious, pitting them more against each other, with a larger misunderstanding. Ambrosious could've been pushed much further into having to choose between his love and his identity (as a knight), without knowing what is really true. That would make their final reunion even more fulfilling. What I'm getting at is that having same sex couples in stories allow for unique story setups, and this one took some advantage of it, but I feel still didn't go with it quite as far as they could've.
I feel like the conflict with Ambrosius and Ballister was more of a thing in the web comic, because it felt like we didn't know Ambrosius's side of the story or had clues to how he really felt - part of it being a text and image only medium. And there was more of a sense that Ambro could have been using their relationship to get to Ballister (at various times in the plot). I read the graphic novel before seeing the movie, and the changes between them do add another layer of Interesting. :) Were there people who watched just the movie that ever wondered if Ambrosius was going to be a bad guy? Cuz I definitely feel like that was a tension in the comic/graphic novel.
@@sarasteege2265 I watched the movie completely blind, having never even heard about the graphic novel. I didn't expect him to suddenly become just a straight up villain with sociopathic motivations, but I did think his inner conflict between staying loyal to the government and his love for Ballistair would play a much bigger role.
I liked them as a couple and I enjoyed them in the beginning and how the relationship played an important part in the movie. However, they definitely shouldn't have ended up together, IN MY OPINION!
As many are pointing out Gloreth's desicion was very realistic for a child, but more than that there was an actual reason why she started seeing her as a monster outside of societal pressure. Nimona was defending herself, and in the process was appearing aggressive and frightening. Gloreth hadn't seen her act in such a way before, and it scared her. Ontop of that Nimona appeared to be the cause of the fire. So suddenly she's being told her friend is a monster while watching as she defends herself in a way that's scary to a child and seems to be the cause of her village burning down. The only thing I'll agree on is idk how that switch became a legend, but perhaps something else happened when she got older.
the village saw her turn the monster away, we see Nimona as human and responding in a human way, while the village sees a monster being banished, the legend spreads from there and she's heralded as a hero, obviously being embellished over time also, given the village's reaction to "monsters" I wouldn't doubt that that fear was already part of the culture and Gloreth's legend probably capitalized on that, it could also explain Gloreth's change of heart a bit if she already had a foundation of "monster bad".
I interpreted it as that was the moment Gloreth started vigilantly training to become a knight. The knight, who got her start from standing up to this horrible monster who had burned down their village. And after 1000 years, it's easy for that story to become highly embellished to the point where Gloreth became a legend.
Well I'd imagine the actual legendary portion of the story isn't shown to us. I think what we see in the flashback is the beginning of Gloreth's dedication to fighting Nimona. Based on the murals and scrolls we see, it seems the actual moment that goes down in history/legend is when Nimona becomes that massive, black monster and an adult Gloreth stops her.
Yes, it would have been much worse to make that change a miscommunication or an accident. The impact would not have been the same and it would have lost the theme.
To be honest, Gloreths betrayal didn’t seem sudden to me at all - you can even see her glancing back when she first sees Nimona transform. Of her own free will, she had no issues with it. It was the social pressure from others that made her see Nimona as an enemy. Much like how many people in real life would act. Peer pressure changes the way you act.
I imagine it was also cause of all the fire and panic going on skewing the perspective while nimona was lashing out in pained defense, even though Nimona didn't even cause the fire and it was their own torches that started it they were throwing at her that did.
There's a detail I'd like to point out from the climax of the movie, something that that I personally considered a masterstroke Obligatory Spoiler Warning (despite assuming y'all have watched it): During the final bit- from the moment Nimona has the flashback about Gloreth's betrayal to her turning into the fabled "monster" and marching through the city, *_ALL_* the damage, destruction, and ruin that's associated with the monster (with the exception of a single commercial billboard) is caused entirely by some form of collateral damage from the human attackers
That actually surprised me. Because I will admit, I expected Nimona to be angry and purposefully cause distruction. I did not realize until the last moments what she was *really* going to do and it broke my heart
"I don’t know what’s scarier. That everyone in this kingdom wants to drive a sword through my heart. Or that sometimes, I just want to let them." That line. That was ultimately the line that decided this movie for me. Originally, I didn't know how to feel about this movie. It was a bit too fast-paced for me, and I agree, I wanted a bit more world-building. However, it didn't take long at all for Nimona herself to become my favorite character, and I loved her relationship with Ballister. They had such sibling energy to them. Nimona was my favorite, though, and not just because I have a soft-spot for shapeshifters (it's my favorite superpower). I loved her energy, and how she appeared to just have fun and live life like there was no tomorrow. And then, this line happened, and it struck me to the core. It brought tears to my eyes, and I just wanted to hug and protect her somehow, any way I could. It especially struck me hard because I once had reached a point that low in my life. Never did I think that I would see that pain I felt vocalized in a movie. That line broke my heart, and a specific scene later in the movie broke me completely and had me openly bawling. Does this movie have its flaws? Yes. Again, the pacing isn't the best, and the first chunk of the movie is so fast-paced that I had a bit of trouble keeping up. Is it a bad movie? No. Not to me. Ballister was a good character, and the animation and style of the movie is amazing, but Nimona herself was the best part of the movie. I loved her so much, and the movie did so good with emotions. Her laughter was my laughter, and her pain was my pain. Even with its flaws, maybe even because of its flaws, I love this movie.
What’s funny about the “Kaiju” scene, Nimona doesn’t attack anyone, the bombs and rockets shot at her are the things that hurt people, she never attacked anyone.
It wasn't an attack it was just... A very angry, sad and frustrated Nimona walking down the city that ends with her almost fulfilling her precious thought of letting a knight drive a sword through her heart and end things...
I don't know if you mention it(i haven't finished the video yet) but I love the detail where when nimona turns into the monster most of the damage done to the city was done by the needless hatred and fear of nimona and not nimona herself, It shows that the 'monster' doesn't cause any harm, the hatred and fear we put on it does.
Nimona really didn’t attack anyone, the only thing she destroyed willingly was an advert where kids were killing monsters. All the damage results from the “defenders” shooting at her.
Yes! I especially loved the scene where she’s walking on the bridge. she sways back and forth because the bridge isn’t used to that much weight, but she does her best to pick her way through. Even though she’s huge, you can really see her trying to carefully walk through streets while the knights go crashing into buildings.
Nimona is the perfect Woke movie and is what everything Disney is trying to be. This is actual presentation done right! Hope to see more of this kind of projects!
Definitly agree it does better on woke themes than Disney does with their "lemme shove this in your face over the top, make massive speeches about how it will be woke and revolutionary"... and people being put off by that, versus actually just letting certain things evolve more naturally and writing it so. For gay representation, it felt natural. For the general theme of "not belonging, judging too soon, how evil/harm is created" I think it did a fantastic job. As to how people read into it further.. I heard the writer is trans and many people seem to either identify with Nimona because of that or even say that the writer meant Nimona and her shapeshifting to be a replacement for trans. I hear/read alot of "Oh yes, this feels alot like being trans because of everyone wanting me dead".... I sadly do have to say that if that is the worldview of those people, I think they would need to HONESTLY re-evaluate if that has any truthful basis in this world, or at least, the Western world.. If you talk about certain parts like the Middle East where you'd be stoned... Yeah, I'd give them a valid base for that claim.. But I think that in the West that claim is a bit ridiculous. I am very aware of there being struggles on certain topics of how society has ran for a long time and how certain activists on the trans issue WANT society to be ran for people who are trans... I do think that certain people saying that there are limits/balances of those wants versus rest of society and some people saying "go away with those demands" is not equivalent to "wanting you dead".
@@zaihirstudios2003 the commenter could have phrased/said it differently but at the end of it the movie has messages pertaining to the whole coming out of the closet theme. I honestly quite enjoyed it a lot and i knew what it was trying to convey. Im just glad it isnt shoved into your face. This is one of the better if not best ways to represent that topic
Yeah, just don't call it woke. That word carries way to much negative connotations these days. Nimone feels like a movie that actually cares and wants to tell a good story with values. Woke to me is more about virtue signaling to these ideas, but only chasing profit or brownie points in reality, or even worse promoting victim mentality end entitlement.
To be fair, Gloreth was a child when it all went down. Children are pretty impressionable, and are often influenced very easily ESPECIALLY by their parents, so I can understand the sudden change of heart and betrayal. Also I kinda disagree with the way the 3rd act battle scene should've been handled. Nimona mentioned earlier on that sometimes she just wants the people who want to run a sword through her heart to kill her. As someone who's had suicidal tendencies in the past, it was extremely touching and ground-breaking to see the moment where this loveable character almost takes her life but is saved by her one and only friend. But despite that I do think it would've been nice to have more moments between nimona ambrosious and ballister. It's why I'm hoping for a continuation series.
This ⬆️ you managed to put my thoughts into words!! I'd also looove a series- the character dynamic between ballister amd nimona is so fun and well executed, I need more!!
This is what I felt too. Like for me the point was all Nimona a wanted was to be happy and not have to deal with everyone attacking her and calling her a monster. Because she isn’t one. And she thought the only way to get that peace she desired and to be free from everything was dying. I think it the did go the route of her fighting against the city or like a battle would have taken away from the impact of the story that was being told. Like I found it really engaging to see how during this “attack on the city” Ninoma caused very little destruction and the knights caused majority of things to be destroyed. I do also agree that more interaction between Nimona, Ballister, and Ambrosious would have been nice.
Just look at American slavery, white kids used to play with the kids of their slaves. Up until they got to an age when their parents decided that playing with their "lessers" was no longer appropriate as though they were taking away a childhood toy. A lot of those sons and daughters of racist slave owners grew to be racist slave owners themselves because that's what all the adults around them taught them to be. That scene actually portrays history
I agree details are missing, especially backstory and background info. But I do think the scene with the children turning against Nimona because of chaos and scares and how everyone was acting. She was raised like that and a day or something won't change them. Especially when it ends in such a messy and chaotic moment. A kid changing to "monster!" Seems believable. I find it hard to believe that was what made her directly into a legend but maybe it was the start of "Destroy all monsters" especially after an "attack* for real.
The way Gloreth switches sides makes sense. Shes a kid and at the start when Nimona shifts she looks kind of worried. Plus with everything on fire, the chaotic confusion, everyone calling Nimona a monster, and her parents likely heavily affecting her outlook on Nimona afterwards. I mean, happens all the time in the real world. Kids just accept what mostly everyone accepts as normal. Thats when prejudice and biases get built when no else is around to say anything differently.
@@NigerianCrusaderthere saying that everyone who is obsessed with trump and think about him 24/7 bitch and crying he just lives rent free in there head lol
One of my favorite things about ballister: he kinda looks like a cliche bad guy with his black hair, black armor and pointy moustache and goatee, and that's exactly what everyone expects him to be after the queen incident. He looks like a villain, but he's not, just like nimona looks like a monster, but inside she isn't.
As another comment say, he looks like a villain with puppy eyes, and that’s what makes Huns so perfect for me lmao. Eyes being the window to the soul and all that, from a distance he looks like a bad guy, but when one takes the effort to really look at him he is actually a good guy.
I see it more as Ballister having been made to be the black sheep. He was made to be different from the start; even when the Institute took him in, he was still made to look different from the other knights, meaning he wasn't one of them. At least that's how I see it.
Honestly it makes perfect sense that Gloreth became a "hero" tales change drastically over time and become more fantastical, what became a story her parents would tell others when praising her for the right choice, or labelling her as brave and heroic, over 1000 years it makes perfect sense how it'd become warped into Gloreth being this great hero instead. Her sudden change made perfect sense too she was a little girl and the entire village and her parents she was raised by were all 100% afraid of this girl, it makes sense she'd suddenly become afraid because she now thinks there's something the adults know is dangerous that she doesn't. It's so sad how impressionable kids are. :c
Apparently the reason Nimona survived was because she was shapeshifted into a phoenix when she died. I didn't catch that on the first viewing, but considering this is a world of fantasy (despite the only mythological creature we actually see is Nimona herself) I find the decision a lot more forgiving. Initially I was happy she survived, but felt it didn't make sense.
Which is interesting to me, since i saw her change shape and "die" and almost said aloud, "but she was a phoenix, she'll rise from the ashes...right?" and the movie just continued on. Which honestly made the ending that much stronger because i thought in a pg movie she *died*
It honestly makes a lot more sense in the comic, wherein we learn that Nimona basically has total control over every single cell of her body, and at one point just gets right back up again after being decapitated. She can literally just regenerate from anything.
@@Mokiefragglethat's so interesting (and makes sense considering how easily she shrugs off most wounds), do you recommend reading the comic? i like the art of the movie more but if the stuff left out from the comic is worthwhile i definitely want to read it
Honestly, with how Disney and pixar films give so much focus on the "worldbuilding" I appreciate that this movie treated this characters as people who live here and aren't discovering this city for the first time just for the sake of the viewer. It made the world feel more lived in imo. Plus, the themes that this movie deals with are such a representation of the real world, that it felt normal to not get a full explanation. Plus plus, class divide is shown. It's subtle, like the underground places they go to hide in being dark and dirty in contrast to the main city, the kids under the bleachers, the "I wouldn't feel safe if this person with no pure bloodline is a knight", the inmediate acceptance of ballister because of the queen and the inmediate turn over as soon as he appeared to have killed the queen (that was so many people's "I told you so" moment probs), but it is there.
I agree and also like you can show the difference without having the lower class living in squalor. Like how there's still a difference between middle-class people and rich people. Since the city is futuristic it makes sense most people are living okay, but not extraordinary lives and you see the difference in how fancy the training facility is.
i agree! although the movie's themes can be obvious sometimes, there are a lot of times where its presentation of the world's problems are a lot more subtle and you kinda have to pay attention to what the characters are saying or the kind of energy that is there. i really like that aspect of it, i think i would've definitely have been brought out of the story if they had tried to play it up in a way that feels less natural
If you pay more attention to the monster attack sequences, the Nimona monster didn't want to kill others, she never initiated any attack (she only smacked the Monster alert and ad screening showing kids killing monster), all damage are done by other human.
Nimona herself just scares people by existing where they can see her. The damage is almost entirely done by the people trying to stamp out what's "monstrous." The metaphor for queer identities, disability, neurodivergence, etc. couldn't be any clearer. You'll harm a lot of "normal" people too by attacking the ones you hate and fear.
I think the way Glorteh immediately turned against Nimona was perfect. At first she tried to protect her but then her parents told her Nimona's a monster. I think parents are supposed to represent The Diroctor and the whole system and how people belived whatever they told them.
We seem to be in an age where Disney is being constantly kicked into the curb by other studios who have considerably stepped up their game, Dreamworks nailed it with Puss in Boots 2, Sony is bathing in bucks with Across the Spiderverse, and since Klaus came out back in 2020, Netflix has also been producing well animated and exciting films.
