Ever since then,opinions have changed and there are things that I haven't zei in that article,so I'm making this artikel as an updated version of it like I did with my "Getting to Know Renegade1765 (Updated Version)" article.
Plus,because March 4th is near and that will be the premiere of the new Disney animated movie "Zootopia" (which does look like a really nice and fun movie) I decided to make this artikel as countdown of my favoriete films so u guys can know what I love before welcoming "Zootopia" in the Disney family.
Some rules first:
First,I will only include Disney ANIMATED films which were made door Disney (meaning from Snow-White to Big Hero 6) which means no Pixar movies,no Live-Action films and no animated films distributed door Disney like The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Second,this lijst will be different from the other one and there's a lot to be explained about why I love zei movie so be prepared for a lot of text.
Third,this is all opinion based.If u disagree with my opinion and dislike any of the films I listed off here that doesn't mean that I won't respect your opinion of u as a person.
Fourth,because of how long this artikel is going to be,I'm going to cut this artikel in half.
Well,let's begin:
10.The Princess and the Frog (2009).
(Originally Number 9)
I have watched this movie a couple of times and I really enjoyed it,except that there are problems with it.For instance,most of the songs aren't very memorable and feel kind of bland.Most of that has to do with the fact that Randy Newman was the one who made the songs for the movie and if u recall from the other artikel I mentioned that I really didn't like Randy Newman as a musician because it feels like he's been singing the same bland song over an over again.Most of the songs in the movie are bland too except for 2,"Almost There" and 'Friends on the Other Side". "Almost There" is a really fun song in my opinion and probably my favoriete song from the movie.I really like Tiana's determination to get her own restaurant and having her work so hard to achieve her dream and being so positive about it is really admirable in my opinion.Anika Noni Rose (Tiana's voice actress) does a great job singing it,the beat and rithm are catchy and the instruments work really well with it in my opinion."Friends on the Other Side" is also really damn (sorry about that) fun.Keith David (Doctor Facilier's voice actor) one of my favoriete actors feel like he has a lot of fun with this song.It honestly feels like a Disney Villain song during the Renaissance era like "Poor Unfortunate Souls" of "Be Prepared",it actually kind of feels like a mix of the two.
My favoriete characters in the movie are Tiana and Doctor Facilier.
I really like Tiana personally and I think she's quite underrated.I admire that just like Cinderella she works tirelessly tonen very little signs of being annoyed of burdened with all her work.I like that she believes the only way you're ever going to achieve something in life is if u work hard for it however in the end she learned that even though u can't have everything u wanted at the end,you will always have some worth having,like family.Also,I think she shares a lot in common with Cinderella.Both of them lost their father,are 19 years old,are working hard tirelessly,are helped door women who have magical powers and abilities,have a dream they work hard for both are really nice people an get married with a prince at the end.Plus,not to sound racist,she's the first African-American Disney Princess and I am glad we get a role-model for younger African-Americans too and not just have them be white all the time.
Doctor Facilier is a really fun villain,in fact one of my favoriete Disney villains.Much like the movie,he feels like a classic Renaissance villain like Ursula,Jafar,Hades,etc.Keith David does an awesome performance as the character,he captures the snarky,sneaky,slimy and loud personality of Facilier.It's actually one of my favoriete Keith David voice performances along with Spawn from Spawn TAS and Goliath from Gargoyles.And the fact that he uses voodoo allows for a lot of interesting visuals and a lot of great possibilities and the movie takes advantage of that too.
The other characters are decent and likable too.Prince Naveen is really fun and charming,the comic reliefs are likable enough and the supporting characters charlotte and Mama Odie are very funny characters.
The colors of the movie are also wonderful.The colors just pop every seconde u look at it and it's just really fun to watch,especially during "Friends on the Other Side."
