If you asked someone what their favourite Disney movie is,
they’ll give you five. Disney has been a major part of childhood for
generations with everyone from toddlers to grandparents having fond memories of
their films. Few if any movie studios have accomplished what Disney has. So
kudos to Walt and his ambition! Regardless of what you think of him it was
sheer genius that really payed off. These are movies that are some of the first
we’ve ever seen and they stick with us forever! This is the company that
created the animated film, inaugurating a form of cinema that has astounded and
broken the mold time after time over the decades, in many instances by Disney
themselves. They taught us to imagine, to dream and did so with some of the
most beautiful art and imagery ever put to screen. They managed to excite us,
give us immense pleasure, but also to scare and sadden us (in fact all the Inside Out emotions got their moment in
the sun with the films of Disney). The term Disney magic can arguably be
synonymous with movie magic and the word Disney has basically become a verb!
But I like many my age have wondered if these films really do hold up over the
years, if the critical acclaim is earned, and if they can be just as
entertaining and impressive as they were when we were kids. I’m sure there are
many that more than hold up with a timeless energy, morals, and compellingly
memorable stories and characters, but there are certainly others that we may
have thought too highly of as kids and without the benefit of being children or
looking through the prism of nostalgia, just plain fail.
I’d like to go back and look
at these films in a critical light, see how they progressed from their
inception to the modern day, how story, style, and themes have changed over the
years, how animation has progressed for better or worse, and how characters and
music (we all love those Disney songs!) have developed. And I’m excited at what
I’ll find. Sure these films are full of tropes and clichés that have been
ridiculed more times than they’ve been used, but the way Disney’s unabashedly
owned them makes them endearing. And when supported by great composition and
creativity in other areas, we’ve even learned to love them! Yeah sometimes they
churn out something half-assed just to make more money, and in their
non-animated-film ventures this could be extraordinarily obvious, but I hope for
these movies that that’s the grand minority.
But I’ll take that chance to
see some of the great classics of cinema let alone animation. It makes for a
good excuse to go back and re-watch the Disney compendium. From the earliest
greats like Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs and Pinocchio to new
classics like Frozen and uh, Big Hero 6, I’m hoping to post a review
each week looking at the films critically, finding what holds up, and whether
it still succeeds today for viewers of any age. At least in my opinion. This series isgoing to last a while but I’d like to try it. To be clear I’m going to be
reviewing what are known as the Disney Animated Classics which currently consists
of 54 films between 1937 and today, and while a couple during the package years
are technically animation/live-action hybrids, they do not include arguably the
most famous hybrid film: Mary Poppins.
That being said I’d still like to re-watch that film and may even review it
apart from this series. So sorry about that, but that does mean I don’t have to
put myself through Song of the South either!
Also this series doesn’t include Pixar, but considering Pixar’s track record
and how far along they’ll come into play chronologically in these reviews that
may change. I hope you’ll enjoy this journey of retrospect, fascination,
beauty, brilliance, disappointment, wonder, and magic with me that is Disney!
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