"This mirror will show you anything, anything you wish to see."
Disney movie plots so often revolve around an iconic enchanted object.
At first glance, this magic object might just seem like a plot device
or a gimmick.
But if we look closer, we start to spot
some very interesting patterns among these Disney objects.
The very first magic object in a Disney feature was
the magic mirror from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
“Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?”
When that mirror declared Snow White to be the fairest dame in the kingdom,
"Alas, she is more fair than thee." "Snow White!"
It wasn’t just talking about her looks,
but also about Snow White’s inner beauty.
So this tells us: a magic mirror reflects
that which is most important, but which can’t be seen
by the human eye.
And every enchanted Disney object since is
really a magic mirror, too.
"Like so many things, it is not what is outside,
but what is inside that counts."
A magic object can embody the conflict of the movie.
"If he could learn to love another and earn her love in return
by the time the last petal fell then the spell would be broken."
It can reveal the key themes.
"Genie, you're free!"
And most fundamentally, the magic object makes
intangible things appear concrete and visible before our eyes.
So here’s our take on all the different ways
Disney movies use magic objects, and why.
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"Looks like such a beat up worthless piece of junk."
Magic in Disney movies is often channeled through
a mundane household object.
Think of Tinkerbell’s pixie dust, it’s just...dust.
“And something I forgot: dust!”
“Dust!”"Dust?"
“Yup!
Just a little bit of pixie dust.”
Dust is the most undesired, everyday thing.
It’s something we sweep out of the way, but can’t stop from piling up,
so it’s a reminder of both the banality of our lives,
and the inevitable passage of time.
"Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust."
But the Peter Pan story transforms dust into
something extraordinary and miraculous, that, far from weighing you down
with daily burdens, lets you fly.
Other times the everyday object becomes magical because it mixes up
two common things that don’t normally go together,
like glass and shoes.
"Glass slippers!
Why, its like a dream!"
Cinderella’s otherworldly glass slipper reminds us of the way dreams work,
to remix and match the boring building blocks of our world
into something magical.
As we sleep, our subconscious synthesizes things we’ve seen into
new, unexpected combinations.
Sometimes, it takes a crazy dream to help us see things from
a new perspective or solve a difficult problem.
[Singing] "A dream is a wish, your heart makes."
Enchanted objects in stories can likewise push us to
think creatively.
Look at the Fairy Godmother's transformations in Cinderella.
You might think Cinderella’s horse would be the obvious, conscious
choice to pull the carriage, but he becomes the coachman,
and the mice become the horses.
And doesn’t that make even more sense, in a certain kind of way?
So finding magic in the mundane helps us tap into the imagination’s
power to think differently;
and it gives our adult eyes that childlike ability to see
enchantments all around us.
"That there is what you might call a doorway to a place of enchantment."
Sometimes the magic object is a part of nature.
This kind of magic object represents ephemerality…
the fleeting nature of time.
"Make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine.”
In Tangled, the magic of Rapunzel’s hair comes from
an enchanted flower with the power to restore youth.
Youth, like the flower, has a natural time limit.
And Rapunzel’s story is essentially about her youth
being stolen from her.
She’s locked in a tower for the first 18 years of her life.
[Singing] “When will my life begin?"
The time-reversing flower symbolizes Rapunzel’s
conflict with time and her desire to finally start living.
"This is so fun!"
In Beauty and the Beast, the wilting enchanted rose
is another reminder of the relentless march of time.
"Oh, its not that easy Lumiere, these things take time."
"But the rose has already begun to wilt!"
And Cinderella’s carriage has to turn back into a pumpkin
at the stroke of midnight.
So there’s a limit to what magic can do.
There are natural limitations that can’t be overruled.
The lesson in these stories with ephemeral objects
tends to be that fighting the natural order, or fighting time,
is what turns us into villains.
"Now I'm the bad guy."
It’s a battle that can’t be won.
We have to respect the gifts of nature,
like youth, beauty and love, but also accept
the inevitable passage of time, and know that it’s right that
all good things come to an end.
Another category of Disney enchanted objects
is the divine tool.
This object imbues the bearer
with godlike abilities.
The divine object represents the existence of a higher power,
overseeing the story.
In Moana, the heart of Te Fiti is a symbol of the influence of
the gods and nature on the human world.
"Her heart held the greatest power ever known,
it could create life itself!"
In Wreck-It Ralph, Fix-It Felix’s hammer
returns the game to its original state without fail.
"Definitely fixes stuff really well.
But, uh, if you've got a
magic hammer from your father, how hard can it be?"
Sometimes the divine object can be a symbol of hope,
to remind us that the natural order will emerge victorious in due time.
In Cinderella, the Fairy Godmother’s wand
brings Cinderella some justice when she's at her lowest point,
and reassures her that there's still some good in the world.
"Just leave it to me, what a gown this will be!
Bibbidi bobbidi, bibbidi bobbidi,
bibbidi bobbidi, boo!"
In Coco, Hector’s guitar allows Miguel to reach
his ancestors and truly understand his family history.
"we're... [together] family?"
All of these divine objects remind us that good will prevail,
as long as we show respect for the natural mysteries that
are much greater than our comprehension.
When a human or semi-human gets access to a divine tool,
often the lesson is that power comes with a hefty responsibility,
and boundaries between humans and gods must not be disturbed.
The Genie’s lamp offers,
"Phenomenal cosmic powers!”
but this comes with limitations.
“There are a few provisos, a couple of quid pro quos.”
