N : Nani Pelekai “No! You’re not taking her! I’m the only one who understands her! You take that away, she won’t stand a chance!”

N

Nani Pelekai

In 2002 I instantly fell for a little fluffy blue alien named Stitch. I listened to the soundtrack on repeat, spent hours perfecting the art of drawing Stitch and of course, bought the movie. I felt an immediate kinship to Lilo, and my Jack Russell being Stitch.

I didn’t realize at the time but Nani is pretty bad ass in her own right. It’s hard enough losing a parents at any age but at 19 Nani is just 13 years older than her sister. Nani is in the period of her life where she should be trying to find the person she wants to be. But she takes on the responsibility of raising her little sister, Lilo.

Instead of being able to lean on her parents for support, Nani must be the rock Lilo needs. It seems rather selfless in a way but seriously what else could she have done?

Nani puts Lilo before everything. Friends, further education and her “boy friend” David. Nani doesn’t want to settle down and live happily ever after. In fact, its not very clear that Nani and David are even dating in the first film. He’s definitely interested but she doesn’t have time for that.

Her priority is Lilo. Her Ohana.

Something else I took for granted was Nani’s realistic body type. As a grown woman I appreciate her legs and tummy. She’s not fat by any means. She’s a realistic representation of the female body.

thank you for reading!

❤

Farewell Old Friend

The Great Movie Ride

My family and I are no stranger to Disney.  My Grandfather started buying me their films when my Mom got pregnant and my parents first took me to Magic Kingdom when I was 18 months old.

We used to love Magic Kingdom, Minnie’s House, Pirates of the Caribbean, Cinderella’s Castle. We were content with the familiar. So, we didn’t pay too much attention to the newest addition, “MGM Studios” which opened in 1989. In fact, due to an Islander/Lightning game we rushed through our first visit. I can still remember playing with my new Tinker Bell doll while looking out the back window as the park shrank into the distance.

It was a funny introduction to our future favorite park. Because it was just that. MGM aka Hollywood Studios quickly became our favorite.

Being huge Movie Buffs we loved everything about the cinema themed park. Muppet Vision, Animation (with the Robin Williams cartoon), Superstar Television. Remember when that was changed to Doug? What about the original Studio BackLot Tour, complete with the houses from The Golden Girls, Adventures in Wonderland and George of the Jungle tree house. Remember when the Osborne family would decorate for Christmas? The List just goes on and on.

But even counting Indiana Jones, Star Tours, Tower of Terror and even after they put in the Rockin Roller Coaster.

Our ultimate, all time favorite ride in all of Walt Disney World was always:

The Great Movie Ride

And today is its last ride.

It’s a moment I’ve been dreading for years.  I’ve heard rumors about changing it and closing its doors but the rumors always turned out to be just rumors.

A part of me is happy that our beloved ride will be closing with some dignity instead of being dragged and picked clean of all its uniqueness as The Studio BackLot tour was.

But that’s not without saying, the Great Movie Ride has lost some of its charm over the years.

It went from feeling like you were really riding the movies to the tour guides just going through the motions. And that was truly a sad sight to see.

Everything about The Great Movie Ride was perfect. It had history, music, bubbles, horror, romance, animation, action and adventure….and air conditioning. The fact that it took place inside one of, if not the most famous movie theater of all time is just the icing on the cake.

My Dad and I would make it a point to ride it more than once. During one visit we rode our favorite ride four times. A feat we still reminisce.

It got to the point where I could recite every word, even the lines from the trailers in the beginning and hum the music from the movie mashup at the end. I’ve gotten signatures in my autograph book from different tour guides over the years. And for the first 10 years I definitely closed my eyes and jumped in between my parents during the Alien scene…but let’s keep that under our hats, shall we?

My Dad and I would count the munchkins in the Wizard of Oz scene on every ride…16, 18! No, 17? (We enjoyed it 🙂 )

We thought it was the coolest thing when they added the Western Bank robbing scene to spice things up. So it got to be a thrill to see if we’d get Gangsters or Cowboys.

The ride has gone through so many transformations and we’ve embraced each one. I was even ready to give Robert Osborn’s voiceover a try.

But as I said, I’m glad the ride won’t be dragged through the mud any longer. I just wish they would put another movie ride in its place. What’s wrong with having Mickey visit different Disney films?

But I digress.

I’m glad we have the memories. Disney has so much history for generations of so many families. We’ve ridden The Great Movie Ride with Grandparents, Cousins and friends. I’m glad I was able to ride it with my husband.

