Disney Challenge Days 21 and 22

Disney Challenge Day #21: Most Overrated Movie

Out of all of the beloved Pixar movies, I'm still a little perplexed as to why Cars has the biggest fanbase and why they chose that movie to make a whole land out of at California Adventure.
It's cute. Very endearing. Mater is incredibly lovable. Don't get me wrong.

But people go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs over this one and I think it's kind of overrated. The fact that Cars got a sequel before both The Incredible's and Finding Nemo seems like a real shame to me.

There's great character development in Lightning McQueen. I get it. Mater is a lot of fun. There's good moral lessons to be learned but all in all I wasn't THAT entertained to be a huge diehard fan like some people are. I just find it overrated.

Disney Challenge Days 19 and 20

Disney Challenge Day #19: Least Favorite Pixar Movie

I'm already preparing for the hate on this one... but I have to say Toy Story.

Maybe it's because I didn't grow up watching this one so it wasn't an integral part of my childhood. Maybe it was because when I finally did see it, I was at the age where I mentally categorized Toy Story as a "boy movie". Maybe it was because Sid just was way too freaking weird and because Buzz breaking his arm was just too intense for my innocent young heart to handle. Or maybe it was because I was uncomfortable that my name was so similar to that psychopath Sid.
Whatever the reason might be, I just didn't like this one.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adored the sequels. Maybe that's ironic. But oh well, that's the truth of it. Hate on me if you'd like, but I just wasn't a fan of the original 'Toy Story'. As a kid, I thought it was weird. I guess in some ways I still do.

Disney Challenge Days 17 and 18

First off: HAPPY NEW YEAR! Today is New Year's Eve and also the 'One Week 'Til Florida' mark! I leave next Tuesday at 9:30 am and will arrive in Orlando at 7:30 on Tuesday night. I got the email from the people at the DCP to register for my housing and roommates--fingers crossed that all of that works out :) I haven't unpacked TOO much since coming home for Christmas so I'm hoping that packing everything won't be a complete and total nightmare...but we'll see.

I. Am. So. Excited.

But anyways:

Disney Challenge #17: Least Favorite Classic

I have to go with Pinocchio on this one.
For whatever reason, I just have always thought this movie was just...dull. I wish I had more words to justify my standpoint on this one but I really don't. It was just weird to me. He turns into a donkey and then is eaten by a whale. That whale is terrifying to a young child by the way. I don't know why but Pinocchio didn't do it for me.

Disney Challenge #18: Favorite Pixar film

This one is so hard because I feel like Pixar really knocks it out of the park with the majority of their movies. Pixar is really hit-or-miss with me: I absolutely love them, or I'm not a fan. They're definitely not mediocre by anyone's standards.
I have to say my all-time favorite is "The Incredibles".

What's not to love? The family is hilarious. I grew up thinking that my dad basically was Mr Incredible--he was the strongest man in the world. My mother could absolutely be ElastiGirl. I was the living embodiment of Violet throughout middle school and my younger sister would absolutely be Dash. Jack-Jack is so precious.

My sister has the scene between Frozone and his wife memorized. She's not afraid to bust that sucker out whenever the situation calls for it.

Start 2014 out with a laugh...I couldn't resist

I'm still waiting on a sequel to this movie. It totally highlighted the beauty of a nuclear family. There are very few Disney movies that have Mommy and Daddy in the picture. This one shows the chaotic dysfunction of a normal family...but then shows how awesome it can all be if we're all on one team. I love it. Absolutely love it to pieces.

Disney Challenges Days 15 and 16

Disney Challenge Day #15: First Disney Movie I Saw

I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew the answer to this one, but I did my research and verified it with my mother.

The first Disney movie I ever saw was "The Lion King". Coincidentally, it remains to this day my very favorite Disney movie ever.

