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Post by nopersonality on Dec 21, 2011 2:04:49 GMT -5
the Greatest Classic-to-Contemporary Disney Animated Films ever made! (The cut-off year is 1995.)
Over the next 4 days, I'll be counting down (in highly suspenseful, mysterious fashion) the Top 32 Greatest Disney Animated Films and with any luck giving a little insight into what makes them underrated or overrated. But if I can't, at least I will still be giving you plenty of Disney warmth and magic as I also stick in several clips and videos from the films. I have the whole holiday week (from now until the 27th) off, so I give you... this.
Check back periodically for updates and expect about 8 movies to be listed per day.
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Post by nopersonality on Dec 21, 2011 2:39:07 GMT -5
#32...The Fox and the Hound (1981) Ah... that old Disney magic. Wait! This is Fox and the Hound we're talking about: there IS no Disney magic here. I hate to say it, but this movie bites. Big time. Most of the animation is... nice. But, that's it. This movie is a very large conflict of interests for Disney for several reasons. It is meant to serve as a film about intolerance, much the same as Pocahontas did 14 years later. But, unlike that very good film, it not only becomes a very sad "watch and learn" film about animal mating rituals, but also goes against something Bambi did right and shows that the killing of helpless animals through hunting is FUN and HEALTHY so long as it's used to further male bonding. Ah, male relationships- how compelling... In fairness, the movie shows that the best relationships are formed just having fun and it tells us that even though we're often separated by life's obstacles- we shouldn't be. If you think the movie lets you decide for yourself that hunting is bad (not that it understands that), you also know that the "drama" of Todd and Copper's fractious split is irrelevant. You don't have to take that with you when the movie's over. Of course, the movie still stinks. Even though Amos, Copper, and Chief mercilessly slaughter Bambi's whole family and all his friends- there's a whole condescending subplot about 2 birds hunting a worm. The thrills the chills, right? Why we are meant to be on the edge of our seat hoping the worm will survive, but all those skinned dead animals that end up on Amos's shack walls are nothing, is anyone's guess. Furthermore: the voice acting. For Todd in his prime, they chose who to voice him? Mickey Rooney. Who sounds like he's about 75. And his mate? Sandy Duncan. I've included a clip below to show you just how awful these two are. Also this movie also has some of the worst Disney songs in the history of the studio. In fact, "Lack of Education" IS the worst song in Disney history. Marvel at the shittiness below: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYEWabQoloMMickey Rooney and Sandy Duncan as Tod and Vixey: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwrNO7oXG10"Appeciate the Lady" - another of Disney's worst songs (good sentiment, bad music and lyrics): www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV4FXTtAYm0The Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjeRUVbLeII
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Post by nopersonality on Dec 21, 2011 14:42:51 GMT -5
#31...Bambi (1942) While, I won't lie, it kinda makes me feel bad to rag on something this gorgeous (this film is literally jaw-dropping in places)... Bambi is all surface and no depth. Which of course, sets it starkly apart from Disney's 3 previous stellar works- Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Dumbo. Unlike those films, this one just cooks up some straight-forward, lackluster drama... or, wait. The problem is more likely to be that, regardless of how much the film turns up the stakes, it's impossible to care about the characters. Which makes Bambi one of Disney's most manipulative films. You're supposed to think little Bambi is cute because he's a baby. You're supposed to feel bad about his mother's death just because a mother being ripped apart from her child is sad. It would be if you knew her, sure. Or she were a dynamic character in her own right like Mrs. Jumbo was in Dumbo. But Bambi's mother is just too blah. You're supposed to think Bambi's awkward romances are life-altering because it's a little boy and a little girl flirting. And... where's Bambi's father? Oh, yeah, that's right: one thing that isn't cute is the film's law of nature. Daddies are shadow figures until it's time for the women and children to bow and