A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

I like Shakespeare’s fantasy plays. As far as I’m concerned, they’re the best ones the guy wrote. A Midsummer Night’s Dream tells of the intrigues of the Faerie Court and what happens when foolish mortals stray across their path. Oberon is angry with Titania, so he orders Puck to make her fall in love-for just one night- with a mortal. Puck goes so far as to give this mortal a donkey head so that Titania will be fully humiliated. He also dabs some on the eyes of a couple of the mortals, not realizing the chaos that will presently break forth. But even if he did, I don’t think Robin Goodfellow would have really cared. A great play when done right.

DuckTales (1987-1990)

DuckTales (the original series) is one of my all time favorite cartoons. It tells the story of Scrooge McDuck, a multibillionaire, who is charged with watching his three great-grandnephews: Huey, Duey, and Louie, while their Uncle Donald is out sailing the world. It involves a series of misadventures while various villains try to claim Scrooge’s money for themselves. It is all together a wonderful show and a fun lark for any day!

Eragon

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Eragon is a great first book for any author, especially when you think about the fact that this first book was in fact self-published. It gives hope for all of us writers. We can make a breakout. It tells the story of Eragon, a farm boy who finds a dragon egg and therefore becomes the last of the dragon riders. Of course as is typical with these sorts of novels, Eragon develops a telepathic connection with his dragon, Saphira. There is also an evil king that has to be overcome later on in the series. Although they fight the first battle in this book, this is very much a coming of age novel where our hero starts on the first few steps of his hero quest in order to defeat said evil king.

Eragon (2006)

Many people found fault in this movie adaptation. I happened to watch it before I read the book, so I didn’t have quite the negative reaction as some people, but after reading the book I could see where people objected. The casting as described in the book was off. I also felt that Eragon himself was a lot whinier in the movie than he was in the book. Provided, with everything that is happening to him, he has a good excuse to whine. Still you have a dragon! Stop whining and get on with your epic heroic quest boy! It was fun the first time I watched it, but I don’t think I would ever watch it again unless it was on instant play on Netflix, it was pouring down rain, and I was totally and completely bored.

The Aristocats (1970)

It is a familiar trope of detective stories, “the butler did it.” Sometimes the butler is the antagonist, sometimes it is someone else, but that poor butler is always the first one to be suspected. In Disney’s The Aristocats, that suspicion is well founded. The butler, Edgar, really did do it when he realized that Duchess and her three kittens were destined to get Madame’s fortune instead of himself. As Duchess and her kittens attempt to return to Madame via a sort of Incredible Journey accompanied by that dashing tomcat Thomas O’Malley, Edgar settles in to enjoy his future fortune, but this is a Disney film, so there is only one way this one can end. With our protagonists living happily ever after!

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was written by C.S. Lewis in 1950. It is the first published book in the Chronicles of Narnia, although he did write a prequel later called The Magician’s Nephew. It tells the story of Peter, Susan, Edmond, and Lucy, four children sent to the countryside to get away from the bombs being dropped on London during World War II. While playing a game of hide and sake, Lucy discovers the land of Narnia at the back of the wardrobe. The other children slowly discovers the world and learn that they are prophesized kings and queens destined to defeat the White Witch, the villain of the book. The story is highly allegorical, especially when Edmond betrays his siblings to the White Witch and Aslan, the lion and king of the world, has to save him by giving his own life. It is clearly a nod towards the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. However, the story is also great when you ignore the allegory and just concentrate on the wonder of the book itself. I think this first book is really the best book in the series.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1979)

This is a cartoon version of the story and one of the first versions I ever saw. It sticks pretty close to the original story and has decent animation for the time.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1988)

I recently rewatched this version of my childhood. The acting is good and they stick pretty close to the storyline. I had forgotten how horrible the special effects are though. The more fantastical creatures such as griffins are drawn cartoons, the beavers are clearly people in costumes and Aslan is a huge puppet. However I have always found that movies with poor special effects are sometimes better. They have to rely more on character development.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005)

The best version by far. The characters are as great as always and the special effects in this new version are pretty cool too. One thing that was interesting about this version is that they show the bombs falling on London so you really understand why the children were sent to total strangers in the first place.