So how come it's only at Number 10? Well there are 2 major problems.One being as I mentioned before aside from those 2 songs I mentioned the rest of the songs in the movie are really bland and for a Disney musical that's a big problem.But it's New Orleans so it would make sense to have that kind of music.While this is a problem,the feel of the songs do fit well with the settings of the movie.My other problem with it is the story which is similar problem that I have with another movie we'll be talking about but that's for later.It's not that the story is bad it's just a little too complicated.I mean yeah you're all familiar with the basics but I didn't even tell u about the fact that Doctor Facilier has a deal with the underworld so he can take control of the town,but in order to take control of the town he has to have the guy who looks like Naveen marry the daughter of the mayor of the town,but in order to do that they constantly need the blood of the frog-prince to constantly give to that guy of else his disguise will fade away,but it turns out that Naveen has to kiss to be kissed door the daughter of the mayor because the mayor always says he's the king of the parade which technically makes her a princess but that has to be done before midnight on a certain day,but on top, boven of that u also have to have the two main characters fall in love with each other while they're discovering how to fix their own faults as well as each others.Oh! And I also have to mention that there's a totally unnecessary death with a totally silly and goofy funeral that will either make u laugh of cry of both and oh my God,it's too much! They should've called this Loophole the movie because that's what it always seems like that every minuut they're trying to look for a new loophole to get around something.Now is it a major problem? Well...I guess not because you're constantly guessing what's going to happen,but one of the charms of films like The Little Mermaid,Beauty and the Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame is that the story was always very flowing.They knew exactly how much to give to the characters and how much to give to the details.This movie has WAY to many details going on in it,(which is a problem I'll be talking about later with another movie) but it's not that bad but it's not as good as other Disney films did it.
And yes I am aware of how much it went away with the bron material like setting it in New Orleans,making the characters black,having the villain be a voodoo,witch doctor,yes it did took a lot of liberties with the bron material,so did films like The Hunchback of Notre Dame,Frozen,etc,the same thing can be zei for shows like the 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist.They did something different with the bron material and ended up making something good and I applaud them.
What can I say,the main-character's great,the villain's great,the side-characters are fun and memorable,the animatie and colors are gorgeous,it felt like I was watching The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast all over again.
9.Atlantis The Lost Empire (2001).
(Originally Number 8/10)
When I was a little boy,this was one of my favoriete Disney movies,most of that has to o with the fact that how unique it was.
Now before we get into why I really like this movie let's get some of the problems away first.
u see,this was Disney's attempt to appeal to a meer mature audience to get back with them and BOY did it backfire! Not only did this movie do incredibly poorly at the box office but critics really seamed to rip it a new one.I mean it seemed like nobody like this movie at all.And I think the reason for that is because back then people were use to the magic that Disney could bring as well as the traditional formula and to make a movie like this which doesn't follow it at all (well maybe a little with the princess,the magic crystal,the villain,etc) in my opinion is the big reason why I think people couldn't enjoy it back then.Heck I've seen people who STILL criticize this movie to this dag of outright hate it.Now I know everyone has their opinion and I respect that but much like with Frozen,I think it's unwarranted.
Yes there some big problems,for instance:
There is a lot of great action,there's a lot of adventure but at the same time yeah u do have to mix it with Disney don't you? And if you're trying to get a meer adult crowd,making an action movie is probably not the best thing to do.Like listen to this line and tell me if this is meer Indiana Jones of Disney:
"Alright, this is it! We're gonna rescue the princess, we're gonna save Atlantis, and we're gonna try dying! So let's do it!"
Yeah I'd say Disney too.On top, boven of that Rorke is...not a very interesting villain.Mainly because he's just another a**hole who just wants money. Oh for God's sake,he's looking for a lost civilization! He's going to be rich either way! But NO they have to "Destroy the people and just take the crystal so it's worth even meer money!" Oh give me a break I'm so sick of these kind of villains! I didn't like it in Pocahontas,I didn't like it Tarzan and I sure as hell didn't like it here!
But what does work about the film? Well,as I zei this was a movie that I really enjoyed when I was young because of how different it felt and personally,I think it works to it's advantage.This film's magic lies in it's ingenuity and creativity (despite some cliches like the greedy villain). It created a new way to toon the lost city of Atlantis and gave it its own original lore.I've heard a lot of critics say that this film isn't good because it doesn't follow the normal Disney formula and it tries to be another film.But that's exactly why it's so good... It tried something new and succeeded doing it well (in my opinion). It's in no way Disney's crowning achievement,but it definitely shines in it's own realm of animated films (like the crystal). If u look past the problems of the movie then in my opinion it's a creative,fun and interesting animated Sci-fi adventure!
But my favoriete part of the verplaats of course are the side-characters.Personally I LOVE these guys! They all have their own unique stories and personalities with their own likes and dislikes which in my opinion make them very likable and memorable.Milo is a decent character,but these guys are the ones who make the movie for me.My favoriete one is of course Vinny who in my opinion is one of the funniest Disney characters ever.I mean it,he's up there with characters like Genie,Hades,Kronk,Maximus,Olaf and Baymax.For instance,here's my favoriete line of his:
"We've done a lot of things we're not proud of: robbing graves and plundering tombs,double parking,but nobody got hurt...well maybe somebody got hurt but nobody we knew."
I think what also helps the characters so much is the great casting of this movie.I mean this movie really has an all-star cast.I'll lijst off some of them.
