This Entry Is About Disney.
Had a Disney evening with my Real Life friends yesterday, which was lovely! We watched Mulan, Lady and the Tramp and Hercules, none of which I had seen before (I had a rather Disney-deprived childhood, alas) and all of which I enjoyed very much. Especially Mulan, because it was absolutely beautiful and the music was lovely and also it was about time Disney had an awesome heroine without wimpifying her over the course of the film.
SPEAKING OF WHICH, Megara was so much cooler before she fell in love with Hercules. Tsk. Also, there were some things that drove me slightly mad. "WHY IS NARCISSUS ON MOUNT OLYMPUS?" "'Oh, this is Pegasus. The two of you go way back.' NO THEY DON'T." "Hera wasn't his mother! Hera didn't even like him! She was the one who sent the snakes!" Still, I'm fairly certain that nobody said 'Call IXII!' or drank 'Herculade' either; Disney was hardly aiming for an accurate retelling of the myth. Also, the Disney version of Hades is awesome. So I will forgive them their flagrant inaccuracies. BUT I WILL NEVER FORGIVE THE DECOOLIFICATION OF MEGARA. (A song that contains the line 'It's too cliché; I won't say I'm in love' is brilliant, though.)
Back to Mulan, because I really did love it. I'd played the 'Land of Dragons' level on Kingdom Hearts II prior to watching it, and I was rather startled and amused by the fact that I could recognise so many locations in the film from it. IF I AM EVER MAGICALLY TRANSPORTED INTO A DISNEY WORLD, I WILL TOTALLY BE ABLE TO FIND MY WAY TO THE NEAREST SAVE POINT.
Now, does Shang begin to fall for Ping before finding out that he is a woman? Because that could be really interesting! (And, er, mildly Blackadder-esque.) I am sure that there must be quite a lot of fanfiction dealing with the concept already.
My favourite song of the evening was easily 'I'll Make a Man Out of You' (YouTube link, rather than a song file) from Mulan, despite the fact that I keep mentally confusing it with 'I Can Make You a Man' from the Rocky Horror. The dramatic singing! The disastrous training! Mulan's inexpressibly adorable expression when she sheepishly tips up the water bucket! Hee! Also, I genuinely love the 'How could I make a man out of you?' moment. (Have a link to the 'Mulan's Decision' scene as well, because oh man I love the background music so much. Not to mention the fact that it has the cricket, which is just the cutest thing in the world.)
In vaguely related news, reipan wants me to write about Jeremy Clarkson waxing Gaston. Yes, Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. I do not know why she wants to read it; she is probably mentally disturbed. The basic concept must have come from the 'and every last inch of me's covered with HAIR' line in Gaston's song, but I cannot for the life of me work out how exactly Jeremy Clarkson came into it.
Finally, as proof of my Real Life friends' pure evil, this is what I have to suffer when they know of my shared terrors of Pyramid Head and the musical atrocity that is 'Finny Fun' from Kingdom Hearts II (trust me, you're better off not knowing):
Evil Friend #1: Pyramid Head is coming for you.
reipan: (speaking far too softly) And he's singing. What's he singing, Riona? Why, Donald Duck is there!
Riona: (bursts into horrified laughter.)
SPEAKING OF WHICH, Megara was so much cooler before she fell in love with Hercules. Tsk. Also, there were some things that drove me slightly mad. "WHY IS NARCISSUS ON MOUNT OLYMPUS?" "'Oh, this is Pegasus. The two of you go way back.' NO THEY DON'T." "Hera wasn't his mother! Hera didn't even like him! She was the one who sent the snakes!" Still, I'm fairly certain that nobody said 'Call IXII!' or drank 'Herculade' either; Disney was hardly aiming for an accurate retelling of the myth. Also, the Disney version of Hades is awesome. So I will forgive them their flagrant inaccuracies. BUT I WILL NEVER FORGIVE THE DECOOLIFICATION OF MEGARA. (A song that contains the line 'It's too cliché; I won't say I'm in love' is brilliant, though.)
Back to Mulan, because I really did love it. I'd played the 'Land of Dragons' level on Kingdom Hearts II prior to watching it, and I was rather startled and amused by the fact that I could recognise so many locations in the film from it. IF I AM EVER MAGICALLY TRANSPORTED INTO A DISNEY WORLD, I WILL TOTALLY BE ABLE TO FIND MY WAY TO THE NEAREST SAVE POINT.
Now, does Shang begin to fall for Ping before finding out that he is a woman? Because that could be really interesting! (And, er, mildly Blackadder-esque.) I am sure that there must be quite a lot of fanfiction dealing with the concept already.
My favourite song of the evening was easily 'I'll Make a Man Out of You' (YouTube link, rather than a song file) from Mulan, despite the fact that I keep mentally confusing it with 'I Can Make You a Man' from the Rocky Horror. The dramatic singing! The disastrous training! Mulan's inexpressibly adorable expression when she sheepishly tips up the water bucket! Hee! Also, I genuinely love the 'How could I make a man out of you?' moment. (Have a link to the 'Mulan's Decision' scene as well, because oh man I love the background music so much. Not to mention the fact that it has the cricket, which is just the cutest thing in the world.)
In vaguely related news, reipan wants me to write about Jeremy Clarkson waxing Gaston. Yes, Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. I do not know why she wants to read it; she is probably mentally disturbed. The basic concept must have come from the 'and every last inch of me's covered with HAIR' line in Gaston's song, but I cannot for the life of me work out how exactly Jeremy Clarkson came into it.
Finally, as proof of my Real Life friends' pure evil, this is what I have to suffer when they know of my shared terrors of Pyramid Head and the musical atrocity that is 'Finny Fun' from Kingdom Hearts II (trust me, you're better off not knowing):
Evil Friend #1: Pyramid Head is coming for you.
reipan: (speaking far too softly) And he's singing. What's he singing, Riona? Why, Donald Duck is there!
Riona: (bursts into horrified laughter.)