Disney Animated Classics, You Did NOT Like

[azul017]

The Disney flicks I didn't like and/or didn't care for:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Good animation but the story was pretty anemic and sanitized.
Pinnochio - I never really liked it -- despite the nice ending, it felt to me like a veiled cautionary tale (not to mention I cringe at the Stromboli and Pleasure Island scenes) and felt out of place for an early Disney flick.
The Jungle Book - I liked the movie when I was younger, watched it a few weeks ago and changed my mind. The songs just don't jive with me, well maybe except "I wanna be like you" and the villains rub me the wrong way.
Fox and the Hound - Just too bland for me now, even though I loved it when I was younger.
A Bug's Life - The ONLY Pixar film I dislike; maybe it was the story or the characters, I dunno but it rubbed me the wrong way.

[Rudy Matt]

The Lion King -- a pop 90's remake of Bambi with half the artistic achievement and even less of the depth. The film approaches its drama like a scared dog sniffing at a rattlesnake -- it won't engage, but it wants to, it simply cannot overcome its own cowardice. So to substitute for its pretentions to drama and to distract you from its utter failure as a dramatic film, it bombards you with pop culture references and comic asides at every conceivable opportunity. In short, this is a great film for those who love Dreamworks films. As a successor to Bambi, it is an utter embarassment.

Beauty and the Beast -- The best muscial score in the Disney canon since Walt's passing, perhaps even greater than the work in Alice in Wonderland, Three Caballeros, The Jungle Book and Snow White...and yet the frequent off-model animation, the paranoia of boring toddlers, and the sitcom writing (to say nothing of some glarig logic gaps) almost derail the entire effort. This has wonderful music, of that there is no doubt or argument. It's also a bit of a transitional film for Disney and in many ways cannot stand up to rigid honest comparison with certain Disney films released before or since.

[jeremy88]

The Lion King AND Beauty and the Beast!?!?

Had you added The Little Mermaid or Aladdin to that I would have cried...

Ah well ya can't win em' all lol.

[Rudy Matt]

Don't get me wrong, I don't think they're the least of the Disney animated features. That's a three way battle between Dinosaur, Home on the Range, and Oliver and Co.

I will say, however, that Michael Eisner was masterful in manipulating the press and public opinion in regards to Beauty and the Beast. Prior to release, prior even to the New York Film Festival "Work in Progress" screening, he embarked on a campaign to win an Oscar nomination for the film. The thing wasn't finished, but Eisner succeeded in creating a herd mentality among critics (who typically don't know jack squat about animation other than "the kitten was cute" -- read Ebert's review when he asks if any other castle in Disney animation was more frightening than The Beast's -- yeah, there are. Lots of them. It was herd hyperbole.). These uninformed accolades then influenced the Academy, who nominated the film in a weak year. And today, we live in a world where people somehow think this transitional film with a deeply flawed screenplay and spotty production values somehow represents the Apex of the animated feature. It does not. Saying it is a pimple on Sleeping Beauty's ass is an overstatement...Saying it cannot bear up to comparison to the Walt films in terms of animation and intelligence is more like it.

[Chernabog_Rocks]

What made you think Lion King is supposed to be a successor to Bambi? I find that rather random considering Lion King is just another animated classic about animals. Even then there are other animal classics that came out between Bambi and Lion King so why don't you consider them "successors" to Bambi? Just a tad confused

[Flanger-Hanger]

The Lion King AND Beauty and the Beast!?!?

Had you added Aladdin to that I would have cheered...

There, that's my attitude.

[Rudy Matt]

What made you think Lion King is supposed to be a successor to Bambi? I find that rather random considering Lion King is just another animated classic about animals. Even then there are other animal classics that came out between Bambi and Lion King so why don't you consider them "successors" to Bambi? Just a tad confused

The Lion King is essentially a remake of Bambi, with elements of Henry IV and Hamlet thrown in. From the opening parade of animals coming to see the "new Prince", to the closing sequence where the home environment is burnt down only to be reborn as the new generation is born starting the cycle of life anew, if you break Bambi down by sequence and do the same with the Lion King, you see how the latter borrowed so heavily from the former.