At this point Disney is nothing but a shell of its former self. Not just because of how they refuse to bring back 2D animation but for how they became another ass kisser for the Hollywood agenda. They would much rather milk beloved franchises till they dry or pander to modern audiences than focus on making good movies. I am not even sure if Wish can save it seeing how RebelTaxi has very low expectations for it. Disney no longer seems to recognise the word "risk". The fact that they are getting beaten to the ground by other studios but they don't even bother to fight back by bringing in creative or original ideas is astounding. Oh, how the mighty have fallen is the perfect way to describe modern Disney.
@@arilumani6194 they really started to grow stale with all of those shitty live action remakes, and Pixar started going downhill about a decade ago starting with Toy Story 3.
@@arilumani6194It's nothing new, Disney was being kicked to the curb back in 2000s. They had a little resurgence in the early 2010s, but that quickly ended whenever they start focusing on their live-action stuff instead of animation.
14:24 I always saw this aspect as a "If they want to treat me like a villain and I can't prove them wrong, why bother not being one" sort of thing. I guess that's another parallel you can draw to Zootopia
Not only that, it makes allegorical sense. When someone decides to....do what Nimona almost did, you tend to become outwardly hostile to everyone around you because you are trying to drive them away. You don't actually want to be mean, it's just that you want to try to make them see you as a bad person so 1) no one will miss you/it makes your loss easier to accept, and 2) no one will be left to try to stop you.
In defense of nimonas backstory, while yes it seems initially shallow how everything happened...unfortunately I believe they were portraying something very real. As her parents pull her away and she says "shes my friend!" They tell her "no, shes a monster." You have to remember theyre kids. Pretty young kids. And kids are very easily influenced by the adults around them. And unfortunately this is a very queer experience. The adults around those that wouldnt view you any differently suddenly warp their ideals and opinions. You can see the look on her face as well. A mix of confusion but also betrayal. Like "how could you? My friend?" Because little kids trust the world to their parents. Its awful. And while yeah it was limited in how they potrayed this, I feel theg had a specific kind of story to tell with those scenes. I feel a lot of parts of the movie, like the why shes so willing to play the part as 'monster'. While it may seem jarring for some people, if youre queer youd get it. Those deep feelings of frustration and going "well fuck it Ill be the monster theh hate so much then!" especially if youre younger. "Why cant you just be normal?" when people put so much expectation for you to be something youre not....a bit of that anarchy wants to come out.
Yea, plus, in Nimona’s flashback, when she’s being attacked by the villagers, her eyes go blank and she starts to attack the villagers back, in self defense ofc. But I think that this was meant to imply that Gloreth saw a scarier side of Nimona that day, which led her to believe her parents and turn on Nimona. So I personally felt the backstory wasn’t that shallow.
With Glorith's change of heart I understand how it feels sudden. For me, I think why she changed quickly is because of the label put onto Nimona. She seemed to genuinely care about Nimona and they had a wholesome friendship, but once the label of "monster" was put onto Nimona things changed. It's akin to people who are lgbt+ but have a hard time actually saying how they identify out loud. It's this whole idea of being gay is one thing but actually saying out loud that you're different is harder. Glorith saw Nimona as a person, but once Nimona was outed to be a "monster" the prejudice that comes with that term takes over. That's why I think she changed up personally, but whatever the intended reason it definitely could've been communicated better.
Completely agree! and while it could have been clearer, i noticed how at the mention of "monster" her expression changed and you could see her doubt immediately. It's there, but kinda subtle
I saw Nimona as a disability allegory and loved it for it. Especially the scene where Ballistar asked her "What are you?" and she says "I'm Nimona." I felt that deep into my core.
Bish shut up, Nimona ain't in no way disabled. If anything, she's badass, I'd ask my family to adopt her if she was real, honestly. We already have a shapeshifting eldritch creature at home(my cat)
I think by “commoner” they meant someone from the bad part of town like where Ballister and Nimona took the squire to question him. All of the marketplace scenes are in nice looking parts of town, so that might be why they look like “normal people” and not “commoners”.
Honestly I disagree about the end finale. I think the way way nimona was about to end it all was so heart wrenching given the signs given of her suicidality. I think it was a really subtle and beautiful way to show something so sad and so sickeningly common for humans to feel. They all stopped seeing her as human and she was at the end truly in that scene in her mind.
I think it's worth to note that the ending of the movie had a powerful message that resonates with people who have felt suicidal and it's also a great way to convey that appearences are deceiving. Nimona is displayed throughout the movie as a bloodthirsty assistant that's always confident in herself and her actions. But when Ballister, the only friend that she had trusted, started distancing himself from her because of the rumours he heard about her, it started to show her vulnerable side. What makes this movie powerful is Nimona's reaction when the whole world seems against her. When she turns into a monster and enters the city of the inhabitants, she gives the impression that she wants to take revenge on humans, but in reality, Nimona thought of ending herself as she approached the sword of Gloreth's statue. This message is enhanced by her words "I don't know what's scarier. The fact that everyone in this kingdom wants to run a sword through my heart... or that sometimes I just wanna let them." Despite Nimona's power and attitude, she has her own struggles which reveal her human side through a great execution.
Another detail I noticed during that is like what happened back when it was a little village, the vast majority of the destruction was caused by the knights, much like how it was the villagers back then.
I would like to correct: she is not "a human". And so I get it, her "human side" is the empathic side, but just as she said "I'm not a girl, I'm a shark" - she is what she shapeshifts to - when she's a girl, she's a girl (a human, if you will), but when she's a shark, she's a shark. As originally, Nimona didn't have "ending body", and so Nimona's girl body wasn't the "OG", but rather just the same shapeshift as when she shapeshifts into shark (as she became a girl, when she met Gloreth). So it's not that her norm form is a girl, and from that she shapeshifts to every other thing, but rather she is all the things she can shapeshift to, and there's no "OG" Nimona's body (she's just a "soul" changing her form to whatever she pleases to). Reminds me of being non-binary... there's no "OG" gender, there's just them - the form they are right now (which is either both woman and a man, neither woman or a man, or inbetween - but there's no "OG"/one gender, they are just non-binary, which is neither just a man or a woman - it's its own thing).
You can't say that it would. It's better off to be doing good on netflix, that helped to actually complete it, than unjustly flopping at the cinemas which would be a huge possibility.
@ramonandrajo6348 no, woke is when the the ideals of the creators, over shine loyerally EVERYTHING else.. this was done well, not the entire focus, just like life. ..that's not woke..it's also written well.. so no, not woke
@@darianstarfrogthats not what woke means, however just ignore them. this person has over 200 comments on this channel and all of them are whining. its a bot. lol
One of the things I have noticed with Nimono having watched it multiple times now is that when you watch it again so many of Nimona's lines hit so much harder when you know her backstory. Like it becomes so much more obvious that she's hurt deep down and just wants that all to stop.
As someone who’s read the graphic novel, I’d like to say that the movie actually made some stark changes to the story, like the Queen’s story and the division between Ballister and Ambrosias. In the book, there is no queen at all, and Ballister HATES Ambrosias for honestly, a really good reason (no spoilers). Personally I think the reason for the two knights’ relationship falling apart, and their division, was much stronger in the book. The climax and ending were also different. The director is also WAY more evil in the book than in the movie. The wall was also added, and I think that was where the movie was at it’s weakest. With that said, I thought the movie was phenomenal, particularly with the music, animation, and especially Nimona’s design and expressions. One of my favorite moments was when Ambrosias comforts Ballister after Nimona’s sacrifice and sees the world outside the wall for the first time, Ballister doesn’t look up, he just lost someone close to him and he acts like someone who just lost someone close to him, love the little details like that! Also, the end credits’ design was just perfection, personally I think it’s some of the best end credit design I’ve ever seen. Also I’d been waiting a while to see those two kiss, as it isn’t actually seen in the book lol. It’s just so satisfying to see a movie go through so much and still come out on the other side with a vengeance. A wildly fierce history that’s just perfect for its wildly fierce protagonist!
looking about. this seems to be the most common opinion. and i really like that. i haven't read the book, or read the comics in a very long time, but remember just how much i loved them as a kid. seeing it come out after all it went through, its just nice to see. and knowing that people who are hard core fans of the book also love it, i think is even more credit to how good it is.
The idea of Nimona's humor including murder and such, is just her projecting the monster the people make her out to be. She's given up, cause why even bother, if that's all people see you are. Honestly reminds me a lot of Marceline The Vampire Queen "People get scared and run away is because I want them to!". And her still not allowing people calling her a monster despite all that, my thought process is that to her that word is a trigger word, associated with a past trauma than just the meaning itself.
@@junco88 She hurt guards, who are trained in combat. For average citizens, she just liked scaring the crap out of them. But when it came to children, she wanted to cause no harm or fear at all. The way she made her dragon form look so cute after saving the little boy and immediately changing to a little girl to reassure him was so gentle and considerate.
“If the world is only going to see you as shifty and untrustworthy, there’s no point in trying to be anything else.” -Nick Wilde, slightly paraphrased.
@ms_alicia_renae I just feel like her writing is flawed. If she genuinely didn't want to be seen as a villain, she shouldn't have approached Ballister literally applying to be one. She was right to approach him at all since both of them were social outcasts. That made sense. But she should've approached him out of curiosity, wondering why he did what he did. But instead, she desired/enjoyed to inflict terror, pain, and death onto people. I felt empathy for her when Gloreth betrayed her because she was innocent. But if the writers wanted the audience to feel empathy for her in present day, they shouldn't have made her crave violent behavior. And I agree that it was sweet to save the child and appear innocent in front of him. But that happened immediately after she took out a bunch of knights: the protectors of the kingdom. So it was no wonder the child was afraid. It all just seems really messy imo 🫤
I think a lens to look at Ballister IS that he's going through the motions. He was just a kid thrown into the limelight and had the public critiquing his every move since. He was the "good minority" and was too aware that a step out of line could cost him a lot. So he dedicated himself to being the best knight not out of a sense of motivation but a sense of duty. The whole of Nimona is about roles society casts you in and the ways it limits who you're allowed to be, especially from a young age
was hoping someone would say this. of course ballister is going through the motions because that's how he was trained, of course he also knows what will happen if he makes a single mistake. i thought the movie did a great job of showing the unbelievable pressure that "good minorities" are under, and it also showed the ridiculous consequences. with them painting over the sign with ballister on it, it shows that ballister's "actions" have assured that no other commoner will ever get the chance he did.
12:02 I can see that perspective, and you would think it DOES take that for anyone to turn so suddenly. But that's all it takes for a kid to be fearful or hateful, or even hurtful. Just for the adults around them to tell them to be. RIP Nex Benedict.
Nimona is amazing, and I adore that they gave it a happy ending instead of the comics, I love both the comic and the movie, but the movie needed that ending lol, and I love it
Compared to the comic i think i like this adaptation better, which is ironic because I thought some of the changes they made to the characters wouldnt work. But I loved the execution of it all. Especially Nimona herself, she was still that chaotic and crazy shapeshifter i knew but with a more compelling backstory. At least the novel never explained why her parents gave her away to the institution so easily.
Annapurna definitely did Blue Sky justice. I'm so glad this film got a second chance and had so many thought provoking messages. Big metaphors/analogies to fearmongering and propaganda against minorities, using fear to control, the victors writing the history books, use of excessive force, maintaining tradition/the status quo at all costs, gaslighting, and hiding the parts of yourself that aren’t “normal” enough for others’ comfort, among others. It’s pretty spectacular.
I loved nimona a lot. The s*icide clip shook me and I cried for her during it because I felt that. I don't think I've ever seen an animated western movie allude to it before that wasn't a crude adult show. I've only felt that before when watching anime like "A Silent Voice", but I wasn't expecting it to make its way into western animation for wide audiences. I deeply related to her there, as someone who feels very alienated, not as a monster really but alienated in general, I really felt for her. I am not struggling like that right now but it warms my heart to think that this can really help souls who are hurting out there. That makes this movie a 10/10 in my book.
Hey, same, I remember the first time I want to watch a silent voice, I have to stop midway because it's so painful to me since it giving me flashbacks to my past and reminded me of my old painful days that made me want to throw up, but one day, I decide to just finished it in hoping that I could be brave in facing what I feared and I'm happy that I finished it, it still made me have a bit of breakdown, but I'm glad I manage to finish it and show that I am strong enough to face my fear and my past self, Nimona movie also made me breakdown too, not because of only being perceived as "evil" but showing the side of you're innocent and you didn't do anything wrong but people just blamed you for it even when you didn't do it, and I like that, the vibe that nimona even did of being "METAL" or chaotic, it's reminded me of myself, people hate me so much that I'm like, fuc it, let's just vibe with it and embrace it, I really like the way it portrayed, So yeah, the movie is very beautiful for me and I'm going to keep it for future me to watch it again whenever I have a bad day
For me the movie is a 4 out of 10 because I don’t like it when people have to shove lgbtq stuff down your throat saying “love them or your evil” repeatedly I do love those people and I pray for them but I just really miss when I could enjoy a show or movie or even a game where they don’t shove their agenda down your throat like it’s absolute the animation was really good tho and the story was all right
I feel like nimona's "killing people" personality is just more messaging. People who are rejected can behave like monsters due to pain and resentment and that, indeed, just makes them be seen like monsters even more. It does not help their case. Very real
You might be surprised what you are willing to do as a kid due to a parents influence. Kids are very impressionable. So it might seem weird that she just turned on Nimona like that, but it's actually very realistic. It really can happen that quickly. They are not adults, they are not going to think through everything logically. They are going to see how their parents react and follow their lead cause a child will always put their parents on a pedestal at that age.
also like he showed his whole ass in not getting this movie. because the ENTIRE film shows themes of how society and our media influence children. nimona even SAYS it "kids, LITTLE kids think im a monster" theyre showing how children react to the way they're taught for the ENTIRE film. it's like he went into this already knowing he didn't want to watch it and refused to understand the most obvious themes in the film.
I think it’s less of a plot driven movie and a more emotionally driven one. And I do agree that there could’ve been more world building but that was a sacrifice the movie made. When I first watched the movie, I found the fast paced emotional whiplash a good thing. It felt really different to things that I’d seen more recently and it really helped hold my attention. Ballister’s arc of acceptance is incredible. It morphs from a “What are you?” to a “Who are you?” that is reminiscent of what queer folk everywhere experience. A lot of people only care about the logistics rather than the people and it’s part of what makes it difficult. To see Ballister go through that arc to finally see Nimona for who she actually is is amazing. The bit where Bal is tending to Nimona in the alleyway after capturing the squire and then again during Monopoly is proof that he’s changed. And that climax wasn’t supoosed to be heavy action. It was Nimona’s lowest point caused by everything she’s been through. Caused by blind bigotry and fear and a “sheep” mindset implemented by the Institution that the Queen had been trying to dismantle through Bal before she was killed. It was so emotionally charged that it was just silence all around. And that final moment with Bal’s hand on her heart and the “I see you” was incredible. Nimona finally had someone she could trust and lean on, someone who knew her for who she was and wasn’t going to betray her like Gloreth had.
