Nice quote, eh? Could be the new tag line for Wonderbra.
I’m not one for sappy (and sometimes sexist, misogynistic) Disney drama, and I don’t live my life as if it were a fairy tale. I even wrote a whole research paper on the portrayal of negative female body image in Disney cartoons (how’s that for being a big bad bubble burster?).
But sometimes, things can be corny, cute and meaningful at the same time.
Yesterday I took a trip to the Book Barn in Niantic, CT. I felt the way Belle did when the Beast surprised her with a massive library of her own: stunned. Never had I seen so many books–thousands and thousands of used titles, some from the early 20th century. Many were damp, dusty and musty from old attics and chambers, some of them had cobwebs in the gauzy, torn spines, and a lot of them were practically new. I browsed everything from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novels to poetry anthologies to Dale Carnegie books to Impressionist art collections and more.
But nothing made me feel giddier than did the gem I unearthed from decrepit psychology annals and self-help journals: Disney’s Add a Little Magic: Words of Inspiration (1999).
Translation: Chicken Soup for the Desperate Diva in Search of a Life Purpose.
It’s a compilation of animated Disney tableaus with corresponding quotes from everyone’s favorite characters: Bambi, Snow White, Cinderella, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Grandmother Willow, Mulan, etc.
Some quotes in this book may seem commonplace to modern readers (e.g. “follow your dreams”), but this colorful composition as a whole is witty and sweet enough to teach practical life lessons to a 10 year-old (Snow White’s wicked step mama with her basket of poisonous fruit, the words “Beware of Bad Apples”), to cheer up a 12 year-old nervously awaiting his third try-out for the JV basketball team (Bambi skidding on ice, Thumper saying “You can do it”), and maybe even to direct the path of a lonely 20-something year-old who thinks she’s fat, ugly, powerless, and has nothing to look forward to other than a credit card bill longer than a roll of Cottonelle (Fairy Godmother looking at Cinderella, “Dry those tears–you can’t go to the ball looking like that.”).
It’s a really cute gag gift idea for a friend in need. Check it out. It’ll carry you away from this crazy, chaotic world for a while and make you feel as though fantasies and wishes come true.
Well they do, don’t they?
I adore this post!