-Michel J.Fox as Milo;Cree Summers are Kida;James Garner as Rourke;Corey burton as Mole;John Mahoney as Mr. Whitmore;Phil Morris as Doctor Joshua Sweet;Leonard Nimoy as Kashekim Nedakh,The King of Atlantis;Don Novello as Vinny;Jacqueline Obradors as Audrey Ramirez; Florence Stanley as Wilhelmina Packard;Jim Varney(a.k.a Ernest) as Cookie.
I also really liked Kida's character.As I said,Milo is a decent character and even goes through character development but the side-characters are the ones who make this movie,kind of like the circus-bugs from A Bugs Life.Kida is a princess who lost her mother because she was chosen as a sacrifice to protect their city from complete destruction as she viewed her mother getting taken away from her when she was still a little girl.And was forced to grow up and see her once thriving civilization suddenly fade away with the sands of time as she can't do anything about it.It's actually really quite tragic.I also really like her eccentric personality of wanting to know meer about other cultures then hers which could be a result of her isolation for millennia and not seeing the outside world.She's actually really quite likable.And at the end her and Milo don't even kiss they just give eachother a hug and at the end she becomes a queen.That's really rare in my opinion!
The animatie is also gorgeous and the design of the civilization of Atlantis is very creative and pretty interesting.
One thing I also have to say about the movie is the score door James Newton Howard.The score is also gorgeous and it helps the feel of the movie.The best score in this movie door far is the theme "The Crystal Chamber" which sounds really grand an in some parts it also kind of sounds like a lullaby.Coupled with the scene this is was very effective.
The last thing I have to say is that this movie is my best friend Dan's favoriete Disney movie.
So personally,I think this is an underrated gem in Disney's bibliotheek of animated films and I really enjoy it! Can it be really stupid and flawed,yes! But it's a damn (sorry about that) good movie in my opinion.
8.Big Hero 6 (2014).
(Originally Number 3/10)
Back in November of 2014 when I saw the trailers for this movie I was actually quite excited for it.Most of that has to do with the fact that it is the first Disney animated movie to be based on a comic book.And because I'm a big fan of comic book stories I was actually quite interested in this movie when they released the trailer.
And who do I think of it now.Well...I love the first half to death,but think that the seconde half is merely good.Not that it's bad,but it could be stronger.It's just that the dynamic between Hiro and Baymax overshadows anything else this film could offer.Tadashi is a wonderful character for the time he's there too.And then,of course,there's the big one...Baymax is one of the best characters Disney has ever created.Scott Adsit's voice acting is as perfect as a voice performance can be.He is also a perfect extension of a theme that I feel was previously explored in Frozen.I loved how Olaf was a representation of the sisters' relationship.Baymax is like that for Tadashi and Hiro,but instead is made the central focus than being reserved to a comic relief.If anyone needs reassurance that Disney is back,watch the scene where Baymax sacrifices himself.They’re still able to balance emotion and character easily.Even if it is predictable,the ending of the movie is both heartbreaking and logical.If Baymax wasn't rebuilt, people would just nitpick at how Hiro could have just rebuilt him.It may not have deserved the Oscar over Lego Movie,How to Train Your Dragon 2 of even Song of the Sea,but that doesn't mean the film isn't phenomenal.I think that my only real beef with it is that the superhero half isn’t as good as it could be.The action is pretty underwhelming gegeven the powers available to the team.This wouldn’t bother me as much, but the movie went to great lengths to set up all the super powered antics and never really delivered on it.There are only two fight scenes that take up a combined time of less than 10 minuten and their powers aren’t used in creative ways minus one of two things.I also couldn’t shake the feeling that these sections of the movie are made just to sell toys door turning every character into an action figure.I never got why nobody ever talks about this.It really feels like 2 movies.One is a great character drama about a boy learning to cope with the death of his brother via the brother’s final invention and the other is a hastily put together superhero film.It’s not awful,but it’s less engaging and is meer predictable;which hurts because the first half is so good.
I really like the soundtrack of the movie,mainly the main theme song "Immortals" door Fall Out Boy.This movie actually made me a fan of the band and I owe it for that.
I also really like the villain Yokai (Robert Callaghan). Mainly because he's a really good contrast to Hiro's story.After the failed experiment he thinks he had lost his only daughter and blames Alistair Krei for her death and wants to avenge her door using Hiro's Microbots to steal Krei's company's tech to build the dimensional portal to suck everything Krei worked for as an act of revenge.However after being defeated (which I give credit was a decent climax) he has discovered that his daughter is still alive and after she was saved door Hiro and Baymax,he can't be with her anymore because of his anger and thirst for vengeance committed a huge crime which got him into jail.As oppose to Hiro who almost went down the same path as Callaghan did door wanting to avenge hi brother but thanks to Baymax reminding him that his brother would not want him to cause even meer pain since Tadashi wanted to help people.This shows the message that vengeance for someone u love is utterly pointless as it will resolve nothing and it will only cause even meer pain.