scrape their feet. And, the film selectively decides when to be cute and when to be real. Most people seem to like that. I do not. It's not a lot to ask for Disney to be consistent. This film isn't. The animation is stunning. The music is... hit or miss. The score is amazing (you hear this mostly during the winter sequences). And 2 of the songs are pretty darn good- "Love is a Song" and "I Bring You a Song (Looking for Romance)." But, then... well, there are the nature songs. One that earns controversy for being too upbeat to play after the death of Bambi's mother ("Let's Sing a Gay Little Spring Song" - terrible) and the other is catchy and old-fashioned ("Little April Shower") but... well, with all that's wrong with this movie- let's give the music a pass (except for the sonically wretched "Spring Song" - YUCK!). In fact, let's also give baby Thumper a pass- now HE'S adorable. And Owl. And baby Flower. But Bambi is always annoying, as is Faline. The other characters we don't get to know and so... it's even kinda hard to care that they're being stalked and slaughtered by hunters. So, the movie is like an advertisement for breeding. That's kinda heartless. Where's the stuff that really hits us in the soul? The music comes close. I guess that's good enough. The trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLvX-erABqYBest song in the movie: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbbcfMOG7VsThis quality probably doesn't do it justice but WOW, one of the best / most beautiful animated sequences in the movie: www.youtube.com/watch?v=daAkMQHnuTMAnother good song and beautiful animation sequence to go with it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx-uR3UTb_oWhat... you thought I wasn't going to include this one??: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eHr-9_6hCg
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Post by nopersonality on Dec 21, 2011 16:06:27 GMT -5
#30...Beauty and the Beast (1991) Of all the things I struggle with as a discerning Disney fan, there's almost no bigger internal fight than- which is worse, Bambi or Beauty and the Beast? Though I count Bambi as being rougher and downright lazier in the story department, there's no denying it has flair in terms of animation and the music- which is even better than average. But if you ever wanted to toss that out the window, there's Beauty and the Beast. A film tied with Fox and the Hound and The Aristocats for least interesting visual design and animation. But damned if this thing doesn't try for story. As something of a feminist, this movie offends me. Not so much because Belle the beautiful bookworm and otherwise independent, free-thinking woman volunteers to be prisoner to an abusive, superficial, whiny, fatheaded, big-mouthed jerk (although that set-up is pretty creepy and certainly backward for the movie's otherwise forward-thinking 90's woman in a strangely politically correct version of an archaic, shallow, manly-man provencial period-France). But because you know this is Disney. And a character's life will be decided by the tone of the movie mixed with.. at least in this movie's case, the story's Peanut Gallery. Here comprised of a pyromaniac asshole candleabra, a stuffy aristocratic clock, a boozy and woozy dresser / wardrobe, and a singing granny teapot with "cute" precocious hyperactive baby teacup in tow. What the bloody hell do people see in this movie? The Beast is given no decent human qualities until the plot calls for them (manipulation- an important theme thus far in the lesser Disney films), Belle has all the charisma of the binding of one of her books, the side characters are mostly annoying, the songs are peppy but don't feel like true Disney, the story is absurdly malnourished and relies on ridiculous cliches that betray the character's would-be intelligence... which just leaves us with the villain: Gaston. He's merely a clone of Brom Bones from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow but he is the film's best asset, at least in song he is. His theme "Gaston" actually contains some of Disney's best lyrics EVER and without a doubt some of their dirtiest, most uproarious and downright hilarious. As I will now illustrate below: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIeAuLmYnaIThe movie's prologue, also one of its' biggest problems since it establishes how little we will and should care about The Beast as a character: www.youtube.com/watch?v=__x8CYAVMbkI tried to find some more interesting videos- like something about the parks or some good archive fun promotional video stuff. Alas, nada.
