Fairy Tale Christmas Gift!

At the start of December, Fairy Grandmother asked me what I wanted for Christmas.  Not sure, I put off replying (and I was also pretty busy with finals and work).  Then she emailed me again to say that I would get coal if I didn’t let “Santa'” know what I wanted.  Chuckling, I told her that well I didn’t really have a Christmas list this year but thinking quickly I said that I was listening to lots of music lately.  So how about some Christmas albums or anything Disney?

December 23rd.  (The world didn’t end!)  More importantly, gift exchange at my aunt and uncle’s house.  At first, I was confused because I hadn’t gotten a present from Fairy Grandmother yet, just one from my cousin (NiCE’s younger sister).  Fairy Grandmother finally found the one from her to me, and I got to work.

Not surprised, I opened first two Christmas CDs – Elvis and Jackie Evancho.  There was one more gift (well two more but only one was a CD I could tell).  Unwrapping it, I grinned in delight.
She’d gotten me the Disney Princess: Fairy Tale Songs CD.

Picture taken by My Minnie Mom;
do not remove watermark.

The songs on the CD are, in order:

1. “When Will My Life Begin?” (From Tangled Soundtrack)
2. “Almost There” (From The Princess and the Frog Soundtrack)
3. “Part of Your World” (From The Little Mermaid Soundtrack)
4. “Something There” (From Beauty and the Beast Soundtrack)
5. “Reflection” (From Mulan Soundtrack)
6. “I See the Light” (From Tangled Soundtrack)
7. “Everyday Princess” (From Bayou Boogie Album)
8. “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” (From Cinderella Soundtrack)
9. “Where Do I Go From Here” (From Pocahontas 2 Soundtrack)
10. “Down in New Orleans” (From The Princess and the Frog Soundtrack)
11. “Beauty and the Beast” (From Beauty and the Beast Soundtrack)
12. “I’m Wishing/One Song” (From Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Soundtrack)
13. “I Wonder” (From Sleeping Beauty Soundtrack)
14. (Bonus Song) “The Glow” (World Premiere Song)

My only question is, where’s Jasmine?

Overall I absolutely love this CD, especially the very last song.  It’s simply sweet, and Shannon has such an angelic voice!

That other present I mentioned was a cute photo frame, Disney-themed, that I will share in an upcoming post (I don’t have a picture yet).

See ya all real soon!  What Disney gifts did you get?  I got lots more, which I’ll share as soon as I get pictures!

Shocked

Check out this Walt Disney Confession:

Picture from Walt Disney Confessions.

That would be a sad world indeed.  Let’s not think about it.

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Catch a Ride in Atchison!

At the Walmart (a college kid's best friend, literally) in Atchison is a pig waiting for someone to ride him:



It's my favorite Disney pig!
Picture taken by THE Disney Freak;
do not remove watermark.

Sadly, "Hakuna Matata" doesn't play when you ride him.  (The Beast thinks there's a bit of the song playing.)

They need to fix that.

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'Twas the Night Before Christmas....

Video from YouTube.

Merry Christmas from THE Disney Freak and my Disney Family!

Tell Me a Story!

While the my Fairy Grandmother sits down with YDF, MDF, and unnamed brother to watch Pocahontas II, I thought I would finish up some other posts I have drafts of.

One of the new areas in New Fantasyland is Beauty and the Beast-themed, featuring Prince Adam’s castle and Belle’s village.  In Belle’s village, there are two new places: Gaston’s Tavern and Belle’s Cottage.  In her cottage is where probably one of my new favorite attractions: Enchanted Tales with Belle.

Let these first two videos do the explanation of the attraction for you.

Video from YouTube. Part 1.

Video from YouTube. Part 2.

When I first saw these videos, I instantly fell in love with the new attraction.  It sounds so fun to have the chance to participate as an audience in storytelling, especially that of one of my favorite Disney films!  Aside from the storytelling part of this experience, I think that Magic Mirror is the best part!

And this video showing the entire experience makes me very badly want to go to New Fantasyland so as to tell Belle her story! (Oh, and wasn’t the lady playing the wardrobe just great with Wardrobe’s signature high note?)

Video from YouTube.

So while I’m sad about the whole destruction of Snow White’s Scary Adventures, I’m torn because I’m really excited for the new rides and attractions Disney is putting in.  Did they have to destroy one of the best rides there for New Fantasyland to happen?  I really don’t think so.

