The Happiest Pod on Earth (Archive)

What is The Happiest Pod on Earth (Archive)?

Geek Therapy's Disney Podcast! Hosted by Stefanie Bautista and Ariel Landrum. In each episode they talk about the power of Disney to bring people together. Join us to learn how to use everything Disney to teach, learn, heal, and connect with others.

Ariel:

Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Happiest Pod Honor. I'm Ariel, a licensed therapist who uses clients' passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma and mental unwellness.

Stef:

And I'm Stef. I'm an educator who uses passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them.

Ariel:

And here at Happiest Pod, we dissect Disney mediums with a critical lens.

Stef:

Why do we do that? Well, because we're more than just fans, we expect more from the mediums that we consume. So what Disney experience or Disney topic are we discussing today, Ariel?

Ariel:

We are gonna talk about the famous Disney sidekick animals.

Stef:

Sidekick animals. Usually, we

Ariel:

see them accompanied with princesses, but, now we're just seeing them more and more in general, with a variety of characters.

Stef:

And we all know we have our favorites. Right? If you go off the top of your head, my the well, obviously, the person that comes to mind is Flounder just because he's cute. He was, like, you know, the best friend that always got your back, always was just, like, your number one fan. And, you know, we identify a lot of these sidekicks so readily with whatever princess or whatever main character that they and We wanted to talk about the relationship between these sidekicks, these animal sidekicks, and their main character, their friend, or whoever, and categorize them in a way that's a little bit more, suited to the real world with Ariel's help.

Ariel:

Absolutely. So we're gonna do some definitions first. And, for some of you who may not know, part of one of the things that I do as a mental health clinician is I can provide assessments to see if someone qualifies for an emotional support animal. That qualification needs to meet very specific criteria with the first one being that individual must have a mental health disability. The disability has to match the definition for, federal, ADA, including that there are functional impairments, and it significantly limits at least 1 or more life functions.

Ariel:

So I have to assess for all of those things. The other thing I have to assess is, if the emotional support animal has what's called a a nexus, that's a legal term, or a relationship where their relationship with their owner mitigates or lowers, the symptoms of that disability. So it's a lot of assessing.

Stef:

It really is something that I feel people have embraced a lot more in, you know, the past decade or so, and knowing through the pandemic, through all of these hard times that we've gone through, they really do make a difference in, how we live our everyday lives, how we treat ourselves, how we treat the world. Me as a mother, I know that having a pet around, teaches my kids responsibility, and it also teaches them to care for, you know, animals and the things around them. So let's get into it. We want to identify exactly what categories we're working with. Right?

Ariel:

Mhmm. Absolutely. So we all know they're sidekicks, But Steph and I were talking, and it seemed like some of them serve more functions and purposes than the others. So, with these definitions, keep these in mind as we're we're, essentially rating and grading. The first one is a pet or companion animal.

Ariel:

So, this is an animal that provides leisurely companionship to its owner. They're kept primarily for a person's company, often an extroverted display, amusement, or entertainment. They are usually domesticated or of a domestic breed, and, they have close daily relationships with humans. They are not considered an assisted animal. So an assisted animal is an umbrella category.

Ariel:

An assistant animal is an animal that works, provides assistance, or performs tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability. So an assistant animal is not a pet. Very big distinction.

Stef:

Yes.

Ariel:

Is not there for just leisurely enjoyment. An assistant animal is technically a working animal, and the difference would be that some working animals are livestock. So if you think of an animal that, is, agricultural for labor, it'll produce, like, eggs or milk, or wool. An assistant animal is sort of doing, like, a job, so they could technically assisted animal, specifically its work involves, owner or a certain relationship around a disability. So Mhmm.

Ariel:

For an emotional support animal, their companionship and support alleviates at least one or more aspects of their handler's disability. So that's that nexus that I was talking about.

Stef:

Mhmm.

Ariel:

Now they haven't been trained to do this. And the the common examples that I have found for my clients who are, ADHDers, having an emotional support animal creates a schedule of consistency for them because you cannot ignore the cat crying. Like, the cat will cry and cry and cry. Mhmm. And so the system that's being mitigated is lack of structure, due to executive dysfunction that happens from being an ADHDer.

Ariel:

Right. So that that that would be like an example.

Stef:

Got it. Yeah. Because the things gotta eat, so you gotta put them on a schedule to eat, and that helps them with routines and, just doing things that are over and over again so that they can get used to it and help out with that gap. Got it.

Ariel:

And and that consistency helps then mitigate the symptoms of ADHD Mhmm. That, occur and thus creating more holistic lived experience for this individual.

Stef:

Mhmm.

Ariel:

And remember, I said it it just it needs to, adversely affect 1 or more life functioning, and the nexus of the emotional support animal to that disability needs to help alleviate at least 1 or more. So if the alleviation is simply, like, the ability to have a structured schedule, something that you couldn't do on your own because your brain doesn't allow you to

Stef:

Mhmm.

Ariel:

Then, that's it. Like, I've I've done my my full A therapy animal is used as a therapeutic aid by a health or human services professional to support someone else. So an emotional support animal helps their handler. The the therapy animal, is told to do work by the handler to others. And oftentimes, they get permission to go into, like, hospital settings, for example.

Ariel:

You'll see a lot of therapy animals in, like, a a a children's unit, helping, or or in a senior center giving sort of, like, emotional aid to others.

Stef:

Yep. When my dad was in, care when he was receiving really intense kidney, treatment, There was always a dog that came by at UCLA and, you know, greeted all of the patients, and the everybody loved him. He was, like, the most beautiful golden retriever, and, like, of course, you know, my dad loves dogs because I have one too. And, you know, he was just like, yeah. He really brought light, and he brought a lot of happiness into the ward because, you know, other than that, they wouldn't see something like that.

