Disney movies provide a magical escape from reality

This past Thanksgiving weekend, there were as many new releases to choose from as there were side dishes to go with that turkey (or tofurkey).

For action fans, there was “Beowulf” or “Hitman.” For the indie hipsters, “No Country for Old Men” and “Margot at the Wedding.” There was even something for music lovers old (“I’m Not There”) and young (“August Rush”).

I, on the other hand, chose a different route for my most recent moviegoing experience.

I probably should be embarrassed about how much I loved “Enchanted,” but I just can’t be, and I won’t be.

Sure, it’s a Disney movie with a princess, evil stepmothers and lots of singing, but Disney movies have always been so much more than their plot.

Disney’s recent 3-D animated films from Pixar such as “Finding Nemo” and “The Incredibles” crossed over from kids’ films to full-blown blockbusters for parents and older siblings, too.

But “Enchanted” brings back something that Disney films have been lacking lately: singing characters ““ and songs altogether ““ except for the occasional sappy Randy Newman tune.

In the “old school,” so-called princess films of our heyday, like “The Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the Beast,” the outrageous singing and dancing separate the film from reality.

So while the title characters go through life-changing issues like transforming from a mermaid into a land woman, fanciful songs let the audience escape and treat the issues, and the film as a whole, lightly.

And there’s nothing like a good, simple and fun happily ever after.

Horror screamfests and special effects-heavy science fiction films can also serve as escape films, but being locked in a room with a serial chainsaw killer or having to pay attention to why giant Transformer machines are walking the Earth can get too serious and complicated for me.

This is a time when people our age need such fanciful retreats from reality more than ever, which explains why these childhood classics continue to resonate with their original fans, as many of my peers have DVD collections brimming with special editions of “Beauty and the Beast” and other films like it.

In college, especially in Los Angeles, it’s cool to see that obscure indie film before anyone else.

And with busy college schedules, students can only make time for that new foreign film receiving a lot of Oscar buzz.

The only problem with these outstanding cinematic achievements is that most of them, minus a few black comedies here and there, are all depressing ““ I didn’t want to spend the holiday weekend watching “No Country For Old Men.”

Our 20s are those pesky in-between years, transitioning from financially dependent, struggling recent graduates to responsible, established breadwinners providing at least for ourselves, if not for a whole family.

It can be confusing, saddening and frustrating (from what I hear), and so it makes sense that the last thing we want in our entertainment is more of the same.

Animators and writers have caught onto this trend among older viewers stuck between the kid years and the parent years.

“Enchanted,” as well as recent films such as the “Shrek” series, include jokes specifically geared toward older and more knowledgeable viewers that make fun of the genre of fairy tales and princesses from within the medium.

An old-fashioned and naive princess lost in the middle of Manhattan singing catchy and lighthearted Disney songs may seem below my grade level or intelligence, but it’s nice after long days of worrying about everything from the miniscule (traffic, a botched paper) to the major (future career, the future in general).

And judging by the film’s approximate $50 million box office take this past weekend, it seems I won’t be the only one singing “That’s How You Know” this week.

If you have a white horse and a song in your heart, e-mail Stanhope at kstanhope@media.ucla.edu.

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