The ABC's of Disney movies, as told by me (M/N)

A couple more letters coming your way!

M –

Monsters, Inc. (2001)

I really like this movie, it’s so cute and Boo is one of the most adorable characters ever. It’s hilarious the interactions between Sulley, Mike, and Boo when they all first meet, not that the whole movie isn’t funny, because it is. The actors who voice Sulley and Mike play off each other so well that you’ll seriously smile throughout the entire thing. :)

Fun Facts:

In keeping with the running gag of Mike being obscured in every photo, on the DVD the hole in the disc appears directly over where Mike would be standing.

When Sulley is about to say goodbye to Boo, Boo is trying to get him to play. A doll of Nemo The Clownfish appears. This is the first appearance of the character who will be the focus of Finding Nemo (2003), storyboarded before this movie but not completed until two years later.

Mary Gibbs was so young that it proved difficult to get her to stand in the recording studio and act her lines. Instead, they simply followed her around with a microphone and cut Boo's lines together from the things she said while she played.

Fun Quotes:

Randall: Where is it, you little one-eyed cretin?
Mike: Okay, first of all, it's "creetin". If you're going to threaten me, do it properly. Second of all, you're nuts if you think kidnapping ME is going to help YOU cheat your way to the top.
Randall: [chuckles evilly] You still think this is about that stupid scare record?
Mike: Well... I did. Right up until you... chuckled... like that... And now I'm thinking I should just get out of here.

[Boo, in disguise, walks up to Mr. Waternoose]
Henry J. Waternoose: Well hello, little one. Where did you come from?
Sulley: Mr. Waternoose.
Henry J. Waternoose: Ah, James. Is this one yours?
Sulley: Ah, actually that's my uh, cousin's sister's daughter, sir.
Mike: Yeah, it's uh, "Bring an Obscure Relative to Work Day".
Henry J. Waternoose: Hmm, must have missed the memo.
Sulley: Mike, this isn't Boo's door.

Mike: Boo? What's Boo?
Sulley: That's... what I decided to call her. Is there a problem?
Mike: Sulley, you're not supposed to name it. Once you name it, you start getting attached to it. Now put that thing back where it came from or so help me...
[Mike pauses, realizing that they suddenly have the attention of the entire scare floor]
Mike: Oh, hey. We're rehearsing a - a scene for the upcoming company play called uh, Put That Thing Back Where It Came From Or So Help Me. It's a musical.
[singing]
Mike: Put that thing back where it came from or so help me... so help me, so help me and cut. We're still working on it, it's a work in progress but, hey, we need ushers.

Runner-up
Mulan (1998)

Mulan is a wonderful Disney film for many reasons. One is that it has the strong female character that I really like. She has a good head on her shoulders and speaks her mind, even when her culture forbids it. Another is what is learned from the story such as acceptance, friendship, loyalty, and honor. This movie, to me, seems realistic and a lot more relatable because it actually lacks the magical, fantasy element (aside from Mushu and the Guardians) that many other Disney movies possess. Mulan has to rely on her quick wits and faithful friends to best the notorious Shan-Yu. Overall, great movie!

Fun Facts:

In the original Chinese legend upon which this film was based, Mulan succeeds in her deception, and leaves the battlefield with great honors. Months later, Mulan's fellow soldiers come in search of their "brother"-in-arms, and are shocked to discover that she's a woman.

“Fa” is the Cantonese pronunciation of Mulan's family name. "Hua" is the correct Mandarin pronunciation, and means "flower". "Hua Ping" (Mulan's fake name) means "flower vase" or just "vase".

Fun Quotes:

Grandmother Fa: Great. She brings home a sword. If you ask me, she should've brought home a man.
Shang: Excuse me. Does Fa Mulan live here?
[Grandmother and Mother dumbly point to the garden]
Shang: Thank you.
Grandmother Fa: Whoo! Sign me up for the next war.

First Ancestor: We must send the most powerful of all.
Mushu: Okay, okay. I get the drift. I'll go.
[Ancestors laugh]
Mushu: Oh, y'all don't think I can do it? Watch this here!
Mushu: [breathes a very small flame] Aha! Jump back. I'm pretty hot, huh? Don't make me have to singe nobody to prove no point.
First Ancestor: You had your chance to protect the Fa family.
Old Female Ancestor: Your misguidance led Fa Deng to disaster!
Fa Deng: [holding his severed head] Yeah, thanks a lot.

N –

National Treasure (2004)

First of all, I love National Treasure because of the historical element to it. I like history (yes, I’m a nerd :P) and making it sort of like a scavenger hunt where one clue leads to another just makes it all the more fun! I love Riley’s character too, he’s really funny. This movie is fast-paced and awesome. Nicolas Cage is pretty awesome in his own right as well.

Fun Facts:

Ben, Patrick, and John Gates were all named after founding fathers (Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, and John Adams). Abigail Chase is a combination of Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, and Samuel Chase, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and later an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Good guys in the movie use Google and bad guys use Yahoo! search engines. (Haha, I love this fact!)

In the DC segment during the planning stage of the burglary the movie cuts to an external shot of a building on the Potomac River - presumably where the bad guys are planning their attempt. This building is the Watergate Hotel.

Fun Quotes:

Riley Poole: It's a big blue-ish green man... with a strange-looking goatee... I'm guessing that's significant.
[hugs the statue]

Ben Gates: The preservation room. Enjoy. Go ahead. Do you know what the preservation room is for?
Riley Poole: Delicious jams and jellies?

Ian Howe: You all right, Ben? No broken bones? A jump like that could kill a man.
Ben Gates: No, it was cool. You should try it some time.

Until next time,


HAVE A MAGICAL DAY!