Anastasia, Druzilla, and Dolts--Oh My!

It usually happens this way.  I'm without anything salient to say, and then *bam* I get inspiration from multiple directions all at once.  If you're about to say I never have anything salient to say, that wasn't a very salient thing to say.

I am going to go in two different directions today, but only one at a time.  First we'll go down Snarky Street, and we'll come back here by way of Disney Drive.

I love witnessing irony in realtime.  It is one of my guiltiest pleasures in life.  What type of irony am I talking about?  I'll give you a ferinstance.  When my family went to church on Sunday mornings, my Dad always backed into his parking spot (I think it's a guy thing).  We would be ready to pull out of our spot after mass and it would take, literally, several fellow parishioners passing before one of them stopped and let my dad pull out of his spot.  I was so amused by that, as were had just all been at church...do unto others...be kind, etc.  And that's irony in realtime.

Photo courtesy of tech-news.tv

Just this morning, I got to see a superior example of irony in realtime.  I was driving in a parking lot at a local shopping center, headed toward a store on the far end.  I was approaching a 4-way stop within the parking lot, and another car was heading toward the 4-way stop, perpendicular to me to my right.  It was a brand new Accord coupe with heavily tinted windows and shiny hubcaps, you know, the kind that make you go faster.  Anyway, Fellow Motorist whipped through the stop sign making a right turn (so he ended up being right in front of me), then proceeded to drive up the middle of the lane, and wheeled into a spot, leaving his tires all jacked to one side.  And his destination?  Family Christian bookstore, of course!  Love it.

We've come to the end of Snarky St. and are now we'll go back to Disney Dr.  Hope you didn't get whiplash.

ER and I (and Dada, when he's lucky) have been watching a lot of Cinderella lately.  ER is very taken with the Disney Princesses and it was a fairly Princess-laden Christmas.  Dada and I are not sure how, or when, the interest in the Princesses began.  It was a very organic, flowing process that just sort of overtook us over the course of several weeks.  I don't mind.  I am actually tickled that ER is so into them.  I love having a little girl and seeing her interested in things that are so girly is so fun (and cute!).  One of the gifts Santa brought ER was the Little People Disney Princess Song Palace.  When you press the Little People Princesses on a small pedestal in the middle of the castle, their specific song plays (i.e.: Ariel's is "Part of Your World"), and they say movie quotes or things characteristic of their...character.  ER loves it and goes into a trance whilst flitting around the living room to "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes."  It is ah-dorable.

So, in watching Cinderella more times in the past 2 weeks than I have watched it in my entire life, I have started to notice more and more details in the dialogue, music, and animation.  I'll give you a ferinstance (hey, look at that, second one this post).  The kingdom in which Cinderella resides is "peaceful, prosperous, and rich in romance and tradition," and that's just what I am, so that's a cool coincidence.

Photo courtesy of dvdizzy.com
"Uh-ho...uh...I...gotta go."

Also, I've honed in on lots of nuances in the way the music complements the animation that are a mark of exceptional musicianship, intelligent composition, and spot-on creativity.  Like, when Lucifer (G.D. cat...) slinks up the steps past Cinderella as she balances the 3 breakfast trays, there's a perfectly synchronized pizzicato scale in the low strings to go with his positively reptilian movements.  I love that.  Did I ever tell you I have a Master of Music Education?  'Tis true.

But, the most amazing thing I have studied during the repeated viewings is the animation itself, and that everything that happens on the screen was put there by someone's own hands.  This is not computers.  This is not green screen.  This is not CGI.  This is a series of pictures, drawn by real humans, combined to make a 74-minute feature film.  It's dumbfounding, really.

Photo courtesy of anatomyofevil.wordpress.com
(A blog all about exploring Disney villains!)

The first character that caught my attention in this way was Lady Tremain.  Her facial expressions and the way that her mouth is made to move to accompany her dialogue is incredible.  She's a huge witch, but artistically, I can appreciate her.

Just to quell the angry mob that is currently forming outside my window, I like Finding Nemo and other PIXAR movies quite a bit.  I mean, come on, how beautiful is that coral reef?  But, to know that Cinderella is akin to a handmade craft?  Awesome.

What are your favorite "kid" flicks?  Do you like the classics, or are you more into the newer stories?