From First to Worst: A Personal View of the Disney Animated Films (1 Viewer)

[george kaplan]

Ernest ala Clockwork Orange being forced to watch Beauty & the Beast over and over - priceless.

 

[Ernest Rister]

Alex's brainwashing process forced him to crumble into a heap and vomit uncontrollably every time he heard Beethoven or witnessed actions or viewed images similar to those he saw during his treatments.

If I had the same treatment as Alex and was forced to watch Beauty and the Beast over and over again, the result would be uncontrollable nausea every time I heard music from the film or saw images from it.

 

[george kaplan]

I thought you already had that.

 

[Ernest Rister]

Nope - oft times on the internet, people confuse criticism of a movie with dislike for a movie. I don't dislike Beauty and the Beast, I just don't personally feel it is among the very best of Disney's efforts in feature animation.

 

[george kaplan]

Just saw Brother Bear. I'll have to add it to my Lower Middle Tier. If it had had decent music, or no music at all (or at least no bland, annoying songs), then it would have been in my Upper Middle Tier.

 

[Ernest Rister]

Brother Bear isn't a letdown because of its music...it's a ledown because of the overt genericism of the plot, themes, and characters. Are you suggsting that some catchy tunes would have "elevated" this film beyond redundancy?

No wonder you like Beauty and the Beast.

My turn to use an emoticon:

 

[Chris Farmer]

So Ernest, when are your own personal reviews going to continue? I've really enjoyed reading your thoughts so far, they're definitely quite thought provoking. Especially as someone who has endured some mild needling from my two younger brothers about my own enjoyment of animated movies.

 

[george kaplan]

Well Ernest, music certainly has a major impact for me, I will admit.

However, you'll notice that I have Beauty and the Beast in my top tier. Yes, if it had the music of Brother Bear, that would be enough to drop it down a tier. But Brother Bear is two tiers below Beauty & the Beast, and even if it had great music, it would only move up to the 2nd tier.

So, no, I'm not saying that the only difference between Beauty & the Beast and Brother Bear is the music. Nor am I saying Brother Bear is flawless except for the music. I am saying that Brother Bear is a better movie in my opinion than you think it is regardless of the music. However as it is, it is firmly entrenched in my opinion amongst films like Tarzan, Pocohantas and Treasure Planet.

 

[Ernest Rister]

"So Ernest, when are your own personal reviews going to continue?"

My father was laid off and I've been helping him move home from Florida. Haven't been on the net much - I also just bought "Walt Disney's Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation" by John Canemaker, and I want to check out Home on the Range. Essays will continue by, say, mid-week.

 

[Chris Farmer]

That'll do it for sure. My best wishes to your father in finding a new job.

 

[Adam_S]

The Nine old men book is absolutely fantastic, I loved reading that book and it really opened my eyes to the artists that shaped disney animation (though folks like Ub Iwerks don't get quite as much print space).

Adam

 

[Ray Chuang]

In my humble opinion, the last truly great Disney animated feature outside of the work done by Pixar is Lilo & Stitch. SUPERB character development, really nice use of music, flat-out SUPERB use of watercolor-painted backgrounds, and an ending that effectively sums up everything great about this movie.

Why can't Disney learn from the Lilo & Stich experience? :rolleyes

 

[Adam_S]

Because they fired the whole Florida unit that crafted the film. Hooray for brave and intelligent corporate decisions to take us into a new technological era. (note low level of sarcasm :/)

 

[Ernest Rister]

"My best wishes to your father in finding a new job."

Took him less than 48 hrs. Once word got out, he was fielding offers from all over the country.

 

[Chris Farmer]

That's great to hear Ernest. What's he do anyway?

 

[JeremySt]

This is a great thread, I just found it tonight and read the whole thing up to this point.

I thought I would add my list of favs.

1. Sleeping Beauty
2. Lady And The Tramp
3. Fantasia
4. Bambi
5. Rescuers Down Under
6. Dumbo
7. Snow White

I also thought I mention that I love Pete's Dragon, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, although I know they dont fully qualify. Another honerable mention goes to Mary Poppins.


Im not a rabid fan of most Disney Films of the last 15 years. Beauty and The Beast is a remarkable achievement, but I also regard it as the catalyst that brought the studio to its current lackluster state. It achieved, HUGE profitablity, and that suddenly became the studios #1 goal. I much prefer Aristocats, Fox and Hound, Sword in The Stone, Oliver and Co., Great Mouse Detective, Etc, to anything produced sice B&TB.

Not to sound sexist, but I honestly feel that with Little Mermaid, the studio suddenly switched the focus to primarly hit the pre-teen girl demographic. I know there have been a few exceptions.

 

[Ernest Rister]

Beauty and the Beast grossed in the neighborhood of $125-140 million, I think, which is the same range as Lilo and Stitch and Mulan. Tarzan grossed $170 million or so.

Oddly enough, the three biggest hits out of Disney in the last decade have had male leads - Tarzan, Aladdin, and The Lion King. Then again, excluding Fantasia/2000, their three worst-performing titles also had male leads - Brother Bear, Atlantis, and Treasure Planet.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Nope on the BATB gross. It made $171 million, which is almost identical to the take of Tarzan; allowing for inflation, BATB earned a little more.

 

[Ernest Rister]

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Total Gross: $145,863,363

Lifetime Gross w/IMAX Re-Release: $171,350,553

-- Box Office Mojo

 

[ZacharyTait]

Where in the movie is this used?

I'll post back later with my list of Disney animated movies.