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Post by nopersonality on Dec 21, 2011 17:22:14 GMT -5
#29...The Aristocats (1970) Deep down, I've always pulled for this movie. Ya know? Very few people really love this film. Many like it just fine. And many feel like me- they want to defend it. But nobody really loves it. Why is that? Because it's plum stuck between better films. Phil Harris is a lot more entertaining as both Baloo the Bear ( The Jungle Book) and Little John ( Robin Hood). Everyone remembers Eva Gabor as Bob Newhart's sidekick in The Rescuers. Even the little mouse friend (Sterling Holloway) you'll recognize from Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, and The Jungle Book. The kittens, far as I can tell, are pure French (another rather flat and boring Disney film taking place in France), and... well, to their credit, they're probably less remarkably annoying (at least as a group) than the kids in Robin Hood and the puppies from 101 Dalmatians. But... while the characters are not extremely unlikable, there's just nothing special about them either. The story fares much worse by wasting time on drawing out plot points that already drug down Dalmatians. Specifically, the "long travel home" section in the second half becomes the majority of this film. Only padded with an admittedly fantastic song and music number ("Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat") with awesome funky colors. And that's all the life this film gets. Though there is a little blip on the radar when the villain Edgar the Butler has to venture out on his own at night to do his dark deeds and crosses a couple of scrappy dogs to get his hat and umbrella back (this seems like a replay of Disney's 1964 live-action Hayley Mills feature, The Moon Spinners). It's a mostly dull and hollow movie drug down by lame cutesiness, pointless side characters who don't deliver real laughs of any kind, and... well, there's just no suspense to the movie. It's not entirely unclever. It's just not much fun. The film's one great song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNEraxj559YSpecial Edition DVD promo: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpq8_EO9WvwDeleted Song: "She Never Felt Alone": www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVU-ZFAJQlwIt's "the end": www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgn-n6L5FroOld VHS-quality Opening Credits: www.youtube.com/watch?v=31uAggMmttk
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Post by nopersonality on Dec 21, 2011 18:03:18 GMT -5
#28...The Lion King (1994) Getting a little tired of seeing animal movies on the countdown? The problem is just that Disney barely knows what to do with them. They're babies, they have grow up, get an opposite-sex mate, procreate - everyone falls asleep or dies of boredom. The Lion King has a little more action than most and I become slightly more tolerant of it every time I see it. But, still I'm not satisfied. Why? Well... it's mostly Simba's fault. He inhabits both of the traits I find most troublesome in male Disney characters- they're either obnoxious or they're shockingly dull. It doesn't help that this movie sometimes feels like a vehicle for Home Improvement's Jonthan Taylor Thomas, who of course plays the bratty (intolerable) Simba. Matthew Broderick who plays the adult Simba has easily seen better days. The rest of the movie is packed to the rafters with celebrity voices, in an attempt to try and recapture some of Aladdin's audience-pleasing glory. Anyway, none of the characters are interesting. The songs are catchy enough but I hate the vocalist doing Simba's parts. Oh... and Elton John's big number is just lame. One for the back catalog for sure. Only one song is great- Scar's villain song. Scar as a villain... give him points for campiness and Jeremy Irons has great presence but... yeah, the last section of the movie featuring the big showdown has to add a lot of effects like fire to make it more epic than we all know it would be in reality (or a more convincing story) considering how much of a spineless wimp Scar is. Timon and Pumbaa as the comic relief have good presence, like Irons, but... they are not written well. The whole "tastes like chicken" thing was irritating as all getout and, that's nothing compared to the unbelievably stupid farting. Setting a terrible precident for future Disney films. The score goes a long way in helping the movie try to reach its' epicness but the story and the characters (especially the women) are not the slightest bit interesting. At all. Doesn't that say it all? A better story wouldn't hurt either. The film's great song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL1JmPCogq0
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Post by nopersonality on Dec 22, 2011 12:18:44 GMT -5
