When Tony mentioned Disney, all hell broke loose. It was an innocent reference—not even something the patriotic stuck-up Steve Rogers could grill him about. It was when Clint was running around the kitchen in his socks screaming Under the Sea at the top of his lungs when Tony off-handedly spoke, "Stupid Disney and their catchy sing-alongs."
Steve's head turned around so quickly, Tony concluded either Quicksilver gave him whiplash, or he was possessed. "Disney? The movie company?"
Tony cautiously gazed at the captain. "Yeah. . . ?"
"Wow!" Steve exclaimed. "I remember seeing their first movie!"
Clint, who slid into the kitchen just in the nick of time to hear this, doubled over laughing. "Dude, you're so old!"
Steve pouted. "I remember spending my allowance to go see Snow White with—" Steve tore off down the hall. Tony, sensing something embarrassing and/or hilarious would ensue, quickly followed. He found Steve barreling into the small practice area Tony created for the team. (Mainly Natasha. She liked to kick ass a lot.) The Black Widow and the Winter Soldier were in the middle of an intense sparring session when Steve skidded to a halt in front of them. The pair froze mid-punch, eyeing the crazy-eyed super-soldier warily.
Steve spoke at a Pietro Maximoff rate, "Buck, guess what happened while I was frozen in ice and you were an assassin." Bucky blinked. Then he blinked again. Practically everything? Barnes opened his mouth to reply when Steve plowed onward. "A butt-load of Disney movies, that's what!"
Then something rarer than Natasha telling a joke happened. Bucky gave a full on grin. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
And that's how Tony found the two an hour later in his private movie theater. (Yes, Tony has his own screening room in his tower. Why? Because "I'm freakin' Tony Stark, and I can do what I want.") It wasn't quite a movie theater, really. Only a couch, chairs, and a projector. Trying to get Tony to admit this was like trying to give a cat a bath.
"Guys," Tony deadpanned, "are you actually going to marathon every Disney movie ever? There's like—a bajillion."
"Tony," Steve said with utmost seriousness. "If it takes a week, then so be it." Bucky, from his cocoon of blankets on the couch, nodded in stubborn agreement.
The billionaire huffed, turned on his heel, and stalked out the door. "Nerds."
The two soldiers intently watched Snow White once more (decades under ice and Hydra's meddling made the classic a bit foggy in their minds). It was like being back at home; back when they were just two kids a few years before the war broke out, back when a colored moving picture was something from the future. When they watched Pinocchio, Steve frowned at the line "I've got no strings on me." It sounded awfully familiar to something a genocidal robot said not too long ago. Bucky found the line poetic and a bit more personal.
Tony checked in on them at Fantasia to make sure they were still alive (it had been a few hours at this point), and was thoroughly shocked to see them enjoying a wordless movie. "Tony, this was what Buck and I grew up on. Only it was in black and white."
"And real people," Bucky put in. Tony rolled his eyes once more and left. He never really liked Disney as a child. Perhaps having Howard Stark, the realist, pessimist, and scientist as a father kind of dampened the magic of it all. That, and he was only an only child, bbut he grew up on science, not pixie dust.
Steve and Bucky loyally sat through Dumbo and Bambi, the latter of which had the two wondering how a children's movie could be so dark. If anything, it made them respect Disney more; each movie had its own message to get across, and the stories were meaningful.
It was when they were quietly singing the chorus of one of the Cinderella songs that Clint dashed into the room, collapsing in front of the couch. Sitting criss-cross on the floor, Clint happily sang along. Exchanging a look, the two on the couch shrugged, and continued to sing with the archer.
By Alice in Wonderland, the three were starving. They contemplated temporarily pausing their marathon. Clint shook his head and pulled out his phone. "I got this, mi amigos." Shortly after Alice fell into the rabbit hole, the door to the screening room swung open.
Wanda stumbled in. "What's the emergency?" Her brother came through the door next, holding a fresh pizza and looking equally confused.
"Great!" Clint exclaimed, holding out his hands. "Gimme a slice."
Wanda's mouth hung open in shock. "Did you just make us go get you a—"
"Shhhhhh. You're missing the movie." In less than a second Pietro was sitting on the floor next to Clint, surrounded by pillows and blankets and handing out slices of pizza to the watchers. Steve shot Wanda an apologetic glance. With a sigh, she joined the marathon, sitting next to her brother.
