Skip to content
dot and line logo
  • Newsletter
  • Latest
  • Interviews
  • TV
  • Movies
  • About Us

Author: Elly Belle

Elly Belle is a writer and digital media strategist who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, where she's the borough's primary Pun Enthusiast. She has a passion for advocacy, culture, and media, with a focus on bringing stories of restorative justice and healing to the spotlight. She has worked at organizations focused on social change and human rights herself and dedicates the majority of her time to working in youth development and mental health, as well as organizing for the LGBTQIA community and for sexual assault survivors. Most of all, she's committed to storytelling in many forms as a means of spreading hope and progressive social change. Her words can be found in outlets including BITCH Magazine, The Dot and Line, Teen Vogue, Thrillist, InStyle, Playboy, Publishers Weekly, BUST Magazine, and more. Follow her on Twitter at @literelly.
Interviews That's All Folks

What Queer People Want the Future of Cartoons to Look Like

April 28, 2020April 28, 2020 Elly BelleComment(1)

Queerness in cartoons has been subtextual for a long time, and a new generation of cartoons has brought it to the forefront. But there’s a lot more to be done.

Movies

How Can I Still Love Dory When Ellen DeGeneres Sucks So Much?

April 13, 2020April 13, 2020 Elly BelleComments Off on How Can I Still Love Dory When Ellen DeGeneres Sucks So Much?

There’s something fishy about the talk show host’s politics, and I can’t just let her off the hook.

stitch
Movies

‘Lilo and Stitch’ Taught Me That I’m No Monstrosity

March 25, 2020March 25, 2020 Elly BelleComments Off on ‘Lilo and Stitch’ Taught Me That I’m No Monstrosity

A little blue baby alien and his friend, a little Hawaiian girl, were all I needed to show me I could choose my family—and that I was deserving of their care.

rugratshanukkah
TV

Give Me Chanukah Episodes or Give Me Death

December 23, 2019December 30, 2019 Elly BelleComments Off on Give Me Chanukah Episodes or Give Me Death

We’ve had enough Christmas specials to last us until the Second Coming. We demand more Macca-babies!

TV

A New Cartoon Aims to Air the First Ever Lead Non-Binary Character

December 5, 2019December 30, 2019 Elly BelleComments Off on A New Cartoon Aims to Air the First Ever Lead Non-Binary Character

Queer artist Sam Sawyer has already raised over $63,000 to fund her spooky new series.

TV

Behind the Scenes at AnimationFest 2019

October 3, 2019December 30, 2019 Elly BelleComments Off on Behind the Scenes at AnimationFest 2019

The Savannah College of Art and Design is hosting a new kind of animation festival.

Movies

What the Iron Giant Can Still Teach Us About Friendship and Vulnerability

July 31, 2019December 30, 2019 Elly BelleComments Off on What the Iron Giant Can Still Teach Us About Friendship and Vulnerability

Two decades later, the film is still rich with poignant lessons—and with Vin Diesel’s career-best performance.

tales from earthsea
Movies

What Studio Ghibli’s ‘Tales From Earthsea’ Gets Right

February 15, 2018May 9, 2019 Elly BelleComments Off on What Studio Ghibli’s ‘Tales From Earthsea’ Gets Right

The late Ursula K. Le Guin didn’t love Goro Miyazaki’s take on her classic saga, but the film still understood its heart.

EDITORS PICKS

A Beer Here, a Page There: D+L Talks with Moe Szyslak

By Michael J. Seidlinger

You know him as Moe's Tavern's bitter bartender. But do you know his writing? The Dot and Line sits down with Moe Szyslak so he can tell it to us straight.

katara avatar the last airbender

Katara’s Bloody Dance With Death

By Claire Dunderman

Katara was a hero from day one.

the last unicorn

35 Years Later, The Script for ‘The Last Unicorn’ Still Sparkles

By Christina Sterbenz

Why I love one of the most beautiful films in the cartoon canon—especially for its dialogue.

link breath of the wild

Why ‘Breath of the Wild’ Is a Ghibli Movie: A Legal Resolution

By The Dot and Line

Like, really, it’s ‘Castle in the Sky’ fan fiction. In the best way.

‘BoJack Horseman’ Makes Sense If You Know About Intergenerational Trauma

By Amelia Kidd

You can lead a horse to self-awareness, but you can’t re-write the traumas of his family history. Or something.

shinichiro watanabe cowboy bebop

A Final ‘Bebop’ Question on Shinichirō Watanabe’s Legacy

By John Maher

‘Cowboy Bebop’ busted the anime curve. But what is its director’s legacy? And is his greatest work really his, anyway?

space ghost coast to coast legacy

8 Reasons ‘Space Ghost Coast to Coast’ Is One of the Most Influential Cartoons Ever

By Sean Torrie

How one—very weird—cartoon changed the course of history.

hey arnold christmas tv special

11 Cartoon Holiday Episodes to Stream for Christmas

By Eric Vilas-Boas

Anytime, anywhere, these are the streaming shows that will help you ring in the holidays.

  • Newsletter
  • Latest
  • Interviews
  • TV
  • Movies
  • About Us

GREATEST HITS

‘The Breadwinner’ Director On How Her Film Came Together

By Isabel Galwey

Nora Twomey discusses why the two-decade-old story is still relevant, what it’s like to work at Cartoon Saloon, and how they brought Parvana to life.

stevonnie steven universe

What We Found With Stevonnie on That Jungle Moon

By Maya Gittelman

Hollywood renders nonbinary people nearly invisible, which is why the latest ‘Steven Universe’ episode a revelation.

2017 editorial | Editorial by MysteryThemes.