#27...Lady and the Tramp (1955) So... more Disney animals, right? Well, first the good news: the animation is GORGEOUS. Next, the music is... well, there are more songs than you probably remember. And from several different singers. Peggy Lee gets all the credits, as she plays 4 different characters- the wife owner of the movie's little cockerspaniel dog (I have no idea how to spell that), the dirty dame from the wrong side of the tracks who sings the movie's famous "He's a Tramp" and is named... Peg, and the movie's 2 villainous Siamese cats. But Lady gets half a song- "La La Lu" (she starts it, Peggy finishes), the husband owner gets a theme to whistle, a chorus gets the bookends of the film (a Christmas themed song called "Peace on Earth"), a couple of goofball Italian chefs (one you may recognize as a villain in Pinocchio) get the film's most famous song (unless you count the cats' fabulous and almost scary "The Siamese Cat Song"), and a chorus of dogs get the film's saddest song. The music is a split dif considering that the film is lacking a lot. Typical for Disney animal tales, the characters are made cuter so that will make up for lackluster writing. The characters are just not very interesting. As a matter of fact, the movie's best characters are found during the film's ultra-sad at the pound. One is Peg. The other is an adorable little chihuahua (I think that's the right spelling). The last is a philosopher dog, a real prototype for Oliver & Company's Francis- and a better character at that. These 3 together have more charisma and fun about them than Lady and Tramp do together. However, the actor playing Tramp tries. He's good at accents. Lady comes off as the drier of the too. Plus when you consider her motivation for the middle section of the movie's conflict... well, it kinda makes the middle of the film pretty darn pointless. Tramp rescues her from a dangerous situation and takes her out for a night to see what it's like living his life. She likes it... until the morning when she says she could never be with him because... get this: someone has to watch over the baby. As though it has no parents of its' own. What she should have said is that she loves her owners too much. Did she? No. The baby was her core concern. So, by the time she gets back to the house, it's maybe 4 or 5 hours before the owners come back from their weekend getaway anyway. And don't even get me started on the way her owners ("Jim Dear" and "Darling") treat her when the baby is coming. 9 FREAKING MONTHS they spent ignoring her even though they were waiting for the baby- meaning they should have had MORE time to spend with her. A dog this loyal would make a great distraction from the stress of waiting. Also- the movie has no real villain. You could try to combine a rat, a haggy relative of the owners, and the cats together but... the movie is just dull. (Scripted) Behind the Scenes of the Making of the Music with Peggy Lee: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyHP9b7RK6QOriginal Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZmVm6qv1LkOne of Disney's Best Songs... EVER: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL9hooe-yKQBeginning of the movie (it's the only way to see the beautiful Christmas scene): www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pxSMmSqN3s
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Post by nopersonality on Dec 23, 2011 6:32:06 GMT -5
#26...Make Mine Music (1946) Any Disney package film rises or falls upon the strength of its' pieces. And I think just about anyone who watches them all... well, their least favorite is likely to be The Three Caballeros but for me, Make Mine Music is easily the weakest link. Thanks to shorts as memorable and classic as "Johnny Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet," as just plain fun as "After You've Gone," and as impossible to ignore as "Peter and the Wolf," this film is more entertaining than some of the far more cherished animated classics we've seen make the list up to now. But compared to the likes of Fantasia and the much more visually powerful Melody Time, almost nothing in Make Mine Music makes the venture to compile these shorts into a feature format a necessity. There are a lot of good moments scattered throughout- "All the Cats Join In" is a great song and the idea driving the animation (a pencil actually drawing everywhere the characters will go and everything they'll do). The surpisingly tragic end to "The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met." The achingly lovely "Blue Bayou." And the most arresting animation of the movie in the admittedly (visually) sublime "Without You." Making the only one I haven't mentioned being the weakest of the set, though I like the song a lot- "Two Silhouettes." Famously, a frigid Walt Disney Home Entertainment cut a segment out of the film- "The Martins and the Coys." Thankfully, it's on YouTube. It's a good example of how little the animators / story team could ever think to do with redneck plotlines. It's not offensive but it just isn't fun. What really makes things like this worth checking out for Disney buffs like me is how it may have inspired any of the several western, Southern, and great-outdoors themed rides and attractions at the park. Even though Disney weren't very good at this sort of thing, you could tell they had a passion for it. If like me you remember the old Disney channel of the late 80's and early 90's. "Whale" has gone on to be the most liked of the shorts while "Peter" is the one that was supposed to be the movie's "Sorcerer's Apprentice." But I think "Whale" is too bloated and, having the one singer doing all the voices is more than a little silly. "Peter"s okay. Oh, wait... I forgot one, didn't I? "Casey At the Bat." Can sum that one up in a word: stereotypes. "After You've Gone," "Blue Bayou," "All the Cats Join In," and "Johnny Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet" represent everything that leaves me feeling good about this movie. The others fade into the background but I can't stand "Casey." Disney later followed it with several cartoon sequels featuring him as a father and a train conductor. www.youtube.com/watch?v=OteJW-nraLwThe deleted "Martins and the Coys": www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtyUycHvYlsOh, how I hate you Casey: www.youtube.com/watch?v=erfSed2MUsA"All the Cats Join In": www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzXIekb0WOI
