Your Disney Story (Introductions Thread)

[Prince Phillip]

Hey my name is Alex, but many of you may know me as Prince Phillip. I know this is a little off topic but… I was wondering since, I see a lot of your postings, if you would be willing to share some personal info with me and the rest of the board? Since I see a lot of your postings I would just like to know something about the person posting. Mainly age.

If anyone cares, I am 17. This is my Disney story. (My love for Disney movies has been on and off through out the years.)

Well the first Disney movie I remember seeing in theatres is The Rescuers Down Under, though I’ve never seen the Rescuers. I may have seen the little mermaid but do not remember. Next I saw Beauty and the Beast. When I saw Aladdin, I was in absolute awe, I met a character I could connect with and I guess you could say I idolized hime, I really liked the movie, and I was a little kid, like 5 or 6. Next came the Lion King, the last movie I ever owned on video after seeing it in the theatres. I continued to see every movie in theatres through Tarzan. When Hercules came out, I met my first real disappointment. I am half Greek and at the time I was really digging into my roots and was fascinated by the mythology, which I think Disney made a mockery of. I, at this point was fed up with Disney. Then Mulan came out and I really enjoyed that, followed by Tarzan, which had the same affect that Aladdin originally had, though Aladdin is still the favored of the 2.
It has been a while since I saw Tarzan, but I think it had the coolest opening and ending. It then seemed as if another Disney movie would never come out, it took forever for Emperor’s New Groove to come out, which I rented, and then I saw Atlantis in theatres and was disappointed. Unfortunately I never got to see Lilo and Stitch or Treasure Planet in theatres. But now own both of these great movies on DVD.
Around the time of Groove and Atlantis, I started to pull out all of my VHS Disney classics, to get in touch with my inner child or something. While I think I enjoyed some, the little mermaid, I did not care for others, practically all the classics, Cinderella and Bambi come to mind. When Snow White came out on DVD my mom bought it, and I saw that for the first time and did not care for it.
Just when it seemed all was lost, I happened to be in Wal-Mart last fall and I saw Beauty and the Beast for sale. I wouldn’t have purchased it but it was on sale for $15.88.
Boy am I glad I did! I started watching the extras and got so into them, that I watched the movie, and was taken over once again by the Disney magic. My next purchase was Oliver and Company, which I didn’t really care for, but then came Lilo and Stitch, Hercules(which I’ve excepted for what it is) Hunchback(Great, underrated movie) Sword in the Stone and Alice in Wonderland. I am so excited about Sleeping Beauty coming out this fall. I have not seen this in soooo many years but it holds special childhood memories for me. Though I am a little annoyed that I have had to wait almost a year for this to come out, as it was advertised on the Beauty and the Beast DVD. I have since grown a new appreciation for Snow White, Cinderella and the rest, but am still a little disturbed by Pinocchio. (This winter I was really sick for like 10 days, so I watched about every movie in the house including all the Disney videos, which I enjoyed this time around. I also can not wait for Aladdin to come out next year, although it should be this year . 93 – 03. But oh well still can’t wait.

Well that is my Disney story. Now I would like to hear about some other people, if you feel like giving out that info, you don’t have to. I get the feeling most of the people on this board are men either late 20’s to 30’s and I think some are around my age, but just curious anyhow. I’d also like to acknowledge the ladies on this board. This is for you too.

[jesus_brer]

hey im new to this broad and my 14 and i love disney dvd's. well my story started like this my first trip 2 disneyland was in 1992 and that when my love started to come in, but i wasn't in 2 the moives at first i was in with the disney cartoons then my first movie was ALICE IN WONDERLAND then it started going crazy. so later on in the decade i just love disney flims!!!!!!!!

[Papa Bear]

My name is Timothy but I go by T.J., I am 23. I work as a Dell Technical Support Rep. I am married but no kids yet.

