When did you fall in love with Disney?

[Donald Duck]

Another way to phrase the question is, When did you become a Disney fan?

As corny as it sounds, I think I was a Disney fan since before I was born. My dad first got into Disney when he watched The Three Caballeros for the first time, and my mom is a lifelong fan of Snow White and Lady and the Tramp. My mom has told me that when she was pregnant with me, she watched "The Ugly Duckling" (the 1939 version) and sobbed. No, there's no credible (or even rational) proof that this shaped me for who I am today, but the point is I simply can't remember a time when I wasn't a Disney fan. Well, I did lose faith in Disney a bit in 2001, but I bounced back when Kingdom Hearts came out.

I've always loved The Sword in the Stone, and as a toddler I wanted to be a wizard, like Merlin. Alice in Wonderland is my other favorite Disney movie, but I was very embarrassed and kept my fandom a secret, for some stupid reason. Now I'm loud and proud.

What about you? Were you always hooked on Disney since before you can remember, or did you not get in until a certain age?

[Basil]

Excellent question.

Like you, I was raised on Disney. My mom took us to every film, and I do mean every. To this day, I still enjoy the live-action stuff from the 60s-80s that other folks disdain. I learned a lot about drawing by copying pictures out of the 4-volume book set in the cardboard slipcase. And my favourite toys were my Disneykins on the castle.

There were some years when super-heroes and Hanna-Barbera eclipsed Disney, and I still love those genres. But my Disney passion surged to the forefront again somewhere along the line.

Favourite movies: GMD, Sleeping Beauty, Lady and the Tramp, Jungle Book (Mom says it's the first movie I ever saw) and Aladdin.

Collect: Disneykins, action figures, pins of stand-alone characters, card sets

Disney Pastimes: trivia, creating websites, playing Disney Personification, drawing characters, collecting and RPing!

[Simba]

Aw man, now this is a great topic. I'm surprised it's taken this long to make it, haha!

What else can I say except, like most every one here, I was raised from almost day one on Disney. The first movie I can ever remember seeing (it probably was the first I saw, period) was The Jungle Book, and from then and there I was hooked. To this day it remains one of my absolute favorites, and is very special to me. I grew up absolutely obsessed with animals of all sorts, a love I retain today, and there's no doubt Jungle Book and countless other Disney movies are to thank for that - indeed, almost all of my childhood favorites involved animals. Bambi, 101 Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone (to some extent), The Fox and the Hound... And I even had a great love for the old live-action stuff. One of my most heavily watched tapes as a child was 1963's The Incredible Journey, a film I still hold dear. Rex Allen's narration echoes in my head to this day... and I still want a cat like Tao!

I lived off of the Disney Channel during my childhood, too, not only watching the great afternoon series like Darkwing Duck and Rescue Rangers; I was always hooked whenever an old special from the 50's or 60's came on late at night. I really do miss Vault Disney.

However, there was one single film that absolutely eclipsed my childhood, and the account I chose to post this might just give that away. The Lion King was the first movie I ever saw in theaters, and it CHANGED MY LIFE. It was in all honesty my very first obsession - and obsession is putting it lightly. I had everything. The toys, the stuffed dolls, the picture books, shirts, shampoo shaped like Mufasa... and every night I was lulled to sleep by the soundtrack. Really, I'd go so far as to say Lion King was my childhood. I was just completely entranced by it, to the point I would act out the whole movie myself (sometimes forcing my younger brother into it). I wore that poor VHS down to almost nothing... Really, if you think your love of Alice was bad, Joe... To this day, it remains my favorite Disney movie - and one of my all-time favorite movies period.

But then, I went through that phase. You know the one. Around age 10-12. Disney was no longer considered cool by my age group. Pokemon, Dragonball Z, video games and raunchy horror movies were where it was at. Away I drifted from my childhood love and more towards anime and American TV cartoons - I did hold onto my love, of course, but at the same time there was just that irrational desire to be "cool" above all else. Thankfully, a few years down the line, I grew out of that... and how. For most of my life, I've enjoyed drawing - and I kept at it for years and years, until I eventually learned that people actually were able to do nothing but draw for the rest of their lives and make money for it. Count me in! I went through a serious anime stage thanks to Toonami and a recent interest in Studio Ghibli, but eventually began to take more and more influence from American animation... which led to an eventual rediscovery of Disney.