Now I don't remember going to see this movie, but I've heard many stories from my grandparents and multiple aunts/uncles whom I would request to sit and watch this movie with. As the oldest grandchild on my dad's side of the family, I pretty much had everyone wrapped around my finger so an adorable 2-year-old Sydney was nigh unto impossible to resist. I watched this movie hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of time.
Timon and Pumbaa were my favorites. Although, being only 2 years old I couldn't quite pronounce the 'Ti' in 'Ti-mon' so his name was simply 'Mon'.

My favorite part was when Simba and Nala were wrestling outside of the elephant graveyard. Nala pins him down and triumphantly announces, "Pinned ya!"
 Simba, being the prideful male, tries to pounce on her again and Nala beats him once again.
"Pinned ya again!"
I have gazillions of stories from my dear ol' Uncle Dave telling me that I'd 'pin' him down and gleefully announce in my adorable toddler voice "Pinned ya again" in my best Nala-impression.

Disney Challenge Days 13 and 14

Disney Challenge Day #13: Least Favorite Song

 "So This is Love" from Cinderella.

Gag me.

I don't know why I dislike this song so much...but I do. I really do. I love Cinderella because she's a classic and because she's a quintessential part of every little girl's childhood. But as far as quality character development and plotline...eh not so much.
She has her strengths, don't get me wrong. There are dozens of good things that I could say about Cinderella. I'm just too big of a story-loving nerd to appreciate the love story aspect. As far as being long-suffering, humble, incredibly compassionate, and forgiving: Cinderella takes the cake. But the whole 'one dance with your soulmate will make you fall head over heels in love' aspect....too much for me. 'One pair of shoes can change your life'. False. I don't buy into it.

Let the hate reign. Maybe I'm heartless and bitter. Entirely possible. But Cinderella and the song "So This Is Love" doesn't do it for me.

Disney Challenge Days 11 and 12

 

Disney Challenge Day #11: Favorite Love Song

"We're not saying you can change him,
'Cuz people don't really change.
We only say that love's a force
That's powerful and strange.
People make bad choices when they're
Mad or scared or stressed.
But throw a little love their way
And you'll bring out their best!"

And that my friends, is wisdom. Plain simple truth stated in a song sung by trolls. Therein lies the magic of Disney.

The song "Fixer Upper" from the new movie Frozen takes the cake for my favorite love song simply because it's true. No unrealistic expectations here. No 'smoke and mirrors' effect where someone tries to hide their flaws from their love interest. No deception. Just brutal honesty from his 'family' because they want to see him end up with someone who accepts and loves these flaws of his.
What more could you ask for?

I say yet again: if you haven't gone to see 'Frozen'...just go see it already. It's wonderful.

Disney Challenge Days 9 and 10

Day #9: Favorite Original Character

At first glance, I thought today's category was a bit redundant. Favorite original character? Seriously? I mean, I already answered who my favorite character was! What. The. Heck. But then I stopped to think about it:

Technically Simba isn't a truly original character. Diehard 'Lion King' fans know there's pretty strong evidence that not only is he an animated children's version of Hamlet, but he also is probably based off another cartoon lion ('white lion' something or the other...I should remember this...but I don't).

And by that logic, neither are Belle or Aladdin. Both are based off of stories written hundreds of years ago that have been passed down orally that Disney took the basic plotline and added some of his own magic to them. Not that I'm complaining. I'm not. At all. Why reinvent the wheel? Good storylines are out there. Use them to your full advantage. Some people may call this plagiarizing, but I don't. Disney never takes full credit for inventing this characters on his own. Credit is given where credit is deserved.

So who is my favorite original Disney character?
The first that comes to mind is the adorably lovable Vanellope von Schweetz from the movie 'Wreck-it Ralph'. I fully admit: I have no researched this at ALL so it's very possible that it isn't really all that unique...in which case, I claim Pluto as my favorite.

During my first few semesters at school, I realized that living in a small-town is drastically different than living in my hometown of 2-million + people. One of the foremost ways that I noticed is that I felt completely and totally cut-off from the outside world. We're all college kids. We didn't have a TV and I wasn't in the habit of reading CNN online or anything. I didn't see any newspapers besides our on-campus paper. Current events were non-existent in my world unless they showed up on my Facebook newsfeed. Yes I know, I'm pathetic.