Well I have always loved everything disney my earliest disney memories are not of the movies but of my mom reading me and my sisters stories from her collection of disne books. She used to read us all kinds of stories and the one I rember the most is the story of Brer Rabbit and the Briar patch. Then when I was 4 0r 5 I rember watching Snow White in the Theater and I guess that is when my appreciation began for the Disney films and it has continued to grow since then. Although they were off times I have always enjoyed a good disney movie. I have just in the last few years become more of a fanatic and have been soaking up all the info I can find on anything disney I have read all kinds of books and the more I know the more I become hooked. My ultimate dream job would be to work for Disney in the archives and be able to soak up more info and be able to help preserve these great classics.

[Dogtanian]

My name is Michael, which is not nearly as cool as Dogtanian. I'm 20 years old, Scottish and in full-time employment.

I guess I always loved Disney films as a child. The Little Mermaid is the first movie I remember seeing at the cinema (I would've been 5 or so), and I remember watching all the older classics on video, and really enjoying BATB at the cinema.

Not too sure what happened after that, but Beauty & The Beast is the last Disney film (not including Pixar!) that I saw at the cinema. I still have a bunch of videos lying around, but I only really got into Disney films again recently, thanks to DVD.

I only have 13 Disney (including Pixar) DVDs so far, but there are plenty more on the way.

Oh, and if anyone's interested my favourite Disney film is probably the vastly underrated "The Fox & The Hound".

[Prince Phillip]

Welcome to the forum Jesus.

Papa bear I agree with you. I think working in the archives would be a great job. And I would love to help preserve the classics, however I think that would be better served by the man in the big chair. That's who I want to be. Man with all my great I deas, I would revolutionize the wonderful world of disney!

And Micheal, don't worry about it you have a cool name. I have 10 of the animated classics on DVD:
Alice inWonderland
Beauty and the Beast
Hercules
Hunchback
Lilo and Stitch
Little Mermaid
Oliver
Snow White
Sword in Stone
Treasure Planet
actually SW and TLM are my mom's she also has the enchanted christams . In addition I have MM in color and BW,
So I guess you have more than me. You also have a source of income to help with the growth of your collection, something else I need to aquire .

[Belle]

I'm also new to this board, my name is Stephanie and I'm 19 years old. I've watched & loved Disney since I was little, they would show the movies all the time in school and after school daycare. My favorites were Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Mary Poppins, The Rescuers & The Rescuers Down Under, The Great Mouse Detective, Snow White and The Parent Trap. I'm into all kinds of movies, especially horror, which makes me a weird Disney fan I guess I recently got back into watching Disney from finally seeing Lilo and Stitch and getting the Vault Disney DVDs in a neat box set for $45 from Costco. I also LOVE all the Pixar movies, good stuff. That's all!

[Maerj]

I'm into all kinds of movies, especially horror, which makes me a weird Disney fan I guess

Thats not strange at all... some of my favorite films have a high body count and tons of gore. Welcome to the board!

[Eeyore]

Egads, you're all young pups. I'm 38, and have been a Disney fan longer than most of you have been alive.

Interesting that you should mention the Archives Philip, My wife and I actually got to visit them in 1996.

We were active online in a Disney discussion group, and had developed friendships with quite a few varied folks. Of course everyone went by nicknames etc. As we were preparing for our trip, one of our online friends sent us an email message asking if we'd like to meet him, and have lunch. We thought that sounded like a cool idea, and said yes. So he said, "Ok, I'll leave guest passes at the front gate of Walt Disney Studios for you, just head on down Mickey Ave to the Roy O. Disney building, and ask for Bill Cotter at the receptionist desk."

Needless to say, we started freaking out! Getting inside the studios on vacation was beyond our wildest dreams. Finding out our online friend was Bill Cotter, a bigwig at Disney and book author, was equally stunning.