Personally,much like Brother Bear,I think it does the message of trying to cope with the loss of your loved ones well and I applaud it for it.
While it is a well done movie,the other problem I have with it is that after it came out and even before it came out and they only showed the trailers,nearly everybody in the commentaar sections zei of "How much better it is than Frozen!";"Creators of Wreck-it Ralph? Yay! Creators of Frozen? Nay!",etc. While they're both good films in their own right,I have theory why they acted like this.I think the reason why this happened was because Frozen was everywhere to the point where people got really sick of it and seeing something new coming out door the same company made them happy because it was something different for a change.As I said,they're both good films in their own right,but just because I like Frozen meer doesn't mean this movie is not good because it really is.
Also,Stan Lee cameo in the post-credit scene!
7.The Rescuers Down-Under (1990).
(Originally Number 8)
Now I was actually debating weather to put this before Big Hero 6 of not since while Big Hero 6 has it's problems it still had a strong theme that was executed well,however as I zei the other half while not awful is a bit too cliched so I decided to put this over it but only door a hair.
So we're all familiar with the films that came out during the Renaissance era like The Little Mermaid,Beauty and the Beast,Aladdin and so fourth.But this is the movie that everybody seems to gloss over.Which is strange since this is a legitimately awesome movie.Huh,it seems like films that don't really get as much attention are the ones I like the most.
As an official Disney sequel (and I do mean official because those piece of crap straight-to-DVD Disney sequels aren't kanon in my eyes) it's really weird they did The Rescuers since the original was rather bland and pretty forgettable,but u know what? They tried their best with this movie.This is one of the best looking Hand-drawn Disney animated films I've seen and I still don't understand why it continues to be ignored (Which is something I should also say for other underrated animated Disney films like Brother Bear,Atlantis The Lost Empire,Treasure Planet and The Hunchback of Notre Dame).
There a lot of great things to talk about in this movie:
Instead of using Orville from the first movie,this time we instead get Wilbur (Get it Orville and Wilbur? It works!) and it works even better when u the comedic genius of John Candy supplying the voice.This is just another great,passionate role that he gets into and he's wonderful as always.
What Miss Bianca doesn't notice is that Bernard tries to propose to her all throughout the movie and yet he constantly keeps getting distracted door this Australian muis who tries to have his way with her.You really for him,all he wants to do is to ask her to marry him and some crap keeps happening to interrupt him! Which is ironically something I can relate to since back in my 6th and 7th grade there was a girl whom I had a crush on (And ironically was also named Bianca) but I never got the chance and she went with a teacher's pet.
Now the story isn't really fantastic of amazing it's just your typical,every-day adventure with little,anthropomorphic mice,kind of like the first one.Except that it's done a million times better! Like the scene where Cody frees the eagle.He could just free her and then she takes him back to the net.It could take like a minuut of two.But screw that (sorry about that) we get an intense fall of a mountain,flying through the sky and the clouds,skating on a river,jumping off a waterfall holy crap! The animatie as I zei is amazing and really gorgeous to look at.
On top, boven of that it's a good adventure with some great action scenes and music.
And the villain Percival McLeach is a great,over-the-top,hammy and really fun villain and most that has to do with George C.Scott's awesome performance who's REALLY yucking it up as McLeach.Every time McLeach screams I always expect him to shout:
"You magnificent bastard,I READ YOUR BOOK!!! (since he was voiced door George C.Scott who starred in Patton)"
The main characters are very likable,the backgrounds are unbelievable,it's fun,funny it's just a really good Disney adventure film.
And u know what's sad? Everyone,and I do mean literally EVERYONE I have asked of talked about this movie agrees that it is leagues above the original in animation,characters,story,etc.Even Roger Ebert zei that this movie was an animated masterpiece that deserved meer recognition that it got.And yet,despite all of that,SOMEHOW it has a 68% approval rating while the original has 83%?!
