Disney to Me

What do you think about when you hear the word “Disney”? Do you automatically start singing the opening to The Lion King in your head? Does a memory of riding Splash Mountain with your family come to mind, and that awful photo that was taken mid-ride that somehow made you look like Jabba the Hut from Star Wars and everyone else perfect? Or is it a funny quote from a movie, like "They popped out of the snow, like daisies!" from Mulan, or an inspirational quote like "Just keep swimming" from Finding Nemo. Personally, I think back to when my family went to Disney World for the first time. My younger brother, who was three, had just spotted his all-time favorite character, Buzz Lightyear, and went into total shock, his body violently shaking with his jaw dropped like that of a cartoon character. What kind of place is able to instill feelings like these in people to where they freeze in amazement? One word: Disney.

            When I heard that I had to take a Writing 101 class my first semester in college, I was not thrilled. What will they make me write about?  Would it be all about grammar? Will there be a paper due every week? Every day? I scoured the list of classes, searching for one that seemed interesting enough to where I thought I could consistently write about it. When I found Decoding Disney, I was in utter shock.  Disney has been an obsession of mine since my mom showed me Snow White when I was little, and ever since then I haven’t been able to get enough of it. I remember jumping up and down on our living room couches with my brothers, singing and dancing to the song “Everybody Wants to be a Cat” from the movie The Aristocats. Even today, I can proudly say that I have seen Frozen not once, but three times in theater, and Moana twice in theater (not including the 100 times I have watched both outside the theater). Disney has mastered the art of transporting viewers into their world, giving us the experience of feeling the same sensations and desires that the characters themselves feel. For instance, every time I watch Mufasa from The Lion King fall into the stampede of Wildebeest’s (oops sorry for the spoiler), a little part of me always starts to tear up, or I always get really cold whenever I watch Anna from Frozen start to freeze into a block of ice.

No matter what you thought of initially when you heard the word “Disney”, whether it was a song, quote, memory, or something else, Disney is all of those things and more. Disney is in every part a spontaneous dance party to “I’ll Make a Man Out of You”, an encourager to people to “Just keep swimming” and to never give up, an inspiration for people to follow their dreams and their heart, no matter the circumstances (like being locked in a tower or held captive by a Beast), and so much more. This is why I decided to take Decoding Disney, because I am eager to learn some of the hidden messages portrayed in their films and to study something that has inspired and amazed people since the beginning, but to also focus on the villains, who are, in my point of view, underappreciated and just as important as the rest of the characters. They are the ones who, through their evil deeds, push the protagonist into becoming a hero and unite people in a similar cause (even though it is most always to defeat the villain). I am excited to study the “who” and “why” of each villain and can’t to see what wicked places this class will take us.