I suppose that comes as no shock, considering that I absolutely adore Disney. I saw Beauty and the Beast recently- one of my all time favorite Disney movies - and completely forgot there were other people in the theatre. I laughed, loudly. I cried. I even hummed along with the music and clapped after songs. It's true! And as I watched, and thought about the lessons Disney has taught me, I decided to write the next installment of lessons I have learned from Disney. So here it is:
- Love is family. And family is love. And that is a big deal.
"Ohana means family; family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten." - Lilo and Stitch
"There is nowhere you can go where love can't follow." - 101 Dalmations
"This bond between us can't be broken. I will be here, don't you cry. You'll be in my heart. Yes, you'll be in my heart from this day on, now and forever." - Tarzan
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| It's amazing how amazing and life-altering the love of a child can be. |
- True friendship means that sometimes you have to tell someone something they may not want to hear; you have to hold up a mirror for them to see the truth they may not want to hear. But you never, ever give up on them.
"And above all, you must control your temper!!" - Beauty and the Beast. The entire household supports the Beast, even though it seems that he must not have been a very good master at all. They tell him where he has gone wrong, but never fail to encourage and support and trust in him, that he will be able to figure it out.
The Emperor's New Groove. Watch it.
"Once and for all we'll be dared to defend one another. Once and for all every kid is a friend, every friend a brother!" - Newsies
- It's okay to be tongue-in-cheek and laugh at yourself, as long as you remember that what you do is spectacular, and that it makes you special. And as long as you appreciate yourself.
Yeah, Enchanted was Disney's way of doing this, and it was still an amazing movie.
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| And of COURSE it's okay to sing and dance in the middle of Central Park. |
- Whatever you do, do it with all you've got. It doesn't matter if other people put you down, or scoff, because all that really matters is that you are true to God and yourself.
"I have watched constantly that in our work the highest moral and spiritual standards are upheld, whether my productions deal with fable or with stories of living action." —Walt Disney
It's okay to lead a life of fiction :)
"Fantasy and reality often overlap." —Walt Disney
"What seems real to the mind can be as important as any material fact. We live by the spirit and the imagination as well as by our senses. Cartoon animation can give fantasy the same reality as those things we can touch and see and hear." —Walt Disney
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| Just look at what leading a life of fiction did! |
- Love is self-sacrificial. Love means you put down your life for someone else.
"You were my new dream." ... "And you were mine." Tangled made me cry - sob - because while Rapunzel was willing to give up her freedom in order to save Flynn, he used his last bit of strength to cut her hair off. They each gave up their life for the other. When I saw it I knew - knew - that this was an accurate depiction of what love should be. Strip away the magic hair and the extreme situation and the beautiful Disney ribbon that made everything okay and you have truth: Love means being a martyr for the other person. It means putting your life down. Wow.
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| Love is beautiful. |
