I think I wasn't counting the compilation films but Disney does. Here's a helpful reminder from Disney of that rich history (which I saw courtesy of All Things Fangirl). How many have you seen?
The video comes after the jump.
The ones I've seen are in bold. Some I haven't seen so childhood so I dare not "rank" them though it's tempting to imagine watching them all chronologically and doing so... I just need a free 300 hours or so to watch and write up.
1. Snow White (1937)
2. Pinocchio (1940) 3. Fantasia (1940) Childhood Obsession
4. Dumbo (1941)
5. Bambi (1942)
6. Saludos Amigoes (1942)7. The Three Caballeros (1944)
8. Make Mine Music (1946)
9. Fun and Fancy Free (1947)
10. Melody Time(1948)
11. The Adventures of Ichobad & Mr Toad (1949)
12. Cinderella (1950)
13. Alice in Wonderland (1951)
14. Peter Pan (1953)
15. Lady & The Tramp (1955)
17. 101 Dalmations (1961)
18. The Sword in the Stone (1963)
19. Jungle Book (1967) Childhood Obsession
20. The Aristocats (1970)
21. Robin Hood (1973)
22. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
23. The Rescuers (1977)
24. The Fox and the Hound (1981)
25. The Black Cauldron (1985)
26. The Great Mouse Detective* (1986)
27. Oliver & Company (1988)
29. The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
31. Aladdin (1992)
32. Lion King (1994)
33. Pocahontas* (1995)
34. Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
35. Hercules (1997)
36. Mulan (1998)
37. Tarzan (1999)
38. Fantasia 2000 (1999)
39. Dinosaur (2000)40. The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
41. Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
42. Lilo & Stich (2002)
43. Treasure Planet (2002)
44. Brother Bear (2003)45. Home on the Range (2004)
46. Chicken Little (2005)
47. Meet The Robinsons (2007)
48. Bolt (2008)49. Princess & The Frog (2009)
50. Tangled (2010)
Yeah, yeah, Nathaniel, that's all well and good. But when are you going to really write about Tangled? Ergh. I know, I know. For what it's worth, I had a conversation with Michael (who writes "Unsung Heroes") about Tangled over dinner a couple of days back -- where we'd place it in the Disney hierarchy, its strength and weaknesses. I'll share that in a couple of days. Must transcribe first. But by then you'll all have seen it, right?
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26 comments:
'The Jungle Book' is the very first film I remember watching, and it will always have a place in my heart. And Baloo is one of the great teachers I had in (and for) life.
It's amazing that they're at 30 now, considering that they were only at 25 twenty-five years ago, and only at 30 twenty years ago. Unfortunately, I've been a bit leery about them churning out two per year.
Anyways, of the 50, the ones I HAVEN'T seen are The Black Cauldron, Dinosaur, Atlantis, Treasure Planet (watched the first half), Brother Bear, Home on the Range, Chicken Little, Meet the Robinsons, Bolt, and Tangled.
Cinderella and 101 Dalmatians are still my favorite. Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh would be except it's nothing more than the three Pooh shorts put back to back to back with little substance in between.
Watching a Dumbo VHS my mom bought me at 4 years old could very well be my earliest move memory. Wait, it could have been Pinocchio...let's just go with Dumbo lol
movie*
I am surprised they are ignoring the Winnie the Pooh movies. Not that they are particularly awesome or anything.
Also, you need to see Emperor's New Groove.
Well, the math of Actual Features would mean they're at 41 (subtract the 42-49 run of six package features, subtract the two Fantasias, subtract the Winnie the Pooh package.) Don't have the best memories of how exactly good they are, but my top ten Disney Features:
1. Snow White
2. Beauty and the Beast
3. The Lion King
4. Pinocchio
5. The Great Mouse Detective (not something many talk about when they talk about Disney, but I remember loving it. Certainly a better Holmes than Guy Ritchie's. 25th Anniversery is next year.)
6. The Jungle Book
7. Aladdin
8. Robin Hood
9. Lilo and Stitch (too bad it got beat into the ground)
10. Four way toss up between Lady and the Tramp, Sword in the Stone, One Hundred and One Dalmatians and Hunchback of Notre Dame
Of the Rest: Except for the rest of the 2000s stuff I've seen, (haven't seen Princess and the Frog) only Tarzan would get lower than a B. Except for lately, I would count Disney as mostly dependable. 1 = A, 2-7: A-, 8-10: B+
volvagia -- uh. subtracting Fantasia would be insane since it is A FEATURE. It's not a series of shorts strung together. it's a movie with classical music movements.
My personal childhood obsession, with the metal lunchbox & matching Thermos to prove it, was The Fox and the Hound, which I was surprised to see you hadn't watched. I recommend it, but bring tissues.
agree about Emperor's New Groove. Saw it by accident and my family and I have watched it about 12x since.
An acapella group at my school did a Disney medley, and I never heard such a reaction before or since. I swear some people began crying in the middle of it.
I've seen nearly all of the actual full-length features. The only older one that has managed to elude me is The Great Mouse Detective. More recently, I never got around to seeing Chicken Little, Home on the Range, Brother Bear, Treasure Planet, or Atlantis: The Lost Empire, though the last two on that list are the only ones I have any interest in.
I haven't seen most of the "compilation" movies like Fun and Fancy Free or Make Mine Music, but I'm fairly certain I've seen most of the shorts of which they're compiled.
All in all, I've seen 39 out of the 50. (Though I do have to wonder why they don't count the later Winnie the Pooh movies and A Goofy Movie.) Oh, and also, the fact that there have been 15 Disney features since Hercules blows my mind.
I saw Cinderella a few days ago, and I forgot how poorly developed the prince is in that! He's just there for like a minute and then she marries his ass!
