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The Original Plan for "Toy Story"

 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...

...Happily Ever After...

 "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...

Nostalgia and the Pandemic

 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...

Happiness

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...

Introduction

Hello Pod Squad! My name is Caroline Rozzo, and I am a biomedical engineering major on the pre-med track. Some of my favorite things to do are bake (especially rainbow cookies), run, go to the beach, scuba dive, crochet, and spend time with my friends (even if it's just sitting on the couch watching tik toks). I chose to take the Decoding Disney Writing 101 class because I really enjoy watching Disney movies, and I think that it will be very interesting to analyze and explore different perspectives of something as simple as a Disney movie that I watched when I was five years old. My favorite Disney movie is definitely Monster's, inc. because I used to watch it with my family over and over when I was younger; it holds a special place in my heart. I am very excited for this upcoming semester!