Before I go, I encourage you to check out this site for more on the Lumiere (*ahem*) animatronic.

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The 11th Disney Princess: Verified

Thanksgiving day, YDF, MDF, and I worked on some of their Disney Princess puzzles.

Picture taken by THE Disney Freak;
do not remove watermark.

Picture taken by THE Disney Freak;
do not remove watermark.

The next day, I was glancing through all the toy catalogs from various retailers.  In the Target one, I found an interesting Disney Princess doll set.

Picture taken by THE Disney Freak.

Picture taken by THE Disney Freak.

Why am I highlighting this?  Maybe it was pretty obvious that this would happen, but Merida is included in an (*ahem*) official Disney Princess doll set. 

So is Merida going to be an official Disney Princess?  Or is she just being included with official Disney Princesses as a non-official princess?  Will that change (aka question A)?  Several questions arose at the sight of this set, obviously.

Immediately, I called over TDSO (our previous Brave hypothesizer) for her take on this all.  She said that she didn’t think Merida would be an official Disney Princess but because she is a Disney princess, she would be included in a few sets.  Just like when Kida or Nala sometimes appear in Disney Princess merchandise.

However, seems things have changed – or been verified.

Because in July 2013, Merida will indeed join the official lineup as the 11th Disney Princess.

What are your thoughts?  The Disney Mermaid is personally upset because Ariel won’t be the only ginger anymore (and for some other reasons).

As for me, I’m not quite sure what I think right now.  As the Disney Wiki pointed out, Merida will be the first Disney Princess without a love interest, which I’m not against, but all the other Princesses appear with their Princes in some merchandise and at events at the Parks.  Poor Merida will be the odd one (literally) out.  Like The Disney Mermaid, I’m disappointed that they would add in another ginger, and if they’re going to just add any new princess character they add, why not allow Kida to join?  How does Disney’s selection work (hey, that’s another post to work on!)?

See ya all real soon!

Christmas is quickly approaching!  Shopping done?

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?

A Once Upon a Dream Find!

While working on another post for ya’ll, I was searching Christmas songs on YouTube and stumbled upon this little gem.  It features Christmas favorite Bing Crosby and Disney Princess voice star Mary Costa.  I guess finding it was like well, once upon a dream!

Video from YouTube.

Kind of cute that she wore pink, huh?

Have a wonderful December and a very merry Christmas!

See ya all real soon too!

The One and Only Flying Elephant!

Instead of doing an entire post on New Fantasyland, which would be very overwhelming, I’ve decided to post on just a few of the key factors of the opening ceremony and new attractions.  Be prepared for several New Fantasyland-themed posts, giving you an insight to the new sights and sounds of the Magic Kingdom.

Let’s start off with one of my favorite characters: an adorable, quiet little guy named Dumbo.

Have you ever ridden on Dumbo’s back at any of the Parks?  I did, on my trip.  It was fun to feel as if you were flying, with the help of the one and only flying elephant and his magic feather!

Dumbo the Flying Elephant Ride original version
at Magic Kingdom before New Fantasyland expansion.
Picture from Wikipedia.

For New Fantasyland, Disney added Storybook Circus to Walt Disney World.  In this new area, there’s an “updated” version of the Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride, now featuring two rides, the original (slightly changed – Timothy Mouse got moved) and a new one next to it.  The more the merrier!

Because of this new Dumbo-themed land, during the opening ceremony for the expansion, guess who showed up!  A very rare appearance, and one that knocked me almost right out of Roomie’s chair!

(For the video below, skip to 3:08 and watch for about a 30 seconds for his short appearance.  I hope to do a post later on the entire opening ceremony.)

Video from YouTube.

I do think Dumbo isn’t as cute as he could be.  This is how cute and bubbly (but mute) he looks in the movie.

Dumbo! The one and only!
Picture from the Disney Wiki.

His character appearance is exactly like how he appears in a Disneyland parade, seeming to be another character performance (instead of an animatronic one) so I guess this isn’t the first time he’s been seen.  Compare below.

Dumbo in Disney's Electrical Parade.
Picture from the Disney Wiki.

Video capture by THE Disney Freak.
Taken from the included video.

