Beauty and the Beast had me like...

OH MY GOD!!! Last class someone ever-so-casually mentioned the upcoming live action Beauty and the Beast movie. My initial reaction was shock that I was unaware of this very exciting news. Then the shock was replaced with happiness. I LOVE this movie, and have very high hopes for what it could become. I'm kind of iffy on how exactly they are gonna execute Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, Chip, and the rest of the talking/dancing household materials. But besides that minor (and by minor I mean not minor at all) detail, I really think this movie could make a killer live action film.

If anyone claims to not be ecstatic about Emma Watson playing Belle, they're either lying or are very disturbed. This casting decision is LITERALLY FLAWLESS. Emma will carry Belle's grace and intelligence perfectly. It is simply a match made in heaven. I think the rest of the cast thus far is pretty solid. It appears that Chip has yet to be cast, and the immediate actor that comes to mind is that little boy who played S.J. in The Blind Side. Except, come to think of it, since The Blind Side came out in 2009, he's probably in that awkward "about-to-start-puberty" phase and is therefore no longer a lil cutie. Whoever they case, he better be an adorable little munchkin.

That is all.
PS- is this goodbye, blog? If so, it's been absolutely real. Sydnerella out.

Word Searches Are NOT Just For Kids

I spent a solid 20 minutes successfully completing this BuzzFeed word search quiz related to Disney Villains. As tempting as it was to click on the first word I saw a part of, I was (surprisingly) patient and waited til I was absolutely sure that the word in the puzzle was entirely correct.

This word search was (1) way more challenging than I anticipated and (2) extremely entertaining. It took a lot of focus, requiring me to read through the lines. And once I did read through, I found that the author was having some fun, throwing in random words from the movie at hand just to see how closely you were paying attention.

Solid quiz. Some good, clean, Disney fun. Be prepared! <--- HA. Get it? Lol k I'm done now.

The Little Mermaid 2.0 starring... me

Often times when I take BuzzFeed quizzes, I am not fully convinced by the results. I mean, how can some random (a la "What is your favorite food?" and "Where would your dream vacation be?") clickable questions realllllly allow BuzzFeed to make any accurate conclusions about me and my  personality. However, this "Which Disney Movie Would You Actually Star In?" quiz gave me surprisingly (what I would consider to be) accurate results!

I was told I would star in The Little Mermaid. I was impressed by this solution because I find Ariel to be, in many ways, very relatable! She is adventurous, impulsive, trying her best to be independent, and, in some cases, growing up as she learns from her mistakes.

BuzzFeed told me:

"You’re curious, adventurous, and a hopeless romantic. You know The One is out there, be it on land or under the sea. Grab your dinglehopper and fluff up your hair, because your starring roll is here for the taking!"

While I wasn't planning on using my dinglehopper any time soon, I guess it's never to early to give it a try! Although I couldn't quite see myself as a redhead....

DUUUUUUKE BABY!!!

Still feeling the rush off of last night's NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP WIN!!!! And while this is obviously a Disney blog, I have a moment from all of last night's magic that clearly relates to Disney and is, thus, "bloggable".

After the incredibly memorable and unbelievable (understatement) game, the glorious (really no other word to describe it) bonfire, and the overall excitement of the night, my friends and I headed back to East Campus on the bus. One of my friends wanted to Instagram a picture to commemorate the evening. She used the caption "The happiest place on Earth", aka the tagline for Disneyland. No offense, Disney, but I would have to agree that Duke University was, in fact, the happiest place on Earth last night.

LET'S GO DUKE!!!!!

Beauty and the Beast has my jaw dropping...

This course has made me question everything I have ever believed about Disney. The "why didn't Ariel just speak?" idea had me dumbfounded, and I'm even more shocked at this takeaway from Beauty and the Beast. It is simply a GREAT point. I'm honestly quite disappointed in Disney that there exists no resolute answer to this question.

This article provides clear evidence that the Beast was either 10 or 11 when he was cursed. There is literally mathematical proof of this, and I think it would be very hard to refute these numbers. That being said, I agree completely with the list of questions at the end of the article... who in their right mind would curse a child? Sure, I bet was as greedy and selfish as young princes can be, but if he was literally 10 or 11, I really don't think cursing him to become a beast was an appropriate solution. Especially when you consider the fact that what he did to deserve this curse was to not allow a stranger into his castle.

Sidenote---the whole Chip thing is hilariously perplexing. Definitely something that Disney did not think through. I really hope that Disney will reveal one day that Chip was, in fact, born as a teacup and was birthed by his lovely teapot of a mother.

I'm with you, Sarah Turner

I felt that Sarah E. Turner's Blackness, Bayous, and Gumbo: Encoding and Decoding Race in a Colorblind World was a well-crafted article on The Princess and the Frog and its portrayal of race. The essay was well written and brought up some good points from the movie. However, my biggest take away was that Sarah Turner, like myself and many other viewers of the film, had one unresolved question: "is [Tiana] too Black or not Black enough?" There really is no definitive answer to this question. The main reason, in my opinion, for this paradox is that Disney is trying to appeal to as wide of an audience as possible. In order to do this, Disney needs to somehow manage to have Tiana represent black culture the best way possible, while at the same time not expressing too much black culture to the point where white audiences would not be as interested in the film. Because Disney was trying to appeal to such a broad audience, of course there will be critics who view the film to lie on either end of the race-portrayal spectrum.

On a different note, I thought that Turner brought up a great point that Kurrti's book (deliberately?) leaves out descriptions of Tiana's physical appearance. This is definitely something I hadn't thought of, but it does make me question a lot about race. Is Tiana's appearance not a point of discussion due to her race? I strongly doubt it. In Princess and the Frog, Niveen is a character of color and his appearance is discussed. Similarly, the other previous princesses of colors–Pocahontas, Mulan, Esmeralda– are discussed in regards to their physical appearances as well. Specifically, since I am analyzing gender roles in Pocahontas, I've seen numerous articles that discuss Pocahontas' beauty. However, in the two films, Pocahontas' appearance is MUCH more emphasized that Tiana's. Turner discussed that Tiana dresses far more conservatively than, say, Pocahontas. Perhaps this is because of the difference in time period, but perhaps it has more to do with race than I would have thought.

RIP Cinderella's Castle

THIS IS A BIG DEAL!!!!!!!! Disney has fallen curse of it's own Frozen Fever, and has decided to turn its trademark Cinderella Castle into Elsa's Frozen Palace. I was with two friends when I got word of this breaking news, and both of them were outraged. One declared, "that's so messed up." The other one agreed, claiming "they just can't do that." Well, much to her dismay, Disney can and will do just that. But, apparently, my friends are not alone. Many fans are already bashing on this change. Definitely not the reaction was going for. Elsa's Palace is supposed to go into effect this September. I'm curious if the backlash from fans will stop Disney from following through with this new plan. To be continued....