Underrated Disney films you need to see! [ #bloggerstribe @blogginggals #bloggerslife #bloggerssparkle #thebloggercrowd #influencerrt @rtlbloggers @FemBloggers @BusyBloggers #Grlpowr @PLBChat @wssbloggers #thebloggershub ]

Disney has come out with hundreds of films and in the midst of hypes like Frozen, many films get pushed under the rug and forgotten about. So here are 5 of my underrated Disney films that I think everyone should watch or rewatch! Big Hero 6. Released in late 2014 I thought the film was entertaining, emotional and gripping, things I look for in a film. With a marvel-esk theme of superhereos and…

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Does Relatability = good movie? And which story line is better?

so yesterday I was have a civil disagreement with my boyfriend. the disagreement was concerning some disney movies.

I personally really like the movie Encanto and Brave. Like, I really like them for their story, their characters, the music, the setting, and their emotional appeal. But my boyfriend said “they’re okay.” and that bothered me.

So I said: “ you probably just don’t like movies that are emotionally driven so you don’t find it relatable.”to which he responds: “what. I like Brother Bear. That’s very emotional.”

to which I initially agreed. but then I thought about it.

Brother Bear is “emotional”. But not in the way I mean.

Brother Bear’s protagonist is Kenai. Kenai’s actions lead to his big brothers death. He then goes after the bear that he blames for is big brothers death. He kills the bear successfully, but is then cursed to become a bear. He later meets the child of the bear he killed. He learns that he had made a mistake for the sake of revenge.

That’s a great story yes, but here’s the problem for me.

Is it relatable?

…kinda?

The real emotional connection for me is with the baby bear Koda.

Koda’s situation is more relatable. Could you forgive someone who wronged you in such a tremendous way?

So I emotionally connect with Koda, and not Kenai who is the main character.

Not saying brother bear is bad. But it is a movie where I don’t empathize with the main character that much.

so then I go down the list of other movies my boyfriend actually likes.

He likes The Iron Giant, Emperors New groove, Atlantis, Treasure Planet, Sinbad, Aladdin, Hercules, Tarzan.

So he generally likes movies with a male protagonist. That’s fine. Because its more relatable if the character is the same as you. But I noticed some similarities between these movies. A lot of them don’t really dive that deeply into the main characters emotions.

A lot of them aren’t relatable characters. though I will say that all the movies my boyfriend seems to like have an arc of feeling inadequate or unnoticed, or unappreciated by those around them. That’s the part that makes them relatable to the viewer. (says more about my boyfriend than anything really)

The premise of the movies I listed (other than emperors new groove) is about men who have a passion for something “to be accepted for who they are”. The characters are all trying to fit in, trying to make a difference, trying to achieve something great. Their whole existence seems to be based on the approval of others. Now that’s pretty common in movies with a female protagonist as well, so it’s not just unique to male movies.

So lets make a simple breakdown of the movies my boyfriend likes.

Brother Bear: main character makes a mistake. The man needs to come to terms with his mistake and face the consequences. Become a better person. Relatable character is the side character. Kenais whole arc is also, “I don’t want my totem to be the bear of love, thats lame.” to “I’m now literally a bear and I love this baby bear.” So in a way Kenai’s arc is to not be consumed by the need to prove himself.

The Iron Giant:

Though the movie is called “the iron giant” the main character is technically Hogarth. Hogarth does not really have a personal arc. He’s a smart kid that does things that worries his mom. He finds a machine of destruction, saves machine, machine becomes his best friend. People want to destroy machine. Hogarth and friends try to stop them. The giant is the one to go through a character arc. He goes from “my only purpose is to destroy” literally a giant made of weapons, to “I don’t ever want to kill anything ever. I want to be superman and do good.” Side character is relatable. A character that doesn’t just want to be what he was made for or what society sees him as.

Emperors New Groove:

( just an amazing movie) But the story to put it simply is, Kuzco is a little shit that is selfish, self-centered, and does whatever he wants, and doesn’t care about other people. AT ALL. But by the end of the movie he learned to be less shitty. Not a whole lot of emotional stuff here, but its about a man realizing he needs to be a better person.

