Living in the small town of Tawau there wasn’t much to do except go to school, go for tuition, swimming classes, art classes, music classes … you get the drift. It was all work no play for Eva’s mom. Our only form of entertainment was a video player and tons and tons of taped and retaped Disney cartoons.
Hence, I grew up watching Disney animated movies such as Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Dumbo (I cried my eyes out), Bambi (I cried my heart out), Pinocchio, Lady and the Tramp, Robin Hood, Oliver and Company, Alice in Wonderland, Jungle Book, Aristocats, 101 Dalmations, Sword in the Stone and the Rescuers.
Later on, I was stuck on Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, the Little Mermaid, the Lion King, Hercules, Mulan, Tarzan, Lilo & Stitch (a favourite), and much later on, Pixar animated films like A bug’s life, Monster’s Inc., Toy Story 1 and 2, Finding Nemo (a favourite), Ratatouille, the Incredibles (my all-time favourite) and most recently Bolt and Up.
Disney is also responsible for movies like Enchanted, Hidalgo, the Princess Diaries, Pirates of the Carribbean 1,2 and 3, High School Musical 1, 2 and 3 (the only Disney movie listed here that I did not watch), National Treasure 1 and 2.
I’m looking forward to The Princess and the Frog and Rapunzel.
Wow, I’m such a Disney geek.
Okay, ramblings aside, Disney was synonymous with Happily-Ever-Afters, Prince Charmings and Princesses, villains in all forms (related or not) and good triumphing over evil or bad.
Everything was clear cut; everything was black and white; everything was simple.
From all those years of ‘research’, here are some of the typical themes in Disney movies.
Fairies use wands and have oddly-proportioned wings.
e.g. Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Pinocchio.
Stepmothers are evil.
e.g. Snow White, Cinderella (and because these two are the forefronts of the Disney heritage, it will forever be imprinted in our minds that stepmoms are evil)
Villains exist in family circles.
e.g. Snow White and her stepmom, Cinderella and her stepmom+stepsisters, Simba and his uncle, Scarface.
You can be the hero or heroine only if you have no parents or just one.
Snow White (orphan), Tarzan (orphan), Aladdin (orphan), Mowgli (orphan), Peter Pan (orphan), Wart aka Arthur (orphan), Simba (only mom), Dumbo (just Mom), Cinderella (where’s her father?), Ariel the mermaid (only Dad), Nemo (only Dad), Tarzan’s gf, Jane (only Dad), Princess Jasmine (only Dad), Pocahontas (only Dad), Bambi (just Dad), Belle (only Dad).
Exceptions: Hercules (doesn’t know who his parents are), Mulan (they only come in at the beginning and at the end), the Incredibles (it’s a family so this does not count.)
There’s always a tinge of royalty somewhere.
Aladdin’s gf is a princess.
Cinderella’s bf is a prince.
Ariel, Snow White, Aurora are princesses.
Belle’s beast is a prince in reality.
Tarzan, Simba, Bambi and Pocahontas are royalty in their own lands.
Hercules is major royalty – son of Zeus aka Greek God.
Princess in the movie Enchanted and the Princess Diaries are a little off the tradition but still, princesses.
Female villains have very weird hairdos or hairpieces.
e.g. Ursula in Little Mermaid, Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, Cruella de Ville in 101 Dalmations, the stepmother and step sisters (Prunella and Godzilla –whatever their names are) in Cinderella,
Princes and princesses are incredibly good-looking, have flawless skin, are well built , are not stuck up and have good morals too. The kind of people you look for in dating services.
All Disney princes and princesses
Animals talk. Particularly if you are a dog or cat.
All Disney cartoons.
If you’re the hero or heroine, you can definitely sing in tune.
All Disney cartoons.
If you’re the villain, you can definitely sing in tune.
All Disney cartoons.
If you’re a talking animal, you can definitely sing in tune.
All Disney cartoons.
The good always wins in the end and happily ever after is a definite must.
All Disney cartoons.
The last one is probably one of the strongest reasons why we all love Disney. Deep down inside, everyone is looking for a happy ending and whilst our ending does not come after the credits, at least when we are in the cinemas or in front of the telly watching a Disney animated film, we forget all our worries, submit to the stereotypes and succumb to that nonsensical notion that good will forever be triumphant over evil.
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