This here below is my favorite appearance of Dumbo – one I feel that is much cuter and closer to his movie appearance.  Disney should work with this appearance over the parade one – meaning perhaps change the costume a bit.

Dumbo as he appears in the fireworks show Magical!
Picture from the Disney Wiki.

And a question for you all: Do you know why his feet seemed so springy in the ceremony?  Or I guess to put it better, why they decided to do that?

Summing up then, I think Dumbo’s surprise visit is adorable (too short perhaps?) here but maybe Disney should look into working on making him a tad cuter.  And also, if he’s appearing on stage, can’t he do meet and greets in his new Storybook Circus?

Give me a shout out in the comments below as to what you think!

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Is That Who I Think…?

Apologies for the fact that this is technically old news, but I figured some of you haven’t heard about it.  So might as well share, eh?

It’s always interesting when you see a familiar Disney character used outside of the company…oftentimes without Disney’s permission.  For example, I wrote a post about a familiar-looking mermaid among colored and shaped rubber bands.

Speaking of that mermaid, she’s popped up somewhere else.

And it really irks me.

Who’s the Hottest Disney Prince?

Or maybe just the cutest….

A college friend just two doors down from my dorm always has a fun poll on her whiteboard by her door.  One day it happened to be on the Disney Princes.

Cellphone picture if I remember correctly -- sorry for
bad quality!
Picture taken by THE Disney Freak; do not remove watermark.

Who would you vote for?

And who did I vote for?  Guess.

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Wondering who that is in the bottom right corner?  I accidentally spelled his name wrong but he’s this guy.

Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse!

My (Disney character) best friend is celebrating his birthday today!

That’s right: today is Mickey’s (and his leading lady Minnie’s) birthday!

Their first clip, “Steamboat Willie,” came out today in theaters way back in 1928.  Even though Walt created Mickey earlier on a train, today was decided to be the Big Cheese’s big wonderful birthday!

And he’s 84 years old (and looking great!).

Of course, every birthday needs a song, so here’s one just for Mickey – even though he appears in it himself.  But I thought it was appropriate, being Disney and all.  (PS, expect a post just about this song eventually.)

Warning: this song is very catchy.  Be forewarned before you hit the play button!

Happy happy birthday to Mickey Mouse! Video from Youtube.

And in honor of my little buddy’s big day today, here’s what I did to celebrate:

The top of my left arm.
Picture taken by THE Disney Freak; do not remove watermark.

Back of my left hand.
Picture taken by THE Disney Freak; do not remove watermark.

The dry-erase board outside my dorm -- expect several more posts
about the Disney-themed messages I write there!
Picture taken by THE Disney Freak; do not remove watermark.

Wore my second favorite Mickey shirt today after work -- my favorite
isn't as warm.  Also wore red hairbands in my hair during work.  Couldn't
find any Mickey ones at Walmart on Friday.
Picture taken by THE Disney Freak; do not remove watermark.

See ya all real soon!

(New) New Fantasyland Photos!

Hey fellow Mickey fans!  Missed me?  I apologize for lack of posting (again).  With Thanksgiving break around the corner, we only have two more weeks of school left!  So right now I’ve been having to focus on essays and studying for finals.  Not much time to post.  I’m sorry.  Hoping to get back on top of it over Christmas break and next semester – my schedule will be a bit lighter.

To get to the important stuff now…

The Disney Parks Blog recently released (okay so ten days ago) photos of New Fantasyland, in honor of its upcoming opening (at that time, a month away).

While all the sneak peek pictures were great, these ones really stood out to me.  And I thought I’d share (with of course, some of my thoughts).  Enjoy!

This picture comes from the attraction "Enchanted Tales
With Belle."  Could it be Belle's mother, unseen
on screen?
All pictures from the Disney Parks Blog gallery.

This one here comes from the new restaurant Be Our Guest.
Sound familiar?  Of course it does.
And so should this picture.
I love how the Imagineers are working on having so
many little things from the movie(s) show up in the
new attractions! So accurate and magical.

Also from Be Our Guest.
Such a cute portrait of the couple.

Once more, from Be Our Guest (the West Wing dining area).
And once more, the small details are great.
I've always loved this portrait from the movie.

And this one, from the new attraction/restuarant Gaston's Tavern,
just made me laugh!
No one brags like Gaston!

