The Best Decade for Disney Animation?

[DDMAN26]

I would say the 50's, the most consistently good films came from that era.

[MickeyMousePal]

The best decade is the 1990's it has very good movies through out the 10-year period.


In 1990 it started with The Rescuers Down Under, which was the first Disney, film very touching about poacher. A brave boy named Cody to save an eagle and her eggs. Introduction of Jake the Kangaroo mouse.
The only real sequel that was release in the theater.

In 1991 Beauty and the Beast one of the best romantic story about Bell and the beast. The only animated feature to receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination but didn't win. I really enjoyed this film very much.

In I992 Aladdin came out becoming one of the biggest Animation hits but later Lion King beat the record. Aladdin is coming to Platinum Edition in October 5, 2004. I can't wait this is one of Disney best followed by two sequels and the cartoon series which last 3 years. What more do I have to say.

In 1994 The Lion King one of the biggest money making movie at the time until Nemo beat it last year. The King has return and along with 2 great sequels.

In 1995 Pocahontas was released and the fourth Disney film to reach the 100 million mark. It's based on a true story about Pocahontas when the white settlers came to North American to conquer the gold. Along with a wonderful sequel and the upcoming Pocahontas Masterpiece Edition.

In 1996 The Hunchback of Notre Dame was a very good remake of Victor Hugo original movie. I found it to be great classic and one of the fifth Disney film to make 100 million marks.

In 1997 Hercules was released but was not very promising and was not a hit. I found it to mess up the Greek Mythology but it has to be different from Hercules: The Legendary Journey Hercules as Kevin Sorbo.
I really like Hercules to be different from the real story.

In 1998 Mulan was a great folk tale and has a great sequel coming in the fall. I really enjoy Mulan it's the best work since The Lion King.

In 1999 Tarzan was a second hit since Mulan, which was great, story about Tarzan. I found the Tarzan television series to be great while the upcoming sequel to be a hit or miss.

In 1999 Fantasia 2000 was release in the IMAX theater it was as wonderful as the first Fantasia and hope they will release Fantasia 2006.

[Joe Carioca]

Where is poor "Aladdin"?

"Pocahontas II" and "The Legend of Tarzan" great?
Hehehe

[Lady]

my fave period is the 90's (Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Hunchback). not only because of the quality of the films produced during this decade but also because i grew up and repeatedly watched these films.

[Tangela]

my fave period is the 90's (Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Hunchback). not only because of the quality of the films produced during this decade but also because i grew up and repeatedly watched these films.

Actually The Little Mermaid is an 80's film!

[Jack]

Yes, the 1950s also saw the creation of some of the most important animated features ever. As great as they are, they aren’t up to the standards of the first five features. Even though character animation continued to evolve more and more, they weren’t as daring in the use of special effects (including MultiPlane shots) and storytelling (the only exception is “Sleeping Beauty”)

I disagree - I think the 50's films improved on the 40's films in most respects. They may not be as lushly animated in some cases as Snow White & Pinocchio, but I'd say the storytelling and character development improved. Movies like Bambi and Dumbo, as great as they were, strike me as subjects for a half-hour cartoon stretched to be feature length, resulting in some of the most uneeded and inconsequential segments in any of the Disney films. The 50's still had some of that, but vastly improved.

And yes, the 40's was more daring, in terms of trying new things in the artistry of animation. But I think the 50's were bold and daring in more important aspects - story and characters.

Just my "opin-iaw", as Cajun Man would say.

[AwallaceUNC]

In my book, it's a tie between the 50s and the 90s. These contain the majority of my all-time Disney fav's (and the only 4 that I gave 10/10 in the rating thread came from these two decades).

-Aaron

[Joe Carioca]

Yes, the 1950s also saw the creation of some of the most important animated features ever. As great as they are, they aren’t up to the standards of the first five features. Even though character animation continued to evolve more and more, they weren’t as daring in the use of special effects (including MultiPlane shots) and storytelling (the only exception is “Sleeping Beauty”)

I disagree - I think the 50's films improved on the 40's films in most respects. They may not be as lushly animated in some cases as Snow White & Pinocchio, but I'd say the storytelling and character development improved. Movies like Bambi and Dumbo, as great as they were, strike me as subjects for a half-hour cartoon stretched to be feature length, resulting in some of the most uneeded and inconsequential segments in any of the Disney films. The 50's still had some of that, but vastly improved.

And yes, the 40's was more daring, in terms of trying new things in the artistry of animation. But I think the 50's were bold and daring in more important aspects - story and characters.

Just my "opin-iaw", as Cajun Man would say.

I agree with you, Jake. Storytelling wise, the films DID improve during the 50s. What I mean is, they aren't as DARING as the film in the 40s. They don't have such dark elements as Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi or even Dumbo. Not that this is a bad thing at all. It seems Walt was afraid to scare its audience (and its said he really was, specially after the Evil Queen and Chernabog). For example, one of the motives the Jabewrock sequence from "Alice" was dropped was because Walt though it might have been too scary.

Well, the films from the 50s are perfect the way they are.

[rodis]

I disagree - I think the 50's films improved on the 40's films in most respects. They may not be as lushly animated in some cases as Snow White & Pinocchio.

In what way is Snow White more lushly animated than Cinderella or Peter Pan?

[Jack]

Well, yes, I think Snow White is the darkest of all the Disney features, and the rest of the films from the 40's are pretty dark too. But I think Alice is pretty daring, dark and demented - the scene where Alice is crying and the forest becomes completely black around her is a really dark moment, among others. I'd say Sleeping Beauty is reletively dark too.

But yes, I do agree that the 40's were darker in general. That doesn't make the films nessisarily better though. Don't get me wrong - the first five animated features are some of my all time favorites. But in terms of which films are better in quality overall, I'd choose 50's.

