Year of lists: beloved childhood films

Graphic artist credit embedded in image. Click to enlarge.

Continuing on in my journal, I bring you my list of most beloved childhood movies. Well, I wouldn’t exactly say these movies are my most “beloved”, but they are truly memorable. A few of these movies even represent a few small milestones that occurred in my life. Let me cut to the chase & just get on with it then.

[DISCLAIMER: ALL PHOTOS LISTED BELOW ARE COURTESY OF PINTEREST OR GOOGLE IMAGES.]

Image represents the 3 good faeries.

I believe Sleeping Beauty was the very first Disney princess animated film I ever watched. Out of all of the Disney princess movies I’ve seen, Sleeping Beauty is my most favorite princess. When I was a little girl, I daydreamed that I lived in a beautiful, secluded cottage with my three best friends, who also happen to have magical powers, & that I could communicate with animals, & meet a handsome man to come & sweep me off my feet.

Out of all the elements from this movie, my favorites were the three good faeries. They were always my all-time favorite characters in the movie (along with Prince Philip’s horse Samson). I loved the way Flora & Merryweather would argue back & forth over taking care of Princess Aurora (a.k.a. Briar Rose), especially bickering over who gets to sew Aurora’s birthday dress (& choose which color it will be). Fauna just quietly steps back to bake the important birthday cake. When I was a child, I really wished I had three special faeries that could wave their magic wands & help me along the way.

I loved this Disney animated movie when I was growing up. I loved to fantasize about falling in love with a Prince Philip-type guy of my own, where we would bump into each other accidentally & fall in love with each other at first sight. Of course like most young girls, I dreamed that this mystery guy would slay dragons & move heaven & earth just to kiss me. I wanted to live on my own with my three best friends & go on adventures. I didn’t necessarily want to be a princess per se, but I wanted that fairytale of falling in love at first sight with a hot, hunky guy who would fight to be with me.

I didn’t watch this movie when it first released. I was too young then. I watched this movie a few years later when I was a bit older, & my older siblings convinced my parents to get the fancier cable TV package with the HBO movie channel. This was one of the first times I ever realized I started liking boys in a romance-y kind of way. I saw the actor Ralph Macchio in The Karate Kid, & I pretty much had heart-shaped stars in my eyes.

First off, I was barely 7 or 8 years old & hardly even knew what a “crush” was, but I knew that I thought this actor was cute. That was the first time I ever experienced a celebrity crush on an actor. I was in total awe of the main character’s school costume in the movie (a person taking a shower, but instead of wearing a cheesy bathrobe & shower cap, he actually rigged up a fully functioning shower curtain so it looked like he was in a real shower). I thought it was so cool that he could do karate. I kind of wished back then that I could perform a few karate tricks so I could impress my relatives back in Japan. Watching this movie made me want to visit Japan again.

I was such a weird kid growing up. When I watched TV shows or movies, I would focus on the most random or inconsequential things, like how I wanted to paint a fence just so I could say “wax on, wax off”. At least my older cousin who was living with us at the time tried to copy the scene when the character Mr. Miyagi caught a fly with only a pair of chopsticks. He actually succeeded in recreating that scene, but only after like, 15 tries…& we had to trap a fly & bring it into the house so he could try the trick.

This movie will always be hailed as my most favorite Disney film of all-time! Hands down. Oh man, I watched this movie so many times that I memorized all of the songs. I wanted so badly to have Julie Andrews come to my house & be my babysitter/nanny/governess. I would daydream that she would float down from the sky wit her talking umbrella & take me on awesome adventures, except for dancing on rooftops & walking on staircases made of chimney smoke because I have been afraid of heights my entire life. Seeing those chimney sweeps dancing & leaping between buildings mad me so nervous when I watched Mary Poppins as a child. I was always anxious/scared that one of them would slip & fall off the ledge of the building, even though I knew this was only a fairytale movie.

Even to this very day, I still love this movie & will watch it over & over again. I want to laugh so hard that I float up to the ceiling & tell funny jokes with the likes of Uncle Albert (who looks suspiciously like Benjamin Franklin) while sipping on cups of tea. I want to jump inside a sidewalk chalk drawing & have lovely tea & cakes served to me by smiling, dancing penguins. I want to invent the longest word you’ve ever heard & song a catchy song about it. However, I DO NOT want to live next door to an over-zealous ex naval captain with a penchant for daily reenactments. It would be incredibly annoying to have to rearrange/realign my furniture & hanging picture frames everyday. My OCD personality wouldn’t know how to deal with that kind of situation.

