IN MEDIA RES: What's the Best Disney Opening?

[SNERWW22785]

This Latin phrase summarizes where to start your story. It literally means "in the middle." Think of the metaphor of diving off a quarry's edge deep, deep into your story.

What's the best opening sequence for a Disney film? After listening to Bells of Notre Dame, a fantastic opening sequence, I could not help but think of a personal list of faves:

-- Hunchback of Notre Dame: fantastic opening number by Menken, performed with incredibly rich production value. I suppose the one negative is you will either be completely sucked in or be thinking, "What the heck am I watching?" There is no middle ground.

-- Sleeping Beauty: For its time, one of the most ambitious animated opening sequences. It provides a seamless transition from the familiar "storybook" opening of Disney's previous fairy tales into the dazzling, widescreen "living tapestry" of a whole new Disney art style.

-- Pinocchio: This would have been a difficult sequence to pull off in live-action. How they accomplished it in animation is a miracle. From the opening number and humorous prologue by Jiminy Cricket, immediately the scene is set as the camera passes, almost literally, through the small village before settling on little Geppetto's workshop. Jiminy literally "hops on over" and we're off...

-- The Lion King: Circle of Life. 'Nuff said.

-- Beauty & the Beast: Wonderful variation on the established Disney fairy tale genre as they open with the prelude unfolding on stain-glass windows and David Ogden Steirs unleashing his "deep narrator" voice before tightly-wound Cogsworth debuts twenty five minutes later.

-- Bambi: One of the best displays of early animation's multi-plane abilities. The camera seems to swoop effortlessly into the forest where we settle upon the little glen where the young prince is introduced along with the principal cast, before being given a brief, majestic look into what the future holds as the camera drifts upward to the Great Prince.

Any other nominees?

[musicradio77]

I think the best opening for "Cinderella" was the storybook where it opens the page where it says "Once Upon a Time..."

[reyquila]

My top ten:

1. Lion King
2. Hunchback of Notre Dame
3. Hercules
4. Beauty and the Beast
5. Toy Story II
6. Rescuers Down Under
7. Cinderella
8. Bambi
9. Brother Bear
10. Emperor's New Groove

[271286]

I think the best opening for "Cinderella" was the storybook where it opens the page where it says "Once Upon a Time..."

Were there ever any other openings for Cinderella?

[so it goes]

I personally really like the opening scenes from the Fox and the Hound and the Rescuers.

[FantasiaMan]

Here are my favorites in no particular order:

Fantasia- I love the sound of an orchestra tuning up

Fantasia 2000- I like the whole "sails fly around & form a concert hall in the middle of space" idea

Bambi- probably my favorite multiplane scene of all time

[FantasiaMan]

Here are my favorites in no particular order:

Fantasia- I love the sound of an orchestra tuning up

Fantasia 2000- I like the whole "sails fly around & form a concert hall in the middle of space" idea

Bambi- probably my favorite multiplane scene of all time