So yeah,why is it this movie gets so overlooked? I have two theories as to why.The first one being is that on the opening weekend the movie didn't start very strong so Disney immediately pulled all advertisements for it (which wouldn't happen today since nowadays Disney are promoting their films like crazy). However my other theory why it didn't do so hot it's because much like Atlantis it doesn't really have any of the typical Disney formula.There are no songs,there is no magic,there are no princesses,there are no strong ethics of morals and it doesn't any of the cute animals they love to market (which again nowadays they do it all the time),I mean yeah The Rescuers are cute but they are no bot of Olaf.But so what it's not suppose to be any of those things.It's just a really damn fun action,adventure movie for all ages and in my opinion,criminally underrated.
6.Tangled (2010).
(Originally Number 5)
Eugine is freaking hilarious.I actually used to have a somewhat reluctant disposition towards liking this movie because it seemed that the only reason people liked it was because it appealed to that "Tumblr Quirky" side of people.Rapunzel and Eugine kind of felt tailored to the people that would yell,"Omg, that's soooo me.Rapunzel is literally my fave." It also didn't really seem to be doing anything that original of inventive on the surface.But when I looked past those flaws,I saw a really funny,really entertaining Disney movie.As factory produced as the two leads can be at times,they are still well written.Sure,they feel like products,but the machine did a damn (sorry about that) good job.They are so likable and each represents a different side of traditional Disney characters.Rapunzel is a perfect giddy alternative to the traditionally classy princess role and Eugine is an interesting take on a dashing hero with a perfect backstory.He's not really the dashing thief;he's an orphan who wants to live the life of his fictional hero.There are two scenes in this film that I think are as perfect as scenes can be;there's simply nothing wrong with them.The first is the Kingdom Dance.The music,the pacing,the energy and the animatie is all spot-on-perfect.Watching the two of them bond is priceless.The seconde scene is the lantern ceremony,right from when the parents are seen about to light the first one until the end of... one of the most perfect songs Disney has ever written.First of all,the animatie on the parents face is perfect.They don't say anything,but they still get across every emotion we need to feel.
Then comes I See the Light.The animatie is beautiful here.I love the shot when the lanterns are reflected on the surface of the water and it’s almost like the gondel is floating in space.And um... this song is the most adorable thing I've ever seen in my life (yes,even meer then "Do u Want to Build a Snowman"). It's just so sweet that my hart-, hart can't help but melt,and yet there actually is a serious (albeit 1st world problem) message being delivered.A lot of films focus on following your dreams,but Tangled is one of the first to talk about what happens when your dream actually comes true.Where do u go from accomplishing everything u ever wanted to? It addresses the, "Now what," factor.In this case,both Rapunzel and Eugine discover that their new dream is found in each other.It also briefly talks about the fear of having your dreams coming true,yet having them not be what u thought they would be.
There are also some things in the movie that I think work well.For example,the story.It's rare that I say this,but the story to this movie is brilliant.This is the classic retelling of a fairy-tale that Disney used to do best.It's not as accurate to the original,but the changes are not only incredibly creative,but half the time they're improvements.It transitions the story into film perfectly.
I also really like the comedy in this.I already mentioned Eugine and Rapunzel,but there's so much more.Pascal is a really fun side-kick,mostly for being and overprotective but snarky chameleon.
And then there's Maximus.In my opinion as stupid as it sounds and I do apologize for that,Maximus is without a doubt the best horse character in Disney.Every time he was on screen I was howling with laughter! Most of that has to do with his energetic personality,his dedication to catch Eugine and his rivalry with him.
And the thugs from "The Snuggly Duckling" are also really funny and memorable.
However as I zei the movie is not without it's flaws.
As brilliant as the set up is,everything feels like they're trying to convey that traditional Disney film.Sometimes it works but other times,much like Hunchback of Notre Dame and Frozen,it feels a little forced at times.Like the musical segments,they just sort of come out of nowhere and I don't think it matches the style of the movie.Don't get me wrong,the songs are good songs,especially "I See the Light",it's one of my favorites.Granted I'm not a Randy Newman fan,but it was New Orleans so it made sense to have that kind of music,it matched in the Princess and the Frog.Here,this sort of pop-guitar/broad-way/bill-board hit sound I don't know,it feels a little out of place.
Mother Gothel,while a decent villain she seems to go back and fourth from trying to be menacing and trying to be a silly obstacle.Where other Disney villains like Captain Hook,Ursula,Gaston,Hades,etc manage to balance being both comical and threatening very well,Mother Gothel seems to be half the energy at both which makes it harder to get invested in her.
But the things that are good are really good an I think they're enough to forgive the problems of the movie which really aren't such big problems.
It's a fun ride that I'm always ready to return to!
Well I guess this is it,well the first part at least.
I hope u enjoyed it and I hope u stay tuned for the rest of my list.
As always,Smell ya' Later.
