When I was asked to write a blog about my favorite Disney movies and characters, I was thrilled. I mean, I love blogging about my books and which actors I envision for different characters in them. But getting a chance to dish about Disney, aka the Happiest Place on Earth? Who wouldn’t want to do that? I first fell in love with Disney when I was little and absolutely adored watching The Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights. Obviously there’s a lot going on there with the happy memories from that time, sitting on the couch with my mom and dad as Tinker Bell did her arc over the top of the castle before each show started. Just thinking about it now makes me smile. I went to Walt Disney World with my parents when I was in high school, but it didn’t become an obsession until hubby and I went there on our honeymoon. Yeah, some people head to an exotic island for their honeymoon, but hubby and I went to Disney! See, he’d never even seen a Disney movie until I introduced him to The Little Mermaid. He’d never admit it, but I think he was hooked…

Growing up my favourite Disney movie was The Little Mermaid. I wanted to have Ariel’s signature red hair, and I loved shiny things like she did. I was fascinating with anything “underwater” like reefs and sharks and colourful fish. Basically, I knew if Ariel was a real person, we would totally be BFFs. I was also a huge fan of all the 90’s Disney movies: Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King… it was a good era for Disney. As I grew older, I assumed that fairy tales would lose their shine. After all, I knew what the real world was like and fairy tales were far from realistic…right? Well, maybe not. If you look past the themes of fairy tales to the message behind it, there’s something that still deeply resonates with me as an adult. Take Beauty and the Beast, for example. Belle had standards, she isn’t going to settle by living someone else’s dream. She most certainly wasn’t going to change all that because the people in her town thought she was an odd duck. As an odd duck with big dreams myself, I appreciated that. What about The Lion King where we learn about loyalty…