You Can Get It Too!

Okay, so I shared with you the simply wonderful animated short Paperman.  I love it so much.  It’s not a Pixar short, but it’s seriously just as good.  And the best part?  There are absolutely no words!

The entire story is told through music and animation!

Today as I decided to “update” my Pinterest extension (aka logging on and doing some pinning so as not to have the account appear dead), I decided to search the word “Paperman” to find some pins of my latest Disney happiness obsession.

This pin caught my eye (click the link).

You can buy the score for Paperman? I was thinking.  I need to get this!

After downloading the free single of the week, I asked MMM if I could buy “the score for my favorite Disney Animation Studios short,” to which she replied “Yes.”

(Now really quickly, I only asked because iTunes is set up to my parents’ account, so it’s their money I’d be using.)

So then I bought it!  For $0.99!  And let me just say, it’s simply wonderful!  Especially the part when the little paper airplanes take on matchmaking duties of their own. *smiles*

Me listening to the score on iTunes.  So cute!
Totally just gushed about this to my dorm friends when they came
to pick Roomie up for dinner.  Everyone thinks I'm so cute and giggles
at my Disney happiness!
Screencapture by THE Disney Freak.

Listening to it on repeat.

So what are you waiting for?  Go get it for yourself!

You’re welcome.  ttfn!

***UPDATE***

According to The Disney Blog and Wikipedia, this score was actually released a while ago, back in December actually.  Hey, sometimes I learn things a bit late too! 

An Old Movie Review

Today, MMM had me go through all my old homework, study guides, everything of my high school years.  We had to keep it all for filing because MMM homeschools us, but now that I’m in college, we can get rid of it!  I threw most of it away except for things from my writing classes – since I’m a writer – and certificates and stuff like that.  I did find this little movie review I wrote for a basic English and writing class.  Figured since it was Disney-themed, I’d share with you some of my school writing from 2009!  Aka only a year before my obsession fully bloomed!

Enchanted, a modern fairy tale from Walt Disney Co., is a lively family movie everyone will enjoy.  The movie starts in Andalasia, an animated fairy tale world, and the rest is in New York.  Giselle, the to-be princess from another world, and Robert, a lawyer from New York, are the characters trying to understand each other.  Enchanted has a few scenes that show divorce is not a very good choice.  Enchanted is full of breathtaking special effects and happy, lively songs.  Enchanted is a movie everyone will want to watch again and again.

I still agree with every one of my points, though now I would probably write it a bit better!  Especially after a journalism class…

ttfn!  Almost ready for the holidays?

Just Can't Wait to be...Queen?

While I live(d) in Minnesota, I was actually born in Maryland, unlike my other siblings.  When I was a year old or so, my parents decided to move to Minnesota, as my dad's family all lived there.

And until we bought our own house, we lived with my uncle, aunt, and...Nicest Cousin Ever.

We were young at the time.

And he wasn't named back then of course.  But I can't (or won't, is more like it) use his real name.

Now, NiCE is not a guy who likes Disney.  No.  We used to watch Disney movies together -- we still shout "Football!" during Robin Hood, and a tradition when we visited them was watching The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride.  But that's really the extent of his Disney past.  When we'd play with his toy animals (this is years later), he'd choose all the tough animals like snakes and dinosaurs, while I chose to be Kiara, Kovu, and Simba and Nala.

Speaking of The Lion King, the roles used to be...well, a different story.

Rewind back to when we lived with them: me, my mom, my dad, and I.

Our favorite game to play -- we played together a lot since we were young, the parents didn't want to play with us, and we're only three months apart in age (I'm the older one!) -- was re-enacting The Lion King.  The first one.

We'd play Simba and Nala.

Guess who was Simba.

Me.

That's right.

And the male cousin played Nala.

I've decided to call him that.

Anyway, the reason I shared that was because it makes me laugh (gender-switch!) and it's an interesting story about how Disney and I have been connected for a long time.

By the way, I tease NiCE/Nala all the time about this.  Drives him crazy; his favorite excuse is: "I was little then!  And Nala's pretty sweet."

See ya all real soon! Check me out on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and NetworkedBlogs for more Disney fun.  Coming soon -- Pinterest!

Is He Okay?

Another surprise post during my hiatus! MMM and The Beast went out tonight, giving me babysitting duties, so I took advantage of time and four movie-enthralled kids to write this all this.

Hopefully you all know about Finding Nemo's 3D release (which is technically a re-release even though it wasn't in 3D before) this September.  If not, sorry I haven't been keeping you up to date.  Hiatus, remember?  (And on a further note, Finding Nemo 2 coming in 2016.)

