I will say, one of the cutest things about this special is that the Mad Hatter was somehow the most responsible adult, because he took, not only his daughter, but also Lizzie and Kitty with him to safety. It's cute to think that the maddest of them all is also the wisest when it comes to this. Even though it hurts Lizzie in the long term, if it had been a worse situation Mad Hatter did a good job. It's a small detail, but it does imply that he took all the kids he could to a safe place
I love the mad Hatter, I love ALL of the eah parents! If maybe eah wasn't canceled we couldve gotten to find out more about them! They have potential to be really interesting characters! Also yeah kudos to the mad Hatter for being a good dad and taking matters into his own hands in dire situations.
In the diaries the escape is more sad unfortunately The kids including Alistair and Bunny were leaving but Lizzie wasn't there yet so they went back for her and Kitty found her but because they went back Bunny and Alistair were accidentally left behind
Of course he saved the kids. He's mad! Sane adults think about things that are ""important"" in such emergencies, like order, panicking about things they're supposed to do and looking "adult". Of course he didn't do the sane thing.
My theory is that when Wonderland got cursed it was a “get out immediately or be stuck here” situation and the three girls were probably already together since they were friends, and Maddie’s dad was the closest to them out of all their parents, so when it happened he made sure that since he could take Lizzie and Kitty with him, he would.
One thing that’s always bothered me about this special is during unchess, why didn’t Raven just declare her side wins? I mean, I know they wanted a dance bettle for the fun aspect but Lizzy and her mom are in real danger.
i feel like the writers thought about it, and then scrapped it because kids like dancing. and also, it's wonderland, do you really think they would let Raven do such an unfun thing by just saying her side wins? she probably would've had to take remedial classes in the sky.
Maybe I’m just a maximalist but the girls Wonderland designs have always been my favorite in the show. They never felt dolly to me they felt whimsical and fun. I’m also a sucker for transformation sequences in general, but here it adds to the fun of outfits
I wasn't all that big on Courtly Jester as a villain, but I did enjoy other parts of it, like Lizzie reuniting with her mother, the big party at the end, and of course the fight scene where Raven inherits her powers and becomes an amazing sorceress (plus Apple admitting that Raven is good of heart which shows that she sees Raven for who she is instead of the role she's supposed to fulfill).
There is one single thing that I actually do like about one of the girls' designs, and that's the color in Briar's hair. I love how there's a pop of green in there, to represent the rose thing, like an actual flower, with the green stem. It really does give me wonderland vibes in some strange way.
I think Alice in Wonderland being in the public domain is worth remembering when you say you want to see other worlds. The Wizard of Oz books are still not all in the public domain, and visual depictions of the characters are also restricted by copyrights from the Warner's Bros. film. Peter Pan is still partially copyrighted in the UK specifically and requires royalties to be paid to the Great Ormond Street Hospital charity (the latter likely being a reason why the film 'Pan' is so unlike it's source material - they were trying to avoid paying royalties). Given the budget of animated shows I don't think they could afford to use either.
@@KaminoKatie Ah you're right the first book did enter public domain at that time - I've adjusted the comment. Having looked further, the public domain laws have changed several times so some books entered pretty quickly and others still haven't. Also the copyright for visual depictions is its own thing with Warner Brothers D: Just a mess overall really.
We could also have got the world from the Nutcracker, they already included ballet and its already in the public domain. Mattel already used it twice for Barbie movies.
I hate that their was no consequences for raven signing the book like I kinda was expecting her to have a glimmer of evil in the end of the special and that maybe we’ll see that in dragon games. I felt like the evil queen was setting this up from the beginning
I see what you mean that would have been an interesting storyline. I think it’s possible that the writers were planning expand on the storyline in the future. But since Ever After High was cancelled after Dragon Games and Epic Winter, so it’s possible that they never got a chance.
@@wonderlucky1912 they made the storybook of legends unimportant in my eyes like,imagine if raven trying to fight this destiny and she would get worse. Not to mention the apple and briar’s tension, we could’ve gotten more of that. I agree they didn’t have enough time
I agreed with you, Ever After High was at its peak whenever we tackled the destiny topic. They never gave us a solid reason for why generations upon generations signed the book, and why almost no one seemed to rebel. The “ you’ll go poof” seems fake, they could’ve unraveled the secret along the seasons or introduced it at the beginning. So when Raven doesn’t actually sign it’s a big deal, but she doesn’t face consequences, as you said, and the story kind of goes stale. It had great concepts like Ceriese and Braiar, but they don’t go anywhere. This story had a great start and a bad ending in Epic winter, Dragon Games was good for the most part though😁. I love this show, but it never really reached its potential or took itself that seriously, mostly because it’s a toy line first and foremost. Thanks for listening to my tedtalk, and sorry for any misspellings.
@@olaothman5228 while I understand that we would reach a conclusion I don't like how it was handled like how Raven suddenly the power has to change fate when she a literal character in book it makes her look too powerful and too easy. this feels like something Brooke page be doing sense she's a narrator and cares for these people that she argues with her parents. the book cause so many plots point like Ashleyn and hunter, briar, and cerise especially her! we could had her confront her mom about this since she was hiding the book how she was low key selfish about it, not changing the system and people going through bad destines, like duchess, while she gets to have her romance with big bad wolf. I think dragon games was great finale to the overarching plot about how both apple and raven stood up to past generation to carve a new. but I can't imagine new stories if that plot point wasn't there it wouldn't be ever after high without it.
I love hearing how opposite your opinion is on the outfits and transformation scene of the girls are in this special. While I agree, they look like they're too much, and the transformation was so much of a "buy our dolls" thing, I don't know, I watched Winx Club when I was a kid, and I love transformations! Also, I love the aesthetics of the Wonderland dresses, though, I understand toning it down a bit! Also, lovely video, I agreed with pretty much everything else!
