We are approaching a rather unfortunate time in the year. Christmas is over, everything is cold and gray, and the only holiday looming up ahead is Valentine's Day, which is basically useless until all the chocolate goes on sale. It can be easy to forget what sunshine and joy look like, which is why we could all use a reminder now more than ever. And nothing does sunshine and joy better than Disney. Disney movies can provide you with a much-needed escape from the gray banality that is midwinter, and anybody who tells you that you are too old for them is not really your friend or maybe even a kind of evil vampire or something.
1. Finding Nemo
If you're looking to laugh instead of cry, you might want to skip the first ten minutes of this movie, but besides that "Finding Nemo" is a great movie for upping your spirits. It's got adventure, friendship, laughs, and lots of bright colors to distract you from the dingy snow-covered landscape that you are currently inhabiting.
2. Tarzan
This one takes place in the jungle, so it's got a looooot of green, and it must be warm if Tarzan can run around in just that ratty little loincloth. The one thing I take issue with is the state of his body. I find it highly unlikely that this jungle man looks more like a hairless cat than an ape having probably never been introduced to razors. I want to know his secret.
3. Alice in Wonderland
Sometimes you want to escape to a place that's inaccessible to you not because you're not a fish or an apeman, but because it's not real. "Alice in Wonderland" really engages your imagination in a way that other movies don't, and that scene with the flowers will make you ready for spring, even if they are kind of elitist and slightly more devious looking than the average plant.
4. Pirates of the Caribbean
Swashbuckling adventures on the high seas with Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom (whose name is really springy and warm, incidentally), and it has Caribbean in the title, which is practically a vacation by itself. Enough said.
5. The Emperor's New Groove
I feel like this movie doesn't usually get enough credit for being as clever as it is. It has a talking llama, which is obviously the very essence of clever comedy. It's also set in an extremely exotic locale you can imagine yourself in, though this one may feature more scorpions and bats than you'd like, so you might have to imagine those out.
6. Lilo and Stitch
This one has Hawaii and aliens, both of which are beautifully imagined in this movie. I am too afraid of sharks to try surfing nor have I ever owned a Stitch as a pet, whatever that is, but I can live vicariously through a little girl who has more guts and coordination than I do.
7. Aladdin
This one is my favorite Disney movie of all time and I may be sort of low-key (high-key) in love with Aladdin, but even if you don't spend the whole movie gushing over him like I do, it's still a great one for cheering up. When the weather where you are has been struggling to stay above twenty degrees, the blistering heat of Agrabah seems markedly preferable, as does a universe where genies exist and good and true love always win out in the end. The increased frequency of elaborate musical numbers is also a bonus.
8. Peter Pan
I don't think there's a place I'd like to visit more than one called Neverland. It sounds like you're doing something rebellious by going there, which is probably sort of the point for these kids. The only adults there are pirates and Indian chiefs, and they don't seem to take bedtime or finishing your vegetables too seriously.
9. Tangled
I don't want to speak for everyone, but this movie really reignited my love for Disney movies at a slightly older age. It was one of the first movies that had come out in a long time that really captured that Disney magic of our childhoods. The music, the story, the design, everything is absolutely charming. But it might make you want to drop out of school to pursue a career in princesshood, so you might want to watch out for that.
10. The Lion King
Again, this has some parts that are a little on the heavy side, even for a Disney movie, but if you can get past that the artistry of it is really quite amazing. You could probably just skip anything that features, oh I don't know, wildebeests or stampedes, and get right to the Hakuna Matata-ing, which of course means no worries for the rest of the semester. I'm pretty sure those are the words.
