In the early 2000’s, I was introduced to a character called “Angelina Ballerina” that was being aired on the PBS affiliates in Boston and Providence. Ever since then, I’ve often looked at this female mouse who did classic ballet and say to myself, “wow, I strongly connect with Angelina and her friends.”
…
Now, to give you an idea of what “Angelina Ballerina” is, is that it is based on a book series by Katharine Holabird and Helen Craig. The books are about an aspiring ballerina named Angelina Mouseling who often faces many challenges with not only trying to become a prima ballerina, but also with the challenges of growing up.
For an adaptation that last 39 episodes, each episode allows the viewer to sympathize with the character and put ourselves in her shoes. I think one of the reasons I connect deeply with Angelina is because a lot of what Angelina goes through is what I go through as a neurodiverse individual.
…
One of those examples was in “Angelina’s Baby Sister,” where Angelina struggles with getting used to her new baby sister, Polly. As I have said before, change is never easy for anyone, especially for someone on the autism spectrum like myself. In fact, Angelina’s frustrations reach a boiling point because she has a hard time processing the fact that she has a new addition and that she is being ignored by her parents and grandparents.
…
Now you may think that Angelina is just being jealous that Polly is getting more attention, but its primarily because she can’t really process the stimulation and sensation of the situation.
That’s not to say that Angelina herself is on the spectrum. Maybe she is or maybe she’s not. Most of the episodes involves her in a situation where she is stressed and ends up crying. Let’s face it, I was in a lot of those situations growing up and I don’t even do ballet, but I have had a hard time navigating those situations as an individual on the spectrum.
Another factor I notice when it comes to Angelina is that sometimes we get so high on a pedestal that we end up falling and crashing down to earth as neurodiverse individuals. This is often the case with Angelina who lots of times set her standards so high that she ends up getting into trouble as a result.
…
Another trait that Angelina possesses the same way as neurodiverse individuals is the fact that in addition to not being able to handle change very well, Angelina has an extremely hard time of being flexible when it comes to her ballet.
Perhaps one of the most notorious examples was in the first tv special, “Christmas in Mouseland,” (which features Derek Jacobi in a guest role) where Angelina’s ballet class is doing “Cinderella” and Angelina ends up being cast as the Wicked Stepmouse because she can’t sing very well as Cinderella with the role going to her rival, Priscilla Pinkpaws.
Rather than being flexible and adaptable, Angelina makes the production extremely difficult and even after quitting, she puts the production in jeopardy after accidentally injuring her mentor and mother figure, Miss Lilly.
…
Now, you might say that Angelina is in denial of the fact that she can’t always get what she wants and that is true. The truth is that Angelina couldn’t handle change and if someone on the spectrum was in her ballet shoes, they would have behaved in the same way. It was a shame that it took her mentor’s injury to finally wake up. Fortunately, she ends up embracing her role as the Wicked Stepmouse in a pretty good musical number called “Mad, Bad and Dangerous.”
…
This, of course, are just two examples of why this show is so relatable to those on the autism spectrum. It’s a shame that Angelina didn’t go beyond 39 episodes and 3 tv specials. There is a lot of lessons that neurodiverse individuals can learn and can put themselves in the shoes of the characters.
And it’s not just Angelina we can put ourselves in, we can put ourselves in the shoes of Alice, William, the Pinkpaws, Henry and many others in Chipping Cheddar. Hell, we can even put ourselves in the adult characters as well such as Miss Lilly.
Although there is no complete series boxset, all the episodes are scattered on multiple individual DVDs that you can find on Amazon.com. I strongly recommend this show for any child on the autism spectrum because not only will the child discover something about themselves in Angelina, but also adults too as they will discover something about their children.
…
Catch you all later!!
Comments