Peter Pan was a thrill with the current viewers. Pietro and Clint were awful singers, but that didn't stop the two from pitching in to every song. At certain moments, Pietro would quote a line and look at his sister expectantly. Amused but acting like it was torture, Wanda would say whatever followed. "Disney's every kid's childhood!" Pietro spoke proudly when questioned how they knew so much.
Clint's phone was whipped out once again at The Lady and the Tramp. The whole scene with the spaghetti was cute, but Pietro ate half the pizza, and the group could really go for some Italian. . . . Bruce was tasked with picking up their order from across the street. He entered just as Sleeping Beauty began, arms loaded with food that Pietro quickly distributed. Although Bruce insisted he had work to do, Clint insisted that he was their "hostage." The scientist took up one of the chairs, accepting a blanket and a small to-go container of pasta.
In Steve's opinion, that Sleeping Beauty movie couldn't have ended quick enough. Bucky made a joke about a half an hour in that Steve was like Aurora, and the jokes for the next hour were endless.
101 Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone, The Jungle Book, The AristoCats, Robin Hood—they all passed the same: horrible signing from Clint and Pietro, unwavering attention from Steve and Bucky, an occasional irritated but fond sigh from Wanda and Bruce, and Clint's phone ordering friends to retrieve food. They successfully "recruited" Natasha (and the large bags of chips and candy bars she brought with her) on their non-stop marathon after The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. She grabbed a pillow and sat next to Clint, claiming she was only here because no one else tolerable was in the tower.
The Fox and the Hound was particularly tough for two members. Steve and Bucky enjoyed it at first—"We'll be friends forever, won't we?" "Yeah, forever."—but it soon became apparent that this story wasn't too far from their own. Tod the fox and Copper the hound dog grew up, and Copper became a skilled hunting dog. It was almost as if the story were about Bucky and Steve. Steve glanced at his life-long pal with worry as things got particularly rough, but Bucky seemed to be handling this quite well. When the movie ended, and the two animal pals were friends again, Bucky was a bit tense and thoughtful, but for the most part okay.
The next movie, The Little Mermaid was, for some reason, Clint's favorite. He sang the loudest and laughed the loudest. By the time the first song was over, the archer begging Natasha to go with him for Halloween as Ariel. She, of course, denied, probably not the first time. Shortly in to the film, Wanda whispered into her brother's ear. He took off, and then returned with two Avengers in his grasp: Thor and Vision.
"It's a story about someone learning about humans, right? I figured these two would enjoy." Thor did enjoy the movie greatly, sitting in front of the right side of the couch, next to Natasha. The speedster glared daggers at Vision when he took a seat next to Wanda.
With Beauty and the Beast, came the endless Hulk and Natasha jokes. Those were quickly put to an end when Natasha made it clear who they were joking with. Aladdin and all its humor soon followed.
The Lion King nearly led to the destruction of the screening room. It was a rambunctious movie, with the songs, setting, and plot. Thor liked this movie, and voiced that he wished Loki could be here to watch. The Asgardian thought his brother would be a great Scar. When the song Hakuna Matata began to play, the usual vocalists attempted to get the others to join in. Wanda evenualy caved in to her brother's pleas, and Vision soon followed. Steve and Bucky were next to join, though their singing was much quieter than the rest. Bruce rolled his eyes, but gave in. All that was left was Natasha.
Clint grinned, leaning into his friend's face, urging her to sing at least a word or two. "It means no worries, for the rest of your days!"
"Stop it, Barton—"
"It's our problem free. . . ."
"I'm not singing you idio—"
"Philosophy. . . ."
The room suddenly went quiet as Natasha leapt at Barton, pinning him to the ground painfully. Not an I-want-to-hurt-you painful, but more of a remember-your-place painful. "I don't sing," she ground out through gritted teeth, letting Clint go.
He winced in pain, but weakly finished, "Hakuna matata. . . ."
They were thoroughly enjoying Pocahontas, until they reached that song. Steve couldn't name it; it was the one about the wind. Things were going nicely, though. The song's message was nice, the music was pleasant, and Steve thought he heard a rustling from outside the door.
"Did you guys hear that?" A few scattered nods answered his question.
"But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you'll learn things you never knew you never knew. . . ." the voice from the film continued to sing. Before someone could investigate the noise, the door swung open, and a fighting-suit-clad figure barreled in.
"Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon?" Wade cried loudly and dramatically to his stunned audience. "Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?"
Peter slowly entered after his uninvited plus-one, half a dozen large bags of candy under his arms. "Sorry, guys. He read the invitation text before I did and he—"
"Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?"
