A pox on the phony king of England!
Last Friday Disney Channel was showing Robin Hood (1973). I hadn't seen it in awhile, the last time being around that age when it was still plausible (to me at least) to believe someone could steal and then turn around and give the loot away to desrving poor folk. Notwithstanding my decrepit old age, I still remembered most of the scenes, the gags, the action sequences and even some lines. But for the life of me when Robin proposes to Maid Marian and the next scene is a (chaste) romp through the woods, my mind drew a blank. I guess between action/comedy and general deeds of derringdo, romance falls by the wayside in the mind of a child. Which makes me wonder why love becomes the central concern of the adult (and the unmitigated fixation of the adolescent) when it barely registers at all when we are young. Maybe it's because we realize that there isn't any adventure to be had in the world out there, that derringdo consists of writing a nasty letter complaining about some minor bother or other to the local paper, where it may or may not get published. So instead of lfe on the run, filled with misdeeds and gallant acts, we settle for love and many (chaste) romps through darkened woods.
Or, for the romantics out there, perhaps love overrides everything else in adults as we realize that romance is the ultimate adventure. (For love mixed with modern derringdo, check out one of my fave essay's ever, Afternoon of an American Boy, EB White, Essays .) So adventure becomes sublimated to romance, and the beloved becomes the site of both our dastardly acts and moments of redemption.
Another Disney movie which I enjoyed and can quote from memory is The Sword in the Stone (1963). Sword incidentally was directed by the same dude who did Robin Hood, Wolfgang Reitherman . Here Arthur isn't yet a noble king of vision but rather a scrawny runt everyone pushes around and calls The Wart. Where others have muscles he has what all Disney heroes ultimately have, pluck and spirit. (Because I'm a rather pathetic physical specimen myself, I agree with Merlin when he goes [paraphrased] if you have enough muscles to get you from one place to another then it's time to concentrate on working out that muscle in your head.)
Anyway, as with Robin Hood, I remember most scenes from Sword, except for when they turn into squirrels which is the romance portion of the movie. The girl squirrel always used to annoy the hell out of me with her chattering and constant chasing after Wart. Although now that I'm grown up, I see nothing wrong with girls chasing whomever guy they want. The more chasing the better I say, I'd wager most guys wouldn't even put up a token challenge. How's that for maturity.
Never noticed that both Robin Hood and Sword were released way back in the day, but they are still highly watchable and don't suffer the least from old age.
(Yay for Disney!)
Or, for the romantics out there, perhaps love overrides everything else in adults as we realize that romance is the ultimate adventure. (For love mixed with modern derringdo, check out one of my fave essay's ever, Afternoon of an American Boy, EB White, Essays .) So adventure becomes sublimated to romance, and the beloved becomes the site of both our dastardly acts and moments of redemption.
Another Disney movie which I enjoyed and can quote from memory is The Sword in the Stone (1963). Sword incidentally was directed by the same dude who did Robin Hood, Wolfgang Reitherman . Here Arthur isn't yet a noble king of vision but rather a scrawny runt everyone pushes around and calls The Wart. Where others have muscles he has what all Disney heroes ultimately have, pluck and spirit. (Because I'm a rather pathetic physical specimen myself, I agree with Merlin when he goes [paraphrased] if you have enough muscles to get you from one place to another then it's time to concentrate on working out that muscle in your head.)
Anyway, as with Robin Hood, I remember most scenes from Sword, except for when they turn into squirrels which is the romance portion of the movie. The girl squirrel always used to annoy the hell out of me with her chattering and constant chasing after Wart. Although now that I'm grown up, I see nothing wrong with girls chasing whomever guy they want. The more chasing the better I say, I'd wager most guys wouldn't even put up a token challenge. How's that for maturity.
Never noticed that both Robin Hood and Sword were released way back in the day, but they are still highly watchable and don't suffer the least from old age.
(Yay for Disney!)