Is it just me, or does Briar's Wonderland outfit make her more like Flora from Winx Club rather than Sleeping Beauty with Wonderlandian design aspects?
See I’m completely the opposite. I adore the wonderland designs and think they capture the overall vibes of wonderland really well. Wonderland is all about nonsense. The novel was basically the origin of nonsense writing after all. No thing should be cohesive or make too much sense. And the outfits are all those things. And I guess you could argue that translates better to literature than it does to fashion but personally I love it.
I would argue that Alive in Wonderland isn't so much nonsense writing, but rather am exploration of perspective. Like, in the eyes of a bored child, the world run by adults feels impossible to follow with their weird rules and sense of logic. At least that's one way I've seen it described. But that's kind of the fun with wonderland! Everyone tends to interpret it in different ways! :D
@@thejudgmentalcritter6584 even by being an "exploration of perspective" it is done in a surreal way, the books narrative, just like in this special, is as cohesive as any dream could ever be. Wonderland, being the object of a dream created by a child, is nonsense and the lack of sense and linear storytelling is intentional (i got carried over with the argument hehe)
so many feelings about this special. I adore Chase, i am forever mad at how little he was explored going foreword. i know he was barely a side character, but he and Courtly were the only 2 wonderlandian students that were actively introduced in the special. Courtly was the villain and she got loads of time. Chase had a lot of interesting things that i thought could have gone farther. He could have been a source of explanation for the changes in wonderland since the returning wonderlandians left. WHCIH IS ANOTHER THING- they have several wonderlandian characters: Lizzie, Maddie, Alistair, Bunny, Kitty- and it feels like none of them knew what to expect in wonderland. Alistair and Bunny weren't even IN wonderland and they would have made FANTASTIC guides since thy had just returned. Maddie, Kitty, and Lizzie should have been more familiar with the way wonderland works- and the things they weren't should have been attributed to the curse and explained by other wonderland characters. There should have been more usage of the knowledge these characters have. Instead we got apple and Raven stumbling through things ( i get it, they're they face of the show) and briar, who was brought for the book plot and was barely used. idk lots of loose things that could have been more. I love the wonderlandians, i adore the potential. But it just seems to stay at potential
Out of all the girl's outfits in this one, I like Kitty's the most. I really like the colour gradient on the fur collar and cuffs. I also just really enjoy purple and yellow colour pallets. Although, the yellow in Kitty's hair looked highlighter-y. I wish they used the same yellow on the dress for the hair. But why does she have a bowtie? I think a choker would've been better. And her headband looks like wolf ears, not cat ears. I do love the tail w/ the clock though.
4:07 This is kind of my biggest peeve about Way Too Wonderland, I know there's other flaws to focus on, but wasn't it established in the earlier special that Lizzie had a magic book from her mother that could locate the Well of Wonder? As in, the only other opening to Wonderland? That can always be easily found with her magic book? I never hear anyone talk about this and it silently drives me nuts
Wasn't that book lost/destroyed in an earlier special? I thought Apple threw the book in the well, putting it in Wonderland somewhere and maaking it functionally useless.
Now I want a redesign video for Way Too Wonderland! Also, I feel like rather than a transformation I think they should’ve had like… a Wonderland background character see them and freak out as Raven, Apple, and Briar look out of place, then, Lizzie can suggests that SHE (because Spring Un-Sprung reveals she likes to design and sew) will make them outfits to blend in better. It’d fit much more comfortably into the plot.
I still think my biggest issue with these Specials’ doll outfits was always the one that even looks like it has a lower budget, because the real life doll came with a play set. With Thronecoming it wasn’t as obvious because not everyone was wearing regular ball gowns, so Briar didn’t stand out much, but with Spring Unsprung Lizzie, who was designing the outfits, suddenly had the most basic one of the bunch. Still, nothing comperes to what they did to Raven here. While all the girls looked like they had buckets of things thrown at them, Raven gets a headband, a collar and a short dress with three feathers printed on… Why? Why would they do that to her, especially when she is one of the main players in the story?
Honestly, the Courtly vs Raven fight and the emotional beats between Apple and Raven are the only parts that I remember. Because of this I honestly remember it being better than it was. I was so disappointed at how meandering it turned out to be. I skipped a bunch just to get to the parts I liked. I'm happy it does get better after this, but I wish that Way Too Wonderland could've been more enjoyable.
Courtly Jester is one of my favourite characters and I love wonderland, I can’t explain why. The dragon games are my favourite arc though. I have an oc based off Courtly so that’s part of why I love her but idk she’s just so chaotic
INCREDIBLE 😭😭😭This is one of my favourite arcs. The designs and lore are so fun Funny enough,the Wonderland designs are my favourite set. They're so campy and insane. The only one I'm mixed on is Raven's. Kitty's got an iconic watch, I love Lizzie's ridiculous swan on her head. Some of my favourite designs. Do You Wonder is one of my favourite songs in the franchise
one thing that annoyed me is that other than maddie, the wonderland kids seemed just as confused as the ever after kids? like kitty and lizzie were just as lost as raven and apple but they're literally from wonderland and i imagine that they've attended wonderland high before so it didn't make sense that they didn't know what they were doing.
You ever wondered(ha! Wondered) how weird it must've felt for the Wonderland kids like Maddie and Lizzie and Kitty to go from one day of school to 180? Like, Maddie’s comment of how much work is put into that one day implies that she and the others attended school at Wonderland High so it must've taken a bit for them to get used to having school almost every day rather than just one day!