I can confidently say Nimona is the first movie in a while to make me cry... and also tear my heart apart in the process, which, one, OUCH, and two, I feel like it renewed me in some way. That's just a small ramble, though.
I love how many genuinely great animated movies have been coming out recently. Puss in Boots 2, Spiderverse, and now Nimona. I hope that at least to some extent they manage to break the Disney monopoly
To be honest, I didn't really need more fleshed out world building. They had a lot of ground to cover in their runtime, and the pacing of the movie is already INCREDIBLY fast. I would love to see Nimona as a TV show, but TV shows don't always get the same amount of attention as feature films do. If it had been a TV Show, I doubt it would have ever seen the light of day after the blue sky debacle. So with the limited time that they had, they had to focus on what was important. They chose to focus on the plot and the characters rather than the world building. I think we have just enough world building for the story to work well. Though, I wouldn't be opposed to more Nimona.
It would be nice if it got the tangled series treatment. A tv show with plot that expands the universe and shows the characters living their lives with all its ups and downs
the pacing, the comedy, the emotion, the script, the characters. I was honestly sat on my couch for ten minutes after the end credits had rolled wondering why I was still seated. it was because this film was downright _refreshing_ from all the crap we've been given lately and I enjoyed it so much it confused my brain.
@@someoddusername5677 I mean, it was faster and there definitely were parts that jumped, but overall I think it was pretty solid, especially considering the hiatus and studio changes. I hadn't even known they'd revitalized this, just saw it on Netflix and was so happy. I guess there were trailers and promotions then?
The point of the irony in Nimona not wanting to be perceived as a monster yet acting chaotic and near feral is, I feel, a nod to how queer folks are expected to water themselves down and show everyone they’re not a threat like “the other ones”. If anything, Nimona staying her punky, violent self is a powerful statement to us being able to be ourselves and still not have to fear for our lives
Yeah, that’s what I thought the whole point of her relationship with Ballister was about, like he’s been repressing himself to fit in, obsessed with killing monsters because that’s what knights are about and if he’s a knight then he’s not some lower class citizen, then Nimona is there to show you shouldn’t change who you are to make other people more comfortable, he wasn’t enthusiastic like “Judy Hopps” because what he was doing wasn’t good, and like Nimona said he wasn’t really living. This movie does a lot of blurring of themes, class, gender, but really it’s all about bigotry.
I felt the whole thing with nimona always saying she wasn't a girl and then her saying she was sometimes a boy, and the spectrum of the animals she changed into was an aligory for being trans and being treated like a monster up to and including her wanting to kill herself and not harm anybody when she finally couldn't tqke being called a monster anymore. Only through being accepted by her friend, did it save her from ending her life. I dunno. Felt it was a very trans message.
@@wonderduck2345you're not alone in that. Combined with the Ballister's relationship and our current moment in time it has a strong "gay people who find it easier to be accepted have a responsibility to trans folk" undertone.
@@KarolMarcjan I mean it's fine. I liked the movie as a whole. it's just great message for kids being try to be accepting of everyone and it was a fun adventure. I hate being an adult having to read more into it than that. Lol
This was a terrible movie for kids. Absolutely this movie is not a kids movie. The political messaging alone is way off limits not to mention the blatant anti white racism. Every white person was a villain or a jerk. Absurd. Not to mention, we're supposed to identify with and support the character that's going around saying people should be murdered? Nimoma has zero interest in holding back from killing people, it's obvious through the whole movie. Why would I empathize with that? Why would I want my kid to empathize with that? For not wanting to be a monster nimona did a damn good job of acting like one
With Gloreth, children are impressionable and can be swayed both ways. Nimona even talks about how, when a child thought she was a monster, it hurt, because it was a child who didnt understand, that children are raised to wanna stab anything thats different. Gloreth tried to defend Nimona but her parents(?) said she was a monster, so she was conflicted. So it wasn't super questionably when Gloreth suddenly changed perspective. Gloreth had no idea what to do you can see that.
Yes, it would have been much worse to make that change a miscommunication or an accident. The impact would not have been the same and it would have lost the theme.
My thoughts as well! I'd argue that this movie does a good job showing how children can be swayed by society - not just by how Glorith's parents and village acted - but also by the advertisements shown around the city. Nimona can be seen shrugging off and being annoyed by a lot of the advertisements that glorifies monster-slaying to kids. It shows how certain acts of marketing and storytelling can influence society and culture most of the time (though it's pretty nuanced territory, as debates around how much art/media can affect people's mental state and society/culture is a controversial subject matter).
Nimona gives off huge early Toph energy in my opinion. Like, I could see them being friends, the friendship being even stronger as Toph could feel Nimona’s heart, knowing that Nimona is not to be feared, and that she’s just different, like Toph who can’t see but is especially good at earthbending. They’d definitely cause all kinds mischief just for fun, especially to unfortunate cabbage merchants lol.
Nimona, Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, and Across the Spiderverse having to go against each other for best animated feature feels like a crime against art, but my GOD animation lovers are FEASTING this year
Ballister's motives were pretty clear. He, like every knight, wanted to follow the societal norm of being a Protector of the Realm. His motive after the death of the Queen wasn't just to clear his name but also to find out why someone wanted the Queen dead and bring them to justice. His motivation to be a protector never changed, but I think he realised how false it seemed if there was nothing really to protect.
Go to buyraycon.com/saberspark for 15% off your order!
Yeah yeah everythings been beating Disney whats new?
yessir
HA I COMMENTED BEFORE U 😆
Ok
saberfart
_Fun Fact:_ The credits for the film has an entire section dedicated to everyone that has worked at Blue Sky, complete with Nimona shapeshifting into a squirrel. A bittersweet, but great note to end on.
@InevitableOption-ic2vxThankfully, Blue Sky had nothing to do with that, and the final production they managed to finish was Scrat Tales.
I thought the full on pride flag was the fuck off to Disney lol.
Otherwise this would have been another "first gay character! We mean it!"
There’s also an Easter egg in the city in the form of a billboard that reads “Blue Sky never dies”
love that
It shows how Netflix really cared about Blue Sky
I read Nimona's bloodthirsty front as a mask. Notice when the car is about to hit that child, she doesn't think twice. She blocks the car and protects the child. She's NOT bloodthirsty, she's just been treated as a monster for so long that she's started to think of herself as one even as she hates being seen that way. If you treat someone as a monster for long enough, you give them no other option than to become that monster.
Not a mask but an alter ego
And Nimona HAD the chance to kill, while dispatching the knights to break Ballister out of prison and when they transformed into a dragon that shoots cereal, cause we know for a fact that they can breathe fire.
I feel like that was another theme evident when she turned into a big shadow monster. She firmly believed that she was a monster because everyone had been treating her like one. So she became one again.
American prison system in a nutshell
The same case as kurama
To me, one of the biggest details about this movie is that Ballister saved Nimona from herself at the end. He didn't save her from some big bad, he stopped her from ending her own life.
Was so surprised Saber didn’t mention that. I’m not too emotional with most media, but that scene honestly made me cry. True testament to how well they fleshed out Nimona and Ballister, definitely an all time classic in my eyes :)
Yes and her absolute gutteral scream made me burst into tears!
@@FloofyCloud115 Yeah, he missed all the emotional points, right at the spots he was complaining.
That was REALLY touching aaannnndd touches on the conflict so many LGBTQIA+ individuals are really struggling with now. You don’t see a lot of kid movies with that theme so starkly laid out. Pixar for sure goes dark and is brilliant but this was a new way to portray that darkness we all are capable of possessing in hours of great loneliness
@@MarielShawnaMarqueztf did LGBT have anything to do with this?
Goldenloin and Ballister, thats it.
Tf did Nimona, whom was struggling with being accepted. had anything to do?
I really like the sudden change for Gloreth to side with her village since to me at least, it was meant to represent how children don't come born with hate and fear but instead follow the leads of adults.
Edit Dec 17th: Hi everyone thanks for your support, I get an update for this comment every couple weeks 😂
Edit April 9th 2024: Hello again supportive people glad we all love this movie almost a year later.
That does make sense yeah.
For me I understood that she didn't just change her opinion, but sided with their village for pressure, at least at the beginning
I think it's definitely the more realistic reaction to that. A young kid isn't gonna fight the whole village, she's gonna submit to the authorities like most kids would.
Exactly my thoughts too!
Also i think it was implied that nimona later on in the past turned into the Monster we see in the Finale. Only then she was defeated by glorith and the wall was constructed etc
What I absolutely despise is that Disney bought out Blue Sky and then casually shut them down saying it was too expensive to maintain. This was simply them getting rid of competition.
So, Disney was worried about competing with...themselves?
@@akinschalkwyk8998 no, its more like blue sky was rising and disney got afraid that blue sky would surpass them, and bought the small company to shut them down and not lose any more money
@@RocketShipRansacker Why tf would the world's largest multimedia corporation be "afraid" of a small animation studio with a lowly reputation?
They pulled an EA
@@akinschalkwyk8998 Oh they should be... but I agree, Blue Sky probably would have made bigger successes then currently Disney In house can.
I think the point of Gloreth immediately switching against Nimona is the message that senseless hate is not inherent but taught by adults
Edit: Jfc I did not expect this to receive sm likes. I just commented off handedly and now there’s a war down there lmfao. My bad.
THIS!!!
absolutely agree
Ooh, good insight!
My farts are better than Saberspark’s farts 💨
“You’ve got to be carefully taught…” Rodgers and Hammerstein, South Pacific.
I actually believe that it makes more sense for Gloreth to immediately turn against Nimona, Gloreth was just a kid when it happened and children are very easily influenced, and I think it really connects into the real world. Kids aren’t evil, just easily influenced.
Plus from gloreth eyes Nimona just burnt the village.
@jellylezz1890 and saw a side to Nimona's animal forms heavily contrast to how she saw her before. Eg. Kid's find dogs cute n cuddly but when they snarl and bark they look scary.
in the context of the story, yeah. as kids are really impressionable
i disagree, its very clear that the villagers were the aggressors to begin with. nimona doesnt even try to defend themself to begin with, shying away from the weapons that were being brandished in their face. children arent stupid, and theyre capable of making their own deductions about a situation. given the pacing of the scene where gloreth betrays nimona, its a very jarring twist. gloreth has every reason to defend nimona, but instead she sides with the village just because her parents make the assertion that nimona is a monster.
@@incandescentfennec6916 She didn't immediately side with the village. She said to stop because Nimona is her friend and knew Nimona meant no harm. However, a child is more likely to side with their parents the younger they are, especially when they see so many grownups up in arms about something and the village is in danger (albeit caused by the villagers themselves) It doesn't even matter if Gloreth believed in what she said or not, it's self-preservation to cut Nimona off but in a way, by doing so, it also kept Nimona safe from everyone to chase her away.
Nimona’s muderous sense of humor always to me seemed like a front to hide how she really feels about herself and the world, like she hardens herself as a defense mechanism
i agree, you know gy people started calling themselves "faggot" because that was what they were always told and this was a weird defence mechanism but it also took the power from people who wiould say that bc we were like "yeah i know sunshine, thanks"
i believe its like that... if you cant shange theeir minds except it, but use it like its something mormal, not pain-inducing idea
@@talhailhan4018 I find it upsetting what you mentioned about homosexuals quite normally addressing themselves with homophobic slurs. One might think it's a case of a person or a group wearing a demonizing and degrading title or name proudly as a badge of honor, but like you said, it's a defense mechanism to take the opportunity from homophobes around them. This upsets me knowing now that members of the LGBTQ+ community choose to accept the gross hatred they get, instead of others around them feeling shame and choosing to accept them for who they are. With that comes happily normalizing being gay or trans, which doesn't even impact a person's life negatively, as they choose to be themselves.
That and she's trying to be the only thing that society is allowing her to be. Even if that just isn't who she really is.
Jep. It makes total sense, and is incredibly common.
If someone’s gets slut shamed for sleeping around, or having a sexually confident personality, they will start referring to themselves as all those words, to make hateful words empowering.
If someone is used to being made fun of for any reason, like if they’re clumsy, dumb, ugly, or what ever people tell them. They start making the “I’m just so (insert insult)” and then laugh themselves.
And, in a very serious example. People struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts, will often have a similar attitude, to try and take power away from the negative thoughts. Or to express them, in a more socially acceptable way.
Usually along the lines of
“Happiness?! Never heard of it.”
“Imagen having friends lol.”
“Yeah, I don’t want to deal with life right now, so I’m gonna go jump off a bridge. See ya.”
And the list could go on.
Humor (or bad attempts at it) is the easiest way to deal with pain, when you have no clue what else to do.
Considering that Disney is responsible for shut down Blue Sky Studio, Nimona being their last film and became successful is the moment when the studio finally got its revenge.
It may just ressurect ot from the dead single handedly if its successful enpugh
Success is the best revenge
A one last victory laugh against Disney
TRUMP WILL GET HIS REVENGE WHEN HE WINS 2024
@@Zynet_Eseled TOMMY VERCETI DISAGFERES
She trying to end her life was way more powerful than a battle whit Ambrosius. When you realize she didn't came back to destroy the city, but herself.. One of the most intense scenes in animation. Ever.
Add to the fact the end credits even gave a help line afterwards
Speaking of intense scenes in animation...have you seen"One Stormy Night"?🐺🐐
One thing that bugged me about that scene was how Ballister climbed up onto the statue and perched on the end of its sword just to stop Nimona... why didn't he just cleave the arm off the statue? That would have been much more poetic!
@@goldcrest2518 HOW was he supposed to cleave an arm off of a giant statue?@.@
@@Nicamon He was able to hold back a 60 foot monster with his bare hands.
As many are saying, Gloreth was a kid when she switched sides, and kids are notoriously impressionable. In addition, you can see her struggling with what she’s being told, and how slow she is to accept what her parents are telling her, it didn’t really come off to me as an abrupt change of heart.
My farts are better than Saberspark’s farts 💨
I felt like I could see her thinking it through, and coming to the realization that Nimona was *extra* evil for pretending to have not been a monster.
