My Final Question…

So this has really been cathartic. I’m serious. Writing this blog has given me a chance to get a lot of the crazy out of my head and release it into the world. Not sure the world is better for it but I know I am. When I started this blog a year ago I wasn’t sure how it would go. I was pleasantly surprised by the response. I want to thank everyone who took the time to read, like, comment or share my posts. I hope that they brought at least a little smile to your day and maybe made you think about these movies in a different light.

I definitely have not exhausted all of the questions about Disney that I have rattling around in my head. But, being a dad with young kids and having a full-time job, my free time is at a premium. I really enjoy writing this blog but am honestly ready for a new creative outlet. If that ends up being something online, I will definitely share with you all in case you are interested.

So I was thinking about what question I would write about for my final post. Lots of them came to mind like ‘why did Mother Gothel turn into dust when she fell out the window’ or ‘why doesn’t Mickey ever put on a shirt?’ But instead I thought, why not ask you? What are the burning questions you didn’t get addressed on my blog? Leave a comment and let’s keep chatting.

Thanks again.

Just a Dad with Disney Questions (aka @kmaxwell)

This is me with my two little ones watchin’ Disney…

Did Jasmine have an authority complex?

So I know in my last post I said I only had one more, but looking back I realized I had counted wrong. If I had only done one more post I would have finished my blog with 49 posts and that just wouldn’t do. Besides, Just a Dad with 50 Disney Questions sounds like a better name for my complete blog anyway. So here is a quickie.

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We all know that Jasmine liked to break the mold. An age old tradition of marrying for the good of the country is thrown out the window so that she can marry her true love. But I have to question why she falls in love with Aladdin. Sure, they both feel trapped in their current life situations and he saves her from getting her hand cut off, but is that the foundation of a long lasting romance? Eh…maybe. You can play the ‘they are meant to be’ card but that is the easy way out. I think one of the reasons Jasmine loves Aladdin has more to do with his station in life that she realizes.

Let’s look at the way Jasmine responds to authority. First, she consistently goes against her father’s wishes. I know he doesn’t seem to make the best choices, but I don’t remember her doing what he says once in the movie. Whether we think they are wrong or not, she does everything in her power to screw up the various courtships arranged by her dad and even chooses to run away instead of trying to make it work. I know it’s difficult, but look at it from the implications to the kingdom, not from the lens of America today. Her choices affect way more than just herself. And then there is Aladdin. When he is a street rat, she falls for him immediately but the minute he shows up as a Prince she won’t give him the time of day. Sure he is being a bit arrogant, but is it that or is his title getting in the way? I mean, she won’t even have a conversation with him until he offers, ‘You’re right.’ ceding the floor to her. Could it be that Jasmine chooses Aladdin as a way to both assert her independence from her father, as well as, create a situation in which she would be the one who would forever be in position of authority in the relationship?  Could it be that she didn’t finish her thought when she was talking to her dad in the opening palace scene of the film? Instead of just saying ‘Well, then maybe I don’t want to be a princess…’ maybe she wanted to also add…’maybe I want to be Sultan!’ That truly would have been a whole new world.

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image credit —> fanpop.com

We didn’t start the fire, but why did he? [Big Hero 6 Spoilers]

Can’t believe this is my second to last post…time flies. As I mentioned before my last post will be published on Monday, March 30!

[READER’S NOTE: If you haven’t seen Big Hero 6 and plan to, you probably want to stop reading this post because it contains some spoilers. Ok, you’ve been warned.] 

His motives seem to be understandable. He lost his daughter and his grief has moved him to seek revenge on the person he believes is ultimately responsible. Ok, sure. I get it. I’m a dad and I could definitely see having similar thoughts if I was in that situation. However, the way Professor Robert Callaghan goes about enacting his vengeance just doesn’t make much sense to me. The whole I’m gonna destroy everything you care about and am willing to kill any and everyone that gets in my way’ seems a little on the dramatic side but hey, points for creativity. But the biggest question I have is what was the point of starting the fire at the science exhibition? The official answer is he was doing that to create a distraction in order to steal Hiro’s microbots…but was that really necessary? He had already won the initial battle again Krei by getting Hiro to further develop them at his school instead of selling the technology. So why not just wait until Hiro was enrolled and steal them from the school when no one was around? Or better yet, why not just steal them later that night? I am sure he had a key to the science hall and Hiro had left them there anyway to head home to party with his friends and family. Callaghan had infinite opportunities in the very near future. And he hadn’t planned for the fire to get out of control and have to fake his death either so that isn’t a valid reason. But then again, he later dresses up in a Kabuki mask and takes long random walks across harbors so I guess you could chalk this one up to ‘one too many hits with the snake.’

And here is a bonus question, why wasn’t Callaghan more excited that his daughter was found alive? He thought she had died and his sole purpose in life was avenging her. Then, when he finds out she is alive and sees her for the first time, he hangs his head in shame?!? Huh? I get him being disappointed in himself but I know I would be out of my mind excited that she was alive instead of being sad about the bad choices I made. Surely he knows that he will have plenty of time in jail to think about those decisions later…

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image credit –> disney.wikia.com