Pausing Peter Pan

So a little while back, I bought Peter Pan, which Disney just released from their infamous 'vault'. I have so many good memories of this movie, it was one that I watched over and over as a kid. Its always fun to watch with adult eyes after a few years, because a lot of the subtlety was lost on me as a child.

 

But this post is a bit of a rant.

 

So as I'm picking up this movie I was scanning the back for special features, which I end up watching more than the movie itself most of the time. (The extra; 'Growing Up With Nine Old Men' was so good!!) As I looked over the  features I noticed one that kind of caught me off guard, this "Disney Intermission". What is this? But what really bothered me was the description; "Press pause and see what happens."

 

Excuse me?

 

Are you threatening me Disney?

 

Apparently this was the threat; Say you are watching Peter Pan very loud on your surround sound and someone calls, you naturally pause to take the call. Instead of the silence of a normal pause you get constant chatter from the characters, completely defeating the purpose of a pause button. I had to get up and leave the room because there is no way to turn it off without just hitting stop. This seems like a bit of a flaw to me. Not only do the characters continue to talk, but their conversations seem to escalate in intensity like they realize you are trying to tune them out and they are just not having that.

 

You know I love Disney as much if not more than most, but this feature elicited a frown from me as I shuffled out of the room while trying to talk loud enough to drown out Captain Hook and Smee arguing about hiding things under coconuts.

 

Lesson Learned:

Someone will always call during the movie that doesn't shut up when you pause it.

The Jungle Cruise

I have always lived a rich fantasy life. My mother will often roll her eyes when I start telling her about my memories of my childhood because I remember things that never happened. I remember people that I have never met, places I've never been and situations that I've never faced. I have always had an overactive imagination and apparently my young mind couldn't quite figure out what thoughts to store and which ones to discard. This, by the way, is a constant problem as my mind latches on to completely useless information and gets rid of things I need to remember. My social security number? It will take me a minute. Words to a jingle from an Outback commercial when I was eleven? Of course I remember every word.

 

As a kid I loved playing in the forested area behind our house, building forts, trekking through the leaves to find streams or mysterious hidden places. My imagination would occasionally get the better of me and I would have to run out of the trees certain that I had seen a wild animal or was being stalked by some sort of native tribe. I loved the allure of gorgeous jungles with its hot steamy weather and exotic wildlife, even if it was just in my backyard.

 

Naturally I blame Disney.

 

I always can remember the first ride that my family would arrive at on our trip to Disneyland. The line wound around a fascinating collection of jungle-themed items, and every now and then I could peek around the crowd and see the trees just beyond the water. The strange sound of birds is intermittently interrupted by the roar of a boat motor and the sounds of crowds being ushered aboard. I think I got so excited about this because it was the first ride and I was on an adrenaline rush about being at Disneyland again, so the Jungle Cruise has always held a little extra magic for me.  

 

A lot of people only seem to remember the corny jokes that the skipper tells as you float past the robotic animals, but most of them went over my head as a kid, so all I remember is the fascination with the imagery around me. I particularly loved the animals that would pop up out of the water, and the elephant bathing pool. (I have a strong obsession with elephants. Again, I blame Disney) Since we got there early in the morning, the sun would be filtering down through the leaves in a magical fashion, bouncing off the greenish water and casting dramatic shadows on the beasts hiding in the trees. I love this ride.

 

 

I had to take it all in fast, because my mother was not fond of going on rides twice in one day. I think this is because we always went in the summer when the lines were the longest and waiting in line with children wasn't the easiest thing to do. I would stare out of the boat and take in every detail that I could, willing myself to store every image. Later on I would recount my journey to my younger neighbors as if I had just gotten back from the Congo and then would spend the rest of the day trying to recreate the Disney experience in my backyard with toys, complete with the semi-jerky movements of the animals.

 

Later in life I had the opportunity to take someone to Disney for their first time, which reignited some of that childlike wonder in me as I got to point out all sorts of things that I loved to someone who wasn't jaded as most adults who had been there as many times as I had. Early in the morning we were near the Jungle Cruise and there were a few cast members blocking the entrance. They smiled and asked us how our day was going, I faked a scowl and said, "Y'all need to wake the animals up so we can go on the cruise!" They chuckled and agreed, but suggested we go get a Dole Whip while we waited. (Touche Disney) It wasn't until we were half way through the ride that my Disney virgin realized that the crack about waking up the animals was a joke.

 

Lesson Learned:

Never lose sight of what makes your inner child smile.