I began looking at those films like I never had, before. I began actually marvelling at the animation, wondering how it was made, wondering what went behind those films that made up my childhood. I entered what you might call a re-obsession period, and began rewatching just about as many Disney movies as I could find - developing an appreciation for many I rarely watched (or never even saw, in cases such as Sleeping Beauty). I began researching incessantly about the artists responsible for the films, the Nine Old Men in particular as well as the newer age of animators. I watched behind the scenes documentaries, got books on animation... and I think it was during this period I decided I wanted to pursue a period in animation, which I'm going to art school for this very day. I've always loved animation in general... but my true, honest-to-goodness passion for it, I think, stems directly from my love of Disney.

also for the heckuvit

Favorite movies (in no real order): The Lion King, The Jungle Book, Fantasia, Bambi, Beauty and the Beast, The Sword in the Stone, Sleeping Beauty, The Fox and the Hound, Tarzan

[Miranda Wright]

I've been a fan since I was a little girl. They showed the movies at school, I watched Disney Afternoon religiously, we went to see the films in theaters and bought a number of them on tape when they came out on video. My mom likes a lot of Disney films as well, so I'm sure she played a part in my love for Disney. My sister and I still have many of the songs memorized can readily quotes movie lines.

With that said, I have a deep dark secret to confess: I went through a phase in my high school freshman days when I became anti-Disney after stumbling across an anti website railing against the company, both its business practices and the entertainment it put out (you know, the usual charges: Disney gives kids unrealistic dreams, etc.). Like Heffy, I grew out that stage when I realized that I still enjoyed many Disney films and shows and that blaming Disney for the problems with kids today was about stupid as blaming rap music or violent video games for real-life violence (I don't agree with some of the things the Disney company does though).

I too love animation, and actually wanted to become an animator at one point before. While I've switched career goals, animation will always hold a special place in my heart, Disney included. I just find the whole process of starting out with a sketch that goes onto to get animated and given a voice really fascinating.

Favorite movies: Lady and the Tramp, The Fox and the Hound, The Incredibles, Sky High, Aladdin, Cinderella, GMD, 101 Dalmatians.

Favorite television series: Gargoyles, Gummi Bears, Tailspin, Darkwing Duck, Hercules, Mighty Ducks, Aladdin.

[George Darling]

You can't call yourself a true Disney fan unless you sign up for this community with 'Disney Fan' as your user name.

As far back as I can remember (no, this is not a Goodfellas reference) I was always enjoying Disney-related films and events. I grew up on most of the Disney animated movies (and some live action ones, though Tron confused the ever-loving tar out of me as a kid), though there were some holes in the collection I could only fill as an adult (The Three Caballeros and The Black Cauldron are both films I never saw as a kid). My grandmother was personal friends with a high-ranking somebody at Disney, so every now and again we got to experience some neat things normal folk could not (for example, a screening copy of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on VHS during a time when Disney was not producing it for home video). Disneyland was also one of the first major, high-profile places I went to in my youth, and was the first roller coaster I could ever be strong-armed into getting on (The Matterhorn). Seeing The Little Mermaid in its premier, in theaters, is also the first movie-going experience I retain memory of. I was only five, at the time!

I loved a lot of the earlier television series: DuckTales, Gummi Bears, Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck, Gargoyles. Then there were things such as video games (DuckTales, Magical Quest, Mickey Mania, etc. Good times!) which spilled my interest of Disney into entertainment mediums outside of movies or television. This kept my attention even when I ceased being a small fry and started to expand into the giant I am today.

Then came the dark ages...

The Return of Jafar was the first. Poor animation; almost no returning voice actors; mutilation of both the original story and even Disney's own take on it. And it only got worse from there! More direct-to-shiteo releases; a drop in the quality of animated series; and the final nail in the coffin for me: The Emperor's New Groove. Upon seeing that movie... that... that atrocity, it became apparent to me that Disney had slid down a slope too slippery for me to dare follow. I had had enough, my loyalty was betrayed, and Disney and I went our separate ways.

