I don't normally advocate for (tolerate?) talking during movies, but if you watch a Disney movie with me, you'd better be prepared for me to sing-along (probably off-key) and/or finish the lines of dialogue with the characters. (Especially during the first Pirates of the Caribbean. At one point, I think I genuinely had that movie memorized. #teamcommodorenorrington)
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Monday, September 18, 2017
Disney Princesses Singing In Their "Native" Language
This fun video popped up in my Facebook feed tonight:
I don't think it's *entirely* accurate to say that they're singing in their "native languages" -- at least not all of them. Mulan for sure, because the film is clearly set in ancient China, even if it's not historically accurate; Meg in Hercules is pretty accurate as well, since the film explicitly mentions the Greek gods; and there are a few super subtle references to Germany in Snow White (namely the beer steins in dwarves' cottage). But Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid and Frozen -- they're all set in kingdoms once upon a time in a faraway land. Sure, the original "Sleeping Beauty" is of French origin; and Hans Christian Andersen was Danish, but that doesn't mean The Little Mermaid is set in Denmark; and Arendelle is a fictional country inspired by Norway. I'm not even going to touch on the Aladdin one, because that's a hot mess that I've discussed before.
But a fun video nevertheless. :)
The Disney Version
I was talking with a student after class today about how Disney has a tendency to "Disney-fy" the original fairy tales it adapts -- giving the much-darker-tales a happy ending and omitting the "squishy" stuff. (See, for instance, the original ending to "Sleeping Beauty" or Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid.") We talked about "The Little Match Girl" in particular -- could Disney give that story a happy ending? (I think they could. They'd sprinkle a little pixie dust in the writer's room and bibbidi-bobbidi-boo, you'd have a Disneyfied story through rose-colored classes.)
Regardless, our conversation made me think of this post from Disney Memes:
One of these days I'll get around to reading those newly-discovered fairy tales. But I'd still bet that Disney could take one of those tales and turn it into a blockbuster.
Regardless, our conversation made me think of this post from Disney Memes:
One of these days I'll get around to reading those newly-discovered fairy tales. But I'd still bet that Disney could take one of those tales and turn it into a blockbuster.
Thursday, September 14, 2017
#tbt
I've tried to be good about a Disney themed #tbt every week, but...#fail. So when these photos popped up on my "On This Day" Facebook feed, I took it as a sign to reboot the concept. Fingers crossed.
#tbt to September 2013, a.k.a. the day all my dreams came true when Starbucks opened in the Magic Kingdom.
Also, this is literally 6 weeks before my wedding. For the life of me, I cannot remember why we went to Disney that close to our wedding.
[I love the look on the face of the dude in the red hat in the pic on the right. I'm sure (okay, 75% sure) that it was just the awkward moment the photo was snapped but...he could also be extremely confused as to what I'm oh-so-excitedly pointing at.
(And that relatively nondescript sign is the only indication that that's a Starbucks. For all the haters who thought it was going to be garish and tacky.)
I've always thought that drinking a PSL (an old-school PSL, before they changed the recipe -- twice) in front of Cinderella's Castle would be my definition of heaven. Add in some New England fall weather and a bunch of puppies -- what could be better?
#tbt to September 2013, a.k.a. the day all my dreams came true when Starbucks opened in the Magic Kingdom.
Also, this is literally 6 weeks before my wedding. For the life of me, I cannot remember why we went to Disney that close to our wedding.
[I love the look on the face of the dude in the red hat in the pic on the right. I'm sure (okay, 75% sure) that it was just the awkward moment the photo was snapped but...he could also be extremely confused as to what I'm oh-so-excitedly pointing at.
(And that relatively nondescript sign is the only indication that that's a Starbucks. For all the haters who thought it was going to be garish and tacky.)
I've always thought that drinking a PSL (an old-school PSL, before they changed the recipe -- twice) in front of Cinderella's Castle would be my definition of heaven. Add in some New England fall weather and a bunch of puppies -- what could be better?
"Let's Get Down To Business"
Came across this the other day:
A lot of people in the comments are all, "This never happened!" to which I say...meh. Who cares if it did or didn't? It's still funny.