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Post by nopersonality on Dec 24, 2011 8:11:15 GMT -5
#25...Oliver & Company (1988) If you're as big a fan of classic Disney as I am and you've seen this movie, you're probably wondering why this movie made it this high on the countdown. I mean, above Lady and the Tramp and Make Mine Music. Good question. In a way, it's every bit as bland in the storytelling department. The answer isn't cut and dry. Other than to say, since it's a desperate Disney film in the 80's, there are several pretty exciting scenes. None better than an almost heart-leaping rolls royce (actually- I have no idea what car Sykes was driving) vs shopping cart chase scene. It may even defy the laws of gravity. And that's what makes it so unbelievably exciting. You won't care about any of the characters but Cheech Marin's and Bette Midler's dogs provide some amusement. The animation is rough but I think it's quite outstanding. The songs are... okay at best; except in the case of "Streets of Gold" - another of Disney's all-time worst. The score is downright sickeningly sweet. Billy Joel's "Why Should I Worry?" is decent, not outstanding as some would claim. Bette Midler's song (included below) is typical for her style but I like it more than "Worry." Huey Lewis & the News might have the best song, in my opinion. The villain is fantastically voiced (by Robert Loggia, who later played villaiins in John Landis's Innocent Blood and David Lynch's Lost Highway) as are his 2 raspy attack dogs. But back to why this places so high, I will admit it might be the easiest Disney animated film to fall asleep to (though I haven't seen any of the majors from Hercules up to Princess and the Frog- which sadly I did see) but I think I just might prefer the stronger villains and better action here than in the last 2 classic films to rank prior. Self-explanatory: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb7kJ-j_dKAIt's Diva Time: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M6UYwaYRqwActually... part of me wants to like this song, but it's still weak: www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9YyNtH5BF8
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Post by nopersonality on Dec 24, 2011 8:41:20 GMT -5
#24...The Rescuers Down Under (1990) This has always been a hard Disney film for me to reckon with. It's never done much for me. To its' credit, it has one of the single best openings in Disney's history. Disney were back on top of the animation game after the smash success of The Little Mermaid and were just itching to really show off with their new, rapidly improving computer animation. And, boy, DO THEY EVER!!! The first 20 or so minutes are like a non-stop ride. Well, it slows down a few times but you're still loving every second of it. Could they really pull off a whole movie like this? Sadly... no. As soon as we meet the villain team, the blazing Australian sun acts as a spotlight which begins to burn off the movie's breakneck flash and we see how naked the characters are. Cody is a supernaturally driven protagonist who's willing to risk his life in extreme situations to save a mother bird and her eggs. Should the blame fall on Disney for cranking up the stakes in such a simple real life situation since it makes us have to shake a disapproving head at the villains? Or should we just blame the kid's unfounded motivation? Seriously... if we could believe a poacher would resort to killing a kid just because poaching (far as I know) is so awful, then the kid really needs to just give up. Let Bernard and Bianca (and their new pal, Jake, who has a voice but no character whatsoever) save the day for the mother bird. Did he stop for 2 seconds to think about his own mother and how she would feel if he knew what he got himself involved in? No, because that would get in the way of Disney's great Boy Loves Adventure plotline. He's a little hero going on an adventure where we know he's never going to be hurt- I think even he thinks there's no way McLeach will get away with his crime. Even after he proves the police won't search for Cody. Does this kid have a clue what reality is? John Candy shows up to provide Celebrity Comic Relief... only to end up as a character with plot-convenient back problems being tied up in a mouse hospital and tortured by needle-wielding nurses. Why? Because he can fly, which would make it too easy for Bernard and Bianca to save the day. However, all this being said... if you can turn off your brain, this is a surprisingly entertaining movie. And, though it's a little frustrating (did anyone else want to KILL Joanna for stealing McLeach's - chicken laid - eggs and not really know why?), it's not offensive. (Unless you know more about poaching than I do. THAAAAAAAT BITCH!!!: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPgTj46X5tg
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Post by nopersonality on Dec 24, 2011 9:56:02 GMT -5