Also, from Gloreth's perspective, Nimona set the village on fire, which runs in line with what her parents said about her being a monster
@@Tylendal242Yeah, she obviously was taught to hate "monsters". She just didn't know people like Nimona was what the adults in her life were talking about, so obviously she switches sides when she finds out the "monster" "tricked" her
On that note, there's a sort of... like, Gloreth's crowning achievement was that she built a wall to "keep the monsters out". The knights have never crossed that wall, never left the city. Citadel watchmen, who take shifts looking at the forest to make sure monsters don't approach, don't even seem to exist.
I get the subtext that Gloreth didn't actually want Nimona to be hurt or killed, and actually used her position as "The First Knight" to let Nimona escape freely, like how Ambrosius lets Ballister slip away from the other guards.
The problem to this is that it kinda... emphasizes a societal structure that shouldn't be so easily destroyed by one single police officer giving an orphan a hug. For Gloreth to not actually be the root cause of the cultural zeitgeist and the city's fears, more world-building ought to have been done to highlight this fact.
I would definitely rather have a movie with pacing problems than a series that never finishes. Nimona's expressions alone make this movie just SO satisfying and inspiring to watch!
Series that never finishes *cough* one piece *cough*
😂😂
I honestly couldn't stop feeling gushy over how expressive Nimona was.
What fucking pacing problems? The movie was fine.
@@sheridathompson7091Dude, it's on its final arc by now.
The whole point of Nimona being rejected by Gloreth and the villagers is that they're rejecting her for what she IS, and not because she did anything that might have justified it. It happens in real life : kid makes a friend, parents disapprove for a reason or another, tell the kid they shouldn't be hanging out with someone "like that"... For the movie's theme, it couldn't have happened any other way.
My farts are better than Saberspark’s farts 💨
Ignore the comments above.
Reminds me of something that is happening in our society today..
Just can't wrap my hand around what it is........
Saber literally explains that. 😂 the problem is how it was written and done.
@@bareq99does it start with L and ends with gb and especially t?
I think Glorith’s sudden change in heart was mainly due to her parents reactions. Kinda paralleling the interaction with Namona and that random kid and how she said how disturbing it was that kids were taught to look at her like that, I think Glorith villainized her so quickly because of her parents influence.
That's what I saw too! Honestly the build up in my opinion was really good!
yeah it was consistent with the themes of the movie, about how kid aren't born hating those who are different, and hatred is a thing that is taught
You mean that young blond girl ?
@@myplaylist7007 yes Glorith is the girl with blonde hair 👍
@@cinderstar9718 but isn't glorith the monster also ?, now i am confused.
Gloreth immediately siding with her village, despite being friends with Nimona initially, is exactly how deep-seeded racism works. It's grooming that goes unnoticed because it's normalized in a society built around that ideology. That's what the movie is getting at.
I recommend giving this movie a second watching, and trying to compare it to our society, which is its intent. There's a LOT of stuff in our society that you don't realize isn't normal because it's been around for so long. Like a house falling apart but still being lived in because you think you have nowhere else to go. Why do boys wear blue? Why is 13 unlucky? Where did the witch stereotype originate? Start with these if you want to take baby steps.
And it is teached in the real world too. Of course its mostly the activist spreading the hate -_-;;.
@@myplaylist7007 we have both sides spreading their own messages of hate and control. One knowingly, one unknowingly. There's no true freedom without anarchy.
@@carumsarene 🤔
@carumsarene9406 although to be fair when anarchist revolution occurs, it often leaves a power vacuum which could make or break the future of that country's government. It usually goes one of two ways, horrible dictatorships or an at least somewhat decent democracy or socialist lean
I think the best part of the movie was the kaiju scene. Not just because it was the climax and just an amazing scene, but because of the symbolism made.
For starters, Nimona turns into something she’s never been; she’s always been something with that peachish pink, but now she’s a black and white monster. Along with that, everyone is shooting at her, and while it knocks her over, it never does serious damage to her. This leads to the final part where she tries to take her own life.
To me this scene symbolizes how not being “you” and hiding can be so hard. It’ll turn you into something you’re not. Society may say things about you, but nothing they say can physically hurt you. What it can do is push you to the point of wanting to take your own life.
Him saving her by not killing herself was true friendship
Nimona’s scream as she’s about to spear herself on the statue’s sword had me breathless and tearing up.
also, not sure if this was intentional, but it does seem like a reference to the 1 person statistic.
I don’t think so, I think it was more a bailout because the movie needed a climactic scene and they weren’t really going to get it any other way based on the writing.
@@Darkloid21 it might’ve been… I mean… I did need a climax, but even if that was the only purpose of the scene, I think they did a stellar job on the scene
"I don't know what's worse. The fact that everyone in the kingdom wants to put a sword through my heart, or sometimes...I want to just let them."
Those words alone were gut-wrenching to me.
Good writing what Disney needs asap
I TEARED UP EVERYTIME SHE SAID THAT OH MY GODDDDD
Yeah.. As a trans person living in America, it really hit close to home.
FR I WAS ALREADY ON THE VERGE OF TEARS AT THAT POINT
Honestly was not expecting the movie to cover suicide but oh my they did it well
I love how they made Ballister look like a stereo typical villain even with the robot arm, but he comes off as more feeble and scared.
why is bro so fine oml
dude's got the most wet cat energy ever and i love him
bro looks like a sopping wet kitten on the side of a road
Same.
@@broblerone413HELPP THATS WHAT IVE BEEN SAYING
Even though Blue Sky's ultimate fate still remains disappointing, watching this movie really emphasizes how held back animated films under the Disney umbrella are forced to be. I don't think this movie would've managed to be this unfiltered if it came from Blue Sky while Disney had them tied to the end of a string. Seeing their name in the end credits showcased just how much passion everyone involved had in bringing this film to life and I'm so happy we got a chance to experience it.
Well said Yinsed
THE VICE CITY FILM WILL BE BETTER
"Clearly, the gays were not profitable enough for Disney to give a sh!t" MADE ME LAUGH SO HARD DEAR GOD
To be fair... It's 10%
I don’t know why they didn’t see it as profitable because maybe they can’t see past LGBTQ blinders where everything is either walk or not
Nimona was a healthy balance between LGBTQ messages and good story
Because I never felt like I was being spoonfed propaganda I connected with pneumonia. I felt how she felt because I feel like that every day and not because I suffer from some gender dysphoria, because I feel ostracize from society because of who I am.
Everyone sees a monster
But no one sees me and why I am not monster they see
And sometimes it just takes the words I see you
So when the moment Nimona tried to kill herself, and was stopped by baluster, I didn’t see Nimona I didn’t see a movie I saw myself.
I love the name and character of nimona so much I want to name my kid after nimona
Because I know if I have a kid they’ll turn out exactly like nimona and I want them to be able to be accepted by the world for who thay are
@@ccmayhem7549Used to be under 5%. Must be contagious.
Or someone has an agenda...
Owl House.
Didn't they cancel that too?@@harkaway9006
As someone who worked on Nimona, I can tell you it was no where near 75% completed out of Blue Sky. I believe the statistic is actually 75% completed out of "Layout"... which is an early department that sets up the base scenes and imports assets. DNEG Animation had picked up and completed the project from where Blue Sky's incredibly talented team left off. Additionally some of the original Blue Sky crew joined DNEG to help complete the project. Some artist names youll actually see twice in the credits. Once for DNEG and again for Blue Sky. DNEGs work included but was not limited to Set dressing, camera polish, animation, FX, lighting, compositing, etc
I just wanted to say thank you to you and your fellow animators for saving this film. You all put a lot of effort into this. You did a phenomenal job. We are very grateful. ❤️
You guys did a great job!
Thank you for working in Nimona and for the other workers too
I had a feeling there was an INSANE amount of work that had to be put in. And it was probably for the sake of run-time filling more-so than fleshing things out lore-wise.
It's Netflix, Transformers Prime was a nightmare that Peter Cullen and all the VAs are never proud to be in or talk about again, but it had a lot of success even when no one could get paid right and Breakdown's death was because of failing payments.
Ty for this amazing movie it really did hit close to home a few times ❤
Honestly, I’m really glad they DIDN’T make the movie this big drama between Ballister, Ambrosias, and Nimona. While I wish Ambrosias was a bigger player in the story and that Ballister’s background was better defined, the heart of the movie was about identity, acceptance, and how bigotry is rooted in fear and glorified into righteously defending it in the name of tradition. It’s a much more positive, focused message which also calls out “traditional” values.
I just appreciate that they didn’t make a straight dude thats the ignorant main character like usual, it shows anyone can have biases
Same. I don't think I would've liked the drama between the three of them as much. Honestly I was worried that's where the movie was gonna go for a bit there.
@@ramonandrajo6348you know, using the word woke makes you look dumb, which too be fair, I have a feeling you are. Like god damn find a new buzzword
@@ramonandrajo6348Considering "woke" means for one to be aware of social issues like discrimination, I don't see why you would point it out like it's something bad.
@@Emma-ei2zkbc nowadays its something bad and forced bruh
One detail I loved was the highlight in everyone's eyes. Diamonds and triangles are all over the Institute, and Ballister starts out with diamond-shaped eye highlights. When he's cast out, they switch to squares, and in the final shot, they're the same curved shape that Nimona had throughout the movie. Also liked that Ballister's non-Institute-standard armor had rounder divots in the pauldrons that mirror Nimona's scale-mail sleeves.
I didn't notice any of that. That _is_ super cool. Thanks for pointing it out
AYO _THAT_ is a cool detail!
Damn, I genuinely didn’t know that
No seriously, this isn’t a joke, I didn’t know that on my first watch of the movie
I kinda noticed that to only past half way through the movie though. But I never noticed that at some point they where like Nimona's. Thanks for pointing it out!
Oh thank God, I thought I was going crazy
I do think it’s interesting they made a big point of Ballister being a commoner when in the original all orphans were conscripted into the knighthood. Ambrosius claims to be a descendant of a knight in the comic, but it’s probably untrue. I am glad they changed the Director into a human - her being a goblin in disguise would have severely undercut the “evil is coming from inside the house” vibe
Jeff bezos' offer to invest in film-making (to combat the corporate nightmare that is Disney) is looking better and better
12:02 The 'accident' _was_ the town being set on fire, and the entire town attacking Nimona. Not to mention the fact that Gloreth was a _child_ who was told by her _parents_ to fear Nimona, and even then her betrayal was hesitant.
I think the story plot would be cool if the torch that set the town on fire killed Gloreth's parents.And because of that she believed her parents and swore to avenge them.
@@Sunjinwoo02 That would add _legitimacy_ to Gloreth's fear and betrayal, which goes _against_ the core idea and conflict behind the film: the effects of unfounded fear and bigotry on people and society.
@@Sunjinwoo02 i think it would be fine if nimona accidentally (or deliberately due to provocation) hurt her parents
yeah! plus the point of Gloreth's betrayal was how kid aren't born hating those who are different, but are taught hatred by adults
I feel like he should of been a little more kind to this movie and not be so negative
The ending with Ballister stopping Nimona from game ending was something I genuinely wasn't expecting. That was such a dark tone for a animated movie, I saw the foreshadowing with the statue of Gloreth but was expecting it to be toppled or the Director to destroy in pursuit of her own motives by throwing aside the institution, but instead they chose to have her try to take her own life by the blade of her friend. From a story perspective it was the most impactful scene in my opinion. Its not a perfect movie by any means but I am so happy to see it come out at all.
I also do the rest of the ending after that
I have only seen the movie, no exposure previously. Watched 3 times. Cannot keep my face dry. The movie, as a movie, IS PERFECT, imo. It's so human, the voice acting is flawless, the story is amazing, and the message is clear AND subtle, which is not easy to do. It doesn't shy from the gay, doesn't shy from the harsh, deep feels. I haven't been this impressed and touched by a film in a long time. Hope it blows up and everybody sees it. Love and peace. 💛💚🌈
When I saw her looking at the statue before her kaiju form, I thought “imagine she kills herself with it? Hehe stupid intrusive thought” but then she was actually about to do it, and I was like “EY WHOA I WAS KIDDING”
God, and her scream before she does?
That's terrifying
yeah previous movies i've seen tend to just go with the typical 'toppling the statue' kind of thing at the end, so although i already expected Nimona to give up at some point (bc she said "sometimes i just want to let 'em"), i wasn't expecting that dark twist in a kids' movie. it was a really powerful scene imo
Idk if anyone's mentioned it but I loved when Ballister is saving Nimona from herself at the very end, he reaches out with his prosthetic. He reached out with the physical embodiment of the institutions abuse and manipulation, and the damage that its done to people. And if I remember correctly when Ambrosius and Ballister met at the diner place, the hand Ambrosius reaches for is the metal one. But at the end when they're holding hands, he's holding Ballisters good hand. Just some neat storytelling ive been wanting to scream about :)
I just thought he was right handed, XD Thanks for pointing out the symbolism!
Also idk if it was intentional or not, but the knighting ceremony, the queen says she has seen Bal earn it felt like a gay innuendo 😂
I think Gloreth's sudden change made sense: she succumbed to the village's (and her parents') peer pressure, which is also how discrimination works in the real world. Right before picking up the sword, she was clearly distressed by the adults' behavior and expectations, and she couldn't resist it, not even for her friend. The suddenness of it made it that much more impactful: it's also how it happens in real relationships sadly. The scene shows how quickly a beautiful relationship can be sullied by teaching kids hate. It hits hard.
I absolutely agree. Right before she picks up the sword one woman (her mother?) tells her that Nimona is a monster. It shows how adults can shape the way children think and behave.
Of course it feels very fast. But that's also because it's a flashback story. It's not a correct time line but more a general overview of Nimona's past. It's about moments like the little friendship scenes to sum up something that would actually take more time
I've been a transphobe since I was a kid. No one had to teach it to me.
I believe Gloreth symbolizes how easily children get their minds washed by their parents/society, hence how quickly she turned on Nimona. Here shown as Gloreth being best friends with Nimona up until the adults told her Nimona is bad, and Gloreth immediately internilized the adults' fear and hatred. Showing how children dont grow up with such hatred or fear towards people who are different, but instead get taught to.
yep, people forget how much influence parents have on children forming opinions in early age, up until the age of 13 its difficult for a child to tell the difference between a tv show and the ads in between because their brains just aren't developed enough for that level of independence yet so its not so much that children are forming their own opinions rather than having them installed, its the same old story where racism is taught but not "learned" if that makes sense and its illustrated so well in such a relatively small scene
@whitmanmaleman
Being taught culture is stuff like specific outfits, music, literature and so on.
Hating people for a certain reason like culture or looks and teaching your kids to hate them because they are different is not teaching kids culture.
So yeah, there is difference.
If only kids today didn't learn from people how much "better" other kids, or how "inferior" others are, just because of their ancestry.
@whitmanmaleman damn you really did just compare basic survival instinct to internalized bigotry and hatred towards other people. You're a special one, aren't you
@whitmanmalemanGo to a psychologist, pls.
