My dad once told me, “When I’m at Disney World, I feel like I’m home.” I can’t disagree with him. And it’s kind of the perfect sentiment to start this with.
As I mentioned last time, I’m starting my obsession chronicles (ooh, is that a better name for this?) with Disney, because that’s really where everyone starts. What kid isn’t obsessed with Disney? Maybe for me, being a Floridian, it was even worse. I grew up about two hours away from Orlando, Florida, the home of Disney World. My family and I would go pretty regularly, maybe once a year or so, hence my Dad being so familiar with the park. Pops also treated us to a Disney Channel subscription during the summers, I guess because we were home more and it made more economical sense. Mind you, this was when the Disney Channel just played Mickey Mouse cartoons and classic films (if memory serves, anyway), not the insane amount of pre-teen crap that litters the channel today, like Jessie, Dog With a Blog, and Mischievous Martha (I made that last one up).
Of course, this isn’t about the Disney parks, or even the Disney Channel, but rather, Disney films. And not just any films, but those produced during the so called Disney Renaissance from ‘89 to ‘99. Which I didn’t even really know was a thing until I started writing this. Fittingly, I suppose the first Disney movie I was familiar with was The Little Mermaid (1989). I don’t really have any specific memories of watching it, but it’s there in my consciousness. I wanna say my sisters and I would even pretend to be mermaids in our swimming pool (it was above ground, in case you were wondering). I also remember watching Oliver and Company (1988) and The Rescuers Down Under (1990) as well. And sure I watched older Disney films like The Fox and the Hound (1981) and Robin Hood (1973), but I’m not sure if I watched those and it lead into watching the newer ‘80s and ‘90s films or if it was the other way around.
Eventually, the hot streak that was Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992) and The Lion King (1994) happened, that last film being the highest grossing movie of the Disney Renaissance, bringing in a lifetime gross of $422,783,777. Those films were game changers, with excellent songs and talent behind the characters. Nothing quite as good happened after that during the Renaissance, although there were some quality films. One of those for me was Hercules (1997). Ironically, it’s the second lowest grossing film of the Disney Renaissance and, while it isn’t as appreciated at the levels of Aladdin or The Lion King, it had a great story and fun music. Big time obsession confession here – I once left a beach vacation early to catch Hercules on cable. I guess I really dug it. Tarzan – the last film of the Renaissance, released in 1999 – was good as well – I’m pretty sure I even had the soundtrack to that.
Disney eventually gave way to Pixar. Once I saw Toy Story (1995) in the theater, I was hooked. They pretty much churned out gold for a while there, with Cars (2006) and its derivative sequels and offshoots being the only real misstep for me. One of the last movies I saw with my serious college girlfriend was WAll-E (2008), and one of the first movies I saw after moving to Jacksonville – all alone – was Up (2009) (that’s a hard movie to watch on your own). Those were two tumultuous times in my life, and Pixar was there for me. Nowadays, there really isn’t a Pixar film I’ll skip, except maybe those Cars sequels (and Monsters University (2013), despite the fact I really enjoyed Monsters, Inc. (2001)).
My Disney obsession more or less continues to this day. The trend these days seems to be doing live action remakes of old Disney Animation classics. As of this writing, The Jungle Book is days away from being released, and Beauty and the Beast is deep in production. I didn’t see last year’s Cinderella remake, and I’m not terribly interested in The Jungle Book, but Beauty and the Beast has me intrigued, because of its cast and due to its Disney Renaissance roots. Disney’s also completely cornering the nerd market right now, what with owning the Marvel Cinematic Universe (much more to come on that later in this series), and Star Wars.
I won’t really be getting into Star Wars again, because I was never that into it as a kid. That’s right, I’m not really a huge Star Wars fan. More of a Trek guy (you guessed it, more on that later). I definitely loved The Force Awakens, and I’m super stoked for Rogue One, however, I suspect I’m part of that group that wasn’t heavily into the original films, and then the prequels came along and sort of soured us on Star Wars as a whole.
Next up – join me in the sewers as I examine my relationship with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.