There are tons of entries that I really need to get my ass in gear and finish---the review for
Princess Tutu, a
Lilo & Stitch one, the odds and ends of various others---but I just have to get this one out.
Special Disney movie is special.
Anyway, so, yesterday night, an infrequent event occured in my house---my mom, Lys, and I actually all sat down in the living room, ate dinner together, and watched a movie. As you'll see below, it was almost like our ye olden times. That movie, in case you couldn't guess, was
101 Dalmatians; the Disney animated version.
This movie was like the bible in our house. Not really in the sense of "this is the blueprint to live your life by" kind of way, but more like a "first story you will ever hear" way, back when you're a baby and you can barely even understand what a story
is. That sort of bible.
(Then again, I never grew up with an actual Bible in my family, so what the hell do I know about it, I suppose. To this day, I think the only bible that's in our house is one that Lys has---one of those mini ones that people on street corners pass out, and in this case apparently came from one of our neighbors---and possibly an old copy that my mom doesn't remember what happened to. But anyway, I'm digressing. In short, my family ain't religious, and whatever I know about bibles of any kind are gleaned from an outside, and possibly misinformed, perspective and observations of their significance to other people.)
Anyway. The point is that, while it may not have been the
first, first, story I'd ever known, but it's pretty damn close to being so. You know that one toy/teddy bear that was your
favorite when you were a baby, and that in all of the things you're likely to keep from your infancy, this thing is one of the most likely (apart from your blankie, of course)? Mine was a stuffed Rolly. Still got him, too, though he's a bit...
well-loved, shall we say. Before I could walk, I loved playing in the box that this Rolly came in. Even when I honestly probably couldn't understand it, I would still sit quietly and watch the movie---over and over and over and over again.
And then when Lys came along, it only got worse.
Our favorite pretend/imagination games often centered around 101 Dalmatians. We had a huge 'family' of stuffed dalmatian toys. Had themed birthday parties. Colored spots all over our bodies and pretended that we were actual Dalmatians, colored spots
all over our bedroom (the walls, the beds, the windows....my mom was pretty pissed about that episode, let me tell you). Watched every single Dalmatian movie/TV show/thing ever.
To say that Lys and I were obsessed with this movie is a severe understatement. The only reason we never got an actual Dalmatian for a pet was because my mom was too smart to do so (we don't really buy the majority of our pets. Mostly, they just...sort of come to us. The only exceptions were a few rats here and there. But my mom flat out refuses to shell out the money to buy any mostly purebred dog, much less one with the health problems that Dalmatians are plagued with). But still, apart from that, we were really, really,
really obsessed with this movie. And while other (Disney) movies (see:
The Fox and the Hound) have since risen to the dominate the top of my favorites list,
101 Dalmatians has not diminished a whit in Lys's esteem, and it still holds a very special and dear place in my heart. It's like...my childhood in movie form.
However, if I had an entire selection of Disney movies in front of me to watch on my own, I'm pretty sure that I would never pick this one, unless if it was a choice between this and the movies that I actively despise. That might seem odd, but that's because it's never felt like
my movie---it's Lys's movie, and I only like watching it when she's around, because then through our history it becomes
our movie, the family movie. And it never feels right to me, watching it without her.
101 Dalmatians is hardly the only movie like this---for instance, watching any of the newer
Chronicles of Narnia movies, particularly
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, gets ten times funnier and more enjoyable if I watch it with Lys and my BFF Amanda (and now Amanda says that it's practically boring without us, and that we've ruined her forever XD), and etc. It just means that this is another movie with an added layer of positive nostalgia that increases the enjoyment factor for me. :)
So, below the cut shall be more discussion that, you know, actually pertains to the movie itself. ;)
( "We're going to fool the old mad lady!" )