Atlantis:

A guy whose passion is finding atlantis. He’s got nothing else in his life other than that. No one respects him, his only thing is Atlantis. He then finds atlantis. saves atlantis, gets the pretty girl. Lives in atlantis. (great movie, but personally Milo doesn’t really go through any character arc. He’s a nice guy at the beginning, and he’s still the same nice guy at the end. He didn’t need to really ever change, because he was already a fulfilled person. He never makes an actually bad decision. He’s always trying to do the right thing.) The side characters get somewhat of a shift from, “I want money” to “ killing people is probably bad, so I’m okay without money.)

Treasure Planet:

Kid that likes adventure and having fun, but doesn’t want to cause trouble for his mom. also has daddy issues. He wants to be a man that can help his mom financially and achieve something. In the end he does. (treasure planet is one of the more emotionally driven and relatable male protaganist movie.) He wants to do better with his life. But see Jim doesn’t have much of a character arc either. He doesn’t like to fuck up, and he wants to be seen as more than a fuck up. Thats why the whole rope cut scene is important to Jim’s character. He did his best, and he thinks he fucked up. But he didn’t. People around him thinks he fucked up. He’s always trying to prove he’s worth something. The actual character arc is in Silver. the side character. A guy that only cares about money, realize he cares about this kid. That affection and understanding is what Jim needed. Jim didn’t need to change as a character, he just needed someone to accept him.

Sinbad:

(personally think sinbad is kind of a boring movie, but I love Eris) So anyways. Sinbad is similar to some of the others. He’s not a great guy, he’s selfish, he care about freedom and money. But he cares about his friend, so he’s willing to die for his friend. He just becomes a better person. Or really, lets himself be the good person he is.

Aladdin:

A guy living on the streets that is seen as a nuisance. Told he’s worthless. "rift raff street rat, I don’t buy that. if only they look closer… would they see a poor boy, no siree. They’d find that there’s so much more to me. The story of Aladdin I think isn’t really about "getting rich and getting the pretty girl.” It’s about him wanting to be seen as something more than worthless. And he is already a good guy from the start. Aladdin steals bread, goes through the whole chase sequence, but just ends up giving his bread to starving kids. He doesn’t need to actually have a character arc. He’s already a good guy. He just needs someone to notice that. Genie is the character that notices that. And even proven further by freeing genie instead of using his last wish. Aladdin was always a good guy, but he didn’t believe it himself until Genie basically tells him.

Hercules:

a guy that can’t control his strength is seen as a freak, and an outcast. All Hercules wants is to be accepted. “I have often dreamed of a far off place where a heroes welcome will be waiting for me.” Hercules is always a good guy from the start to end. The only arc he goes through is, “I need to be adored by people and accepted and become a god.” but ends up with “I only need this one person. I love her and she loves me, and I don’t really need to be a god to feel like I belong”.

Tarzan:

Tarzan is seen as an outcast in his family/herd?/group because he’s a human in a group of gorillas. He has to try extra hard to get recognition. He has the same issue as Jim Hawkins. Daddy issues, and causing trouble for his mom. A lack of belonging. He proves himself by showing what he’s capable of, fixing his mistakes, and getting the girl.

So overall for male protagonist movies the premise is, “fix your mistakes, prove yourself, and be recognized for who you are.” This is also a common premise in female protagonist movies. the whole

“You’re special just the way you are, don’t change that, be true to yourself.” example: Mulan, Pocahontas etc.

And that’s not a bad premise. Self acceptance is important.

But the issue I see with this all is:

The main character doesn’t really change. He’s already perfect from the start, he just needs society to recognize it. Mind you not all male protagonist movies are like this I think, So let’s really see.

Kenai: from brother bear in that sense does actually change as a character. He actually grew and BECAME a better person.

Kuzco: learns to think about other people. He becomes a better person.

Toy Story: Woody learns that there’s more to life than being the center of attention, and he becomes a better person. (like if you actually watch the first toy story. woody is such a dick towards buzz the whole time. He is both technically the protagonist and Antagonist for a good chunk of the movie. But he learns to be better.)

Lion King: Simba goes from “cocky i’m a badass” to “my dad died because of me, so I’m going to stop caring” to “ I have to be the leader.” Simba actually goes through the “heroes journey”. He actually changes and grows.

