With Big Hero 6 now out in theaters and earning goblets of money for the House of Mouse, and with the 25th anniversary of the animated film that jump-started the original Disney Renaissance (The Little Mermaid), I decided to revisit my ranking of the main Disney Animated Films canon. I have updated the list to include the new films and switched around a few movies to make it more accurate. Some of these animated gems have aged better than others, while others didn’t get as much respect as they should have earned the first time.
Instead of ranking alllll of them, I took the 30 that are my favorite, and have ranked them in the blogosphere for you all to read, enjoy, and potentially complain. I will split this into three chapters, just to increase the tension.
#30: Fantasia
Similar to what happened to 2014’s Boyhood, Fantasia is a great achievement that is marred by a production that could have been better. There definitely were some awesome sequences, and then there were some that should not have existed. Nonetheless there is a beautiful marriage of music and animation that will set the bar to how animated movies should look and sound for decades to come.
#29: Meet the Robinsons
Acting as the bridge between nearly-comatose Disney Animation and the Disney Renaissance II, Meet the Robinsons is a very charming and sweet tale about an orphan that meets a delightful family in the future. Without spoiling too much, time travel, multiple timelines, and random zany humor gets woven together to create an uneasy yet slightly engaging family experience. The third act nearly eradicates all the issues from the rest of the movie by providing a powerful climax. This one is a light gem that time has forgotten.
#28: The Lion King
Probably my pick that will cause the most controversy, I have one of Disney’s biggest smash hits on the lower end of the countdown. Hear me out, this movie is a bit slow, a bit uneven, and can never truly end as strong as it started. As a matter of fact if it weren’t for Timon and Pumbaa who knows if the tykes would have survived the second half and the ho-hum climax. The Lion King has superb animation and music, but suffers from being a bit overbearing. Nonetheless, it resonates with kids and adults nicely, and fits the Disney Renaissance themes of loss, fighting the odds, and overcoming your fears. There’s just better out there.
#27: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
If you want darkness, look no further. As a matter of fact, Disney had to toy around with the movie (adding funny gargoyles, muting the music of Hellfire) to prevent the used-to-be-box-office-poison PG rating. And honestly the scaling back is what prevented Hunchback from truly entering the required dark territory to become a dark animated masterpiece. From a commercial standpoint, made sense to lighten the mood a bit with a few nice musical numbers and kids humor. On the artistic standpoint, oh boy what it could have been….But it will earn lots of points for the superb animation, demonic villain, and musical soundtrack.
#26: Robin Hood
I had pointed this out in the previous list, but Robin Hood is marred by all the limited budget restrictions. Lots of recycled animation, lots of unused ideas, lots of unmet potential. In spite of this there is an underrated folk soundtrack and plenty of delightful characters to follow. Robin Hood loses points for inconsistent pace and tone, marred by a final sequence that gets dark out of nowhere.
#25: Wreck-It Ralph
Even though it’s a kid’s movie disguised as a gamer movie, Wreck-It Ralph became a surprise hit with its blend of creativity, great voice acting, strong main/supporting character relationship, and just an overall uniqueness that was definitely missing in most animated movies. And yes, extreme bias will plant this lower on the list because it was missing a deeper embedding into the gaming/gamer culture that could have made this another Scott Pilgrim vs. the World---great movie that ages perfectly well because it never took itself too seriously. Nonetheless, at least watch it for Sarah Silverman and John C. Reilly’s flawless performances.
#24: Hercules
A little underrated, a little understated, and was marred by heavy box office competition and the fact that boy’s movies just don’t get the same love as princess/female-driven movies in the Disney barometer. However, Hercules has a nice cast, one of the strongest heroines in Disney history, one of the best villains in ANY animated movie, and a Karate Kid swagger that turns a boring mythology into an entertaining movie.
#23: The Sword in the Stone
A good chance that most of you have not seen this one. Don’t worry, this applies to most of America. The Sword in the Stone is a quiet gem that combines rich animation with a lot of activity that keeps the film moving and prevents it from being predictable or boring. The climactic battle was unexpected, the ending breaks the fourth wall, and to be honest there isn’t a dull moment to be found. It lightly stays above water and never sinks.
#22: The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
Combine two very different but very entertaining stories together and what do you have? Another forgotten Disney gem that was released in the World War II days that blends two dastardly different tones and creates a sugar/spice combination that gives you a wholesome feeling by the end of the movie. Well-animated, plenty of whimsical (and slightly British) humor, and more evidence of the zaniness that sometimes comes from the usually-serious Walt Disney Studios.
#21: Dumbo
One of the more inspiring movies in history, Dumbo follows a baby elephant as he rises from a mere circus animal into a circus sensation in a quick, beautiful, cinematically poetic 64 minutes. Within that mere hour, we are met with one of the creepiest sequences in film history (Pink Elephants on Parade), a beautiful mother/child scene, and a heck of a cathartic climax that would inspire generations to come. The animation is beautiful, the story was very original at its time, and would catapult the company into a new realm of success.
The list will continue in a couple of days. See you then......
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