I have a lot of mixed feelings when it comes to Raven signing the Storybook of Legends. one of my favorite aspects of the show was the interpersonal drama of the Royal vs Rebel dynamic and how it affected the cast. Briar's arc is the biggest example of that. So, when the finale of that aspect of the show is just crammed into the last part of the Wonderland-focused special it left me kinda burned on the admittedly cool finale to Way to Wonderland. Imagine the kind of dramatic blow-off we could have gotten if it was given the proper amount of time and focus. Also, it leads into the "Power Princess" era and replaces the OG theme song which is another bummer. But on the other hand, I do like where it leads into Dragon Games and how it affects Apple's character, especially in that special. So I can't be too mad at the rushed conclusion if it gives us gems like that.
i would have really loved if when Apple tried to stop Raven from killing Courtly she just ignored her, then resulting in the other characters trying to remind Raven who she was, with her finally remembering that she wasn't evil when Maddie reminds her how good of friends they are. I really like Maddie's character and wish they had have done more with Raven and her's friendship than just saying that they're friends.
something that confused me is the evil queen and her powers? in the mirror realm it didn't make sense that she would just be able to control things near the mirror because if that was so wouldnt she be able to levitate a book and smash the mirror with it to free herself?
Man this movie was my favorite when I was a kid, and the outfits are still my favorites, they are so weird and whimsical, but it could be handle better
Man, the fact Ever After High was canceled but Descendants is still (STILL) ongoing to this day will never NOT hurt. There was so much more potential with this series
Even though I enjoyed this special, I always was disappointed by how easily the curse was broken and the whole book stuff was solved (although I think it made sense, but I was expecting more drama ig). In the books, maybe because of what you said about putting the curse information in bits during stories, made it look like a huuuge deal. And then Raven just solved it with a spell, even when she just got all of her powers, and didn't struggle with it-
I love your ever after high reviews so much theyre so different from the others you literally say the whole truth and pay attention to the littlest details and I love thsr
Also, can I interrupt the Way Too Wonderland for a sec? I just need to say: I HATE what the show did to the Mad Hatter’s design! He had a great description of his appearance that fit well with Maddie’s in Shanon Hale’s book! But then they do THIS!? Though I will admit I like (most of) his outfit. I do feel like the pants and shoes are kinda plain, but I do wish the hat was magenta and gold like Maddie’s to match his jacket. The biggest reason I like it is because it kinda makes Maddie’s dress look almost like a uniform for the Tea Shoppe with how they match. If it were me I’d give him his book appearance but with the top, make the hat match the blazer, and give him blue and white striped pants with white gloves that have blue polka dots to match Maddie’s underskirt and gloves/tights, and lastly, white swirly dress shoes. Idk, I just really like the idea of matching Tea Shoppe uniforms okay? :)
I got the playset from this movie for my birthday years ago, and I’ve kept it since because of how nostalgic this movie is for me! I’d love to get my hands on this version of Kitty again
I personally really love the wonderland outfits. I agree with the points you made and funnily enough they're the reason I like them lol They're ugly and garish and even amongst the "native" wonderlandians they look slightly out of place, and I like that. They look uncomfortable as hell and I like how that actually affects the girls moveabiltiy (most of the time)
my biggest issue with the special, aside from the dragging story, is the fact that ALL Wonderlandians don't understand their own land's logic??? as far as I've understood it, Wonderland's logic is nonsensical to us as it follows different and/or constantly changing patterns, thus being incomprehensible to us and such the eah students. but Lizzi and co all grew up there?? yes they haven't been there in years, but by e.g. Maddie's behaviour in the show, you can still see they are the odd bunch in eah so why are they floundering during (for example) the trial?? especially Lizzie should know how wonderland court proceedings go!! :(( idk it just felt like thw writers just. forgot that the girls are from Wonderland except for "oh, they can show the eah girls around" they could've had such a nice theme of understanding and appreciating different cultures by having the Wonderlandians explain certain things (meaning the film could've also been used for worldbuilding!!!) but it simply collapsed into itself bc the ones FROM THERE didn't understand either,,,
haven't watched the special in a while n yea i can see more of the flaws now. the wonderlandians esp maddie and kitty really got sidelined glad to hear your thoughts about it
I like this special bc Lizzie gets more screen time (she's my favorite) and we get to see the whole wonderland place and how it works. The battle with Raven and Courtney was amazing. The memes at the end 😂😂😂
Incredibly niche (I guess) rant, but I love Brooke Page, she’s probably my favourite character in EAH and I think the main reason I like Spring Unsprung and Way Too Wonderland so much is because she actually contributes to the plot (albeit in a contrived way). I loved the idea of a narrator being a rebel and helping out characters when they needed it, so it made me sort of annoyed when in Dragon Games and Epic Winter, she just became a narrator like her parents. I love Dragon Games, but I would have liked Brooke to help out more. Anyway, rant over! I loved the video, thank you so much for continuing this series! :D
My (very small) flex for this is that I have like four of the books from book fairs and know who all the new characters were lol (Darling I love you you were an icon for younger me)
So I got questions. We were shown that Darling’s white knight armor is exoskeleton/mecha. If it works that way, does that mean Chase armor same way or he just really tall guy?
@@thejudgmentalcritter6584 Now I’m imagining Tall yet soft spoken guy like Chase and Darling an gentle yet action girl together. Just makes my heart meltz
i really liked wtw but i think its just bcs i loved the end part so much that i could ignore the boring beginnings and plotholes. I really loved the part where raven breaks the spell and where she signs, its so epic
I honestly have mixed feelings on the portrayal of wonderland in this special. I'm a big fan of the original books, and while I enjoy their nonsense, I also enjoyed how it was allowed to breathe. Alice was a very good protagonist because she tends to take things in stride, while still being able to engage in interesting conversations. She doesn't point out everything weird that happens, she instead engages with it. I feel like the special's approach just brings it down, because every gag is just very hit or miss. If they wanted to go full on zany comedy, then maybe they should have had a smash cut to a bunch of weird classes and then moved on after 10 seconds. Instead, they want to point at something weird and nonsensical, point at it, and then repeat it for 20+ times. They have to let the nonsense breathe.
