How Do You Define an Animated Classic?

[consultant]

This has been discussed before but with Disney's purchase of Pixar, I thought it would be interesting to see if it has changed anyone's take on what a Disney Animated Classic is.

Is the typical definition an animated movie released in movie theaters that is produce by 'Walt Disney Feature Animation' but that would not cover all the releases:

http://www.imdb.com/company/co0075995/

Is the general definition then any animated film produced by Walt Disney released in movie theaters?

Then you've got films like Dinosaur which are not a Pixar film and not considered an Animated Classic.

Has anyone that considers themself a Disney Feature Animation Collector, exclusively, began to widen their definition since the purchase of Pixar and started including films like Dinosaur, the Pixar films Disney released, etc. ? Or do you consider your pre-Disney buyout Pixar films, Pixar films separate from your Disney Animation collection.

At first I thought Pixar was behind Meet The Robinsons but I come to find out they are not. John Lasseter of Pixar came on board as Executive Producer towards the end of the film's production and the staff was Disney staff (I assume most the same people used in making Chicken Little) not Pixar staff. From what I understand, Disney staff has been now relegated to traditional 2D animation and Pixar staff is handling all the 3D CGI for Disney now that Pixar no longer exists.

So I guess the definition probably shouldn't have changed much. I guess the site's list is the defacto standard for what constitutes a Disney Featured Animation.

[SpringHeelJack]

Nothing's changed for me. Anything released by WDFA is a "classic". Meaning like it or not, for "Chicken Little" is a "classic". Ditto for "Meet the Robinsons", "Bolt", and "Rapunzel".

Things like "Dinosaur", "The Wild", etc. are not.

Pixar's got its own line up going on, more power to it.

[Disneykid]

I classify Disney's animated classics as films done by the Feature Animation department (now known as Walt Disney Animation Studios). Disney themselves, likewise, classify them the same way. I simply consider non-feature animation or Pixar films to simply be in the "other" category. Some films I place in this category are Dinosaur, A Goofy Movie, James and the Giant Peach, and the theatrical Pooh movies released this decade. Robert Zemeckis' upcoming motion capture films for Disney (starting with A Christmas Carol) would also go under the "other" section, at least until he and Disney have made enough films together to earn their own grouping.

[consultant]

Bolt and Rapunzel don't make the Animated Classics list on this website. Why not?

[SpringHeelJack]

You mean the list linked to at the bottom? Because they aren't even out in theatres yet.

[consultant]

You mean the list linked to at the bottom? Because they aren't even out in theatres yet.

Duh, makes sense.

[Escapay]

Is the typical definition an animated movie released in movie theaters that is produce by 'Walt Disney Feature Animation' but that would not cover all the releases:

http://www.imdb.com/company/co0075995/

From 1934 to 1986, every animated and live-action feature film from the company was simply branded with their "Walt Disney Productions" or "Walt Disney Pictures" banner, and it wasn't until 1986's The Great Mouse Detective that the animated films "separated" from the main company and became a subsidiary branch called "Walt Disney Feature Animation". Then, in 2007, it was renamed "Walt Disney Animation Studios".

any animated film produced by Walt Disney released in movie theaters?

Well, that's simply a definition for animated films produced by Disney, WDFA or not. There's the DTV stuff that sometimes get a limited or international theatrical release, along with non-WDFA animated films that are released to theatres (such as DuckTales: Treasure of the Lost Lamp, A Goofy Movie, James and the Giant Peach, Dinosaur, etc.)

Then you've got films like Dinosaur which are not a Pixar film and not considered an Animated Classic.

It was always my understanding that Dinosaur is not an Animated Classic due to it primarily being produced by Walt Disney Pictures via Disney's Secret Lab (a company, not an actual secret lab! ), and not through WDFA. Even if imdb credits WDFA as its producer, it was more of a Secret Lab and WDP picture than a WDFA production.

Has anyone that considers themself a Disney Feature Animation Collector, exclusively, began to widen their definition since the purchase of Pixar and started including films like Dinosaur, the Pixar films Disney released, etc. ? Or do you consider your pre-Disney buyout Pixar films, Pixar films separate from your Disney Animation collection.

Well, I consider myself a "what I like from Disney" collector, and don't really like trying to classify where each part belongs. I mean, yeah, I wanna complete the original 44 list of DACs, but also, I'm interested in plenty more that Disney has to offer. But if I were to think from the mindset of a WDFA-DAC-only collector, I probably wouldn't widen the definition to include non-WDFA-but-Disney-distributed films. After all, Toy Story is still Toy Story whether or not it was produced by Disney or Pixar, and I'd buy it regardless without having to worry about which "collection" it belongs to. Similarly, I still wouldn't feel inclined to pick up Teacher's Pet: The Movie simply because the definition of a DAC is being stretched with the acquisition of Pixar.

now that Pixar no longer exists.

