You
can tell a lot about a person by the animation/cartoon test. If they refer to
Disney animated features as cartoons, then they just don’t quite get it. But if
they call it animation, then they realize it’s more than just a drawing, some
music, maybe some humor. Like all good films, animation isn’t just an escape or
entertainment; it also makes you think. It challenges how you see the world; it
makes you change your perspective, even if only for a few hours.
Word is just beginning to spread
about my project. At least amongst people I know, colleagues, acquaintances.
Some people don’t understand, at least not at first, why I want to watch 50 ‘cartoons’.
For me, they aren’t just cartoons. It’s not just curiosity about the films I
haven’t seen or nostalgia causing me to revisit the ones I’ve seen hundreds of
times.
I wish there were some cut and dry
explanation for my project like that. But there’s not. Instead, I feel
compelled to give myself a Disney-ducation. At the same time, I know it’s more
than that. That’s the simple reason; the one that makes me sound least crazy.
But to be honest, this chapter in my life is not one I was prepared for. Since
I was three years old, I’ve been in school. From three to twenty-three, I was
part of something. I was a student. It was part of my identity. Suddenly, a
year ago, I was finally free. After twenty years and five graduations
(preschool, elementary school, middle school, high school, college), I am no
longer called a student. I will always be learning, but I no longer have an
arena in which I excel, even when everything else may be going wrong.
I was terrific at school. I can
understand why some people never want to leave the safety of the education
system. Last year, I couldn’t understand. I was excited to graduate, to be
done, to get to choose my reading material. Now, four billion changes in one
year later, I’ve seriously considered going back. School is my safe environment—I
know what to do there. There’s no uncertainty, no unknowns.
Disney is my source of comfort and
hope. Don’t twist my words here—my faith is not Disney based. When I’m worried,
concerned or upset, I don’t get on my knees to Walt. But when I finish praying
(I’m not going to go into detail about my faith because it’s too personal and,
well, this is public) I may watch a Disney film to cheer me up. Faith brings me
peace, animation brings me cheer and hope. Disney and Pixar always give me
hope. If Simba-- who watched his father die trying to save him-- can keep
going, then so can I.
This project is about finding hope
and making hope. Terrible things are always going to be happening. Things will always be changing—life isn’t
static. Having the ability to find hope and cheer yourself up is quite valuable.
Or at least it is to me. That’s why this project, on animation, is important to
me. This will sound terrible, but once someone refers to it as watching
cartoons, their opinion is lost to me; it’s invalid. If they don’t actually
understand what I’m doing, then they can’t really comment or critique it.
In this new state with new weather
and new things to be afraid of (earthquakes are not my friend), in a new job,
in an apartment instead of a rental house, finding new grocery stores, driving
a new car, essentially living a new life. There are new dangers (moose and
bears), new neighbors (so far, we’re short on luck in this department), new
everything, it feels like. In a time of change, taking comfort in the familiar
is quite nice. Not all these films are familiar—I only own 17, many of the
pre-1950 films I hadn’t even seen.
The
Three Caballeros is one I hadn’t seen. The technological advancement once
again fascinated me—animation and live action are used simultaneously. It’s
different, as Saludos Amigos was
different. But what I realized is that I don’t really like either of these films. They were enjoyable to watch and I
always like getting to practice my Spanish skills. But the lack of a narrative was
irksome to me. I felt more like I was watching a Silly Symphonies cartoon than an animated feature. They were
enjoyable, but not ones I’d want to own. Were they not animated features, and
were they separated and presented individually as short films or cartoons, I
think I would have enjoyed them. But I found myself growing disinterested towards
the end.
While there is definitely more of a
story arc in Three Caballeros than
there was in Saludos Amigos, I still
group them together and probably always will. They are the result of the three
months Walt and 18 artists, musicians and story artists spent in South America
encouraging good will towards the U.S. right before the U.S. officially entered
WWII. The historical context fascinates me. The movies…not so much.
It could very likely have something
to do with the fact that I grew up with Donald Duck in cartoons, so seeing him
in an animated feature changes the feeling of the movie. It’s odd, because
seeing Mickey Mouse in Fantasia didn’t
do that. It still felt like a film as opposed to T.V. Then again, Fantasia is actually presented as separate
short films grouped together.
Every now and then, I experience a
magical moment that has nothing to do with Disney. Today was one of those days.
James and I were began walking the dogs with just light snow drifting down.
While we were walking them, it actually began to snow quite a bit. Because we’re
still new to having snow, and Charlie the collie clearly loves it so much, we
were excited. We ended up walking them for quite a bit, the second day in a row
thanks to the snow, and just letting them play in the snow. I caught snowflakes
on my tongue and played chicken with the snow.
How do you play chicken with the
snow, you ask? Well, I’m so glad you did. What you do is stand in the quickly
falling snow—not a blizzard, mind you, just a substantial amount—and close your
eyes. Look upwards in the direction the snow is falling. Then open your eyes and
don’t blink. It sounds easy, but when thousands of unique snowflakes are flying
at your exposed eyeballs, it’s a little frightening.
Anyway, we had a lovely afternoon
playing with our dogs in the snow. We had been stressed due to house complications,
but then we got to go into our new house and we ended up, unexpectedly, meeting
the sellers. They were there doing the required repairs. They were so nice and
lovely, and then we got to play with our dogs in the snow, and just like the
snow that landed on Charlie’s sable back, the stress melted just like the snow
when we came inside.
Some days start out and you feel as
though you’re in a tragedy. Then, unexpectedly, you find yourself standing in
the snow, catching snowflakes, and it feels more like a romantic comedy. That’s
life—always changing. But at least we have Disney to guide us through.
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