My favorite pairs

I love seeing Mickey and Minnie, Tarzan and Jane, Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, Hansel and Gretel and Nancy and Sluggo. What might they have in common? Well, aside from being creations of great artistic minds, all fictional pairs throughout many generations have rooted for them. They are embodiments of different loving relationships that sometimes illustrate life as we want it to be, comical and full of love.

I guess it is because of the simple story lines from which they are brought to life. The valuable moral lessons that these stories bring and the subtle parallelisms to our lives make them endure the test of time. These pairs inevitably tackle the dynamics of relationships. Fictional or not, their traits, situation and adventures sometimes mirror ours. More importantly, the ability of these pairs to end happily ever after is actually inspiring.

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"I hope that we never lose sight of one thing: That it was all started by a Mouse." This is, of course, from Walt Disney, the creator of everyone’s favorite mice, Mickey and Minnie. Walter Elias Disney was born into a family of farmers on December 5, 1901 and was the fourth of five children. Always knowing that he wanted to be an artist, Walt pursued this course and eventually became a part of the cartoon-making industry at its infancy. Mickey Mouse was his best creation.

Mickey Mouse was born on a train ride which Walt and his wife Lilly took. The ride was from New York to Los Angeles. Walt had just found out that his staff members were pirated by his New York film distributor and knew he had to create a new character. After a few sketches, Walt showed the mouse to his wife and said he would call him "Mortimer." However, Lilly didn’t like the name and suggested "Mickey." On November 18, 1928, Mickey made his screen debut via the film called Steamboat Willie. So did his girlfriend Minnie Mouse.

All over the world, Mickey Mouse is a symbol of everything good. He is a nice guy, not really funny, but holds a lot of charm. He is our idea of a perfect gentleman – kind, devoted, lovable, sometimes shy but always happy. Minnie Mouse, on the other hand, is the ideal girlfriend, watching out for Mickey, helping him whenever he needs help. She is quite a regular girl, getting caught up in love triangles and ending up the damsel in distress who bats her ever-long eyelashes that make Mickey melt.

Obviously, we all love Mickey and Minnie because they are perfect. This couple represents what we hope our lives can be, a piece of that perfect happiness.

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Another couple to remember is Tarzan and Jane. They were developed through the creative mind of Edgar Rice Burroughs, also known as Norman Bean. In 1912, Burroughs’ story Tarzan of the Apes first appeared in the All-Story magazine. And the story of the ape-man permanently etched Burroughs’ name on the list of literary geniuses.

Aside from Tarzan and Jane being in the human form, their story is a romance we root for. Orphaned when he was barely a year-old in the African jungles, Tarzan was taken and raised by the apes, adapting their ways, swinging on branches, and shouting umgowa. His physical strength grew because of the environment he adapted to, while his mental strength came from his inquisitive mind.

Jane entered his life when she and her father were marooned in the jungles. Tarzan protected them and fell in love with her. When Jane went back to America, Tarzan, with his limited vocabulary, daringly followed his beloved in the civilized world. Although the original story had Jane turning down Tarzan for another man, the sequels eventually brought them together again.

Wouldn’t we want to be Jane? Rich, intelligent, educated and highly driven woman living a purposeful life. More importantly, she had a good-looking muscled man who loved her and literally whisked her off her feet. Their love is the rich-girl, poor-boy story where love, against all odds, ultimately wins in the end.

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For some reason, the odd partnership between a frog who sings It’s Not That Easy Being Green and a pig famous for her karate chops is one of the most loved of all-time. You guessed it –Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy.

Creative genius Jim Henson is the architect and voice behind Kermit the Frog and is said to have based Miss Piggy on sultry lipped Loreta Swit. Born on September 24, 1936 in Greenville, Mississippi, Henson was also the creator of our other favorite characters like Big Bird, Ernie and Bert and Oscar the Grouch. Kermit’s partner Miss Piggy was brought to life in 1976 through the voice of Frank Oz.

The romance between Kermit and Miss Piggy started because they worked in the same office and saw each other regularly. Sounds familiar, right? How these two stayed together in spite of their two very distinct personalities, no one really knows. Love and compassion, perhaps?

Kermit was the only sane one in the asylum we know in the Muppet Show. He was a roving reporter of Sesame Street and his "Hi-ho Kermit the Frog here…" entrance was familiar. Patient but sometimes exasperated and shy, he tolerated the well-documented aggression of his love for Miss Piggy.

"The people’s fascination with Miss Piggy," Frank Oz said, was her traits that were very human: Vulnerability that she had to hide because of her need to be a superstar, cool and charming in front of an audience but who could turn violent and hostile when thwarted. Convinced that she was born to be a star, this blue-eyed, blond-haired pig, with vital statistics of 27-20-32, nonchalantly claimed beauty as her curse.

The love-hate relationship between Kermit and Miss Piggy is legendary. When Miss Piggy is not beating up Kermit, she showers him with unwanted kisses. Kermit says he reluctantly accepts her advances and he isn’t ready to father a bunch of "pogs." A typical male, he likes the attention, but not the responsibility. Kermit and Miss Piggy, an example of an imperfect relationship, of two very different people and a lasting relationship so far depending on the author.

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In the 1930s, two kids typified the simple, innocent friendship that we all cherish – Nancy and Sluggo. Artist Ernie Bushmiller created them both, but it was Nancy who appeared first in the comic strip in 1933. Sluggo was created only in 1938 and the two seven-year-olds became inseparable ever since.

Much like the stories of Tarzan and Jane and Kermit and Miss Piggy, the story of Nancy and Sluggo proves the theory that unlike poles attract. Nancy, for instance, was spirited while Sluggo, a loafer.

She is well mannered while Sluggo is "from the other side of the tracks." Nancy is intelligent while Sluggo not exactly the brightest of the group but with moments of wittiness. They balance each other just as friends do.

Friendships should be like that. When Nancy is wont to throw tantrums, Sluggo, with his laid-back demeanor, accepts her with all calmness. They have disagreements but their fights never last. And because they are kids, they get into one mess after another, but have the keen ability of solving problems. Lastly, Nancy is cheeky at times but she is surely a loyal friend. And Sluggo? Sweet and reliable.

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Five pairs representing relationships similar to ours or which make us wish we were them. Fictional characters, portraits of humanity. Their stories were invented, but realistic enough that we could associate with them. Their partnerships, aside from entertaining, actually give us something to think about – ourselves.