Ranking 1950's Disney Films

[Widdi]

5. Alice In Wonderland (36th Overall)
4. Lady and the Tramp (27th Overall)
3. Peter Pan (25th Overall)
2. Cinderella (10th Overall)
1. Sleeping Beauty (1st Overall)

[L&P on the Scales]

1. Alice in Wonderland
2. Peter Pan
3. Sleeping Beauty
4. Lady and the Tramp
5. Cinderella

-Alice in Wonderland is far and away my favourite of the lot, as it appeals to my imagination and curiosity. Maybe it's just because I'm a Brit, since AiW still does well enough here to warrant a stream of merchandise (recently the Disney Store had little plush keychains of loads of the characters).

-Peter Pan is...good. It has some pretty memorable characters, although some of the scenes are less memorable. Following the Leader is still an earworm now!

-No, I don't think Sleeping Beauty had an interesting lead pair at all, but at least the fairy side characters/antagonist were solid. The ending with the dragon is still one of the most dramatic climaxes to a Disney film to date. Also Once Upon a Dream is just great.

-Lady and the Tramp starts to get into territory where I'd call it outright "unmemorable". Okay, it has some of the most famous imagery in animated history (the spaghetti scene), but the rest of the film aside from the Siamese Cats and the dog singer, who even when I was kid knew was a celebrity voice of the time, is just a blur. It's a shame, but I don't make much of the characters here, 101 Dalmations pulled the dog adventure off better.

-Cinderella...geebus. For a long time I'd completely forgotten everything about this film. The songs were unmemorable, the ballroom scene was unmemorable (seriously, the centrepiece of the film!), and I'd even forgotten that the film even had those two helper mice until recently. I think the only thing about this film I could recollect about this film is Bippity Boppity Boo, and at a push the fact that one of the songs was set to bubbles.


...And I never thought I was so mad on audio presentation before.

[Linden]

I'm alone on this as I can see.. But Lady & the tramp is one of few movies where I do not necessarily miss an archrival or evil entity.

Nonsense! The lack of an antagonist strengthens the film, allowing it to focus more on the protagonists. Most Walt-era Disney films actually have their plots set in motion by the villains (especially Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians and Jungle Book), but Lady and the Tramp didn't need a villain to the extent other films did. The cats and the rat work as adequate minor nemeses to help the story along and, at least in the latter case, to add suspense.

I think that's what REINIER's trying to say, Doc. I agree with it too. I like the few Disney movies with no clear antagonist, like The Fox and the Hound, Brother Bear, or even Treasure Planet (debatable, but I don't consider Silver a villain. Scroop, yes, but he's a minor character and doesn't add to the plot very much.). They tend to be more centred on character development or relationships.

[Avaitor]

Nonsense! The lack of an antagonist strengthens the film, allowing it to focus more on the protagonists. Most Walt-era Disney films actually have their plots set in motion by the villains (especially Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians and Jungle Book), but Lady and the Tramp didn't need a villain to the extent other films did. The cats and the rat work as adequate minor nemeses to help the story along and, at least in the latter case, to add suspense.

I think that's what REINIER's trying to say, Doc.

Yeah, I think Dr Frankenollie gets that, but his use of the word "nonsense" means that he wanted to point out that Linden is not alone in his opinion. I agree with you guys myself.

[Disney's Divinity]

I like Peter Pan the least because well it is a good movie in some parts, Peter is just a huge jerkass for me and it really kills the movie for me personally. Example Wendy almost getting drowned and Peter laughing like it was funny. Yeah he's meant to be immature, but that's future sadist material. If Peter's jerkass personality was calmed down I would rank it in the 3rd spot.

Peter is meant to be a hero but sometimes he's just as bad or even worse than the villain Captain Hook.

I’ve always thought the same thing. I mean, I get that he’s in some ways the personification of youth, and children can be huge a-holes especially when they‘re uncontrolled like Peter, but even though I get the point and all that--I can’t stand him. I spend most of the film hoping Hook will finally rip him a new one. Not to mention we’re also supposed to sympathize with Tinkerbell later in the movie (after the bomb), when she has spent all her screen time up to then very literally trying to murder Wendy. I rarely ever get after Disney for their portrayal of gender, but it’s probably at its worst in this film. All the women are boy-crazy and constantly put in competition with one another (the mermaids and Tinkerbell are so insatiably in love with a little boy that they go on murderous rampages--even Wendy is extremely happy when she’s about to teach Peter kissing, and then super pissed off when Tiger Lily is all in Peter’s business). Of course, that’s when they’re not constantly in need of rescuing. The opposite extreme is when mothers are put on an untouchable pedestal in “Your Mother and Mine.” No, this film doesn’t have a problem with women at all.