Ever After High has a book called A Wonderfuliful World that focuses on the curse on Wonderland and the Wonderland characters. I see that it’s similar storylines as Way Too Wonderland special but executed in a different way.
I actually love the designs kitty being my favorite. There was a lot of wonder to how the clothes worked. There were nonsense but they are in a place full of nonsense😂😂😂
2:22 I mean one being a boy and one being a girl just shows that they're not supposed to be identical? They're fraternal male and female twins are always fraternal and as such won't look exactly alike
Your definitely going to like Dragon Games alot more than this special, it has a more important story, and it is overall better, even tho way to Wonderland is fun!
Well, it was implied that they enjoyed Dragon Games way more, mostly the "things get only better and better" at the end while showing a clip of Fable Thorn (sorry if I wrote the name wrong) and I'm fairly sure that is a clip from Dragon Games.
Man was this movie underwhelming. Like, the incredibly important character and story beats that occur in Part 4 weren't built up to within the movie, so these sudden developments feel dismissive in how underwhelming there are and disingenuous to what the movies before built up. It's disappointing that these concepts weren't fully fleshed out, and can now never have a proper send off because this movie exists. Also, Brooke solving the plot for the characters again is incredibly lazy writing. It was lazy when they did it in the last movie, but it's even worse here because its not novel (ba dum tss) anymore. The only thing I somewhat enjoyed about this special was Chase, mostly because he was so different form the rest of the Wonderlandians in how un-erratic he was, plus the idea of a Wonderlandian being so concerned with rules and order (or at least, reasonable rules that aren't wacky Wonderland rules) seems like a paradox that warrants some kind of exploration. But I wish his design had at least a unique colour scheme as opposed to just genderbent Lizzie.
I don't hate the dress :p I like the colors and the molds, i just don't like how MUCH is that plastic things, that to much "puff" dress and the girls design ideia acctualy get really awful i admit... And i think the transformation scene really great :]
I must confess- I am a major fan of wild garish outfits, so I actually like a couple of them. I love Maddie and Lizzie's, and I think Apple's would've been cute without the weird plastic stuff. Briar, Kitty, and Raven though? No thanks.
Why didn't the writers utilize the fact that the girls have been in wonderland school to use thier riddle solving skills and understanding of wonderland word twisting in court to get out of it. Make it worth our time and the character's that we sat through those useless classes and lessons, Both times the girls were in trouble they could have smarted their own way out of it(detention and court)in a meaningful way. If the lessons weren't useful during the one time they needed it what was the point!!
The dragon is forshadowing a future Season/Special that hasn't been covered yet, Anyways the DragonsGames is definently the peak of Ever After so just hold on cause its a good one.
This special is one of my favourites, yes we really waste a lot of time, we have a lot of different potential characters but the show doesn't usually choose to do anything with it. I don't agree at all about the costumes, I think every costume is like a work of alice in wonderland. It feels like it belongs to the place. I like the big accessories and stuff. it's such a big deal but it's kind of uninspiring. They're destroying the book in the end!? And everyone is fine with that. I don't know, there are so many things the show does well. The character design, the character backstories and all that. But the most important things are so uninspiring and hey everyone is happy. It was like we needed an extra 2 or 3 seasons if it wasn't cancelled. It's a fun watch to watch. it was the show :( I liked our video, even though I don't agree with most of it ♡ good job
I will say, one of the cutest things about this special is that the Mad Hatter was somehow the most responsible adult, because he took, not only his daughter, but also Lizzie and Kitty with him to safety.
It's cute to think that the maddest of them all is also the wisest when it comes to this. Even though it hurts Lizzie in the long term, if it had been a worse situation Mad Hatter did a good job.
It's a small detail, but it does imply that he took all the kids he could to a safe place
I love the mad Hatter, I love ALL of the eah parents! If maybe eah wasn't canceled we couldve gotten to find out more about them! They have potential to be really interesting characters!
Also yeah kudos to the mad Hatter for being a good dad and taking matters into his own hands in dire situations.
In the diaries the escape is more sad unfortunately
The kids including Alistair and Bunny were leaving but Lizzie wasn't there yet so they went back for her and Kitty found her but because they went back Bunny and Alistair were accidentally left behind
@@dylanmcgoey2238diaries name?
Of course he saved the kids. He's mad! Sane adults think about things that are ""important"" in such emergencies, like order, panicking about things they're supposed to do and looking "adult". Of course he didn't do the sane thing.
My theory is that when Wonderland got cursed it was a “get out immediately or be stuck here” situation and the three girls were probably already together since they were friends, and Maddie’s dad was the closest to them out of all their parents, so when it happened he made sure that since he could take Lizzie and Kitty with him, he would.
One thing that’s always bothered me about this special is during unchess, why didn’t Raven just declare her side wins? I mean, I know they wanted a dance bettle for the fun aspect but Lizzy and her mom are in real danger.
i feel like the writers thought about it, and then scrapped it because kids like dancing.
and also, it's wonderland, do you really think they would let Raven do such an unfun thing by just saying her side wins? she probably would've had to take remedial classes in the sky.
The plot needs to be stretched out doing that would mean less of a challenge and less conflict as a result making the story shorter and more boring.
Maybe I’m just a maximalist but the girls Wonderland designs have always been my favorite in the show. They never felt dolly to me they felt whimsical and fun. I’m also a sucker for transformation sequences in general, but here it adds to the fun of outfits
REAL!!
I wasn't all that big on Courtly Jester as a villain, but I did enjoy other parts of it, like Lizzie reuniting with her mother, the big party at the end, and of course the fight scene where Raven inherits her powers and becomes an amazing sorceress (plus Apple admitting that Raven is good of heart which shows that she sees Raven for who she is instead of the role she's supposed to fulfill).
There is one single thing that I actually do like about one of the girls' designs, and that's the color in Briar's hair. I love how there's a pop of green in there, to represent the rose thing, like an actual flower, with the green stem. It really does give me wonderland vibes in some strange way.