As is customary with Pixar's releases, there will be a Pixar short before Finding Nemo 3D.  What short?

Another Toy Story short!

This one will feature Rex as its main character, revolving around his life as a "partysaurus" during his new life as Bonnie's toy.

Entertainment Weekly just released an article online about the new short, giving us a sneak peek with a few pictures.

Notice anything funny (er, fuzzy) about Bonnie (in the bubbles) and her family's toilet?

Somebody should check to see if you-know-who is okay.
Picture from EW.com.

ttfn!

Check me out on Facebook, Tumblr, NetworkedBlogs, and soon, on Twitter!

Dearest Friends

For several reasons, I have decided to take a summer hiatus.

My summer has become very swamped, and MMM is like an eagle lately, keeping watch over my time on the computer since I now have an actual job to do.  Thus, I really only have time to short things on the computer lately, and writing blog posts is not something short.  It takes me a few hours to write a post I'm happy with, before I'm sure you'll enjoy reading it.

(This though is an example of a "short" post.)

Then in August, I will be gone for the first half of the month for a pre-college event and then moving into college.

My plan is that once I'm comfortable with my school schedule, I will start posting again on a regular basis.

If I have the time, I will try to do some posts during July and August.  Otherwise, I am on break.

Please don't leave me.  I will return.  Hopefully better than ever!

See ya all real soon.

THE Disney Freak

PS: Just to be clear, the hiatus only applies for Blogspot.  I will still be doing some stuff on Facebook and maybe a little on Tumblr.

Hidden Mickey (Maybe) at College

During the same trip down to college with MMM, she and I were waiting for a session from the English department (my intended major) when I noticed there was a familiar face in the shape of the table.

Yes, a tad more like a clover than a Mickey, but
hey, it was close enough for me!
Picture taken by and copyright THE Disney Freak.

Not quite a perfect Hidden Mickey, but pretty close!

MMM smiled when I pointed it out and said, "It's a sign: this is the college for you!"

An Out of State Find

At the beginning of the month, MMM and I headed down to the college I'm going to next year (which happens to be the same one The Beast and I visited before).  There was this pre-freshman orientation that weekend.  It ended up being lots of fun, and it was nice to meet my fellow future classmates.

On the way home Saturday afternoon, we (of course) stopped by a gas station to fill up the car and so, you know....well, in case one of us had to "go."

We both did.

When I came out of the restroom, I noticed some of those cheap toy dispensers.  You know, put in a few quarters, get a tattoo or a small toy.  And just like on that other road trip I shared with you about, I noticed one of the dispensers was filled with Disney items.  "Disney tags" to be exact.

Sweet.

I headed back to the van and climbed into my seat.

"Hey, [MMM], when you come out of the restroom, could you buy me two of those Disney tags?  You'll see them right away."

I handed her two quarters.  Oddly enough, she didn't give me a look or anything.

Seems My Disney Family may be accepting me after all.

Anyway, she and I were taking turns because we had some valuables in the car that we didn't want to leave alone.  That's why I went first and then her.

When she came back out, she handed me the two tags (but they come in those flat-bottom-bell-top-you-take-off containers) as she put a new bag of ice into our cooler full of snacks.

Eagerly, I popped open the containers to see which characters I'd gotten.

Bambi and Minnie, that's who!
Am I Minnie "cursed"?  I want some Mickey luck!
Picture taken by and copyright THE Disney Freak.

Strangely enough, I got another Minnie item!

I think they're both pretty cute.  I actually prefer the Minnie one though, because I don't like how Bambi fills up the entire tag unlike Minnie.

Some more pictures.  Sorry, I went a bit photo crazy because my camera was actually working!

Yes, I'm a Pokemon fan too!
All following pictures taken by and copyright THE Disney Freak.

A bit close-up...

Even closer...
And obviously, the first picture is closest!
My camera loved me that day!!
(Usually it doesn't find anything to focus on, and the pictures are blurry
or have a glare!)

One final note, after I opened them and was playing with the tags, MMM smiled and asked me which ones I'd gotten.  It was so nice!

(For more Disney Freak fun, like me on Facebook or check me out on Tumblr!  If you know of other ways I can expand this Disney Freak universe, let me know in the comments!!)

Breathe, Myself, Breathe...

It's official.

Brave opens tonight at midnight because then it will be tomorrow.

Picture from the Disney Wiki.

To put it plain and simple, it opens tomorrow, Friday the 22nd of June.

I can't tell you how excited I am!

I went from casually learning about the movie via the Disney Wiki, being curious, creating a blog, learning a ton more, and becoming to excited to be unable to tell you just how excited I am.

