"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. Before we go on,
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Skillshare. Skillshare is a superb
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about everything. Vlogging, cinematography,
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to get two months access to all classes for free. "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. Mikey is an award-winning designer
and illustrator whose work has been published in high-profile publications
like the New York Times and ESPN. And he teaches a class on
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