Favorite Disney Animated Classic from the 60s?

[Disney's Divinity]

I actually feel the opposite to most posting on the forum these days, I guess: I wish there had been more films from Disney during this decade because I love The Sword in the Stone and One Hundred and One Dalmatians (the latter of which is unquestionably a masterpiece). And while I'm not nearly as fond of TJB, personally, it is beloved. This is probably my favorite decade for Disney after the '90s, personally. I know you mentioned how it's easier for you to rank films within their own decade, D82 (I think in the '50s thread), and I agree, there's a certain sensibility that pervades a decade and the '60s films just have a quality to them I love.

[Avaitor]

1. 101 Dalmatians
2. The Sword in the Stone
3. The Jungle Book

This isn't their best decade IMO. It really does feel like Walt was losing interest in the animated features at this point. 101 Dalmatians is the only genuinely great film from this era, but even that isn't an all-time favorite tbh. With the other two, there's a lot that I do enjoy from both, but they don't equal up to the strongest features.

[Farerb]

He actually did lose interest in animation. He was more focused on TV, the parks and live action films, especially Mary Poppins. He was more involved in The Jungle Book because he didn't like 101 Dalmatians and The Sword in the Stone.

[JeanGreyForever]

I don't think it was as simple as Walt not liking 101 Dalmatians. He certainly gushed over Dodie Smith's book to her and was thrilled with the success of the film, enough to ask Dodie Smith to write a new book so he could adapt that into a film as well. Walt's issues with Dalmatians were because of the Xerox animation style which he felt killed the classic Disney look he liked and that especially stung after the "failure" of Sleeping Beauty. The backgrounds were also not to his taste and I don't remember which animator was responsible for them now but I know Walt basically told that animator that he hated this look and would never forgive him (although he did forgive him before the end of his life so that's nice).

And I can understand what Walt was thinking because even though I think the new art style worked for Dalmatians, every other film after it got saddled with this as well and most of those films (especially Sword in the Stone and Robin Hood) did not suit the Xerox style. Thankfully The Rescuers was the start of a new era and the scratchy lines were mostly gone.

[Mooky]

1. 101 Dalmatians - like with Snow White in the '30s/'40s thread, this is the only movie in this decade that I really enjoy and love. Xerox look, while rough, adds to the movie's atmosphere and makes it stand out from other Xerox films. it's also really witty and funny.

2. The Jungle Book - I like Baloo, Bagheera and Kaa, but not the movie itself. It's too episodic and recycled animation is not doing it any favors. Most of the songs are good too, I guess.

3. The Sword in the Stone - another series of episodes like TJB. I could never get into this movie. The only things I like are Merlin's duel with Madam Mim (very entertaining) and the scene with squirrels, which now makes me sad thinking about it. Other than that, I find the designs and earthy colors of the movie unappealing. And I can't recall any of the songs.

[blackcauldron85]

1. The Jungle Book- This has become a movie that I watch a lot. It's just comforting to me, I suppose. Really good music. I like the care that Bagheera and Baloo have for Mowgli. I like the vultures, the elephants. It's not one of my most-favorite films, but I do enjoy all of it.

2. 101 Dalmatians- Obviously Cruella is terrific; I also love dogs. The Twilight Bark is fantastic. The Colonel & Mr. Tibbs are entertaining, as are Horace & Jasper. I like what we get to see of some of the puppies' personalities. This is my dad's favorite and we recently watched it- it's always really fun to watch.

3. The Sword in the Stone- I don't watch this one very often- I just did a couple weeks ago because it had been a while. I've always been really fond of the songs in this film. I think it feels more episodic than some other episodic-type films. BUT when I do watch it, it's an enteraining time. It has some nice-looking animation in it. I like when they shape-shift- into squirrels, into fish. I wish we had a little more time with Mim. And I agree that the Wizards' Duel is fabulous.

[robinhood21]

My ranking is The Jungle Book at 1, The Sword in the Stone at 2 and 101 Dalmatians at 3.

[JeanGreyForever]

It's really strange how many people have ranked The Jungle Book so high here but back in 2011/2012 when the posters on here voted for the top 20 Disney Animated films, TJB didn't even make it onto the list.