#23...Peter Pan (1953) First thing's first... can you name me a single song from the movie? You might be surprised to recall it has quite a few. Wendy sings a sappy, craptastic (sorry, again: full honesty) song about motherhood. The pirates have an interesting ditty that starts and stops and starts again. And no, it's not the song they sing specially for and about Captain Hook. They have another one about being pirates. The kids have one about playing games. And the studio chorus has a song, "Second Star to the Right," which I believe was cut from Alice in Wonderland in favor of the superior "In a World of My Own." Though I find 2 of these songs to be very memorable, you're lucky if you or your friends and family even remember "You Can Fly" - the movie's biggest so-called hit. The one song which has truly lived on, for the wrong reasons of course, is the racially absurd and just plain dumb "What Makes the Red Man Red." It's Disney trying to have fun with... something they know nothing about. But, let's make one thing perfectly clear: Disney may do a little homework but they're driven by creativity. Which has lead some people to accuse the animators of everything from racism to pedophilia ( The Jungle Book - but we won't get into that there, since it's just a theory). They do not care about history. And I think that's okay. At least, in so far as again turning your brain off can redeem something that irritates many people. For example: Beauty and the Beast and Fox and the Hound are without question my least favorite Disney animated movies (that I remember seeing - I've yet to rewatch The Hunchback of Notre Dame, it's been at least 12 years). Those movies bother me and I've ranted and raved about them. Should I bash others for being bothered by the "Red Man" song or Lady and the Tramp's "Siamese Cat Song"? Not really. The major animators (known as Disney's 9 Old Men) were (again: far as I know) some of the sweetest people working in filmmaking from the 40's to the days they each quit. I'm sure they didn't mean any harm. (Although, Song of the South is another matter altogether- someone should be horsewhipped for that atrocity!) As for the rest of the movie... the characters, save for the hilarious Captain Hook and the dopily fun Smee, are either dull or annoying. The movie's #1 drawback along with the okay songs (the score however is breath-takingly lush and truly one of Disney's most beautiful - in my opinion). In fact, Peter Pan needs a serious spanking. As does Tinkerbell (honestly, I'm almost shocked she became the studio's mascot considering she's a legitimate attempted murderess). The animation is freaking outstanding. And... it's worth mentioning that the comedy on display here - featuring Captain Hook being tormented by the tummy ticking crocodile - is without a doubt Disney's funniest (that I can recall). Early 80's TV Commercial Ad: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS1aGJZJMvMFINALLY!!! I got some footage of a fuckin' attraction related to the movie from the parks: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEwGfPp13Y0A presentation of "Second Star to the Right" that wonders what it might have felt like to have it in Alice instead: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF3qSPHtxWcMy favorite song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLHpuXLpazs
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Post by nopersonality on Dec 24, 2011 10:53:33 GMT -5
#22...Melody Time (1948) Yes, I admit it: I have an extremely misplaced soft spot for this film. It can't be the music, which I should perhaps have talked about more for Make Mine Music. Because I feel like most of the lyrics are either off, insane, or just stupidly old-fashioned. The stories are driven purely by animation. So, that must be it. One of my absolute favorite animators at the studio was Mary Blair. In almost all her work at the studio, she was only ever allowed to do backgrounds. Trees, colors, etc. Walt Disney did not like her humans. So she stayed at the studio for about 13 years doing concept art which the animators took and, this is how great she was, pretty much only changed the human characters from her original ideas. What did her human characters look like, by the way? Well, she was given 3 main chances to do human characters for Disney: the "It's a Small World After All" attraction at the parks, The Three Caballeros, and, her biggest showcase of all: Melody Time. 2 of the 7 segments in Melody are Mary trying to steal the show, which she does. The most beautiful is sadly the worst story of the bunch: "Johnny Appleseed." She did backgrounds on that and, I'll be damned if anyone's looking at Johnny at all. Her human characters get their ideal fitting in "Once Upon a Wintertime" - the best song in the set. And you can see why Disney chose to redo them in other projects. Here they look fantastic though. Visually, this may be one of Disney's most underrated films. Though it's not without fault: "Bumble Boogie" is an inferior retread of Make Mine's "After You've Gone" (for proof: watch them back to back and note the use of piano key imagery amidst both's surreal montages). And "Little Toot" is only okay at best. I think I was more impressed by "Pecos Bill", animation-wise, than others. "Wintertime" is of course stunning. "Blame It on the Samba" mixes in live-action people and visually is more playful with colors and characters (including the delightful Aracuan - who will come up again later in the countdown - who makes a reappearence) than with the animation itself. Oh, it's a fun song too. And then... there's "Trees." The movie's worst song, easily, but... one of my absolute favorite sequences in the entire history of Disney animation. FUCK is it beautiful!!! Especially the colors- the greens are magnificent! Anyway, there's one more thing I have to address. It affects "Trees" and "Johnny Appleseed"... It's religion. There's something that makes me feel downright dirty about how the film preciously coddles religious delusions. I haven't seen Pollyanna in some time but I remember that film took religion and challenged the way it was preached. This film? It does the typical "God watches" and says the Bible is nice. Real nice. I guess it's a good thing Johnny wasn't harvesting shrimp then, huh? It made me uncomfortable. "Once Upon a Wintertime": www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGcbMroVtEE"Blame It on the Samba": www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hkJr3bOFOE"Trees": www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ons5vcXP2HQ
