Today I am going share my newest blog post series of all things nostalgia through movies, tv shows, and more. As a 90’s baby, I am going to share my input on the top 10 movies and tv shows that I grew up relating with in so many ways and I believe that you guys can relate with these as well.
1. Princess Diaries – 1 and 2
Discovering her family background and later realizing that she was a princess, Mia Thermopolis had to adjust from her regular life into living the life of royalty while remaining as herself through the process. She took a stand to make a change on what it truly, meant to be a queen against the obligation if having a king by her side to rule the kingdom within the patriarchal societal norm. Mia threw away the obligations of her previous role in royalty and became a true leader for all including herself.
2. Scooby Doo Movie
The gang splits after their dispute about where they stood as Mystery Inc. Two years later, they meet up at the airport unexpectedly to head over to Spooky Island where they come across another odd mystery that would require them to work together to save if they put their past issues with each other behind them.
My favorite character from the franchise is Daphne Blake because in this film her role was to always to play the “Damsel in Distress” against the suspects who would always portray themselves as monsters. She grew tired of her position in the gang and became invested in wanting to solve the mystery by herself at Spooky Island. Daphne ultimately fights against the villian and took her power back by no longer being the “Damsel in Distress” and proved that she was more than the pretty woman in the group.
3. Mulan
After being disgraced by the matchmaker, Mulan knew that she was not fit to live the traditional lifestyle her parents and grandmother expected of her. When she finds out that her father was going to fight in war, she was against his decisions and took matters into her own hands to go into battle only to be disguised as a man since women were not allowed to fight. With pals Mushu and Crickee (The lucky cricket), they were able to support the path she wanted to journey through. When arriving to training camp, she did not know what types of challenges she was going to get into while being named as “Ping”.
In the beginning of her training, she was having a hard time keeping up with what General Li Shang wanted from her as “Ping”. He decided not to give up on himself and shocked everyone around with the progress he made. Throughout her time as “Ping” on the battlefield surprising everyone with her latest moves, when the soldiers got a glimpse of who she really was, she was shamed and almost killed by the hands of a man who was saved by her yet never really accepted that a woman could be as strong and resilient in the eyes of man until the very end.
Mulan finally realized her truest position in life and did not give up on her mission and went to go save China. After the Emperor discovers her backstory, he and the rest of Imperial City honored her for what she has done for China and later became the leader she was meant to be.
4. Emperors New Groove
In Emperor’s New Groove, Emperor Kuzco was planning to expand his kingdom among the village to place his waterpark where there were citizens who lived less fortunate than him. Despite his selfish and greedy ways, Kuzco was humbled down by Yzma and Kronk who both secretly hated him for his position in power and how he treated them. On the journey to get back to the palace, Kuzco was still stuck in his own one-sided mindset against Patcha who wanted to keep his village alive despite Kuzco’s demands.
Patcha was showing Kuzco on what it is like to live life with an open heart rather than a closed one. After realizing where he went wrong, Kuzco decided to change his ways for the better and not go through with false demands after all.
5. Rush Hour 1-3
With two friends Detective James Carter and Inspector Lee fighting against an international Chinese criminal gang known as the “Triads”, these guys are both quite different in how they fight crime in their own unique form. As they were assigned together to work as partners within the police force, Carter and Lee both had to learn the cultural ethics of their personalities and upbringing.
When they joined other secret agents, FBI’s, and detectives, following their traditional methods of fighting against crime often went south. However, they pulled away from the group and took the initiative to showcase their authentic ways of solving the criminal case in their own nature despite being underestimated by others. Their authentic motives to stop the “Triads” ended successfully and people wanted to work with them but instead they backed out and decided to stick with their truest nature of working in law enforcement.
6. Hannah Montana
Living the best of both worlds for Miley Stewart was not easy since she was living a double life as herself in her personal life and as Hannah in the public eye. Throughout her career as a singer that I’m sure most of us grew up watching or listening to on a daily back in the day, Miley made sure to never forget her roots and where she came from.
7. Suite Life of Zack and Cody
Being an heiress to one of the finest hotels filled with two misfit and intellectual twins, a dramatic bell hopper, a hotel singing mother, a hilarious hotel engineer, a smart and educated candy girl, and a cranky hotel manager. London Tipton definitely has a mindset and lifestyle of her own. Despite being the richest bubbly heiress that she is, she sure knows how to navigate life in her own lane. Whether it was through luxury living, a wardrobe full of cute and glitzy clothes, having her dog Ivana by her side, London made sure it was all about her at the end of the day while living in her own world at the Tiption.
8. Batman: The Animated Series
Protecting Gotham and being a billionaire at the same for Bruce Wayne is probably one of the toughest positions to manage. Even fighting the most well-known villains daily must be a constant cycle to go through. Behind the mask, Bruce lives in a Manor filled with many of his prized possessions that fulfil of who he is. My favorite villian from the DC Universe and this series alone is the Joker. He is probably one of the most misunderstood villians in Gotham although this does not excuse for his oblivious actions on innocent people, his jokes were never heard or understood by others. I will say that he is highly intelligent with his intentions on who he targets and what he wants.
9. Sex and The City
Here we have four ladies from New York City with multiple personalities and careers of their own. Carrie Bradshaw who is a Writer for VOGUE Magazine, Columnist, Author, and Reporter. She is known for her fashionable taste, shopping addiction, and being a deeply romantic person. Miranda Hobbs is a Lawyer with cyclical view on her relationships with men. She is known for her workaholic personality, and masculine and questionable fashion sense in the early parts of the series. Charlotte York who grew up in a wealthy family in Connecticut and attended Smith College where she graduated with a degree in Art and a Minor in Finance and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority. She was a respected and well-known Art Dealer who gave up her dreams to settle for marriage and live life the traditional way. Samantha Jones (who is my fav btw lol) is a confident and bold woman who has a career in Public Relations and is the Big Sister of her friendship group. She is known for her sexual expressions and loves to put herself first.
Their friendship dynamic is unmatched and at the end of the day when there’s chaos in career, relationships, or life, they always remain loyal and supportive of each other’s wellbeing.
10. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
This family is probably one of the most hilarious and interesting people that you will never take your eyes off of. Will basically flipped this household with his characteristics and personality. The Banks family pretty much had to adapt to the changes that was brought from Philadelphia to Bel-Air.
Hilary Banks is a bougie weather girl at a local TV station who dropped out of UCLA and is known for her self-centered and air-head persona. In the past she was stereotyped as the mean girl because of her lifestyle especially when she used to look down on to Will for his upbringing when he moved into their home. After a while she adjusted to Will and got along with him very well in the end going forward. Hilary’s style was chic and classy which expressed her femininity very well.