*27:20** Courtly's accent just went from cockney to british* 😅
I think Alice in Wonderland being in the public domain is worth remembering when you say you want to see other worlds. The Wizard of Oz books are still not all in the public domain, and visual depictions of the characters are also restricted by copyrights from the Warner's Bros. film. Peter Pan is still partially copyrighted in the UK specifically and requires royalties to be paid to the Great Ormond Street Hospital charity (the latter likely being a reason why the film 'Pan' is so unlike it's source material - they were trying to avoid paying royalties). Given the budget of animated shows I don't think they could afford to use either.
Didn't The Wizard of OZ entered the public domain in 1956?
@@KaminoKatie Ah you're right the first book did enter public domain at that time - I've adjusted the comment. Having looked further, the public domain laws have changed several times so some books entered pretty quickly and others still haven't. Also the copyright for visual depictions is its own thing with Warner Brothers D: Just a mess overall really.
We could also have got the world from the Nutcracker, they already included ballet and its already in the public domain. Mattel already used it twice for Barbie movies.
I hate that their was no consequences for raven signing the book like I kinda was expecting her to have a glimmer of evil in the end of the special and that maybe we’ll see that in dragon games. I felt like the evil queen was setting this up from the beginning
I see what you mean that would have been an interesting storyline. I think it’s possible that the writers were planning expand on the storyline in the future. But since Ever After High was cancelled after Dragon Games and Epic Winter, so it’s possible that they never got a chance.
@@wonderlucky1912 they made the storybook of legends unimportant in my eyes like,imagine if raven trying to fight this destiny and she would get worse. Not to mention the apple and briar’s tension, we could’ve gotten more of that. I agree they didn’t have enough time
I agreed with you, Ever After High was at its peak whenever we tackled the destiny topic. They never gave us a solid reason for why generations upon generations signed the book, and why almost no one seemed to rebel. The “ you’ll go poof” seems fake, they could’ve unraveled the secret along the seasons or introduced it at the beginning. So when Raven doesn’t actually sign it’s a big deal, but she doesn’t face consequences, as you said, and the story kind of goes stale. It had great concepts like Ceriese and Braiar, but they don’t go anywhere. This story had a great start and a bad ending in Epic winter, Dragon Games was good for the most part though😁. I love this show, but it never really reached its potential or took itself that seriously, mostly because it’s a toy line first and foremost.
Thanks for listening to my tedtalk, and sorry for any misspellings.
@@olaothman5228 while I understand that we would reach a conclusion I don't like how it was handled like how Raven suddenly the power has to change fate when she a literal character in book it makes her look too powerful and too easy. this feels like something Brooke page be doing sense she's a narrator and cares for these people that she argues with her parents. the book cause so many plots point like Ashleyn and hunter, briar, and cerise especially her! we could had her confront her mom about this since she was hiding the book how she was low key selfish about it, not changing the system and people going through bad destines, like duchess, while she gets to have her romance with big bad wolf. I think dragon games was great finale to the overarching plot about how both apple and raven stood up to past generation to carve a new. but I can't imagine new stories if that plot point wasn't there it wouldn't be ever after high without it.
I love hearing how opposite your opinion is on the outfits and transformation scene of the girls are in this special. While I agree, they look like they're too much, and the transformation was so much of a "buy our dolls" thing, I don't know, I watched Winx Club when I was a kid, and I love transformations! Also, I love the aesthetics of the Wonderland dresses, though, I understand toning it down a bit! Also, lovely video, I agreed with pretty much everything else!
Is it just me, or does Briar's Wonderland outfit make her more like Flora from Winx Club rather than Sleeping Beauty with Wonderlandian design aspects?
Yea that’s probably why it’s my least favorite outfit on her
Ikr, I am so happy it's not just me who gets huge flora vibes from that outfit, the both look good with green and pink
See I’m completely the opposite. I adore the wonderland designs and think they capture the overall vibes of wonderland really well. Wonderland is all about nonsense. The novel was basically the origin of nonsense writing after all. No thing should be cohesive or make too much sense. And the outfits are all those things. And I guess you could argue that translates better to literature than it does to fashion but personally I love it.
I would argue that Alive in Wonderland isn't so much nonsense writing, but rather am exploration of perspective. Like, in the eyes of a bored child, the world run by adults feels impossible to follow with their weird rules and sense of logic. At least that's one way I've seen it described.
But that's kind of the fun with wonderland! Everyone tends to interpret it in different ways! :D
@@thejudgmentalcritter6584 even by being an "exploration of perspective" it is done in a surreal way, the books narrative, just like in this special, is as cohesive as any dream could ever be. Wonderland, being the object of a dream created by a child, is nonsense and the lack of sense and linear storytelling is intentional
(i got carried over with the argument hehe)
so many feelings about this special. I adore Chase, i am forever mad at how little he was explored going foreword. i know he was barely a side character, but he and Courtly were the only 2 wonderlandian students that were actively introduced in the special. Courtly was the villain and she got loads of time. Chase had a lot of interesting things that i thought could have gone farther. He could have been a source of explanation for the changes in wonderland since the returning wonderlandians left. WHCIH IS ANOTHER THING- they have several wonderlandian characters: Lizzie, Maddie, Alistair, Bunny, Kitty- and it feels like none of them knew what to expect in wonderland. Alistair and Bunny weren't even IN wonderland and they would have made FANTASTIC guides since thy had just returned. Maddie, Kitty, and Lizzie should have been more familiar with the way wonderland works- and the things they weren't should have been attributed to the curse and explained by other wonderland characters. There should have been more usage of the knowledge these characters have. Instead we got apple and Raven stumbling through things ( i get it, they're they face of the show) and briar, who was brought for the book plot and was barely used.
idk lots of loose things that could have been more. I love the wonderlandians, i adore the potential. But it just seems to stay at potential
Out of all the girl's outfits in this one, I like Kitty's the most. I really like the colour gradient on the fur collar and cuffs. I also just really enjoy purple and yellow colour pallets. Although, the yellow in Kitty's hair looked highlighter-y. I wish they used the same yellow on the dress for the hair. But why does she have a bowtie? I think a choker would've been better. And her headband looks like wolf ears, not cat ears. I do love the tail w/ the clock though.