Ariel:

Oh, that's so cute. Yeah. So an emotional support animal can be any animal. Therapy animal, even though it's per it's told therapy animal, it's almost always a dog. And then service animal, legally, federally, is a dog.

Stef:

Good to know.

Ariel:

Unless some states allow a miniature horse. And those are for individuals with, like, balance struggles. But yeah. So even though we're saying service animal, it's really a dog. However, other animals have been trained to provide services.

Ariel:

They just might not have as many legal rights. Mhmm. And we're only talking about the United States, so I don't know, like, definitions and laws other places. But a service animal is an animal that has received specialized training to perform a specific task or set of tasks for a person with a disability. And so some of those common tasks would be opening a door, grabbing medication, alerting individuals of the presence of allergens, so, like, barking, helping to pull a wheelchair, assisting individuals who are blind or have low vision with navigation, providing physical support and assistance with balance.

Ariel:

However, a service animal could also be a psychiatric service animal and help with situations like sensory relief and overload by, like, deep pressure application or alerting a handler before they have a panic attack through, like, licking them or barking, or encouraging engagement by limiting selective solitude. So, like, if someone's getting overwhelmed by a crowd, they might circle for crowd control or they might push the individual towards the corner to get a breather space. So those are our animals. And the thing about a service animal that sometimes people aren't aware of is that there are official places where you can get a service animal trained. But technically and legally, a service animal can be trained by their handler.

Ariel:

And so this is where our Disney princesses come in because from what we know or, I mean, our Disney characters were sidekicks. From what we know, none of these sidekicks have had, like, an official training from somewhere.

Stef:

No. They're dealing with their own stuff in life, and I don't think there was time for them to take a course.

Ariel:

Remember that because, disabilities are unique in individual, the way that individuals need assistance, yeah, it would make sense that they might need very specific tailored tasks that aren't part of, like, the regular reg regime of, like, a traditional training experience.

Stef:

And, I mean, there is an article that says, you know, why why do Disney princesses or Disney characters have animal sidekicks in the first place? And one of the main reasons is to give that character the emotional support that they need. You see that they're, you know, riding on their shoulder, or they're, you know, there just for them to pet, or they're giving them some sort of advice. Like, they're norm they're normally always talking mainly, but, they can act as their guardians as well as you're gonna see as we go through some of these sidekicks. So, you know, in reality, they were doing their job.

Ariel:

And like we said, emotional support animals don't have to have any task that they're trained. It's just that relationship.

Stef:

Mhmm.

Ariel:

That relationship that mitigates, a specific disability. Now this is where where things get a little tricky. I'm not diagnosing any of these characters, and saying that they do have specific disability because it's it's not canon. But we're gonna assume if we did give them a category

Stef:

What would we categorize them as? Yeah. Yeah.

Ariel:

If they were more than pet, we believe.

Stef:

And we challenge you when you rewatch some of these movies to see if what we're saying is true or if you have a differing opinion because, you know, I'm sure that when these characters were written, they weren't specifically, oh, this one's gonna be a therapy animal. This one's gonna be a support animal. It was really the relationship that the main character and this animal had and how they played in moving the story forward. So lots of things to think about, but I think it was a really cool thing for us to kind of look at these really important characters in a different lens to see how they play their part in moving the relationship forward with their main character. So are you guys ready?

Stef:

Yes. Awesome. So we are gonna start with Meeko, our wonderful raccoon in Pocahontas. We see Meeko riding in the front of Pocahontas' boat, always there whenever she needed, whenever they were going through the wilderness, whenever she was singing, he was around. And he was really funny.

Stef:

He had a lot of comic relief in the movie from what I remember.

Ariel:

I remember Meeko stealing a lot of it.

Stef:

I remember him eating a lot. He was just always eating.

Ariel:

Did he specifically aid, Pocahontas? I remember him grabbing the compass and

Stef:

giving

Ariel:

it to her. So he was aware that that was, like, something she she wanted and he retrieved it. Would you consider that, like, task oriented aid? Did she ever tell him what to do?

Stef:

I felt like he was the sassy best friend that was like, are you sure you wanna date this guy? Are you sure we wanna do this? Like, he always kinda gave the side eye and was, like, as he was eating, like, kinda brushing off John Smith. So, I mean, I don't think that he was necessarily trained to be her guardian, but I think he gave off a lot of best friend vibes to me.

Ariel:

So then so then we're gonna rule out a service animal, and we're gonna rule out therapy, animal because he wasn't providing, like, emotional support to others. No. Would you consider him a pet or an emotional support animal? Because the only thing I can think of is he did comfort her when she was sad.

Stef:

He did. He sure did, which is kind of why I kind of more categorized him as, like, like, almost like a human counterpart, but he he wasn't talking. He didn't say anything. He just squeak. He was one of the characters that did not have any speaking roles.

Stef:

So

Ariel:

So pet.

Stef:

I would say a pet. I would say a pet with a lot of attitude, which Okay. In real life, we have pets with a lot of attitude.

Ariel:

Alright. Alright. Alright. I I concur. I think, from what I can remember, and Yeah.

Ariel:

Anyone can, of course, correct us, it seems more like he was a pet that was attuned, to, his handler, his owner, and a very independent pet. You know? I think of, like, an outdoor cat.

