So I’ve been indoctrinating my almost 3-year old with my favorite cartoons a while now and I’ve experienced a wide variety of feelings throughout the process. Disappointment when she’s not interested, irrational pride as though I wrote the movie when she loves one, very real pride when she empathizes with the characters, and a few surprises with whoops – didn’t remember that being so violent or sad – skip! (Total side note here… dude, Disney’s 1999 Tarzan would NOT get a G rating today… the entire intro musical number then first non-musical scene, whoo-e intense!)
Pixar’s 2006 Cars is now requested multiple times daily as, “Racing cars show?” We do not give in to every request, but it is pretty close to once a day. There are certainly worse things to listen to so frequently, and I think it’s really funny that she’s latched onto the vehicular alternate universe when “Moon-a” (Moana) and “Ah-na-Essa” (Anna and Elsa of Frozen) are favorites too, and seem more typical for a little girl. We even have a lot of Moana merchandise DeeDee absolutely loves. Anyway, back to Cars. She likes every Mater outburst and of course the tractor farts (she raspberries her arms, giggles and says, “toots”). She gets all excited at the “let’s cruise” scene and will climb into my lap and push my chin to make sure I’m looking and say, “Happy! They happy!”
I folded and got Disney + when Covid prevented my husband from going to work just to add variety to what we already had, and while I don’t believe I’ll continue the subscription once we’re finally done watching Marvel, Star Wars, new releases missed since having a baby, and nostalgic cartoons, I have appreciated it. Cars 2 is a fun story, loyal to the feel of a live action spy movie with the humor and warmth of Pixar, and I was very impressed with the passing-of-the-torch and girl-power-without-beating-“girls can do anything”-over-your-head themes of Cars 3 (I’m actually going to buy that one). DeeDee will grumble when I put the “wrong” racing cars show on but settle in to enjoy it once it starts.
I remember my little sister had a repeat movie phase with the classic Disney cartoons Pinocchio and 101 Dalmatians my mom and I hated. Well, I’ve never really liked Pinocchio because I found it a creepy and scary… I wonder if my sister only liked it because I didn’t (we’ve been very different people our whole lives). And I have a distinct memory of my mom complaining about Cruella Deville and mocking the “Idiots! You imbeciles,” line. Now, hubby and I take turns demonstrating how well we have Cars memorized and pointing out little details to each other – like the Adult Drip Pans sponsor on a yellow car, ha! We have real conversations about these “people” and complain about how Lightning never got a phone call when he was arrested, and where does his money come from when he starts patronizing the town’s shopkeepers? I know it’s just us making do with a near daily dose of Cars, and you know what, it’s still fun a few weeks later. But I do hope she starts preferring variety soon…
Random SAHM Thoughts 