Empire Magazine recently published a very thorough and interesting article called “Your Guide To Disney’s 50 Animated Features.” If you’re a Disney-phile or an animation buff like I am, it’s well worth your time to read. The list includes a few behind-the-scenes production details that help flesh out your understanding of the films.
In particular, I was fascinated to revisit the films from the early 2000’s. Specifically films like Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Treasure Planet, Brother Bear and Home on the Range. I’ve given those films their fair share of guff, but it’s important recognize that they weren’t the flops that some people made them out to be and – perhaps – aren’t as terrible as you remember.
Compiled as a whole, Disney’s cinematic accomplishments are astounding. It’s easy to heap praise on the standouts like Peter Pan or The Lion King. But I am much more interested in how the so-called “lesser” films have been woven into the tapestry of the venrible studio’s history.
Check out the article and chime in with your thoughts about The House of Mouse in the comments below!
your RSS test worked, lol.
I’m having trouble getting the PW ads to show up in my own feeds, mind giving me a heads up on how you did that?
also, you don’t have a comment subscribe thing, so I guess I’ll check back in a couple days to see if you replied.
Good to know! I need to take a look at that and refine it a little bit. Hopefully that ad in the RSS feed will get some attention.
Since I’m running WordPress, I downloaded the Plugin Wonderful plugin that pretty much automatically drops in the code for you. E-mail me at theaterhopper@hotmail.com if you want more details.
I used to have a comment-subscribe option, but I think it was dragging down the server. This was a long, long time ago. Maybe I should think about adding it back in now that I have the new blog feature.
Would others find that valuable?
I honestly haven’t checked out a disney movie since…ugh. forever. it was back when they were still 100% hand animated I think. pocahontas? that might be the last one, I know I missed hunchback of notre dame and then stopped caring about the disney films.
I’d imagine that if I had a little one running around I’d be paying a wee bit more attention to them though, lol
Hunchback might be one of Disney’s best films. I know people complain about how they changed the plot a lot, but the plot’s gone through a lot of transitions in every adaptation. It happens, and they handled it very well while still making it acceptable for kids to view.
One of their best villains ever, too.
I have to go back and watch Hunchback. I remember not being very impressed with it when I left the theater.
I quite agree with John Lasseter on Dumbo, but for a completely different reason. Honestly, the story of Dumbo is trite and cliche based around a gimmick that they’d do much better two decades later. But the animation is quite possibly the best I’ve ever seen out of traditional hand-drawn cartoons. Why do I say that?
I have never seen a single piece of animation more subtly endearing and charming than the Baby Mine segment.
No piece of surrealism in traditional hand-drawn animation has surpassed Pink Elephants.
And few hand-drawn films feature full movement and animation quite as vivid or exaggerated as the When I See An Elephant Fly segment.
And those three segments were back-to-back-to-back in that film, lasting approximately 25 minutes. Just imagine how good the rest of the film must be if those are the last 25 minutes.
Where’s the “Like” button on this thing? Because you just hit the nail on the head.
BTW, if you’re interested in animation history, check out “Of Mice and Magic” by Leonard Maltin. It’s the textbook that was used for a class I took at Illinois on animation. It only covers up to the late 80s, but it’s an excellent primer for everything before that. Maltin’s writing is especially good in this one.
The sleeper hit of Atlantis: The Lost Empire was probably my favorite of theirs until Tangled. I definitely see how some of their more innovative movies can get completely overshadowed by the classics.
When was the last time anybody saw a character from Emperor’s New Groove or Atlantis at Disney World?
I went through the list with my wife last night and I was surprised that she had only seen 29 of the 50!!! I have seen all 50….some more than others.
I have been trying to convince her to give some of the newer movies a chance as the last one that she had seen was “The Emperor’s New Groove.” I really think that she will love “Meet the Robinsons” (so underrated!!!!!!!!) and “The Princess and the Frog” as well as “Lilo and Stitch.” I don’t think, though, that I can get her to watch “Treasure Planet” even though I think it was awesome. I remember leaving the theater and rushing to get the soundtrack as I loved it so much. That one would look great on blu-ray but I don’t think it is a priority for Disney right now!
She did not want to see “Tangled” but after I watched it with my sister-in-law and we talked about how great it is, she is now wanting to watch it. Cannot wait for it to come out on blu-ray in March. I have my preorder ready!!!
My wife and I watched “Waking Sleeping Beauty” a couple of weeks ago through Netflix. We both really enjoyed it and loved the fact that the story of not sugarcoated. I think I was most moved by Thomas Schumacher when “The Rescuers Down Under” underperformed and he wanted to continue to support the movie. I cannot recommend this movie enough if you are a fan of Disney movies of the 80s and 90s.