“It’s something that will never be finished. Something that I can keep developing…and adding to.”

Hi guys, this is now my final post for my coursework. I’ve really enjoyed writing this for you all to read, it’s been fun finding out all the information I have and sharing it with you. I think it’s clear from all the research carried out that we definitely love Disney for the nostalgia, for the memories it brings us from our childhood, from simpler times.

I thought as a final post I would dedicate this to a wonderful little girl who turns herself into her favourite Disney Princesses and sings her favourite songs, a dream we all had as children. I came across the videos of Claire Ryann that are created by her father and posted on social media. These videos started as a bit of fun between a father and his daughter but were soon shared around the world creating a little Disney superstar. I remember first seeing her videos last year when her dad uploaded her singing A Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid at age 3. The video was shared all over the world and eventually encouraged the duo to create and upload more wonderful videos from Disney. Claire has become a little celebrity due to her videos and has even appeared on a number of American TV shows, including The Ellen DeGeneres Show, meaning she is recognised all over the world.

These videos show the power of Disney, they went from being a bit of fun for the family and has led to stardom even leading to Claire delving into acting and featuring in a new film surrounding the story of The Little Mermaid. They show the way Disney can bring a family and strangers together, all with their love and appreciation for Disney and the happiness they can see it brings to a small child. I loved seeing that first video, which then led me to follow them on social media because of the smile it put on my face, seeing such a small girl sing every word to a song and feeling the joy the music brought to her, and that’s the magic of Disney! We don’t just love Disney because we feel nostalgic, we love it because of the joy and happiness it can bring to everyone around us.

Thank you all for reading my posts and I hope they were as fun for you to read as they were for me to write and I hope I managed to teach you a thing or two about Disney through my love for it. If any of you are interested in the videos of Claire singing her favourite songs then here is the link to her Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/tinymusician/

Oh, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge, definitely worth seeing!

As always feel free to leave a comment or ask me any questions,

Claire, the grown-up Disney fan! 😊

“Mickey Mouse is, to me, a symbol of independence. He was a means to an end.”

Hi guys, so the purpose of this blog has not only been as a college project to run a blog, the topic I have chosen to discuss has also been part of another piece of coursework, one which is finally due, my investigation into what it is we love so much about Disney, as adults and children. So, as well as sharing with you all why I think Disney is so popular I have been carrying out some research into these reasons which I discussed a little with you in my last post.

So far, I have conducted both primary and secondary research and found lots of interesting information, some of which I expected to find, some not so much. The main reason that seems to have cropped up on all areas of research has been the nostalgic feeling people get when watching Disney, the childhood memories that seem to come back to us. It’s certainly one of the feelings I get when watching older Disney movies, the ones I spent my childhood watching repeatedly. Not only has this blog and investigation lead me to research things I didn’t already know about Disney, it has opened my mind to the reasons the company is still so big nearly 100 years later. The things that Walt himself went through to give us the Disney we all know and love so much today.

So, to conclude all my findings, it’s been the very reason I have discussed with you all along, nostalgia. Children watch the movies for the perfect fairy tales and the joy and happiness they get from such magical stories where as we as adults simply watch them to remind ourselves of the simpler, happier times in our lives when we were children with no worries or stresses. To bring us hope in our lives and remind ourselves also of that happiness and sometimes to cheer ourselves up like they did as children. When asked in a survey of words that come to mind when thinking of Disney, the majority of respondents answered with magical or happily, ever after confirming that we watch these movies for the magical stories and the happiness in them to help us forget the stress of being grown up.

Nostalgia, the perfect reason in my eyes to love something so much. Regardless of what Disney movie I watch there will always be a time in my childhood that will come to mind, even if it’s just simply remembering sitting watch the film there is always a memory and even with the newer movies. I can still remember the first time I watched Frozen after it came out, I really did feel like a 5-year-old again watching it, I still do and I watch all Disney movies with a smile on my face again like a 5-year-old seeing it for the first time. The Disney Renaissance, it was definitely the perfect time to be growing up.

