Best Disney movie

[Walter Sobchak]

There aren't a lot of bad Disney releases, and even the bad ones are pretty good.

My children really like all of them. They were on a big Peter Pan kick a few months ago. They've had enduring love for ALL of the modern Pixar-Disney films, their least favorite is Monsters Inc., as I think it plays into their fear of the dark still. I am holding off on Bambi for now.

I have a five year old and two four year olds whom I just showed Mary Poppins to recently. They were spellbound. I found it very gratifying as I was a little worried they'd be puzzled by old special effects and actual humans on screen. I briefly watched Flubber with my son recently, but it's still too mature for him. He was enthralled, though, had lots of questions for me.

Also, Finding Nemo should probably be in any youngsters film library.

 

[aceinyerface]

Song of the South and Old Yeller. If you did not see Song of the South many years ago you may never see it. The controversial depiction of slaves has kept it from being released on DVD or video. 1947 it won the Academy award for best song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" and it combined human actors and some animation. To me it was well ahead of its time.

I just looked up the movie . . . the setting is post slavery.

You can still get bootlegs off of the 'bay.

 

[Zoro]

Lion King

 

[SalvadorMontenegro]

Lion King

Thank God. I was beginning to get worried!

Lion King for me, as well. Nothing else even comes close. Great animation, definitely my favorite songs and it's freaking Hamlet with African animals!

 

[heybatter]

Midnight Madness!

 

[Slim1023]

I like Disney a lot too. Peter Pan is probably my favorite. About a year ago I downloaded all of them from Snow White - Toy Story 2. Took about a week. Well worth it. I gotta work on getting the more recent ones.

 

[Doc4]

Wall-e

(IIRC not 'Disney' per se, but some other good ones to have: "Happy Feet", "The Incredibles", "Madagascar" I & II)

Disney has been reconsidering their decision to never re-release it as of late. It's still a long shot, but they're looking at it from a film preservation angle, possibly releasing it with disclaimers regarding the content. It would be pretty amazing if they did.

Well, you can buy "Birth of a Nation" on DVD, so why not this one?

 

[TonyH]

Wall-e

(IIRC not 'Disney' per se, but some other good ones to have: "Happy Feet", "The Incredibles", "Madagascar" I & II)



Well, you can buy "Birth of a Nation" on DVD, so why not this one?

I almost mentioned that in my post. While "Birth" is vile in it's own way, I suppose the difference is that one was marketed to children and the other is just shy of propaganda. I lump "Birth" in with things like "Triumph of the Will". Dark genius.

 

[dpmtherrien]

Old Yeller was great, saw it as a kid.

For animation, Lady and the Tramp is right up there.

 

[Coda_]

I wore out two VHS copies of 'The Great Mouse Detective' when I was a kid, from watching it over and over again. I watched it again this year and I still thought it was amazing. I also really like the Toy Story series and A Bug's Life, but my favourites are the CAPS movies they made during the '90s - The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, etc.

I forgot all about that one...I used to watch that over and over again when I was a kid...

 

[aceinyerface]

Well, you can buy "Birth of a Nation" on DVD, so why not this one?

"As far as we know, Disney has taken it upon themselves to withhold this movie from the public" http://www.songofthesouth.net/faq/index.html

 

[Doc4]

I almost mentioned that in my post. While "Birth" is vile in it's own way, I suppose the difference is that one was marketed to children and the other is just shy of propaganda. I lump "Birth" in with things like "Triumph of the Will". Dark genius.

It takes a certain level of intellectual maturity to watch one of those movies 'safely' ... that is, to appreciate the technical aspects, to appreciate the huge step forward in movie history a film like "Birth" represents (back in a day when movies were just starting out and a film like "Birth" could be made) ... while still remembering that it's a Bad Thing.

("Golly, look what some people used to think!" rather than "hey, that's kind of persuasive", if you get my meaning.)

If you look at a lot of the old Looney Tunes cartoons, the firearms violence has been edited out in currently-shown versions. When Elmer Fudd uses his shotgun to blow Daffy Duck's beak onto the back of his head ... the 'camera' now pans away until after the blast, so we just see Daffy fix his beak without really knowing how it got there. I appreciate that as an edit for the version shown to little kids, but I'd still like to be able to see the 'adult' version too.

As rational, sane, intelligent adults we hopefully would want to 'go to the museum' and see what our grandparents watched as children (and gasp at some of it) as an exercise in historical knowledge.

 

[coyotewhisper]

The Lady and the Tramp, Monsters INC,

 

[Alacrity59]

Just a little bit less controversial than "Song of the South" . . . "Fantasia" is definitely a story I would like to see again. Good use of great music.

 

[Saturn]

no mentions of "hunchback of notre dame" yet? not surprising.. it's probably one of their darkest movies. i enjoyed it, though, and it's got one of my favorite soundtracks out of all of them

 

[aceinyerface]

Just a little bit less controversial

Princess and the Frog, one of my favorites.

I love Ray. We are cajuns and know people just like that.

 

[WesternModern]

Bambi, Finding Nemo, Up.
Charlie The Lonesome Cougar, too.

 

[JoshuaNY]

Princess and the Frog, one of my favorites.

I love Ray. We are cajuns and know people just like that.

I just saw that a few weeks ago for the first time. I wasnt sure I was going to like it, but it was really good.
I also didnt realize it took place in Louisiana or I would have seen it in theatres.. I went to school down there and usually enjoy watching anything that takes place there.

 

[patrisVII]

Great thread! I'm a total animation buff!

I think most of the classic Disney films really only hold up in regards to their visual beauty and technical achievements - the stories are a bit weak and pacing is slow or even strange by modern standards. Pinocchio is one exception to this - perhaps the most beautiful animated film of all time, it's story and characterizations are also very well done.

Output was pretty uneven between Sleeping Beauty and Little Mermaid. 101 Dalmations and Aristocats are the best of this time frame IMO. The Rescuers, Fox and Hound and Black Cauldron can all be skipped - just not good movies by any standard.

From Little Mermaid on, Disney has not really made a bad film. Animation quality, voice acting, musical scores, and story lines have all been good to great. Some efforts fall a little short, like Pocahontas and Hunchback of Notre Dame, but that's compared to the rest of the studio's post 1988 output. In a lager context, they are still high quality animated films.

Pixar is in another league all together. Their movie - to - movie technical bar setting aside, they have simply produced some of the best films of the last 15 years- animated or otherwise. The mind bending visual innovation and absolutely perfect voice casting are just supporting what really makes their films great - the stories. In an age where Hollywood is in the business of reruns, reboots and regurgitations, Pixar has managed to put out one wonderfully original film after another. James Cameron gave us a $240 million dollar remake of Dances With Wolves and Pixar gave us Up. You really can't go wrong with any of their films - I would say my favorites are Ratatouille, The Incredibles and Up.

Besides Disney, Dreamworks has been bringing their A-game over the last few years to compete with Pixar with flicks like Monsters v. Aliens, and How to Train your Dragon. Warner Brothers is releasing some very good stories from their DC comics stable - Wonder Woman and All Star Superman are worth a look (Definitely a strong PG though - graphic violence and pretty frank sexuality in these). And don't overlook great outside efforts like The Illusionist and Ardman's wonderful claymation creations Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run.

 

[aceinyerface]

James Cameron gave us a $240 million dollar remake of Dances With Wolves

Avatar? I guess so. Some guy finds himself around natives and falls in love with a female, with the not so subtle "tolerance rules, the powers that be suck" counterculture message.

You must be a film student.