Stef:

An outdoor cat, and also, I mean, he was mimicking the way she was, like, falling through the waterfall when she was, like, swimming. He he had a lot of characters, so I think definitely a pet. And because Pocahontas was so in tune to nature and the animals around her, I think that, drew a lot of similarities between his character and his emotions and her emotions just because she already had that established connection with the world around her.

Ariel:

Yeah. So culturally, she may not identify him as a pet. Could she may identify him, like, for kinship bonds.

Stef:

Mhmm. Kinship. Yep.

Ariel:

In the the forms of the just this exercise, yeah. We'll go with pet.

Stef:

We'll go with pet. Alright. Great. So we have Meeko as a pet. Alright.

Stef:

We're gonna fast forward a little bit, and we're gonna talk about Sven, our reindeer from Frozen.

Ariel:

Okay. So, in not talking about diagnoses, but just general awarenesses, what we do know is that, Christophe was abandoned, and raised, through an adoptive family. And, so therefore, there could be some very specific unique struggles even as far as, like, trauma struggles. And he may have difficulty, having either sense of belonging, questioning himself. And what we do know from the 2 movies, he he isn't really certain or secure about his place in the relationship, has a whole song about it.

Stef:

In the world, really? He's not sure where he fits in. He's just kind of like a snowflake flying in the wind.

Ariel:

I won't give him a diagnosis, but I did say that, he probably has enough for me to further assess for potentially one that could result in additional support.

Stef:

Yes. And we all know that, Savannah's working. He is a working animal because he helps haul the ice up and down the mountain. He helps, Kristoff make his money. So we know that he has a lot to do with the way that Christophe runs his life and makes a living.

Stef:

So I think definitely, Working Animal is one of his titles. And, you know, he he has a lot of mobiles. He's got a lot of sass. He's kind of like his, you know, bro best friend. His, they definitely have a bromance going on, because Sven is very animated, and he does a lot of physical gestures that suggest that he, wants Kristoff to do one thing or another.

Ariel:

Definitely think because of how Kristoff talks to him, uses he actually uses him in social interactions pretending to, like, be Sven's voice. Right? Like, Christophe, like, does that mimicky voice. And even in his song in the second movie to Anna, like, it's Sven. He's, like, singing to you.

Ariel:

He's, like, practicing his proposal. I feel like Sven's leaning more towards emotional support animal that happens to be a working animal that's been trained to do a lot of tasks.

Stef:

Yeah. Yeah. Because they do use them even in the spring frozen short. He's helping decorate the whole entire place for, for the birthday party. They're hanging things on his antlers.

Stef:

He's, you know, helping set up, like, the party. Mhmm. So he's definitely trained to do a lot of things that help people, not just Christophe.

Ariel:

Okay. Okay. So because he's not just helping Christophe. He's doing general work for humans. Yes.

Ariel:

But he provides specific emotional aid to you when Christophe is maybe second guessing himself, have low self esteem, questioning himself, unsure, anxious. We're we're going with emotional support animal.

Stef:

Yes. Oh, and he's another one that does not talk. Does not talk.

Ariel:

Yeah. He does not talk. I think that adds another layer to it because that pretty much is our experience with animals. Yeah. We are not like doctor Doolittle.

Ariel:

There's a good chance that, we are having to develop relational understanding with our animals.

Stef:

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Stef:

Alright. Great. Okay. Next one is a fun one because we kind of talked about this particular character and how they held their place in this universe, and that is Heihei from Moana, our wonderful, clueless, not really all there ever. And I wouldn't even know if he was exactly Moana's sidekick, even though he was on the boat and just always happened to be there.

Stef:

Mhmm. Because when we think of Moana, we think Pua. Right? Yeah. Because Pua is her pet.

Stef:

Pua is, you know, her roll dog. Pua is the one that is helping her and rooting for her, like I mentioned earlier. But Heihei, he's kinda just there. But he plays an integral part to the story.

Ariel:

Yeah. Which is surprising. Also voiced by Alan Tudyk, which, like, is hilarious to think that somebody had

Stef:

to Had a voice.

Ariel:

Voice acting, role to this chick it's Rooster Rooster.

Stef:

And before we we categorize him, he is known as the village idiot.

Ariel:

He's known as the village idiot. Yes. I I definitely think even though he he ate that stone

Stef:

The stone wasn't

Ariel:

The Rock. Rocks. Rock eating chicken. I think he was a pet, but I I think he was a self domesticated pet.

Stef:

Yes. Self domesticated because he is so independent in the wildest ways possible.

Ariel:

Mhmm. Like He's chaotic. He's he's chaotic neutral, maybe?

Stef:

Yeah. I think chaotic neutral. I don't think he has any intention of harm No. And I don't think he has any intention of good.

Ariel:

Yeah. He just is he just is. Yeah. Even I I I watching the movie, I'm not even sure, like, when he coughed up the stone at the appropriate time. It's still hard to tell if that was, like, sheer luck and fate or if it was, like, him having an awareness that Moana needed some aid.

Ariel:

So I'm gonna go with pure pure pet

Stef:

Mhmm.

Ariel:

Self domesticated. And and we have that. Right? Like, sometimes we have, like, squirrels in our yards.

Stef:

I mean, we also have a lot of pets who are, you know, who have won awards for being chaotic, like the ugliest dog award.

Ariel:

Oh, I'm

Stef:

so sorry. And, you know, just these dogs that are just so lovable because you know that they're just trying to live. Just live in life. They are the way they are. They look a little funky, and that's okay.

Stef:

But, you know, they're still lovable. They still mean good. Mhmm. And I mean, for Hei himself, he almost gets killed multiple times.

Ariel:

Is completely unaware of it.

Stef:

Yeah. Unaware that the world is kind of imploding around him, but, you know.