I'm referring to this btw.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=29409&hilit=top+20

[thedisneyspirit]

TJB has this element that it's not bad, but people are sorta "Yeah, I like it" about it, nothing particularly strong towards love or hate. I think it gets bigger importance due to the mysticism of "Walt's last film".

[JeanGreyForever]

I've always wondered if one major reason it was such a big box office success was because audiences knew this would be the last time they could watch a bonafide Walt Disney classic. Had he not passed right before, would the film still have been as successful?

[DC Fan]

I wonder, would you guys share your thoughts on what I said about sir Ektor in The Sword in the Stone?

[D82]

I wonder, would you guys share your thoughts on what I said about sir Ektor in The Sword in the Stone?

I wanted to reply to that, but I forgot. I've always seen him more like a villain, but all the things you described are true, so maybe he isn't so bad after all and he actually cares about Wart. The next time I watch the movie, I'll try to pay attention to him more. Maybe I'll start to see him in a different light.

[blackcauldron85]

^ It isn't until a little later in the film that one can sense that Ektor actually cares about Wart. So I don't see him as a villain, but he's not the most caring Disney dad!!

[JeanGreyForever]

Agree with the others, he isn't really bad like Lady Tremaine but he's not the most caring father figure either. I think he's the one who tells Kay to bow down to Arthur at the end though.

[D82]

The live-action film is not only more faithful to the source material but it has way more heart as well. It's really implausible that Mowgli is torn away from the only family he's ever known (the wolves) and he never mentions them ever again in the animated film.

It's true that he should've shown more affection towards his wolf family. I agree that the live-action remake improves over the original in that regard, but in everything else the animated film is superior, in my opinion. Still, I consider it one of the best of these remakes and one of the ones I have fewer problems with.

#3 is one of the worst Disney films imo. Truly horrid and it shows that Walt didn't have anything to do with this film. I feel so bad for the animators who wanted to work on Marc Davis' Chanticleer and were stuck working on this. And it's not that the source material is flawed, because King Arthur should have been a natural fit for Disney but you can tell the hearts of the animators weren't into this film at all (much like Musker and Clements in Hercules decades later).

Just out of curiosity, what are your biggest issues with The Sword in the Stone? I also consider it one of the weakest films from Walt's era, but I think it still has many good qualities.

By the way, Don Bluth's Rock-a-Doodle is based on the same story as Chanticleer too, right? So, though not by Disney, it was finally turned into an animated movie.

I actually feel the opposite to most posting on the forum these days, I guess: I wish there had been more films from Disney during this decade because I love The Sword in the Stone and One Hundred and One Dalmatians (the latter of which is unquestionably a masterpiece). And while I'm not nearly as fond of TJB, personally, it is beloved. This is probably my favorite decade for Disney after the '90s, personally.

I also consider the '60s a very strong decade and I too wish more films had been made during those years. By the way, though The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was released in the '70s, the first two Winnie the Pooh shorts are part of this decade too. To me that's another reason to love it. And, well, also Mary Poppins for the people who count it as a classic.

I know you mentioned how it's easier for you to rank films within their own decade, D82 (I think in the '50s thread), and I agree, there's a certain sensibility that pervades a decade and the '60s films just have a quality to them I love.

That's true, each decade has its own sensitivity. The hardest thing for me is to compare films from older decades with the most recent ones. I guess because there are more differences between them, but also because of nostalgia. There are recent films that I see are better than some of the older ones, but I'm more attached to the ones I've grown up with, so it's difficult to decide between them.

The backgrounds were also not to his taste and I don't remember which animator was responsible for them now but I know Walt basically told that animator that he hated this look and would never forgive him (although he did forgive him before the end of his life so that's nice).

It was Ken Anderson, who was the art director of the film. It's a shame Walt was so tough with him. Using that style for the backgrounds was actually a great idea, in my opinion, that gave the film a unique look and worked really well with the Xerox animation.

It's really strange how many people have ranked The Jungle Book so high here but back in 2011/2012 when the posters on here voted for the top 20 Disney Animated films, TJB didn't even make it onto the list.