And, FWIW, I believe it could have happened. Every class, I resist the urge to start class by saying "Let's get down to business..." Once, a few years ago, I said it by accident -- the class (which was a fantastic one, BTW) was being super chatty before class and I needed to get them to focus -- and one girl chimed in, "...to defeat the Huns." Which set off a little bit of a chain reaction and a detour to watch the music video. Because if you can't randomly pull up a Disney song on YouTube and have an impromptu sing-a-long in Decoding Disney, when can you?
Disney World + Hurricane Irma
Disclaimer: My heart and thoughts go out to everyone affected by Hurricane Irma (and Harvey as well). Due to the specific focus of this blog, this post will only focus on the way Irma effected Disney World in Orlando, in an academic manner.
Last year, a few of my family members were at Disney World during Hurricane Matthew. They'd planned and paid for the trip and it was nowhere near as significant as Irma was. If I remember correctly, Matthew hit at the tail end of their trip, so they decided to stay and ride it out, rather than try and leave. They figured that if they were going to be stuck somewhere in Florida (traffic, weather, etc.) they might as well be stuck in a place known for it's customer service. In the end, they were holed up in their hotel for about a day (long enough when you have small kids!) -- it was only the 4th time Disney had ever closed -- then spent the next day in Magic Kingdom, staying to watch the Festival of Fantasy parade, and drove home.
Their two take-away points were these:
(1) They were really disappointed with the food options. Sure, they were under a curfew and basically "trapped" in their hotel, but they expected a little bit more from Disney customer service on this end.
(2) The fact that they were able to go to the parks the next day is a testament to how quickly Disney is able to orchestrate a clean-up process.
[Sidebar: If you've ever been to a Disney park, you may have noticed how clean it is: the "janitorial" cast members roam the park, but often wear the same "costumes" as other cast members in their area so they tend to blend in more than janitorial/maintenance employees of other places. They also tend to be some of the happiest, friendliest cast members, always willing to answer a question, snap a photo, or offer Disney trivia. Rarely does a piece of trash/food stay on the ground for more than a few minutes before a cast member swoops it up; it's a bit of Disney lore that you're never more than 30 steps away from a trash can (so there's never an excuse to litter!).]
Which brings me to how Disney handled things during Hurricane Irma -- obviously this was a different, more high-stakes situation, and I think Disney had more time to prepare. The Weather Channel coverage of Irma seemed to last for about a week before she hit Florida, and Matthew may have been a quicker-moving hurricane.
(1) People who stayed at Disney for Irma seemed much happier with the food options, again, perhaps due to having a longer time to prepare.
Some people are complaining about having to pay for the food, but...even in a hurricane, Disney is still a business. I understand why they can't give away food for free. Although, if you've ever been to Disney and bought food there, this amount of food for this price may seem like it's free. $6 usually buys maybe a sandwich? A small plate of food (one item) at Food and Wine?
This post from Chip & Co. details some first-hand accounts of how Disney tried to keep morale up during Irma.
It seems that even Disney wasn't completely hurricane-proof though. As The Orlando Sentinel reports, there are a few attractions/resorts that were more significantly affected, including The Jungle Cruise and Kali River Rapids in Animal Kingdom -- both of which are water rides, which may have something to do with it.
Last year, a few of my family members were at Disney World during Hurricane Matthew. They'd planned and paid for the trip and it was nowhere near as significant as Irma was. If I remember correctly, Matthew hit at the tail end of their trip, so they decided to stay and ride it out, rather than try and leave. They figured that if they were going to be stuck somewhere in Florida (traffic, weather, etc.) they might as well be stuck in a place known for it's customer service. In the end, they were holed up in their hotel for about a day (long enough when you have small kids!) -- it was only the 4th time Disney had ever closed -- then spent the next day in Magic Kingdom, staying to watch the Festival of Fantasy parade, and drove home.
Their two take-away points were these:
(1) They were really disappointed with the food options. Sure, they were under a curfew and basically "trapped" in their hotel, but they expected a little bit more from Disney customer service on this end.