Have a fabulous day!  See ya all real soon!

For more great fun, check out the “My Sites” page for other ways to get connected with me!

Character Magic: A Surprise from Snow White

I’ve decided to start a new series where I’ll share with you a video I’ve found of Disney Parks characters staying believably in character, creating splendid magic for their visitors.  Videos of characters where the actors (ahem, ahem) are almost perfect examples of their movie characters will get special emphasis.

So to start us of right, why not look at an adorable encounter involving Walt’s leading lady?

I stumbled upon this video several years ago, I think, and fell in love with it.  Randomly and happily, I stumbled upon it again today.

In the video, two young children come across Snow White at Epcot.  The little girl is extremely happy – the video description says she had “been waiting all week for this moment” – and her brother is a bit shy.

Snow White has a surprise for him that puts a grin on his face though!

Video from YouTube.

Don’t you just love how bright Snow’s kiss mark is?  I do!



Video capture by THE Disney Freak.
Taken from included video.

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PS; Something I found a tad humorous watching this for the second time was how much Snow here sounded like my other best friend!  It’s not her though, if you’re wondering.

From One Hand to Another

The big buzz right now is the news that the Walt Disney Company has bought Lucasfilm (you know, Star Wars) “for US$4.05 billion” (Wikipedia Main Page).

Before your head starts exploding with thoughts – good or bad – let me talk a bit more.

I first read about the deal on the Disney Wiki main page (under the “Did you Know” section). 
For some reason, Lucasfilm didn’t register with me.  I shrugged it off.

Then Roomie found the news – on Facebook I think – and I realized what had happened.

Both of us were shocked.  Especially with the news that Disney was planning to release Episodes 7, 8, and 9 in the near future.

I told her about how Disney already had some sort of deal with Lucasfilm, since the characters appear at the Parks and the Star Tours ride.  In a way, I was just waiting for them to seal the deal – excuse the cliché – but hoping it wasn’t going to happen.

As I went to bed last night, I told her that hopefully the reason Lucas was letting Disney buy his company was because he trusted them.

Today, I found the below video in an article at The Disney Blog..  In it, George Lucas and producer Kathleen Kennedy (whom Lucas is practically giving control of the company to) sit
down and talk with Lynne Hale to discuss the deal.

Good things in this video: Lucas trusts Disney with Star Wars.  He knows they are financially stable and, as Kathleen said, “Disney defines family entertainment” (dialogue from video transcribed by THE Disney Freak).  Lucas will also stay on as creative consultant, thank goodness.

Lucas also mentioned how even before the deal with Disney, he was planning on the next episodes.  So at least the original creative mind behind the saga was thinking ahead!  Good news, Roomie and I thought.

We’ll see what happens.

Video capture by THE Disney Freak.
Taken from the included video.

To kind of go off topic here, I really liked one thing Kathleen had to say: “The main thing is to protect these characters.  To make sure they still continue to live in the way you [Lucas] created them.”

That’s something I think Disney needs to work on with their own characters.

“October’s Here!”

It’s halloween-lo-ween, everybody!

And while I realize Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party has been going on since the middle of September, I wanted to do this certain post closer to Halloween.  And with my work schedule and certain important homework papers that need to be written, I decided to do it now.

One of the highlights of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is the Villains Mix and Mingle.  Since I saw it two years ago (online, not in person), I fell in love with it.

This was the version I fell in love with – the 2010 version:

Villains Mix and Mingle 2010

So when October 2011 rolled around, I anxiously - joined by my siblings, especially TDM - waited for the new Villains Mix and Mingle.

Of course, I figured it would be pretty much the same, as it had been since 2006 (this was the earliest I could find a video for, so I assume that was the year it began - I couldn’t find proof otherwise).

Villains Mix and Mingle 2009

 

Villains Mix and Mingle 2008

 

Villains Mix and Mingle 2007

 

Villains Mix and Mingle 2006

Imagine my surprise to discover that in 2011, the show was far different.  According to Wikipedia, Maleficent hosts the Mix and Mingle, as you saw in all the preceding videos.

Wanting to put emphasis on a newer character, Disney replaced the villainous host for the 2011 version:

Villains Mix and Mingle 2011

What did I think of this?  Maleficent may be my favorite villain (and I think the best candidate for their leader) but I was fine with Dr. Facilier being the new host.  However, I found the new costumes for the dancers to be horrible compared to the previous ones (even though those ones could be consider sexually inappropriate).