My main gripe with your review is that you completely skirt past the emotional climax of the film. The reason why Nimona in her kaiju form walked through the city is to literally commit suicide after believing that she will always be seen as a monster, which was alluded earlier in the film. It was until Ballister came in and saved her from ending her own life, accepting who she is. That segment brought me on the verge of tears. How could you not praise the film for this?!
ik i was watching it with my aunt and my throat was burning so bad during that scene trying to keep my tears in 😭😭 from the moment she had those flashbacks by the well to the moment ballister stops her from killing herself, i was STRUGGLING 💀
I think it depends from person to person, to me for example it was a very emotional moment but that could have been handled better in writing ngl
Maybe he just couldn't personally relate to that aspect of the film so he didn't think very much of it. I think that in fairness he should of atleast mentioned it.
I was crying for 10 minutes after the movie Lol
@@Thelordoffrogssame
Few things I noticed...
1. ND was a lead producer for the movie, so I think it's fair to say that any changes to the source material were intentional.
2. Nimona -technically made the village catch fire- *had a torch thrown at her which made it look like she started a fire,* so Gloreth's reaction makes sense, especially considering the fact that she's a child. The story being skewed to say she was an adult was likely propaganda from the royal family to instill fear in the commoners. The world beyond the walls being perfectly peaceful is proof of that.
3. Nimona never actually destroys anything during her "rampage." All the damage to the city is caused by the guards either missing or knocking things into her. It's meant to show that a society that seeks to destroy what it doesn't understand is doomed to destroy itself.
4. I put quotes around rampage because Nimona doesn't actually want to hurt anyone; she just wants to get to the sword to end her own life.
2. Technically a torch just bounced off Nimona and started the fire. Gloreth initially defended her friend, but only turned on her because of parents. And even her betrayal was hesitant.
@@HACSSuperbMiner You're right! I had misremembered it being that she shoved someone over and caused them to drop a torch.
@@JetZVNimona did destroy one sign on a building on purpose.
@@lordfarquaadsservant9209Because it was depicting children being taught that killing monsters is good and encouraged
@alexakluttz8768 but she still destroys it right?
As a queer person who grew up in a White Evangelical Conservative town... Gloreth's "sudden" switch makes perfect sense, because that is how it feels to go from the innocence of childhood friends to suddenly being told that you're a monster for something you can't help. To go from playing with each other to suddenly having slurs screamed at you by someone who was your friend, because they're parroting what their hateful parents have been spewing. Nimona's experience with Gloreth felt like my lived experience. The only thing I would change about the film would be to actually have it be a series, because I want more of that worldbuilding. I wanted more time learning the history of that place, getting to know the people who filled it, and getting more of Nimona not only learning to be more comfortable in their own skin but also watching them feel the growing joy of having friends who accept you, of finding your chosen family. But for how the queer relationship and gender non-conforming identities are handled.... to me, it was perfect.
Agreed. God, I love this movie. I cheered when I saw Nimona breathe fire in the LGBT colors during the end credits. I'm so happy Blue Sky stuck to their guns, y'all deserve a film like this.
very late commenting, but this exactly! the sudden change was definitely deliberate. it shows how humans are not inherently bigoted and cruel, but that people are taught that by society and the adults around them.
Not sure why you didnt touch more on the su!cide aspects, especially in the finale (which you dubbed a kaiju scene). And while thatd the impression you get at first, you quickly realize its not a big action scene but rather a painful, deeply emotional scene. And not a kaiju going on an emotional rampage either...if you watch her as she strides through town, she never goes out of her way to destroy/ hurt anyone, she just has the one goal. That ending sequence tore me up
Because he doesn't get it and doesn't care to
Excactly you get IT this movie IS in parts Not for children they even gave a warning in the end Credits
I thought this exact same thing as well! This is probably the first animated movie I've seen that touches the topic of suicide
Honestly yeah! The only destruction she brought was from stumbling a f t e r she was hit by the knights, and those kaiju shouts were literally her screaming in pain
maybe because he'd get demonetized pronto if he would, youtube doesn't like to talk about the 'unmaking yourself' topic
One of the things I loved about the character Nimona is that everytime she was asked what she is she was like "I'm Nimona". Meaning it does not matter what she looks like, how she presents herself, how different she is or how confuse you are by her existence. What truly matter is that she is herself, she is Nimona. The external does not matter. It kind of goes with race, gender, and sexuality in the sense that even if she differs from you she is still a person with her thoughts, feelings, etc. She isn't a thing, she is her.
It goes a little deeper than that too. We see by the movie’s 3rd act that there might not even be anything *else* like her. “What are you?”…Nimona’s answer for the longest time was probably “I don’t know, do you?” But of course, when everyone else sees her as “you’re an outsider, freak, monster” etc etc….it becomes apparent how the “what” is put in front of the “who” far too much.
So she answers the “what” question with a “who” answer, to plant that seed. She is Ninoma, and who she is far more important than what.
i was waiting for Nimona to have this part of shapeshifting explained- so that Ballister would then accept her pain. but it was more effective to me that she didnt have to! all she wants is to be accepted because she isn't a bad thing exisiting she just wanted to exist while being herself. We as audience needed to know her pain but Ballister didn't have to and it was awesome
YES THANK YOU FOR THIS COMMENT
It's more likely that she actually has no idea what the is and she has to hide the pain by simply saying her name. But hey, people need to look further because they themselves aren't sure what they are either.
I honestly wished they expanded on who she believes she is, yes she’s Nimona but who is Nimona, it’s a question that so many people ask themselves and I wish to learn more from her
I think, with Gloreth, her village just exaggerated her legend. They saw her repel this supposed monster and over the years this became some huge legend. Things become exaggerated the more they're retold and ancient people loved to exaggerate.
People of today also love to exaggerate. It has never changed, humans will human.
TRUMP TRIMP TRUMP DOESNT EXAGGRWTE
@@azuresonic69 HUMANS, HUMANS NEVER CHANGES
Case and point King Arthur of Camelot and his Knights of the Round Table.
We don't even know if either of these three existed at all.
And if they did I am pretty sure that Lancelot didn't take on an entire battalion of enemies by himself. Naked and unarmed. And easily won.
@@catriamflockentanz LOCH NEWS MONETER ALSO EXISTS
We didn't know about Nimona at all when it showed up on Netflix one day and we had a blast. In fact the kids requested to watch this 3 times in a row and we're still notching up that view counter every once in a while. It's nice to get some more context on this. I understood the vibes and that the production was almost cancelled thanks to my timeline on the Fediverse that was all over it for weeks but that was all over the place so… great write-up👍 Great movie and full ack: Desire to know more about the world building intensified. Hoping for a sequel or a series.
Random trivia: The 9 yrs old watched the kissing scene in the beginning and was like "They are gay!" and I was like "Yeah, they are". And that was it. She just accepted the fact and since the movie didn't make any fuzz about it we didn't have to as well. And I think this is the best insight. This is really the red string for us in the movie: Acceptance.
I'm very glad that I'm willing to accept members of the LGBTQ+ for who they are. While your kids might have simply accepted the fact that Ballister and Ambrosious kissed, which I was perfectly chill with from the beginning (along with their relationship), believe me I was extremely excited when they actually kissed.
@@yellohammer8571yessss omg I was thinking “maybe they’ll dance around the kiss not to offend anyone” but fuck that. Love between two consenting adults shouldn’t be demonised because of anything.
Thanks for being a good parent raising your kids to be good people 💜
Seeing Disney in flames losing money surely puts a smile on many people's faces
Reminder that Disney isn't particularly in any kind of financial deficit lol
Fun isn’t something considered when watching a major company flop, but this…hehehe…does put a smile on my face. 😈
It sure is fun seeing Disney scramble for ideas.
@@Jormyyy Reminder that Disney is on extremely serious financial deficits.
1) Disney is on track to losing $1 billion on movie losses this year alone; none of their movies have generated profits (Guardians 3 was the only exception).
2) Disney park attendance is at alarming lows while Universal Studios attendance is surging like never before.
3) Disney's total liquidity (assets minus liabilities) is running barely at $200 million which is alarming.
4) Disney is laying off thousands of employees all over the place.
5) In early 2024 Disney is legally required to buy Hulu and pay between 9 to 24 billion for it.
It's July 2023 already, where are they going to get billions of $ by January 2024 when they only have $200 mil. on hand?
@foxkenji homie the first dang Google search says: Disney revenue for the twelve months ending March 31, 2023 was $86.981B, a 13.52% increase year-over-year. Disney annual revenue for 2022 was $82.722B, a 22.7% increase from 2021. Disney annual revenue for 2021 was $67.418B, a 3.1% increase from 2020.
"Go woke go broke", amirite?
I'm glad Disney didn't finish Nimona because then Ballister and Ambrosius wouldn't have gotten the relationship they deserve and they definitely would have toned down Nimona herself. Nimona was a massive W, in spite of the awful production troubles it went through.
My farts are better than Saberspark’s farts 💨
yeah if they handled Nimona not only would they have to erase/tone down aspects of the characters, they'd also have had to tear up the very heart of the movie, since the majority of the themes are queer metaphors
taking away any amount of queerness to the movie would've been such a massive disservice. netflix did good on this one
@@p-__bro why are you commenting this on everything 💀
Your opinion isn’t valid if you have a anime pfp
I think an actual reason for Gloreth to hurt Nimona would’ve kinda weakened the themes of the movie, because the point IS that there’s no reason.
Yeah. Truth is stranger than fiction, everyone wants to give discrimination and bigotry a reason in media but in real life it's NOT logical.
i actually never thought of it like that but, yeah youre absolutely right. there is no reason that could justify bigotry and hate
DISNEY HAS BEEN DESTROYED!!
@@Ilikebats123 Exactly this.
I actually think Gloreth turning away from Nimona was super realistic. Kids do what they're told.
All that Disney shtick where kids are the first to accept and be all innocent and shit kinda ignores that most kids are little shits. I had neighbor kids who tried to bash my brains out with a brick once. Just because they're you're friend today doesn't mean they won't fickle up some reason to betray you the next.
I've been a transphobe since I was a kid. No one had to teach it to me.
@@Irukshi-up3ouYou suck! :D
I think gloreth betrayed her because she felt pressured by the people and her parents. Her expression seemed confused and as if she didn’t want to do what she was doing.
I can’t believe Netflix’s Nimona destroyed Disney
Disney must be panicking
A real underdog victory right there
disney"s biggest mistake.
Disney is going through a rough patch right now. If they don’t adapt with the times there gonna be left in the dust.
Believe it - Naruto
From my reading, Nimona was leaning very hard into the same Nick Wilde headspace of "If that's how they're going to see me, that's how I'll be". However, despite her vocal bloodlust, she mostly incapacitates people. The mounds of guards we see in the end of combat, all unconscious but still a few move to show us they're still alive. Even as a rhino, she doesn't actually skewer anyone, she just knocks them down or away. She never uses her fire breath to hurt anyone. It's almost like every fight is just a game to her and she's "playing" the villain. It would be absolutely lovely to get a second movie that could focus around restructuring the city, exploring outside the walls, and Nimona learning to play a role other than villain, a role she seems to desperately want but may not fully know how to play anymore. It would also allow the creative team to do more world building.
I think the Rhino is actually important and instructive for this facet of Nimona's character. She *draws* the Rhino skewering people, but when she *actually* becomes the Rhino, the horn is *broken*... it's blunted. It means she will "break stuff" but really doesn't want to kill anyone, despite her bravado, as well as being very capable of it.
(even though, I guess, the comic/graphic novel *does* have her kill somebody, but I haven't read it so could not speak to the context...)
@@cdbosh Some comic spoilers in this? Not very much but you know how it is
Yeah, the comic was not afraid to shy away from Nimona's blood lust. She was perfectly fine with the whole murder and pillage anyone and everyone that got in her way thing, and Ballister was the 'let's not do that please' like he was in the film - even if he _did_ murder a guy halfway through. But it was for love or something, so It's fine. Though I was disappointed that they toned her down, the film is telling a different story, with a different audience in mind, so I get it
@@Bubbly_Dragon
An adaptation telling a different story than the original is not something “fine” at all.
It’s straight up wrecking the story.
@@LFanimes333 Fans of The Boys would disagree.
@@Dilligff
It wrecked the story and it did well precisely because of it. You would be correct. That’s because it wrecked the story to create a better one.
Still a fact that the story was wrecked. Not being faithful remains an inherent flaw, and the shows which do it well are very rare exceptions.
The Boys was an exception. Nimona absolutely wasn’t.
In this case, it wrecked a story for the sake of making a transexual analogy.
Do you really not see the difference.
As a trans woman with all sorts of mental disorders, Nimona wrecked me to the point I sobbed through half the movie. loved it.
Jeff bezos' offer to invest in film-making (to combat the corporate nightmare that is Disney) is looking better and better
I get you! Nimona is more of a masterpiece than ppl would be willing to confess/conclude, and I think only LGBTQ+ members that got the short end of the stick will fully realize that, no matter how professional we mean to cristique Nimona as is.
Same 100% first time watchng the movie was so heavy and the subsequent 3 times i watched it i still cried a lot, it is such a strong movie and i can relate so hard. I dont think i can ever stop getting emotional at this movie, it means so much to me and im so glad i got to see it
Same here. The story is undeniably queer and I love that it can exist as a film that both helps queer/lgbtqia+ adults and helps educate young queer/lgbtqia people. Growing up, a film like this would have completely changed the trajectory of my life for the better.
Why was that necessary to bring up?
I personally loved the detail that when showing Nimona’s backstory, they treated the well as a trigger. She starts to remember things, and then during the scene when she was attacked by the village, we see her re-in acting the combat she was in in current day as we watch the battle in her past. This is a really great detail and when she transforms after it makes me think that the writers wrote her to have PTSD, which is a FANTASTIC detail that nearly made me cry
It made me cry a whole heck of a lot. This whole backstory did, since we already knew if wasn't gonna end well, so seeing her happy just hurt more and more, until she wasn't happy anymore, for the better part of a thousand years.
@@Gortall Exactly! This movie had such good writing oh my goodness-
I also personally related to the scene, as I've gone through similar scenarios where I feel completely alone, trapped, and hopeless, when remembering people who used to lpve me but who left me for being who I am- a *monster.*
I was thinking the same thing! Especially with how the flashbacks were well executed, I’m glad they included it.
That same PTSD was also triggered by the kid in the city who did the same thing Gloreth did after Nimona saved her with her tail
She also remembered that same event in her nightmare, in Ballister's sofa. As we see her turn into the same animals she did in the flashback
Honestly what I love the most (other than the chaos entity that is Nimona, herself) is the way the queer couple is presented. My friend recommended the movie to me and mentioned there was a queer couple. I saw those two "bros" interact for literally 3 seconds or less and went "Ah. Found em" but my MOTHER on the other hand (I was watching with her) didn't actually understand that those two were in a relationship until Ambrosius referred to Bal as "the man I love". THAT'S when it all clicked for her and she kind of jumped back in shock.