I only wish my son could have seen it. I wish so much that we could’ve counted the munchkins together.

But at least we got to go on one last ride. Just us.

The original Three.

Thank you for Reading.

❤

Z : Zira “Scar is gone… but Zira’s still around To love this little lad Till he learns to be a killer With a lust for being bad!”

DAY 30

ZIRA

The Villainess from the 1998 straight to video sequel of The Lion King.

The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride

I know this movie did not get the best reviews and obviously this was nowhere near as great as the original but on a personal level, this film means a lot to me.

My cousin Derby and I used to watch this film over, and over, and over again. We were obsessed with the animals and the songs. We knew it was goofy but to be honest we all know it’s not the worst Disney sequel…I’m looking at you Atlantis.

And I’ve always compared these two films to Jurassic Park.

Next time you have the opportunity. Watch the beginning of Jurassic Park, then the beginning of The Lost World. Then watch the beginning of The Lion King and then Simba’s Pride. Watch both openings until the Title credit appears.
Jurassic Park and The Lion King both have such epic openings.
The music is powerful and the title credit intensely appears.
While both sequels seem like they’re not even trying to compete.
They know what they have to offer.

But I digress.

Lets dig a little deeper into Zira.

Zira is a devoted follower of Scar. She even names her second son Kovu which is Swahili for Scar. Zira was originally going to be named “Bianca” but there were two issues. One, filmmakers did not want people to get her confused with Miss Bianca. Two, Bianca was not Swahillian enough. Zira is Swahili for hate.

Speaking of mothers, actresses Bette Midler and Helen Mirren were both considered for the role of Zira, as well as the role of Sarabi (Simba’s mother).

One of the original ideas for the film was to have Simba killed by the Outlander lionesses…I personally am glad they did not do this.

Zira’s death was going to be very similar to Gaston. Remember how he was going to “commit suicide” after stabbing the Beast? Originally, Zira was to reject Kiara’s help and push herself off the cliff into the rushing waters below. They even animated Zira smiling as she falls to her death, even though she’s screaming.

Do you consider Scar and Zira mates? This was the original plan until Disney realized if Kovu and Kiara got together they would be second cousins and thus incest. So, Zira was written as a dedicated follower. Though some fans still consider them to be mates…

Scar is an official member of Disney’s Sinister Cats, while Zira is just an occasional member.

Thank you for Reading!
❤

And we did it!
I can’t believe I actually made it through.
😛

Y : Yzma “To the Secret Lab!”

Day 29

Yzma

Let’s end this years challenge with some good ol’ Disney, shall we?
Plus, a little Girl Power is always welcomed!

Believe it or not, I recently just watched The Emperor’s New Groove fully for the first time. Overall, I think it was released at the wrong time for me. I was getting to the age where I didn’t automatically watch every single Disney film. Plus the male centric plot and the overall humor didn’t really speak to me back then.
I guess, I had to grow into it…

The Emperor’s New Groove was originally going to be a more dramatic Disney musical entitled Kingdom of the Sun. It was to be based off of Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper. With David Spade as the (Emperor) Prince and Owen Wilson as the (Pacha) Pauper. Eartha Kitt was Yzma, an aged royal sorceress. The film was about 50% complete but tested extremely poorly with test audiences. The entire project was reworked and Owen Wilson was replaced with John Goodman.

After it was reworked, most people thought the film is based off of Hans Christian Andersen‘s The Emperor’s New Clothes but in fact the film shares a lot more similarities with Kalif Storch (Caliph Stork) written by Wilhelm Hauff.

The role of Yzma was originally offered to Barbra Streisand who turned it down. That’s when original Catwoman, Eartha Kitt was cast instead. And speaking of Catwoman, at the end of the film, Yzma is turned into a cat. A respectful nod to her Catwoman days on Batman.

Yzma’s signature color is Purple, associated with madness and royalty.
In Japan, Purple is also known as the color of death.

Yzma’s physical appearance was based on Cruella De Vil and 1950s singer, Yma Sumac, the “Inca princess of Hollywood”. Cruella is very skinny and angular in appearance while both her and Yma Sumac are both extremely stylish.

Thank you for Reading!
❤

One Day to Gooo!!!
😀

G : Gaston “He’s no monster Gaston. You are!”

Day 08

Gaston

Be Warned there are some Spoilers for Beauty and the Beast.
(1991 & 2017 respectably)

Beauty and the Beast is one of my all time favorite Disney films. Tied for first, in fact.