AFAIK, the company still functions the way it did pre-bought, only now it's got the Mouse House as its owner. For the company to not exist, I think we'd be seeing a retirement of the Pixar name, and the shift of their animators to WDAS (I guess I'll have to get used to putting that instead of WDFA).

I guess the site's list is the defacto standard for what constitutes a Disney Featured Animation.

As it always has been. I mean, you didn't see Luke add The Wild to the DAC list even though BVHE-UK has numbered it as #46!

Bolt and Rapunzel don't make the Animated Classics list on this website. Why not?

Because they're listed (as are every upcoming project from Disney) here and will be added to the proper pages once it's time for its DVD release (which is primarily what the pages are for).

Scaps

[castleinthesky]

An animated classic is any film made by walt disney feature animation, and I include Dinosaur.

I also collect any other theatrical Disney animation films (Nightmare, Toy Story, Goofy Movie, Peter Pan 2, and the like).

I do not collect movies like Valiant, the Wild, and others which are in disguise.

[jeremy88]

In my opinion, this is what I think an animated classic is...not just including Walt Disney Feature Animation.

1. A good story or adaptation. Over the years there have been many wacky stories or random adaptations from other classic stories. You can't just have some lousy storyline and rely the rest of the movie to float on goofy fart comedy or random ridiculous scenes that make no sense (the current trend with most "family" feature films.)

2. Original Music. A lot of people think you can just slap on any soundtrack and it will be the same film. I think the music has to be unique and original and that what makes the film so different from most of the other movies that come out in the theater. To me if the movie has songs you hear on the radio it's always sort of been like "Why pick up the movies soundtrack if you could just go find the songs somewhere else?"

3. Something everyone can enjoy. What I mean by this is not making an animated movie so cheesy and so aimed for kids that there's no light comedic humor or even general content that could be relatable for adults too and vice versa, there are some animated movies that are like..hardcore violent and it just doesn't seem like another cartoon anymore...

and last but not least...(I'm sure some people will tend to disagree with me on this one)
4. Traditional 2-D animation. The reason being is because traditional animation has been around for like what 80+ years, and thats what makes it so classic. Where as CGI has only been around for like...20 some years and really only gained popularity within the last 12 years, so how could something so young be classic? But other then that there are some CGI films that have that caliber to be considered classic one day...it's just too soon. For me anyway.

When it comes to the Disney Animated Classics..I use to only consider the movies from Snow White to Home on the Range(it was still original) classic, but seeing as how things are going now, I include the CGI movies in the line of DAC's. I don't consider Chicken Little or Meet the Robinsons animated classics but I'll still have them sitting on the shelf with everyone else.

[akhenaten]

can we list valiant, the wild and the brave little toaster under one category?

[blackcauldron85]

Similarly, I still wouldn't feel inclined to pick up Teacher's Pet: The Movie simply because the definition of a DAC is being stretched with the acquisition of Pixar.

Don't knock it until you've seen it (if you've seen it and still don't like it, well, nevermind). It's a really good movie! I liked it, anyway, and I had never seen the TV show.

Anyhoo, back on track!

I love "Dinosaur", but I don't really consider it to be an animated classic (I think that, when it was released, it wasn't marketed as the next Disney Animated Feature, so that probably has something to do with my mindset). But, I do consider "Chicken Little" and "Meet the Robinsons" to be DACs.

To me, Pixar's movies are not DACs. And I don't consider "Valiant" and "The Wild" to be DACs (pretty much for the same reason I have for "Dinosaur"- they weren't marketed that way...I guess that's why!).

On my bookshelf, I just have my movies in chronological order- I don't separate them by animated classics or Pixar or sequels or live-action. Everything is together.

[Aladdin from Agrabah]

An animated classic to me is a 2-d animated film, that however is not actually three or more shorter stories and is released by Walt Disney Feature Animation. This means I don't consider Fun and Fancy Free, Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr.Toad, Make Mine Music, Melody Time, The Many adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Chicken Little, Meet the Robinsons, Dinosaur, The Wild and Goofy Movie animated classics. Of course all sequels produced by Toon Studios are definately not classics. Every film also that includes live action, even if it's partly animated is not an animated classic to me.

[Escapay]

An animated classic to me is a 2-d animated film, that however is not actually three or more shorter stories and is released by Walt Disney Feature Animation. <snip> Every film also that includes live action, even if it's partly animated is not an animated classic to me.

Um...Fantasia has three or more short stories. And I'm more than certain there are several live-action sequences.