I think Belle is the most modern and has a realistic courtship with her prince.
i'd say its a shame that song of the south is missing, but given the terrible caricatures, i'm not all that surprised. and, well, disney basically disowned it. but i do remember seeing it in the theater with my folks.
i've missed most of the more recent films, but i fondly recall obsessions with the rescuers, robin hood, and the aristocats. since i haven't seen them much in years, i can't really wager to pick, but the fondness they bring to mind is kind of the point anyway.
something for the cynic in me to melt. won't last.
Heyyy..I saw this yesterday too, thought it was great.
My favourite Disney film was always Peter Pan. I used to jump off the bed to pretend I could fly haha. Followed closely by Winnie the Pooh. I've seen 27 on that list though, sadly.
I need to go re-check where Brave Little Toaster came from - I always thought that was Disney too, but it's not on the list....hmmm. I loved that film to bits.
I've only seen 24 out of the 50, but I haven't seen any of the ones that came out after Mulan.
Sleeping Beauty is my favorite, but I love the other ones I saw (multiple times). I'd agree that there is a deep emotional connection. I really liked the poster's comment about the acappela Disney medley getting such an emotional response.
I'm a little disappointed Fantasia isn't one of your holy trinity - I love a lot of Disney features but Fantasia is just head and shoulders above everything they've ever done, for me. I worshipped it as a kid, and it's still spellbinding now. Although the Night on Bald Mountain part I didn't like when I was younger - not because it scared me (it does now!), but I just thought it was weird.
I have a weird relationship with Disney anyway, because we only had certain of the films on video when we were kids - so while I feel like The Fox and the Hound is basically a part of me (you really should see it!), I don't feel much towards The Lion King. Which confuses everyone I know. And I still haven't seen The Jungle Book.
Of course, the BFI are showing every one of these next year, so I'm preparing to become bankrupt. Only for you, Walt.
My brother and I have spent the better part of a week trying to figure out how we both missed watching Dinosaur when it came out. He'll watch anything with dinosaurs, and I haven't missed a Disney animated film in theaters since I was a toddler sitting on mother's lap watching The Little Mermaid. We recall no advertising, no posters, no trailers, no nothing. It just doesn't add up. Our working theory is some kind of brainwashing experiment gone horribly wrong, though I'm pushing involuntary time jumps ala Futurama.
The Lion King is tops for me. It's just so good. The Broadway play is meh, though.
Ahhh...just in relation to my previous comment...Brave Little Toaster was 'distributed' Disney, but it was a Hyperion Pictures production...okay, solved.
I have seen 49 (no Tangled, I'm waiting for the DVD)-I have 3 younger sisters, so I saw the older ones during my childhood and a lot of the newer ones during theirs. And then I hunted down the lesser known early ones.
My Holy Trinity would be Pinocchio at #1, Beauty and the Beast at #2, Snow White at #3.
Most Overrated-Bolt
Most Underrated-Pocahontas
andrew r -- i LOVE Pocahontas. I think the main problem is that it came after The Lion King and people were so totally bonkers for that (i don't get it personally... not remotely close to their "top" for me) that it was all downhill from there. Plus, the villain in Pocahontas is dull and a dull villain usually means a lesser received Disney effort. it's all about the villains ;)
ruth -- thanks for the detective work.
shonuff -- wow. i forgot about that but i'm really of the opinion that they shouldn't be able to subtract one of their films so now the order is wonky.
Re-watched 101 Dalmatians recently, which is still my childhood favourite. Even if it's not the best one, there're some interesting things.
- The credits, so sixties.
- The somehow dull human main leads (Roger & Anita) become quickly supporting (almost non-exixtent in the second half) as if realizing the Cruella de Vil part was much more engaging/interesting.
- Even though Roger is a musician this is probably one of the less musical Disney movies.
- The clever use of TV on the part of Disney. At a time when movies were afraid of competing with TV, there's so much time we see characters watching TV in this one. I guess Disney could afford the competition as they had cartoons airing on TV as well (which is what the puppies watch, cartoons).
- And above all, the best Disney villain ever, imo, Cruella de Vil.
But if I had to choose the best Disney movie, I guess objectively putting together animation techniques + emotional appeal that would be The Beauty and the Beast.
@Iggy-I agree with you about everything except Cruella being Disney's best villain. She's #2. The Queen from Snow White is #1.
@Nate-Most critics, if I remember correctly, felt it was not very "fun." I don't get it either.
But Lion King is one of their better works. It certainly didn't influence my opinion of Pocahontas.
And Radcliffe is, indeed, a poor villain. He has no interaction with the TITLE CHARACTER.
The Fox and the Hound really is one of Disney's most taxing films. I tear up just thinking about it. It will forever hold a special place in my memory. Other than that, Snow White, Fantasia and Beauty and the Beast all scared the shit out of m... I mean, warmed my heart long ago. God, I miss those times.
ShoNuff: That's because it isn't WHOLLY ANIMATED. Yes, they have also DISOWNED Song of the South, but the live-action frame story allows them to not count it as one of their animated movies. The racism has nothing to do with it not counting toward the total.
It's 50th Animated Feature, as in WHOLLY ANIMATED. If it's 50th film that happens to have animation, you'd have to also include: The Reluctant Dragon, Victory Through Air Power, So Dear to My Heart, Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Pete's Dragon, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Enchanted. If they decided to count those, their 50th would have been their unremarkable Atlantis movie.
@Andrew R, the Queen in Snow White is # 2 for me, Cruella is my first. I give her extra bonus points because she's absolutely careless about happens to anyone else, she's funny and bitchy, and she's got her own catchy song.
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