Everything about the film is just beautiful and, dare I say, perfect.

Gaston is not your typical villain. He does not posses magical abilities. Aside from hunting, he doesn’t murder anyone. He’s not an Ice Queen like Snow White’s Step Mother or Overly Dramatic like Ursula.
I think what makes Gaston such a great villain is how human he is.

It’s like what Clopin says in The Hunchback of Notre Dame,
“What makes a Monster and what makes a Man?”

On the surface, Gaston is the whole package.
Good Looks, Strength, Charming, and having a great voice doesn’t hurt.
The whole town loves him, that is except of course, Belle.

The most terrifying part of Beauty and the Beast is just how persuasive Gaston truly is.

Belle is educated but different. Different isn’t good and just like in real life, people tend to believe a Good Looking Gaston over an enlightened Belle.

He has the whole town wrapped around his finger.

Some Fun Facts:

There was no Gaston character in the original fairy tale. The “villains” were Belle’s snobby sisters. A true antagonist was introduced in the 1946 French film Beauty and the Beast, a man similar to Gaston with the name Avenant.

And speaking of, Avenant, Disney considered making a sequel to Beauty and the Beast with Gaston’s brother “Avenant”. But this idea was changed to Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas. Do you wish they went with the sequel?

Gaston is the only Disney Villain who shares the same eye color with the film’s protagonist: Beast. (Remember their eye color?)

Remember Prince Charming in Shrek 2? Actor Rupert Everett auditioned for the role of Gaston back in the ’90s. Directors, Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise didn’t think he sounded arrogant enough. Other actors who were considered were Donny Osmond and Patrick Swayze.
Personally, I’m very content that they went with Richard White.

Gaston was originally going to commit suicide at the end of the film. He was to stab the Beast once in the leg and then after stabbing him in the side Gaston was to deliberately push himself off the side of the building to his death, while laughing maniacally. Thankfully, this was considered too dark for children.
I think having Gaston fall to his death while crying out in fear is his perfect demise.

And speaking of deaths, Gaston was originally going to survive the fall with only a broken leg. It would have been the wolves that would finish him off…
What do you think? Do you wish they kept that part in?

Beauty and the Beast (2017)

You know how the song, Gaston is a little different? Those lyrics were actually written by the late Howard Ashman back for the 1991 film but were never used.

And speaking of which, there is a line in which Gaston states, when he’s hunting, “he shoots from behind / doesn’t care if it’s fair.” Which is exactly how he “kills” the Beast.

According to IMdb, “In an interview for Entertainment Weekly (March 14, 2017), Luke Evans says Gaston was a Captain and at the age of 16 he protected the village of Villeneuve from Portuguese marauders in 1740. This explains why the townspeople love and admire him and why they would believe him if he calls something a threat. Le Fou also fought in the war with him hence the reason for Le Fou’s devotion to his captain.”

Don’t forget to head on over to Instagram for a look at Gaston’s mug.

Thank you for Reading
❤

See You Monday!
😀

E : Evil Queen “What wouldst thou know, my Queen?”

Day 06

Evil Queen

The Villain or should I say, Villainess that started it all.

One of the more stylish of Disney Villains, the Evil Queen is completely obsessed with her looks. Makes sense since her only desire is to be Fairest of them All.

Walt Disney decided to make Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs into his first animated film because he liked the classic tale and thought it was the perfect debut film for his animation studio. According to IMdb, Walt Disney was also inspired after he saw a major presentation of the 1916 silent film version of Snow White starring Marguerite Clark while he was working as a paperboy in Kansas City.

During filming, Walt Disney and the animators considered using two voice actresses one for the Evil Queen and one for her as the “Old Hag”. That is until Lucille La Verne, the voice actress for the Evil Queen proved that she was up for both tasks. How did she achieve such a raspy, evil voice for the hag? Simple. She took out her dentures!

The Evil Queen was never my favorite. I found her to be a little flat in Queen form and absolutely terrifying as a Hag. But now I have respect for the Evil Queen.
She’s a major Ice Queen 😉
What are your thoughts?

Fun bit O’ trivia!
The scream you hear when the Old Hag plummets to her death?
You can hear that same scream when Maleficent plummets to her death in Dragon Form in Sleeping Beauty.

Don’t Forget to CHECK out INSTAGRAM!

Thank you for Reading!
❤

See you tomorrow
🙂

Disney Princess 5k 2017

A tradition of sorts my Mom and I share is participating in the Disney Princess 5K each year. We started when I was a Senior in College and have done one every year since, minus the year I got married.