And what really upset me was that the new song at the end, replacing the previous, one…well I found it to be less catchy.  I never have that one’s beat stuck in my head as I did the 2010 final song.

Did Disney revert or stick with it?

See for yourself in the video below of the 2012 version.

I do have one suggestion for Disney though: bring in Mother Gothel!

Have a happy Halloween!  What do you plan on doing?  My co-workers want me to dress up tomorrow for work.  I’d love to be Maleficent (or Queen Grimhilde) for Halloween sometime during my college years, but I don’t have a costume this year!

Keep an eye out for those Disney Villains - it’s their turn to celebrate their way!

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Sing What? Revisited

So as you read in “Sing What?”, my drawing Disney buddy has her own version to the Swahili chanting in “Circle of Life.”

Now as I shared with you, last weekend was fall break, so I went home.  Saturday night, I was able to spend the evening with Bestie and her family – which was super fun!

However, one slightly creepy thing happened.

Bestie’s mom went upstairs to change into more comfy clothes and came down in….

Pink pajamas with penguins! (Not quite on the bottom.)

I had to get a picture.



Photo taken by THE Disney Freak.
Do not remove watermark.

And yes, that’s Bestie’s foot.  And her mother chose the pose.

See ya all real soon!

For added Disney fun and entertainment, check me out on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, NetworkedBlogs, and Pinterest!  Thanks very much.

Year of the Disney Dragon Revisited

Previously, the most popular post on this blog was “Year of the Disney Dragon,” in which I looked into some of the most popular and well-known dragons in Disney history, in honor of the Chinese Year of the Dragon.

Well, as usual, I was hunting around on the Disney Wiki and stumbled upon this picture.



It just happens to include three of the six dragons I featured in that post: Maleficent, Madam Mim, and Elliott.

The fourth dragon in the picture is the Reluctant Dragon.

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PS: I can’t seem to write captions under pictures in Windows Live Writer—will look into that closer for next time!

New Fantasyland Dress Rehearsal!

Nick Maglio over at Disleelandia (one of my favorite Disney blogs) just went to the “dress rehearsal” of New Fantasyland!  He took lots of great pictures, and there are a few jokes only a Disney fan would know.

His trip—literally, just pack up and go—makes me kind of jealous because it was actually fall break here at Benedictine this past weekend, so I went home.  If only I had a bit more money, I would’ve gone to Walt Disney World instead perhaps!

(Well, maybe not. I did miss Riley and Bestie an awful lot…and my family of course.  A hard choice.)

See ya all real soon!

(PS: I am now using Windows Live Writer to write my posts and send them—avoiding any Internet problems!)

 

***UPDATE***
 

I will be using Windows Live Writer to solely write the posts and put in links, then use Blogger here to make sure the formatting is right and to do pictures and videos.  Have a nice day, everyone!

Welcome to Monsters University!

Welcome to Monsters University -- the place where monsters learn how to be real monsters!

I'm sure by now you've heard all about the upcoming prequel to Pixar's Monsters, Inc.  And the genius of Pixar has already done something pretty clever for advertising.

They've created an authentic-looking college website!

You can even buy the merchandise.  Shopping spree time!

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PS: For those of you interested, John Frost at The Disney Blog says there's some sort of alternate reality game available...

Sing What?

Note: first, I want to apologize. I absolutely hate the Internet here at my college in my room. It sucks. Bad. I have trouble saving posts, always getting an error, especially when I add links. I really apologize. There's so much I have to post about! Some of it will seem like pretty old news since it's taken me so long to get to it. I'll have to try this whole "Post Later" thing, as soon as I can finish up some posts. That said, proceed

So lately, my drawing classes have rocked.  Because when we're drawing outside of class (aka finishing up our homework), my new friend and I draw to Disney music (check out the link!).

It rocks.

I just said that it.

Honestly, I didn't get enough sleep last night.  Because I was drawing late at night.

For homework.

My friend turned on her music, putting her playlist on shuffle, so we listened to Disney occasionally, along with other songs.

Suddenly:

"Nants ingonyama bagithi...."

And she skips over it!

"What!?" I cried, and she glanced back at me.

