Disney Musical May 31 - Family

MR. GRASSHOPPER:
Take a little time
Just look at where we are
We've come very, very far
Together
And if I might say so, 

MR. CENTIPEDE:
And if I might say so, too,

 BOTH:
We wouldn't have got anywhere
If it weren't for you, boy 

MRS. LADYBUG:
Love
Is the sweetest thing 

MR. EARTHWORM:
Love
Never comes just when you think it will 

MISS SPIDER:
Love
Is the way we feel for you 

MR. GRASSHOPPER:
We're family

 MR. GRASSHOPPER AND MR. CENTIPEDE:
We're family
We're family 

MRS. LADYBUG:
All of us 

MR. GRASSHOPPER:
And you! 

MR. CENTIPEDE:
Think of where we'd be
If we were on our own 

MR. EARTHWORM:
We'd be dead! 

MRS. LADYBUG:
You're what holds us all
Together

 JAMES:
I am?

 MR. CENTIPEDE:
And if I might say so, 

MR. GRASSHOPPER AND MRS. LADYBUG:
And if we might say so, too, 

MR. GRASSHOPPER:
We never could love anyone 

ALL:
As much as we love you! 

GLOWWORM:
Love... 

MR. CENTIPEDE AND MISS SPIDER:
Is the strangest thing 

GLOWWORM:
Love... 

MR. GRASSHOPPER AND MRS. LADYBUG:
Does exactly what it wants to do 

GLOWWORM:
Love... 

MR. CENTIPEDE:
Boy, you know it's true 

ALL:
We're family
We're family
We're family
Me, me, me, me
And you! 

MISS SPIDER:
Ashes to ashes
And dust to dust 

ALL:
Without you,
There'd be no us 

Love
Is the sweetest thing
Love
Does exactly what it wants to do
Love
Is the way we feel for you
We're family
We're family 

JAMES:
We're family
Me... 

ALL:
And you! 

And that, in the words of Porky Pig, is all, folks.

Hope you enjoyed this month's Disney version of Musical May. I know I did. It's always a big relief and a big disappointment when it's finally over.

Well, time to grab a few writing projects from the back burner!

Disney Musical May 30 - Beauty and the Beast

Tale as old as time
True as it can be
Barely even friends
Then somebody bends
Unexpectedly 

Just a little change
Small to say the least
Both a little scared
Neither one prepared
Beauty and the Beast 

Ever just the same
Ever a surprise
Ever as before
Ever just as sure
As the sun will rise

 Tale as old as time
Tune as old as song
Bittersweet and strange
Finding you can change
Learning you were wrong

 Certain as the sun
Rising in the east
Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the Beast

 Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the Beast 

"Off to the cupboard with you now, Chip. It's past your bedtime. Goodnight, love."

No surprise Angela Lansbury nailed this whole thing in a single take. She was simply that good, in both voice and music. You didn't get much better than her.

(All images property of their respective owners.)

Emma Thompson, with all due respect, came nowhere close. The 2017 waltz was nice enough in its own way, but far from spectacular. I'm still partial to 1991. Goes to show some things don't need a second take. They just don't.

And now there's only one slot to go. I made sure to pick a good one!

Disney Musical May 29 - Perfect Isn't Easy

Girl, we've got work to do
Pass me the paint and glue
Perfect isn't easy
But it's me!

 When one knows the world is watching,
One does what one must
Some minor adjustments, darling
Not for my vanity
But for humanity 

Each little step a pose
See how the breeding shows, uh!
Sometimes it's too much
For even me!

But when all the world says yes,
Then who am I to say no?
Don't ask a mutt to strut like a show girl
No, girl, you need a pro!

 Not a flea or a flaw
Take a peek at that paw
La-dee-da-da
Perfection becomes me, n'est-ce pas? 

Unrivaled, unruffled
I'm beauty unleashed, yeah
Jaws drop
Hearts stop
So classic and classy
We're not talking Lassie 

And ahh!
Ahh! Ooh!
Ow! Ow! Ow!
Ruff-ruff-ruff! Ow! 

Though many covet my bone and bowl,
They're barking up the wrong tree
You pretty pups all over the city
I have your hearts and you have my pity
Pretty is nice, but still
It's just pretty!

Perfect, my dears Is ME! 

While Georgette was never my favorite character, she is entertaining for the most part. She gets some proper comeuppance, a good knock off her high pedestal, and overall, Bette Midler does a fantastic job.