So when 'Wreck-it Ralph' came out, I hadn't even heard of it, let alone see any trailers of it. I remember when it hit Redbox because people were complaining that every single Redbox in town was out of this DVD and it was so dang cute and you just had to see it ASAP. Seriously people: new Disney movies and Mormon college kids. It's a goldmine. 

"It's about this video game and the guy is a villain and it's SO cute!"

That's the extent of the reviews I heard from my peers and honestly, it didn't pique my interest in the slightest. I'm not a video gamer. Never have been. I got decently good at playing 'Monkey Ball' on our GameCube because the controls were incredibly simplistic but to this day I'm notoriously terrible at playing even 'MarioKart'. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to stay on the road and I'm incredibly slow. My competitive juices get the better of me and I forget how awful I am at playing, so I'll get stuck playing with my cousins for hours...but I never win. Ever. So a Disney movie about a video game character sounded like a snoozefest.

Spring Break 2013 was spent in St. George, Utah at a condo we rented out for the week with my immediate family and my mom's cousin's family. My youngest sister is a freshman in high school, and the oldest daughter of this other family is in third grade. So there was quite a big age difference. We spent the day playing with their kids and loving it and swimming and all that jazz, and my family would stay up WAYYYYYY too late watching season 3 of Downton Abbey (ohmyheart. Sybil. Heartbreak central). But this family introduced us to 'Wreck-it Ralph'. We probably watched it at least 8 or 9 times that trip.
I fell in love. Total and complete love with Vanellope. She was cute and small and feisty as heck. She didn't take crap from others players. She was competitive and fierce, but also kind of vulnerable because other people looked at her as a glitch. She was the full package for me. I'm really really hoping I get the chance to meet her in Disney. I really hope so.

I'll be honest: I have no idea how Wreck-it Ralph ends. The DVD we watched was scratched so as far as I know, Vanellope orders that everyone who was ever mean to her shall be executed...and that's where it ends. I assume that characters are not executed...but you know what, I'd be totally alright with it if they are. You go Vanellope! Go girl go! :)

Just in case diehard Disney fanatics oppose me and claim t hat Vanellope doesn't fit the bill of an original character, I'm going to choose Pluto as my runner-up.
Growing up, I never had a dog but Pluto made dog ownership seem heavenly. He was so loyal and so loving and downright hilarious. We went to Disneyland a couple of times as a kid and one of my few memories involves waiting in a ridiculously long line because I wanted to meet Pluto. I remember that for whatever reason, I never ended up meeting him that day. Whether Pluto had to go home to his doghouse for the night or because my parents were pooped out and didn't want to wait anymore...I have no idea.

I had a Disney Sing-A-Long video on VHS that I watched religiously when I was kid. We had one that focused on Disneyland park in Anaheim, and the cover of that was blue. And we had one that was green that showcased Disney Animal Kingdom. Watching that blue VHS tape, there's a part at the very very end when they're singing their last song ("When You Wish Upon a Star"), Pluto goes in and licks the cheek of one of the little girls. And it has been my wish for the LONGEST time that Pluto would lick my cheek like that. I met him last Thanksgiving (Thanksgiving 2012) and sadly his costume has changed so he's no longer physically able to lick children's cheeks. Heartbreak is real, my friends. I want my cheek to be licked by Pluto :(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUhL947dLuA
^^So I've included the link to the song I'm talking about. Pluto licks the girl right at like 1:14 so fast forward and let your heart melt. Add another thing to your Disney bucket list.

Disney Challenge Day 7 and 8

Sidekicks and Villains

Day #7: Favorite Sidekick

So many choices. So many classics. So much comic relief. Nearly impossible to narrow it down. So now it's a tie:

Choice #1: Tantor from Tarzan.
He's big. He's red. He's supportive...but he's just so anxious and comical that you can't help but just want to snuggle him. What other child is aware of piranhas and bacteria in the water? He's incredibly intelligent and his little child voice is just too darn cute for me to handle. Terk was a bit too obnoxious for me to fully love, but Tantor was perfection.


