We Need More Whimsy In Films

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:00][clears throat] We need more whimsy in films. One day when I was sick, I decided to watch the Wonka movie since it was leaving Netflix two days later at the time. I fell in love with it. I don't really remember anything about the movie other than Lisa Algib was playing the Chocolier. I went in with an open mind and by the time the credits rolled, I had laughed. I had cried. I had smiled. It's charming. It's whimsical and it swept me off of my feet and took me on an adventure I won't forget for a long time. Yes, yes, I know a lot of people put Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory on a pedestal as the best adaptation of the rule doll novel, but please come with me and you'll see as we dive into the narrative.

[00:00:53]To me, whimsy isn't about being unrealistic or even about being bright and light-hearted all the time. It's about being sincere. There is a difference between something being grounded and something being emotionally honest. Grounded usually leans toward a darker, more serious tone. While sincerity is about fully committing to the emotion you're trying to convey, no matter how fantastical the world is, a whimsical story doesn't hold back or try to justify itself. Rather, it believes in its own magic. It doesn't wink at the audience or even apologize for what it is. It just is. And that's what makes it special.

[00:01:33]A lot of modern movies feel like they're obsessed with being taken seriously. And I think that's actually hurting them.

[00:01:40]There's this idea that darker automatically means deeper and that anything bright or optimistic risks being labeled as corny or unrealistic.

[00:01:49]Because of that, even movies that try to take risks still feel safe. They don't fully commit to sincerity. They hold back or they undercut emotional moments with irony. It feels like movies today are so afraid of being seen as cringe that they end up losing something genuine in the process. And honestly, with how bleak the world can feel sometimes, I think we need more stories that aren't afraid of being bright, hopeful, and unapologetically sincere.

[00:02:19]Think of it this way. All bright, whimsical movies are sincere, but not all sincere movies are bright. I do think we need more bright and hopeful movies across the board, but the even bigger issue is we need more sincerity.

[00:02:34]whether it's bright like Wonka or something a bit darker. Hell, I wouldn't even complain about a darker movie as long as it doesn't apologize for what it is or apologize for past movies in the same franchise. Looking at you, Rise of Skywalker. But that is a topic for a much longer video entirely.

[00:02:54]What makes Wonka stand out is that it fully commits to the sincerity while still understanding the importance of emotional balance. The movie is bright, whimsical, and optimistic, but it doesn't ignore struggle. It has that belly of the whale moment where Wonka starts to lose hope, where the weight of everything working against him actually hits. And because of that, the joy and optimism don't feel forced, they feel earned. The movie allows itself to be sad without ever becoming cynical, which is a really hard balance to strike. Just going through the movie itself, Willy Wonka is a young chocolier trying to start his own business, but he's sabotaged again and again. His optimism holds until the chocolate supply itself is sabotaged when he opens his store.

[00:03:43]What's worse is the chocolate cartel gives him an ultimatum. They will free everyone from their horrible contracts on the laundromat if Willie leaves and never returns. So now it's Willy's dream versus his friends's freedom. and he chooses to leave because it's the right thing to do until of course anompa- Loompa convinces him to go back. My point is whimsical movies absolutely can be emotionally complex and even sad without ever becoming cynical or grim dark. That is the balance more movies should strive to achieve. On top of that, Wonka isn't afraid to be optimistic in a way that feels almost rare now. It doesn't settle for a bittersweet ending or a we won but at what cost kind of conclusion. It gives Wonka a genuinely happy ending. One where he achieves his dream and finds real joy. And instead of feeling cheap or unearned, it feels right because the movie never once stops believing in that outcome. Whimsy isn't childish at all.

[00:04:45]In fact, it's comforting. When I watched Wonka, I wasn't in a great place physically. I had hives for a week straight and I felt miserable. I threw the movie on almost on a whim, not expecting much, just hoping to pass the time. But by the time it was over, I realized I'd been smiling, laughing, and just feeling better. For 2 hours, I wasn't focused on how awful I felt. I just enjoyed something that was genuinely warm and uplifting. And I think that's what makes Whimsy so important. It doesn't ignore how bad things can feel. It gives you a break from it. It reminds you that there's still joy, still lightness, still something good to hold on to. That's not childish. If anything, that's something we need more of. And do you want something crazy? By my own definition, The Batman 2022, Robert Battenson himself, is a whimsical movie. Sure, it's one of the darkest superhero movies we've ever gotten, but remember, to me, whimsical isn't bright and joyful all the time. Whimsical is unapologetic sincerity and The Batman is 100% unapologetically sincere. It fully commits to its tone. And the ending sets up for a wei won but at what cost type ending with the Riddler successfully flooding Gotham to the flood breaking through the arena and everything like that. But the Batman pulls out a flare and starts leaning people out of said flooded arena. Batman comforts a child as they're being helped by paramedics.

