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Anna S. E. Lundberg

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Why Disney brought us up on a lie – and I’m not talking about the princes!

7 April, 2017 By Anna S E Lundberg Leave a Comment

Disney World CastleThose of you who know me will know that I have a long history of Disney princess fandom. I grew up on what for me were the classics: The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin… Then when I was a little bit older came The Lion King, Pocahontas, and Mulan.

The release of the new live action Beauty and the Beast meant that I was given the chance to relive the excitement of my childhood, as if I were watching the old film again for the very first time. The Sound of Music-esque scene where Emma Watson’s Belle runs swirling out into the field brought me right back to how I felt aged eight (sing it with me now!):

“I want much more than this provincial life!

I want adventure in the great wide somewhere
I want it more than I can tell
And for once it might be grand to have someone understand
I want so much more than they’ve got planned…”

I can’t tell you how many times I swirled around singing this song to myself (and to any poor, unfortunate souls who were close enough that they could hear me), earnestly relating to Belle’s feeling that there was more to life than my provincial existence of school and homework, and dreaming of adventure.

And, of course, it wasn’t just Belle. Another of my favourites is Ariel’s “Part of Your World” (although in The Little Mermaid our heroine has fallen in love with a prince based on looks alone and decides she’s happy to change species and give up her voice in order to win his affection – no matter), and what about “A Whole New World” where a handsome ‘diamond in the rough’ comes along and takes me on a magic carpet ride.

So, yes, I grew up wanting adventure in the great wide somewhere, feeling misunderstood, and knowing I was meant for something bigger – but that’s not the lie, there’s nothing wrong with fantasising about all the exciting things you’re going to do. The big deception instead comes from what happens next and, ultimately, the “happy ever after”.

Belle goes off and has her adventure, she frees the castle from its spell and falls in love with the Beast, who turns out to be a handsome prince, yay! Ariel and Eric together rid the world of Ursula the Sea Witch and then get married on a lovely cruise. Aladdin frees the Genie and marries the princess, despite not being a prince. Ta-da! And they all lived happily ever after.

But what happens after the film has ended? Is Belle going to be satisfied now marrying the prince and living out the rest of her days in a castle, which, by the way, is just a stone’s throw away from her provincial little village? Will Ariel and Eric really be happy together as man and wife, given that they barely know each other? Will Aladdin the street rat be comfortable in the big palace, and will he and Jasmine be content with ruling the kingdom without the freedom to travel the world?

The finality of a magical Disney film ending – or, maybe, most film endings – gives the illusion that you are destined to do this one thing, and once you find it you’ll settle down and live out your days in perfect contentment.

And THAT is where I think they have it all wrong, and where we’ve all been sadly misled.

Generations X and Y are said to be purpose-driven, entitled and impatient. We’ve been told by our parents that we are special and we can do anything, we’ve launched ourselves out into the world to find our purpose… and then? We search for our dream jobs, travel the world to find exciting experiences and, yes, we scour the universe for our prince charming, our ideal partner. But how do we know that we’ve found it? And what happens next? There’s no theme music that starts playing as we achieve our one true purpose, no credits rolling once we’ve reached our goal.

So we end up searching, searching, for our True Purpose, our One True Calling, and the Happy Ever After. And either we never find it, and we end our lives feeling unfulfilled… or we find something amazing and fulfilling, but we’re likely to question whether or not we actually have found it, and often we’ll continue looking in that desperate search for our ONE purpose. Because it can’t possibly be our Happy Ever After since the theme music isn’t playing…

fairies
We may well come across fairy godmothers (and -fathers) in our lives who help us along the way, but we are the ones who determine our fate, not them

I suppose it’s natural that these princesses are all destined for greatness – a whole film has been made about them, after all. That’s part of the deception, though, that we believe that we are special and destined for some magical calling that no one else can do. The lie is not that we’re special, because we definitely are; it’s just that we ALL have the potential to do something unique and impactful, we can all create magic – even without a fairy godmother – and that magic can take many different forms, there’s not just one true calling (or one prince charming).

The latest Disney princess Moana, the South Pacific girl who yearns for the ocean, is reminiscent of all her predecessors as she dreams of greater things. She’s also specifically chosen by the ocean to save her island and her people, and so she’s special and unique versus the rest of the village, with a clear purpose to pursue. Where this film differs, though – *possible spoiler alert* – is that it ends not with her settling down and living out the rest of her life without adventure, but with a closing scene that sees her and her people rediscovering their voyaging ancestry and heading out onto the ocean to new and on-going adventures.

And that’s how I think we need to approach our lives and our goals, whether we’re talking about that dream career or the dream partner or any other big objective that we aspire to: as one of many adventures, as a project after which there will be other projects, as just one step on the journey.

Because if you think you’ll be happy and content once you find It (or Him or Her), if you think the film credits will roll once you’ve completed your life purpose… then you can only ever be disappointed and, ultimately, unfulfilled.

Filed Under: Goals, Life Tagged With: beauty and the beast, destiny, Disney, disney princess, purpose

Friday 13th: The day I auditioned to be a Disney Princess

13 September, 2013 By Anna S E Lundberg 15 Comments

Yes. You read that right. I auditioned to be a Disney Princess today.

I made an actor’s CV (thanks Scott!) and printed out a headshot (thanks Christina!) and off I went to Pineapple Studios, 7 Langley Street, London.

I prepared very thoroughly by watching The Princess and the Frog, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, and half of Mary Poppins. I also practiced my royal wave.

First, I should explain that it wasn’t actually an audition to be a Disney Princess. At least, that was only part of it. The specific audition was to be a character performer at Euro Disney, Paris. This means that you may be a princess (and that’s certainly how they advertised it) but you may also, or only, be a character in a furry suit.