Choice #2: Grumpy from Snow White

Maybe it's because my family insists that I'm Grumpy and therefore buys me all Grumpy merchandise, but I think he's fantastic! He's determined to have a bad time regardless of anything that happens to him. Snow tries her very best to get him to soften and be happier, but he is so gosh darn stubborn.

I have a canvas bag with Grumpy on it that, I discovered last summer, was the perfect size to take to the river when I went swimming after classes (woot woot college life!). It fit my water bottle, towel, sunscreen, and assorted snacks without becoming too big and bulky. There was one week last spring where we went swimming 5 days in a row. When there's no AC and you're stuck in rural Idaho with minimal amounts of homework, you go swimming a lot.

But anyways, there was one day that I was hastily packing my things and I turned to my roommate frantically: "Hey have you seen my Grumpy bag?"

My dear guyfriend (name withheld to protect his dignity) was sitting right there and got the strangest look on his face,  "Ohhhhhhhhhhh, I get it. Say no more, Syd. I understand".

My roommate and I exchanged looks. We weren't talking in code (though to be fair, we spoke in code quite frequently around him) and had no idea what he was talking about.

"Well...you know... your grumpy bag. Don't worry, I have sisters. I get it. Your monthly circumstances come with being a girl. Don't feel embarrassed," he said, giving me a hug in some weird attempt so I wouldn't feel awkward.

At this point, I busted into laughter and had to explain that my bag literally just had Grumpy the dwarf on it and was not my secret codename for a bag that stored my tampons. He was blushing pretty hardcore every time we brought it up for the rest of the day.

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!

Disney Challenge Day 3 and 4

Heroines and Princes

Day #3: Favorite Heroine 

Maybe I'm cheating a little bit on this one, but I maintain that it's still fair. While Anna from 'Frozen' is my favorite Disney character, I have to say that Belle from 'Beauty and the Beast' is my favorite heroine. Technically, Belle isn't a princess throughout like 99% of her movie and therefore she's more of a heroine than a princess.

I feel like there's very little that needs to be said about this topic. She really is the best. She's well-read, open-minded, loyal to her family, and--above all--she's not desperate! We don't really know much about Cinderella's dating life, but I'm going to go out on a limb and suspect that she didn't really have much time to go out on many dates after working all day. She fell head over heels with literally the very first guy she danced with and knew nothing about him other than that he's charming.

Belle had Gaston wrapped around her finger. He was the most popular boy in school (or in their case, the most popular guy in their poor provincial town) and he was nuts for her. He wanted her to marry him and bear him lots of little babies. And for every other female in that town, that seemed like the ideal life. But Belle was not only wise enough to see that Gaston wasn't exactly the kindest fellow, she also had enough self-respect to turn him down. She wasn't so desperate for love and affection that she settled for the first bozo that came knocking. Not only that, but she was incredibly polite in her rejection of Gaston. Belle is just a classy lady.

In my limited-yet-often-awkward-and-humorous dating encounters, I know that it can be difficult to distinguish between attention/affection and actually having true feelings for someone. Kudos for Belle for being able to not only tell the difference, but being brave enough to act on it. While she had a severe case of wanderlust, she realized that her chances of leaving the town were slim and her chances of finding a suitable man were even more slim. Gaston was potentially the only marriage offer that she was going to get. She chose to live the single life rather than settle for a man that she didn't love. Coming from living in a Mormon college town where it's pretty taboo to not find yourself a man and get hitched at a young age, Belle is pretty much a rockstar in my humble opinion.

That's even before you get into any of the awesomeness that occurs as she encourages her dad to follow his dreams despite how badly his mere existence embarrasses her with the cool kids in town. Or how she immediately jumps on a horse to head off into scary wolf-infested woods when her dad goes missing. Not to mention how perfectly selfless she is when she doesn't even hesitate to take her father's place in jail for the rest of her life. Then we get into how she sees all of the Beast's flaws and insecurities and character defects and his terrifying physical appearance, and still falls in love with him anyways.

