A Disnerd Birthday Adventure, part 2: Food

The Asian in me loves parties that have exorbitant amounts of food. Like so much that you know you'll never finish it and have to force people to take doggie bags home. To me that's the only kind of party worth having. The problem is that whenever I host a party, I get really stressed out that there won't be enough food and then it's not very fun for me.

I didn't want my epic birthday party to be stressful, so I decided to delegate half of the food to friends and assign myself a lot of the easy prep stuff. This worked out really well! I should do this more often.

I realized that when you have every single Disney animated movie to draw from, you can pretty much make whatever you want and somehow give it a Disney spin. I did spend a lot of time brainstorming food ideas though. I even designed food labels for each item. Blame it on the day job.

Here's what we had (warning: you may want to grab a napkin to wipe the drool off your mouth as you read this!):

Savory Foods:

Pumbaa's in a blanket, made by Kylene & Vicki
haha. I used the "SHE'S GONNA EAT ME!" scene for the label. So ironic.

Koda's smoked salmon on crackers (Brother Bear)
This is seriously the easiest finger food to make. All you need is smoked salmon, cream cheese, crackers and fresh dill! No cooking required. :)

Mushu's fire-roasted dumplings
Also very easy, when you buy them frozen. The handmade dumpling days are gone. haha.

Genie, wake up and smell the hummus!
Here's a little random fact: I always thought he said, "Genie, wake up and smell the homeless!" hahaha. I mean, has anyone ever thought about how Aladdin probably smelled really bad?





Chicken Little Waffles not pictured (somehow I forgot to get a shot of these!):
This was fried chicken on homemade waffles drizzled with maple syrup, made by my roommate Amy, who on the day of my party had only been back from a 10 day trip to Africa for less than 24 hours. Seriously, my roommate rocks. We'll leave out the fact that her first batch of waffle batter used powdered sugar instead of flour. To be fair, the container was unlabeled. :D

Corn dip & blue corn chips (also not pictured...oops!), made by Kylene & Vicki ("blue corn [moon]" is a reference to a lyric in "Colors of the Wind")
I only ate a couple bites of this, but it was SO yummy. I'm still thinking about it a week later. Note to self: get recipe!

Non-Disney:

Steak strips on baguette with caramelized onion and blue cheese
Who cares if this isn't Disney. They were amazing. Once again my roommate is awesome! (I suppose we could have called them Home on the Range steak? But seeing as that my life goal is to forget I ever watched that movie, I didn't think it appropriate to make it part of my birthday celebration.)

 
Sweet Foods:

Cinderella's magic pumpkin cookies, made by Courtney
I actually didn't get to eat any at the party but I had one of the leftovers later. They were goood! I think I'm going to have to ask Courtney to make these again. :)

Snow White mini apple pies, made by Tiana
Um, I'm pretty sure there was poison in these because they were to DIE for. And they were apple-shaped! How cute is that? 

Dalmatian puppy chow
There wasn't really anything dalmatian-y about this chow. But it was easy to make, and a great party food.

Tarzan's tropical fruit
Another easy one! I think all parties need to have fruit. Yep, pulling the Asian card again on this one.

Mickey oreo cupcakes, blonde and chocolate, made by Tiana (sorry the picture is blurry!)
You have to have something Mickey-shaped at a Disney party!

Rapunzel's tower, made out of cupcakes, ice cream cones, and a lot of icing, by Tiana
Um, this was ridiculously awesome! I was in awe of how accurately detailed this was, and even more in awe that Tiana managed to get it to my party in one piece. No one wanted to eat it because it was so pretty!








The finale - cake & punch

 
A Disnerd cake
What's a birthday party without a cake? My friend Stephanie likes to decorate cakes, so we worked together on the design, featuring my special 30th Mickey logo, and symbols from the 4 main eras of Disney animation: the sorcerer's hat from Fantasia, Cinderella's slipper, Aladdin's magic lamp, and the sun from Tangled. It was both gorgeous and very Disnerdy. So basically it was perfect. Thank you Stephanie for the most memorable cake I have ever had!

Pink Elephant punch
A Disney-themed birthday party for a 30-year-old needs a little alcohol. I mean really. So I Googled "pink elephant punch" and found this recipe! I'm guessing people liked it because there was hardly any left at the end of the night, even after making a second batch. Dumbo & Timothy would have certainly enjoyed it.



Amy and I were eating leftovers all week. Actually I still have smoked salmon and dumplings I am avoiding eating. Imagine if I had prepared all the food myself! A HUGE thank you to each and every friend who helped with the food. I really could not have had such a great spread without you! 

Next and last Birthday post: fashion & games!

