Disney Challenge Day 5 and 6

Heroes and Animals

Day #5: Favorite Hero

I have to say, Hercules is the man. He's the epitome of an underdog: small and scrawny, not well liked, constantly in trouble, and not a whole lot of self-esteem. The storyline is beautiful. It's not about loving yourself for who you are, but discovering how you can better the world and become the person that you want to be. The Hercules of ancient mythology isn't a very kind and uplifting individual (murders his wife and family blah blah blah) so I absolutely love the Disney spin that was put onto this character.




Not to mention that the song "Go the Distance" is the ultimate Disney jam. I got to play it in a piano recital in either my junior or senior year of high school and absolutely fell in love with it. Coincidentally, I was also reading the 'Percy Jackson' series at that moment in time so it was a Greek mythology overload. Can we just fall in love with the beauty of the soundtrack from the entire movie? I mean, the Muses are fantastic. If they could provide the backup music for my life, that'd be swell. "I Can't Say I'm In Love" is possibly the ultimate love song. It describes my feelings of love and romance in a way that no Taylor Swift song could ever possibly come close to doing so.


Herc is great but the minor characters are fantastic as well: Meg is the best romantic interest ever, Phil is hilarious, and Hades is a great villain. I'd be a little bitter too if my grand old brother exiled me to take care of dead people for eternity. Can't say that I blame him too much for trying to upset the balance of the universe and overthrow Olympus. I don't necessarily agree with him for putting everyone in shackles and having the Titans kind of destroy the earth....but I can empathize with him.

Sorry, I found this hilarious

I'm all about romances that lead to some bit of sacrifice and make you a better person in the end. Hercules and Meg definitely fit that definition. She shoves her suddenly-weak-demigod-boyfriend out of the way and allows herself to be crushed by a stone pillar that was toppled over by a Titan out to kill the previously mentioned boyfriend. That does NOT sound like a pleasant way to go, but it was an incredible act of selflessness. Then there's Herc who willingly swims through a sea of dead souls (Ewwwwww. Ew ew ew. EWWW!) to reclaim Meg's soul. That's some major commitment.

Last but not least, he gives up the chance to be a full-fledged god and live with his family and his peers on Mount Olympus with intense cosmic power...to be a mortal on earth with Meg. He doesn't even put it up for debate. As soon as realizes that Meg can't be with him on Olympus, he's like "Ooh sorry Dad! I'm out!" Even Arwen in LOTR had some sort of internal debate spanning 3 movies about giving up eternal youth to be with her man. Way to go Hercules! You go Herc!

Day #5: Favorite Animal

Ohhhh Eeyore. My love for him has grown in the last few years. There's something just so sad and pitiful about a guy who is just so lovable with horribly rotten luck. He's so sweet, there's not a mean bone in his body but the universe (or at least the writers at Disney are just out to get him).

Pooh and Tigger out sledding

Last Thanksgiving, my family spontaneously decided to spend the holiday at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. And by 'spontaneously', I literally mean we decided to go like a week before Thanksgiving. I flew from Idaho to LA and met my family down there. So much fun. I was stunned but very impressed by how obviously Christmas-y the park was. Many businesses focus on

Awww poor Eeyore :(

sticking with 'Happy Holidays' and other holiday themes that focus more on winter rather than a Christian belief. I was pleasantly surprised to see Disneyland had no issue being pro-Christmas. Seemed like a ballsy move, but one that I fully appreciated.

But I digress! We saw the Mickey's Christmas Parade (I have no idea what it was called, but something along those lines) and it was darling. About a third of the way through the parade, Tigger and Pooh came zipping through on sleds (motorized floats but for the sake of Disney magic, they were sledding) and it was darling. But ohhh be still my heart, one of the last floats that came through was Eeyore. He was dragging a broken sled behind him. Clearly, he had gone out sledding with his buddies Tigger and Pooh but he was now doing his walk of shame with his broken sled dragging behind him. It was precious and so tender. And thus began my love of Eeyore.