My sister, Retno Widya, has been developing her OC (original character) and combined with her interest in Javanese culture, she created a comic titled âAbdijiwoâ (in Indonesian.)
Translated from abdi (servant/humble servant) and jiwo (soul), the story is about three cursed souls who serving their living human hosts. A combination of drama, Javanese culture, and lots of comedies, you can find the comic âAbdijiwoâ in LINE Webtoon Indonesia đ The comic is still in Indonesian language.
Itâs a 30-minutes-ish video, but I hope you would watch and sit through it as the video is really good. It gives me better understanding on consumerism and what we can do to control it.
Humans consume, we always do. The question is how do we consume stuffs.
In the beginning of Netflixâs âKlausâ, we see the main character, Jesper, as a lazy, rude, spoiled disaster â which reminds me a lot with Disneyâs âThe Emperorâs New Grooveâ Emperor Kuzco.
What happened next was a beautiful story of a solitary island in the northern area, filled with snow, and how the legend of Santa Claus was born.
âKlausâ, for me, is like a soothing and cooling ointment after a bitter concoction called Disneyâs âFrozenâ (the first one; I havenât watched the second one â my friends said it was good and I trust them, but I donât want to watch it for now. Itâs school break in Malaysia right now, so movie theaters might be as well as a fresh Greek hell.) My favorite part in the movie is when a SĂĄmi girl, named Margu, appears. She talks in SĂĄmi language â and this, for me, respects the culture of Nordic countries and tribes. Not so sure what âFrozenâ brought, after a really beautiful opening song of âVuelieâ (itâs a SĂĄmi word!) and âBeware of Frozen Heartâ with Nordic rhythm and melodies and suddenly those two songs got eclipsed, butchered, and thrown away âthanksâ to âLet It Goâ.
âKlausâ tells a story of a lazy spoiled postman, named Jesper, who got sent to a place called Smeerensburg way up in the north where two clans fighting with each other for ages; even the elders forgot the reason and didnât know why they fight on the first place. Jesper needed to deliver 6000 letters in one year and should he able to fulfill it, he will be able to go back home and enjoy his previous luxurious life. He met Klaus, a reclusive woodsman and carpenter, and together they started a mission: Sending toys to the children of Smeerensburg.
Honestly, no characters I dislike from this movie; even the main antagonist, the sly sinister Mrs. Krum, she reminds me of âThe Emperorâs New Grooveâ Yzma. I love the character designs on this movie; you can see the hilarious zombie-look from some of the kids characters which reminds you of Tim Burtonâs âThe Nightmare Before Christmasâ. I found myself laughing loudly while snorted, âdelightful!â when there was a scene of a kid stabbing a carrot on a snowman and the kid looks like Tim Burtonâs.
Jesper has this laid-back attitude which I love; he spews words a lot! (Kudos, Jason Schwartzman!) And such a talkative, animated person. Alva, a teacher cum fish seller, the female protagonist of the movie is full of spirit, brilliant, and I really hope she could have more scene moments. Klaus is like this massive massive massive (grumpy) teddy bear that you canât help not to love.
And the chickens! At some point its beady eyes remind me of âMoanaâ Heihei. I really love the chickens! So round and goofy-looking.
Jesper character sheet
The art of this movie is outstanding. I love how the team combined 2D and 3D. It has its own charm and I love how you can see the deliberate brush strokes on the art, instead of trying everything go uber detailed. It can combine the freezing cold of nordic countries and the warm comfy hearth of fireplace.
There is this one line from the movie that I keep thinking about.
âItâs only a matter of time until the children started to go against each other like it used to be. Do you think for how long the grown-ups will follow, hm?â
That line defines everything, and somehow, it rings so true with our reality. It acknowledges the power the younger generations have: To create a change. Hopefully, for the better.
âKlausâ is not the first animation movie trying to challenge the Goliath called âDisneyâ. There are many out there, beautiful wondrous animation works, worthy to be put alongside â or even better â than Disney. And for that, I urge you to watch âKlausâ.
This is a beautiful movie about friendship and kindness; a warm cocoa for your days.
I always thought that when people sending some kind of outer-space mission of sending messages to extraterrestrial life out there, it was a vain attempt to show âHERE I AM. LOOK AT ME.â
But this video changed my perspective, and I really really appreciate that. Voyager mission serves more than delivering messages to the space, it delivers messages to the humankind.
âWe greet you, great ones.
Greetings, to our friends in the stars.
We step into the universe. With humility and hope.â
𪴠coriander in pho 