A Goofy Movie: actually a movie where both characters grow and change. Max learns there is more to life than being cool and accepted at school. Goofy learns that his son is growing up, and he needs to respect that. Max learns that his dad isn’t terrible. They learn to accept each other along with their difference. But they both change for the better.

I like these movies where the character actually changes, instead of the ones that blame society for not accepting them. For the perfect person they are.

But I feel like a majority of movies with male protagonist usually boils down to about two basic tropes:

1. I’m a male protagonist who is misunderstood and not accepted by society for who I am. My story ends with society accepting me for who I am
2. I’m a male protagonist that learned from my mistakes and has become a better person in the end.

I’m not really sure which is better. Which is the better lesson?

Accept yourself for who you are. Get society to accept you for who you are.

Or

Realize you have flaws and work on them.

Now back to the relatability factor.

How relatable are these characters?

Do you relate more to a character that feels unappreciated by society?

or

Do you relate more to a character that learns from his mistakes and grows as a person?

Maybe that depends on the type of person you actually are. I don’t personally relate to Kenai because I don’t think I’ve personally wronged another person. But I could be wrong. Maybe I just don’t realize it, and maybe I need to be a better person. So the movies where the character changes for the better aren’t as relatable as the movies where society accepts them for who they are.

So am I wrong in thinking a movie is BETTER if its more relatable?

From my boyfriends opinion:

Brother Bear is a good movie

but

Brave is an “okay” movie.

For me Brave is a much more relatable movie. Not because I’m a girl, and Merida is a girl. But because Merida’s conflict is, “my mom doesn’t listen to what i say, and my opinion doesn’t matter to her.” But Merida herself is also at fault for ignoring what her mom is trying to do

Both her mother and Merida learn that they need to change and better understand the other. The movie starts off with the option 1 trope of “I want to be myself and people around me need to accept me for who I am, but ends with. both technically. My mom needed to see me for who I am, but I also needed to see my mom for who she is.

Encanto has a similar premise. Mirabel is struggling to be accepted by her family because she has no gift. Her Abuela is mean to her, and doesn’t see Mirabel for who she’s trying to be. Mirabels mom even says to her "you’re special just the way you are” but Mirabel rolls her eyes because she doesn’t believe it herself. So Mirabel’s arc is, “I want people to see that I’m someone.” But her arc changes to, “my family members who I thought were so special and better off than me are also struggling. it’s not just me.” Mirabel realizes that there is more to life than being “special” and unique. Her sister Isabella struggles with being seen as ONLY special. and perfect, and pretty. and Louisa is ONLY strong. Her arc is learning that she’s not the only person that struggles with feelings of inadequacy.

Both Brave and Encanto recognize that YES society doesn’t see you for who you really are, BUT you aren’t looking at society. You’re not looking at the other people. Human beings are complicated. And it can’t just be easily put as “you’re special just the way you are and society needs to accept that. ” and its also not just, “ you need to change” so that you are accepted.

and I relate to that concept, thus I really like both the movies.

So I asked the boyfriend:

“which movie is better. Moana or Encanto”

and he says Moana. ( Which is mainly because he just likes Maui and the Rock) And yeah the music is pretty fantastic in Moana.

But do I relate to Moana?? nah. Which is fine. Her Arc is, “I just feel like I have to do this thing.” to “I fucked up” to “I’m doing the thing”. She doesn’t really change that much with the story. Yeah she cries when she thinks she’s failed but in the end she succeeds, she saves the day, she changes society to accept her as the voyager she is. So she falls into option 1. Moana doesn’t change as a person, she’s perfect just the way she is, and society changed.

So in conclusion

My interest in movies generally involve The main character changing themselves, while my boyfriends movies usually involve the people around them changing to accept the character.

Maybe that’s just the difference in our personalities.

I just really hate it when characters have no introspection. It’s like a lack of responsibility.

I may expand on this thought later, but i just really needed to write it down. maybe an analysis of female protagonist characters that have the same trope issues.

“You think the only people who are people, are the people who look and think like you”

But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger"

“You’ll learn things you never knew you never knew”

“And we are all connected to each other in a circle, in a hoop that never ends”

nixtevs-hugo-boss:

this is going around twitter rn but im also super curious: please tell me your top four comfort movies that you’re always down to watch bc my friend thinks mine are ridiculous and now we’ve realised everyone’s version of “comfort” is hilariously different