And this song is great fun. It would be a flawless fit for quite a few of my characters. Ann and Adela, as well as Tallis and Tyrell, and even Tristan (Terence's big brother) are the first to spring to mind.

They're all too much for their own good, although none of them are half so confident as they claim. The truth is, they try so hard to convince themselves more than anyone else that they're worth something.

A psychiatrist would make a tidy fortune off them.

Disney Musical May 28 - Build a Snowman

Elsa?
(Knocks)
Do you wanna build a snowman?
Come on, let's go and play!
I never see you anymore
Come out the door
It's like you've gone away!

 We used to be best buddies
And now we're not
I wish you would tell me why!
Do you wanna build a snowman?
It doesn't have to be a snowman!
(Go away, Anna!)
Okay, bye... 

(Knocks)
Do you wanna build a snowman?
Or ride our bike around the halls?
I think some company is overdue
I've started talking to
The pictures on the walls!
(Hang in there, Joan!) 

It gets a little lonely
All these empty rooms
Just watching the hours tick by...
(tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock)

 (Knocks)
Elsa?
Please, I know you're in there
People are asking where you've been
They say, "Have courage," and I'm trying to
I'm right out here for you
Just let me in

We only have each other
It's just you and me
What are we gonna do?
Do you want to build a snowman?

I wanted to do at least one song from Frozen and I know everybody's sick to death of "Let It Go." At least it doesn't make my ears bleed the way "Hakuna Matata" does now.

But I do have a soft spot for this particular song.

All excessive hype aside, I feel this movie is good if not fantastic. I like stories about familial love, and this is a nice story about sisterly love. I feel so bad for poor Anna; while I can't judge Elsa or their parents too harshly, Anna got the shortest end of the stick by far.

You will find bits and pieces of this story scattered throughout Reid's story. It's especially applicable to Romulus when he loses his parents and his sister.

It also applies well to Jonathan, because he and Caleb got along a lot better when they were younger. As Caleb grew up, he ran into a few bad influences inside and outside school, although he managed to avoid becoming a criminal like Malachi. Regardless, he became colder and more argumentative, and the door was shut especially hard in poor Jonathan's face.

But the biggest fault lies with Aunt Tamara.

Caleb liked Tamara, he could see how lonely she was, he started talking to her and hanging around her more often, and in spite of herself, she developed a soft spot for him, too. Unfortunately, her bad attitude rubbed off on him, and she never really got along with the rest of the family.

So, with her help, the gap between Caleb and the other Windwillows, Jonathan most of all, widened more and more until they were virtual strangers.

In spite of that, Caleb had the nerve to get jealous when Jonathan began to spend more time with Prince Reid and treat him like a brother.

Jonathan saw how rough Reid had it, he empathized perfectly with the boy about bad brothers (even though Tyrell was much worse than Caleb and Tamara put together) and being seen as an oddball, and he was also greatly inspired by the relationship between Reid and Beowulf.

Beowulf was every bit as much taken aback at Reid's kindness to him, yet he couldn't bring himself to knock it. Like an old guard dog who's almost forgotten just how good a scratch behind the ears feels. 

I also based Kaylee Drummond partly on Anna, and her sister Faith on Elsa. Obviously, Faith has no supernatural powers, but she has a long, thick braid, she's a very prim and proper woman, and while she's nice, she's not the most fun person to be around. She needs to loosen up just a little more. She needs to be thawed, if you will.

In contrast, Kaylee is a very warm, sweet, bubbly girl. She's shy, but her backbone is growing up with her, and all she really wants is to be loved for who she is, not for who other people want her to be. That's why she falls in love with Troy, because he's always liked her just as she is and he brought out the best in her. I can't think of a better motivation for romance than that.

So, yeah, Frozen has inspired me in a host of places and I like it just fine for myself...although I think the sequel is entirely unnecessary and I'm not at all surprised (or pleased) to hear about a Frozen 3 in the works.

If it's not hackneyed remakes we gotta worry about, it's one sequel after another. We live in an era of "Follow the Leader."

If Disney ever makes anything fresh and unique that's actually good and doesn't shove a politically correct message in my face, I'll eat my socks. 