This year was a perfect theme.

Beauty and the Beast

My favorite Disney Princess and tied for favorite Disney film, but what I thought made it perfect was the theme of the 5K race.

Mrs. Potts and Chip

Here I was on a beautiful Friday morning,
running with my Mrs. Potts as well as with my Chip 😉

We took it extremely slow.
Trying our Best not to disturb the Baby
😛

The only issue I really had was wishing I could have just worn shorts and no sleeves like a normal runner, not having to worry about mosquitoes.

But what are ya gonna do.

All I can hope and pray for is that I won’t have to worry about the Zika Virus the next time I’m pregnant.

Usually, I like to dress like Minnie Mouse, last year I was Lilo and ran with a Stitch backpack.

This year I decided to put my Bump to work and dressed as Ursula, the Sea Witch.

My Mom was the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland.

I must say, we were pretty cute pair of villainesses 😛

And like I said, we were in it for the fun and what’s more fun than an all you can eat Character Breakfast! Complete with Mickey, Pluto and Stitch!

I hope you get to have a good breakfast tomorrow!

Thank you for Reading.
❤

Sweet Dreams

Don’t forget to Check out Instagram for photos from the Race!

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~Post Script~

My favorite part of the day is that I can show these pictures to the baby someday and tell him/her that this was her/his first 5K
❤

How I spent my Solo “Day” at Disney ♡

❤

After our Romantic Day just the three of us 😉

Stan had to head back to work which left me alone at Disney World.

I’ve spent many vacations at Disney World
and
I’ve lived through many memories and milestones.
But
I have never been to Disney by myself before.

This was a first.

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Remember I said that we were married in Disney?

An odd question we were both asked from a Bridesmaid and a Groomsmen was:

“What is my Significant Other going to do while I’m getting ready for the Wedding?”

I thought this was a bit of an odd question since:

1. We’re all adults and I think one can be alone for a few hours.
2. We’re in Disney.
3. I’ve had to entertain myself plenty of times.
4. We’re in Disney!

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So, I decided to take this Solo Disney Day as an opportunity…
and I hit the ground running.

Stan and I had a farewell Breakfast, took a picture on the Beach, in front of the Castle and then I kissed him goodbye and began my solo day at 10:30AM…

– DAY 01 –

1. I took a quick nap…sorry I am pregnant after all 😛
2. I bought myself a Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri (tradition) and went to the Beach to lay out in the sun in my new maternity swimsuit ❤
3. After soaking up some sun, I got dressed and began my Monorail Crawl.
   • Grand Floridian
     • I walked over to the GF so I could warm myself with some Wedding Pavilion Memories ❤
   • Magic Kingdom
   • Contemporary
   • Transportation & Ticket Center
   • Polynesian
4. I went to the Great Ceremonial House for their Free Hula Lessons…I was a little nervous to go by myself but I thought, what the hell…then I got there and it had been canceled 😛
5. I tried Octopus for the first time 0_O
   • Serious, opinion? It was like creepy chicken. It didn’t taste bad, it was just…odd.
6. I walked back to the Great Ceremonial House to witness the Torch Lighting Ceremony.
   • They had our cousin from ‘Ohana playing the drums while this man ran out and fire danced. Very Cool.
7. Then had a lovely little solo dinner of soup and salmon.
   • I tried to write out some postcards but I had a very friendly waiter 😛
8. I had bought myself a bath bomb from the Grand Floridian, some desserts to go and had myself a relaxing little bath.
9. To cap off the night, I had myself a Double Feature of Sorts. With my feet up I wrote out postcards and watched Switched at Birth and Ratatouile.
   • It was my first time watching Ratatouille, I was actually pretty darn cute. I was iffy about the whole rat thing and it didn’t seem like there were any relatable characters for me. But all and all it was not bad. I’m glad to finally have that under my belt.