Ariel:

And when I I think of Moana, she does uncover a lot of her her history that she wasn't aware of as something similar to, like, many diaspora Yeah. Or when people are leaving their homelands. However, her current motivation had to do with present stress, which, was based off of, like, essentially climate anxiety, if you if you think about it. Yeah. So she could technically be diagnosed with that, but Mhmm.

Ariel:

The thing when it comes to, like, climb well, it would be anxiety, but we put further climate. But when it comes to climate anxiety and those who are indigenous, it's not really considered a disorder. It's considered an appropriate response to seeing their homelands, like, completely demolished and often comes with, like, grief and loss Yeah. Fear for their future. So I think I think Pat and I I don't think that she has anything that would denote to me that there would be a disability.

Stef:

Yeah. Because it's a common affect. It's a common struggle that a lot of people in the diaspora go through, especially with her people who have moved from place to place. Mhmm. And now in that move, in that reality of her village, her trying to find her place is something that she's just naturally going through.

Stef:

It's not necessarily an anomaly to anybody who's living there.

Ariel:

And the the land going through, like, struggles with, fishing and and coconut, like, essentially, like, I mean, we we know it's the goddess, but it's like a blight. You know? Like, there's there's, actual, struggle going on with the the climate and the nature. Again, appropriate responses. Mhmm.

Ariel:

And so I would not cons not that, I would not consider it a mental health disorder as a result of something, like, organic. Could be environmental trauma if it were to persist, but Mhmm. We saw in the movie, she kinda cleaned things up pretty quickly.

Stef:

She did. She did. And, you know, Heihei kind of symbolized a part of her village that, you know, always is with her because it's something that just exists in her village that is very specific to her village, and that makes her think of home all the time. Even though she has with her, even though she has the memories, and, you know, her grandma with her all the time, He he was a physical representation of that, and he just always showed up. So I think, you know, that being a part of home is something that a pet gives to us wherever we are.

Stef:

If you move with your pet, whether it's city to city, state to state, it's a little piece of home that, you know, you always familiarize yourself with.

Ariel:

Even in the way that you're sharing that, when I work with clients who have, like, pet grief and loss, one of the things that I highlight is we tend to get pets at pivotal moments of our life. Like, when we have first stepped out into the world on our own, when we are first living on our own, or when we get children, or preparing to start a family, or as a couple trying to see if we could we that's usually when we get a pet. So they marker, like, milestones, very specific moments of our lives. And that and that was Hey Hey. Like, he he ventured out with her in a moment where, she just had a lot of uncertainty.

Ariel:

And when it comes to the the grief and loss of a pet, usually, that's marking, like, if we've lived with them for a substantial amount of time, that's marking an end of, like, that milestone and having to both realize that, and grieve not only those changes and losses, but now have to, grieve the act the the active representation

Stef:

of that, which is our pet. Yeah. And to move on with your life without that is a huge transition for people who get pets at pivotal moments, like you said.

Ariel:

Pets witness us that are most vulnerable. We stand butt naked in front of them.

Stef:

They're kinda just there all the time.

Ariel:

And that was Hey Hey. Right? Yeah. There all

Stef:

time. Emile really didn't want him to be here. It was kind of a nuisance. He was just there with his googly eyes. Great.

Stef:

I love that. I didn't think we're gonna have that conversation with Heihei. But you know what? He took us there. He took us there.

Stef:

Wonderful. So that is Heihei. Our next furry well, actually, this one's not even really furry because it doesn't have hair, is Pascal from Tangled, our wonderful chameleon. So lovable, so cute. Yes.

Stef:

Rapunzel's right hand man, I must I'm I think it was her. Pascal is a male name, so I'm like, I think he's a boy.

Ariel:

Yeah. I think I think she uses he he him with him.

Stef:

Yeah. Yeah. So Pascal is very loyal to her. He is her only friend when she's imprisoned in the tower. Mhmm.

Stef:

Never leaves her side. So we know that there's a lot of emotional bonding there, because you're the only 2 in the tower. Only 2. He is her fierce protector. He is kind of like kind of like a sibling, almost, that, you know, really is rooting for her.

Stef:

And once Flynn Rider comes up, he has his side eye because he's also a character that doesn't talk.

Ariel:

Yes. Yes. I I do know that Pascal grabs things for her, like her, paintbrushes. Mhmm. I do believe he's been trained, essentially, either be actively she taught him or just from the general relationship of interaction.

Stef:

Mhmm.

Ariel:

And given that she is in severe solitude and finds out later that she's kidnapped, I could say that there may be some, diagnoses that could occur. Given that he goes out with her into the world, it's hard to tell if she trusts Fin Rider more because she has Pascal or, like, the like, her own naivety or just willingness, or her spirit, right, to just explore on the world. And we do see her oscillate in a lot of pain for, like, leaving her mom. Right? Like, that was a big thing was this Yeah.

Ariel:

Their attachment together. It was her to be individualized, to her to sort of, like they were very what, is in Bowen called enmeshed. So, again, because she was locked away. I think he could lean towards psychiatric service animal. I I think there's a possibility.

Stef:

I definitely believe that. Yeah. I think that that's huge just because Rapunzel is going through so many extreme measures in her daily life, and when we see Rapunzel, she is coming out of that, and she's having a lot of realization. She's at a pivotal moment in her life. So she is not only going through her process of discovering womanhood, but she is also discovering that everything that she knew was basically not exactly what she thought it was.

Stef:

And, Pascal is her constant throughout all of this.