As always feel free to ask me any questions regarding my posts, or about Disney and my research.

Claire 😊

“In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun.”

So, I’ve kind of calmed down after the hype of Beauty and the Beast, I say kind of as I’m still excited over the announcement of the live-action Lion King release date, bring on July 2019. So now I’m just going to be excited and impatient until The Lion King hits cinemas! Until then I do have my trip to London coming up where I’ll being seeing The Lion King Musical! 😊

Now, back to why we love Disney.

After doing some research into what it is we love about Disney so much, the results were no surprise to me at all. As well as this blog, I am also writing an investigative report into the same issue and have carried out both primary and secondary research into the reasons why Disney have attracted so many fans of all different ages. I discussed previously some of the secondary research I discovered on what people love so much and what keeps bringing them back for more, the music, the romance and the characters, but now I have my own research into the topic.

After sending out some questionnaires, holding a focus group and interviewing a Disney Cast Member I was not disappointed with the results I found and the opinions of others on this topic. Participants were of mixed ages and consisted of diehard Disney fans as well as people who barely had an opinion on the brand, and the results were all virtually the same. Whether you’re a fan of Disney or not people seem to have the same feelings towards it and have the same experiences with the brand.

After interviewing a Disney Cast Member who clearly shares the same love for Disney that I have, I found that the data collected matched my own personal opinions perfectly. Being of a similar age the Disney Renaissance definitely impacted our lives and the way we feel towards Disney. Not only has this research given me an insight into the opinions of others it lets me see the similarities in the way we feel when we think of the brand or how we feel when watching one of the movies. The power Disney has over us regardless of our age is phenomenal, we return to our childish selves when experiencing Disney whether it be through a movie or through one of the many resorts.

As well as the interview, the focus group and questionnaires provided me with a great insight into the perception people have of the brand. As well as Disney being enjoyed by many adults, these same adults also admitted to sharing Disney with their children and will continue to do so for generations and long after Disney is gone, as if that will ever happen. The age of participants wasn’t clear from the answers provided showing that age doesn’t matter when it comes to enjoying Disney, 5 years old or 50 years old we love it all the same. Our love for Disney doesn’t go away as we get older, it just changes. Growing up my favourite Disney movies were, The Little Mermaid and The Lion King and I can proudly say this has not changed, the list has only gotten bigger, but those two movies are still in that list and probably always will be.

Feel free to ask any questions or share your thoughts on Disney and my blog. Maybe you’ll find someone with the exact same opinion as your own.

Claire 😊

“If it’s not Baroque, don’t fix it.”

Sorry about the disappearance and the delay in a new post but, it’s here, it’s finally here, Beauty and the Beast has finally been released!

I thought it would be a great idea to show why Disney is so popular with adults by writing a little review on Disney’s newest release. Besides, how could I not want to write all about it considering how excited I’ve been for the release and how highly anticipated it was around the world, with children and adults. So, here it goes…

Overall, of course I loved the film, it’s Disney but there were some things I just couldn’t get my head around, and the main issue I had with the film was Chip and Mrs Potts. I just couldn’t connect with these characters like I did with the animation. I think I feel so strongly about this as I had such high expectations of the characters as they were my favourite from the film and I just didn’t feel like the actors did them any justice. Ewan McGregor and Sir Ian McKellen as Lumiere and Cogsworth on the other hand were amazing!

I feel all the other actors were cast really well in their roles and did the character’s justice. Luke Evans as Gaston and Josh Gad as LeFou were great, you could see the characters bounced off one another making it easy to love the people you’re supposed to hate. These two definitely stood out for me and by far stole the show. As much as there were many issues over including a gay LeFou, I thought it was great, Josh Gad played the part perfectly, lusting over Gaston and eventually getting a dance with his “Prince Charming” in the end. LeFou’s lust for Gaston is definitely something us adults can relate to, especially as teens lusting over our school crush, that’s exactly what this reminded me of making it so relatable and making it so much easier to connect with the characters, especially LeFou.