[00:06:18]The ending is hopeful. The ending is sincere. The ending is whimsical. By giving the audience hope at the end of the movie, that's just as important as a bright movie like Wonka. Maybe I'm overthinking the word whimsy because my definition isn't the dictionary one, but it's kind of what I do here. I like to dig deeper into what makes something work. And the connected tissue I have found in everything whimsical is unapologetic sincerity. Like I kept saying, h all the serious talk about sincerity. Who hired that guy? Oh, right, me. Well, let's move on to something a touch lighter. Music. This movie is a musical after all. I am pleasantly surprised at how good of a singer Paul Trades is. I mean, sure, he probably got vocal training, but no amount of training can replace committed sincerity. And Timothy Shalamé commits 100%. His rendition of Pure Imagination is fantastic. A song like A Hat Full of Dreams doesn't work unless you fully commit like he does. And this all comes across as sincere. You can hear the smile in his voice as he sings. And that's more important than you may think. My personal favorite song is For a Moment because it is so heartfelt.

[00:07:35]Noodle talking about how for a moment life doesn't seem so bad with Willie around. Surround yourself with friends who bring your mood up. Everyone deserves to have life not feel so bad for a moment. I got heavy again, didn't I? Uh, good music. Please listen to the soundtrack. [laughter] Maybe whimsy isn't something movies have outgrown. Maybe it's something we've just become hesitant to embrace. In a time where stories feel heavier and more cynical than ever, there is something powerful about a movie that isn't afraid to be sincere, to be optimistic, and to believe in its own magic. And if Wonka proves anything, it's that those kind of stories still matter, maybe now more than ever. For me personally, I'm giving Wonka an 8.5 out of 10. It brought me up when I was feeling down, and I genuinely believe the world needs more of that.

[00:08:26]Thank you for watching. I know this video took a lot longer to get out than I meant for it to, but in my defense, I have been really busy these p this past month. Like I said, I am a voice actor now. You've probably seen my animation demo reel uploaded to this channel. I'm sending out auditions every single day.

[00:08:49]I got casted in a few things. I'm not allowed to talk about that yet. All I'm allowed to say is that I did get cast. I am also building a vocal booth right now, which is taking up a lot of time.

[00:09:00]And I'm also developing my own video game, like I said in my comeback video, which I will put up some screenshots to kind of show what the game is looking like right now, but nothing else. I don't want to spoil this because I am genuinely so excited for this game. And I know this isn't the video of the three options I said I was going to do, but this movie has been on my mind because I rewatched it again recently. So, I wanted to finish the video I started on this a while back. And also, I am going to announce that YouTube channel memberships are finally open.

[00:09:34]Thankfully, I figured out how to do them. So, I have two tiers of memberships. I have the $149 a month tier called snorkeling, which is I can't fit the whole thing into the name. It was going to be called snorkeling into the narrative cuz, you know, I always say dive into the narrative. No, this is just snorkeling into the narrative. This tier, you get priority reply to comments. If you're a member and you comment on a video, I will always reply to that comment. Uh, you get early access to new videos if I finish them before the Saturday upload time. You get photos and status updates where I will talk to my YouTube members a lot more often. And you get membersonly polls, so you get an influence on what I should say in my YouTube video and what video goes up next. And also the standard loyalty badges next to your name, which I don't have a custom emote for it yet, so it's just the the star. And I will put your name on screen during this section of the video. You will have your name on screen. Isn't that fun? And then the only other tier I have is the 599 tier, which is scuba diving into the narrative. You get a series called a behind the narrative, which are just loweffort videos of me talking in front of a camera bin. Like this, these are the reasons why I came to the conclusions I did in this video. I thought it was pretty cool. You also get your name said during this section of the video. I will say thanks to our scuba diving tiers. Shout outs to blank blank blank blah blank whoever whoever decides to join. You get access to cut content from past and present videos which are just shorts me explaining like hey I originally wanted to do this but I cut it from the script for this reason and you get loweffort videos called jumping into the narrative instead of diving into the narrative. Now what this video series is is me watching a series or a movie whatever. It's your same regular into the narrative stuff, but a little bit low effort low effort lower effort than the regular video essays.

[00:11:30]And my analysis, frankly, wouldn't be long enough to form an actual video essay for Into the Narrative. Anyway, so that's the whole neat thing. You get two brand new series that are members exclusive if you join the scuba diving into the narrative tier. Again, these tiers are kind of just if you want to support me, they're there. If not, then that is okay, too. But I would really appreciate if you would join the YouTube channel members. I think it is the coolest thing. Anyway, thank you for watching. Don't forget to like and subscribe. Hit that bell. Bing bong.

[00:12:03][laughter] and I will see you the next time we dive into the narrative.