Queen of Dreams Radio
Posts Tagged ‘Adventure’
I’m not sure I would call Pixar-Disney’s new movie, Up!, a kid’s movie, but it sure was a good lift.
The reason I say I don’t know that it was a kid’s movie is that the themes were so dramatically adult – but only in their presentation.
Living life…loving everyday life…loving big…what’s important in life…life is an adventure…who is important in life…it’s never too late…all of these ideas are what we want our kids to know, to live … do we share these messages each and every day? I hope so.
I really loved the movie…everything it stood for…how it was directed and told…the characters…the greater message, especially. I thought, ‘Gosh, am I just really a cry baby?’ but then I looked over and Mark was tearing up too. This movie is a BIG TIME love story. It reminded me of us… and touched me deeply.
When I asked Chance (who is 
what he thought… he said he liked the characters. When I asked him what lessons he learned from it, he didn’t see the same things Mark and I saw, but he liked the movie anyway.
Real… in a magical kind of way (you know, an 80 year old tromping for days through the jungle with no food or water save a chocolate candy bar), Up! gets a big thumbs up!
I’ve wanted to do the 3-D experience for any number of movies, but Chance doesn’t like the glasses. For whatever reason, I HAD to do 3-D this time, and I learned that some movies aren’t made especially for 3-D, meaning that they don’t have things that whiz out at you and such. Up! would be just fine in non-3-D format. The upcoming G-Force movie, though, looks like it would be GREAT in 3-D!
Oh, and the little cartoon Pixar made as a pre-show is just the cutest thing I’ve seen in years! SOOOOO sweet!
I’m so grateful those guys followed their dream off the back of the napkin all those years ago! If you don’t know the Pixar story… gotta read it – it is inspiring!
One of the things I ‘forgot’ about from my childhood is how much I love to act and perform. Months ago I began reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to Chance. I skipped some of the words and skipped over some of the more violent parts, but it was a great time sharing space and a love of literature with him, and it really brought back the memory of when I was in theatre in school. On some nights I would ask Mark to read, but soon Chance would say, “Dad doesn’t do the voices like mom does.” A part of me felt good about that…I really enjoyed mimicking the actors from the movie (that helped to have a ‘go-by’).
Because the Harry Potter books are so well written, yet violent and full of, well, drama, we elected to skip reading the other ones for now (Chance is only 8).
We then went on a search for a comparable kind of adventure book, and we found The Far-Flung Adventures books by Chris Riddell and Paul Stewart. We started with Fergus Crane and now are reading Corby Flood. In a few days we’ll begin Hugo Pepper, the third in the series. Paul and Chris are a great writer-illustrator team. The writing is action-oriented so it keeps little minds moving (big minds too), and the adventures are imaginative and fun. I’ve always loved stories about gizmos and gadgets (think James Bond, Inspector Gadget), and these stories have inventors and engineers who create fun, inventive creations. The books are magical, and, yes, there are plenty of characters that require mom to ‘act’ out the parts. I find that Chance drifts off to sleep faster and more gently, and that I feel light, bright and free when we read.
What a gift!
P.S. Tune in today at 2:00 PM CST to listen to Minette’s new show on 100.3 The Word (in Dallas) – I’m the guest! You can also download the Podcast on the North Texas Kids website!