My nostalgia with Disney certainly affected how I viewed the film as I wasn’t sure how to feel about the new additional scenes, I wasn’t so welcoming for this change as it changed the way you viewed the characters, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, I just didn’t like that they changed the story. Overall the movie was great and this was certainly a small issue I had and will probably in time love and appreciate, the child in me just didn’t know how to take the changes. Bring on the next one million times see it! 😊

As always, feel free to ask any questions and share your views on the movie.

Claire 😊

“Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, and dreams are forever.”

Hey guys! So my last post looked into some of the reasons we all still love Disney, in this post I am going to continue with this and look into the soundtracks and the romance in the stories.

The Soundtracks

Many of the Disney soundtracks are the first glimpse we have of a movie, the first connection we get and also one that sticks with us. Music is a great way of preserving memories, when I hear specific songs they transport me back to a time in my life, whether from my childhood or more recently. Disney music certainly does that for me, when I hear some of the music such as A Whole New World from Aladdin (1992) or Part of your World from The Little Mermaid (1989) I am immediately taken back to my childhood, singing along to the songs with my sister while watching the movies. Not only do they remind of my childhood they remind me of the happy memories I have with my sister growing up and of every time we’ve watched the movies together since. We all have our own memories that are brought on by simply hearing these songs and that’s exactly why they continue to be so successful. This is why we have such a strong connection with them, this is why 20 years later we can hear them and still know every word.

Romance

The use of romance in the movies set our expectations for love, some may think it set them too high, but what’s wrong with wanting someone to treat you like a princess. Not only did they set our expectations for love but they showed us love between two characters, whether that’s in a romantic way or love within families. Disney movies taught us about love and sharing it with other people. Frozen (2013) showed us that true love doesn’t have to be between a man and a woman, we seen the act of true love coming from sisters, it showed us, and the next generation of Disney fans, the strength of family. Some of the princesses are saved physically in the movies where as others are saved mentally. Pocahontas (1995) didn’t need John Smith to save her from anyone, she needed him to find herself and to find her place in her world. Not all romance in the movies is about meeting your one true love and living happily, ever after, it can also be about finding your place in the world and a sense of belonging, which we all want in life. Disney movies help us to feel this in our own lives, our connections with the romance in the stories can help us when we grow up or as grown-ups watching it.

These are some the reasons I feel we all share such a strong connection with Disney, as kids it taught us about life and as adults it reminds us of our childhoods and the feelings we had as children watching these movies. I believe the strongest reason for Disney still being so popular with adults is because of the memories we get from watching the movies, because of the feelings we get and because we can feel like children again and forget all our worries.

When I watch Disney movies, The Lion King in particular, I feel like I’m a child again, like I’m seeing it for the first time, and for 90 minutes I have nothing to worry about, except whether Simba will ever return home to Pride Rock, to his rightful place as King!

What are your thoughts? Do you think the greatest connection we have with Disney is nostalgia? Feel free to share your thoughts or questions in the comments section.

Claire 🙂

“That’s the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up.”

So, what is it about Disney that we all love so much? That’s the questioned I asked, and one I plan to answer over the course of my blog.

This blog has been set up as part of my coursework and links to an investigative report I am writing on Disney and how many of their viewers are adults, people who grew up in the “Disney Renaissance” between 1989 and 1999. Is this why we adults love Disney so much, because we were lucky enough to grow up in that time, when some of the best Disney movies were released? I’ve had a look at some of the factors that I believe contribute to our reasons for loving Disney. Over the next few blogs I’ll share these with you starting with, the Disney Renaissance and the characters created by Disney.