It was pretty much so "subtle" and real that she didn't think of it as a "Netflix being woke" moment. She just saw it as a good relationship between two people, which I can appreciate from a writing standpoint.
My mom didn't figure it out until they finally kissed on screen LMFAO
@@skywoofyt5375 My mum too 😂😂😂
Watched it with my 14 year old son. Opposite situation. Thinking that maybe the first scene didn't register with him as he had utterly no reaction at all I said, "They are gay." He looked at me like I was a total idiot and responded, "Yeah, I got that." Zero F's given. Didn't even register as reaction worthy for him. God I love Gen Z.
Exactly. Queer/gay couples are just like straight couples, it's just love. You don't need to hype it up just because it's different!! ❤❤
it hadn't even occurred to me that people might not notice, my gaydar went off the second they interacted lmao
I think the reason why Nimona is so obsessed with being all about destruction is that her entire life she’s been told that’s what she is, so she internalized that
I saw it as a coping mechanism
Is like the "you want me to be a monster?".
I really liked Nimona. I loved her, her story, and her drama. Also the "but I'm not _people_" line was fantastic.
I noticed pretty quickly that Nimona only ever deliberately attacked the institution, besides scaring the occasional pedestrian she only ever attacked the people who hurt her
I noticed that her horn was blunted/broken when she was a rhino in the institution. She didn't want to kill anybody, despite her drawings where she impales half a dozen guards.
She also like, *could* breathe fire the entire time. She turned into a dragon, and she made the deliberate choice to not breathe fire, but to spit cereal. It's only after that when the audience and Ballister learn that she could have *really* hurt a lot more people a lot more seriously
May I just say that I am **so** happy that Ambrosius didn’t turn out to be the cocky, air-headed dirtbag stereotype that is often associated with popular and jockey characters like him. I watched this movie with zero knowledge about the comic, and the first time I saw Ambrosius, I was like, “Okay, so this guy is going to be the insufferable jerk.” But then immediately afterwards there was the “TOTALLY just dude’s being bros™️” scene and my expectations were positively subverted. Of course, the honor of being the insufferable jerk was handed over to another character, but I’m glad they took Ambrosius’s character in a different direction that made him much more nuanced.
I don't know how many other people noticed this detail, but the pupils of characters would shift depending on which side of the conflict they were on. When Bal was with Ambrosius, their eyes were both diamonds, which was the same for the other knights. However, when Ambrosius was on the director's side, his pupils were triangles just like here. While Bal had squares and Nimona had slanted diamonds, this was more to communicate that their on the outside while most other people had the normal diamonds. Finally, Gloreth and Nimona both had slanted diamonds, but his became straightened out when betrayed her, mirroring the pupils of the knights in the future.
It's such a small detail that they didn't need to do, but did.
I'M GLAD I WASN'T THE ONLY ONE WHO NOTICED!💀
I knew something was up with that, but I couldn't piece it together.
Nimona is w@ke so no. XD
also, ambrosius eyes being hearts almost every time he looks at ballister
I did not notice that! Nice catch.
Awesome thing about the gay relationship in this movie is that it actually served a narrative purpose. Had they not been lovers it would've taken away a lot of the drama from their conflict. And having said that I wish the conflict between Ambrosious and Ballistair was actually more serious, pitting them more against each other, with a larger misunderstanding. Ambrosious could've been pushed much further into having to choose between his love and his identity (as a knight), without knowing what is really true. That would make their final reunion even more fulfilling. What I'm getting at is that having same sex couples in stories allow for unique story setups, and this one took some advantage of it, but I feel still didn't go with it quite as far as they could've.
Also it wasnt really shoved into the audiences face which is why it was just a good way to tell this story
I feel like the conflict with Ambrosius and Ballister was more of a thing in the web comic, because it felt like we didn't know Ambrosius's side of the story or had clues to how he really felt - part of it being a text and image only medium. And there was more of a sense that Ambro could have been using their relationship to get to Ballister (at various times in the plot).
I read the graphic novel before seeing the movie, and the changes between them do add another layer of Interesting. :)
Were there people who watched just the movie that ever wondered if Ambrosius was going to be a bad guy? Cuz I definitely feel like that was a tension in the comic/graphic novel.
@@sarasteege2265 I watched the movie completely blind, having never even heard about the graphic novel. I didn't expect him to suddenly become just a straight up villain with sociopathic motivations, but I did think his inner conflict between staying loyal to the government and his love for Ballistair would play a much bigger role.
I liked them as a couple and I enjoyed them in the beginning and how the relationship played an important part in the movie. However, they definitely shouldn't have ended up together, IN MY OPINION!
Cope and seethe.
As many are pointing out Gloreth's desicion was very realistic for a child, but more than that there was an actual reason why she started seeing her as a monster outside of societal pressure. Nimona was defending herself, and in the process was appearing aggressive and frightening. Gloreth hadn't seen her act in such a way before, and it scared her. Ontop of that Nimona appeared to be the cause of the fire. So suddenly she's being told her friend is a monster while watching as she defends herself in a way that's scary to a child and seems to be the cause of her village burning down. The only thing I'll agree on is idk how that switch became a legend, but perhaps something else happened when she got older.
She became a scared cat at some point. That would've made me protect her not fear her.
the village saw her turn the monster away, we see Nimona as human and responding in a human way, while the village sees a monster being banished, the legend spreads from there and she's heralded as a hero, obviously being embellished over time
also, given the village's reaction to "monsters" I wouldn't doubt that that fear was already part of the culture and Gloreth's legend probably capitalized on that, it could also explain Gloreth's change of heart a bit if she already had a foundation of "monster bad".
I interpreted it as that was the moment Gloreth started vigilantly training to become a knight. The knight, who got her start from standing up to this horrible monster who had burned down their village.
And after 1000 years, it's easy for that story to become highly embellished to the point where Gloreth became a legend.
Well I'd imagine the actual legendary portion of the story isn't shown to us. I think what we see in the flashback is the beginning of Gloreth's dedication to fighting Nimona. Based on the murals and scrolls we see, it seems the actual moment that goes down in history/legend is when Nimona becomes that massive, black monster and an adult Gloreth stops her.
Yes, it would have been much worse to make that change a miscommunication or an accident. The impact would not have been the same and it would have lost the theme.
To be honest, Gloreths betrayal didn’t seem sudden to me at all - you can even see her glancing back when she first sees Nimona transform. Of her own free will, she had no issues with it. It was the social pressure from others that made her see Nimona as an enemy. Much like how many people in real life would act. Peer pressure changes the way you act.
I imagine it was also cause of all the fire and panic going on skewing the perspective while nimona was lashing out in pained defense, even though Nimona didn't even cause the fire and it was their own torches that started it they were throwing at her that did.
There's a detail I'd like to point out from the climax of the movie, something that that I personally considered a masterstroke
Obligatory Spoiler Warning (despite assuming y'all have watched it):
During the final bit- from the moment Nimona has the flashback about Gloreth's betrayal to her turning into the fabled "monster" and marching through the city, *_ALL_* the damage, destruction, and ruin that's associated with the monster (with the exception of a single commercial billboard) is caused entirely by some form of collateral damage from the human attackers
Yup, and some with the flashback
My farts are better than Saberspark’s farts 💨
Ignore the comment above.
That actually surprised me. Because I will admit, I expected Nimona to be angry and purposefully cause distruction. I did not realize until the last moments what she was *really* going to do and it broke my heart
@@aiiiia9971 that’s closer to what happened in the novel, she lost control and started killing mindlessly, and balister had to “stop” her
"I don’t know what’s scarier. That everyone in this kingdom wants to drive a sword through my heart. Or that sometimes, I just want to let them."
That line. That was ultimately the line that decided this movie for me.
Originally, I didn't know how to feel about this movie. It was a bit too fast-paced for me, and I agree, I wanted a bit more world-building. However, it didn't take long at all for Nimona herself to become my favorite character, and I loved her relationship with Ballister. They had such sibling energy to them. Nimona was my favorite, though, and not just because I have a soft-spot for shapeshifters (it's my favorite superpower). I loved her energy, and how she appeared to just have fun and live life like there was no tomorrow. And then, this line happened, and it struck me to the core. It brought tears to my eyes, and I just wanted to hug and protect her somehow, any way I could. It especially struck me hard because I once had reached a point that low in my life. Never did I think that I would see that pain I felt vocalized in a movie. That line broke my heart, and a specific scene later in the movie broke me completely and had me openly bawling.
Does this movie have its flaws? Yes. Again, the pacing isn't the best, and the first chunk of the movie is so fast-paced that I had a bit of trouble keeping up.
Is it a bad movie? No. Not to me. Ballister was a good character, and the animation and style of the movie is amazing, but Nimona herself was the best part of the movie. I loved her so much, and the movie did so good with emotions. Her laughter was my laughter, and her pain was my pain. Even with its flaws, maybe even because of its flaws, I love this movie.
It's so boring. Give me ONE reason to give a fuck about Nimona's problems.
A few of our mentors were animators on Nimona and we are so glad to see such a positive response!! Thank you! ♥
It was so cool!!!
Please tell your mentors thank you for saving the film. We're very grateful.
Oh that's so awesome
@@alpcohol Thank you!!
@@rabbit0664 Thank youuuuuu!!!
What’s funny about the “Kaiju” scene, Nimona doesn’t attack anyone, the bombs and rockets shot at her are the things that hurt people, she never attacked anyone.
It's the same with the fire in the flashback
It was very clear as well when she got to the bridge. She doesn't want to hurt anyone.
It reminded me of american Godzilla from 1998.
I think its crazy that Nimona was fully prepared and about to kill herself, this is a PG movie so that was unexpected to say the least.
It wasn't an attack it was just... A very angry, sad and frustrated Nimona walking down the city that ends with her almost fulfilling her precious thought of letting a knight drive a sword through her heart and end things...
I don't know if you mention it(i haven't finished the video yet)
but I love the detail where when nimona turns into the monster most of the damage done to the city was done by the needless hatred and fear of nimona and not nimona herself, It shows that the 'monster' doesn't cause any harm, the hatred and fear we put on it does.
Nimona really didn’t attack anyone, the only thing she destroyed willingly was an advert where kids were killing monsters. All the damage results from the “defenders” shooting at her.
Yes! I especially loved the scene where she’s walking on the bridge. she sways back and forth because the bridge isn’t used to that much weight, but she does her best to pick her way through. Even though she’s huge, you can really see her trying to carefully walk through streets while the knights go crashing into buildings.
Nimona is the perfect Woke movie and is what everything Disney is trying to be. This is actual presentation done right! Hope to see more of this kind of projects!
Definitely won the woke olympics over what disney is trying to do.
Definitly agree it does better on woke themes than Disney does with their "lemme shove this in your face over the top, make massive speeches about how it will be woke and revolutionary"... and people being put off by that, versus actually just letting certain things evolve more naturally and writing it so.
For gay representation, it felt natural. For the general theme of "not belonging, judging too soon, how evil/harm is created" I think it did a fantastic job. As to how people read into it further.. I heard the writer is trans and many people seem to either identify with Nimona because of that or even say that the writer meant Nimona and her shapeshifting to be a replacement for trans. I hear/read alot of "Oh yes, this feels alot like being trans because of everyone wanting me dead".... I sadly do have to say that if that is the worldview of those people, I think they would need to HONESTLY re-evaluate if that has any truthful basis in this world, or at least, the Western world.. If you talk about certain parts like the Middle East where you'd be stoned... Yeah, I'd give them a valid base for that claim.. But I think that in the West that claim is a bit ridiculous.
I am very aware of there being struggles on certain topics of how society has ran for a long time and how certain activists on the trans issue WANT society to be ran for people who are trans... I do think that certain people saying that there are limits/balances of those wants versus rest of society and some people saying "go away with those demands" is not equivalent to "wanting you dead".
@@zaihirstudios2003 the commenter could have phrased/said it differently but at the end of it the movie has messages pertaining to the whole coming out of the closet theme. I honestly quite enjoyed it a lot and i knew what it was trying to convey. Im just glad it isnt shoved into your face. This is one of the better if not best ways to represent that topic
Yeah, just don't call it woke.
That word carries way to much negative connotations these days.
Nimone feels like a movie that actually cares and wants to tell a good story with values.
Woke to me is more about virtue signaling to these ideas, but only chasing profit or brownie points in reality, or even worse promoting victim mentality end entitlement.
@@TheLocoreaperI'll wait,when was a Disney gay character shoved in your face? Please tell me
To be fair, Gloreth was a child when it all went down. Children are pretty impressionable, and are often influenced very easily ESPECIALLY by their parents, so I can understand the sudden change of heart and betrayal.
Also I kinda disagree with the way the 3rd act battle scene should've been handled. Nimona mentioned earlier on that sometimes she just wants the people who want to run a sword through her heart to kill her. As someone who's had suicidal tendencies in the past, it was extremely touching and ground-breaking to see the moment where this loveable character almost takes her life but is saved by her one and only friend. But despite that I do think it would've been nice to have more moments between nimona ambrosious and ballister. It's why I'm hoping for a continuation series.
This ⬆️ you managed to put my thoughts into words!! I'd also looove a series- the character dynamic between ballister amd nimona is so fun and well executed, I need more!!
This is what I felt too. Like for me the point was all Nimona a wanted was to be happy and not have to deal with everyone attacking her and calling her a monster. Because she isn’t one. And she thought the only way to get that peace she desired and to be free from everything was dying.
I think it the did go the route of her fighting against the city or like a battle would have taken away from the impact of the story that was being told. Like I found it really engaging to see how during this “attack on the city” Ninoma caused very little destruction and the knights caused majority of things to be destroyed.
I do also agree that more interaction between Nimona, Ballister, and Ambrosious would have been nice.
They did the same thing in Turning Red, but the furry movie was used as reference
Just look at American slavery, white kids used to play with the kids of their slaves. Up until they got to an age when their parents decided that playing with their "lessers" was no longer appropriate as though they were taking away a childhood toy. A lot of those sons and daughters of racist slave owners grew to be racist slave owners themselves because that's what all the adults around them taught them to be. That scene actually portrays history
I agree details are missing, especially backstory and background info. But I do think the scene with the children turning against Nimona because of chaos and scares and how everyone was acting. She was raised like that and a day or something won't change them. Especially when it ends in such a messy and chaotic moment. A kid changing to "monster!" Seems believable. I find it hard to believe that was what made her directly into a legend but maybe it was the start of "Destroy all monsters" especially after an "attack* for real.