#38: Wordless Stories: Beyond the Ashes

Fantasia 2000, 1999
watched June 10, 2012

Disney, I expected better from you.

Because anything with a "2000" at the end of it is doomed to sound a bit ridiculous. I mean... edgy and cool and futuristic! Like Nimbus 2000, Pokemon 2000, Lever 2000... (Really? Soap?)

But, okay. Artistically, this film does mark a transition in the series. The prevalence of computer animation is much more obvious here, and we will see in the next film that Disney moves in a whole new direction, perhaps because of pressure from Pixar's success with Toy Story at the time. Also, this version was much more palatable than the 1940 Fantasia, due to a much shorter running time (75 minutes compared to 125).

Since there's no single story that weaves the whole film together, this review will focus on the last piece, "The Firebird Suite" composed by Igor Stravinsky.




It's fairly evident that there are themes of creation, death and rebirth, a classic story arc that didn't just come from nowhere. In fact, it is the main narrative of the Big Story, the one within which all other stories exist.

A beautiful sprite is awoken by what looks strikingly like Bambi's dad (I think it's an elk, actually). She spreads her magical spring-ness to a wintery forest, soaring through the skies over hills and trees, bringing beauty wherever she goes. But then she discovers a fearsome and violent firebird at the center of the mountain. Suddenly provoked, the firebird comes alive. Its wings of volcanic flames explode out of the mountain and down into the valley that the sprite has so lovingly brought to life. Soon the firebird has destroyed everything, even the sprite herself.

When I observe ongoing suffering, in the world as well as in my own personal slice of it, it's hard for me to see beyond the ashes. For miles and miles, it's only gray, dust, smoke. Like the sprite, no matter how hard I run, it seems there's no escape.

But the story isn't finished. Interestingly, Bambi's dad has not been destroyed. As he breathes into the ashes, the sprite reemerges. Just like a good ol' Disney film, it's her tears that hold the magic. As she sees her tears grow into budding flowers, the sprite's energy to create revives, and the world returns to its original state of beauty, peace and joy.

Destruction can often be the source of renewal. This was true at the Cross, the darkest hour of history. And in the Resurrection, we are reminded that there will come a time when the firebird has used up all its flames. Destruction is pervasive and devastating, but it is not permanent. There is life beyond the ashes.

In my own journey, the most painful times have often led to my most intimate and significant moments with God. It's true, we have not reached the other side of the flames yet. The pain has not vanished completely. But these small triumphs remind me of what is to come. I can look forward to a fully restored valley, complete with tall-as-the-eye-can-see trees, blooming flowers, and green pastures. That day is coming, and I can't wait.

12 Days of Disnerd Christmas - 11th Day

10 films rebirthing
9 princesses dreaming,

8 mice a-mending,

7 dwarfs heigh ho-ing,

 Six Lost Boys playing,
Five fairies' wings...

Four crooning birds,

Three handsome thieves,

Two hunny pots,

and Rafiki in his big tree!

In all my research, there really wasn't exactly 11 of anything. So I had to cheat a little. I would like to note the interesting observation that most villains are depicted with the colors purple or red, and varying shades thereof. Why is that?

Only one more day to go! Wouldn't it be nice if we actually did celebrate Christmas for 12 days?

#3: Wordless Stories - Fantasia review, part 3

Night on Bald Mountain, Mussorgsky & Ave Maria, Schubert - a mashup

The last scene I'm choosing to comment on is also the last piece of the film. How interesting that Fantasia should end with two pieces that have religious undertones, in such contrast with one another.

In Night on Bald Mountain, Chernabog (aka Satan) - depicted as a huge batlike demon coming out of the face of a mountain, gathers his demonic followers to worship him. The ordeal unfolds into destruction and darkness, until, seamlessly, the music transitions to Ave Maria by the sound of clear, loud church bells. These bells seem to force the dispersion of  all of the demons, while also leaving Chernabog weakened and unable to continue his 'worship service'.

The following Ave Maria sequence seems a little boring, in fact, compared to the fury of activity on Bald Mountain. But I found this contrast to be quite intriguing. Once again, we see that evil does not have the last say! While the quiet worshippers make their procession to the cathedral, it is clear that the power of good, while subtle, is far greater than that of Satan and his followers. I found myself feeling encouraged (and, okay, slightly sleepy) at this reminder of God's faithfulness in a world where the presence of evil is so real. 

Concluding thoughts about Fantasia

Fantasia was clearly not made for children or even the average moviegoer, necessarily. It makes sense, then, that it did not end up doing well financially when it was released. However, I think there is something very beautiful about the art that was created here. It is such a unique piece of film that highlights the best of animation and the best of classical music. It's rare to have a piece of art say so much and tell such interesting stories without a single word.

