I mentioned yesterday that I went to see Tangled Tuesday. I absolutely loved it. That's one I'll be getting on DVD as soon as it comes out because it's a sure cure for a bad day. I think the last time I laughed that hard in a movie was when I saw Toy Story 3 last summer. Plus, it fits my personal guidelines for a fantasy/paranormal romantic comedy. It's very much like a screwball comedy from the 30s and 40s, with the madcap "princess" exploring the world outside her comfort zones and the lower-class man serving as her guide. It's basically It Happened One Night with magic, musical numbers, a little more danger and adventure and a lot more hair.
The mythology/folklore/fairy tale geek in me was intrigued by the way they took the major beats of the Rapunzel tale and molded them into a new story. I like the way the more recent Disney fairy tale movies have allowed the relationships to grow, so that the hero and heroine actually spend time together instead of them falling in love after dancing together once. However, they did the usual Disney thing of casting a guy with a great voice and giving him a line in one song and a verse in another. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this is the next Disney Broadway production (though dealing with the hair might be a challenge) because it's very much that kind of story and music, so I hope in that the hero gets a new song or two (like they did with Beauty and the Beast).
But this movie really messed with my head. It sort of sparked an idea. I have a character from a project that didn't work out who refuses to go away. I still like this character and character situation/backstory, but wasn't sure what to do with it. Something in this movie gave me the sudden inspiration of what I could do with this character. When I got home, I did a brain dump, taking a piece of notebook paper and writing out everything I knew about this idea. But everything I wrote down sparked more ideas, and soon I had two pages filled, a world built, characters sketched out and the outline of a plot. These characters took over my brain and started playing out scenes. I both love it and hate it when this happens. I love it because that's how some of my best ideas develop, but I hate it because it makes it difficult to work on the current project when characters from another idea are being loud and obnoxious. I have learned that it's best not to just jump into a story, no matter how excited it makes me. It will be even better when I've had the chance to let it develop more, and I need to finish what I'm working on.
I didn't get anything done Tuesday because I was dealing with brain dump and distraction, but yesterday I managed to get back into the current project and even wrote five pages when I hadn't scheduled any writing time at all.
And now I'm off for my major holiday grocery shop. I'd planned to save it for next week, but there's a slight chance of serious winter weather next week, and the way things seem to work, if I've stocked up on food, we won't have any problems, but if the cupboards are bare, we're sure to get snow and ice.
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