Because ribbons on cats are cute lol
Me too!
It’s because the writing team was switched to a different writing team between spring unsprung and way to wonderland
4:07 This is kind of my biggest peeve about Way Too Wonderland, I know there's other flaws to focus on, but wasn't it established in the earlier special that Lizzie had a magic book from her mother that could locate the Well of Wonder? As in, the only other opening to Wonderland? That can always be easily found with her magic book?
I never hear anyone talk about this and it silently drives me nuts
Omg I forgot about that!!
Wasn't that book lost/destroyed in an earlier special? I thought Apple threw the book in the well, putting it in Wonderland somewhere and maaking it functionally useless.
Now I want a redesign video for Way Too Wonderland! Also, I feel like rather than a transformation I think they should’ve had like… a Wonderland background character see them and freak out as Raven, Apple, and Briar look out of place, then, Lizzie can suggests that SHE (because Spring Un-Sprung reveals she likes to design and sew) will make them outfits to blend in better. It’d fit much more comfortably into the plot.
I still think my biggest issue with these Specials’ doll outfits was always the one that even looks like it has a lower budget, because the real life doll came with a play set. With Thronecoming it wasn’t as obvious because not everyone was wearing regular ball gowns, so Briar didn’t stand out much, but with Spring Unsprung Lizzie, who was designing the outfits, suddenly had the most basic one of the bunch. Still, nothing comperes to what they did to Raven here. While all the girls looked like they had buckets of things thrown at them, Raven gets a headband, a collar and a short dress with three feathers printed on… Why? Why would they do that to her, especially when she is one of the main players in the story?
Honestly, the Courtly vs Raven fight and the emotional beats between Apple and Raven are the only parts that I remember. Because of this I honestly remember it being better than it was. I was so disappointed at how meandering it turned out to be. I skipped a bunch just to get to the parts I liked. I'm happy it does get better after this, but I wish that Way Too Wonderland could've been more enjoyable.
OMG I GOT SO IMMENSELY EXCITED WHEN I SAW THIS NOTIFICATION!!! 😆
ME TOO
Same 😂
Me too!
Ever After High: *exists*
The Judgmental Critter: "This is where the fub begins."
Fub
Courtly Jester is one of my favourite characters and I love wonderland, I can’t explain why. The dragon games are my favourite arc though. I have an oc based off Courtly so that’s part of why I love her but idk she’s just so chaotic
INCREDIBLE 😭😭😭This is one of my favourite arcs. The designs and lore are so fun
Funny enough,the Wonderland designs are my favourite set. They're so campy and insane. The only one I'm mixed on is Raven's. Kitty's got an iconic watch, I love Lizzie's ridiculous swan on her head. Some of my favourite designs. Do You Wonder is one of my favourite songs in the franchise
Fr. She can just say over-the-top, campy, and maximalist isn't her style. No need to say its an eyesore 😕
lizzy has a flamingo on her head, its a refrence to the croquette
@@cardyn1836 how? I'm curious
@@cureice the queen of hearts uses a flamingo to play croquet
*me seeing all theses characters and names after several months of not percieving them*
Yes I definitely remember exactly who all these characters are
Ah, I see, you do not live in fan hell of random bursts of rememberings
one thing that annoyed me is that other than maddie, the wonderland kids seemed just as confused as the ever after kids? like kitty and lizzie were just as lost as raven and apple but they're literally from wonderland and i imagine that they've attended wonderland high before so it didn't make sense that they didn't know what they were doing.
You ever wondered(ha! Wondered) how weird it must've felt for the Wonderland kids like Maddie and Lizzie and Kitty to go from one day of school to 180? Like, Maddie’s comment of how much work is put into that one day implies that she and the others attended school at Wonderland High so it must've taken a bit for them to get used to having school almost every day rather than just one day!
The Evil Queen’s design SERVED.
I have a lot of mixed feelings when it comes to Raven signing the Storybook of Legends.
one of my favorite aspects of the show was the interpersonal drama of the Royal vs Rebel dynamic and how it affected the cast. Briar's arc is the biggest example of that. So, when the finale of that aspect of the show is just crammed into the last part of the Wonderland-focused special it left me kinda burned on the admittedly cool finale to Way to Wonderland. Imagine the kind of dramatic blow-off we could have gotten if it was given the proper amount of time and focus. Also, it leads into the "Power Princess" era and replaces the OG theme song which is another bummer.
But on the other hand, I do like where it leads into Dragon Games and how it affects Apple's character, especially in that special. So I can't be too mad at the rushed conclusion if it gives us gems like that.
Ever After High is a pretty fun show to watch.
One thing I notice is that going forward the animation is done on 2s, instead of fully animated using tweens. It actually looks better IMO.
i would have really loved if when Apple tried to stop Raven from killing Courtly she just ignored her, then resulting in the other characters trying to remind Raven who she was, with her finally remembering that she wasn't evil when Maddie reminds her how good of friends they are. I really like Maddie's character and wish they had have done more with Raven and her's friendship than just saying that they're friends.
something that confused me is the evil queen and her powers? in the mirror realm it didn't make sense that she would just be able to control things near the mirror because if that was so wouldnt she be able to levitate a book and smash the mirror with it to free herself?
