This is my favorite essay yet, DW. With the exception of Robin Hood and Jungle Book being closer to the "worst" than the "better," I agree almost whole heartedly with your entire views. And I especially appreciate your noting the value of the often overlooked Princess and the Frog. You've motivated me to watch The Three Caballeros. Many thanks! Well done!
You are a madman and I am very fortunate to be here. I’ve got an 18 month old daughter and before I know it we’ll be sitting down to watch some of these films. I wasn’t a big Disney fan as a kid (I opted for Robocop and Terminator) so this ranking is going to come in handy
I'd hazard a suggestion and queue up Zootopia after that; they are both outstanding, are chronologically adjacent and are markedly different from one another.
Catching up on some posts here is a treat! Great stuff. I think I have quite a bit to say about reflecting on the Disney nostalgia and how my kids react to it, so may have to do that in a longer form. But! I'll say now that, yes the three caballeros always fascinated me and I don't think my kids have given it a fair shot...gonna try. I also watched a lot of Disney Channel as a kid in 80s and the they would air cuts of the old films as shows and segments, so the this "war-time" packaging thing is resonating with me. I believe I mainly saw these things: Three Caballeros, Fantasia, Pinocchio, Sword in the Stone as they aired on the Disney Channel in segments in the 80s/early 90s.
Happily disagreeing with you about some of these. I've always found Frozen to be one of the most overrated Disney movies. I'd rank Tangled near the top, along with The Little Mermaid. I've always loved Beauty and the Beast, but I've never been able to get over the confusing timeline.
I grew up with Disney. I have many favorites among the live action movies. The earlier animated movies have more of my favorites. (BTW, ‘The Sword in the Stone’ is based on the first half of T.H. White’s book ‘The Once and Future King;’ the musical ‘Camelot’ was based on the second half).
Lately (actually longer than that) I’ve had a big problem with Disney’s interpretation of fairy tales. Everything ends up happily ever after! I was raised on the stories of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen. Many of those endings are completely different. Those tales were meant to show children that even if bad things happen they can be surmounted. The eminent child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim wrote ‘The Uses of Enchantment’ to explain this.
At some point it was decided that children should only hear about happy endings. Andersen’s ‘The Little Mermaid’ is a good example.
In the story she gets her wish to become a person, but she has to trade that with having no voice. And every time she walks it’s like walking barefoot on knives. Eventually the Prince betrays her and she returns to the sea.
Besides the fairytales, Pocahontas did not run through the forest singing with trees; gargoyles did not sing in ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and none of the heroines had Kardashian bodies!
I’ll get off the soapbox now!😂
PS You are exactly right about ‘Beauty and the Beast!
This is my favorite essay yet, DW. With the exception of Robin Hood and Jungle Book being closer to the "worst" than the "better," I agree almost whole heartedly with your entire views. And I especially appreciate your noting the value of the often overlooked Princess and the Frog. You've motivated me to watch The Three Caballeros. Many thanks! Well done!
!!!!
You are a madman and I am very fortunate to be here. I’ve got an 18 month old daughter and before I know it we’ll be sitting down to watch some of these films. I wasn’t a big Disney fan as a kid (I opted for Robocop and Terminator) so this ranking is going to come in handy
Lemme know what you start with and what you each respond to; I'm interested!
Definitely Moana - she watches the intro with the baby all the time
I'd hazard a suggestion and queue up Zootopia after that; they are both outstanding, are chronologically adjacent and are markedly different from one another.
Beauty. I’ll do just that 🦓
Catching up on some posts here is a treat! Great stuff. I think I have quite a bit to say about reflecting on the Disney nostalgia and how my kids react to it, so may have to do that in a longer form. But! I'll say now that, yes the three caballeros always fascinated me and I don't think my kids have given it a fair shot...gonna try. I also watched a lot of Disney Channel as a kid in 80s and the they would air cuts of the old films as shows and segments, so the this "war-time" packaging thing is resonating with me. I believe I mainly saw these things: Three Caballeros, Fantasia, Pinocchio, Sword in the Stone as they aired on the Disney Channel in segments in the 80s/early 90s.
Happily disagreeing with you about some of these. I've always found Frozen to be one of the most overrated Disney movies. I'd rank Tangled near the top, along with The Little Mermaid. I've always loved Beauty and the Beast, but I've never been able to get over the confusing timeline.
Re B&TB, “every single component, choice, gesture, note, frame just right.” It’s wild because this could easily sound excessive, but it’s just facts!!
I grew up with Disney. I have many favorites among the live action movies. The earlier animated movies have more of my favorites. (BTW, ‘The Sword in the Stone’ is based on the first half of T.H. White’s book ‘The Once and Future King;’ the musical ‘Camelot’ was based on the second half).
Lately (actually longer than that) I’ve had a big problem with Disney’s interpretation of fairy tales. Everything ends up happily ever after! I was raised on the stories of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen. Many of those endings are completely different. Those tales were meant to show children that even if bad things happen they can be surmounted. The eminent child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim wrote ‘The Uses of Enchantment’ to explain this.
At some point it was decided that children should only hear about happy endings. Andersen’s ‘The Little Mermaid’ is a good example.
In the story she gets her wish to become a person, but she has to trade that with having no voice. And every time she walks it’s like walking barefoot on knives. Eventually the Prince betrays her and she returns to the sea.
Besides the fairytales, Pocahontas did not run through the forest singing with trees; gargoyles did not sing in ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and none of the heroines had Kardashian bodies!
I’ll get off the soapbox now!😂
PS You are exactly right about ‘Beauty and the Beast!
I do not vouch for my Pov at the time
Haven’t seen it in 4 decades probably so / yeah
My favorite is prob Robin Hood
I was underwhelmed by it this time, though I know a lot of people harbor sincere affection for it.
Jesus I have too
What a project! The podcast Blank Check did a great series on Musker and Clements that you should definitely check out
What's Musker and Clements!?
Animation directors. They did Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and more. Really interesting series.