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Cannot BELIEVE that Sootfang, a character who is briefly a threat to Jack and Sally, ends up being brought out of Christmas Town and welcomed into Halloween Town straight away.
AND NOT MR. MYZER?? THE GOTH ELF WHO ACTUALLY ASKED TO GO TO HALLOWEEN TOWN?
So, truth be told, I did get the feeling that something was a bit 'off' while reading Sally's Lament, and after talking with some friends about Sally's characterization in there, it brought up some good points and things that I picked up on and just couldn't word initially.
Sally, as a character, is a dreamer and lover. Part of the reason why she does so much in the movie is to warn and try to save Jack Skellington, because she loves him and wants the best for him. She has a song that laments her feelings being unreturned and worrying what will come for him - she embraces her feelings for Jack, and acts bravely in the name of it.
But Sally's Lament...did not have her this way. At some point in the story, she is *told* about the prospect of her and Jack by somebody else, and her immediate reaction is to push down her feelings for him. Deny them. Focus on the more "important things". This doesn't feel like Sally to me.
Disney has been on an interesting route of making their female characters more "empowering" and "strong" by having them push aside romance and relationships, in favor of them tackling danger and being independent instead. But it doesn't make SENSE with Sally because she braved through everything FOR Jack, her feelings for him helped inspire her to escape the tower and pushed her to rescue Santa Claus and stand up to Oogie because she believed in him, and wanted to help him. Having a character's actions being motivated by love does not erase the bravery OF those actions.
Jack and Sally call each other dearest friends, but in here Sally tells Abigail that she is her "very first friend". And not Jack? Whom she apparently felt comfortable enough to joke around with and ask for his vulnerability?...
Speaking of which -- Sally is also missing her shyness in here. I don't know if it's Disney wanting their girl leads to be bold and in-charge, but...her being outspoken and shy is part of who she is. And she was still strong and important to the movie despite that. She didn't let her shyness get in the way of warning Jack about his idea straight to his face, or marching down to Oogie's Lair, yet she still played with her hands around her love and ran off before he could talk to her. These things can coexist, and still prove she is a resourceful character.
Taking away Sally's shyness and romantic nature hurts me a lot; it feels like something is missing from her without them.
Here is my complete review of the newly-released Disney Twisted Tales book, Sally's Lament. I will be making some comparisons to the TNBC sequel novel, Long Live the Pumpkin Queen, as well as other Nightmare adaptations and Twisted Tales books I've read thus far. This book, however, will be treated as it is - a 'Twisted' Alternate-Universe take to the movie's storyline.
Spoilers below!
Do you think Mari forgot about the entire song Sally sings about having feelings for Jack and thinking it's not reciprocated or
((OOC: So I saw because of @tnbc-thoughtsandheadcanons that there's a new comic coming out that's a 'what if' if Sally had been the one to find the holiday doors and not Jack. I'll admit the idea intrigues me...but I'm a little cautious.
Now's not the time to go into it but I get a little peeved with how Disney is utilizing fan-fic ideas and concepts like AUs and mecha crossovers in their spinoff material. But, besides that fear, I'm cautious for another reason. I'm noticing a lot more stuff trying to feature Sally more and more. While I like that, I'm also kind of annoyed with it.
Among the many problems I have with "Long Live the Pumpkin Queen", one of them is I feel like they're trying to make Sally more of a female alt to Jack, rather than her own unique character. LLTPQ had to retcon Sally into being a princess from another kingdom the way Jack is already a 'King'. Which, to ME is deeply insulting.
Part of what makes Sally impressive is that she is 'just' a ragdoll. She was created, not born or 'died', and she also happens to be smarter than her creator and even the king of her town. There doesn't need to be some explanation for her being the way she is and that's what's cool about her. It's very, Ozian, for lack of a better word. It's such a cute idea of an inanimate-object-brought-to-life becoming a ruler and being thought of as their own person. It's cute and even a little empowering in a way.
While I'm not scared that this new comic will retcon anything like LLTPQ did (really, it's supposed to, given that it's an AU), I'm still worried that this new comic will give Sally the exact same reaction Jack has to Christmas and have the plot of the movie try and go on but with Sally in Jack's place...and I really hope that's not what happens.
Sally is not Jack. That's what's adorable about her. That's what we the audience love about her and that's what Jack falls in love with her at the end for. Sally wouldn't do the things Jack does with Christmas because Sally is her own person and her situation and social status is different than Jack.