Man this movie was my favorite when I was a kid, and the outfits are still my favorites, they are so weird and whimsical, but it could be handle better
I was literally watching your previous ever after high reviews a few days ago and now you post this, I am so hyped
Man, the fact Ever After High was canceled but Descendants is still (STILL) ongoing to this day will never NOT hurt. There was so much more potential with this series
Even though I enjoyed this special, I always was disappointed by how easily the curse was broken and the whole book stuff was solved (although I think it made sense, but I was expecting more drama ig). In the books, maybe because of what you said about putting the curse information in bits during stories, made it look like a huuuge deal. And then Raven just solved it with a spell, even when she just got all of her powers, and didn't struggle with it-
I love your ever after high reviews so much theyre so different from the others you literally say the whole truth and pay attention to the littlest details and I love thsr
I didn’t think the outfits were too bad. I get it. It’s a lot. Very busy but I liked the magical girl transformation
Its finally here, after 1,000 years
i would pay real money for full episodes or compilations of your little crack segments at the end, i need more!!!
Critter!! Long time watcher, but got so excited hearing the Bo Burnham reference, I had to comment. Thanks for the great video!
Raven Queen's monologuing being Optimus Prime for 3 or 5 seconds or minutes. 🙂
Also, can I interrupt the Way Too Wonderland for a sec? I just need to say: I HATE what the show did to the Mad Hatter’s design! He had a great description of his appearance that fit well with Maddie’s in Shanon Hale’s book! But then they do THIS!? Though I will admit I like (most of) his outfit. I do feel like the pants and shoes are kinda plain, but I do wish the hat was magenta and gold like Maddie’s to match his jacket. The biggest reason I like it is because it kinda makes Maddie’s dress look almost like a uniform for the Tea Shoppe with how they match. If it were me I’d give him his book appearance but with the top, make the hat match the blazer, and give him blue and white striped pants with white gloves that have blue polka dots to match Maddie’s underskirt and gloves/tights, and lastly, white swirly dress shoes. Idk, I just really like the idea of matching Tea Shoppe uniforms okay? :)
My school also had warning bells lol
I got the playset from this movie for my birthday years ago, and I’ve kept it since because of how nostalgic this movie is for me! I’d love to get my hands on this version of Kitty again
7:21 Oh my god those ideias are so perfect and at the same time so obvious how could no one think about this????
I personally really love the wonderland outfits. I agree with the points you made and funnily enough they're the reason I like them lol
They're ugly and garish and even amongst the "native" wonderlandians they look slightly out of place, and I like that. They look uncomfortable as hell and I like how that actually affects the girls moveabiltiy (most of the time)
i LOVE the wonderland designs lmao
Look, I know no one likes the way too wonderland outfits
But I loved the transformation sequence so much growing up like oh my god
my biggest issue with the special, aside from the dragging story, is the fact that ALL Wonderlandians don't understand their own land's logic??? as far as I've understood it, Wonderland's logic is nonsensical to us as it follows different and/or constantly changing patterns, thus being incomprehensible to us and such the eah students. but Lizzi and co all grew up there?? yes they haven't been there in years, but by e.g. Maddie's behaviour in the show, you can still see they are the odd bunch in eah
so why are they floundering during (for example) the trial?? especially Lizzie should know how wonderland court proceedings go!! :((
idk it just felt like thw writers just. forgot that the girls are from Wonderland except for "oh, they can show the eah girls around"
they could've had such a nice theme of understanding and appreciating different cultures by having the Wonderlandians explain certain things (meaning the film could've also been used for worldbuilding!!!) but it simply collapsed into itself bc the ones FROM THERE didn't understand either,,,
haven't watched the special in a while n yea i can see more of the flaws now. the wonderlandians esp maddie and kitty really got sidelined glad to hear your thoughts about it
when will my girls briar and darling get justice 😭😭
I like this special bc Lizzie gets more screen time (she's my favorite) and we get to see the whole wonderland place and how it works. The battle with Raven and Courtney was amazing. The memes at the end 😂😂😂
Incredibly niche (I guess) rant, but I love Brooke Page, she’s probably my favourite character in EAH and I think the main reason I like Spring Unsprung and Way Too Wonderland so much is because she actually contributes to the plot (albeit in a contrived way). I loved the idea of a narrator being a rebel and helping out characters when they needed it, so it made me sort of annoyed when in Dragon Games and Epic Winter, she just became a narrator like her parents. I love Dragon Games, but I would have liked Brooke to help out more.
Anyway, rant over! I loved the video, thank you so much for continuing this series! :D
Ahhh finally! Back to Ever After!
I watched your reviews finally then looked at your community channel and bam I’m early
While this isn’t my fav special it’s still really good and I enjoy it so much
It’s nice that you meantion the books, I remember reading several ones in elementary and really liking them ;))
My (very small) flex for this is that I have like four of the books from book fairs and know who all the new characters were lol (Darling I love you you were an icon for younger me)
One thing that really irritated me that we all the major Wonderland characters EXCEPT FOR ALICE, THE MAIN CHARACTER OF THE STORY!?!?
Been waiting for this one. Keep up the good work, love your content 👍
please tell me ur reviewing the rest of the series cuz Dragon Games and Epic Winter are my favorite plot lines and i'm obsessed with ur reviews
Loved your video. I find wonderland semantics to be very funny, and I personally adored this special.
So I got questions. We were shown that Darling’s white knight armor is exoskeleton/mecha. If it works that way, does that mean Chase armor same way or he just really tall guy?
I don't think we ever see Chase outside of his armor? He might really just be that tall!
@@thejudgmentalcritter6584 Now I’m imagining Tall yet soft spoken guy like Chase and Darling an gentle yet action girl together. Just makes my heart meltz
@@shadowclaw7210Oh yes!
This is where Ever After High peaked.