Peter glared. "Wade, shut up. You're not even suppose to be here."
"Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?"
The Hunchback of Notre Dame passed without incident, and aside from over-enthusiastically singing the songs to Hercules, Mulan, and Tarzan, things were going smoothly. Unlike what the Avengers thought, Wade was surprisingly good at marathons. He even managed to keep his mouth shut during most of the non-singing parts.
"Aw, yeah!" Wade cried when the next movie was The Emperor's New Groove. "I love this guy! he breaks the fourth wall almost as much as I do!"
Lilo and Stich came next. It was a short, sweet movie, but most of the group—especially those from the beginning—were starting to feel the effects of the non-stop Disney marathon. It had been . . . how many hours now? Treasure Planet was Pietro's—and, syrprisingly, Peter's—favorite. When they both exclaimed this, they high-fived. Steve had to admit, the rebellious vibe from this movie was a refreshing change.
Brother Bear, Meet the Robinsons, and The Princess and the Frog were laugh-out-loud comedies with lovable characters and respectful messages they got across. Steve was glad that he and Buck started the marathon. Now all his team (and an extra mercenary) were enjoying a relaxing day watching family movies. Well, his whole team minus one.
Tangled brought more classic sing-alongs, and Wreck-It Ralph was an interesting concept to Steve, with all the technology and gaming. As they brought up the next movie, they discussed (argued) which ones were their favorites (the best). Once more the door swung open. Tony, now wearing a different outfit than when Steve last saw him, looked rather annoyed. Has it been a day already? More?
"Could you guys keep it down? I'm trying to work."
"Join us!" Clint screamed. Pietro, Wade, and Peter began to beg him to join. Tony shook his head firmly.
"It's not that bad," Bruce said from his chair. A few others nodded in agreement. Before Tony could protest, Pietro snuck behind him. In the blink of an eye, the door was closed and Tony was on the couch, wrapped in blankets to keep him from escaping.
"Not cool!" Tony squirmed, trying to break free. "Dammit, Pietro, get me out of here!"
With a devious grin, Pietro started the next movie. Tony had seen his fair share of Disney movies in his childhood. He just never really liked them. Maybe it was because of his dad (like most of his problems were), or because no one told him to believe in magic when he was little, or maybe it was just him. But surrounded by his teammates (and Wade, he noticed), he decided it wouldn't be too bad. He hadn't seen one of these movies since he was a kid. If anything, it would entertain him making fun of Barton's singing.
Frozen was unanimously everyone's top pick of the night. Steve and Bucky were mildly alarmed that every person in the room (except Vision, Thor, and Tony) knew every word to every song.
"Dude," Clint said as if it were obvious. "You can't be on this planet and not know the words!"
"What did you think, Tony?" Peter asked curiously. A few eyes turned to Tony, the non-believer of Disney movies.
He gave a shrug. "Meh. It was alright, I guess."
Peter raised a fist in the air. "That means he likes it!"
A few cheers, a few sidebar conversations, and a whole lot of chatter. Tony did like it, secretly. He wasn't sure whether it was seeing Earth's mightiest heroes signing the same songs three-year-old girls sing, or the fact that he was with his team that changed his mind. Maybe he didn't like Disney because they were family movies. Maybe, to feel the magic, you had to be with your family, and he never was until now. Either way, when Tony finally worked himself free of his blanket straightjacket, he stayed for the next movie. "What's next, Petey?"
Peter was at the front of the room putting on the next film. "Big Hero 6," replied the Spider-Man. "It's about this team kind of like the Avengers, and it's got all kinds of cool tech. You're gonna love this one Tony." Thor and Bruce were fighting over the last container of cold spaghetti, Clint was still trying to get Nat to sing Love is an Open Door ("C'mon, Nat! You sang it on that mission with me!"), and the twins, Vision, and Wade were arguing over what was the best Disney movie ever.
Tony was sure he would.
I've been wanting to write this for a long time! Based off the headcanon where Steve and Bucky were Disney nerds back when Disney was new, and it just kind of went from there! I tried to include as many Disney classics as I could (and in chronological order), so sorry if I left one or two out. Also, am I the only one who feels like Tony never got the Disney experience as a kid? I tried to put that in there, too.
I don't feel like I need to say it, but nope, I don't own anything Disney or Marvel.
As always, views, reviews, and request are my lifeblood! Thanks for so much support on this story you guys!
Stay awesome!
~palmtreedragons