“They can’t order me to stop dreaming.”
Cinderella
It’s been about 3 weeks since I’ve posted. It’s ironic because I have done a few exciting things since my last post. I’ve appeared on my first podcast and assisted in brewing beer at a brewery. There have also been a lot of unfortunate events that have happened such as the shut downs, deaths, and panic from the latest Coronavirus pandemic. Thus, I thought a good topic for this post should be something lighthearted. In addition to the fore-mentioned achievements, I also finished watching all the Disney princess movies. I watched most of these movies over time, but it was enlightening to watch them over as an adult and in close proximity of each other. It gave me the ability to fairly critique them and compare them. It was also interesting to watch them with my daughter. Although she may not have been able to fully articulate her opinions of each movie, we interestingly had the same preferences. I refrained from watching all the spin-offs and stuck to the original movies for each film. Here are my brief impressions of each film. There may be spoilers. :
Moana (2016)
I really enjoyed this film. I appreciated the respect that Moana had for her family while simultaneously tryin to find her place. The movie depicted death beautifully as well as the beauty of having pride in your heritage. I felt the movie was empowering. Interestingly, I wanted her to fall in love and or ” get the guy” because they truly complimented each other.
Frozen (2013)
The beginning of this movie is so real. That snowman song makes me want to break out in tears every time. I can almost feel the pain of both sisters. Although the younger sister served as the poster-child for naivety, her and her sister’s stories were both complex. This movie was one of my favorites despite me being annoyed with both sisters for a good portion of the movie.
Brave (2012)
I was nothing less than irritated with the main character. It may be because I identify most with the mother. It’s possible that at some point i felt like Merida and wanted to break free from the social norms and assert my differences from my mother. Nevertheless, the girl was out of order. My favorite parts of the movie ended up being the scenes with the father and brothers. I couldn’t bear with the justification of Merida’s behavior and the argument that the mother may have been equally as prideful as Merida.
Tangled (2010)
This movie was ok. Baby kidnaping hopefully happens less now. It’s intriguing to follow relationships that are based in deceit. No matter how well the ” evil witch” took care of Rapunzel, her lies overrode every action. It’s also interesting that this particular princess ended up with a thief… another relationship initially based in deceit, but somehow worked out in the end.
The Princess and the Frog (2009)
This is definitely one of my favorites. I love the music and the story. I identify so much with princess Tiana. One of the greatest aspects of the movies was the depiction of friendship between Tiana and Charlotte.
Pocahontas (1995)
I did not like this film. I felt like it was the opposite of a fairytale and was more like a sugar coated nightmare. The fact that the movie wasn’t based on reality is also upsetting. My favorite part of the movies was the song “Savages” in which both the Native Americans and colonist share their views on what it means to be civilized. Avatar has a very similar storyline, but may have been less upsetting to me because it is purely fictional and not based on a tragic historical event.
Aladdin (1992)
This is another one of my favorites because of the story and music. The ending where Jafar becomes a prisoner because of his lust for power is both priceless and symbolic.
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
This is my favorite Disney princess movie overall. I did an entire post about this movie, Beauty and the Beast.
The Little Mermaid (1989)
“Poor unfortunate souls” explains the entirety of the movie. I loved the music in this film.
Sleeping Beauty (1959)
The movie was OK. I didn’t have any complaints overall. However, I preferred the spin off movie ” Maleficent” because it depicted the beauty of true love and the ugliness of hatred.
Cinderella (1950)
It wasn’t until watching this movie again that I noticed that Cinderella is working most of the movie. The movies showed the beauty of friendship in forms that may be least excepted by others. Those animal friends were ride or die.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
I honestly couldn’t get pass Snow White’s voice. I found the movie to be creepy when I thought about what was happening concretely.
In summary, I enjoyed my Disney Princess movie binge. Mulan wasn’t on the list as a Disney princess movie, but I watched it and recommend the movie. Like Moana, I appreciated the balance of finding one’s self and respect. I was surprised to see my reactions to these movies as an adult. I recommend watching these movies again if you hadn’t seen the movies since childhood.