The way Gloreth switches sides makes sense. Shes a kid and at the start when Nimona shifts she looks kind of worried. Plus with everything on fire, the chaotic confusion, everyone calling Nimona a monster, and her parents likely heavily affecting her outlook on Nimona afterwards. I mean, happens all the time in the real world. Kids just accept what mostly everyone accepts as normal. Thats when prejudice and biases get built when no else is around to say anything differently.
NO IR TALKING ABOUT DONALD TRUMP TRUMP
@@NigerianCrusader rent free.
@@kingofcards9516 WHAF DO YOU MEAN?
@@NigerianCrusaderrent free.
@@NigerianCrusaderthere saying that everyone who is obsessed with trump and think about him 24/7 bitch and crying he just lives rent free in there head lol
One of my favorite things about ballister: he kinda looks like a cliche bad guy with his black hair, black armor and pointy moustache and goatee, and that's exactly what everyone expects him to be after the queen incident.
He looks like a villain, but he's not, just like nimona looks like a monster, but inside she isn't.
As another comment say, he looks like a villain with puppy eyes, and that’s what makes Huns so perfect for me lmao. Eyes being the window to the soul and all that, from a distance he looks like a bad guy, but when one takes the effort to really look at him he is actually a good guy.
I see it more as Ballister having been made to be the black sheep. He was made to be different from the start; even when the Institute took him in, he was still made to look different from the other knights, meaning he wasn't one of them. At least that's how I see it.
that, plus the director wears all white and gold, colors associated with good, but she's not a good person at all
Honestly it makes perfect sense that Gloreth became a "hero" tales change drastically over time and become more fantastical, what became a story her parents would tell others when praising her for the right choice, or labelling her as brave and heroic, over 1000 years it makes perfect sense how it'd become warped into Gloreth being this great hero instead. Her sudden change made perfect sense too she was a little girl and the entire village and her parents she was raised by were all 100% afraid of this girl, it makes sense she'd suddenly become afraid because she now thinks there's something the adults know is dangerous that she doesn't. It's so sad how impressionable kids are. :c
Apparently the reason Nimona survived was because she was shapeshifted into a phoenix when she died. I didn't catch that on the first viewing, but considering this is a world of fantasy (despite the only mythological creature we actually see is Nimona herself) I find the decision a lot more forgiving. Initially I was happy she survived, but felt it didn't make sense.
Which is interesting to me, since i saw her change shape and "die" and almost said aloud, "but she was a phoenix, she'll rise from the ashes...right?" and the movie just continued on.
Which honestly made the ending that much stronger because i thought in a pg movie she *died*
It honestly makes a lot more sense in the comic, wherein we learn that Nimona basically has total control over every single cell of her body, and at one point just gets right back up again after being decapitated. She can literally just regenerate from anything.
@@Mokiefraggle Huh. Wish the movie explored that further.
@@Mokiefragglethat's so interesting (and makes sense considering how easily she shrugs off most wounds), do you recommend reading the comic? i like the art of the movie more but if the stuff left out from the comic is worthwhile i definitely want to read it
@@catelynh1020
She actually came back, in the end where she says “Hey, Boss.” If you didn’t know but if you did then ignore this
Honestly, with how Disney and pixar films give so much focus on the "worldbuilding" I appreciate that this movie treated this characters as people who live here and aren't discovering this city for the first time just for the sake of the viewer. It made the world feel more lived in imo.
Plus, the themes that this movie deals with are such a representation of the real world, that it felt normal to not get a full explanation. Plus plus, class divide is shown. It's subtle, like the underground places they go to hide in being dark and dirty in contrast to the main city, the kids under the bleachers, the "I wouldn't feel safe if this person with no pure bloodline is a knight", the inmediate acceptance of ballister because of the queen and the inmediate turn over as soon as he appeared to have killed the queen (that was so many people's "I told you so" moment probs), but it is there.
I agree and also like you can show the difference without having the lower class living in squalor. Like how there's still a difference between middle-class people and rich people. Since the city is futuristic it makes sense most people are living okay, but not extraordinary lives and you see the difference in how fancy the training facility is.
i agree! although the movie's themes can be obvious sometimes, there are a lot of times where its presentation of the world's problems are a lot more subtle and you kinda have to pay attention to what the characters are saying or the kind of energy that is there. i really like that aspect of it, i think i would've definitely have been brought out of the story if they had tried to play it up in a way that feels less natural
I also feel like the empty spaces when Bal and Nimona are hiding make sense, they were wanted so they went to a place with less people.
If you pay more attention to the monster attack sequences, the Nimona monster didn't want to kill others, she never initiated any attack (she only smacked the Monster alert and ad screening showing kids killing monster), all damage are done by other human.
Yep! I noticed that too.
Nimona herself just scares people by existing where they can see her. The damage is almost entirely done by the people trying to stamp out what's "monstrous."
The metaphor for queer identities, disability, neurodivergence, etc. couldn't be any clearer. You'll harm a lot of "normal" people too by attacking the ones you hate and fear.
I think the way Glorteh immediately turned against Nimona was perfect. At first she tried to protect her but then her parents told her Nimona's a monster. I think parents are supposed to represent The Diroctor and the whole system and how people belived whatever they told them.
We seem to be in an age where Disney is being constantly kicked into the curb by other studios who have considerably stepped up their game, Dreamworks nailed it with Puss in Boots 2, Sony is bathing in bucks with Across the Spiderverse, and since Klaus came out back in 2020, Netflix has also been producing well animated and exciting films.
At this point Disney is nothing but a shell of its former self. Not just because of how they refuse to bring back 2D animation but for how they became another ass kisser for the Hollywood agenda. They would much rather milk beloved franchises till they dry or pander to modern audiences than focus on making good movies. I am not even sure if Wish can save it seeing how RebelTaxi has very low expectations for it. Disney no longer seems to recognise the word "risk". The fact that they are getting beaten to the ground by other studios but they don't even bother to fight back by bringing in creative or original ideas is astounding. Oh, how the mighty have fallen is the perfect way to describe modern Disney.
@@arilumani6194 they really started to grow stale with all of those shitty live action remakes, and Pixar started going downhill about a decade ago starting with Toy Story 3.
@@arilumani6194they don't take any risk because it's risky simple also they made some risks that they usually don't do and they still get hated
@@arilumani6194It's nothing new, Disney was being kicked to the curb back in 2000s. They had a little resurgence in the early 2010s, but that quickly ended whenever they start focusing on their live-action stuff instead of animation.
My farts are better than Saberspark’s farts 💨
I think Nimona should have been a limited series. 8 or 9 episodes. That way you get the world building, more back story and so much more.
Personally I thought it was going to be a TV series myself.
OMG yeeesss it would have been epic! Still excited for what we actually got tho!
I was just thinking this!
@@ramonandrajo6348shuddup
I was thinking it would be a series until I saw it was 105 minutes when it really should have been closer to 120 at least.
14:24
I always saw this aspect as a "If they want to treat me like a villain and I can't prove them wrong, why bother not being one" sort of thing. I guess that's another parallel you can draw to Zootopia
Not only that, it makes allegorical sense. When someone decides to....do what Nimona almost did, you tend to become outwardly hostile to everyone around you because you are trying to drive them away. You don't actually want to be mean, it's just that you want to try to make them see you as a bad person so 1) no one will miss you/it makes your loss easier to accept, and 2) no one will be left to try to stop you.
In defense of nimonas backstory, while yes it seems initially shallow how everything happened...unfortunately I believe they were portraying something very real. As her parents pull her away and she says "shes my friend!" They tell her "no, shes a monster."
You have to remember theyre kids. Pretty young kids. And kids are very easily influenced by the adults around them. And unfortunately this is a very queer experience. The adults around those that wouldnt view you any differently suddenly warp their ideals and opinions. You can see the look on her face as well. A mix of confusion but also betrayal. Like "how could you? My friend?" Because little kids trust the world to their parents. Its awful. And while yeah it was limited in how they potrayed this, I feel theg had a specific kind of story to tell with those scenes. I feel a lot of parts of the movie, like the why shes so willing to play the part as 'monster'. While it may seem jarring for some people, if youre queer youd get it. Those deep feelings of frustration and going "well fuck it Ill be the monster theh hate so much then!" especially if youre younger.
"Why cant you just be normal?" when people put so much expectation for you to be something youre not....a bit of that anarchy wants to come out.
Indeed and completely agree.. Sometimes you just get tired of masking for people
Extremely well put. I was a little frustrated with Saber not quite getting it.
This!
Yea, plus, in Nimona’s flashback, when she’s being attacked by the villagers, her eyes go blank and she starts to attack the villagers back, in self defense ofc. But I think that this was meant to imply that Gloreth saw a scarier side of Nimona that day, which led her to believe her parents and turn on Nimona. So I personally felt the backstory wasn’t that shallow.
Extremely well described! As someone with ASD I've gone my whole life being told to "act normal", so that message is very relatable to me!
With Glorith's change of heart I understand how it feels sudden. For me, I think why she changed quickly is because of the label put onto Nimona. She seemed to genuinely care about Nimona and they had a wholesome friendship, but once the label of "monster" was put onto Nimona things changed. It's akin to people who are lgbt+ but have a hard time actually saying how they identify out loud. It's this whole idea of being gay is one thing but actually saying out loud that you're different is harder. Glorith saw Nimona as a person, but once Nimona was outed to be a "monster" the prejudice that comes with that term takes over. That's why I think she changed up personally, but whatever the intended reason it definitely could've been communicated better.
Completely agree! and while it could have been clearer, i noticed how at the mention of "monster" her expression changed and you could see her doubt immediately. It's there, but kinda subtle
Agreed, also it’d make sense for her to side with the people she’s known all her life over Nimona, and with the pressure they were putting on her
I think Glorith blamed Nomona for the fire that started due to the villagers attacking her for no reason
She was also a child who was listening to her parents. It makes sense for her to be easily swayed.
My farts are better than Saberspark’s farts 💨
I saw Nimona as a disability allegory and loved it for it. Especially the scene where Ballistar asked her "What are you?" and she says "I'm Nimona." I felt that deep into my core.
Bish shut up, Nimona ain't in no way disabled. If anything, she's badass, I'd ask my family to adopt her if she was real, honestly. We already have a shapeshifting eldritch creature at home(my cat)
@@adil0028do you not understand what an allegory or metaphor is?
@@adil0028 You think disabled people can't be badass?
To be honest a lot of people would ask " What are you " after seeing her shapeshift.
That's beautiful! I'm also disabled, but I didn't pick up on that. I think she works really well as a neurodivergent allegory, too.
I think by “commoner” they meant someone from the bad part of town like where Ballister and Nimona took the squire to question him. All of the marketplace scenes are in nice looking parts of town, so that might be why they look like “normal people” and not “commoners”.
Honestly I disagree about the end finale. I think the way way nimona was about to end it all was so heart wrenching given the signs given of her suicidality. I think it was a really subtle and beautiful way to show something so sad and so sickeningly common for humans to feel. They all stopped seeing her as human and she was at the end truly in that scene in her mind.
I think it's worth to note that the ending of the movie had a powerful message that resonates with people who have felt suicidal and it's also a great way to convey that appearences are deceiving.
Nimona is displayed throughout the movie as a bloodthirsty assistant that's always confident in herself and her actions.
But when Ballister, the only friend that she had trusted, started distancing himself from her because of the rumours he heard about her, it started to show her vulnerable side.
What makes this movie powerful is Nimona's reaction when the whole world seems against her. When she turns into a monster and enters the city of the inhabitants, she gives the impression that she wants to take revenge on humans, but in reality, Nimona thought of ending herself as she approached the sword of Gloreth's statue.
This message is enhanced by her words "I don't know what's scarier. The fact that everyone in this kingdom wants to run a sword through my heart... or that sometimes I just wanna let them."
Despite Nimona's power and attitude, she has her own struggles which reveal her human side through a great execution.
Another detail I noticed during that is like what happened back when it was a little village, the vast majority of the destruction was caused by the knights, much like how it was the villagers back then.
I would like to correct: she is not "a human". And so I get it, her "human side" is the empathic side, but just as she said "I'm not a girl, I'm a shark" - she is what she shapeshifts to - when she's a girl, she's a girl (a human, if you will), but when she's a shark, she's a shark. As originally, Nimona didn't have "ending body", and so Nimona's girl body wasn't the "OG", but rather just the same shapeshift as when she shapeshifts into shark (as she became a girl, when she met Gloreth).
So it's not that her norm form is a girl, and from that she shapeshifts to every other thing, but rather she is all the things she can shapeshift to, and there's no "OG" Nimona's body (she's just a "soul" changing her form to whatever she pleases to).
Reminds me of being non-binary... there's no "OG" gender, there's just them - the form they are right now (which is either both woman and a man, neither woman or a man, or inbetween - but there's no "OG"/one gender, they are just non-binary, which is neither just a man or a woman - it's its own thing).
The biggest crime was that this never put in theaters it would have made so much but I'm glad everyone is loving it on Netflix
You can't say that it would. It's better off to be doing good on netflix, that helped to actually complete it, than unjustly flopping at the cinemas which would be a huge possibility.
@@kingtiger3390 Why not both? Disney releases movies in cinema and then on Disney+ all the time, Netflix can do it too.
@ramonandrajo6348 no, woke is when the the ideals of the creators, over shine loyerally EVERYTHING else.. this was done well, not the entire focus, just like life. ..that's not woke..it's also written well.. so no, not woke
@@darianstarfrogthats not what woke means, however just ignore them. this person has over 200 comments on this channel and all of them are whining. its a bot. lol
@@darianstarfrog Considering that those who made this movie took several "creative liberties", I'd say I'm right. ;)
One of the things I have noticed with Nimono having watched it multiple times now is that when you watch it again so many of Nimona's lines hit so much harder when you know her backstory. Like it becomes so much more obvious that she's hurt deep down and just wants that all to stop.
As someone who’s read the graphic novel, I’d like to say that the movie actually made some stark changes to the story, like the Queen’s story and the division between Ballister and Ambrosias. In the book, there is no queen at all, and Ballister HATES Ambrosias for honestly, a really good reason (no spoilers). Personally I think the reason for the two knights’ relationship falling apart, and their division, was much stronger in the book. The climax and ending were also different. The director is also WAY more evil in the book than in the movie. The wall was also added, and I think that was where the movie was at it’s weakest.