"Did you want to listen to that?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Okay, we'll go back to it after this song" (which I'm failing to remember what it was).

Eventually, we went back to it, and I grinned behind my drawing horse board because it's my favorite song.

I began to hear someone else singing along to the words, quietly.  It's my friend, and I perk up, trying to hear what she's singing.

Since most people don't know the Swahili part that opens up the song, most people don't sing it.  Or mess it up.  I used to do that with Bestie, and we'd laugh.

However, my drawing buddy was improvising the words to:

"Pink pajamas, penguins on the bottom/pink pajamas, penguins on the bottom..."

After laughing out loud, I told her I was going to blog about her version.

So here it is.

ttfn!

Want to follow me on a different site other than Blogspot?  Check out the "My Sites" page for all my links!

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!

The Law of a Disney Life

Lately, it's been pretty awesome here at college.

Why?

Because everywhere I go, someone makes some sort of reference to Disney!

Seriously, I think I should start keeping track. 

All the time I overhear college kids reminisce on their Disney VHS tapes--for example, before American Literature today, one girl was commenting on how her mother sold their old VHS player and now she doesn't have anything to use for watching her Disney movies!

The best Disney reference I heard today was actually during American Literature.  We were talking about Jack London's story "The Law of Life" (I recommend it!).  It's about an elderly Indian in Alaska left to die, as is "The Law of Life."  Professor asked us what we thought of the story, its take on a culture very unlike ours.

A fellow freshman raised her hand and mentioned how at the end, when the elderly Indian feels the cold muzzle of a wolf against his cheek (the wolves come at the end to *SPOILER* eat him), she imagined a completely different ending: the Indian becomes a wolf-whisperer, and they take him back to their pack, where he becomes like Mowgli...

Professor kind of paused here and when she spoke again, she made us laugh with: "Jack London, Disney-fied."

I could see that, can't you?

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Today in Disney History...

Mickey's voice was born.

Well, to be exact, his fourth voice.  (Random question: who was the first?)

Bret Iwan was born today in California back in 1982.  He became Mickey's fourth (and current) voice after his previous voice actor, Wayne Allwine, passed away in 2009.  Bret took over a very important position, of course, but what's really amazing is that Wayne had done it for 32 years!

Bret is filling some pretty big shoes...and the footsteps (in answer to the above question) go all the way back to Disney himself!

From one of my new favorite sites, thisdayindisneyhistory.com: "...Disney looked within the company to find someone to perform the recognizable voice.  Iwan won the role after a company-wide search where a relative submitted Iwan as a possibility.  In a final audition, Russi Taylor, the voice of Minnie Mouse and the widow of Wayne Allwine, helped in selecting Iwan."

Bret and the Big Cheese himself!
Image from the Disney Wiki.

Here's a cute little video dedicated to Bret and his birthday today.  Happy Birthday, Bret!  Eat a Mickey ears shaped cake.  Now that I think about it though, you've probably heard that an awful lot today....

In honor of Mickey, see ya all real soon!

Just Another Off Day

The Disney Mermaid texted me today to tell me about Young Disney Freak and her growing Disney vocab: just had to share.

Note: I edited TDM's texts because I wanted to keep this...professional.

Before dinner, I received her first text:

Young Disney Freak and I were counting for hide and seek when YDF says, "Let's start over.  This is kind of an off day for me."  And I was laughing before I asked, "What did you say?"  So she said it again, added, "From Tangled!" then burst out giggling.

I began to laugh out loud, right outside the Cafeteria!  I have no idea if anyone looked at me, like last time when I laughed at something Disney-related.

She texted me again:

Then I should tell you [because you'll put this on the Blog] that she was sassy when she said it: "You know?  From Tangled?" like I was dumb or something!  Young Disney Freak is teaching The Disney Mermaid!  Even though I knew where it was from.

Can you picture a three-year-old saying that?  I sure can.

Her last text read:

We were playing follow the leader next (today is just full of Disney).  Every time I said, "This is kind of an off day for me," she'd pause, turn around, stare at me, and then burst out laughing.  It was so funny and all-around cute.

Young Disney Freak's tag line: Gotta love.

Kind of hard not to.

ttfn!  Hope you smiled or chuckled or laughed as much as I did.

(PS: Agh, the Internet and my computer do not get along well!)