When Jafar gets control of the lamp, he ignores divine boundaries
and wreaks havoc on society.
The same scenario plays out in The Little Mermaid.
King Triton wields the trident in a just, restrained way,
for the most part.
But when Ursula seizes power, things spin out of control.
"The sea and all its spoils bow to my power!"
In The Princess and the Frog, Dr. Facilier uses a talisman
that’s powered by voodoo and bargaining with the dead,
which is an unnatural ability that humans shouldn’t have.
In the end, all of these tyrants
are brought down by their powerlust.
In Moana, Maui is himself a demi-god
and his fish hook was given to him by the gods,
but he transgresses when he steals the heart of Te Fiti,
so, he loses his hook.
Thus whether you are a demi-god or a regular Joe
who’s stumbled across a divine object,
it’s important to respect that getting a taste of god-like powers
doesn’t make you an omnipotent god,
and powers will be stripped away if they’re abused.
A certain subset of divine objects are
possessed only by villains, because they give the bearer
too much unnatural control.
"Ahhhhh!"
The spinning wheel in Sleeping Beauty is
also powered by a villain, Maleficent.
But on a bigger level, this object is a symbol
of inevitability.
Aurora and the three fairies spend the beginning of the movie
trying to avoid Maleficent’s curse coming to pass.
But they can’t, they have to face the challenge head on.
The spinning wheel’s allure reminds us that,
running from your fate is never the solution.
In a more positive way, the heart of Te Fiti
has an aura of inevitability, too.
It keeps showing up to remind Moana of her mission and purpose.
"I will sail across the sea, and restore the heart of Te Fiti."
Food as a magic object relates to trusting your senses.
The distrust of food in strange places is a
long-standing trope in fairy tales, and historically this has been
used to teach children lessons like, not to give into temptation
or gluttony, or not to take food that isn’t theirs.
In Disney, food from strangers sends messages about trust and caution.
The Evil Queen uses the poison apple to
prey on Snow White’s kind, trusting nature.
"One bite, and all your dreams will come true."
Snow White’s loving kindness helps her a lot throughout the movie.
It moves the huntsman to spare her, and gains
the friendship of the dwarfs.
But when she easily falls victim to the Evil Queen’s obvious lie,
"It's a magic wishing apple."
this sends the counter message that we can’t just naively
put blind faith in strangers, we ought to be a little more
savvy than Snow White.
The magic food in Alice in Wonderland
is actually labeled “eat me” and “drink me”.
But again the story warns young viewers, you shouldn’t just
do everything you’re told, use your own head.
"Hm, better look first.
For if one drinks much
from a bottle marked 'poison', it's almost certain to
disagree with one sooner or later."
Alice is entering a world governed by dream logic,
where yes can easily mean no, and you can never trust your senses.
Young adults may find the grown-up world just as confusing
and nonsensical, so they need to develop a sharp, discerning mind.
"Ah, but that's the point!
If you don't think, you shouldn't talk!"
In the positive sense, food can also be a symbol
of community and love.
The Princess and the Frog gives us a magical food
that’s a force for good, in Mama Odie’s magic gumbo.
[Singing] “Gumbo, gumbo, in the pot.
We need a princess, whatcha got?”
Tiana associates cooking with her father’s love,
but her ambition has distanced her from the true
meaning of that love.
So the gumbo serves as a reminder that the ancient magic
of family is more powerful than you might think,
and we shouldn’t take it for granted.
"My daddy never did get what he wanted.
But he had what he needed.
He had love."
Sometimes, the magic “objects” in Disney movies even have
lives of their own.
We see these living objects in movies dealing with the question
of what it means to be human.
In Beauty and the Beast, the castle staff have been
turned into household objects.
"Ah, human again."
"Human again."
"Yes, think what that means."
As the spoiled Prince in his former life,
the Beast treated people around him as less than human,
so the Enchantress makes this objectification literal.
The Beast needs to learn to respect the dignity inherent
in all human life before he and his staff can become human again.
"Lumiere!
Cogsworth!"
In Pinocchio, the opposite happens.
Pinocchio, who is an object, is given partial life because
Geppetto loves him as if he were a real boy.
"Yes Pinnochio, I've given you life."
"Why?"
"Because tonight, Geppetto wished for a real boy."
And Pinnochio spends the movie learning what it means
to be human in order to become more than an object.
"Prove yourself brave, truthful, and unselfish,
and someday, you will be a real boy."
Olaf in Frozen is brought to life as a manifestation of the love
and closeness that Anna and Elsa shared as kids.
“Hi I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs!”
Elsa views herself as a monster, but Olaf reminds her of
her own humanity, and the beautiful, creative force inherent in her powers.
“Olaf?”
"You built me.
Remember that?”
“And you're alive?”
“Um...
I think so.”
In all of these examples, the living object helps characters
grow parts of themselves that have been stunted,
and the object becomes a means of learning how
to realize our humanity.
The magic object is a central part of so many fairy tales,
and fairy tales help us see the world through a child’s eyes.
Just as a child might project their personality onto a doll
or stuffed animal, enchanted objects project characters’ desires and
conflicts onto the external world of the story.
Ultimately, whatever category the magic object falls in,
its deepest purpose is to mirror its story world,
and make abstract concepts like power, healing, love, and time tangible.
In real life, these forces may be invisible, but they’re all around us
shaping our lives.
So magic objects teach us to look for what can’t be seen,
to be open to the deeper mysteries, and to harness the power in a how
a child views the world.
[Singing] "Because my world would be a wonderland."
This is Mikey Burton.
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