Disney Aficionado especially for The Little Mermaid!

I believe The Little Mermaid was one of my first Disney film memories, which makes sense since it came out in 1989… when I was only 5 years old. To this day, The Little Mermaid is my favorite Disney movie. Everything I owned had the Little Mermaid theme. In 1990, my family took our only trip to Disney World. I bought my very own Little Mermaid beach towel there! From that point forward I would classify myself as a Disney Aficionado. I still place my Disney ornaments every year on my Christmas tree.

 

 

 

 

Though I consider myself to be an Aficionado, I had limited access to the Disney films. The only Disney film I ever owned through my elementary school years was the Lion King which always saddened me since I was a huge Little Mermaid fan but never owned the video. My cousins had Disney films galore. To this day, I remember how I got to be the owner of the Lion King for the simple fact that I had a tantrum at an Ann & Hope store. The Little Mermaid served as my intro into Disney films, then came Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Lion King, Pocahontas, Mulan, and much more. I never really saw the classics such as Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Fox and the Hound, and such but remember having a Disney Read-a-long kit for about 20 Disney books.

 

My like for Disney films continue today. I buy the Disney films at the dollar shelves at the local library. My nieces and I have a tradition of watching a Disney movie that I own every time that they sleep over. Is it bad that my niece announced to Storyland’s Cinderella that the Little Mermaid was Titia’s (Aunt in Portuguese) favorite princess?

I am aware that all of Disney’s movies portray stereotypes in which we are exposed to at a very young age. I agree with Christensen that stereotypes are strong in children films. For example, in the Little Mermaid the only big people in the film is the Ursula, Flounder, the chef, and the house keeper. Of all the big people, all but Flounder were unattractive. These stereo-types are ignored in the end for me due to the fact that the fairy tale ending is so much more satisfying. How can one resist finding their prince charming?