Ariel:

And and like you mentioned, the only socialization she had besides her mother so, already he plays an integral psychological role in that. She she creates dialogue with him, but very different than when, Kristoff's using Sven, like, essentially for emotional support because he's he's kind of leaning on him, like, during times of struggle. For her, like, Pascal is constantly with her. She's constantly engaging with him. Mhmm.

Ariel:

And she's having, essentially direct relationship and dialogue with him and and plans her day with him. Like, I I feel like he's so integral to what her lived experience was before she left the tower that there couldn't be I couldn't imagine him not being a psychiatric service animal.

Stef:

Exactly. And I think the choice for him to be a chameleon was so smart Mhmm. Because he is basically her window to the outside world. He could be whatever she wanted him to be, and he has the ability to do that because she didn't have that perspective to the outside world aside from her interactions with him, and, you know, I think if it was any other animal, I don't think it would have had the same effect, because what she was going through was really, really extreme.

Ariel:

And I think also shows you where some of the advancement for disability laws for service animals Mhmm. Needs to take place. Like I said, here in the US, it's the service animal federally is a dog. Mhmm. And, that tower was not gonna fit a dog.

Ariel:

I don't think there's no way that mother Gothel would allowed her to have a dog. She had to be able to hide him. Right?

Stef:

And he could camouflage whenever he needed to hide in her hair, really, because her hair could hide anything. Maybe her hair could have hit an emotional surface now. Now that I think about it, she's swinging from tower to tower. She can hide a dog. Good night.

Stef:

But, anyway hide a dog. You're right. Despite the point.

Ariel:

But, yeah, I think that if there had been more if if we have been embracing more animals in regards to, like, those laws, the we would find a lot more people getting assistance in ways that that we hadn't considered. And for for me, when it comes to emotional support animals, because the law doesn't say that it has to be specifically a dog

Stef:

Mhmm.

Ariel:

I have assessed, cats, dogs, and some lizards. I don't know much about bird and animal interaction. I've never received training for that. So that's why I've I always refer out. But with, particularly when it comes to, like, bearded dragons seem to be the the thing.

Ariel:

Yeah. Yeah.

Stef:

Lot of popularity around bearded dragons as emotional support animals.

Ariel:

The reason they be they end up being the choice oftentimes has to do with the individual has severe allergies. So it's like, Oh. I don't have the option of a dog or a cat. Yeah. And I also need what an emotional support animal can provide to mitigate, you know, my mental health disability.

Ariel:

A bearded dragon ends up doing it.

Stef:

Interesting. Yeah. They're cute, though. Yeah. Love love me a bearded dragon.

Stef:

I do wanna shout out, Flynn Rider's horse, Maximus.

Ariel:

Yeah.

Stef:

He plays

Ariel:

Well, stolen horse. Stolen horse.

Stef:

Re owned.

Ariel:

He re owned.

Stef:

He was re homed because I think that he creates a counterpart to, Rapunzel's relationship with Pascal. And I think, because we see Flynn Rider have his own kind of character arc and his growth in the story as well because he learns a lot of things about himself, I think it was really beautiful for both of them to go through those changes with their animal companions.

Ariel:

And, essentially, him being challenged by, like, this authority figure of a horse and and and creating, essentially, respect towards it, whereas, like, all previous versions of him had no respect for, like, authority.

Stef:

Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. And this was more of like a mutual relationship almost because the horse was kinda forced into it, but then also was just kinda like, alright. This guy's kinda pathetic, so let me help him out.

Stef:

I feel pity. I feel pity. Alright. Awesome. So, the next character that we're gonna talk about is a speaking character, and he has a very great role in this iconic movie.

Stef:

And we are gonna be talking about Zazu from the Lion King. Ah. So we are kind of pivoting now, and we were talking about a animal companion to a villain. So as you all know, Zazu in the original Lion King, the animated version, he is the royal adviser to well, he is Mufasa's adviser, but then he has to kind of pivot, because when Mufasa passes away, he has to now serve under Scar. So he kind of plays a dual role, and we can all say that he is a working animal because he is an adviser.

Ariel:

Yeah. Yes. And I think even more so when he was Scar's adviser, was even more of a working animal because he was he he didn't even get to give advice. It was like, sing for me. Right?

Ariel:

Mhmm. Do do this task, and that's all. We don't have a relationship. When it came to Mufasa, he had a relationship with Mufasa. They they had dialogue together.

Ariel:

And this is where it's, like, it starts to get murky. Right? Because they can actually have a conversation, and you're not having a conversation with your pets. But, if we were thinking of Mufasa, if Mufasa was a human and Zazu was still a bird, one of the things that I I would notice of their interaction is that he is considering the needs of Zazu, which starts to feel more like a pet. Mhmm.

Ariel:

And we do consider the needs of working animals. We do, you know, good ethical. Farms are gonna give them the medicine they need, proper food, enrichment and nourishment. However, at the end of the day, they're still a working animal, whereas, in this case, Zazu seemed integrated with the community. So it with the family, felt more pet like.

Stef:

Yeah. Definitely pet like, but also, a pet that could snitch on you because he was kind of a killjoy all the time, especially through Simba's eyes. Simba and Nala were like, Zazu, get the heck away from us. We are just trying to live our lives. We're trying to be kids, and he was like the uncle, the babysitter, who was just like, you know, don't do that.

Stef:

You can't go over there. But he meant well. We know that he has good intentions for the kingdom, good intentions for Mufasa's family because he is so loyal. And, not only is he a servant, but he is, you know, trusted within their community.

Ariel:

And because he's so loyal, even though he was a working animal, then later assigned, we could say, like, assigned to to Scar. To to Scar. The second that Simba came back, he allied with Simba. Like, he allied with his original, essentially, what you'd say family or owners. Mhmm.

