My Failure to Launch A child like no other, I dreamed. I hungrily took Disney's words to heart as my wandering imagination found solace inside the world of fantasy. To my delight, the tales of princesses, wizards, and dwarfs opened up a world of possibilities and promised me the sky as my only limit. My imagination became a foundation upon which my life rested. After my first glimpse into Peter Pan and Wendy's wingless flight, I grasped an opportunity to challenge the sky. Inquisitive and stubborn, I set out to prove what every seven-year-old held dear in heart as I ventured a flight powered by faith, trust, and a little pixie dust. To my surprise, it was that fateful autumn day when the chapter of my childhood fantasies came to an end. My flight intended toward Never-land instead landed me headfirst into reality. Once again, I looked out the window. Once again, I saw the fluttering wings of birds near the horizon. But this time, I whispered to my sleeping parents, "I'm flying to Never-land today." I began frantically rummaging the house, looking for what I believed retained the power to make me fly. By the time I was through, the house was in shambles. Had my parents not been fast asleep, my wings of childhood fantasy would have been stripped from me at that moment. While I clumsily held my wand in one hand and my trusty can of baking powder scribbled pixie dust in the other, I climbed valiantly to the top of my tallest tower; in reality, that tower was merely a cabinet with a height not far above the floor. Afraid that a pinch of pixie dust would have no effect, I dabbed myself with several handfuls of baking powder. I was going to fly. Looking down at the floor triumphantly, I jumped. For a moment while I hovered in the air, ... ... middle of paper ... ...ed out of life. After my own discovery as the victim and a benefactor of idealism, I believe I am now better equipped to utilize my imagination to rearrange and challenge traditionally set values in our society. My childhood fantasies made time pass. Accordingly, time made my childhood fantasies pass. Ironically, my failure to launch into the world of Peter Pan triggered my intellectual and physical growth. Although I have shut the window to only glimpse into the world of Peter Pan, I will dare to fly again. Leaving the stage of blind faith and folly behind, I will fly now with reason and talent as the wind beneath my wings. Some say one of the first great advances in the process of intellectual maturation is taking a step towards harsh reality. With the taste of baking powder on my lips, my experience was quite different. I jumped into that face of reality instead.
For centuries, the tales that capture the youth of society or the adult 's mind are continually under speculation. To whom do the fairy tales of our literature belong, and have they been disassembled from their true meanings? Jack Zipes ' Breaking the Disney Spell and Donald Hasse 's Yours, Mine, or Ours? essays focus on the answers to this pressing question.
“Despite the undeniable fanciful world of Disney’s shorts, it would be a grave mistake to associate people’s attachment to the Disney brand as nothing more than a desire for escapism.” (Page 113) She indicated that the society needed something that they could not identify with to “escape”. She also claims that Disney changed fairy tales and made it more fit for the American society. Disney portrayed the “American dream” of happily ever after and happy endings. She concluded that Walt Disney changed social myths and dreams in to a transformational literary form, and helped the grey and cloudy America have a little hope.
Zipes, Jack. "Breaking the Disney Spell." The Classic Fairy Tales: Texts, Criticism. New York: Norton, 1999. 332-52. Print.
Fairy tales have been told for generations and now every child has dolls, movies and books filled with magical adventure. Cinderella, Sleeping beauty, and Snow white have become classics in every household. However, J.R.R. Tolkien described in his essay “On Fairy Stories” that the world has corrupted fairy tales by making them childlike and denoting them to evil. Our culture prescribed fairies to be diminutive, supernatural creatures; however, fairies are neither small nor necessarily supernatural. A fairy is a direct product of Faerie, which is “the realm or state in which fairies have their being” (Tolkien “On” 2). Fairy stories are derived from the human mind, more so the imagination. Without the imagination, Faerie would be dull. The imagination produces images that result in a Secondary World, or Fantasy. Tolkien believed that Fantasy is an inherent human action that provides recovery, escape, and consolation; all of which readers can experience in The Fellowship of the Ring, the first of Tolkien’s fairy tale trilogy filled with hobbits, elves, and magical rings.
Think back to your childhood; a time where everything and anything was possible. Magic and imagination was something that was used everyday in your life. Now think about where you are in your life right now. There is no longer any magic or mystery. Neil Gaiman and Antoine De Saint-Exupry write two different novels that include multitudes of fantasy. But in the midst of all of the fantasy is the fact that children and adults think differently. Both of these novels explore the idea that children think positively while adults grow out of that stage, developing a pessimistic way of thinking from what they experience in life.
If children or adults think of the great classical fairy tales today, be it Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, or Cinderella, they will think Walt Disney. Their first and perhaps lasting impression of these tales and others will have emanated from Disney film, book, or artefacts (Zipes 72)
Whelan, Bridget1. "Power To The Princess: Disney And The Creation Of The 20Th Century Princess Narrative." Interdisciplinary Humanities 29.1 (2012): 21-34. OmniFile Full Text Select (H.W. Wilson). Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
Over the years, fairytales have been distorted in order to make them more family friendly. Once these changes occur, the moral and purpose of the stories begin to disappear. The tales featured in the many Disney movies - beloved by so many - have much more malignant and meaningful origins that often served to scare children into obeying their parents or learning valuable life lessons.
Ross, D. (2004). Proquest. “Escape from wonderland: Disney and the female imagination”. Marvels & Tales, 18(1), 53-66,141.
“A dream is a wish your heart makes” (Walt Disney). These immortal words were spoken by none other than the one and only Walter Elias Disney. Better known as Walt Disney, he’s one of the most successful dreamers of all time as proved by his worldwide company. He’s the perfect example of dreams leading to success, made evident by the current size of his company with 5 resorts worldwide and almost 60 years of amazing unbeatable hospitality and service. The three most predominate things that led to his success were his love of the job, his perseverance against all odds and his genuine passion for bringing joy to everyone in the world especially children and families.
When I was a Child, I have never stopped wondering what it would be to fly in the sky. I had tried to jump from sofa or bed with an opened umbrella in my hand，and imagined myself as a flying bird. As I grow up, those wonderful fantasy become faded in my brain. I still like flying, and I had experience something like helicopter tour, but never a real fly. I always have the thoughts to explore life, to experience
Not being able to stand such self-torture, I hurried my pace to what was almost a jog, until I had caught up with the unfortunately boring group that I was, as I felt, universally bound to. I came to a bend in the tunnel, where I saw through the glass window, that which before entering, gave no hint of its existence. "I'll soon be in the air."
Firstly, the fairy world allows us to understand our world most deeply and to comprehend its truths in a deeper and more complete way than reality would simply allow. They are the purest expression of the human psyche. Bypassing cultural biases, fairy tales become a universal and timeless means of communicatio...
In the procedure of growing up, the fairy tales played a very important role in my life. I always think that childhood is too short for people to prepare for growing up. Even your parents can’t teach you all the things they’ve ever learned, so I have to admit that most of the life lessons I was taught by the fairy tale. And even now, I’m already an adult. And I’ve already realized what “real life” is, but to be honest I never blame the fairy tale which makes me believe how wonderful life is. Because all the lessons that fairy tales taught me still benefit me for life. And there are three fairy tales I would like to discuss about: The theme of The Little Mermaid, the character of Snow White, and the setting of Peter Pan.
Going up the mountain in the lift with the mountains leering over you like a huge dragon ready to pounce and the tiny houses below getting smaller and smaller as they disappear, passing through fluffy white cotton wool like clouds you must remember to hold on tight as the lift comes to a sudden abrupt jolt just before it reaches its destination at nearly the top of the mountain.