Please, find me a better Disney heroine. Belle is the cream of the crop.

Disney Challenge: Days 1 and 2

 

Finals are over. The apartment is cleaned and moved out of. I have evacuated out of the cold frozen potato-infested region. I survived one heck of a car accident (goodbye Phyllis the Toyota Camry! I have never had a noble steed to call my own, but I do believe you were the noblest of the noble as far as car/steeds go!). My 15 hour road-trip morphed into a 30+ hour road-trip due to the complications that come with totaling a vehicle in the middle of nowhere.

But all is well! I am home at last in the Golden State where you can step outside in a tee-shirt and not catch hypothermia. As much as I love that quaint little college town, I do not miss my nosehairs freezing when I'm outside. Life is beautiful. There's nothing before me now except for four months of pure magical bliss. Yes, Christmas is going to be wonderful. This is my favorite time of the year for all of those happy warm fuzzy reasons. But for me, the joyous feelings aren't going to stop and I can postpone the entrance back to the real world for a little bit longer.

Why, you might ask?

Because I'm going to go live and work at Walt Disney World for four months. I'm under no illusions: I'm hired because college kids are totally cheap labor and yes, my pay is going to be less than it would be if I had a minimum wage job here in my hometown. I'm totally aware of it. But on my days off I can take a picture with Flynn Rider and ride Space Mountain...so I'm not complaining :)

In order to channel my somewhat-obsessive/overly excited feelings towards this new adventure, I turned to Pinterest for some ideas on how to keep myself busy/distracted. And I stumbled upon a 30 Day Disney Challenge for bloggers. According to the beautiful CountDown App on my phone (hush, don't judge me), I have 14 days until I catch a plane to Orlando which means that I'll have to double up and do two days worth of challenges at a time butttttt that's totally fine with me :) So....let's do this thing!

Day Number One: Favorite Character

The issue with me (and trust me, I have many many issues) is that I have so many favorites that I really struggled to nail them all down into one category because they could fit in so many. For example: Belle is my favorite princess but technically she's a heroine. But anyways, I digress.

For the issue of favorite character, there really was no debate. If you know anything about me and my love of Disney, it's that I absolutely adore the Lion King. So my favorite character is, naturally, Simba.

It took me many, many moons to understand the themes and the dynamics all at work in "The Lion King". No, it's not completely original. Yes, it's based off of Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'. But man oh man do I absolutely love it. 20 years of life later and I can still enjoy it. I have way too much of it committed to memory and I'm at the point where I have to monitor who I'm with when I watch it because I will do the full running dialogue throughout the entire thing.

Last Christmas the Broadway stage production of "The Lion King" came to San Francisco and my Christmas present to myself were two tickets to go and see it. My younger sister accompanied me and while she enjoyed it, I don't think she geeked out nearly as much as I did. I was in absolute heaven. If you ever have the chance to go see it GO. I'll be going again in a heartbeat if it ever comes to my neck of the woods again. The costumes are incredible and the way that the actors have taught themselves to move like wild animals...it's pretty amazing to watch. I'm a fan. 

The nerdiness has continued since my discovery of using 'Spotify' to listen to movie/musical soundtracks while I work on homework or write. The soundtrack for the Broadway version of the Lion King is powerful. My personal favorite song: "Endless Night". So much beauty and depth. It's more than a story about a lion and his silly meerkat/warthog friends. It's a movie with powerful themes and motifs on life and accepting who you are despite the mistakes that you've made. Plus...c'mon, Pumbaa is adorable ;)

I'm including a link to a YouTube video of a performance of 'Endless Night' on the Rosie O'Donnell show back in the day. Seriously go watch it and just fall in love. Plus: look at that costuming. A man. But a lion. At the same time. Pure genius.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7AeTFYsBgc