To put in less words, it seems like so long ago we were just learning about it and then waiting for the release date.  And now it's about to be here.  Literally!

While I will not be able to make it to the premiere because I don't personally have any money at the moment, MMM is "considering" taking me this weekend to see it.

To end this post:

"If you had the chance to change your Fate, would you?"

Wait...Who's Who?

The Disney Mermaid and I.

Once TDM came downstairs, I had MMM take a picture.  And since my parents
do not want me to show pictures with my sibling's faces, I had to go with the
picture of really just our shirts.
One of my new favorite pictures.  Hope you love it as much as I do!!
Picture taken by and copyright THE Disney Freak.

Later she changed out of the shirt into something nicer (though I think this is nice!) for an outing with some relatives to see Princess Di's dresses.  It was cute and fun while it lasted.  We'll have to do it again.

Garage Sale Finds!

After reading about all the different flea markets, garage sale, etc. Disney item finds on blogs such as Disleelandia, I start to dream about it one day happening to me.  One day I'll go to another antique store or something and find a Disney item.  And then I'll buy it!  I won't care what my family may think.

Well, it happened recently!

Last week, my unnamed sister and I headed to our guitar lessons (do not ask me to play please, I'm not that good).  Right down the street from our instructor's house was a garage sale.

Since my sister and I both have half-hour lessons and she was going first that day, I devised a plan and was able to convince my mom to go along with it.  MMM and I would head to the garage sale during my sister's lesson, return in enough time hopefully, and then MMM and my sister would head over to the garage sale, and I'd meet them at the car after my lesson.

MMM and I browsed the garage sale for a bit.  There weren't any Breyer horses (model horses I collect and always keep an eye out).  The only Disney items I found was a Disney Princess paddle thing (you know those paddles with a ball attached by a string?) and a Winnie-the-Pooh picture frame.

MMM refused to buy the frame for me (I planned to pay her back).  So I moved to the book section,  as I love to read.  Maybe a new book to find?

The first bin contained mostly kid books so I flipped through them quickly.

Suddenly a book cover that had a brightly colored photograph of Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto caught my eye!  Frantic, I pulled it out of the bin, hands shaking.

It was titled Tokyo Disneyland: A Pictorial Souvenir.

I freaked out!  With a gasp, I spun around and demanded MMM buy the book.  She asked what the price was, and I couldn't find it (later, I realized it was written in Sharpie on a piece of tape.  I was so excited I missed it!).  She finally gave in, seeing how excited I was.  I mean, it's a pretty cool book, circa 1980s based on the costumes and also the fact that Tokyo Disneyland opened in 1983.

Mickey and Minnie costume.
From the Disney Wiki: "The Mickey and Minnie costumes seen
from the 1970's up to 1992.
Mickey now has a yellow- bow tuxedo,
and Minnie now has red and white-spotted
attire and yellow shoes.
Their gloves are now four-fingered."
Similar costumes appear in the book.
Oh, did I forget to mention there's
a picture of Pooh with a
hunny pot on his head in the book?
Picture from the Disney Wiki.

One of the best parts is that it's written in Japanese, with English translation.  My sister plans to study Japanese sometime, so MMM thought she'd like to read the book and learn a bit.

For me, the neatest thing is just owning it and being able to "experience" Tokyo Disneyland without having ever going there.

I did some research to find more info on the book, as there isn't any information about the author or the print date.  One site I found had scans of the book pages, stating that the book is a 1985 souvenir book.  However, upon looking through the scans, I discovered that some of the pictures in that web page creator's copy are different than the picture in mine.  Such as the one of Goofy on the Westernland pages: his Goofy is dancing, while mine is standing with two kids.  In fact, I just realized the majority of the pictures in his copy are different than mine.  The cover is even different.

Does this mean there are different versions?  Or were they printed in different years?

Mine has a 4 in the half circle shape on the corner of the cover.  His has a 2.  Does this mean mine was produced in a year ending with 4; his, with 2?  Or does it have nothing at all to do with the year the book was produced?  Because the reviewer Shane does say it's a souvenir book from 1985 on his site...

If you know, please tell me.

I did a Ebay search to see if there was any information at Ebay, but the search produced 0 results.  Barnes and Noble also produced 0 results.  Amazon produced results, but none of them matched.

After finding this book, I found a young adult fantasy novel I'd read before and had been longing to add to my collection.  Added that to my pile.  Then as I moved towards the cash register table, my eye caught a glimpse of Bambi.

It was a coloring book.

Perfect.

Now my bestie won't be the only one.  More on that later.

Yes, it was just a simple coloring poster Disney book.