[Goliath]

@ Rudy Matt:

I completely agree with you on The Lion King, but I don't see why Beauty and the Beast is supposed to be such a weak picture. I think the music is great (as you have acknowledged), the characters are fine and well-developed, the animatiomn is beautiful. All in all, I think it's one of the best of the 1990's. Not as good as The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, but still a pretty great achievement.

What I can't wrap my head around, though, is your dislike of Oliver & Company. It's obviously not the *best* Disney Animated Classic, but I think it still is seriously underrated.

[jeremy88]

The Lion King AND Beauty and the Beast!?!?

Had you added Aladdin to that I would have cheered...

There, that's my attitude.

You know what? You can just go flanger hanger yourself on a coat rack for all I care! Just kidding of course

Actually...that could be taken in the wrong way...so instead you can just go flanger hanger your coat on my BATB TLK and ALADDIN Rack

[Flanger-Hanger]

You know what? You can just go flanger hanger yourself on a coat rack for all I care! Just kidding of course

I understand how one could hang themselves on a coat rack, but flang as well? Seems kind of complicated. BTW Scaps nickname for me is wire hanger so if you look at it form that prospective I'm already hangin'.

As for Lion King, sorry folks but I've seen it plenty of times throughout my life and I just don't care for it. The stage show was better IMO because it had stuff like live performance energy and some imaginative puppetry and staging but I can't love it like other DAC. Beauty and the Beast I used to adore and I still love the song "Belle" and it's reprise but now I just don't care for it. I guess I just found other Disney movies that I liked better. Aladdin is in the same boat as Lion King.

Little Mermaid? Now were talkin'! I love that best out of those 4 because of the song score, characters I actually find funny (who don't resort to gross gas or lower brow stuff like that) and a villain who is lovable and easy to hate at the same time.

[jeremy88]

LOL Well, I know it makes no sense... but it just adds nonsensical pizzazz

Oh so pretty much those movies have been overkilled for you, which is understanable. Thats like my best friend...thinks they're great, doesn't really wanna rewatch them anymore. I however can never get tired of them! Not sure why lol. Ah well at least we both agree on The Little Mermaid!

[Disney Duster]

Oh so pretty much those movies have been overkilled for you, which is understanable. Thats like my best friend...thinks they're great, doesn't really wanna rewatch them anymore. I however can never get tired of them! Not sure why lol.

Well, I hope they forgive me if I'm wrong, but no, they didn't mean that. They meant that these films they may have loved when they were younger and...well...not aware of certain flaws and didn't need as much to keep them entertained and caring for.

Now, Cinderella I loved very much when I was younger, and I still love it as my favorite now, but I don't really feel like watching it much. But I still care for it deeply, and even though I do sometimes feel annoyed by a part or bored with a part, for the most part I can enjoy most parts. So, it's different.

[jeremy88]

Ah well at least in my best friends case, he does think they are great movies that rank with many other classic non-Disney films. So it could be that he's just not entertained anymore, but not because he thinks they have certaint flaws (maybe the whole picture of Adam showing that he's older looking, but he's only 21, meaning he'd have to be 11 when the Enchantress cast the spell on him) Other then that, he thinks there really good. I mean ocasionally we'll pop in Aladdin or Peter Pan and enjoy them as much as we did when were young kids.

[Rudy Matt]

"Belle"...I used to adore and I still love the song "Belle" and it's reprise but now I just don't care for it.

You think you dislike it now....go watch "Ichabod" from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, and then watch "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast. Braum Bones is Gaston, Ichabod is Belle (walking around oblivious to a town reading a book) and the townspeople are the same, doing nothing but singing about the protagonist and how odd he (she) is.

If Disney didn't already own their copyright of "Ichabod", they'd have sued themselves over "Belle".

[Flanger-Hanger]

Well I'm a big fan of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad and it still doesn't bother me. The similarities are more in the basic concepts than any character personalities (is Belle really like Ichabod?) and the style of music for the song is much different.