SPOILER ALERT

Not long after we got married I suggested to Ryan that we start collecting the Disney films under the guise that the children we would have some day would be able to enjoy them. Of course, I knew all the while that it would really be a collection all of my own, that I would probably be willing to share with said future children. Ryan's response whenever I braced the subject (and I must preface this with an apology since it's probably offensive) was always the same 'Disney's gay.' There ended the discussion.

Imagine my surprise then, one day somewhere in our third year of marriage, when Ryan came home with a box of sour patch kids and a DVD under his arm. "Do you want to watch Bed Knobs and Broomsticks tonight?" I'm not sure what stunned me more, the  fact that he'd chosen to break our Disney fasting streak with Bed Knobs and Broomsticks, of all of the films he could of chosen from, or the fact that it wasn't a rental copy; he'd actually gone out and bought the movie.

No doubt my confusion showed on my face. I found myself saying, 'I thought Disney was gay?' (Sorry; so it was.) Somehow it became Ryan's turn to be confused. He protested. He would never say that! He loved Disney! I doubted that the mystery would ever be solved; did I imagine the whole thing? Does there come a point about three years into marriage that men become secure enough to admit that they too grew up watching The Little Mermaid, and loved every minute of it?

I do know that when Beauty and the Beast was re-released on Blu-Ray, Ryan pre-ordered it. And I do know that when that same movie was back in the cinemas, in 3D no less, it was Ryan who suggested that we go and see it. So we took our one year old to the movies and fed her multigrain cheerios for an hour straight to keep her quiet. (Finally a 3D film that was worth putting on the glasses for!) As for Tangled, I'm pretty sure he loves it as much as Charlotte and I, which is pretty over the top.

Thanks to Ryan our Disney collection has come on leaps and bounds, yet it still takes me by surprise when he buys a new (cough, used) one. I think however I may have just figured out the reason for the company's rather drastic rise in credibility. I didn't know it until a couple of days ago, but 2009 was the year that Disney expanded their empire in a landmark deal. It was the year that the Marvel superheroes were adopted into the Mickey Mouse family when Walt Disney bought the Marvel Entertainment group. 2009 also happened to be the third year that we were married; I'm noticing a connection here.

Four billion dollars is a ridiculous amount to pay in order to say that some superheroes belong to you, but I'm certainly glad that Disney made the investment. Sure, the studios undoubtedly realized that owning Marvel would mean they could monetize the myriad of characters in their theme parks, but they couldn't have known that the move would cause one man to completely reverse his opinion. I suppose the change in attitude is a testament to just how much Ryan loves and adores his comic books (didn't find that out until I'd been married to him for three years either).

I know this: Disney, my DVD cabinet and I salute you.