But hey, it's Disney.  So far I've colored in Lady and Tramp as well as started Peter Pan.  I'll share pictures later.

The last thing Disney item I considered getting was a Princess Aurora doll.  MMM looked at the price and firmly told me 4 dollars is too expensive for a doll.

Oh well.

Next time maybe.

Oh, Please...

Sorry for the lack of a creative title.  Usually I'm good at those.  But today + what I'm writing about + someone certain = not a very good mood.

Hey, that was kind of creative.

Another day at piano.  And another time looking through the pages of TIME Magazine.  (Ooh, that was creative there too!)

The article's title?  "10 Questions for Angelina Jolie" by Belinda Luscombe.

Yay.

I admit that Jolie is a talented actress, though I really haven't seen many of her movies.  All I can think of right now is Kung Fu Panda.  And that was just voice acting.

My parents have seen The Tourist and love it (at least, MMM does).  So I'm guessing she's great in that too.

However, there are some roles that certain actress should not play.

More after the jump....

I Knew It!

When you were a kid, did you ever go to McDonald's?  And did you beg and beg and beg and beg (need I go on?) your parent/legal guardian (make plural if needed) to get you a Happy Meal that came with one of those amazing (but in reality, cheap) toys displayed in the shining plastic...thing?

Raise your hand - I know you did.

So did I.

One time, who knows what age I was, we went to good ol' McDonald's and there showcased in the plastic...thing were several toy animals.

Yeah, animals.

I'm a sucker for animals (not including most insects).

I just had to have one.

So after begging and begging and begging and begging (need I go on?), my mom sighed and agreed.

[Well, I know she agreed.  I really don't remember the scene very well.]

Thus I waited, fidgeting, in line behind her for the food to come on the plastic tray...because with my hamburger would be a toy animal.

I most likely spent my time staring into the plastic...thing and guessing which one I'd get.

Then the food came, my mom took the tray, and we went into the playroom (but I didn't care at the moment about the play place as I did about the toy waiting for me in the Happy Meal bag!).

And what did I find inside my bag once I was able to grab it and hastily open it?

A plastic alligator.

The alligator.
Photo taken by and copyright THE Disney Freak.

Yeah.

I fell in love with her.

[Yes, I gave my toy animals genders and names!  In fact, still do.]

From that day on, I fed...I think her name was Allie?  Momentarily forgetting.

Anyway, I fed her scraps of junk of the floor since she had a top jaw that moved, revealing her pink throat inside.  Sparkles, fuzz balls, scraps of paper, beads, you name it.

Down her throat it goes!
Picture taken by and copyright THE Disney Freak.

In fact, I even shoved a glittery star into her stomach.  Once it had disappeared down her throat, I regretted it.  But I never found the right sized screwdriver so as to open her stomach.

Sometimes, my bestie would babysit her for me!  Granted, this was years ago, when we were like around six years old.  I felt like a true pet owner as I solemnly instructed her on Allie's feeding time, what to feed her, bathing time, and where to keep her.  I believe my bestie babysat (I'd say "petsat," but the spelling check hates that) Allie for a few days...but I don't remember how many times.

Now, hopefully, you laughed at some of the fun descriptions and narrator interjections, but I'm quite sure you're wondering, "Why the heck am I reading all this?  Amusing Monday?  Where's the Disney connection?"

Read on.

Several days ago, I was checking out the blogs I followed and noticed Dan Alexander Dizmentia (great blog, by the way!) had a post on some McDonald's Avatar toys (which apparently do not exist; Dan simply took some McDonald's Tarzan toys and re imagined them as Avatar-themed).

And at the bottom of the post, he linked to an earlier post on some Animal Kingdom toys available at McDonald's.  Good thing I clicked.

Because there, in the picture of the toys featured at McDonald's, was my own Allie!

The Animal Kingdom McDonald's Happy Meal toys.
Image from Dan Alexander Dizmentia and used with permission.
Allie is number 11, in the middle on the bottom row.

For awhile, I'd known Allie was a Disney toy.  Why?  It says so on her stomach!  (I'm still looking for that screwdriver...)

Only, I couldn't remember why she was a Disney toy.  She doesn't look like Tick-Tock from Peter Pan or Brutus or Nero from The Rescuers.  She just looks like a real alligator.

Thanks Dan for letting me know why she's a Disney toy!

So according to Dan's post, these toys were released at McDonald's in 1998...so I would have been around four years old.  Man, that seems young.

And she's a crocodile?  I was wrong all these years?

Guess she needs a new name - one that starts with the letter C.

But the most important thing?

I need to find that screwdriver.