When I watched my first Disney movie as a kid I fell in love. I am now a 30-year-old man and the love has never died. Judge away all you like but I am happy to admit that, there is something wonderfully innocent about them and in the adult world, having that as an outlet sometimes is needed. My two worlds collide wonderfully when I can have a glass (or bottle) of wine with a Disney movie.
These classically animated movies provided journeys into fantasy worlds, introduced you to mythical creatures and magic and also taught you that you could fall in love with a complete stranger at first sight as long as they were hot! From under the Sea, from faraway Deserts to Jungles, to wonderful Neverland, you are transported to such exciting places that are vibrant, colourful, majestic and simply enchanting.
As classic tales go, there is a simple recipe:
Add 1 x Hero or Heroine- goodness and light.
Add 1 x Villain – Filled with hate.
Add 1 x Location – Either Fantasy or reality.
Add 1 x Villain’s motive – Either wants to rule or punish the hero.
Mix all the ingredients together for 1 and ½ hours and PRESTO!
One of the great things I love about Disney is the Villains. They don’t often need a strong motive for being Evil. Take Maleficent for example, as evil goes she is pretty much up there, but she has no real reason to curse Aurora, she just simply wanted too. Bad fairy! I am not even going to give the revamped Maleficent with Angelina Jolie a mention which “attempts” to give Maleficent a back story that ultimately made her a pathetic mess (clearly I am bitter about it). Or take Lady Tremaynne, Cinderella did absolutely nothing to her, but she was so nasty and made Cinderella a downtrodden slave because she could. No motive, just Evil. However Jafar was hell bent on ruling Agrabah, and Ursula wanted to get rid of King Triton and rule Atlantica. There pretty big motives and both of them stopped at nothing to get it.
The hero is the one you always root for – you always want them to win. This is instinctual, unless you are a Sadist, then Disney probably isn’t up your alley (just a hunch). However, whilst everyone is naturally supposed to associate with the hero, there is no denying that there is also an attraction to the villain.
Classic Good Vs Evil tales have been told for many years. One could argue that as you have inclinations for both Good and Evil, it is up to you to choose which path to take.
Sometimes the lines are blurred a little. Take Frozen for example, Elsa is perceived to be Evil, however she was never a Villain. Frozen is up there as one of my favourites.
When Disney teamed up with Pixar, the animations were moved aside for more computer-generated movies like Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, UP, Brave, Frozen and many more. These movies are classics much like their animated family, but I do think though that Disney needs to go back to its roots and make classically animated movies. These movies create a childhood association, which resides in many people. Whilst I don’t deny that computer generated movies are a lot of work, there is nothing quite like putting pencil to paper and creating characters that jump off the page.
I met Mickey Mouse when I was 10, cut to me being a cute little kid waiting in line to meet him. I was so excited. Now I met Mickey again this year, cut to a 6’2, 95kg big kid waiting in line to meet him just as excited (P.s I know it is someone is an costume). The point is, the kid in you never dies, they just take a back seat. Disney has captured the hearts of many people for years. They have a truly amazing way of re-telling an old tales, fairytales and also creating fantastic new stories to share. So before you dismiss it because you are an “adult” try sitting down and watching your favourite movie, you may be surprised.
Ranter & Banter 