Friday, December 20, 2013

Day 279: Confessions of a Disney Princess Fan Part 2



Signs of Disney Obsession         

     One of the tell-tale signs of a true Disney princess fan is that she has been to Disneyland at least once in her life, with going to Disney World at the top of her bucket list.  Out of all the places Nani wanted to go for her twenty-first birthday, she picked Disney World.  Talk about “Where Dreams Come True!”  Since she lives in California, Brooke has a year-round pass to Disneyland and has been to Disney World several times.  When she goes to Disneyland, she is involved in the popular pin trading system, actively searching out pins from her favorite childhood TV shows like Bear in the Big Blue House to add to her already blossoming lanyard.
         
     Die-hard Disney fans are more involved in showing their love for their favorite princesses.  They still listen to the soundtracks.  Nani related a story that when she was playing some party music on her iPod while driving to the club with her friends, the next song shuffled to a Disney one.  Fans don’t let embarrassing situations like this keep them from loving Disney.  Lucy shared that before she was married, she used to keep The Little Mermaid movie continuously playing in the background while her roommate and she studied.  Jazz barely stopped to think as she listed the objects she still has of her princess, “I have figurines… a wash cloth, a wallet, a backpack, a cup, a lunch bag, a blanket.”  She slept with a Jasmine plush doll until she was ten, and Aladdin was the first Blu-Ray movie she bought.  She even swapped beach towels with her friend so they could have the princesses that they wanted.  With a nod, she finished, “I’m a Princess Jasmine hoarder.”  Similarly, Rebecca says “both rooms at college and at home” are “Pocahontas and now Princess and the Frog,” complete with bedspreads, wall stickers, and more. Brooke bonds with her baby sister through watching Disney Junior with her, gaining a new excuse to watch Disney.

     Kaitlyn, my little sister, is obsessed with Disney just enough to keep her sanity.  Besides adoring the movies and singing along with the songs, she has two shelves displaying every Disney couple doll set, both vintage and contemporary ones from the Disney Store.  The other night, she added two more.  Of her favorite princess, she has multiple ornaments, a Limited Edition Disney Store Wedding Doll, dinnerware, a wall poster, and the costume.  She also spends her evenings looking at websites that promote Disney merchandise or that share fan art about the characters.  She gets to relive her love for them and enjoy some pretty art in the process.  When she learned about the newest princess movie Frozen, she counted on the calendar until she could see it on opening day.

     As mentioned previously, girls experience a special bond with a certain Disney princess, and after this choice is made, it affects the girl for the rest of her life.  Analyzing why girls are drawn to specific princesses can reveal much about their personalities and reflect how they carry themselves as adults.  The following is a more detailed look at how Disney princesses have impacted my eight interviewees.

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