That was until I heard rumors of a game being produce by [then] Squaresoft, which would blend Disney characters and franchises together with another property I held dear to my heart: Final Fantasy. I was intrigued at first, and the more I saw, the more excited I became. Kingdom Hearts was my second most anticipated game in my gaming life (the first having been Donkey Kong Country). So I pre-ordered it and snagged a copy the day it was released. Unimaginative, button-mashing combat, extremely lenient difficulty... not too thrilling, but for the flaws the game had, it had numerous merits to counter any shortcomings it had. I loved it. And it, as it turned out, was a Trojan Horse for Disney. Seeing these characters again, and remembering the good old days, got me nostalgic for Disney. So I went back and started to watch some old Disney flicks, and thought to myself: "Okay, so Disney may suck now, but that shouldn't stop me from remembering the good old days, right?" So I was weening back into Disney, but I didn't jump back in completely. That wouldn't happen until around four years later, when I met...

Joe! Joe and I met on another role-playing community, as he was together with my long-running online friend, Amanda (though, as funny as it sounds, she never once mentioned him to me before I met him myself). Joe and I hit it off almost immediately, and being who he is, the Disney discussions got rolling. I've rambled on for long enough, but... suffice to say, I'm back in full swing as a Disney fan. Do I love everything that they do? No. They still do many things which make me want to pull my hair out. But, hey. They do good things, too. And, in years past, they did great things. As some of you know, March of 2011 was the first time I had returned to Disneyland in over twenty years, and I'm tickled pink that I got to share that experience with Joe and Amanda.

Nah, I'm just joshin' ya. Warner Bros. is where it's at.

Th-th-th-th-th-that's all, folks!

SPOILER: Click to show

Now for a bit of irony. And yes, irony by its true definition... not by what everyone seems to think it is. Squaresoft (now Square-Enix) helped to pull me back into Disney fandom by combining it with something I cherished: Final Fantasy. Funny, then, how now I hate Square and how they destroyed the Final Fantasy franchise seemingly beyond repair. Furthermore, they also seem hell-bent on wrecking the Kingdom Hearts franchise, which is probably the only reason they're even financially stable after a wave of critically and financially panned games. They helped fix a missing piece of me, before falling to darkness themselves. Have a nice day!

[Donald Duck]

Really, if you think your love of Alice was bad, Joe...

I see your pretending-to-be-Simba scenarios, Andrew, and raise you one utterly obsessed Joseph!

I was in love with Alice. The crush was unbelievably creepy and sad. I cursed many an unmerciful god for not allowing her to be real. The first time I ever pulled an all nighter, at age 10 or 11, was just to watch Alice in Wonderland at an unreasonable time. I would watch the movie almost every time it was on. Hell, I even kept a picture of Alice in my wallet, as if she was a relative! I used to spend alone time among trees and a creek, fantasizing being in Wonderland... sometimes even being a knight to protect her. I would get pissed off at any film historians who dissed the movie (lahoo-ze-hers), and, believe me, there were many.

Very regrettably, I was also extremely sensitive and shy about my love for the movie. Many children hated it. I didn't have any friend who openly appreciated it, so it was, in my school district, treated like a plague. Well, if it was a plague I didn't mind getting infected by it. But I was still scared to admit it. Our family never bought it on VHS, a rarity. I would have to buy it myself. I bought the Masterpiece Edition VHS with my saved up allowances.


(The image is not my copy, but is the same edition I had.)

This was the first time I bought the movie, but I was terrified. You would've thought I was buying drugs from a dealer, the way I acted to the clerk... who, frankly, couldn't have cared less. I would regularly watch the movie but always alone in a room with a VHS player, with the doors closed. The volume couldn't be too loud. And, as if I haven't frightened you all enough, sometimes I would simply pause and just stare at her. I thought she was beautiful.

Years later, I started opening up more about the movie. On a major field trip, I spent much time with a woman who also loved Disney movies. She asked me what my favorite was, and I clammed up. She gently encouraged me and I said, "Alice in Wonderland." She asked me why I was so afraid to admit it, and I replied because a lot of people hate it. She said, "So what? You love it. That's all that matters." She had a great point.

Alice in Wonderland made its debut on DVD as a Gold Collection title. It was released, according to Amazon, on July 4, 2000. If this is true, that release date is either an intentional reference or an eerie coincidence, because July 4 was the day Charles Dodgson, alias Lewis Carroll, started to compose what would be the basis of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.


(Again, not my copy, but I also had this.)

