I was watching Snow White with my daughter the other day. Snow White began singing, “Someday my prince will come” I couldn’t help but think, “Yeah, good luck with that honey.” But, as we all know, her prince finds her, they defy the odds, good prevails evil and they live happily ever after. There’s also Cinderella, No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dreams that you wish will come true. And don’t forget Pinocchio, when you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are. Anything your heart desires will come to you. Initially I was irate in a frenzy of being betrayed and disillusioned by the animator who so glamorized the damsel and filled the minds of young girls full of dreams of being rescued and swept away by her prince to live happily ever after because that just isn’t reality. Life is hard and challenging and full of the unexpected. That’s when I realized that the genius of Walt Disney and his successors isn’t in the story. All these years, I have been listening to wrong message. In most of Disney’s films there are discreet moments which behold rather profound words of wisdom and offer the most honest form of advice in almost any situation you could find yourself in. It’s the raw, sour truth that we’ve all failed to acknowledge.

For example, here are a few words of wisdom for everyday life from Thumper, the adorable bunny on Bambi. Eating greens is a special treat. It makes long ears and great big feet. But it sure is awful stuff to eat. Completely true! Who wouldn’t prefer something sweet over a head of broccoli? Regardless, you have to eat them. The most honest words of wisdom come from none other than the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean. I’m dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It’s the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they’re going to do something incredibly stupid. How many of us haven’t been caught off guard by a person we thought to be honest?

Now let’s say that you’ve had a rough day and you’re in need of advice that can relate to life. You could always reach for the sky as Woody from Toy Story recommends or you can take the words of the narrator at the beginning of Peter Pan, “All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again.” It’s the cold hard truth and everyone needs to come to terms with it eventually. And never forget, as Sebastian says in The Little Mermaid, “The seaweed is always greener in somebody else’s lake.”