How Disney Connects Us All

Human's have been telling stories ever since we could talk . . . probably even before then, because the power (and perhaps purpose) of Story is to "connect with people on an emotional level" (via).

Which is why people tell stories of their experiences, and "write what they know," to connect with other people - to share in the Great Story. 

But what if what you know is suburban Minnesota? What if all you've ever seen is Montana farmlands? How do you write about that? Because most people don't want to read those stories, we want car chases, space adventures, and monsters in the closets. But we also want to connect with the characters. We want to feel the sadness, the loneliness or the joy of the character, because when we do, we're suddenly connected. No matter where or when we're from.

Disney has known this trick for decades. From Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to Zootopia, Disney has been connecting audiences, from all around, from differing age groups, sexes, and social classes to a curious fox, adventurous clown fish, and a self-entitled young lion.

And they've done it, predominantly, by connecting us all through a pain and sorrow that can only come with deep loss. Below is the list of movies used in the short film above. As you watch it, take note of how many of the major characters experience the loss of one or both of their parents.

THE EVOLUTION OF DISNEY ANIMATION (1937-2016) from Bora Barroso on Vimeo.

In all of life and throughout all the world, everyone has experienced loss. And Disney has picked up on it, preyed upon it, and used it to connect us all.

Films Used:

- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
- Pinocho (1940)
- Fantasia (1940)
- Saludos Amigos (1942)
- The Three Caballeros (1944)
- The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
- Cinderella (1950)
- Alice in Wonderland (1951)
- Peter Pan (1953)
- Lady and the Tramp (1955)
- Sleeping Beauty (1959)
- One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)
- The Sword in the Stone (1963)
- The Jungle Book (1967)
- The Aristocats (1970)
- Robin Hood (1973)
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
- The Fox and the Hound (1981)
- The Black Cauldron (1985)
- The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
- Oliver and Company (1988)
- The Little Mermaid (1989)
- The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
- Beauty and Beast (1991)
- Aladdin (1992)
- The Lion King (1994)
- Pocahontas (1995)
- The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1996)
- Hercules (1997)
- Mulan (1998)
- Tarzan (1999)
- Dinosaur (2000)
- The Emperor´s New Groove (2001)
- Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
- Lilo & Stich (2002)
- Treasure Planet (2002)
- Brother Bear (2003)
- Chicken Little (2005)
- Meet the Robinsons (2007)
- Bolt (2008)
- The Princess and the Frog (2009)
- Tangled (2010)
- Wreck-It-Ralph (2012)
- Frozen (2013)
- Big Hero 6 (2014)
- Zootopia (2016)

Music: Really Slow Motion - Suns And Stars

Editor: Bora Barroso // Twitter: @BoraBarroso

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Books, Music, Movies : Best of the past 1000 years

Back in 2000, Amazon ran a poll asking their customers what they thought were the best books, music, and movies of the past 1000 years. The results were archived by the Internet Archive.

. . . The lists include works by Shakespeare, Stephen King, and Ayn Rand; music by the Beatles, Mozart, and Miles Davis; and films such as The Wizard of Oz, The Godfather, and Star Wars. (It bears noting that the Bible received the most votes among books, but we had to leave it off our list because it was not written within the past 1,000 years.) We've also compiled tallies for the top author, musical artist, and director, based on the total votes each received for their various works. Dig deep and enjoy!

The winners in each category (and links to their works) were:

Author of Millennium: J.R.R. Tolkien with runner up Ayn Rand

Artist of Millennium: the Beatles with runner up Pink Floyd

Director of the Millennium: Steven Spielberg with runner up George Lucas

 

Here are the full top 10 lists:

Books
1. The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
2. Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
3. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
4. The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone - J.K. Rowling
6. The Stand - Stephen King
7. Ulysses - James Joyce
8. Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
9. The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
10. 1984 - George Orwell

See all 100 winners

 

Music albums
1. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles
2. The Beatles (The White Album) - The Beatles
3. Millennium - Backstreet Boys
4. Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd
5. Abbey Road - The Beatles
6. Thriller - Michael Jackson
7. The Joshua Tree - U2
8. The Wall - Pink Floyd
9. Kind Of Blue - Miles Davis
10. Nevermind - Nirvana

See all 100 winners

You can listen to the top ten albums here. 

 

Movies
1. Star Wars
2. Titanic
3. Citizen Kane
4. Gone With the Wind
5. The Godfather
6. Schindler’s List
7. The Matrix
8. Saving Private Ryan
9. Casablanca
10. Braveheart

See all 100 winners

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Integrity and bar fights

Recently I've been challenged with integrity, and I've been challenged to truly live it. To submit to it.  But first, I need to understand it. 

I know the definition, the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness. Especially when no one is around, or when it's hard to do so. I've been told this since I was a young boy.

But recently, I've begun to wonder if it can also be something more. And not more as in better, but more as in more - more than what is commonly understood. In addition to.

Like this. Being a man or woman of integrity carries with it the understanding that one with strong moral principles or uprightness will not fail or make poor choices, because by the very definition of integrity, they wouldn't. That's why they have integrity. 