[Sotiris]

Peter is just a huge jerkass for me and it really kills the movie for me personally. Example Wendy almost getting drowned and Peter laughing like it was funny. Yeah he's meant to be immature, but that's future sadist material. Peter is meant to be a hero but sometimes he's just as bad or even worse than the villain Captain Hook.

I mean, I get that he’s in some ways the personification of youth, and children can be huge a-holes especially when they‘re uncontrolled like Peter, but even though I get the point and all that--I can’t stand him. Not to mention we’re also supposed to sympathize with Tinkerbell later in the movie (after the bomb), when she has spent all her screen time up to then very literally trying to murder Wendy. All the women are boy-crazy and constantly put in competition with one another (the mermaids and Tinkerbell are so insatiably in love with a little boy that they go on murderous rampages--even Wendy is extremely happy when she’s about to teach Peter kissing, and then super pissed off when Tiger Lily is all in Peter’s business). Of course, that’s when they’re not constantly in need of rescuing. The opposite extreme is when mothers are put on an untouchable pedestal in “Your Mother and Mine.” No, this film doesn’t have a problem with women at all.

I agree with you both.

Also, I never understood why people say Tinker Bell was redeemed after the bomb incident. She had been horrible to Wendy, not Peter. If she had saved Wendy she would have been redeemed.

[PatrickvD]

I agree. Also, I never understood why people say Tinker Bell was redeemed after the bomb incident. She had been horrible to Wendy, not Peter. If she had saved Wendy she would have been redeemed.

True.

Tinker Bell was kind of a bitch from beginning to end actually

There was no real resolution to her conflict with Wendy.

[Marce82]

People people... cmon... lets me a little gentler! I agree thatPeter as a character is pretty much a jackass... but that goes with being a feral child, on the brink of adolescence.
As for the women... yes, they are all boy crazy and jealous...and possessive... but cmon, it goes with the melodramatic style of pre-teen relationships!

And as for tink being murderous... actually, there is a lot of murder in that film... drowning Tigerlily, the bomb, Hook shooting one of his mates for singing off-key....

It might be that in Neverland, death is not quite the same as in our world. And it is all part of a game... the concept of neverland is based on the way children play. And lets face it, when kids play-fight, its "to the death", not "to the faint"!

:-)

[DisneyBluLife]

It is really hard for me because I love all the movies. But if I had to make a top 5 list then it will look like this:

1. Peter Pan
2. Alice in Wonderland
3. Lady and the tramp
4. Cinderella
5. Sleeping Beauty

[qindarka]

And as for tink being murderous... actually, there is a lot of murder in that film... drowning Tigerlily, the bomb, Hook shooting one of his mates for singing off-key....

The difference is that Tinkerbell is meant to be a sympathetic character whereas the other murderous acts are all committed by the villains.

And I second the sentiment that Tinkerbell was never redeemed.

Another problem I have the film is that the themes never seem to be developed properly. Wendy goes pretty abruptly to wanting to leave Neverland, for instance. And I know that Peter Pan isn't exactly the main character but he is still a major one and I would have liked some insight into his character, because we got pretty much nothing. Ending is also devoted almost entirely to slapstick where there would usually be some sort of payoff. A really frustrating movie. There are some really good moments, the final line in particular is brilliant but the film never amounts to anything beyond simple entertainment despite its potential. Been hearing that the 2003 live-action version (non-Disney) is a lot better, maybe I should check it out one day.

Ranking:
1. Lady and the Tramp
2. Sleeping Beauty
3. Cinderella
4. Alice in Wonderland
5. Peter Pan

Not a big fan of Alice in Wonderland either thought it could just be a personal problem with films without a conventional narrative structure.

[zackisthewalrus]

My ranking:
1. Sleeping Beauty (16)
2. Alice in Wonderland (17)
3. Peter Pan (21)
4. Lady and the Tramp (26)
5. Cinderella (41)

[Big Disney Fan]

This is going to be a little difficult for me, but here goes:

1. Alice In Wonderland (one of my most favorites of all time)
2. Peter Pan
3. Lady and the Tramp
4. Sleeping Beauty
5. Cinderella (one of my least favorites of all time)