I'm referring to this btw.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=29409&hilit=top+20

101 Dalmatians is the top film in the poll, though, and it did make it into the top 20, at number 15. The Jungle Book and The Sword in the Stone are a bit lower, at number 24 and 31, respectively. So they appear in the same order on that list as in the poll. I guess that though The Jungle Book ranks high among the films form this decade, the '60s are not one of the most popular decades here.

I've always wondered if one major reason it was such a big box office success was because audiences knew this would be the last time they could watch a bonafide Walt Disney classic. Had he not passed right before, would the film still have been as successful?

That probably was part of the reason of its success, but I think the film is truly beloved by many as well. The fact that the remake was one of the highest-grossing ones proves it in my opinion.

[JeanGreyForever]

The live-action film is not only more faithful to the source material but it has way more heart as well. It's really implausible that Mowgli is torn away from the only family he's ever known (the wolves) and he never mentions them ever again in the animated film.

It's true that he should've shown more affection towards his wolf family. I agree that the live-action remake improves over the original in that regard, but in everything else the animated film is superior, in my opinion. Still, I consider it one of the best of these remakes and one of the ones I have fewer problems with.

#3 is one of the worst Disney films imo. Truly horrid and it shows that Walt didn't have anything to do with this film. I feel so bad for the animators who wanted to work on Marc Davis' Chanticleer and were stuck working on this. And it's not that the source material is flawed, because King Arthur should have been a natural fit for Disney but you can tell the hearts of the animators weren't into this film at all (much like Musker and Clements in Hercules decades later).

Just out of curiosity, what are your biggest issues with The Sword in the Stone? I also consider it one of the weakest films from Walt's era, but I think it still has many good qualities.

By the way, Don Bluth's Rock-a-Doodle is based on the same story as Chanticleer too, right? So, though not by Disney, it was finally turned into an animated movie.

The backgrounds were also not to his taste and I don't remember which animator was responsible for them now but I know Walt basically told that animator that he hated this look and would never forgive him (although he did forgive him before the end of his life so that's nice).

It was Ken Anderson, who was the art director of the film. It's a shame Walt was so tough with him. Using that style for the backgrounds was actually a great idea, in my opinion, that gave the film a unique look and worked really well with the Xerox animation.

It's really strange how many people have ranked The Jungle Book so high here but back in 2011/2012 when the posters on here voted for the top 20 Disney Animated films, TJB didn't even make it onto the list.

I'm referring to this btw.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=29409&hilit=top+20

101 Dalmatians is the top film in the poll, though, and it did make it into the top 20, at number 15. The Jungle Book and The Sword in the Stone are a bit lower, at number 24 and 31, respectively. So they appear in the same order on that list as in the poll. I guess that though The Jungle Book ranks high among the films form this decade, the '60s are not one of the most popular decades here.

I've always wondered if one major reason it was such a big box office success was because audiences knew this would be the last time they could watch a bonafide Walt Disney classic. Had he not passed right before, would the film still have been as successful?

That probably was part of the reason of its success, but I think the film is truly beloved by many as well. The fact that the remake was one of the highest-grossing ones proves it in my opinion.

The remake gives us context on what life in the jungle is like with the whole opening such as the water truce and the law of the jungle which are pretty important elements from the book. The "red flower" is also given more weight. If all of that stuff had been in the original film for about a 10-minute opening or so, I'd probably have better feelings towards the animated film. I don't think the animated film even gives the wolves their name of the Seeonee tribe like in the book and remake.

I also don't like the westernized depiction of snakes because in India, snakes are treated with extreme reverence. Female snakes in particular are an important part of their culture and much like dragons in China, they aren't considered evil the way they are in western culture. So to have Kaa as a bumbling oaf instead of a great force of nature in the jungle was disappointing.

