We were all guilty of it as kids. Wanting to watch the same movie over and over and over again. For me it was The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. How could you go wrong with any of those!? The answer: you can’t.
Today I came home excited because I was finally going to sit down and watch “Moana”, the latest Disney movie, set in the South Pacific.
Since its release, my 8 year old daughter has frequently requested the soundtrack as our driving music, and I happily oblige, because they are top notch tunes. Lin Manuel-Miranda (ever heard of that little musical called Hamilton? Well, that’s his) is one of the main songwriters for the movie, and the music it’s phenomenal!
I’ll listen to it even when I don’t have my daughter in the car. Would you like to know why? Because I can friggin’ CRUSH (see: butcher) the song “How Far I’ll Go”. You probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between my singing and that of Auli’i Cravalho’s (who is the voice for Moana). If you ever see me driving around, gesturing and serenading the horizon, that’s 100 percent the song I am singing.
No shame.
Anyway, I started the movie and watched the entire thing in one sitting. Which, if you’re familiar with my movie viewing habits, just does not happen. This is how it normally* goes down…
-Start movie
-Let it play for two minutes
-PAUSE!
-Bathroom break
-While I’m up, might as well make popcorn (plan ahead, idiot!)
-Play movie (look up cast and trivia on IMDB)
-Realize I forgot a drink
-PAUSE!
-Get drink
-Play movie for a bit
-PAUSE!
-Drive to the beach to pet a seagull
-Come back home
-Play movie
-PAUSE!
-Write the Next Great American novel
-Play movie
-PAUSE
-Win a Pulitzer Prize for aforementioned novel
-Die
*ever so slightly exaggerated
By the time we get through a 1.5 hour long movie, it’s been 40 hours, they’ve remade it twice, and mullets have (somehow) been socially embraced again.
From beginning to end (even watched ALL of the credits) I was completely mesmerized. Visually this film is stunning, the music, as I mentioned before, is just perfect. I won’t say anything about the story because, unlike my daughter, I have a little decency when it comes to not wanting to spoil a movie for someone.
I sat on the couch with my prepared-ahead-of-time-perfectly-popped popcorn, expertly slushed Gatorade, put aside everything on my mind for a bit, and just enjoyed a movie by myself. It was amazing! I felt like a kid again! I cried, I laughed, I got chills.
Then I watched it two more times after that.
Being an adult is hard sometimes, you deserve a break. I’m mandating the following: put some pajamas on, turn off your phone, make the kids nap, and rock a new Disney movie like you used to back then! Get caught up in something magical! Then do it again because it’s that good.
