Rewatch Movies of Your Childhood OR Why Falkor the Luck Dragon Shouldn't be Around Kids
Let's revisit some of our treasured childhood movies, shall we?
Today’s Rediscovery: "The Music Box"
How long HAS it been? ~24 Years
Why: I don't remember much before the age of 4, but some of my earliest memories of media were of black and white films, mostly silent, featuring a fat man and a skinny man.
What was it then: I dimly recall watch a fat man and a skinny man being funny. I'd laugh, clap my hands, and be ever so delighted. Heh. Fat man and skinny man. Wooooo boy, it can't be funnier to a 4 year old, unless a fat man and a skinny man hurt themselves in cartoonish fashions.
What it is now: A fan man and a skinny man hurting each other in cartoonish fashions. I didn't clap as much this time. I'm also not wholly sure this is the same fat man and skinny man I witnessed when I was a kid.
Notes: This is not… quite as entertaining as I barely remember it to be. Also, I have NO IDEA if this was even a movie I'd seen before, or if this was the correct fat/skinny duo. This was a struggle, trying to recapture a memory so far gone in the past. I think if I marinate on it a little more, I can find the specific movies I once saw...
Today’s Rediscovery: "The NeverEnding Story"
How long HAS it been? ~20 years?
Why: I honestly can't remember when I saw this last. It wasn't anytime in or beyond middle school, but I do know this was a pivotal part of my youth. Just listen to this song, and tell me you don't feel like you just freebased some childhood memories:
What was it like then: AAAAAWESOME! THERE WAS A GIANT DOG DRAGON AND A MONSTER THAT ATE ROCKS BUT WAS FRIENDLY AND HAD A ROCK MOTORCYCLE AND A STUPID BAT AND A CHILDLIKE EMPRESS AND A MAGIC BOOK AND I'M DRINKING PEPSI FOR THE FIRST TIME BECAUSE MY AUNT LIKES PEPSI AND BROUGHT IT OVER AND WHAT IS CAFFEINE BECAUSE IT'S AMAZING I WANT SOME MORE AHHHHHHHHHHHH AWESOME! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!
What was it like now: What the hell? This isn't the movie I remembered. No character has more than a dozen lines, I'm supposed to care about a horse dying that has only existed in the movie for 10 seconds, and why does the princess live in a sound stage? More importantly, why does Falkor the luck dragon communicate almost exclusively with a series of pederastic winks? He's like the mythical equivalent of a van with no windows and a crudely lettered message reading "free puppies" on the side. I wouldn't want my kid jumping in that van, and for the love of christ, I wouldn't want my kid coming within 50 yards of that luck dragon. I'm writing my congressman as we speak to add a "luck dragon" clause into Megan's Law. Note that my kid doesn't actually exist, so my concerns with luck dragons are just as valid as any other concerns I have with my hypothetical child.
Notes: The movie was nowhere near as transcendent as I remembered it, but watching it REALLY took me back. I remember the first time I saw it clear as day, could smell what I was eating that night when I was 5, how I felt when Bastian rides Falkor and recreates the land of Fantasia with his imagination. It was quite the trip down memory lane.
Today’s Rediscovery: "Raising Arizona"
How long HAS it been? ~15 years?
Why: This was one of my mom's favorite movies, or at least one she was quite fond of. Either way, I did not seem to enjoy it as much as her- but when my film club had a viewing, I was pretty excited to join in.
What was it like then: I did not get the Coen Brothers as a kid. Like, at all. I enjoyed the movie a bit, but I had never imagined I'd feel the urge to watch it again.
What was it like now: HILARIOUS! This movie is roughly a million times funnier than I remembered it.
Notes: It didn't hurt that I had a little alcohol in me, but I'm fairly sure my sense of humor has changed a bit in the last 15 years. Thank god.