Wart as a character is plain awful. He never grows or develops and is just thrust into situations where Merlin or Archimedes is forced to rescue him. When his voice isn't changing mid-sentence, he's constantly falling over (reused animation) or making that annoying "whoa, what, oh" sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n7cS2p1xE0
The film is just really ugly when you put it next to Sleeping Beauty. That sketchy animation worked for 101 Dalmatians even later on Winnie the Pooh, but not TSITS. Madame Mim, the film's "villain," only appears in the end and has no personal connection to Wart. There's a reason she was removed from the original book because she had no actual purpose. Archimedes is really the only character you can root for because Wart doesn't even count as one and Merlin's interest in the boy isn't really justified from the characterizations alone. At least in the original opening, Merlin was responsible for hiding baby Arthur away from Madame Mim after King Uther's death. The only iconic scene from the film is what the title describes and it really doesn't even feel earned. For the original Arthurian legend, you'd think that Disney would be able to make their own definitive adaptation of it easily considering how many fantasy tropes Disney is known for but this film is completely ignored and forgotten for a reason. The songs are nothing to write about either and not the Sherman Brothers' best work. Also if you've read the book, you'll see that the book was much better, in part because it was Part 1 of five books chronicling Arthur's full story. However, even ignoring those other four books, the first book on its own could have been a spectacular film but instead we get an episodic structure thinly tied together. That's fine in films like Alice in Wonderland but that doesn't really work here for a character who is meant to grow and prove that he is meant to be king.

I never watched Rock-a-Doodle and it's considered one of Don Bluth's worst films so I've had no interest in remedying that.

Thank you for confirming that. I agree with you that it worked marvelously for 101 Dalmatians...other films not so much, TSITS in particular.

That's true, I wasn't going by the poll so much as recent post from the last few days where Jungle Book seems to be ranked higher than 101 Dalmatians more often than I expected. So that I did find weird considering it didn't make the top 20 in that previous ranking unlike 101 Dalmatians but maybe it's because it was a different crowd back then.

The animated film is the most successful film in Germany ever, to this day. Same with another European country which I can't remember (Switzerland or Sweden maybe). However, the live-action remake was such a success because of India. The film did amazingly well there and from what I remember, it was released in India a month or so before it was released here in the US. Based on its performance in India alone, Disney already confirmed a sequel even before the American release.

[Farerb]

I also consider the '60s a very strong decade and I too wish more films had been made during those years. By the way, though The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was released in the '70s, the first two Winnie the Pooh shorts are part of this decade too. To me that's another reason to love it. And, well, also Mary Poppins for the people who count it as a classic.

That's true, each decade has its own sensitivity. The hardest thing for me is to compare films from older decades with the most recent ones. I guess because there are more differences between them, but also because of nostalgia. There are recent films that I see are better than some of the older ones, but I'm more attached to the ones I've grown up with, so it's difficult to decide between them.

The way I see it is that animation went through the same process as classic Hollywood films did, so the 60's were a transitional phase, so the 60's films are very similar to the 50's in terms of story and characters, but they also have the 70's and 80's design. I like TJB and 101 Dalmatians, I feel like they earned their place in animation history, but I'm more attached to the 50's films.

I agree about the old vs new, for instance I can see things that Musker and Clements did better with Moana than with The Little Mermaid or Aladdin, but I've known Moana for four years only while TLM and Aladdin are with me as long as I can remember, so I can be forgiving to their flaws more than recent films.

[JeanGreyForever]

I agree about the old vs new, for instance I can see things that Musker and Clements did better with Moana than with The Little Mermaid or Aladdin, but I've known Moana for four years only while TLM and Aladdin are with me as long as I can remember, so I can be forgiving to their flaws more than recent films.

What do you think Moana did better than TLM and Aladdin? I can't believe there used to be a time when talk like that was heresy and now it's being said all out in the open lol.

[DC Fan]

Thank you for your replies.

Sir Ektor may have been rough but wasn't just towards Wart. Look how he acts towards Kay.

But I'm glad to hear what you've said.

[Disney's Divinity]

Sir Ector isn’t an openly malicious character at all. He is unlikable though, mostly because he and Kay represent the brawn over brain philosophy that Merlin is opposed against.

101 Dalmatians is the top film in the poll, though, and it did make it into the top 20, at number 15. The Jungle Book and The Sword in the Stone are a bit lower, at number 24 and 31, respectively. So they appear in the same order on that list as in the poll. I guess that though The Jungle Book ranks high among the films form this decade, the '60s are not one of the most popular decades here.

I remember only being surprised that TSitS didn’t land much lower. Yes, you're right about Pooh. I think in a thread where we talk about how to group the various "times" of the studio (such as the Silver Age being the '50s and The Renaissance being the '90s), I used that caveat as a way to group Pooh with them. It doesn't feel like the films made in the '70s--much better than those.