Ariel:

And we we do see that. Right? When pet when pets get rehomed Mhmm. Or when working animals get moved to a different farm, they tend to remember their original family and have, like, a a bond with them.

Stef:

Yeah. Or even if they're lost and they get reunited, or if they deploy, and they come back. Deployers.

Ariel:

You know that story.

Stef:

We'll say

Ariel:

that again. Yeah. They they remember.

Stef:

They remember, and they show it in every single way humanly or animally possible. Yeah. Physically. Emotionally. We see that through Zazu because he immediately is like, you know what?

Stef:

Screw all that. I'm just gonna go back to know, my original pride, even though he is not a lion himself. He has loyalty to, the pride that, Mufasa created.

Ariel:

And and remember, we said that pets, first and foremost, have companionship.

Stef:

Mhmm.

Ariel:

And there's companionship there. Right? When you're thinking of family bonding, like, yeah. That's it.

Stef:

Yeah. Exactly. So, yeah, Zazu, man, voiced by Rowan Atkinson, which I was like, mister Bean?

Ariel:

What? What?

Stef:

When I was a kid, because, you know, mister Bean, he was he was pretty popular back then. And having him having that speaking role, I think really brought his character to life. And he did such a wonderful job of, just playing that kind of snitch. Yes. Yes.

Stef:

That snitch. But also, you know, you really felt for him when he was under Scar's control because you you didn't want him to perish.

Ariel:

And then in the live action, it's, it's John Oliver. Right?

Stef:

Yes. It's John Oliver. Yeah.

Ariel:

And I think he did I mean, it's John Oliver.

Stef:

Such a great job. Yeah. John Oliver. Could've been just a reincarnation of Zazu himself. So smart.

Stef:

So as a matter of fact, very British.

Ariel:

Also sassy.

Stef:

Super sassy. And, yeah, we we heard that sass vocalized instead of just, you know, like a side eye or their actions. It was all of that. So, yeah. Great character.

Stef:

Okay. Fantastic. So the next one is we're gonna reach a little bit because this is a much, much older movie. Gus and Jacques from Cinderella.

Ariel:

Gus Gus.

Stef:

Yes. Gus, Gus, and Jacques, are wonderful sidekicks, little mice that helps Cinderella. They're faithful mouse companions to her, and they love her. They truly just love her. Mhmm.

Stef:

They live with her. They see her struggles. They're devoted to helping her, sneaking her all the things that she needs in order for her to escape her situation.

Ariel:

And she does go through, severe amounts of trauma. She she's, she loses a mom. She loses a dad. Gains a a wicked stepmother and wicked sisters. Right?

Ariel:

Becomes essentially, I'm not even gonna use the term like indentured servant. Like, she's abused into essentially slavery in her own home, has no access to any of her own wealth, her own family property, her name. They they essentially try to erase her from the the from existence except to just be, I I would say made, but she's not getting paid. Yeah. And so lots of severe trauma.

Ariel:

What we do know is she, herself relies personally on kindness, something that was instilled to her by her, bio parents and, something that she's able to hold on true. But given the amount of trauma that she's experienced and the lack of, socialization outside world, she definitely needed to socialize herself with the animals. Mhmm. And there were a variety of animals in that movie, but the mice specifically did her bidding. Like, Gus Gus and Jacques would do what she told them to you.

Ariel:

They would retrieve things. And so I I definitely consider them a service animal or psychiatric service animal that, had, like, function that they were aware of and their direct relationship to her. Like, they they enjoyed sort of, like, their own life, but for the most part, they were keeping an eye on

Stef:

her. Yeah. They were keeping an eye on her. They were watching out for her. They're the ones who got the key to the room, because lady Tremaine locked her in there so that she couldn't try on the glass slipper.

Stef:

If none of that happened, if they didn't do that action, there would be no story. So, I mean, I think definitely you're spot on with that categorization because they're they're really the heroes in this story. They save her. It wasn't prince Jeremy. It was them.

Ariel:

It was them. And I think they work with, the other animals well.

Stef:

They work with the birds.

Ariel:

Okay. She gets Bruno up there to scare away Lucifer, the cat. And even though, like, they are essentially, on the chopping block of, like, hierarchy when it comes to engaging with the cat. They did what they were told. And when it comes to service animals and psychiatric service animals, we obviously want to take care in the situations we put them in.

Ariel:

But some situations could be just naturally scary to them that they ignore that fear because they want to service their handler. So, like, common examples would be, like, noises at a construction site can be very scary and loud to a dog. But if they have to help guide, their handler, they will do it. They will they will they will desensitize themselves. And Mhmm.

Ariel:

Those mice knew they need to be afraid of the cat. They still tried They

Stef:

still did it.

Ariel:

The best.

Stef:

And that cat was big. It was pissy. It just did not want to

Ariel:

be named after the devil. Named after

Stef:

the devil. Named after literally named after the devil. And interesting enough, Jacques Jacques and Gus Gus don't speak English. They speak kind of a broken version of it. So they're kind of like they say cinder they say Cinderella.

Stef:

They don't really say her name, so they they're not totally humanized, but they're not totally fully animal. They wear clothes. They wear clothes. They wear shirts.

Ariel:

Yeah. They they make me like a Pokemon. Guys, guys.

Stef:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Truly. But it's funny because Pokemon don't even wear clothes like that.

Stef:

It's just Pikachu that does. Yeah.

Ariel:

Unless you're playing Pokemon go and it's an adventure.

