Caroline Rozzo's Writing 101 Disney Blog

 The Little Mermaid is a different film from others like Snow White , but in some ways it stays the same, depicting the story of a girl who longs for true love. With respect to aspect of happiness, however, I argue that this film contrasts greatly with that of the traditional true love happy ending that we see in other Disney movies. Though there is a depiction of happiness when Ariel finally gets to marry the prince in the end, other characters in the movie that are not represented as villains are not so happy, so there is no true universal definition of happiness between all of the characters represented in the movie. This is a significant contrast between other movies when everyone (that is good) in the movie defines true love as the ultimate point of true happiness and happily ever after.  Ariel longs to marry the prince throughout the movie, so when she finally gets to in the end it may seem like happiness is achieved. However, this happiness comes at the price of living...

 Snow white was the first feature length film for a Disney princess, and its success was off the charts. Even though the film was released during the Great Depression , it made 8 million dollars for Disney, and showed how much people truly loved the movie. This film surpassed the profit of any other film at the time, even though it was released amidst an extreme economic downturn.  The Great Depression was a hard time for so many people, yet the release of Snow White somehow lifted the spirits of so many people while they lived in a deep hole of debt and poverty. It was like an escape, a lighthearted, enjoyable pastime to, even for just one single hour, get out of the turmoil that surrounded so many people. The release of the movie truly awoke people and showed the potential for happiness in a time of such darkness. It can even be said that The Great Depression itself is reflected in Snow White . In a way, the Queen represents sadness and anxiety -- depression, while the dwar...

 While Toy Story is not a classic fairy tale like Cinderella, there was an original plan for the movie that was changed quite a bit before releasing the Toy Story  that we know today. Interestingly enough, it sort of reflects the usual aspects of a fairy tale.  Originally, the story involved a wind up drummer/one man band toy named Tinny, who goes on many adventures with his other toy friends in hopes of being loved and played with by a child after accidentally falling out of his original "family's" car at a gas station. After numerous problems arise and the toys are put in danger by a dog named Baby (like the dog that Andy gets in Toy Story... here is one similarity), the toys ultimately end up in a kindergarten class where they are played with and they all live... you guessed it... happily ever after.  Tinny The Wind Up Toy Eventually, this story evolved into the classic story of Woody and his fellow toys, with the main character Tinny being replaced by Woody. How...

 "And they lived happily ever after..."  This is the classic ending to fairytales, finishing off an action-filled story about a princess or other being defeating their worst challenges, but ultimately ending up in this happily ever after state. But what does this really mean? I suppose that the answer to this question depends on who you ask; a fairytale writer, a young child, a teenager, and an adult will each give you different answers. Each of these different perspectives elucidate the inherent unknown that goes along with ending a story with such a statement. Perhaps, then, this is what makes fairytales so interesting and ambiguous.  While it is traditionally portrayed in fairy tales that 'happily ever after' is directly correlated with finding love with a prince, and living together forever in an unexplained perfect state, I don't think that love is necessarily the driving factor in determining the start of a happily ever after.  To me, happily ever after is r...

 If somebody told me a couple years ago that we would be living in a pandemic right now, I could not even imagine what it would be like. This uncertainty even in present times causes lots of stress and anxiety for many people.  I spent the main quarantine (March to June) with my three best friends, so I always had them there to help me get through this weird and stressful time. I am very grateful that we spent so much quality time together and always had each other to turn to during these very isolating three months. We did a lot of puzzles, which reminded me a lot of my childhood and doing puzzles with my three siblings. I have a vivid memory of my sister and I climbing a bookshelf in my brothers room and going on top of his closet where there is a ledge, and we sat there, hunched over, putting together a Care Bear puzzle. Doing the big, multi-day puzzles with my best friends during quarantine definitely brought me back to this simpler time and made things a little bit bette...

Definitions of happiness vary greatly among people because it is something that truly depends on the qualities of a person and the way that they live their lives. For me, the definition of happiness is separated into three categories: past successes, present activities, and future goals. My past successes contribute greatly to happiness because it reminds me of all of the hard work that I have done to get me to the point that I am today. Whether it is succeeding in school, overcoming personal challenges, or meaningful friendships that I have made, I am happy that things have worked out in this specific way to bring me to my present self (even if some of the things in the past were hard to go through). While my past successes are important to define happiness, the things I do in the present on a daily basis are the most important for me in defining happiness. Among many things, I believe that it is important to practice self-care and to be surrounded by friends who support me and en...