Oo-de-lally, golly what a movie! This might’ve been the first movie to introduce to the wonderful world of foxes. I loved this movie so much when I was a little girl. I wanted so badly to be Maid Marian & fall madly in love with Robin Hood, who would use his cunning skills with a bow & arrow to rescue me from the evil clutches of the nasty, yet bumbling villain. My hero would save the entire kingdom, get an official pardon from the real king, & we would run off together in a wildly romantic fairytale ending.

Although I loved the whole story line between Marian & Robin, they weren’t my favorite characters from the movie. Some of my most favorite characters from this Disney movie were, quite literally, the little guys. I loved the little church mice. They were such a lovely & adorable couple living in the church with Friar Tuck. I also really loved the lute-playing rooster. To me the rooster & Lady Kluck, the chicken-in-waiting, were the funniest characters (aside from Little John) who provided just the right amount of humor. However, my most favorite character in this entire movie were the little rabbit children, especially the little girl bunny who was always carrying her stuffed bunny toy with her & minding her manners.

I wasn’t always a fan of Disney movies, but this one (as well as a few others) really captured my attention. I mean, seriously how could you not love a movie with intrigue, secret disguises, action, romance, & epic child-friendly fight scenes. On a related note, I also cannot wait for the new Robin Hood origins-style movie to be released in theaters later this year. The headlining stars of this film are actors Taron Egerton (as Robin Hood) & Jamie Foxx (as Little John, not the rapper)….but most importantly, it also stars Jamie Dornan as Will Scarlett, Robin Hood’s half-brother who is the one actually married to Maid Marion (but Robin Hood steals her love away from him…blah, blah,blah…) It’s going to be super exciting.

When I first watched 101 Dalmatians as a kid, I had a bunch of thoughts racing through my mind that a kid that age would normally never think about.

1. How could one couple take care of so many dogs/puppies? I couldn’t imagine taking care of one let alone 100 (and one). I could barely take care of goldfish let alone a dog.

2. Cruella DeVille, the villain, kind of reminded me of my maternal grandmother. Not in that way. My grandma wasn’t evil or mean, but like Cruella my grandma had an extravagant lifestyle. She owned exotic fur coats & jewelry that could almost rival the collection of Elizabeth Taylor. She was also larger than life, & commanded the presence in any room she walked into.

3. I was such a weirdo back then. I saw the commercial for Canine Cruchies dog food in the animated movie, & like the little puppies, I sort of wanted to try it too.

4. I really wanted a Dalmatian as a pet. I never had a pet as a kid, so seeing all these cute & cuddly puppies made me so envious.

I really loved this movie for all of the adorable, cute, & cuddly puppies. I love how all of the dogs banded together with their owners to defeat the villain & lived happily-ever-after. I’ve always loved feel-good movies like this one!

Oh my gawd! I LOVE spaghetti with meatballs!! Seeing these two lovable dogs sharing a plate of pasta yumminess made me so hungry every time I watched this movie. Of course it’s always been a romantic fantasy of mine to share food with my significant other (or my crush) & then we keep eating until our lips touch. I am getting hungry even as I write this.

I really felt bad for Tramp being stereotyped just because he was a stray. He was a scrappy dog, but he had a good & pure heart. I loved how Lady saw the good in him right away, & gave him a chance. I always thought Lady was the most beautiful dog, but my heart ultimately belonged to Jock, the bull terrier. I instantly fell in love with him when I saw his adorable knit sweater & heard his cute accent. The two characters I didn’t really like (other than Aunt Sarah) were the Siamese twin cats. I thought it was kind of discriminatory to give them Asian-sounding accents & slanted eyes. I also didn’t like them because they were stuck up little brats, & when I was a kid, I was severely allergic & didn’t like cats anyway.

Of course, after watching his movie too, I still wanted a pet dog, but my parents wouldn’t allow it. I have a theory as to why, but that’s a long story for another time. Overall, I found this movie to be super romantic, & I especially loved the happy ending where all of the dogs in the neighborhood got together at Christmastime along with Darling & Tony’s newborn baby & Lady & Tramp’s new puppies.

As you can tell, I’ve always loved feel-good movies with happy endings. I watched a lot of different movies when I was a kid. I wanted to hang out with my older siblings & older cousins, & they were mostly interested in the pop culture of those days (back in the 1980s). As a family, my generation watched a ton of television, movies, & listened to all of the popular music on the newly trendy TV channel MTV. When I spent time by myself, I would watch the same movies over & over again, & some of these movies were on heavy rotation. Writing about these movies s making me want to go back & watch them again. Until next time, cheers!

Today’s song of the day is my new PLAYLIST!