Stef:

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Stef:

Yes. So, anyway, we digress. But Jacques and Gus Gus are super lovable. I think they are unsung heroes. I mean, they are mice, so we know that they are the underdogs.

Stef:

We know that they are the ones that, you know, we're rooting for. Without them, Cinderella would not be safe. She would still be in her crappy situation. So shout out to those 2. We've gone through a lot of different animals, and I think it is fitting that we end oh, I wanna end with a couple just because we didn't hit these pretty big ones.

Stef:

Little Mermaid just came out, we all know, and we have a lot of really great friends when it comes to The Little Mermaid. So we can kind of do a mash up of 2 because we can talk about flounder and we can talk about Sebastian because they are 2 very important, characters and friends to Ariel that help her in different ways. We did talk about Zazu. And when I think about Zazu, I think about how Sebastian plays a very similar role because they are both advisors to their king.

Ariel:

So I definitely think that, with the live action and the animated, flounder and a flounder was more of essentially a a companion, so a pet. Mhmm. And, you know, knew I would say tasks or tricks, like, could grab things. Mhmm. But but, he had a relationship with Ariel.

Ariel:

I think the second that she lost her fins, she gained a physical disability.

Stef:

Yes.

Ariel:

Like, we're thinking, like, gaining legs would not be, but remember, she is not human. She is not she's not meant to have those legs. She literally, essentially removed an entire appendant of her body. Yes. And is having to now completely relearn how her body is functioning without that appendix.

Stef:

And she lost her voice.

Ariel:

She lost her voice. So she also cannot communicate. So she has two forms of essentially what would be a physical disability. And I think after that, because of her deep relationship with Flounder, he turned into somewhat of a service animal. However, because of his limitations of being in the water, it then transitioned to Sebastian, who was not her pet, and, instead was maybe, I would say, like, if we're gonna say companion or pet or dad's pet, that he, like, then rehomed to her

Stef:

Yeah.

Ariel:

To learn to be a service animal. Because what we saw was he helped, we saw them, helping her swim up. Right? Both of them are under each of her arms. He's, like, now having to translate things to her and communicate to her.

Ariel:

Mhmm. He, is running around the castle. Spoiler alert. In the live action, he doesn't get, kitchened. He doesn't have the kitchen song.

Stef:

Yeah. Boo. But anyway

Ariel:

But he is sleeping in the bed with her. He is trying to help her achieve a very specific goal, which is to create a connection with Eric Mhmm. Which we could say that he becomes her voice. Yeah. Right?

Stef:

Yeah. He becomes the orchestrator, which is in the animated movie as well because he starts the song. He almost has them kiss. So he is definitely working all throughout this movie because he is on task all the time. He just wants to get the job done to protect her.

Ariel:

Yeah. And I don't know how in live action or the animated, how Eric somehow magically understands him. But, yeah, he becomes her voice. He he literally is the one, because he's the one who speaks our name. Right?

Stef:

Yeah. He, like, says it behind, like, trees. But then I think well, I think Eric somehow manifests that as, like, a voice in his head. Yes. He's not necessarily saying, oh my god.

Stef:

Is that an animal talking to me? He's just like, oh, maybe there's something because he's looking for intuition. Right? He's looking for something that's gonna give him a signal to find this girl, and he takes those signals, which are actually Sebastian. He doesn't know that, but he's thinking of it in his own way.

Ariel:

Yeah. I I think they they both become that. And I will say, again, is something that can be common, because some of the things that we want to remember is that anyone anyone and everyone, is susceptible to gaining a disability. That is why it's important to become an, advocate for the disabled because you could be part of that community. It it, unfortunately, could just be one accident away.

Ariel:

And and so in this case, with her having someone speak for her, that, like, essentially her interpreter as as Wells could be, that was such a beautiful task and functional aid that, was necessary and crucial.

Stef:

Yeah. It was crucial to the whole thing. It's crucial to the story, to her development, to her survival. Without that, I think we don't necessarily think Ariel and Sebastian. We think Ariel and Flounder, and, you know, I feel like this perspective might have changed me to think, you know, Sebastian did hold down for Ariel even though he truly did not want to.

Stef:

It was just a nuisance for him the whole entire time.

Ariel:

Yeah. And he had the the ability to go on land and in water.

Stef:

Another smart choice. Yeah. Because Flander had those limitations.

Ariel:

Yeah. And and, again, sometimes with a service animal, we realize, like, we need a very specific

Stef:

Mhmm.

Ariel:

Thing that one can't provide over the other. That's why I mentioned earlier miniature horses for balancing. They are they're just stocky and sturdier. There's no way that, I don't care how big of a dog you have, that if you have, difficulty with balance, that a dog's not really gonna provide that in the way that a horse can.

Stef:

Got 4 sturdy legs. Well, we went through a lot of different animals and a lot of really beloved animals and characters. We do wanna leave off, I don't wanna forget our magical character, Mushu. Alright. Because he is not really a real animal, but he's also not seen by everyone.

Stef:

So I feel like he's a definite anomaly, to a lot of sidekicks. I think he is open to interpretation.

Ariel:

Yeah. So I don't know if you could call him a pet. Yeah. He might be a working animal. He was assigned.

Stef:

I mean, his official label is guardian. Yeah. Okay. So he is a deity. He is a guardian, even though he he is a dragon, but also, guys, dragons aren't real.

Stef:

So he is definitely a sidekick. I feel like it's it's it's good to note him. He's an honorable mention in our list, because he's he's there for Mulan. He talks to the ancestors. He's there to protect her, no matter where she is, but he also has a physical ability to help her out whenever she needs to.

