Disney does an amazing job at displaying love throughout their films. I have been watching Disney movies since I was old enough to hold my head up high enough to see the television, so Disney is an important aspect of my life. I have watched as princes swooped in and saved their princesses, and I always dreamed of meeting my Prince Charming. Although many people believe that Disney portrays an unrealistic version of love for young girls and boys, I believe that Disney managed to show the different versions of love, even if there is a little more magic than in real life. Here are five different Disney movies that displayed different versions of love without making it seem too out of reach.
1. "Beauty and the Beast"
The movie, “Beauty and the Beast” displays two different types of love. The first type is that between a daughter and her father. Belle’s father, Maurice, gets captured by the terrifying Beast, and the Beast threatens to throw him into an insane asylum unless Belle marries him. Belle then takes the place of her father, agreeing to live with the scariest man in her town, just so her father can continue to live his life in the town. Belle could have easily said “no,” and her father would have been take away instantly, but instead, she sacrificed herself for her father. That is unconditional love.
The second love displayed in “Beauty and the Beast” is that between a woman and a man -- or Beast in this case. Belle enters the castle and instantly senses the hostility coming from the Beast. She continuously works toward making the Beast a friendly one, even when the Beast is stubborn and goes against her wishes. Eventually, the Beast realizes his true feelings toward Belle, and he works as hard as he can to please her. By the end of the movie, the Beast is transformed into a handsome prince, and Belle and the prince live happily ever after. She deeply loved and cared for him even when he was an ugly, stubborn beast. That is devoted love.
2. "Wall-e"
Wall-e is just a lonely, little robot on planet Earth, constantly cleaning up the trash and debris the humans left before living on their life-sustainable space craft in the wonderful movie “Wall-e.” The humans send down a floating, white robot, Eve, to search the planet for any life form. Eve finds Wall-e in her attempt to find life, and Wall-e falls in love with Eve, even though he cannot pronounce her name –-- which is why most people believe her name is Eva. Eve gets the plant she was looking for and prepares to leave to go back to space, but Wall-e cannot stand to see her go, so he stows away on her ship.
One thing leads to another, and Wall-e ends up getting crushed while trying to save the ship and insert the plant into the evaluation tube. Once he is fixed, it becomes obvious that the robot that looks like Wall-e is not Wall-e. Eve is heartbroken that once she realized she loves him, Wall-e is lost to her forever. She leans in to give him one last kiss and sparks fly, literally! The kiss brings Wall-e back to his old self, and Wall-e and Eve live happy together at last. That is surprising love.
3. "The Princess and the Frog"
In “The Princess and the Frog,” Prince Naveen is cursed by a voodoo doctor and is forced to live his life as a frog. He finds Tiana, who is dressed up as a princess for a costume party, and begs her to kiss him, hoping it would turn him back into a human, just like the fairy tale “The Princess and the Frog.” Little did they know that since she was not a true princess, she would be turned into a frog as well. In attempt to become humans again, they meet many different characters, including Juju, a witch doctor, Marlon the Gator, and a sweet, little lightening bug, Ray.
These characters help Naveen and Tiana realize their true feelings for one another. Toward the end of the movie, they come to terms with the fact they may never become humans again, but they still love each other. Juju marries them while still frogs, and when they share their first kiss as a married couple, something magical happens: they turn back into humans! Naveen fell in love with Tiana, even though she was not royalty, and was willing to give up his entire lifestyle because love was more important to him than money. That is sacrificial love.
4. "Tangled"
Flynn Rider has one mission, and one mission only: to obtain money. He does not care about anyone or anything else more than he cares about robbing people to get money. After stealing the crown from the castle, Flynn attempts to hide away in Rapunzel’s castle. When she notices a strange man in her tower, she knocks him out, ties him up and begins questioning him when he awakens. They agree that if he takes her to the floating lanterns, she will give him his crown back. They go on an adventure to get her to the lanterns, but run into many different obstacles, such as Vikings, castle guards, a stubborn, but eventually helpful, horse, a “terrified” mother, and two thieves. When they get to the lanterns, Flynn realizes that he wants something more than money in life: he wants Rapunzel. He goes to return the crown to the thieves that want it, but gets tricked by them and Rapunzel’s mother, who takes Rapunzel back to her tower.
When Flynn attempts to save Rapunzel, the mother stabs him and plans to leave him to die. Rapunzel agrees to go with her without a fight, only if she gets to save Flynn. As she is holding Flynn to save him, he cuts her magical hair and takes his last breath. The mother then dies because the magical hair is what was keeping her alive, leaving Rapunzel holding a lifeless Flynn in her arms. She begins to cry over her loss, a magical tear lands on Flynn’s face, bringing him back to life. Flynn knew that if Rapunzel went with her mother that she would never live the life she wanted to, so he was willing to give up his own life so she could have one of her own. That is selfless love.
5. "Up"
There is a five-minute scene in the beginning of “Up” with hardly any dialogue, just the journey of two kids that fell in love and built a life together, eventually becoming the Fredricksen’s. At the end of this scene, it becomes obvious that the wife, Ellie, passes away, leaving the old man, Carl, on this Earth with nothing but memories of their past and the adventure book they began creating when they first met. Carl then sets out to make their adventure dream come true, all while facing the difficulty of taking care of a boy scout (by accident), running into plotting dogs, big, goofy birds, and battling against a man with the same dream as him.
Carl could have easily given up and gone back home, but in order to honor his wife, he pushed through and eventually made it to the place where they wanted to live happily ever after. He overcame so many obstacles just to make her happy, and she was not even physically with him anymore. That is true love.