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Post by nopersonality on Dec 24, 2011 15:21:49 GMT -5
#21...The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) So, right about now you probably know that Disney's package features came in 2 basic formats. A bunch of musical themed shorts or a few stories stuck together with songs in them- like mini-movies together. Ichabod and Mr. Toad fits into the latter category. Instead of Disney making the two into 10-minute shorts or separate 1-hour movies which would require a lot of padding, they split the difference and found a way to put the 2 together. In this case, the connecting thread is... a library. And the stories are literally pulled from books with introductions treating them like divine literary classics- one from Engand, the other from America. What results is the least successful of the story themed package features. Mainly because of the English story. Mr. Toad is one of Disney's most unlikable "protagonists" (along with Peter Pan for at least 30% of that film's running time), bar none. He isn't even the main character of his own story. First, it's a badger, whom we feel very sorry for because of Toad and his shockingly abusive way of treating his friends. He's a first-class jerk and when his other friends - a rat and a mole - are forced to lock him up in his house to keep him from doing anymore damage, he gets himself thrown in jail and stands trial for stealing a car. Now, true he was the victim of a plot / scheme. But he deserved to get in trouble and even during his trial, he was cocky and arrogant. That's not even the worst of it. When he breaks out of jail and his friends find out he really was the victim of a conspiracy, they hatch a plan that means they have to sneak into the enemy's (let's call it a) hideout. As they're sneaking in, supposed to be dead silent and go unnoticed- Toad just completely decides to take a gun and shoot it. If you're thinking by this point Toad must be mentally retarded, I can't confirm that but I wondered the same thing myself. Disney must have been doing it for tension. What they succeeded in was making me want to beat the shit out of Toad. Anyway, the Mr. Toad section is not very good. At all. Not to mention, it also features another of Disney's worst songs ever: "The Merrily Song." Thankfully, however, things improve greatly for the 2nd story. Which you've probably figured is the famous Legend of Sleepy Hollow story. It's not Disney's scariest scene but it definitely will shiver a few spines. In a quite Tales from the Crypt type development, a selfish and unlikable pompous jerk seeks to worm his way into the town's rich businessman's family through his materialistic tease of a daughter. Leading to a jealous rival telling Disney's spookiest tale ever in one of their best and easily most underrated songs, "The Tale of the Headless Horseman." It's a quiet piece that becomes more fun everytime you watch it. Bing Crosby performing "The Tale of the Headless Horseman": www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJoMZJyC19sRecreation of the famed "Headless Horseman" song by "Grim Grinning Ghosts"' Thurl Ravenscroft: www.youtube.com/watch?v=04uPTBoZiUgAnother of Disney's all-time worst songs EVER: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql7IyJXqM1s
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Post by nopersonality on Dec 29, 2011 9:34:02 GMT -5
#20...The Black Cauldron (1985) So, speaking of films devoid of Disney magic, things nobody remembers, and... frankly, the 1980's, did you know that at one point, an animator named Don Bluth was producing films that were kicking Disney's ass? Yeah, it started with 1984's The Secret of Nimh and continued steadily until Disney answered back with 1989's The Little Mermaid which finally crushed Bluth. This is a problem because Disney had their own feel and look to the animated films they made, which they should have kept. And they should have felt no need to compete, but in the early 80's, they decided to change their entire formula save for a few themes (all of which belonged to films the 9 Old Men and Disney's non-corporate teams considered weakpoints for the studio, financially speaking) from The Sword in the Stone, Robin Hood, and Sleeping Beauty. In short, it was some new studio head's idea to make a film that - except for the sword fighting and countryside setting - had no recognizable trace of Disney. The songs were cut. The danger element was increased. And moments of cuteness didn't last. Some of these ideas weren't bad. But the problem is that someone behind the film is driving all over the place and doesn't know where he's going. The film is trying to be scary like Sleeping Beauty, as exciting as Pinocchio, and as epic as the 30's and 40's films. But without establishing any real characters, just character attributes. Which makes our hero, Taran, an annoyance most of the time. The Princess, Eilonwy, pointless (apart from the fact that she's mostly a non-romantic