[bean:therio]

My favorite decade is definitly the early 40's (with Snow white added) with the 50's as a close second. Snow white, Pinocchio, Fantasia and Bambi all belong to my all-time favorites and really represent probably the most important animated features EVER produced. From the 50's I really love Peter Pan and sleeping beauty but the other films of that decade are just as great animation-wise.

Btw: every decade has had it's gems obviously.

[Jack]

I disagree - I think the 50's films improved on the 40's films in most respects. They may not be as lushly animated in some cases as Snow White & Pinocchio.

In what way is Snow White more lushly animated than Cinderella or Peter Pan?

If you compare them, Alice & Peter Pan are much simpler in animation & backgrounds than Snow White, Pinocchio, & Fantasia You don't see a lot of airbrush, and there isn't as frequent use of the multiplane camera. Those three were extremely detailed in virtually every way.

[rodis]

If you compare them, Alice & Peter Pan are much simpler in animation & backgrounds than Snow White, Pinocchio, & Fantasia You don't see a lot of airbrush, and there isn't as frequent use of the multiplane camera. Those three were extremely detailed in virtually every way.

You mean in Alice and Peter Pan there isn't a lot of use of airbrush, right?
Isn't airbrushing what they do to cleberities pics?? lol what is it then?

But still, the 50's films had a glossy look. They looked very clear and the color is sharper than that of the 40's films.

The animation is Pinocchio depresses me, it's too dark.

[Jack]

You mean in Alice and Peter Pan there isn't a lot of use of airbrush, right?
Isn't airbrushing what they do to cleberities pics?? lol what is it then?

Yeah, sorry if my post came off as confusing - I was referring to Alice & Peter Pan. The airbrush is a tool that is used to get the effect that you see on Snow White's and Pinocchio's cheeks - those rosey, hazy looking circles. That's not all it was used for, that's just an example.

Besides the airbrush, Snow White and Pinocchio were more detailed in their backgrounds and character animation than almost any of the films that followed them.

[rodis]

Yeah, sorry if my post came off as confusing - I was referring to Alice & Peter Pan. The airbrush is a tool that is used to get the effect that you see on Snow White's and Pinocchio's cheeks - those rosey, hazy looking circles. That's not all it was used for, that's just an example.

Besides the airbrush, Snow White and Pinocchio were more detailed in their backgrounds and character animation than almost any of the films that followed them.

Oh, OK, got it I really love how "Snow White" looks, even if it's a bit dark.

[Joe Carioca]

Yeah, sorry if my post came off as confusing - I was referring to Alice & Peter Pan. The airbrush is a tool that is used to get the effect that you see on Snow White's and Pinocchio's cheeks - those rosey, hazy looking circles. That's not all it was used for, that's just an example.

Besides the airbrush, Snow White and Pinocchio were more detailed in their backgrounds and character animation than almost any of the films that followed them.

Oh, OK, got it I really love how "Snow White" looks, even if it's a bit dark.

If you have the Fantasia Anthology DVD box, there is a great featurette on airbrushing the animation cels (actualy, it is an extract from "The Story of the Animated Drawing" Disneyland episode).

[Prince Adam]

The best decades are 1930's-50's. It's really 40's/50's, but since Snow White is the only one from the 30's, I've included it.

Despite how good the '90's were, there was still that touch of Walt that was missing.
The 00's haven't been too bad, but I don't want to think about the 10's.

[PheR]

I'll vote for the 50's too... all the animated movies produced on that decade belong to the "disney's best" classification; the "bibidi bobidi boo" secuence from cinderella, "the inbirthday song" from Alice, Tinkerbell from peter pan, the spagetti kiss in lady and the tramp, and the "once upon a dream" song from sleeping beauty are some of the most beloved movie industry icons.

the second place, in my opinion is the 90's, cause every single disney animated classic released in that period, was really anticipated and had a hype worldwide, with excelent music, innovative animation and even merchandise. From the ballroom of beauty and the beast to the deep canvas in Tarzan.

[Ursula102]

Well, yes, I think Snow White is the darkest of all the Disney features, and the rest of the films from the 40's are pretty dark too. But I think Alice is pretty daring, dark and demented - the scene where Alice is crying and the forest becomes completely black around her is a really dark moment, among others. I'd say Sleeping Beauty is reletively dark too.

But yes, I do agree that the 40's were darker in general. That doesn't make the films nessisarily better though. Don't get me wrong - the first five animated features are some of my all time favorites. But in terms of which films are better in quality overall, I'd choose 50's.

Yeah, there's a reason they call Snow White's Queen The Evil Queen. And I thought the part with Alice was so sad. Fo some reason I thought that was one of the saddest moments of a Disney film I've seen. It's just sad because she's become lost and confused and misses her home and family. That scene always got me going a little bit.
But I would have to go with the 80s as my favorite era, even though they were considered flops(excluding The Little Mermaid).
Oliver & Company - wasn't the greatest film of all time but was wonderfully animated and had excellent music, characters, voice actors, and story.
The Black Cauldron - Definitely not one of Disney's best reincarnations, although I liked it myself. And although if you have read the books by Lloyd Alexander as I have and consider the movie an abomination of his work, you are clearly mistaken. Disney couldn't make a series of the movie and they didn't have enough on-screen time to introduce all the characters and plot-points of the novels, so I think overall they did a good job with special effects, animation, and storyline in an hour and a half.
Can anyone list the entire selection during this time because I'm not completely sure of them all.

[Loomis]

The best decade is the 1990's it has very good movies through out the 10-year period.

In 1990 it started with The Rescuers Down Under...

I would tend to agree, but rather than name a decade I would name a "period", starting with The Little Mermaid in 1989 and running through to Mulan in 1999, which was really the start of a new era with a new studio (which is now closing).