I bought this DVD in Disneyland, believe it or not. The World of Disney store, to be more precise. While it was released in 2000, I got it in 2001. I also got the soundtrack, too. And I treated both like I was Bruce Wayne, and they were the Bat Cave. Despite the woman's lesson, I still wasn't courageous to openly admit that I frickin' love a movie about a little girl.

To be honest, I really don't remember why I started to gain more confidence, but I did. I joined Fantasmic Kingdom when it started in late 2002, and had a great time role-playing with Alice, who was probably an even better Alice than me. I believe her nickname was Lass or Lassie, and I doubt I'll ever reach her again. Sad.

After FK was destroyed by hackers, the RP was revamped by a different admin, who received permission (the original admin was too brokenhearted to start from scratch, understandably). Hosted on a different service (Xsorbit), FK became stable. It was at this time when I decided to take on... Ariel! And I sucked. Out loud. But on December 1, 2003, I played Alice for the first time. I've been doing it ever since!

So, by that time I was pretty much comfortable with my love for the movie. Haters gonna hate, but I dig it! I bought the 2004 Masterpiece Edition DVD, loud and proud. It's been like that ever since, no shame.

Quite possibly the biggest display of affection I have, both figuratively and literally, is my big figure of Alice that was produced in either 2004 or 2005. With my money, I purchased an Alice big figure. My mom was a little unsettled but ultimately cool with it. My sister was definitely put off, and she indirectly tried to persuade me to get the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, hell, ANYTHING BUT A LITTLE GIRL. I understand why she was creeped out, but I insisted and got it. It's been in my room ever since. The mushrooms have a built in light and can glow.

TL, DR version: Joseph is more obsessed with Alice than you can possibly fathom, and his history is tragically beautiful.

[Two-Tone]

How do I begin? Well when I was a young kid I always loved animation, though for me Disney had many great classics one of which stayed close to me which was 101 Dalmatians, seeing the movie made me fall in love with not just the dog breed but the lovable characters in it (mostly the puppies, especially a certain horseshoe spotted pup we all know and love) I had two of the first McDonalds happy meal toys from the rerelease of 101 Dalmatians in the early 90s which was a figurine of Pongo and a small figurine of Lucky holding a bone in his paws. the other two I didn't have were The Colonel with Seargent Tibbs on his back and Cruella de Vil whom had several puppies stashed in the pockets of her furcoat. time passed before 1996 when the live action remake of 101 Dalmatians came out, I so wanted to see it that holiday season (Glenn Close was one psychotic Cruella and she had Dr.House working for her too) the live action movie was really good, the live pups were adorable and also got me liking Two-Tone as much as I liked Lucky though I wasn't too keen on Lucky's redesign in the live action movie.

1997 was an interesting year just after the live action movie (and the Holiday Happy Meals at McDonalds with the 101 Dalmatians 101 piece set) we got the tv series based on the movies and novel and I fell in love with Lucky's return to his classic design (with a few differences being he has no spots on his legs or on the back of his head though he did have the horseshoe on his back) and also fell in love with Two-Tone's redesign (the black fur with white spots truly makes her like her name) Needless to say I loved the series.

Then came the 2000s and the direct to video sequels, I only consider 102 Dalmatians as a true sequel to 101 Dalmatians since it focuses on one of the pups all grown up with a family (namely Dipstick) I didn't like 101 Dalmatians 2 though it centered on Patch, I also didn't like Lucky with white ears or the apparent no showing of Rolly, Cadpig, Two-Tone, Jewel, Dipstick, or Wizzer.

Then came my discovery of the internet in 2000, I drifted around on the web till I found a little site known as Fantasmic Kingdom, I joined up as Two-Tone since at the time Lucky was taken and made a lot of great friends and shared the love of Disney with them, though I kinda wish those old days when FK was surging along would return, I also got involved in the boards' sister sites.

These days I do own a small beanie baby plush of Lucky and a 11 inch tall Two-Tone plush. I still RP though an incident in 2010 with a rival Disney RP board almost took my RP muse from me for good, a war site that totally ruined many Disney continunities including 101 Dalmatians which saw Lucky kill himself over a girl he never loved in the series, and Two-Tone be horribly mutilated and forced paired with Buster the villain from Lady and the Tramp 2 with their logic that Two-Tone is a heartless villain when she never was portrayed that way in the series, sure she was with the bully Mooch but she was trying to fit in, she wasn't totally bad and if she was she would have rejected Lucky in the episode Love em and Flea em instead of dating him (an ep I do adore since it features my two favorite Dalmatian pups getting together and also maintains my ideal that Two-Tone should have done more with Lucky and his group)

But enough about that other Disney site (I refuse to name it because of how stupid their war plot is and how bad it has become and for the raping of many Disney characters they did over there, also they banned the use of the core Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Clarabelle Cow, Horace Horsecollar, Chip, Dale, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, possibly even Walt himself.) I will always have a heart for Disney and for not just the animations and the theme parks (I need to get back to Disneyland some day) but for how awesome Disney can be.