partner in his mission). And the sidekicks ununique and boring. The movie does find a groove- improving tremendously about halfway in when our "band of misfits" start venturing out to find the cauldron itself. The opening half, on the other hand, couldn't be more of a mess. It falls into bad cliche when an absurd war of the sexes breaks out between Taran and Eilonwy. And an early climax featuring Taran breaking into the villain's castle to rescue his magical pig gets all manner of phony. None of it's convincing. From some "blood" that appears and disappears on his face to the Hook-worthy baffoonery involving the grungy human warriors on the Horned King's army, to the Power Rangery scene of the King's dopey servant being too afraid to tell his master the news. Points go to the voice casting of both villains here but in all honestly, No Heart from the Care Bears was scarier and more memorable than this guy. Again, however, things get better in the 2nd half. In fact, the movie even manages to net a pretty good message by the end: that neither magic or a powerful weapon make you a hero. A singing minstrel sidekick has to prove himself too but ends up being fairly pointless aside from his big mouth which usually gets everyone into more trouble. The fuzzy sidekick has to die to make himself likable (I'm not going to touch that one). And the girl wears a dress... that's all I can say. The movie walks away being almost smart enough but lacking nearly everything magical that it needs. Except for one truly "wow" moment featuring 3 wacky witches talking down to the characters from a big purple cloud in the sky. 90's VHS trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQrO3WaNmsoOriginal Teaser: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceYa-ltT6xw
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Post by nopersonality on Dec 29, 2011 9:35:59 GMT -5
#19...The Sword in the Stone (1963) So, Walt Disney died before The Jungle Book finished production and rumor has it he was very unhappy about the failures of Alice in Wonderland and Sleeping Beauty. Yet not much is known or said about this film and Walt except that he was very busy working on the parks and the TV shows. Historians and people who worked at the studio say that, even though animation had been his passion, it had come in last place to him. Other people had even gone so far as to say he didn't need to produce animation anymore. Yet, he was still very much in control and even though the 1960's at Disney saw only 3 theatrically released feature length animated films, he refused to let it die. Even though I'm told cost to produce the films had become a concern, the team at Disney had plans to consider making a film version of Robin Hood and The Little Mermaid and that concept art already existed for Mermaid. Somehow, around the time of 101 Dalmatians (which I'm told was a very large hit for the studio in its' own time), creative control of the films fell to whatever 9 Old Men were still at the studio (I believe Marc Davis made Cruella DeVil his very last project for Disney and retired afterward). Although, you'd better believe when this film flopped harder than Shamu, Walt took it out on story editor Bill Peet ( Dumbo, Dalmatians)- the only guy left on the payroll to handle Sword. In short: nobody has any real idea how this film came to be or how someone who apparently did such outstanding work on Dalmatians could have dropped the ball. But the fact is... The Sword in the Stone is a disjointed, episodic compilation of educational filler shorts rather than a compelling tale of an errand boy who went on to become a child King and save England after their own Dark Ages. More like a primer for all of Disney's very entertaining shorts trying to make self-improvement through education fun. But nobody really wanted that. And I can't blame them. Still, I truly enjoy this film more than a lot of other Disney classics. Not the teaching scenes, which do make you feel like you're in school a bit, so much as the "Merlin's magic brings chaos" results. This movie definitely has a playful side, even though it's also the beginning of Disney reusing animation so much that many people don't feel the characters are interacting with each other. Watch any scene with Kay (the jock character) inside the castle for proof. Animation continuity may very well be a mess but there's still some beautiful use of color. And the film's famous Wizard Duel sequence is remarkable, even if Madam Mim is only so-so as a villain (I love her song though- she's a fun hag). And the score is really nice and evocative of Disney in the 60's which is a good feeling. Underrated as a decade, really. Since it was really laidback and lacked the epicness of Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, Cinderella- you know. What's shocking for this movie is that the characters by and large are more memorable and satisfying than characters in more beloved fare like Lady and the Tramp and Peter Pan (though not the villains). For proof: Archimedes. Everyone loves him. One of the movie's most fun scenes: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLI46yMdtmUMadam Mim's wonderful song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNjkuHQGa2wThe hilarious kitchen scene: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJnaXaNzEVgAnd Merlin's spell that started the trouble: www.youtube.com/watch?v=75BJ2ovo-S0And of course, the movie's most famous scene: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLThKGlZhvY
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