If there’s one language our kids know, it is the language of princesses and pirates.

Inside Out 2 and Our Identity in Christ

Inside Out 2 Big Screen

Disney’s Masterful Exposé of Riley’s Brain on Puberty Reminds Me that Emotional Regulation Can Be Hard for Adults, Too

 

by Jenna Kruse

 

It would be easy to chalk up Disney’s newest Pixar hit, Inside Out 2, as cinema therapy for those whose hormone siren just went off—it certainly normalizes teeth that haven’t yet surrendered to the braces, skin that won’t cooperate, and the awkwardness of needing deodorant for the first time.

 

But as the movie masterfully gives a behind-the-scenes view of Riley’s emotional control center, I’m left wondering why, as a 40-year-old woman, I still relate so powerfully to her story—and not just as a mother of a teen and preteen.

 

Riley’s experience of puberty and the subsequent “emotional overhaul” it causes mirrors the intensity with which many teenagers—and adults—experience the flesh vs. spirit war that Romans 7-8 exposes within us all.

 

Granted, Riley and my Read more

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Spiritual Takeaways: Disney’s Live Action The Little Mermaid

Ariel The Little Mermaid

Like the “gadgets and gizmos” adorning Ariel’s underwater grotto, the moral and spiritual implications of Disney’s The Little Mermaid are equally plentiful.

 

Whenever Disney remakes a classic, we wonder if the entertainment giant will be able to do it justice. Will 2023’s The Little Mermaid have us falling in love with the story all over again like we did in our childhood? It’s hard to imagine a live-action set mostly underwater with a mixture of humans and sea creatures as main characters.

 

Despite the challenges, Disney made beautiful choices in bringing the story of The Little Mermaid up to date. Indeed, the plotline stays faithful to the original but with strategic and welcomed updates to character and story development. And as a true test of its effectiveness, it had me in tears.

 

As Disney has moved toward Read more

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R2-D2 is My Superhero

R2-D2 Droid

The Quirky Star Wars Robot Teaches Us to Keep the Faith

 

My neighbor knows I love to find the gospel in a good movie. When she invited me to speak at her student ministry’s winter retreat, it wasn’t long before a text came through, “Hey do you think you could incorporate R2-D2 into one of your talks?” For some reason, their graphic designer decided to put R2-D2 on the front of their t-shirts, and it became a theme for the weekend.

 

But here’s the deal. You ready for a confession? I feel like I need to look around both shoulders to make sure no one is eavesdropping. Read more

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Top 20 Gospel-Paralleling Disney Movie Quotes

Mad Hatter Quote

20 Things Disney Characters Have Said that Parallel Biblical Principles

 

Who doesn’t love a good Disney movie? The animation is out of this world, the storytellers are the world’s greatest, and there is usually a moment toward the movie’s end that makes you work to choke back tears. Don’t worry—your secret’s safe with me. Simply put, Disney is pure cinematic genius.

 

Some call the emotive scene at the end of the movie a “moral,” but there’s more to it than that. Our hearts tug on stories with a redemptive component because we were made for redemption. God himself placed a deep longing in our hearts for the kind of redemption that only he provides.

 

We know that the world is broken and if we’re honest, we feel it inside us too. Even so, a story that reminds us that “all is redeemable” is power. And the good news, folks? The theme of redemption comes from a place of truth. So, share these clips with your kids and let the conversation follow. With no further ado, introducing the top 20 Disney movie quotes paralleling gospel truths:

 

20. “You used to be much more…muchier. You’ve lost your muchness.”

-The Mad Hatter to Alice, Alice in Wonderland (2010)

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Disney’s Alice and…Her Ebenezers

Alice Background

Alice in Wonderland (2010) is a story about Ebenezers. When Alice is a little girl, her father instills in her the brilliant idea to believe in “six impossible things before breakfast.” Later in life, as she’s preparing to slay the Red Queen and doubting she has what it takes, she’ll have to call upon this practice.

 

So, what even is an Ebenezer? An Ebenezer is a story from your past that reminds you that God is your “rock of help” in the present. Read more

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Encanto and our Stairway to Heaven

Encanto window

Disney’s Encanto is a movie for all the performers. All the achievers. All the perfectionists. And in this weary-worn world full of anxiety to perform, achieve, and perfect, we all need a message. A message about rest and about where our identity lies. Because isn’t that why we’re all tired? We’re trying to perfect an image of ourselves that is unsustainable. We are attempting to create our own self-worth. The worth of ourselves only ever came from Read more

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Jesus? I know him!

Watching Elf

Exercising faith in a world full of cynics: what Buddy the Elf teaches us about the gospel

 

Though I normally write about Disney and the gospel, this one makes it worth deviating from the norm. Disney-produced or not, this Jon Favreau-directed film became a Christmastime classic in my house almost twenty years ago. Since it’s considered newer to the repertoire of classic must-see Christmas movies, it’s hard to believe it’s been around that long. Along with so many others, the joy-filled, child-like antics of Buddy, the beloved giant green and yellow elf, will probably be featured on our screen sometimes after the turkey dinner on Thursday and before the tryptophan coma kicks in.

But…have you ever thought of it as a messenger of the gospel?!

You know the story. Starring Will Farrell as the main character, the movie, Elf depicts Read more

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Who’s the Baddest of Them All?

Cruella

I’m not sure anymore…Cruella, antiheroes, and the gospel

In light of the gospel, what do we do with the antihero trend in Hollywood? As the lines of good versus evil get muddied, should we be appalled, confused, or cheer them on?

 

The other day, I got roped into being a fill-in character during my youngest daughter’s pretend play session with the neighbor girl. Since the two 6-year-olds both decided to be mermaids and I was the only other living and breathing thing within earshot, I was cast as both the mermaid-killer and the mermaid-healer. I was both the bad guy and the good guy all in one.

 

First of all, can I just stop and ask the fellow parents out there, Why the inverse relationship between age and ability to engage in imaginative play? I wish I weren’t the norm here, but man is it hard! That aside, I was a mixture of confused and amused in managing these stark contrasts: just as quickly as I was able to muster up some intensely malicious motives for the bad guy, my six-year-old boss ladies had me switching hats to bring on the gentleness and goodness required of me for the rescue. Read more

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Disney’s Coco: A Parable

Coco and Chesterton quote

 

Disney’s Coco offers us a parable for Jesus’s most challenging words in all the Bible. Set in the vibrant town of Santa Cecilia, Mexico during its annual Day of the Dead rituals, a young Miguel wrestles with his family heritage that stands in direct opposition to the ache burning in his soul to pursue becoming a musician.

 

Miguel’s story begins like the plot arcs of so many other Disney characters—Merida in Brave, Rapunzel in Tangled, Ariel in The Little Mermaid, Moana in the movie with her namesake, and more recently, Luca in Luca. Essentially, the main character comes of age by acknowledging their own Read more

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All This (Puppy) Love

101 Dalmatians on Disney +

101 Dalmatians Shares the Gospel Message in So Many Ways

 

We know the classic plot arc of good versus evil—all good stories rely on it. Often, however, something even deeper resounds in a story that catches our hearts. Maybe you haven’t been able to put a name on it, but it’s the gospel.

 

This week, we dig deeper into the classic Disney movie “101 Dalmatians” so you can watch it while you wait for “Cruella” to be released without the Premier Access fee on Disney Plus. (That doesn’t happen until after summer’s practically over.)

 

So, settle in and get comfy as we find the larger good vs. evil “story of all stories” inside this animated classic I remember from my own childhood.

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