Once upon a time

I thought it would be fun to see what "Once Upon a Time" the new TV show was like. I watched the pilot on HULU. Was a little annoyed that they didn't follow the Brothers Grimm tale when it came to waking Snow White. In the "real" version she is jostled and the apple is dislodged from her throat and she wakes up -- no kiss..... The I started watching the second episode - the evil witch/queen from Snow White goes to see MALIFICENT. Yes, the witch from DISNEY'S Sleeping Beauty. The character of Jiminy Cricket is now the town shrink. Jiminy Cricket is the name of the character in Disney's Pinocchio. Collodi's was just called him 'The Talking Cricket" and he is squashed by Pinocchio. ..... So, I check my HULU and the show is on ABC and ABC is owned by Disney.

Cars at the Pool

My daughter takes swim lessons at our local pool. For the last two years we (the moms) have been moaning about the kiddie chairs. The chairs had Dora the Explorer, Lighting McQueen (from Cars) or Disney Princesses on them. The girls would fight over them. So imagine our collective sigh of relief when all the chairs disappeared and cute little plastic Adirondacks took their place. Now they just get to fight over the color. But that doesn't mean Disney didn't appear. As my child surprised me (aka gave me a heart attack) by performing a somersault into the deep end, two little boys got out of the pool - both wearing CARS swim trunks. Another little boy ran to his mother after his lesson only to be wrapped in an extra large Mater (from CARS) beach towel.

in kids books and my hubby's show

I love these books. Ivy and Bean are two 2nd grade friends who ponder existence, familial relationships, being good and various other topics that plague the mind of little kids. My daughter loves them. So, as we are reading Book 5: Bound to be Bad, they mention Snow White. The word DISNEY in not in the book, but the way the two talk about the Grimm character, it is very clear that they are discussing the Disney animated feature version. My husband chronically TiVos old episodes of THE OFFICE. Today's installment - the episode where a vulgar water mark "with a beloved mouse" made it on to the paper and was delivered to thousands of customers.

CNN article

Mickey Mouse brings Disney diplomacy to Iran theme park - CNN.com By Barry Neild , for CNN 2011-11-03T10:08:43Z CNN.com (CNN) -- Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and the Seven Dwarves are not the U.S.-friendly images usually associated with Iran. But in a small corner of Tehran, a surprising display of unofficial Disney diplomacy seems to fly in the face of official anti-American rhetoric. Visitors to Eram Park, in the west of the capital, are greeted with numerous images of Disney characters, as well as other familiar American cartoon characters such as Shrek. Elsewhere, outside of the city, is another unexpected sight: A club dedicated to the U.S.-invented Segway people transporters. For roller coaster obsessive and self-styled "Theme Park Guy" Stefan Zwanzger, who toured Tehran's funfairs last month, the presence of these American icons offered more thrills than the rides on offer. "You see badly-copied Mickeys and Donald Ducks all over the world, for example in copycat theme parks in rural China, but I didn't expect to see Shrek and Segways in Iran," Zwanzger told CNN. A German citizen now living in Stockholm, Sweden, Zwanzger, 32, could be forgiven for having preconceptions when visiting Iran. Nuclear ambitions, major protests after President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's disputed 2009 election victory and frequent reports of repression have all done little for the country's global reputation. But, says Zwanzger -- whose four-year quest to visit all the world's major theme parks has so far taken him to 150 on five continents -- the Iran he encountered seemed a world away from the grim headlines. He says the Iranians he encountered were "open-minded, unprejudiced, hospitable, warm and cultured," sharing views that appeared to contrast with those expressed by the country's leaders. "What surprised me is that I didn't even get the slightest cultural shock. The Iranians I met made me feel like I was in Europe," he said. His views reflect a 2008 WorldPublicOpinion.org survey that claims ordinary Iranian people are largely open to contacts with Westerners. Nevertheless, countries such as Britain and the U.S., which has no diplomatic relations with Tehran, caution against travel there. International sanctions in place against Iran also mean western companies cannot operate easily in the country. Whereas on the streets of Tehran, U.S. icons such as the Statue of Liberty are used to create striking anti-American graffiti, Zwanzger witnessed Mickey Mouse and his pals being pressed into far less sinister tasks. At Eram Park, Mickey simply welcomes people to the funfair, while the Dwarves urge people to enjoy themselves. Shrek offers tickets to ride and Donald Duck helpfully points to the exit. As with his other experiences of places including North Korea, Zwanzger says Iran's theme parks offer a glimpse of the country's citizens as they relax and forget their day-to-day concerns, even if the rides struggle to merit the low admission fees. "I highly recommend Iran as a place to visit. It's a beautiful country with fantastic people. The local amusement parks provide great opportunity to mingle with locals." Sadly, with their rusting roller coasters and "drainingly dull" side shows, not even the presence of Mickey, Shrek and the Dwarves could save Iran's theme parks from rating badly on Zwanzger's score card. He says one ride, in which visitors are squeezed into a car shaped like a soda can before being hurtled around a cramped roller coaster circuit, could be world-beatingly bad. "The yellow soda can-shaped roller coaster in Eram Park -- I'm still trying to find out who the manufacturer was, even my specialist friends don't know -- was maybe the worst I have ever experienced. "I was scared. The loop is the tightest I have ever seen and the vehicle's headrests are too low to keep your head stable. You can hear the riders' joyful screams rise when the coaster plunges into the loop and vanish within a second once they enter the murderous brain-turner itself. "It was genuinely unpleasant and leaves you with some neck pain to remember." © 2011 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Kmart-eque

Usually, I would expect to run into all things Disney in the kid's clothing and toy sections at Kmart. Please don't judge me becuase I shop there. There is no Target where I live. The closest one is 30 minutes away. I only needed a "tub" to store the plethora of Halloween items we acquired this year. Anyway - as I walk into Kmart, I am confronted by Tinkerbell sweatshirts. Technically it is a hoodie, and it was in the Misses section. Yep. A woman about 50 years old walked by me wearing a Twlight:Breaking Dawn t-shirt. So, I guess Kmart knows their demographic. For the heck of it, I walked thru the discounted Halloween section. Sexy Minnie Mouse costumes were 40% off. There were also these strange Minnie-as-witch-sitting-in-a-halloween-wreath items. I

Mouse ears

I think I need to take Facebook posts out of my criteria for this project. Not a day goes by that one of my "friends" is not at the Magic Kingdom and posting pictures abut it. Today - numerous images of the park bombarded my feed. In addition, my niece at her job at a restaurant posted a picture of herself as Minnie Mouse. How she carried trays with those jumbo hands is beyond me. Also the satirical Disney Princess image "aka what disney princesses teach girls" has been making the rounds.

Disney Cruise

One of my daughter's friends is on a Disney Cruise to Mexico. The parents took her out of school (she is a 1st grader) to have this family vacation on the Disney Wonder. The girl missed the Halloween festivities at school, but the conversation today with the other parents, was about what kind of "cool" and "fabulous" and "creative" Halloween she must have had aboard the Disney ship. There was a tone of jealousy in their vocies.