But what does it mean when people fail, when their moral principles crumble? Does that mean they are no longer men and women of integrity? That they are men and woman of fluid morals? Because, to be honest, although I try to live a life of integrity, of moral uprightness, I don't always. I don't commit any of the heavy hitters like cheat on my wife, steal money from my employers, or abuse the poor, but I do plenty of other bad things, some of which people are all to ready to point out but none of which even scrapes the surface. Because I'm good at secrets and putting on a tie and making people laugh. Sometimes.

So does that mean I am not a man of integrity?

When my friend struggles to keep his eyes from wondering and his fingers from clicking, does that mean he can no longer be trusted?  That he is a man without integrity? 

Maybe. I know my Mom would say so, but lately, I don't know.  And it's because of scenes like this:

A priest who gets into bar fights and who curses like a sailor could easily be described as a man without integrity. Yet, it is the very thing he accuses the young priest of - and it's the worst thing he could say about anybody!

What gives him the right for such an accusation? What sort of understanding does he have that I don't?

I wonder if its honesty. 

The older priest doesn't pretend to be someone he is not. He doesn't follow a bunch of religious rules because it looks good and puts him in good standing with the community (which is what I am often tempted to do), but does what he knows is right. Like apologize. 

Could a man or woman have integrity AND falter? Could their morals shake AND they maintain integrity?

I think so. I hope so. Because the men and women I respect most in this world are not the ones that do all things right all or most of the time, but the ones that have enough courage and humility and love to admit their faults, seek forgiveness, and try again tomorrow - with grace and understanding. With integrity. 

These men and women know what their looking for, they just find it hard to get there sometimes. They need help. And that is something I can relate to, and someone I want to follow.

If I'm honest.

To read more on . . .

On Living  :  When Movies Get it Right  :  Humanity

Men In Black : Imagine

"Imagine what we'll know tomorrow."

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Stealing from The Princess Bride

"Pablo Picasso is widely quoted as having said that “good artists borrow, great artists steal.” Whether or not Picasso was truly the first person to voice this idea is in some dispute. One can find passages in T. S. Eliot’s critical works which discuss how artistic theft of others’ work contributes to the creation of new art. The idea itself is probably much older. Shakespeare routinely stole plotlines and even whole scenes from other writers for his own plays." (via) Even Steve Jobs believed this ideology allowed for the best of what humanity had to offer to emerge. 

Recently, while reading The Princess Bride with my kids, I read the following scene and chuckled. Because I know of another artist who stole it.

The scene reads:

She was outside his hovel before dawn. Inside, she could hear him already awake. She knocked. He appeared, stood in the doorway. Behind him she could see a tiny candle, open books. He waited. She looked at him. Then she looked away.

He was too beautiful.

"I love you," Buttercup said. "I know this must come as something of a surprise, since all I've ever done is scorn you and degrade you and taunt you, but I have loved you for several hours now, and every second, more. I thought an hour ago that I loved you more than any woman has ever loved a man, but a half hour after that I knew that what I felt before was nothing compared to what I felt then. But ten minutes after that, I understood that my previous love was a puddle compared to the high seas before a storm. Your eyes are like that, did you know? Well they are. How many minutes ago was I? Twenty? Had I brought my feelings up to then? It doesn't matter." Buttercup still could not look at him. The sun was rising behind her now; she could feel the heat on her back, and it gave her courage. "I love you so much more now than twenty minutes ago that there cannot be comparison. I love ou so much more now than when you opened your hovel door, there cannot be comparison. There is no room in my body for anything but you. My arms love you, my ears adore you, knees shake with blind affection. My mind begs you to ask it something so it can obey. Do you want me to follow you for the rest of your days? I will do that. Do you want me to crawl? I will crawl. I will be quiet for you or sing for you, or if you are hungry, let me bring you food, or if you have thirst and nothing to quench it but Arabian wine, I will go to Araby, even though it is across the world, and bring a bottle back for your lunch. Anything there is that I can do for you, I will do for you; anything there is that I cannot do, i will learn to do. I know I cannot complete with the Countess in skills or wisdom or appeal, and I saw the way she looked at you. And I saw the way you looked at her. But remember, please that she is old and has other interests, while I am seventeen and for me there is only you. Dearest Wesley - I've never called you that before, have I? - Westley, Westley,, Westley, Westley, Westley, - darling Westley, adored Westley, sweet perfect Westley, whisper that I have a chance to win your love." 

And with that, she dared the bravest thing she'd ever done; she looked right into his eyes.

He closed the door in her face.

Without a word. 

Without a word.

Buttercup ran. She whirled and burst away and the tears came bitterly; she could not see, she stumbled, she slammed into a tree trunk, fell, arose, ran on; her shoulder throbbed from where the tree trunk hit her, and the pain was strong, but not enough to ease her shattered heart. Back to her room she fled, back to her pillow. Safe behind the locked door, she drenched the world with tears. (pg 49-51).

Here is M. Night Shyamalan's "stolen" version:

"Good artists borrow, great artists steal," and perhaps the greatest artists of them all steal from great artists.

Well done M. Night Shyamalan. Well done.

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Two Incontrovertible Facts

Sometimes, when the faults, mistakes, and ideas of others become so overwhelming that I can no longer see straight or hear myself think, these two facts wipe clean the mirror, and I drop my stone. If only for a little while.