there's always room for a thousand. @magic-kingdom-dreaming - Tumblr Blog

Just got an email that my blog turned 6 today.

Man, how life has changed since I started this Disney Parks fan blog.

I’m married, I’ve moved to a new house, I’ve graduated. I’ve received some meds that are helping the medical issues that caused some anxiety issues in my life. Life is good!

Here’s to those out there who might still follow me…no matter where you’ve been, there’s still mystery and excitement in where you’re going!

magic-kingdom-dreaming

And just like that, my blog is 8!

Two years later, and now we’ve added a new addition to our family. We’ve moved out of our first home and are anxious to get into our second!

Life is good, and I can’t complain!

frankie-catfish-morales

📷: www.instagram.com/dc_disneylove

arthurclennam

mod2amaryllis

ok ok ok ok ok ok can I just have a quick lil moment of your time?

This shit.

So Hunchback is far and away my favorite movie from Disney’s Renaissance, and it always makes me so happy that yes, people seem to appreciate it, people seem to love it, but I’mma go into exactly WHY it’s my favorite, and WHY I think it’s so crucial, and WHY I think it should be required viewing for young boys specifically.

We all know that a huge bulk of the media we’ve grown up with consistently has that one frustrating message: Being the hero means you’ll get the girl. Many boys let this mentality bleed into reality. We have “nice guys,” who feel that their niceness entitles them to romance, when obviously that discredits a female’s personal choice. We all get this, we all know this, and a lot of us get that it’s a toxic message.

So check out our hero.

He’s an incredibly good person who isn’t conventionally attractive.

Check out our lady.

Super good person, conventionally attractive.

The movie so deliberately builds up Quasi’s hopes. There’s a whole fucking song about it.

But Esmeralda, who is her own person with her own motivations and preferences, chooses another man, who is also good and also attractive.

A lot of people criticize this aspect of the movie, the fact that Quasi doesn’t get the girl BECAUSE of his appearance. But my argument? This is the best damn message a movie could ever send.

Because when things get dicey, when Esmeralda’s life in in danger, when Quasi would be putting his own life on the line, he knows that romance is no longer within the realm of possibility. He knows he won’t be “getting the girl.” He knows this, and he allows himself a moment of bitterness, he risks falling prey to the “nice guy” trope, and he almost succumbs.

“She already has her knight in shining armor, and it’s not me.”

BUT THEN HE DOES THE RIGHT THING.

He has NO ulterior motive for saving her life. NO ulterior motive for opposing the man who raised him. And he doesn’t know that he’ll get any reward, he knows he could straight up get killed for his actions, and yet he still acts.

And there’s no bitterness. There’s still so, so much love between him and Esmeralda, pure awesome platonic love, and love between him and Phoebus, and just fucking love all around, it’s amazing.

I’ve heard so many people express distaste at Quasi not ending up with Esmerelda. Like he was cheated out of some kind of reward. But have they watched the ending?

Does that look like a man cheated of his reward? Does he look like he “lost” to Phoebus? No dude, that’s a man who has everything he ever wanted, and that’s also a man who didn’t “get the girl.”

If that’s not an essential message for young boys to hear, I don’t know what is.

deeafrotailmisstress

musicalhell

The writers described HoND as a “Rolling Stones” ending: Quasimodo doesn’t get what he wants (Esmeralda’s love) but he gets what he needs (freedom from his abusive guardian and acceptance by the city in general). And yes, that totally counts as a win for him.

ghibligirlgeek77777

I feel like its also important to point out that part of the reason Esmerelda doesn’t fall for Quasimodo is because he is so obviously putting her up on a pedestal. Like in the song Heaven’s Light when Quasimodo is still building up his hopes for romance with Esmerelda, he literally refers to her as angel. And this mentality for Quasimodo totally makes sense, but it’s not really a good foundation for a romantic relationship.

And, interestingly, not 30 seconds later we go into Hellfire where Frollo’s calling her a witch and a temptress. So we see our leading lady being viewed as both the Madonna and the Whore by the protagonist and the villian respectively. Really they’re basically doing the same thing but in opposite directions (though Quasimodo’s treatment of Esmerelda is infinitely less creepy than Frollo’s and I think that by the end of the movie he’s in a place where he can learn to view/treat her more like just a person).

However Esmerelda doesn’t truly fit into either of those categories, she’s a complex well-rounded person who happens to be attractive. And who is the one person in the whole movie who treats her a such? Phoebus- the guy she ends up falling for.

But this part of Quasimodo’s emotional journey is part of what makes HBOND so great. Because Quasimodo is heartbroken when realizes that Esmerelda has chosen someone else and still teams up with the guy to help her (albeit with some friction but without petty fighting over who should get the girl) because he still cares for her and unselfishly wants to help her. And again later on risks his life to save his beloved friend with zero expectations of romantic reward just because that’s the right thing to do. (Also shoutout to Phoebus for giving Quasimodo the credit he deserved after their team-up mission when Quasi was obviously gonna let him take all the props- that just by itself is good conduct for young boys to see).

Sorry this got long- point being, not only does this movie send the message that winning doesn’t have to mean “getting the girl”, it demonstrates that the guy who does “get the girl” ends up with her because they were able to connect as equal human beings. AND it shows healthy behavior to engage in towards someone you have unrequited feelings for and their significant other.

adeles

withadreamandasong

Seems like only yesterday we were both little girls wishing our fairy tale dreams…and tonight they’re finally coming true!

la-knight

I love Charlotte and Tiana so much (and Charlotte’s dad, honestly) because very rarely could a mixed-race friendship like this work back then, even with small children, much less carry over into adulthood. The fact that Charlotte’s dad not only let Charlotte be friends with the daughter of someone who worked for him, a girl from a relatively poor family, but a black girl, and never taught Charlotte to hide her love for Tiana is amazing to me. And Charlotte, as spoiled as she is, never hesitates to put Tiana first.

And sharing clothes with Tiana??? Doing so publicly, at a party, knowing everyone would know the blue dress Tiana was wearing belonged to Charlotte? Huge deal. HUGE. People would be making snide comments about Charlotte and no doubt her dad for months after that in real life. But Charlotte didn’t care. She didn’t care that she went to a predominantly black neighborhood and was visibly affectionate with her working-class black friend in front of everybody, she didn’t care about sharing clothes with her, or hugging her at the end, even though it could’ve ruined her social standing.

Charlotte loves Tiana. And I’ve always liked that because too often the privileged, popular friend makes the choice to snub their less-popular, less-privileged friend at some point. Charlotte never does. And she probably put up with a lot of s***, too.