Part one: turn up, get a number, and fill in the form with your basic details.

Part two: listen to a PowerPoint presentation on what it means to be a character performer with Disney. I can’t tell you any of the trade secrets, or it will forever spoil the Disney magic for you and for children around the globe. And they might sue me.

Part three: have your height measured (they don’t adjust the costumes so you have to be within a certain range), and hand in your form.

Part four: create and perform a six-character animation series to some happy Disney music.

Part five: perform a choreographed dance. But my fairy tale was already over by then when I turned into a pumpkin as I was sent home after the animation exercise. If you pass the dance audition, you may be lucky enough to go into the wig fitting and make-up trial to see if you can be one of the specific face characters. Your chances are better, clearly, if you’re male (as ever, the pretty girls auditioning far outnumbered the pretty boys* auditioning) and if you are of a specific ethnicity that works well for, say, Mulan, Tiana, or Jasmine, the odds may ever be in your favour.

*Incidentally, on my way to the audition, I had the sudden thought that this would be the perfect place to meet a Disney Prince! Not true. (1) Few boys, (2) Even fewer attractive, and (3) Even fewer heterosexual. Sad face.

 

I am of course indignant and flabbergasted that the casting team didn’t think I was Disney Princess material. (I’m practically perfect in every way.) I’m also very disappointed that I didn’t get to give them my beautiful actor’s CV with my headshot and all my fabulous experience, or show them that I also speak French. Zut alors!

My am dram experience in Geneva has certainly prepared me for the audition process, although it’s amazing how nervous you can still get, even when you’re doing something for fun. Unfortunately I didn’t practice any improv though I had intended to, and when it was my group’s turn to perform I lost count so my cowgirl merged into my pirate and my dwarf got confused. But, if I’m perfectly honest, I would with almost complete certainty have been sent home after the dance audition if not before. This way, I got to leave just in time for lunch.

Confused dwarf aside, another reason they may have sent me home was my honesty in answering YES to the question on the form: “Are you claustrophobic?” This is apparently a key barrier since, as the casting director told us repeatedly throughout the morning, everyone has to don the furry suit at some point. This means a lot of time spent sweating away in a big heavy costume while not being allowed to eat or drink, to sit down, or to talk. Maybe not so appealing.

I am very sad, however, not to have had a chance to wear the beautiful princess gowns. In The Big Bang Theory, the girls go off to Disneyland and get full hair and make-up and beautiful high-quality costumes to take home – I’ve never seen this being offered, surely that’s not a real thing? Because if it is, I’m booking my ticket to Paris (or Florida or California).

Oh and thank you in advance for your shared indignation and flabbergastedness that Disney did not want me. Sniff.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Disney, disney audition, disney character, disney princess, euro disney

Finding Nemo in the Galapagos

18 May, 2013 By Anna S E Lundberg 7 Comments

When I went on a safari in Tanzania a few years ago, I was singing ‘The Circle of Life’, ‘Hakuna Matata’ and, of course, ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’, every step of the way. Likewise, while snorkelling around the Galapagos Islands, Finding Nemo quotes immediately floated to the surface. So when I found myself swimming with sharks, I couldn’t help but repeat: “Fish are friends, not food.” (Or better: HUMANS are friends, not food.) And swimming alongside the giant sea turtles, I swear I heard them say, “Duuuude”. I’m sorry Mother Nature, but Walt Disney & Co have contributed significantly to my education on the world around me.

I’m definitely tempted to learn to dive now after this experience. I tend to be claustrophobic so I’ve been worried that all the scuba gear and the whole being-deep-under-water-and-not-being-able-to-breathe thing would be a very bad idea. But once I was in the water and exploring the world below, I actually felt quite free and at ease.

The meeting of three major oceanic currents at the changing of the season from the hot, wet months to the cool, dry months meant that we would find ourselves in warm water one minute and cold the next, with the Cromwell and Humboldt coastal currents mixing together. We wore wet suits but I still found myself shivering after an hour in the water.

Swimming in these waters was like swimming in a massive aquarium. On our first outing, I saw a school of small fish swimming by, shining in a blueish silver; countless other species in blues and yellows and greens and oranges feeding on the coral; a group of eagle rays soaring majestically past; and beneath us, the sharks passing back and forth, seemingly unconcerned by the strangers above. On subsequent excursions, the captain of the Nemo II, who turned out to be a snorkel-meister, had a mad tendency of swimming into dark caves and then signalling to us if there were sharks. On one swim, I finally saw the hammerhead. On another, we frolicked with the sea lion pups (but beware the adults, who can be aggressive). Even the landscape itself was captivating: the coral (although much of the coral reefs around the Galapagos Islands have been wiped out by El Niño-Southern Oscillation, the anomalous warming of the ocean water temperatures), the volcanic rocks… and, living among them, the various starfish, sea urchins and sea cucumbers.

My favourite echinoderm: the chocolate chip star fish, a perfect cookie with milk chocolate chips arranged in a geometrical pattern. The real highlight, though, was swimming alongside those huge Galapagos turtles: they are so incredibly cool, chillaxing in the ocean for hundreds of years, not a care in the world. And, on the final day: a Galapagos penguin, one of the smallest of its species but very quick in the water.

*Photo credit: Eva Bisani and Lukas Kozminski, who were clever enough to bring an underwater camera*
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Filed Under: Ecuador, Travel Tagged With: Disney, Ecuador, Finding Nemo, Galapagos, sharks, snorkeling, South America, travel, turtle

More about Anna

Anna Lundberg is a success coach and business strategist who helps experienced corporate professionals reimagine success outside of the 9 to 5.

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