#3: Wordless Stories - Fantasia review, part 2

The Rite of Spring, Stravinksy
In this piece we see the creation of the world from the "big bang" all the way up until the end of the dinosaur era. The narrator prefaces this piece by stating that "science, not art, inspired this piece." There are several missing pieces in this sequence however, such as how we get from a swirling mass of lava and ash to tiny living creatures floating in the water (there's a smoky-hazy transition which is kind of lame, in my opinion). And even more so, how do we go from fish crawling out of the water to a diversity of gigantic dinosaurs? Needless to say, I'm unconvinced that Fantasia's version of the history of the world is really that scientific.

It was also quite odd for the whole first half of the film to end with dinosaurs dehydrating in the hot sun. (The narrator says, "Well, we're not quite sure what really happened to the dinosaurs. But we do know they all died." Why, thank you for letting us know, Mr. Narrator. I was worried they were still lurking around somewhere on an island or something. Oh wait, that's Jurassic Park.)

I had to resist the urge to break out into "If We Hold On Together" from Land Before Time during that whole scene. Didn't want to wake Jen up.

part 3 coming later tonight!

#3: Wordless Stories - Fantasia review, part 1

Fantasia, 1940
Watched September 5 & 10, 2011

(c) Disney - isn't Mickey adorable?

Okay, I have a confession to make. I did not make it through Fantasia in one sitting.

But in my defense, I started watching it at midnight after a busy and tiring (but fun!) weekend in New York, just a few hours before having to wake up to catch a flight the next morning. So, you really can't judge me, all you Fantasia lovers! I did much better than Jen, who fell asleep during the Nutcracker's Suite! I watched until the 'intermission' and finally finished the second half this past weekend. (Shout-out to my friend Jon for procuring the movie at the last minute by some probably-illegal-method-of-which-I-didn't-ask. You know, the whole plausible deniability thing.)

Having watched this film and concluded that it was boring as a kid, I wasn't sure what to expect this time around. While it still didn't blow me away, I think I'm now mature enough to say that I at least appreciated it. :) So I'm going to break this review up into 3 parts, choosing 3 (of the 8) scenes that were particularly interesting to me. We'll start with my favorite. 

The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Dukas


As the film's most famous scene, the Sorcerer's Apprentice is what stuck in my mind from watching it as a child, and is still what captivates me the most today. A little bit of history -- Walt Disney and conductor Leopold Stokowski had first begun collaboration around just this one scene. They had intended it to be a short, in line with Disney's other "Silly Symphony" pieces.

So it's probably for this reason that Sorcerer's Apprentice has the most well developed story. Based on an actual poem by German poet Goethe, and using musical composition by Dukas, also based on Goethe's poem - it is the most cohesive and engaging section of the entire film (in my humble opinion). Also not insignificantly, it features Disney's beloved character Mickey Mouse, who was used here to reintroduce him to audiences. (This is the first time we see him in his 'modern' design - with more expressive eyes and a pear-shaped body.)

Now, I'm not sure what Goethe's original intention for this story was, but I found the relationship between Mickey and the sorcerer to be oddly familiar. The sorcerer (whose name is Yen Sid - points to the first person who gets why that's his name!) not only possess power but has a mastery over it that Mickey, his apprentice, cannot begin to fathom. Mickey's task of carrying pails of water seems tedious and laborious. When he tries to use the sorcerer's magic to alleviate his work, he finds that he cannot control it, and things get quickly out of hand. Even in his state of panic, he tries to fix it on his own, never calling the sorcerer for help. In fact as he tries to make the broom stop carrying water up and down the stairs, it gets worse when the splinters of wood grow into new brooms. When the sorcerer finally comes to calm the chaos, Mickey sheepishly hands back the sorcerer's hat (which, by the way, the sorcerer didn't even need to wear to produce the magic that made all the water vanish).


Isn't this so much like my attitude towards God? The parallels are so striking I wonder what other possible interpretation there could be (ok, perhaps my Christian worldview leaves me a bit biased). As I live to serve God, I take things into my own hands, either out of laziness or pride, or both. As a result, I try to control  more than God has asked of me, and quickly find that it is too much for me to handle. Instead of admitting this, however, I make things worse by trying to fix it myself. When God intervenes and sets things right again, I smack my forehead and think, how could I have been so stupid? Why didn't I let him do that in the first place? I'm reminded of my own limits, and of God's infinite power. 

It's incredibly humbling to be convicted of my own sin and pride by an animated film. I suppose God can use anything to teach us.

To be continued...