– DAY 02 –

1. Rainy Day, so I found myself heading Downtown to-uh, Disney Springs.
2. It was pouring but I made it on time to the Cinema and watched 20th Century Women.
   • It was the only film playing that I hadn’t seen and sounded interesting.
   • I don’t know if it was the film or the fact that I was pregnant sitting in an uncomfortable seat but I found my mind drifting at times, but although it was slow overall it was an enjoyable viewing.
   • I really enjoyed the way the story played out and all of the different characters. The narrations were an interesting device which I found really added to the overall feel of the film.
   • If you find yourself on the couch needing something to watch that’s similar to companionship, I recommend this film.
3. The rain had turned to a light drizzle so I walked the streets of Disney Springs, window shopping and whatnot. Mentally making a list of things I needed and wanted.
   • When I was hurrying to the theater I passed a bunch of posh shops which worried me that they changed the atmosphere of Downtown Disney pass the point of no return.
   • After the movie, I was able to see that for the most part Disney Springs has kept its charm.
     • There’s this nice Chocolate Shop with a Chocolate BB-8 under glass.
     • They have these really cool Disney shops with hip Disney fashions.
       • Which was a bit depressing since I couldn’t fit into anything…yet made window shopping easier and nice for my wallet 😛
     • They still have the Art of Disney ❤
       • Sad News: They got rid of the store in Hollywood Studios 😦
4. Back at the bus depot it was pouring and my bus had just left, so no worries I hopped on the bus to the Contemporary and the monorail back to home-base…
   • Funny Social Experiment: I don’t expect people to give up their seats for me because I usually don’t feel that exhausted but I do like the offer. Just to see. My Dad gives up his seat at the drop of a hat. So, I’m intrigued to see who will offer me a seat.
   • Over this Disney visit two people offered me their seat. One woman was in crunches and the other woman was on this monorail.
     • Aside from children we were the only women on board and she was holding an infant.
5. My parents arrived in the afternoon and then the Vacation could really begin!

😀

I feel like as a Pregnant Woman I had a pretty successful Solo Day.

So to anyone thinking they can’t spend a few hours alone at Disney, there’s more than enough. And I didn’t even hit the parks!

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Don’t forget to check out my Instagram for  pictures from my Solo Day!

Thank you for Reading!
❤

TGIF!!

Disney Date for Three

Stan and I first met in Disney World.
We had our First date in Epcot.
and
We were fortunate enough to get married in Disney World.
❤
And I’m extremely fortunate to have found a Soul Mate who gets Disney like I do.

For all you fellow Disney Fans out there, don’t you get tired of having to explain your love of Disney to people?
I mean, Get Off Our Backs!!!
😛

So, since I was Pregnant and we were in Florida, I thought it’d be the best time to recreate a little magic.

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20-February-17

We had Annie with us and dropped her off for the night at Disney’s Best Friend Pet Care.
Let me just say, if you have the chance, take your pet here.
It’s absolutely adorable!
❤

The outside of Best Friend’s looks similar to this picture but they’ve smartly changed the fencing to scenes from Lady and the Tramp. There’s also a giant bone and over sized fire hydrant.

Once inside there’s an area for cats, an area for birds and of course one for dogs.
I got to peak in at the Cats and Birds and overall they looked like a wonderful place to stay.
Checking in, they have toys and Disney Collars for sale.

Since she was only staying one night, we asked for the villa.

Once signed in, we were led down a hallway of glass rooms each with one dog inside.
Each room had a corner dog hammock, corner water bowl, a concrete step with a cushy dog pillow on it and the Crème de la Crème : a flat screen TV playing Disney on loop.
There was also a door which led to the bathroom.
❤
I hated to leave her, but she looked happy.
Later in the day she had playtime with other dogs and story time.
❤
(When Stan picked her up she was given a lovely little report card to boot)

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After checking into our Hotel, we made a Beeline to Epcot.

While we waited for World Showcase to open, we got the opportunity to look at the last pieces of art they had on display.

Since this was Stan’s only Disney Day and  I’m Pregnant, I was leaving all our plans up to him…except Dinner.
That was covered.
😉
We spent the day with
me window shopping around the world
&
Stan drinking around the world.

We did watch the American Adventure show.
😥
I had forgotten how moving that was.

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–Anniversary Dinner–

Originally, we were going to have a romantic dinner the weekend before our Catholic Anniversary…but our friend Juice moved out of his apartment and we were housing him for the weekend. (We really like Juice, so it wasn’t a huge deal, but I still wanted our romantic dinner. I bought a special maternity dress for the occasion)
😉
Personally, it worked out well.
We were in Disney World.
Close to both our Wedding Anniversary and our Catholic Anniversary.
We got a reservation at the fancy California Grill.
❤
I was able to get my hair and makeup done, put on my new red maternity dress with the plunging neckline, Stan wore his matching red tie and we were good to go!

Overall, it was a magical evening.
❤

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I hope you and your loved ones have a wonderful Sunday
and
a
happy Monday.
🙂
Thank you for Reading!
❤