Scaps

[Rumpelstiltskin]

If excluding movies with more than one segment and CGI films (all the movies which contains live action sequences can be included in the list of segmented films, and those made outside the actual Disney studios, like A Goofy Movie, are not included in the official list anyway), as some in here suggests, this is how the list would look:


1.) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
2.) Pinocchio (1940)
3.) Dumbo (1941)
4.) Bambi (1942)
5.) Cinderella (1950)
6.) Alice in Wonderland (1951)
7.) Peter Pan (1953)
8.) Lady and the Tramp (1955)
9.) Sleeping Beauty (1959)
10.) One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)
11.) The Sword in the Stone (1963)
12.) The Jungle Book (1967)
13.) The Aristocats (1970)
14.) Robin Hood (1973)
15.) The Rescuers (1977)
16.) The Fox and the Hound (1981)
17.) The Black Cauldron (1985)
18.) The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
19.) Oliver & Company (1988)
20.) The Little Mermaid (1989)
21.) The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
22.) Beauty and the Beast (1991)
23.) Aladdin (1992)
24.) The Lion King (1994)
25.) Pocahontas (1995)
26.) The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
27.) Hercules (1997)
28.) Mulan (1998)
29.) Tarzan (1999)
30.) The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
31.) Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
32.) Lilo & Stitch (2002)
33.) Treasure Planet (2002)
34.) Brother Bear (2003)
35.) Home on the Range (2004)
36.) The Princess and the Frog (2009)

[Aladdin from Agrabah]

Um...Fantasia has three or more short stories. And I'm more than certain there are several live-action sequences.

Scaps

Oops! Yeah I forgot about Fantasias... both of them! Sorry they're excluded too!

I guess Rumpelstiltskin's list above includes everything I consider a classic. Now, just for the fun of it, here are the films I like most out of what I condsider to be classics: every movie with a beautiful, late teens- early (or even late) twentys couple in the leading roles. No animals included:
1)Snow White and the seven Dwarfs
2)Cinderella
3)Sleeping Beauty
4)The Little Mermaid
5)Beauty and the Beast
6)Aladdin
7)Pocahontas
8)The Hunchback of Notre Dame
9)Hercules
10)Mulan
11)Tarzan
12)Atlantis: The Lost Empire

I know Snow White looks younger than a girl in her late teens and Kida is actually 8,500 years old but they seem to fit my list as Snow White definately does not look as young as Wendy or Alice and Kida looks like a 20-year-old chick. And yes David and Nani from Lilo and Stitch are not included because they're not the stars of the film -Lilo and Stitch are- and I don't consider them to be good-looking. Yes, I know Milo looks funny too but he's quite fine IMHO and definately better than the previous two. And finally, YES, I know Ariel is actually a humanoid but she does become a human. The same goes for Beast. Well,... I think...that's all.

[leuchtmuschel]

Hi fans!

Short answer:
A Disney Classic appears on the official list from the Walt Disney Company. Every Disney Classic has a counting number.

Long answer:
A Disney Classic is
* 2-D animated
* produced from the Walt Disney Company
* has high quality standard in production and story
* has bold characters
* change the fantasy in the public of a certain fairy tale or known story forever
* gives character you love for the Disney parks, and for you as your friends
* makes you daydreaming!
* have no drugs, alcohols or shocking scenes in it
* It is for the whole family of interest
=> it just gives the Disney "feeling" you love!

[SpringHeelJack]

Long answer:
A Disney Classic is
* have no drugs, alcohols or shocking scenes in it

Ah, so that's why people discount "Chicken Little" so often, because of the graphic scene where Abby Mallard and Chicken Little shoot up heroin.

[2099net]

You know, I think The Ant Bully is an animated classic.

But
[a] it's not by Disney
[b] it's not handdrawn
[c] it's isn't over 10 years old
[d] it's not a popular film with the public

so in conclusion. Don't ask me.

[blackcauldron85]

You know, I think The Ant Bully is an animated classic.

But
[a] it's not by Disney
it's not handdrawn
[c] it's isn't over 10 years old
[d] it's not a popular film with the public

so in conclusion. Don't ask me.

The original question/statement was:

This has been discussed before but with Disney's purchase of Pixar, I thought it would be interesting to see if it has changed anyone's take on what a Disney Animated Classic is.

And, this thread is in the General Disney Discussion thread...so we're just talking about Disney animated classics.

(I'm not trying to be rude, but I just don't like other animation companies...and you mentioned "The Ant Bully". I know, I'm rediculous.)

[2099net]

It was my roundabout way of saying it's unimportant.

You know, worldwide Disney can't even agree what an animated classic is - the UK includes Chicken Little The Wild and Meet the Robinsons. I believe some mainland countries count Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks as animated classics.

If Disney can't agree, how can we?