I hope that you all had a very happy Easter break and that you are all well. I spent the holiday weekend with various family members, dog walking and eating and generally being a piggy. I suspect that I am not the only one!
One of the things I did over the holiday weekend was watch 'Saving Mr. Banks', a Disney film that I have wanted to watch for some time. The film is basically about P.L.Travers, the author of Mary Poppins, and her battle with Walt Disney about the rights to the book. It also touched on her early life and the traumas she and her family faced as they moved from town to town in Australia with her father who was her hero but also a drinker and who was frequently fired from jobs because of his problems.
Tom Hanks plays Walt Disney and Emma Thompson plays P.L.Travers and I have to say that I thought they were both superb. I'm not a film buff by any standards and I can always find other things to do than sit and watch a film but I enjoyed this so much that I watched it twice in as many days - once with my hubby and once with my youngest daughter and they both enjoyed it as much as me ....or they said that they did anyway!
This got me thinking about Disney and about musicals in general. As you may have read from earlier posts, music has always played a big part in my and my family's life. Mum and Dad had a large record collection and I vividly remember Mum having 'West Side Story', 'Oklahoma!', 'South Pacific', 'Mary Poppins', 'The King and I' and 'The Sound of Music' on vinyl along with many others and I remember them being played a lot. It's how my brothers and sisters learned the words to all of the songs!
There were four of us children, all close in age, when we were young and taking us all out for a trip was always expensive and so trips to the cinema were few and far between but Mum took us to see 'Mary Poppins' on several occasions and it was a real treat. She also took us to see 'Born Free' which was a whole different story. One for another time I think.
I still sing along when I hear ' I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair' or 'Shall We Dance?' and 'Let's Go Fly A Kite' always makes me feel happy inside. All of these things instilled in us when we were small that we just took for granted. The power of music.
This was brought home to me when my late mother in law was very poorly and communication with and for her was difficult. I went to spend an evening with her to give my father in law some respite and made up a CD with music that I thought she may like and that may make her smile. I put all sorts on there, in fact I think I still have the CD somewhere, but nothing really had the desired effect although she did smile when 'Bring Me Sunshine' by Morecambe and Wise came on which was lovely.
How different to when I made a tape for my Dad when he was poorly too. I poured for days over my song choices and what I was trying to achieve by doing it for him. I was so nervous about it that I posted it through his letterbox instead of giving it to him myself. He rang me up to thank me for it and I cried because he liked it. I guess that I always assumed that music was big in everyone's life just because it was and is big in mine. Never assume.
Now, enough about musicals and on to Disney, wonderful, glorious Disney. My love of Disney probably started with Mary Poppins (never just Mary, always Mary Poppins!) but, of course, there was Bambi and Snow White and so on. I was completely terrified by the witch in Snow White and used to dream that she was hiding under my bed and would grab me if I got up in the night. There was Alice in Wonderland that I didn't like and there was Sleeping Beauty (don't touch anything!) and, needless to say, I was scared of Maleficent too. Jungle Book was wonderful and I loved Lady and the Tramp and Robin Hood.
Then I had children and the joy of Disney returned with a vengeance and I saw my family mesmerised by Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. Now my grandchildren are equally enthralled by 101 Dalmations , Tangled and Frozen. The last two I know I must watch and soon so I know what the granddaughters are talking about!
My sisters and I (not sure about the brothers) have carried on Mum's tradition and our own children are fluent in the songs of the Disney films and some of the previously mentioned musicals. I don't think it's a deliberate thing. It's just what we do and I think it's fantastic. I fully expect the future generations of this family to keep the tradition going for many years to come. If 'The Sound of Music' is on TV we always watch it and ring or text each other to tell each other!
Oh, I could go on for hours and hours but I won't. I could talk about how I always, always cry at The Lion King and how Disney phrases have become standard phrases that we use in our family every day. I could talk about my youngest daughter sitting in her Little Mermaid pyjamas watching the dvd and knowing every single word of the film from start to finish or about her Princess Jasmine outfit that she lived in when she was given it for her birthday or her Simba lion cub that still has pride of place on her bed or her Lion king tent that she had and loved when she was 5....
....the fact that the family chose 'Eidelweis' to be played at Mum's funeral illustrates my point about the power of music and our love of musicals and there were so many others we could have chosen, that 'Climb Every Mountain' still makes me (and I suspect my sister too) cry...
but that's enough for now.
Stay healthy and happy and I'll be back soon!
Much love xxxxx
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