Disney Renaissance / Nostalgia

The golden years for Disney is believed to have been between 1989 and 1999 when the best and most successful Disney movies were released. People who grew up in this time experienced something amazing which has possibly stuck with them since, I for one am certainly one of those people. I believe that experiencing those movies from the start has contributed to my feelings towards Disney today and has helped create that sense of nostalgia every time I watch a Disney movie. Every time I watch a Disney movie, especially the likes of The Lion King (1994), which was released in this period, I get a sense of my childhood and the worry free life I led and the innocence within myself. The Disney Renaissance has helped to shape Disney today, the success in those years has led families to introduce their children to Disney and the movies that made their childhood with hope that it will do the same for their children. Adults in their 20’s and 30’s today are the ones who keep the brand and the movies alive. Watching these movies remind us of the innocence of childhood and makes us feel young again. We are reminded of hope and that good can always win, watching the movies allows us to forget our troubles and be five again. It’s not just the Disney movies that allow us to connect with our childhoods again, the Disney resorts allow us to meet our hero’s or for many, be our hero’s. At Disney resorts, you can be whoever you want to be. The Little Mermaid (1989) definitely reminds me of five-year-old me dancing around my living room with my Ariel doll singing away to Part of Your World.

Characters

As well as the music we all share a connection with the characters in the Disney movies, whether it’s because we see ourselves in them or perhaps we see the person we want to be. Disney have made many characters that people from all generations will like, old or young, they are loved by many. In the beginning we all loved the idea of our one true love coming to sweep us off our feet, this has since developed to strong women who share the love of their families or of themselves. Whoever the character we all share a connection in one way or another. Many Disney characters are still as strong today as they were on day one, through the likes of the Disney resorts we can all see them and give our inner child something they may have always wished for. The likes of Mickey Mouse and Snow White, our first Disney characters are loves just as much today, by the old and the young.

My next post will look into soundtracks and romance in the movies.

Again feel free to ask me any questions about Disney and my posts.

Claire 🙂

“When you’re curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.”

Hi, my name is Claire and this blog is my tribute to The Walt Disney Company and how many of us still have the same attachment to Disney as we did when we were five. No matter how old I get I know I will always turn into a big kid when I watch any of the wonderful Disney Classics. “You’re dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway.” – Walt Disney

So, let’s not pretend that as grown-ups we stop loving and watching Disney films, wishing we were a real life princess and waiting for our own Prince Charming to come and sweep us off our feet. At the age of 26 I still have the same love for Disney as I had as a child, I still get the same feelings of excitement when I watch a Disney film; watching Simba grow to be the King he was always meant to be, waiting patiently for Aurora to be saved by her true love or for Prince Charming to recognise Cinderella from the ball with the glass slipper. It doesn’t matter which Disney film I watch I feel myself turning back into the little excited child that watched these films repeatedly and reacting as if I were seeing them for the first time.

As a small red-headed child I was convinced I was going to grow up to be a mermaid just like Ariel. As children we looked for similarities between ourselves and the Disney Princesses and were convinced they had to be based on us. Unfortunately, we grew up to realise this wasn’t the case but that didn’t stop me from loving Disney and the stories that were told in the films. Luckily for some people that wasn’t the case, if you were lucky enough to be Alyssa Milano then you would know exactly what it’s like to see yourself in a Disney Princess, she was the real Ariel.

Now more people are beginning to understand what it feels like to be in a Disney movie. With many old favourites being turned into live-action movies the likes of Emma Watson know exactly what it’s like and with many people playing their favourite characters in many Disney resorts around the world, it’s not impossible anymore. “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” – Walt Disney.

Walt Disney seen this when he started the company back in 1923 with his brother Roy, known then as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio but later changed to Walt Disney Studios in 1926. Our love for Disney films continued even after Walt Disney’s death in 1966 during the production of The Jungle Book, a film that Walt himself never got to see. Regardless of this devastating chapter, Walt Disney Studios continued and has made some of the best animated films in history, and will continue to do so for as long we keep watching them.

So what is it about Disney that we all love so much? That’s the question I plan to answer for you all

Feel free to interact and ask me any questions about Disney and my posts.

Enjoy!

Claire 🙂