With that said, I thought the movie was phenomenal, particularly with the music, animation, and especially Nimona’s design and expressions. One of my favorite moments was when Ambrosias comforts Ballister after Nimona’s sacrifice and sees the world outside the wall for the first time, Ballister doesn’t look up, he just lost someone close to him and he acts like someone who just lost someone close to him, love the little details like that! Also, the end credits’ design was just perfection, personally I think it’s some of the best end credit design I’ve ever seen. Also I’d been waiting a while to see those two kiss, as it isn’t actually seen in the book lol. It’s just so satisfying to see a movie go through so much and still come out on the other side with a vengeance. A wildly fierce history that’s just perfect for its wildly fierce protagonist!
I love the scene where Ambrosias internally freaks out but just says he’s fine, because I felt seen.
looking about. this seems to be the most common opinion. and i really like that. i haven't read the book, or read the comics in a very long time, but remember just how much i loved them as a kid. seeing it come out after all it went through, its just nice to see. and knowing that people who are hard core fans of the book also love it, i think is even more credit to how good it is.
The idea of Nimona's humor including murder and such, is just her projecting the monster the people make her out to be. She's given up, cause why even bother, if that's all people see you are. Honestly reminds me a lot of Marceline The Vampire Queen "People get scared and run away is because I want them to!".
And her still not allowing people calling her a monster despite all that, my thought process is that to her that word is a trigger word, associated with a past trauma than just the meaning itself.
She enjoyed hurting people :/
@@junco88 She hurt guards, who are trained in combat. For average citizens, she just liked scaring the crap out of them. But when it came to children, she wanted to cause no harm or fear at all. The way she made her dragon form look so cute after saving the little boy and immediately changing to a little girl to reassure him was so gentle and considerate.
@@junco88The people she hurt sucked and were trained to kill her
“If the world is only going to see you as shifty and untrustworthy, there’s no point in trying to be anything else.”
-Nick Wilde, slightly paraphrased.
@ms_alicia_renae I just feel like her writing is flawed. If she genuinely didn't want to be seen as a villain, she shouldn't have approached Ballister literally applying to be one. She was right to approach him at all since both of them were social outcasts. That made sense. But she should've approached him out of curiosity, wondering why he did what he did.
But instead, she desired/enjoyed to inflict terror, pain, and death onto people. I felt empathy for her when Gloreth betrayed her because she was innocent. But if the writers wanted the audience to feel empathy for her in present day, they shouldn't have made her crave violent behavior.
And I agree that it was sweet to save the child and appear innocent in front of him. But that happened immediately after she took out a bunch of knights: the protectors of the kingdom. So it was no wonder the child was afraid. It all just seems really messy imo 🫤
I think a lens to look at Ballister IS that he's going through the motions. He was just a kid thrown into the limelight and had the public critiquing his every move since. He was the "good minority" and was too aware that a step out of line could cost him a lot. So he dedicated himself to being the best knight not out of a sense of motivation but a sense of duty.
The whole of Nimona is about roles society casts you in and the ways it limits who you're allowed to be, especially from a young age
was hoping someone would say this. of course ballister is going through the motions because that's how he was trained, of course he also knows what will happen if he makes a single mistake. i thought the movie did a great job of showing the unbelievable pressure that "good minorities" are under, and it also showed the ridiculous consequences. with them painting over the sign with ballister on it, it shows that ballister's "actions" have assured that no other commoner will ever get the chance he did.
12:02
I can see that perspective, and you would think it DOES take that for anyone to turn so suddenly.
But that's all it takes for a kid to be fearful or hateful, or even hurtful. Just for the adults around them to tell them to be.
RIP Nex Benedict.
Nimona is amazing, and I adore that they gave it a happy ending instead of the comics, I love both the comic and the movie, but the movie needed that ending lol, and I love it
Comic ending was so sad 😭
Compared to the comic i think i like this adaptation better, which is ironic because I thought some of the changes they made to the characters wouldnt work. But I loved the execution of it all. Especially Nimona herself, she was still that chaotic and crazy shapeshifter i knew but with a more compelling backstory. At least the novel never explained why her parents gave her away to the institution so easily.
In the comic she was still there in the Background but she never was in the spotlight
@@BlueJay99spoil me, how did it end?
What was the comic end ?
Annapurna definitely did Blue Sky justice. I'm so glad this film got a second chance and had so many thought provoking messages. Big metaphors/analogies to fearmongering and propaganda against minorities, using fear to control, the victors writing the history books, use of excessive force, maintaining tradition/the status quo at all costs, gaslighting, and hiding the parts of yourself that aren’t “normal” enough for others’ comfort, among others. It’s pretty spectacular.
Excellently worded!
2 and’s, L+Ratio
edit: bro fixed the comment.
NO UR TAKLKING ABOUT TRUMP
@@NigerianCrusader of course you're the one person who has to bring politics into everything. Go outside. The world exists outside of your TV.
@@kittysoftpaws3677 trump is relevant all the TIME THOUGHB
I loved nimona a lot. The s*icide clip shook me and I cried for her during it because I felt that. I don't think I've ever seen an animated western movie allude to it before that wasn't a crude adult show. I've only felt that before when watching anime like "A Silent Voice", but I wasn't expecting it to make its way into western animation for wide audiences. I deeply related to her there, as someone who feels very alienated, not as a monster really but alienated in general, I really felt for her. I am not struggling like that right now but it warms my heart to think that this can really help souls who are hurting out there. That makes this movie a 10/10 in my book.
I was surprised too.
Even though she ends up okay it still left an impact.
Hell even the credits leave an option for those who want help
Isn’t Centaurworld one that does that? I could be dumb though
Hey, same, I remember the first time I want to watch a silent voice, I have to stop midway because it's so painful to me since it giving me flashbacks to my past and reminded me of my old painful days that made me want to throw up, but one day, I decide to just finished it in hoping that I could be brave in facing what I feared and I'm happy that I finished it, it still made me have a bit of breakdown, but I'm glad I manage to finish it and show that I am strong enough to face my fear and my past self,
Nimona movie also made me breakdown too, not because of only being perceived as "evil" but showing the side of you're innocent and you didn't do anything wrong but people just blamed you for it even when you didn't do it, and I like that, the vibe that nimona even did of being "METAL" or chaotic, it's reminded me of myself, people hate me so much that I'm like, fuc it, let's just vibe with it and embrace it, I really like the way it portrayed,
So yeah, the movie is very beautiful for me and I'm going to keep it for future me to watch it again whenever I have a bad day
For me the movie is a 4 out of 10 because I don’t like it when people have to shove lgbtq stuff down your throat saying “love them or your evil” repeatedly I do love those people and I pray for them but I just really miss when I could enjoy a show or movie or even a game where they don’t shove their agenda down your throat like it’s absolute the animation was really good tho and the story was all right
@@nigelloewen2105 shut up already. theres no "agenda"
I feel like nimona's "killing people" personality is just more messaging. People who are rejected can behave like monsters due to pain and resentment and that, indeed, just makes them be seen like monsters even more. It does not help their case. Very real
You might be surprised what you are willing to do as a kid due to a parents influence. Kids are very impressionable. So it might seem weird that she just turned on Nimona like that, but it's actually very realistic. It really can happen that quickly. They are not adults, they are not going to think through everything logically. They are going to see how their parents react and follow their lead cause a child will always put their parents on a pedestal at that age.
also like he showed his whole ass in not getting this movie. because the ENTIRE film shows themes of how society and our media influence children. nimona even SAYS it "kids, LITTLE kids think im a monster" theyre showing how children react to the way they're taught for the ENTIRE film. it's like he went into this already knowing he didn't want to watch it and refused to understand the most obvious themes in the film.
@@mags2226also that whole origin scene shows how a legend can often be built on misinformation and lies.
I think it’s less of a plot driven movie and a more emotionally driven one. And I do agree that there could’ve been more world building but that was a sacrifice the movie made. When I first watched the movie, I found the fast paced emotional whiplash a good thing. It felt really different to things that I’d seen more recently and it really helped hold my attention. Ballister’s arc of acceptance is incredible. It morphs from a “What are you?” to a “Who are you?” that is reminiscent of what queer folk everywhere experience. A lot of people only care about the logistics rather than the people and it’s part of what makes it difficult. To see Ballister go through that arc to finally see Nimona for who she actually is is amazing. The bit where Bal is tending to Nimona in the alleyway after capturing the squire and then again during Monopoly is proof that he’s changed. And that climax wasn’t supoosed to be heavy action. It was Nimona’s lowest point caused by everything she’s been through. Caused by blind bigotry and fear and a “sheep” mindset implemented by the Institution that the Queen had been trying to dismantle through Bal before she was killed. It was so emotionally charged that it was just silence all around. And that final moment with Bal’s hand on her heart and the “I see you” was incredible. Nimona finally had someone she could trust and lean on, someone who knew her for who she was and wasn’t going to betray her like Gloreth had.
Well said
100%
So much of the movie has so many alludes to issues lgbt people face jrl, with some fantasy twists.
I can confidently say Nimona is the first movie in a while to make me cry... and also tear my heart apart in the process, which, one, OUCH, and two, I feel like it renewed me in some way. That's just a small ramble, though.
This movie had me sobbing during that whole ending scene as soon as Nimoina was betrayed
Bro Literally Typed The Whole Movie
I love how many genuinely great animated movies have been coming out recently. Puss in Boots 2, Spiderverse, and now Nimona. I hope that at least to some extent they manage to break the Disney monopoly
Also, when you think about it. these animated movies had been so profitable, I can't think of anything besides the Avatar making serious bank.
Not to mention Arcane (even though it's a tad older). So much potential and incredible stories, and absolutely no money for Disney. :)
Also this is a bit older but sea beast and del torro’ ponochio
We need more characters that are absolute creatures like nimona.
To be honest, I didn't really need more fleshed out world building. They had a lot of ground to cover in their runtime, and the pacing of the movie is already INCREDIBLY fast. I would love to see Nimona as a TV show, but TV shows don't always get the same amount of attention as feature films do. If it had been a TV Show, I doubt it would have ever seen the light of day after the blue sky debacle. So with the limited time that they had, they had to focus on what was important. They chose to focus on the plot and the characters rather than the world building. I think we have just enough world building for the story to work well. Though, I wouldn't be opposed to more Nimona.
It would be nice if it got the tangled series treatment. A tv show with plot that expands the universe and shows the characters living their lives with all its ups and downs
the pacing, the comedy, the emotion, the script, the characters. I was honestly sat on my couch for ten minutes after the end credits had rolled wondering why I was still seated. it was because this film was downright _refreshing_ from all the crap we've been given lately and I enjoyed it so much it confused my brain.
The pacing felt super wonky to me personally
But maybe it was just too overhyped so i saw more flaws
Itching for something different doesn't make it good, though. Pacing was def not something to write home to
@@someoddusername5677 I mean, it was faster and there definitely were parts that jumped, but overall I think it was pretty solid, especially considering the hiatus and studio changes. I hadn't even known they'd revitalized this, just saw it on Netflix and was so happy. I guess there were trailers and promotions then?
The point of the irony in Nimona not wanting to be perceived as a monster yet acting chaotic and near feral is, I feel, a nod to how queer folks are expected to water themselves down and show everyone they’re not a threat like “the other ones”. If anything, Nimona staying her punky, violent self is a powerful statement to us being able to be ourselves and still not have to fear for our lives
Yeah, that’s what I thought the whole point of her relationship with Ballister was about, like he’s been repressing himself to fit in, obsessed with killing monsters because that’s what knights are about and if he’s a knight then he’s not some lower class citizen, then Nimona is there to show you shouldn’t change who you are to make other people more comfortable, he wasn’t enthusiastic like “Judy Hopps” because what he was doing wasn’t good, and like Nimona said he wasn’t really living. This movie does a lot of blurring of themes, class, gender, but really it’s all about bigotry.
I felt the whole thing with nimona always saying she wasn't a girl and then her saying she was sometimes a boy, and the spectrum of the animals she changed into was an aligory for being trans and being treated like a monster up to and including her wanting to kill herself and not harm anybody when she finally couldn't tqke being called a monster anymore. Only through being accepted by her friend, did it save her from ending her life. I dunno. Felt it was a very trans message.
@@wonderduck2345you're not alone in that. Combined with the Ballister's relationship and our current moment in time it has a strong "gay people who find it easier to be accepted have a responsibility to trans folk" undertone.
@@KarolMarcjan I mean it's fine. I liked the movie as a whole. it's just great message for kids being try to be accepting of everyone and it was a fun adventure. I hate being an adult having to read more into it than that. Lol
This was a terrible movie for kids. Absolutely this movie is not a kids movie. The political messaging alone is way off limits not to mention the blatant anti white racism. Every white person was a villain or a jerk. Absurd. Not to mention, we're supposed to identify with and support the character that's going around saying people should be murdered? Nimoma has zero interest in holding back from killing people, it's obvious through the whole movie. Why would I empathize with that? Why would I want my kid to empathize with that?
For not wanting to be a monster nimona did a damn good job of acting like one
At the end when they cutoff Ballistor swearing was one of the funniest things in the movie
With Gloreth, children are impressionable and can be swayed both ways. Nimona even talks about how, when a child thought she was a monster, it hurt, because it was a child who didnt understand, that children are raised to wanna stab anything thats different. Gloreth tried to defend Nimona but her parents(?) said she was a monster, so she was conflicted. So it wasn't super questionably when Gloreth suddenly changed perspective. Gloreth had no idea what to do you can see that.
Yes, it would have been much worse to make that change a miscommunication or an accident. The impact would not have been the same and it would have lost the theme.
My thoughts as well! I'd argue that this movie does a good job showing how children can be swayed by society - not just by how Glorith's parents and village acted - but also by the advertisements shown around the city. Nimona can be seen shrugging off and being annoyed by a lot of the advertisements that glorifies monster-slaying to kids.
It shows how certain acts of marketing and storytelling can influence society and culture most of the time (though it's pretty nuanced territory, as debates around how much art/media can affect people's mental state and society/culture is a controversial subject matter).
Nimona gives off huge early Toph energy in my opinion. Like, I could see them being friends, the friendship being even stronger as Toph could feel Nimona’s heart, knowing that Nimona is not to be feared, and that she’s just different, like Toph who can’t see but is especially good at earthbending. They’d definitely cause all kinds mischief just for fun, especially to unfortunate cabbage merchants lol.
yes right!
Ahhh that sounds fun
yesss i love both of them and they'd make an awesome duo
I KNEW SOMETHING ABOUT HER SEEMED FAMILIAR.
Okay, now I need this team-up movie!
Nimona, Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, and Across the Spiderverse having to go against each other for best animated feature feels like a crime against art, but my GOD animation lovers are FEASTING this year
Ballister's motives were pretty clear. He, like every knight, wanted to follow the societal norm of being a Protector of the Realm. His motive after the death of the Queen wasn't just to clear his name but also to find out why someone wanted the Queen dead and bring them to justice. His motivation to be a protector never changed, but I think he realised how false it seemed if there was nothing really to protect.