Stef:

Watches out for her when she's taking a swim or, you know, taking a bath and lights fireworks. Like, not every animal can do that. Yeah.

Ariel:

I I think if I were to con categorize him more as a pet, I may categorize him as emotional support animal when Mulan because because essentially Mulan was committing a crime. But if we moved remove that component

Stef:

Mhmm.

Ariel:

She was, engaging in, you know, gender fluidity of gender expression, and, you know, dressing like a man. If we were to even say that she was someone who was queer, wanted to be more fluid in her presentation, he then might be an emotional support animal, not because that is a disability, but because of the way the outside world treats individuals who are gender fluid and that she got support from him. Like, he was cooking her food and he was Yeah. Fighting others for her. But also, he was at first, he was a little bit against it, but he was actively supporting her in a time when she could have had a lot of mental, emotional struggle.

Ariel:

Mhmm. So

Stef:

And that was that was only her her only connection to, you know, keeping her from just giving up, because he was there rooting her on, and he was there being the voice of reason and saying, you know, hey, let's take a step back and think about why you're actually doing this. But he also had an agenda of his own because he wanted to be a, you know, a full deity himself. So there's a lot of layers to Mushu. I think that warrants a whole episode in itself.

Ariel:

And I I think even you highlighting that, like, when I work with clients who are trans and transitioning, their emotional support animals are oftentimes the the direct reason why they can complete a transition, and it's because if I'm happier, my pet's happier. If I'm happier, we have a better relationship. And because we have a better relationship, I no longer feel the symptoms of potentially depression or anxiety that have been put on me by the environment. So in that case, I would say that because he was a direct motivator for her, he he could have been an emotional support animal. Like, we're leaning towards there.

Stef:

I mean, he was my emotional support animal, and Mulan was going through all of that stuff when I was watching the movie. So without him and his comical relief and also his just undying loyalty to her, I think she wouldn't have gone through what she had gone through and survived and saved all of China. Personally, I gained a pet when I needed it the most emotionally. When my husband deployed, overseas for a whole year, I was living by myself in the apartment, and, we lost our dog that we had raised a couple years before that. And so I felt that it was time for me to find a dog or for a dog to find me, so I adopted, my pit bull mixed chance, at one of the really big best friends animal adoption events here in Los Angeles.

Stef:

Shout out to them. He was fully trained. He was about 3 years old when I adopted him, and, he was a really great companion for me when I was living alone in the apartment because he gave me a sense of purpose and routine when, you know, I didn't really have those things not having my partner living with me, other than going to work. It gave me something to look forward to. Like, I walked them in the morning.

Stef:

I walked them at night. We shared a lot of just outings together with friends, and he's still with us to this day now that I have 2 kids. He's my kid's protector, and, yeah, the different times that my husband left to deploy or went on training, every single time he comes back, my dog goes insane. Like, he jumps around, like, claws whoever he's pushing down. He's about £75, so he is not a very small dog.

Stef:

So when he shows his emotions, he shows them in a big, big way. And that kind of goes back to what we were saying that, you know, all of these animals, they do recognize people. They do establish those relationships. They do have that loyalty. All of these things that, you know, we see in stories happen in real life.

Stef:

And so, you know, having chance as a part of the family in a time where I was lonely and I needed some companionship really carried throughout the different phases in our life. And now that we don't ex you know, we don't experience that in the extreme that we did before, because now I have kids, he plays a different purpose now. And, you know, as he's getting older, as my kids are getting older, they're forming that bond, and they're, establishing that mutual relationship of emotional need, of security, of, just a sense of community within, you know. They're all siblings now, which is really great to see. And, you know, Ariel has seen firsthand the the benefits of me adopting Chance at the pivotal time that I needed him.

Ariel:

Yes. And, when Steph was interested in trying to see if he could qualify as emotional support animal, I gave her referrals to be able to get the evaluation. And, what what some people aren't aware of is emotional support animals have to be reevaluated every year. And there is a certain point where once, AJ returned and then you started to grow your family, he became just a pet at that point. There was no need to do the assessment.

Ariel:

There was no need to do documentation. And, I think, that's that's also just crucial to let people know is that sometimes they think that their certification from a mental health provider is, like, forever. And Yeah.

Stef:

It is lasts for a year.

Ariel:

And that's because disabilities also change. Right? Mhmm. When we have more accesses, when we start to, depending on on what we're experiencing, like, in a mental health related experience, maybe we're doing more healing. Maybe we've now, switched to different type of treatments and emotional support animal.

Ariel:

We've added medication. Now we're able to do things that, we don't rely on our emotional support animal for.

Stef:

Yeah. And one of the reasons why I asked for a diagnosis is because of my living situation at the time too. I was living in an apartment complex that didn't necessarily welcome dogs unless they were serving a purpose. So since then, my living situation has changed. I don't have to, you know, report that to anybody.

Stef:

So even though it kind of worked out in my favor, it it was just it's good to know that, you know, you have to kind of abide by the cycles and the the ways that we all grow as well, in relationship to our animals, whether they're working or whether they're not.

Ariel:

So if you have, any sidekicks that you think we should have talked about, or if you disagree with any of our decisions, please please, tweet at us at happiestpodgt or send us a DM in Instagram, happiestpodgt. If you have a service animal or emotional support animal or even a pet that you want to share and show, go ahead and send that too. We want all the animal photos.

Stef:

Yes. All the animal photos. Always and forever. Alright. It was great talking about, our animal sidekicks and you know what?

Stef:

I'm gonna go hug my dog now. Yay. Yay. Alright. See you next time, everyone.

Stef:

Bye.