PicoBlog

Zendaya is a lot of things: A-list actress, star of Dune Part Two, Emmy winner, fashion icon and, of course, Meechee.

Either you know exactly what this means, or you have no clue what I’m talking about. If you fall in the latter camp, maybe seeing this helps?

If you still have no idea, it means you’re not a very online person, and you should applaud yourself for that.

Either way, the beauty of Zendaya is Meechee, which went viral in 2018, is that it epitomizes the trend of animated movies overstuffing their casts with the most random assortment of celebrities imaginable.

That includes Smallfoot, which brought together Zendaya, LeBron James, Danny DeVito, Common and more to tell the story of…well, who knows. The more important story is the one told by comedian Gabe Gundacker, who performs the movie’s cast of characters with the wide-eyed wonder of a Disney princess.

I’ve never seen Smallfoot—has anyone?—but I guarantee this short clip is way more entertaining than the actual movie. (The awed, earnest way Gundacker sings “LeBron James is Gwangi” never fails to make me laugh.)

As the most-liked comment on the song’s YouTube page says, “This had more cultural impact than the movie itself.” I’m sure Zendaya agrees. If nothing else, she enjoyed it for a specific reason that I find relatable.

• “I kept convincing myself that I wasn’t the right person for the part…people who look like me aren’t romantic leads.” Ambika Mod on playing the lead role in One Day, the hit Netflix series based on a book she has loved since she was thirteen (aww). I totally understand and empathize with Ambika’s concerns, so how wonderful that One Day succeeds largely because of her sparkling performance.

  (In fact, how cool is that two of Netflix’s most romantic leads right now are both Indian: Ambika Mod and Bridgerton’s Simone Ashley! I’m sometimes asked about who I would like to play the lead in a movie adaptation of Advika and the Hollywood Wives, and they would be my answer.)

• “I am an under-mothered mother raising daughters, and I need you to tell me how to do that.” Kristen Mulrooney writes a McSweeneys column in which she writes to famous fictional mothers. Her letter to Lorelai Gilmore is funny, sweet and quite moving too.

• I’m a longtime reader of LaineyGossip, which offers fun, intelligent, and most crucially, nuanced discussion about entertainment news and celebrity gossip. A few months, LG spun off a newsletter called The Squawk, and a recent piece about covering movie junkets is one of the best things I’ve read in a long time. As someone who has interviewed actors, I really admired the work and thought process involved in this challenging interview format.

I was recently having a conversation with a friend who said he liked these fun facts. And since we also talked about 80s cartoons like Transformers: The Movie (yes, we are both pop culture nerds), I thought I’d share this:

What do Optimus Prime and Eeyore have in common? They’re both voiced by the same actor, Peter Cullen.

It’s hard to think of two more opposite characters than the stoic hero of The Transformers universe and sad-sack best friend of Winnie the Pooh. And in writing this week’s newsletter, it reminded me that the popularity of star-studded animated movies can mean less opportunities for talented voice actors like Cullen.

Voice acting is such a unique and under-appreciated skillset, which makes me even more cranky about all the movie stars taking on roles as talking pandas and whatnot.

Anyway, it’s a joy to watch Cullen in action!

Thanks for reading, happy spring, and wishing you a good week ahead!

Thank you for reading Free Happiness! If you know someone in need of a serotonin boost, feel free to share it.

Share

ncG1vNJzZmieopqyqa3PqaCnnaOoe7TBwayrmpubY7CwuY6pZrOdnpmuuq2MoqpmpZWasKmxxGajnpqipLtutsCmnKxlmah6qMPAp56i