Unfortunately, when we met Bill we found that an emergency had come up, and so he wouldn't be able to give us the complete tour and lunch that he had planned. We got to spend 10 minutes looking around the archives, but then he had to go. We did have free rein to walk around the rest of the Studio grounds though, kinda like The Reluctant Dragon film, but we weren't as obnoxious.

The animation building was incredibly cool, with a gorgeous pool and columns in front of the building and huge seven dwarfs statues all holding up the roof. There were some cool Mickey topiaries for landscaping. Funnily, one of the big highlights was the directory of offices in the buildings. Just reading over the names you see so many stars, I actually took a picture of it. Roy E. Disney was in 3E-5. Emilio Estevez in 2D-8. Bette Midler in 3B-10. Frank Oz in 1C-13. We were tempted to go up and knock on some of their doors.

We ate at the commisary, and of course stole everything possible for souvenirs. We have the menu (it's just a printed sheet), and the "What's Happening" announcements sheet (Disney VoluntEARS Run/Walk for Breast Cancer coming up). We finished up by shopping at the special on-site Disney Store for employees only, where they had exclusive items labeled Walt Disney Studios, which could only be bought at this one store. We bought several shirts and track pants with the Studio logo, as well as a license plate holder for the car. The clothes are too big for us now, but that plate holder is still proudly on our car, declaring we were "Part of the Magic - Walt Disney Studios".

Later on that trip, we met another online friend, who just happened to be an Imagineer, a lighting engineer for the Spirit of Pocahontas show at Disneyland. After the show was over, he invited us onto the stage where he showed us how everything worked. Coolest part here was going under the stage. There's only a few feet of headroom, so you can't stand up. So, what they do is have little wheeled stools, and you sit on them and use your feet to propel yourself around. We have some of the non-flammable paper leaves that drop from the sky as souvenirs.

[Prince Phillip]

WOW!!! That sounds so awesome! God I wish I could do something like that. I wanted to go down to Disney World this summer, but unfortunately I have noone to go with. Oh well, I suppose I will have to wait till I have kids. We can share the first time experience of Diseny World together. Although I don't think it would be anything like your experiece. Do they give tours of the animation studio to the public? I doubt it. Are you still in contact with those "online buddies"?
Hey if you are maybe you could give them some suggestions, about what fans are liking and disliking. Would they have influence in the marketing of the dvd's or would that just be Buena Vista? Oh well.

Hey thanks for being the fist more "experienced" disney fan to share something with us. (That's just a kind way of saying that you're the oldest so far and you have the coolest story.)

[Papa Bear]

Eeyore, I really wish I could have been in your shoes for that eexperience. I would love to be able to go through and see what they have going on there now and to just be able to see where all of the great films were created.(well most of them) I am a big fan of Bill Cotters work and have just recently started converseing with him through his forum. And would have enjoyed meeting him as well, I am glad you were able to resist knocking on the doors I don't think I could have. That is so cool thanks again for sharing your experience with us.

[Eeyore]

No, I'm not in contact with most of them anymore. The online service went belly up, and most folks have scattered. I've found a few of them around.

I'm not even sure that's my most cool story. My wife and I actually got married in Disneyworld, on the deck of Fulton's Crab House (it's a restaurant ship). It costs a huge amount to get married at the official Disney pavillion, but Fulton's is private, so it was quite reasonable.

The cool thing was, we had never met any of the wedding party before, including the guests, Best man and Maid of honour. Our internet group held an annual Gathering in Disneyworld, and various folks would show up for what interested them. So someone might host a Tower of Terror Do, and 12 of us would ride together. Somebody else would host a Haunted Mansion Do, and maybe 20 folks would show up for that. We hosted a Wedding Do, anyone who was interested watched us get married, and then we all had lunch.

I'm sure I sound like one of those windbags who's always making up some kind of story. But they are true, and that's the end of them.

[Jenwood]

Okay, since I just joined this group, I will make this my first post.

