Miss Mary recommends Breadsword’s dissections of movies and TV shows on YouTube

You might expect the children’s librarian’s Staff Pick to be a children’s book, but instead I want to recommend a video essayist on YouTube named Breadsword (yes the name is funny but bear with me) that has made me cry, in a nice cathartic way, multiple times. He mostly dissects movies or TV shows that also happen to be favorites of mine from childhood (hence the weepy nostalgia). The films he critiques range from Miazaki films to Disney. These essays are a deep dive into the influences of these works, the themes; both problematic and uplifting, as well as the histories of the creators. I really enjoyed the latest, The Adventures of Tintin and the Shadows of Giants (contains some explicit language). So, if you want a heavy dose of optimism and hope, look no further.