AUs of this kind really kind of put into perspective the kind of characters you're working/messing with. The whole reason the story of TNBC happens at all is because Jack is the kind of person he is while he finds Christmas; extroverted, peppy, self-absorbed, ostentatious and manic depressive. Jack is the king and everybody wants his approval and attention even if he thinks no one actually listens to him. The only reason Halloween ends up doing Christmas at all is because Jack is the king and is used to doing what he wants and getting his citizens in on his plans.
If Sally finds Christmas Town or any other holiday world and comes to her own self-discovery, she better not go back and try and tell the people of Halloween about it. Sally's whole deal in the first half of the movie is she doesn't want to live with Dr. Fink; she's trying to escape. She'd probably stay in the Holiday worlds because she has no one back home desperately looking for her besides Dr. Fink. She wants to be away. If anything she has a way better reason than Jack or anyone else in town to run away. And, if Dr. Fink did make a big deal and ask people to help him look and then THAT's how Halloween first finds Christmas-- that would be something. I'd really like to see an alt. Jally-romance take that direction; Jack starts a search party for Dr. Fink's missing secretary he's seen once or twice, he follows a party personally to the outskirts of Halloween land, finds the doors and Sally and SHE'S the one to introduce HIM to the other holiday worlds. That'd be so cool!
tl;dr: I hope the 'what if' comic has Sally functionally going on her own journey and being a different character and not her functionally going through the beats of the story Jack did but just Sally in place of Jack. Sally is not Jack.
))
Well, it's not a comic, but a book recently released in the Disney Twisted Tales series, which have the premises of 'what-ifs' starring the female leads of Disney movies as the protagonists of the books.
Also, hate to correct on this again, but in Long Live the Pumpkin Queen, Sally was the long-lost daughter of governors of Dream Town, not a princess from a Kingdom! There's a whole plot point in the book of Dream Town abolishing their monarchy and banishing their prior King. It definitely still makes Sally born into riches and privileged, but I just want to make sure that's clear.
I'll try not to Spoil much about Sally's Lament since it released only 4 days ago, but the book is more focused on a "twisted"/darker take of Christmas Town (hence 'Twisted Tales), so Sally's discovery of it is a bit more darker than how Jack's went. She does go on a journey of her own initially, but (biggest thing to a Spoiler I'll say here), she and Jack ultimately go on the adventure to Christmas Town together, and he's the only one she tells about it for a reason early on in the book.
I myself and others are a bit miffed on some of Sally's characterization in there though, a sentiment I think you'll share if/when you read the book. I have a post written about it that I plan to release soon. But this tale didn't really retcon anything for Nightmare to the level that LLTPQ did - the story is much different than how it played out in the movie.
Summary: "There was a sudden shift beneath her – the gravestone crumbling under her added weight. She hadn’t anticipated this piece of stone being so old and brittle. She cried out in surprise as she lost her balance and was flung from her hiding spot, tumbling forward into the wide-open space.
Rewrite of a scene from the Sally's Lament: A Twisted Tale book by Mari Mancusi.
Pairing: Jack Skellington/Sally
IF YOU HAVE NOT READ SALLY'S LAMENT: A TWISTED TALE YET, BE AWARE THIS FIC CONTAINS SPOILERS.
--
“COME BACK HERE, YOU FOOLISH-”
The Doctor’s rageful screams were cut off when Sally’s knuckles rapped harshly against the smooth plating of the top of his head. She did not stay to see his reaction, bolting in the other direction to place as much distance between herself and her creator. There was a mix of elation and panic intertwining the stuffed leaves that filled her being. She did it - she escaped Finkelstein’s clutches once again, thanks to some quick thinking and thread-pulling. She was free. The entire land of Halloween Town before her was free for her taking; she could do whatever she wanted wherever she wanted, the consequences be damned.
…Well, for now . Her missing appendage would prove to be a problem shortly enough. While Sally learned early on in her life that she was ambidextrous and could do many things with one hand, there was only so much she could handle. She’d have to eventually return to that unpleasant tower and retrieve what was hers. And she would have to confront the Doctor to get her arm back.
Her lopsided lips pulled into a frown. If she was going to return to that place, then she may as well replenish her supply of deadly nightshade while she was out. She used the last of what she had to poison him tonight so she could join in on the Halloween festivities. She’d have no hope of a future escape if she came back empty-handed.
So she headed to the graveyard.
