While shopping yesterday afternoon, the Shea girls begged for a FFF movie night. The request: Beauty and the Beast in 3D. So, after Mass, we squeaked into the Cinemark just in time to catch the early showing. I wasn't enamored of the 3D aspect...or at least I thought I wasn't. But the 3D brought the nightmare forest scenes into their frightening glory and made Be Our Guest quite literally fly from the screen. We laughed. We cried. It became a part of us, again. We waxed nostalgic all the way home, despite the black iced roadways, regarding all of our favorite moments.
All night I have been remembering my Disney favorites (hard not to after sitting through 25 minutes of Disney previews) and how intricately intertwined these movies are with my life. From my first Disney film, The Jungle Book, (a date with my Daddy that only resides in my memory from the story told by my father) to last night's wonderful family moment with teenage girls getting ready to launch, these movies have served as a backdrop for change. After watching Peter Pan in California, we found a puppy wandering the streets and promptly insisted she be called Tinkerbell-she would be my first childhood companion who would live until I was a young woman living in London. My siblings and I spent hours listening to a full album recording of One Hundred and One Dalmatians on rainy afternoons, savoring the delicious adventure of being chased by the "Baduns" and Cruella de Ville. I ate popcorn in a darkened movie theatre for Saturday Kid's Matinees at the Fox Theater watching The Rescuers and The Fox and the Hound. Jim and I spent what would have been a very lonely first Christmas in Great Falls watching Beauty and the Beast snuggled on our couch still surrounded by mover's boxes. I painted bright scenes from the Hundred Acre Woods onto secondhand furniture while awaiting the birth of our first child so she could be surrounded by Pooh and friends in her nursery. The only way my 22 month old would allow me to nurse her baby sister quietly was to put on Pocahontas over and over and over...until, in my sleep deprived mind, John Smith started to look pretty attractive. This past Christmas, I watched my growing daughters bring Mrs. Darling and Tinkerbell to life on stage. Memories painted with a bright animated brush abound.
So, in typical Kathy fashion, I made a list. My Top 10 Disney favorites:
10. The Jungle Book: My first Disney experience. The jazz influenced music still makes this classic score one of the coolest to grace a children's movie.
9. Pocahontas: I know, I know- it's tragically historically flawed. The cornball music is hard to take. But, did I mention I associate this film with my start as a new Mom? End of story.
8. Finding Nemo: "Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming." This sweet film about loss and adventure coupled with Ellen DeGeneres's comic genius provides a message of endurance and love.
7. Cinderella: Classic. With mice. This also brings with it memories of Kate Shea's Cinderella birthday party where her Daddy played the Prince for 10 giggling preschoolers. It was a triumph of party planning.
6. Little Mermaid: Made me fall in love with Disney again. They paired classic animation with Broadway composers and et voila: magic.
5. Toy Story: I am cheating and bunching all three movies in this slot because 1. How can you separate the story lines? and 2. You can't make me.
4. Winnie the Pooh: Sigh.
3. One Hundred and One Dalmatians: The only Disney film I could quote line for line with the single best comic villain of all time.
2. Up: A simple, poignant story of love in all it's forms: love between friends; love for dogs; love of a mother for her lost child; and the enduring love of marriage. As a Hospice worker, it captures everything I know about the grief process. As a sappy human being, it makes me smile through my tears. A great story. Period.
1. Beauty and the Beast: Good moral. A brunette heroine who is quirky and loves books. A musical score that translated straight to the stage. Character development that rivals that of the best live movies. Beautiful indeed.
Thank you to my Disney loving girls for the family night suggestion. I am so glad I didn't protest too much.