Totally agree on the outfits. I kind of liked elements of them- there were some good ideas, but all together they clash. Really liked your ideas!
i really liked wtw but i think its just bcs i loved the end part so much that i could ignore the boring beginnings and plotholes. I really loved the part where raven breaks the spell and where she signs, its so epic
I honestly have mixed feelings on the portrayal of wonderland in this special. I'm a big fan of the original books, and while I enjoy their nonsense, I also enjoyed how it was allowed to breathe. Alice was a very good protagonist because she tends to take things in stride, while still being able to engage in interesting conversations. She doesn't point out everything weird that happens, she instead engages with it.
I feel like the special's approach just brings it down, because every gag is just very hit or miss. If they wanted to go full on zany comedy, then maybe they should have had a smash cut to a bunch of weird classes and then moved on after 10 seconds. Instead, they want to point at something weird and nonsensical, point at it, and then repeat it for 20+ times. They have to let the nonsense breathe.
Ever After High has a book called A Wonderfuliful World that focuses on the curse on Wonderland and the Wonderland characters. I see that it’s similar storylines as Way Too Wonderland special but executed in a different way.
22:33 Kinda figured since in another video of yours, the knight's hair was white with some blue after removing the helmet
Chase does not look good in that awesome armor. He's good-looking but he looks so stupid in it. lmao
I actually love the designs kitty being my favorite. There was a lot of wonder to how the clothes worked. There were nonsense but they are in a place full of nonsense😂😂😂
2:22 I mean one being a boy and one being a girl just shows that they're not supposed to be identical? They're fraternal male and female twins are always fraternal and as such won't look exactly alike
I’m sorry Critter, you’re wrong. CHASE IS HOT 😳
Your definitely going to like Dragon Games alot more than this special, it has a more important story, and it is overall better, even tho way to Wonderland is fun!
Well, it was implied that they enjoyed Dragon Games way more, mostly the "things get only better and better" at the end while showing a clip of Fable Thorn (sorry if I wrote the name wrong) and I'm fairly sure that is a clip from Dragon Games.
Man was this movie underwhelming. Like, the incredibly important character and story beats that occur in Part 4 weren't built up to within the movie, so these sudden developments feel dismissive in how underwhelming there are and disingenuous to what the movies before built up. It's disappointing that these concepts weren't fully fleshed out, and can now never have a proper send off because this movie exists. Also, Brooke solving the plot for the characters again is incredibly lazy writing. It was lazy when they did it in the last movie, but it's even worse here because its not novel (ba dum tss) anymore.
The only thing I somewhat enjoyed about this special was Chase, mostly because he was so different form the rest of the Wonderlandians in how un-erratic he was, plus the idea of a Wonderlandian being so concerned with rules and order (or at least, reasonable rules that aren't wacky Wonderland rules) seems like a paradox that warrants some kind of exploration. But I wish his design had at least a unique colour scheme as opposed to just genderbent Lizzie.
The schemes and designs of Chase and Lizzie make me think they might be related or something
Alister didn't relize Darling was gone cuz she didn't teleport there she know a secret entrence it's in the books
I don't hate the dress :p
I like the colors and the molds, i just don't like how MUCH is that plastic things, that to much "puff" dress and the girls design ideia acctualy get really awful i admit...
And i think the transformation scene really great :]
GURL HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN? I'm actually surprised that I waited patiently but only because I forgot to wait😭
To be fair Maddie and kitty’s outfits are fine,the rest yeah no.
I must confess- I am a major fan of wild garish outfits, so I actually like a couple of them. I love Maddie and Lizzie's, and I think Apple's would've been cute without the weird plastic stuff. Briar, Kitty, and Raven though? No thanks.
I just watched that the other night (for the first time). Talk about an awesome coincidence.
I hate most of the wonderland outfits. But Apple and Briar’s are my favorite. Raven’s sucks. I hate hers so much
Was I the only one who during that court seen was pretty much BEGGING them to let Maddie try to explain
You should do dragon games soon !!
Tbh this is the most accurate adaptation of Alice in Wonderland ever
Why didn't the writers utilize the fact that the girls have been in wonderland school to use thier riddle solving skills and understanding of wonderland word twisting in court to get out of it. Make it worth our time and the character's that we sat through those useless classes and lessons, Both times the girls were in trouble they could have smarted their own way out of it(detention and court)in a meaningful way. If the lessons weren't useful during the one time they needed it what was the point!!
Are you going to review the new Monster High animated series?🙏🏻
I definitely want to!
Dexter Charming = Rick Moranis
Darling Charming = Lady Oscar
Raven Queen being evil writing the book. The fashions the puffiness 😴.
Cheddar wood is the one and only interesting character for me. And other just like MLP and Winx Club with their overpower dress
The dragon is forshadowing a future Season/Special that hasn't been covered yet, Anyways the DragonsGames is definently the peak of Ever After so just hold on cause its a good one.
It would make sense if Alicester and darling were twins
Does someone know if the classes the girls went in Wonderland had any references to the various ideas and themes put in the original book?
This special is one of my favourites, yes we really waste a lot of time, we have a lot of different potential characters but the show doesn't usually choose to do anything with it. I don't agree at all about the costumes, I think every costume is like a work of alice in wonderland. It feels like it belongs to the place. I like the big accessories and stuff. it's such a big deal but it's kind of uninspiring. They're destroying the book in the end!? And everyone is fine with that. I don't know, there are so many things the show does well. The character design, the character backstories and all that. But the most important things are so uninspiring and hey everyone is happy. It was like we needed an extra 2 or 3 seasons if it wasn't cancelled. It's a fun watch to watch. it was the show :( I liked our video, even though I don't agree with most of it ♡ good job
please review the dragon games!
I honestly like the wonderland outfits its wonder land after all!!
Ok but look at alster then darling and tell me they dont look like twins
Look your review on this, hope to see your view on Winter Wonderland and Dragon Games
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE‼️ GET TO DRAGON GAMES SOON
Am I the only one who loves the outfits??? 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭
I consider Chase part of my gay awakening
i actually really like maddy’s wonderland fit