My name is Jen. I hail from the big state of Texas and I am 29 years old (yes a female who has no problem with age). I am married with a little boy and another on the way! I have been a Disney fan for years. I remember when I was a little girl, I had these Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck toys that could walk beside you! I had Disney toys galore as a child. Growing up, you would find me reciting word for word Disney movies. I am sure my parents really thought something was wrong with me. My favorite Disney movie is The Lion King. (I am a complete African animal freak and have a very dear friend that lives in South Africa.) Now that I have a child, I can uh, act out a bit more wihout people thinking I am nuts! My little boy is fascinated with Disney as well, and that is a good thing! But alas, I have never been to any Disney theme park. Maybe one day...

[Papa Bear]

Hey Eeyore, that is cool that you have had alot of great diney experiences. That would be so cool to have your wedding at Disney World. I have had my fair share of cool experiences to but I am still planning my ultimate Disney Experience, which I am not sure when I will get to actually do this but this is what I would like to do. My wife and I are planning to take a trip to Disneyland sometime in the future and when we do I want to some how take a tour of the Disney studios as well as the Golden Oaks ranch. I am not sure exactly how to go about doing this but have been trying to find information on the internet. But I would love to see both of these places first hand because I have read so much about both them. I just hope that I can find some way to see behind the scenes of both of these places. So if any of you do know any way of getting this set up let me know! And welcome to the group Jenwood!!!

[Loomis]

It's hard to say if I had a significant first Disney experience. I'm 24 these days (going on 84, or 4 depending on who you talk to) and all the memories are starting to fade into one...
I always had a fondness for Disney animation more than other types. When I was younger, I seem to remember watching a lot of Saturday afternoon Disney shows on TV, most of which were themed in some way ('Halloween' for example, or Christmas etc). I think I discovered a lot of the classics this way. The 'bridge' scene from Ichabod is always a stand-out memory, as is 'Bambi' trying to stay upright on the ice. I must've watched Sword in the Stone a million times (being an Arthur nut), and Fantasia was one of the first videos I owned. 'Night on Bald Mountain' still scares me Went to Disneyland when I was 8, and I got my photo taken with Mickey (it was really him!) and rode the teacups, and and and...I want to go again! NOW!

As I got older - the dark days that were high school - and became more of a geek, I started appreciating films as films and got into Dalmatians, Lady and the Tramp etc. I also went through my own freaky horror move phase (and thankfully, Silent Night Deadly Night is coming to DVD - not Disney but just great... ). I think Lion King was a defining moment when you saw that animation was just as powerful as any other medium. After that, I don't think I've looked back.

Now my tastes are really eclectic. I'll go to anything as long as it isn't too dumb, and my DVD collection proves that. Actually, the arrival of DVDs has heightened my fandom and given me a greater appreciation of Disney stuff. My current faves include Lilo & Stitch (of course), The Little Mermaid, Great Mouse Detective, Tron, Parent Trap, anything Pixar, and of course, anything Pooh related.

Oh yeah - I almost forgot. There was that bizarre Triangle of Health sex education video from Disney I watched in high school...gee I hope that hasn't stuck with me...

[Sulley]

