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The Marriage Blog Week in Review for December 31 – January 6

The New Year has officially begun! But in case you were too busy last week ringing it in (or recovering from ringing it in), here’s your Week in Review so you won’t have to wonder what Lyn and I wrote about. Monday, December 31 Resolving to Make the Best of Marriage in ‘08 My goals for the Marriage Blog in 2008 included accentuating the positive and figuring out which tools to use to have the best marriage possible. Tuesday, January 1 Personality Differences in Relationships Lyn examined how personality differences can sometimes cause marriages to fail, but they don’t have … Continue reading →

Examining the Cinderella Effect

Our across the street neighbor’s little two-year old girl is nuts for Cinderella. We had Christmas dinner with them and Rebekah was simply ecstatic over the “LaLa” (her word for Cinderella or similar characters) that Santa had brought her. Her enthusiasm reminded me that of all the Disney Princesses, Cinderella always ranked as my favorite too. (At least when I was small. I’d have to say Belle’s probably bumped her way to the number one spot now.) But hands down Cinderella was the one who started it all. Like many little girls, my first notions of love at first sight … Continue reading →

The Myth of Cinderella

In 1949, Walt Disney released the musical cartoon Cinderella. It combined both realism with caricature and today it is considered one of the great Disney classics. Disney drew his inspiration for Cinderella, the step-sisters, step-mother, Prince and King – even the Duke, from real life and the caricature came in the form of the animal characters such as the singing birds and mice that sewed the dress. Disney Changed The Story It’s a well-known artifact of the Disney versions of fairy tales and historical novels that they change many of the facts. Why did he do it? There are plenty … Continue reading →

Wintry Fantasies at the Disney Parks

Disneyland’s new Fantasy Faire doesn’t open until March 12, but details are starting to emerge about what the attraction will entail.  It draws some inspiration from Disney World’s Fantasyland expansion; the Faire as a whole will take the form of a medieval village.  That reminds me a lot of Belle’s village at the new Fantasyland. That shouldn’t be too surprising, because the Fantasy Faire is an expansion of Disneyland’s Fantasyland.  It’s not as large or ambitious as the one at Disney World, but it’s still going to be similar.  Unlike the one in Orlando, however, the one in Anaheim won’t … Continue reading →

Sleeping Beauty: A Strange Fairy Tale

Charles Perrault’s “La Belle au bois dormant” (literal translation “the Beauty sleeping in the wood”) is a bizarre little tale. Some people might find Walt Disney’s adaptation of the story as soporific as the curse upon Aurora, but at least it has narrative consistency. So many of the things that happen in Perrault’s story leave (modern) readers scratching their heads, and that’s on top of the hefty dose of terrible messages for women, something that didn’t come as a surprise after I read the 17th century Frenchman’s take on Cinderella. Up until the point of the teenage princess’ pricking of … Continue reading →

Disney Parades on Once Upon A Time

The week before Cinderella made her debut on ABC’s Disney-influenced fairy tale drama “Once Upon A Time,” news broke that “Lost” star Emilie de Ravin was cast as Belle for the program. The princesses have arrived. “Once Upon A Time” already features Disney’s first princess Snow White as a major character wrapped up in the series’ main story arc. As is befitting a drama of this size, however, many other fairy tale figures make appearances, such as Rumpelstiltskin and Little Red Riding Hood. Original Disney characters such as Jiminy Cricket and Maleficent also factor into some scenes. However, the entrance … Continue reading →

“Dreams Come True” in New Orleans

In my introductory blog from last week, I talked about how when I was young Disney films felt like a magical place of escape. Clearly I’m not the only one who thought so; now Disney offers us a chance to wander through the magic itself. “Dreams Come True – Art of the Classic Fairy Tales from the Walt Disney Studio” is appearing at the New Orleans Museum of Art from November 15, 2009 through March 15, 2010. The exhibition details the true artistry involved in the making of classic Disney films, highlighting the skill that made Walt Disney famous and … Continue reading →

Some Days Are Just Like That

It was one of those days. I look back now and think, “How did I make it through?” You know the kind of day that I mean. Everything went wrong. Your feet hit the floor as soon as your alarm clock startles you awake with a buzz. You used to be a princess. What happened? Fairy tale is over, I guess. Here comes reality. Now you are still a princess, but kind of like Cinderella. You do the chores and then every once in a while you can treat yourself. Maybe even go out to the “ball”, which in this … Continue reading →

Did You Commit to Marriage Before You Even Were?

I did. I don’t remember exactly how young I was, but I knew early on I wanted to be married. I’m sure tales such as Cinderella had some impact on that notion, but they didn’t necessarily create the notion. It was there beforehand. Society also shaped some of my thoughts about marriage. Helped to define them, but definitely didn’t generate them. Good grief, I cringe thinking about what mixed-up concepts I’d have if I’d relied solely on my first impressions of marriage from society. Bacon See, there were a lot of mixed messages flying around about women’s roles in marriage … Continue reading →

Arthur’s Really Helpful Bedtime Stories

I’m not sure how helpful Arthur’s Really Helpful Bedtime Stories are, but I do know that our copy is well worn. Marc Brown’s twists on familiar fairy tales kept my children amused and asking for more. The book contains ten familiar fairy tales but told with characters from the world of Arthur. Not only do the characters like D.W. take the place of the fairytale characters like Little Red Riding Hood, but they maintain their own personalities as well. So we have D.W. being stubborn and saving Grandma Thora from the wolf. In “The Three Little Pigs” Binky sides with … Continue reading →