[The Wastelander]

It's time for another Good Stories/Bad Stories
*ding*
GOOD STORY:
I had seen and loved the rest of Disney's animated films before my obsession blossomed, but Who Framed Roger Rabbit was what got me hooked. To this very day, I hope with all my heart that the US Government will let The Toons become members of American society and bring laughter to children everywhere. Also, in relation to what Joesph said, I once had a dream of saving Jasmine from Al Qaeda and being rewarded with... God, I' have issues. Point is, your not the only who has been sexually attracted to hand drawn hotties.

BAD STORY:
My mother forced me to watch High School Musical. It was brutal and I never forgave her.

[Cinderella]

When did I fall in love with Disney? I can safely say I've loved Disney from being very very young - my family, whilst not Disney nuts like me, have a history of watching Disney films (some even saw them when they premiered in the theatre - and I'm talking way back from the '60's - such as seeing The Jungle Book and Mary Poppins on their first run), and they usually have that one Disney film that has a special place in their hearts.

My earliest memory of encountering Disney was watching Beauty and the Beast on the old Disney Channel as a two-year-old (!!). As a child, I watched many video tapes containing the classics and frequently recall acting out key scenes - my favourite was to be either Snow White with her animal companions cleaning or pretending to be Ariel and swimming in the sea - I almost convinced myself that I was a mermaid, lol. Others I remember watching are Dumbo, Bambi, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and many more...a lot of them were the older films.

I never really grew out of Disney, but I did go through a phase during my early pre-teen years where I didn't find it as important anymore. Actually, this forum was one of the reasons Disney became such a huge part of my life again. I adore the characters and still find the films full of even more magic each time I watch them again. One of things I find fascinating is the animation, particularly the older, hand-drawn and hand-coloured work and the concept art and the premise of live-action actors. If I was capable, I'd totally be following Heffy in a career in animation. But I draw inspiration from Disney in studying theatre and wonder if I'd ever be lucky enough to voice one of their future characters.

Speaking of favourite characters...mine has always been, still is, and will likely forever be Ariel. As a kid, it was probably the marvel of seeing this magical underwater world and having a character who was a mermaid with a beautiful voice that sold me, but nowadays, whilst I still admire greatly those elements of her, I find that she inspires me - plain and simple, Ariel is someone I'd love to be like - outgoing, bubbly, adventurous, fiery. Sure, she has her selfish points, but I think her positives far outweigh the negatives. If I could ever meet Jodi Benson...boy, that'd be the day! Plus the film is my all-time favourite, it's just awesome, simply put. ♥

Favourite films: The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, Cinderella, The Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, The Fox and the Hound, Bambi, The Black Cauldron, The Jungle Book and Alice in Wonderland.

[Basil]

Although I already gave my, er...testimony, here are some further thoughts.

Like some of you, I am also hooked on one specific character.

When I saw The Great Mouse Detective back in prehistoric 1986, Basil immediately became my...second-favourite character. Yep, right behind Uncle Scrooge. Back then, there was no such thing as home video, and it was ten long years before I had the opportunity to see the movie in re-release.

And that finished me. Basil became my obsession, eclipsing every other fictional character ever created.

Tehre was another wait of some years, I forget how many, before that lovely VHS hit the stands, in which time I used my VCR to collect snippets of GMD as seen in various Disney TV productions. But having the movie in my own hands, to watch on my own screen--sheer bliss! (Yes, even if it wasn't letterboxed).

I once watched the entire movie frame by frame, using the pause button, just to savour each detail.

I now collect GMD merchandise, which is actually possible, as there isn't an overabundance. I RP Basil when I can (I've found I can't possibly play opposite someone else's Basil--it just reads all wrong to me), and am webmistress of his webring, besides running his Facebook account and my own Basil website.

Magnificent obsession, indeed!