Disney Musical May 27 - You've Got a Friend

You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you're miles and miles
From your nice warm bed
You just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you've got a friend in me
Yeah, you've got a friend in me 

You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got troubles
And I've got 'em, too
There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you
We stick together, we can see it through
'Cause you've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me

 Some other folks
Might be a little bit smarter than I am
Bigger and stronger, too, maybe
But none of them
Will ever love you the way I do
It's me and you, boy 

And as the years go by,
Our friendship will never die
You're gonna see it's our destiny
You've got a friend in me

You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me 

Holy smokes, do I remember the Toy Story craze. My brother was positively obsessed with it, to say the least. He got as many Woody and Buzz dolls as he could get his grubby little hands on, and he played the movies and songs to pieces.

We owned Toy Story 2 for Nintendo 64 for many years; that was the first N64 game we ever had. We mastered that game long before we watched the movie.

(All images property of their respective owners.)

This song was all over the place, too. To this day, you're hard-pressed to find a person who can't sing the first couple of lines on cue.

As for me, my feelings about the whole franchise are neutral at best. Never loved it, never hated it, and I believe they should have ended for good on Toy Story 3. Toy Story 4 was definite overkill and I'm not looking forward to Movie #5. Don't even get me started on that new Lightyear movie.

But I do feel Movie #2 is the best, I like Woody and Buzz, there are plenty of funny, feel-good, and heart-pinching moments, the dialogue is extremely quotable, and this song really is good; Randy Newman is, indeed, a gifted songwriter. 

Disney Musical May 26 - My Name is James

My name is James
That's what Mother called me
My name is James
So it's always been 

Sometimes I forget
When I'm lonely or afraid
Then I'll go inside my head
And look for James

 There's a city that I dreamed of
Very far from here
Very, very far away from here
Very far away 

There are people in the city
And they're kind to me
But it's very, very far away, you know
Very far 

They'll say, "James, James, James,
How are ya?
Isn't it a lovely day?
James, James, James,
We're so glad you came here where we are
From so very, very, very far!" 

My name is James
James
James... 

Technically, James and the Giant Peach is a Disney movie, and since I finished the book not so long ago, it seemed very fitting.

As much as I enjoyed the book, I say the movie is one of the few cases where it's superior to the book. I really appreciate how they further fleshed out the Giant Insects and magnified the definition of family.

It goes to show that no matter what you look like, if you've got love, you've got a family.

I also appreciate how James Henry Trotter chooses to remain a kind, sweet boy when he would have a rather excellent excuse not to be. He never forgets who he is, where he came from, and where he truly belongs. Like a younger, male version of Cinderella.

Proving Miss Spider's words true, "Nobody can make you do anything if you do not let them." 

Disney Musical May 25 - Once Upon a Dream

I know you
I walked with you once upon a dream
I know you
That gleam in your eyes
Is so familiar a gleam

Yet I know it's true
That visions are seldom all they seem
But if I know you,
I know what you'll do
You'll love me at once
The way you did once upon a dream

My family practically worships this movie, although my older sister was scared to death of Maleficent for years. I think that had something to do with the way Dad told us the story once at bedtime, and he made Maleficent sound a little too scary.

Then there was the movie itself, where Maleficent definitely came off as unsettlingly creepy. That scene in the darkened fireplace still gives me the shivers to this day.

But overall, we all adore this movie, myself included. I got a ton of inspiration for Terence's story from Sleeping Beauty by itself.

Aurora's relationship with Philip was fair for its day, as TV Tropes would say. They take a little more time to get to know each other than Cinderella and Snow White do with their princes, although all three of them are still quite superior to the original fairy tales. In the fairy tales, Prince Charming shows up out of the pure blue, doing nothing more than standing there and looking pretty, and Cupid's arrow scores a solid bull's-eye then and there.

At the very least, the Disney movies give all the Princes a little more to do, which is nice. It makes sense that Philip gets more screentime, because the animation department was a lot more fine-tuned by then. They say it was around the 1950s that Disney "could animate anything, and beautifully."

On top of that, Sleeping Beauty was one of the first major movies driven almost purely by women. Yeah, Aurora doesn't do much (she's not called "Sleeping Beauty" for nothing) but there's still the Three Good Fairies, who easily carry the lion's share of the story by themselves, and even the villain is female. While we get a good chunk of action from Philip, he wouldn't have got that far without the Fairies' help. So, it's women who both save the day and provide the primary conflict.

You can tell they went the extra mile with the animation, too. They took the time and money to make everything look extra nice, and it shows. Despite being a financial failure, it's now heralded as one of the Disney movies. Almost everybody can find something to say in its favor.

If I had a list of top 10 favorite Disney films, this one will be on it for sure. It might even make the top 5.