(2) The fact that they were able to go to the parks the next day is a testament to how quickly Disney is able to orchestrate a clean-up process.
[Sidebar: If you've ever been to a Disney park, you may have noticed how clean it is: the "janitorial" cast members roam the park, but often wear the same "costumes" as other cast members in their area so they tend to blend in more than janitorial/maintenance employees of other places. They also tend to be some of the happiest, friendliest cast members, always willing to answer a question, snap a photo, or offer Disney trivia. Rarely does a piece of trash/food stay on the ground for more than a few minutes before a cast member swoops it up; it's a bit of Disney lore that you're never more than 30 steps away from a trash can (so there's never an excuse to litter!).]
Which brings me to how Disney handled things during Hurricane Irma -- obviously this was a different, more high-stakes situation, and I think Disney had more time to prepare. The Weather Channel coverage of Irma seemed to last for about a week before she hit Florida, and Matthew may have been a quicker-moving hurricane.
(1) People who stayed at Disney for Irma seemed much happier with the food options, again, perhaps due to having a longer time to prepare.
Some people are complaining about having to pay for the food, but...even in a hurricane, Disney is still a business. I understand why they can't give away food for free. Although, if you've ever been to Disney and bought food there, this amount of food for this price may seem like it's free. $6 usually buys maybe a sandwich? A small plate of food (one item) at Food and Wine?
 |
| via Chip & Co. |
(2) Even though Irma was a much stronger, bigger hurricane that did more damage than Matthew, Disney still managed to orchestrate an impressive clean-up.
This Huffington Post article focuses a little bit more on the precautions Disney took in advance of Irma, but also has a few fascinating before/after photos of hurricane damage --> clean up.
This Huffington Post article focuses a little bit more on the precautions Disney took in advance of Irma, but also has a few fascinating before/after photos of hurricane damage --> clean up.
Port Orleans French Quarter at 6:58am vs 9:03pm today. Disney have done an amazing job cleaning it up so fast. #LiveFromWDW #HurricaneIrma pic.twitter.com/Rnbc354bvp— CafeFantasia 💫 (@CafeFantasia) September 12, 2017
Disney magic, indeed.9 hours earlier this pool was a complete mess. There were tons of branches both around & in the pool. #Disney castmembers are always on it. pic.twitter.com/Odx3lOyQVL— Joseph Jaskiewicz (@JosephJFLA) September 12, 2017
It seems that even Disney wasn't completely hurricane-proof though. As The Orlando Sentinel reports, there are a few attractions/resorts that were more significantly affected, including The Jungle Cruise and Kali River Rapids in Animal Kingdom -- both of which are water rides, which may have something to do with it.
Sunday, September 10, 2017
When I Grow Up, I Want To Be Kristen Bell
I have always been a Kristen Bell fan -- to this day, Veronica Mars is still one of my favorite TV shows (and I will argue that Season 1 is one of the best seasons of television ever) -- and feel a weird sense of fierce loyalty towards her. (Kind of like I feel about Bradley Cooper, since he was Will on Alias...that sense of "I knew who he was before he was super famous.")
So this story from the Huffington Post didn't surprise me -- it's a nice recap of what Kristen Bell's been doing since she's in Orlando during Hurricane Irma (staying at The Swan Hotel on Disney property!), including rescuing Josh Gad's family and serenading people at a shelter with a song from Frozen.
It's worth a read, just to make you smile, but definitely check out Kristen Bell singing "For The First Time In Forever" live -- I know people are quick to hate when actresses "dabble" in music, but maybe this will help?
So this story from the Huffington Post didn't surprise me -- it's a nice recap of what Kristen Bell's been doing since she's in Orlando during Hurricane Irma (staying at The Swan Hotel on Disney property!), including rescuing Josh Gad's family and serenading people at a shelter with a song from Frozen.
It's worth a read, just to make you smile, but definitely check out Kristen Bell singing "For The First Time In Forever" live -- I know people are quick to hate when actresses "dabble" in music, but maybe this will help?
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