Strange Magic / YMMV

Alternative Character Interpretation:
- Is the Sugarplum Fairy a Cloudcuckoolander because she's been imprisoned for so long or has she always been like that? Or was she always like that and being imprisoned made her crazier?
- Dawn always knew about Sunny's feelings, but pretended to be oblivious so she wouldn’t hurt his feelings. When he sings a song declaring his love, she quickly turns around and blows a kiss at a guard.
Awesome Music:
- The duet by Evan Rachel Wood and Alan Cumming of the Electric Light Orchestra's Strange Magic (whence the film gets its title) is probably the best song in the film.
- Sonny's Three Little Birds is heartwarming and a great start for his character.
- "Love is Strange" and "Tell Him/Wild Thing." have terrific energy and feeling.
- "Straight On." is perfect for Marianne and Bog King's duel.
- Evan Rachel Wood delivers an absolutely badass rendition of "Stronger." In that same number, Sam Palladio isn't slouching on "Come On, Marianne" either.
Can't Un-Hear It: Try listening to "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" without thinking about Dawn singing it to the Bog King after watching this film.
Cliché Storm: A princess swears off love forever after a bad relationship, but still ends up falling in love, while the villain's motivation is destroying love.
- On the other hand, the princess and villain end up falling in love with the other. So the first half is fairly cliche while the second half plays with the cliche.
Critical Dissonance: Critics completely eviscerated the film, but it has been met with a much more positive, warmer reception from audiences, with the more lukewarm reviews saying they find it So Okay, It's Average.
Cult Classic: Considering the small but loyal fanbase the movie has garnered, it's safe to say the film has earned this status. It's certainly gained attention later in its shelf life, as the curiosity factor seems to have contributed to the thousands, if not millions of views that clips of the musical numbers have racked up on YouTube.
Designated Hero: Sunny is presented by the narrative as a perfectly Nice Guy and Dawn's true love, but he tries to use a love potion on her, and unlike Bog shows no regret about it.
Director Displacement: Since George Lucas is the executive producer and the poster displays his name prominently, this is seen as more of his film than that of director Gary Rydstrom.
Ensemble Dark Horse: Even detractors liked the Imp, for being a Creepy Cute ball of mischief, whose antics make for an enjoyable break from the plot.
Evil Is Cool: The Bog King gets a lot of fan love for his intimidating design, Jerkass Woobie motivations, and impressive comedic timing.
Fan-Disliked Explanation: Even people who generally like the movie question the Bog King's backstory as he tried to lovepotion the girl he was in love with, just like Roland does. However, unlike Roland, Bog comes to regret it.
Fan Nickname: Fans call the Bog King things like "Pinecone", "Pinecone King", and "Angry Pinecone" because of his very rough look. His personality has also prompted the title "King of the Dork Forest."
Genius Bonus: The crazy ending sequence of Marianne and The Bog King kissing in mid-air while surrounded by fairies whose wings blur into a kaleidoscope effect. A kaleidoscope is one of the words for a group of butterflies. (Other words are a flock, a rabble, and a flutter.)
Hilarious in Hindsight:
- One scene features a feminine cockroach trying to hit on the Bog King. Come 2016, and we get a feminine cockroach-like Pokémon in Sun and Moon named Pheromosa.
- George Lucas made the film So My Kids Can Watch, believing that since both Star Wars trilogies had male leads, they were for 12-year old boys. 3 months later, the Sequel Trilogy started with The Force Awakens, which has a female lead.
Idiosyncratic Ship Naming:
- Butterfly Bog for Marianne and The Bog King because she's a fairy with butterfly wings.
- Potionless for Sunny and Dawn. This is to reference that the two only fall in love without the use of a Love Potion. Sunny Day is also used, in reference to their names.
- Douche Bug for Roland and the bug creature that appear in The Stinger.
- The one-sided and quickly forgotten attraction of Dawn to The Bog King is called "Pixiepine", due to the Alliterative Name and Bog commonly being called a "pinecone" by fans.
It Was His Sled: The romance between Marianne and the Bog King is one of the most well-regarded and, subsequently, well-known aspects of the film.
Just Here for Godzilla: Even critics that lambasted the movie have said that the soundtrack is worth listening to. And then there are viewers who are only here for Bog and Marianne's relationship.
Moral Event Horizon: Roland crosses this when he threatens Dawn at swordpoint in an attempt to cow Marianne and the Bog King into surrendering. Marianne's reaction says all.
Narm Charm: The people who love the movie often enjoy it for its unrepentant embracing of somewhat campy sweetness, the songs, and the romance between Bog and Marianne. It doesn't hurt that the songs are *very* well performed.
One True Pairing: The fans are drawn to the pairing of Marianne and the Bog King because the characters have good chemistry with a nice mix of Belligerent Sexual Tension and heartwarming moments, and for being a Beauty and the Beast-type story where the 'Beast' character doesn't have to become conventionally handsome to get with 'Beauty'. Even those who don't like the film often agree that their romance is the best part of the story.
Questionable Casting: Kristin Chenoweth as the Sugar Plum Fairy. Fun fact, the voice acting featured in the movie is actually toned down from the performance she originally gave. Try wrapping your mind around that!
Ship Mates: Marianne/Bog King shippers usually ship Dawn/Sunny as well.
Signature Scene: Dawn singing "Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch" over and over again, taking the wind out of the Bog King's attempts at being intimidating with her affection towards him. It’s cited as the funniest part of the film.
Slow-Paced Beginning: General consensus is that once Marianne and the Bog King meet, fight, and team up, the movie magic truly starts, which is about one hour into the movie. Up until then, the film mainly consisted of singing pop songs and wacky hijinks.
So Okay, It's Average: A lot of people feel this way. The music is well-performed, but it may not be your thing, and probably by far the most well-received aspect of the plot, Bog and Marianne's romance, doesn't actually start happening until two-thirds into the film.
Squick: While Roland has this reaction when he finds out Marianne and the Bog King have fallen in love, the scene where Roland kisses a bug was designed to provoke this reaction from the audience.
Strangled by the Red String:
- Marianne and the Bog King are shown to be well suited for each other: they have Belligerent Sexual Tension right from the start, share a distaste for sugary romantic displays, and bond over their respective heartbreaks, so for many viewers, especially the movie's fans, the romance works just fine. However, some point out that it still happens over the course of just a few hours.
- Marianne's sister Dawn is broken out of the effects of a Love Potion when she realizes she loves Sunny, even though she's showed no interest in him at all the entire film except as a friend.
Ugly Cute: Once you get used to them, the goblin minions of the Bog King are kind of endearing.
Unintentional Uncanny Valley: The fairies, who are meant to be beautiful, and the elves can creep people out since the animators tried to make them look more human. Ironically, the residents of the Dark Forest have been met quite positively with praise for their designs coming even from the movie's detractors.
Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Sunny is deep in the friend-zone with Princess Dawn for whom he is madly in love with, even reluctantly helping her trying to woo her crush of the week. Even with how clueless Dawn comes across, Sunny never actually tells her directly that he likes her and instead lets himself get talked into using the love potion on her. With the various comparisons people make between the love potion and date-rape drugs, this makes Sunny come across as an entitled coward, a description that also fits Roland and we're supposed to hate him. The fact that he still gets the girl in the end after everything that's happened feels like he got off scot free, no matter how awful he claims to feel about it.
Viewer Gender Confusion: The lizard. Probably female, as Sunny calls her "Lizzy", but most people would not guess that from her first appearance.

YMMV / Strange Magic

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