Is Disney + (plus) Really a Plus?

Online Streaming Service: Disney + (plus)

A memory from my mother-in-law went something like this:

"I remember the year when the Mary Poppins movie first came out in theaters. My siblings and I absolutely loved it. We thought the songs were magical and the story was wonderful.  We so wished we could watch the movie again but we could only see it in theaters at the time. Instead, we gladly welcomed the soundtrack record for Christmas that year. And boy did we dance and sing to that record many many times. I can happily say that we played that thing to death..literally."

That sweet memory that my mother-in-law described took place in 1964 and unfortunately even the biggest fans of Mary Poppins would not see the movie again until it was released on VHS in 2002.

Of course, the memory of Mary Poppins may not stick out as fondly to everyone like it did my mother-in-law, but I'm sure we've all had wonderful films that have impacted our lives in a magical way during our childhood.

Patience.

In my own childhood, I remember seeing The Lion King film in theaters when it first came out.  I was so moved by the adventure and the wonder that it brought to my life.  The film was truly a work of art and actually took over 3 years to create. I was 6 years old at the time the movie entered theaters and the film's story was alive throughout the world for many years after.  There were Broadway shows on the film, children's plays, Lion King themed toys, symphony orchestra performances and audio cassettes/Cd's of the soundtrack.  I even remember playing with toy lions, pretending they were the actual characters in the show.  

But the best part was that everyone only had to wait about a year for the movie to come into their homes on VHS.  

And what two beloved films followed The Lion King?  In 1995, a year later, Pocahontas and the first Toy Story film made their debut.

Why am I explaining all of this?  

Time to Process. Appreciate. Soak in.

These pauses between release dates of childhood films were actually beneficial because it allowed the world to appreciate, process and soak in the beauty of such an art. This was especially true for kids because they needed this time to focus on and process the stories that unfolded within these films. And most importantly, they had time to appreciate the talent and beauty that went into each of these works. 

Like I mentioned before, these films can take years to make.  

In 2013, I'm sure most of us remember the Disney movie, Frozen, and its sequel, Frozen 2 in 2019.  It only took 4 months from the time it was shown in theaters to the time it was released to families on DVD/streaming services.

I mentioned the Frozen movies, because my daughter was recently introduced to them. She is only but 2.5 years old but like every little girl, she was awestruck by the story and songs in this movie. It's no surprise that the two main characters, princess Anna and Elsa, have stolen the hearts of many young girls around the world. Which, I myself can relate because they are indeed truly magical films.

After seeing these movies, my daughter has wanted to play pretend with her toy characters from the film's story.  She has listened to the soundtrack over and over in the car. There was a time that she even wore her princess Elsa dress for 3 days straight.  But what struck me the most, was her attention to all the little detail in the film that she picked up on. She of course would ask me questions throughout the movie. She would ask if a character was sad, or tell me which parts she thought were funny. But then I noticed during her play, when she was pretending to be either Anna or Elsa, that she would do certain movements just as they did in the  movie. One instance was when my daughter asked me if I could carry her to bed.  I thought it was odd, since she usually climbs in bed herself but as soon as I laid her down she closed her eyes and had her mouth hanging wide open.  I had to chuckle because I instantly remembered a scene in the movie when sleeping Anna was carried by her own mother and laid into bed with her mouth drowsily hanging open too.  

Then I thought: wow, if she loves this movie so much, I bet she would love the other princess movies like Rapunzel (Tangled) or The Little Mermaid...but then I stopped and my mind shifted to another thought.  The thought that my daughter was still very much  processing the storyline, and appreciating the artwork of this one single movie showed me that she did not need anything else introduced to her. In fact, even though it may not show very well, introducing another wonderful story would probably overwhelm her still underdeveloped/developing little mind.  This doesn't just apply to little toddlers. I believe kids even up to 7 years old would also benefit from having the time to process stories as well.

I reminded myself that just because a movie was available did not mean I needed to share it with my daughter. In fact, all the films I've mentioned here in this post are available on Disney plus and other online streaming services at the push of a button. It's no surprise that Disney plus streaming service has over 1300 movies to choose from including all the Disney classics ever created.

Beauty In the Waiting

Times have changed for sure.  We can choose to binge watch a whole series of a show in one weekend that took people years to create. We can turn on Mary Poppins and not have to listen to the record recording of the soundtrack over and over again in longing to watch the movie. We can watch the beloved Lion King film and then right after we are finished our kids are free to turn on Toy Story and finish that as well.  

There was a beauty in the waiting. There was an appreciation that came out of the patience we were forced to have. The pauses that came also helped foster greater admiration for the artwork itself and the creators who set it in motion.

Moderate.

 Technology has made things very easily accessible and with that freedom of accessibility comes great responsibility and the need to moderate. We must judge more than ever how to spend our time and our kids' time.   It's easy to get lost in that freedom which is why we may need to take a step back and think about these very truths. 

Times have changed; But we have the choice whether we change with the times.