I am not going to state my age , but I will say that I am a male and share my facination with Disney. About a year or two after I was born (I'm going on what I've heard from parents), We were moving into a new place and my parents needed something to distract my attention so I wouldn't get in the way of their moving furniture and such, so they sat me down and put in one of my sister's videos. I watched my first movie, Cinderella. Apparently my eyes were glued to the screen and I didn't move a muscle until the end, and we started buying many Disney movies for me to watch (this was about the time all the CLASSICS [Black Diamonds] were being released). The first movie I saw in theaters was Beauty and the Beast (It actually may have been The Rescuers DU, but I can't recall). I know I saw it three times. (I only remember seeing it once but remember that was the third time). I was forever hooked. I remember repeatedly renting Sleeping Beauty and Lady and the Tramp from the only video store that had them, as they were OOP before I started really getting in to collecting the movies. I am also a fan of movies in general, my all-time favorites include mostly blockbuster trilogies like Back to the Future, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc. I was still a strong fan of Disney and went to the theme parks on family vacations whenever possible but I was sort of (for the lack of a better word) distracted by films like these for several years, until last summer, when I visited Disney-MGM Studios during the 100 Years of Magic Celebration. I particularly enjoyed The Walt Disney Museum and the Animation Tour where we saw animators working on the then-titled "Bears" and an unnamed picture that had something to do with cows (I believe it's now called "Sweating Bullets" and is rumoured to be #44). My 20 minute conversation with the elderly tour guide afterwards is what really rekindled my Disney flame. We discussed the animated classics and she gave me a list of the first 40, telling me that her grandfather worked in a movie theater and she saw almost all of Disney's films in theaters, and her favorite was "Dumbo," which she saw in 1941 when she was five. She actually gave me her honest opinions on Disney's recent mistakes, telling me that at some point, Walt Disney himself said he wanted no sequels to be made of his animated pictures. I used the list and thought of collecting only my favorite Disney animated classics on DVD, and then decided there in Orlando that since I had the list, why not collect them all? I now have all of the animated classics on DVD with the exception of "The Rescuers." I can't remember if it was before or after that that I found this site, but it was afterwards that I started posting on the forum. Today I am more into Disney movies and all movies than ever. One of my favorite birthday gifts was the AFI Desk Reference (great book), and I hope to work for Disney at some point in my career and definitely work with movies.

[Trevor]

Well, I guess I will tell my story pretty quick.

I am 21, I grew up watching the Disney movies. Whenever a new one would come to the theater, my mom would always take me and my sisters to see it. I always liked them, but nothing was that fanatical about me back then. When I became a teenager, I stopped seeing them in the theater, unless the whole family was going and I rarely watched the VHS collection my family had. This all changed when I was 18....

When I was 18 I applied to do an internship at Walt Disney World. I was accepted and in January of 2001, I moved to Orlando. I lived there for 8 months and worked at the Magic Kingdom. I worked on Main Street at the front gate, Main Street Parade Control, and then I transferred to Tomorrowland to work at...SPACE MOUNTAIN! I loved it. Space Mountain was my favorite ride in the park and to work there, and to be able to ride the ride every day...I was in heaven

During the summer of the internship, Snow White Platinum was being presold. I did not own a DVD player, but I saw the hype and HAD to buy it anyways (especially since I could get Little Mermaid Free (one of my favorites). So I bought it.

I came home in August, and started picking up DVD movies. I didnt rush out and buy Disney movies, cause I had them on VHS. I eventually found the Disney Movie Club and went through that about 4 times...growing my collection. And also taking preorders at the Disney Store. My Disney Collection grew from one lowly Snow White to around 45 Disney DVDs...I have all the Treasures, the Platinums that have been released, the Vault Disney's, most of the Gold Collection.

But that is somewhat my story....

(By the way, any people in college interested in the WDW internship, go to www.wdwcollegeprogram.com and read up on it. I highly reccomend it because it is a chance of a lifetime and I would do it again in a heartbeat. If you have questions about it, Private Message me and I can answer some of your questions....)

[Prince Phillip]

Since many new comers don't seem to delve into older posts, I thought I would bring this one back to life with the hopes, that some other people might want to share stuff with us

[MickeyMouseboy]

i think sulley is a teen or in his 20's

[Sulley]

Ooooo, here we are, deciding the age and making predictions, and analyzing every word one says to figure out some secret life that probably isn't a big deal after all.

[Prince Phillip]

I have to agree with MickeyMouseBoy, although I didn't want to say anything, if you didn't want to leak that info. Not that I thoroughly analyze your typings, but you've talked about seeing your first [disney] movies when you were a kid, and they pretty much match up what I remeber seeing aroung the same age, so I would guess you are about 16-19 , but don't worry I won't press you further on it.