Which animations fall under Disney's golden era ?

[merbass]

I know from 1989 with

The Little Mermaid
Beauty and the Beast
Aladdin
The Lion King

But after these, from Pocahontas , Hunchback , Hercules, Mulan and Tarzan.
Are these considered successful as well ?

[rodis]

Some people consider those "golden era" films as well because they WERE profitable films but some say the golden era lasted only til 1994. That's because Pocahontas and the rest did not receive the same acclaim as the others.

Admittedly, the characters in the fab 4 are way more iconic than the other films, the music is more popular as well and story-wise, Pocahontas and Hunchback are a little problematic.

I think Disney definitely omits those from the golden era, as evidenced in Waking Sleeping Beauty and even in the new BATB documentary.

[Coolmanio]

Actually none of those films are in the "Golden Era". Those are in the "Disney Renaissance" era of the films.

I believe Disney's Golden Era is classified as the films from Snow White to Sleeping Beauty.

[MagicMirror]

The labels really depend on personal preference so can be a little arbitrary. But, for what it's worth:

I understood the Golden Age to consist only of Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo and Bambi.
The films from Cinderella through to The Jungle Book (and Walt's Death) are the next tier down, so to speak, so I normally think of them as the Silver Age.
Most people seem to agree that the Renaissance begins with The Little Mermaid - I think Tarzan and Fantasia 2000 closed that era.

[TheSequelOfDisney]

Yeah, the general consensus is:

The Golden Age: Snow White - Bambi
The Second Golden Age: Cinderella - The Jungle Book
The Dark Age: The Aristocats - Oliver & Company
The Renaissance: The Little Mermaid - Tarzan/Fantasia 2000

[Disney Duster]

It's not just cause it's my favorite film, but I heard that Cinderella was considered the last film of the first Golden Age because it transitioned from the former style to the newer, simpler style.

[estefan]

It's not just cause it's my favorite film, but I heard that Cinderella was considered the last film of the first Golden Age because it transitioned from the former style to the newer, simpler style.

I think the issue are all of those cheap package films that were released between Bambi and Cinderella. I mean, I like them (minus Melody Time), but they're still not considered on par with the rest of Walt Disney's animated productions and done as a means to keep the studio raking in a bit of cash during the 1940s, when they had a strike and the European market was cut off.

[toonaspie]

Yeah, the general consensus is:

The Golden Age: Snow White - Bambi
The Second Golden Age: Cinderella - The Jungle Book
The Dark Age: The Aristocats - Oliver & Company
The Renaissance: The Little Mermaid - Tarzan/Fantasia 2000

I'm surprised that the first era would be considered a Golden Era because Pinocchio and Fantasia (as popular as they are today) were major flops when they were first released. Dumbo saw a little bit of recover and Bambi was so-so.

I consider the Second Golden Age to be the true Golden age. I would just called Snow White through Bambi the First Age.

[Disney Duster]

Yes, estefan I understand that, and I agree with that, and I would be okay with Cinderella not being part of the Golden Age because in a few ways it is a step down, but also in a few ways, it is like the earlier features and different from the later features, it still has a bit of the old look, so...I just heard in one place it was considered the end of the Golden Age.

toonaspie, but didn't Alice in Wonderland and Sleeping Beauty not do well, either?

Also, I guess kind of off topic, but I just realized, on Disney Animation's official page, they wrote a movie title wrong! They wrote "The Sword and the Stone" instead of "The Sword in the Stone"! And they don't have the "The" in "The Princess and the Frog"!

And is the correct title for "The Aristocats" actually "The Aristocats" or "The AristoCats"?

[MagicMirror]

Yeah, the general consensus is:

The Golden Age: Snow White - Bambi
The Second Golden Age: Cinderella - The Jungle Book
The Dark Age: The Aristocats - Oliver & Company
The Renaissance: The Little Mermaid - Tarzan/Fantasia 2000

I'm surprised that the first era would be considered a Golden Era because Pinocchio and Fantasia (as popular as they are today) were major flops when they were first released. Dumbo saw a little bit of recover and Bambi was so-so.

I consider the Second Golden Age to be the true Golden age. I would just called Snow White through Bambi the First Age.

In my opinion 'Golden Age' refers not to how much money they made but how well regarded they are. In the book 'The Disney Villain', Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston refer to the 30s and 40s as 'The Golden Age': 'This period was the high point of Walt's involvement with animation. He was healthy, eager, endlessly creative and completely consumed. This was far more than a job. He lived these pictures every minute of the day, thinking deeply into every facet of the films, with an emotional drive that was phenomenal.'

[Goliath]

Yeah, the general consensus is:

The Golden Age: Snow White - Bambi
The Second Golden Age: Cinderella - The Jungle Book
The Dark Age: The Aristocats - Oliver & Company
The Renaissance: The Little Mermaid - Tarzan/Fantasia 2000

That's indeed the generally agreed upon categorization. (Though I don't necessarily agree with the term 'Dark Age'.)

[Rumpelstiltskin]

The problem, as often mentioned, is that different people use different criteria. How much money did they make, when were they made, how populare were they then, how regarded are they today, what kind of innovations did they represent, which ones do I personally like or dislike, what technology was used, who were involved, did they use computers, how big was the budget, what style did they use, do they contain any epic scenes, can we find any characters from the movies in a parade in Disneyland, and so on.

No matter what you call Disney's glory days, the different changes didn't happen over night. Not long after the first feature, the resources spent on shorts declined. From the mid 20's, the studio had produced at least one short each month on average, sometimes almost two.
In 1954, while working on Disneyland, there were suddenly only ten shorts released in a single year. In 1955 when Disneyland opened, there were four, and in 1956, suddenly five, then two, one and with Paul Bunyan, it was the last hand inked short. When we take a look at The Saga of Windwagon Smith (1961), which was the last short with a real story until Bluth made The Small One (Winnie the Pooh not included, since they were collected into a feature), the style do not remind much about Disney. And the decline or change in style started much earlier.

After the success of UPA, many studios, including Disney, changed their style to a more simple line. Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, as well as Melody, from 1953, was very influenced by UPA. And take a look at the other animals, especially the ostriches and giraffes, in the cartoon called Social Lion (the lion seems to be a direct copy of Lambert).
Or Pigs is Pigs, which was also very experimental, and did not feel as "classic Disney.
The bakcgrounds also became much simpler. Compare the forest in The Pointer with the forest in Grin and Bear It. Or the city in Donald's Diary.

But the features continued to do well, and many thinks that Lady and the Tramp represents the peak of the traditional Disney style. It was still some influenced by the time it was made in. Then came Sleeping Beauty, who represented something new. And finally 101 Dalmatians, which was one of the most visually complex movies Disney had made, and who took advantage of the xerox lines.

Since then, starting with The Sword in the Stone, neither innovations or budgets were a big part of the studio. The Jungle Book was popular, but does this alone make it stand out from the other movies from the same era? And was it popular because if was good, or because Walt had died less than a year ago? Just as with The Dark Knight, I suspect that movie could have done a little less better if everybody involved in the making was still alive healthy and well.

All I know is that after 1961, things would never be the same. The changes started already in the 50's and late 40's. When The Little Mermaid and the other well known titles were released, the studio was a very different place compared to the days before TV, Disneyland and live action became a part of Disney.

[Super Aurora]

the "second golden age" should really be the "silver age". Not that much different from DC comic's Era categorizing.