The Renaissance v. the Lasseter Era

[Disney's Divinity]

Sotiris' post in the "Next Fairytale Trilogy" thread reminded me of this thread. Perhaps I might make a new thread with a new poll including the new films once Encanto is officially out and most of us have seen it. Leaving aside sequels, this is where we are now:

Meet the Robinsons v. The Great Mouse Detective
Bolt v. Oliver & Company
The Princess and the Frog v. The Little Mermaid
Winnie the Pooh v. The Rescuers Down Under (Both sequels, I only include them in this case because they also align pretty well. )
Tangled v. Beauty and the Beast
Wreck-It Ralph v. Aladdin
Frozen v. The Lion King
Big Hero 6 v. Pocahontas
Zootopia v. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Moana v. Hercules
Raya and the Last Dragon v. Mulan
Encanto v. Tarzan

Many of the comparisons are uncanny and almost make me think Disney was following the Renaissance for a roadmap. Probably the most random though are BH6 v. Pocahontas (only similarities I can think of are the beautiful art style experiment with Pocahontas and BH6's San Fransokyo), Zootopia v. Hunchback (both focused on prejudice / race as a theme, although tone is drastically different between the two), and now Encanto v. Tarzan which seems odd although we haven't seen Encanto yet. But Tarzan is about a large family in a way (Tarzan and his gorilla family, feeling like he doesn't fit with them, wanting to prove himself to Kerchak, etc.), lost family and identity (Tarzan's parents and understanding what human is--similar to Mirabel having to find out about Bruno?), and there are a lot of exotic animals in Encanto's advertisements so far as well.

[Sotiris]

The Renaissance is unbeatable. The Revival films pale in comparison.

My picks:

The Great Mouse Detective
Oliver & Company
The Little Mermaid
The Rescuers Down Under
Beauty and the Beast
Aladdin
The Lion King
Pocahontas
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Hercules
Mulan
Tarzan

[Disney's Divinity]

1. Meet the Robinsons v. The Great Mouse Detective ~ I do like MtR in some ways (notably BHG and Doris) and TGMD does have the feel of being hastily thrown together at times (low budget blues, I guess?). Still, Basil alone wins it for TGMD. TGMD's main theme is fantastic and addictive as well. Then there's Vincent Price, of course--I personally was never fond of "The World's Greatest Criminal Mind," but I do enjoy "Goodbye, So Soon."
2. Bolt v. Oliver & Company ~ Close to a tie. Bette Midler is the only reason I give it to O&C, really. Well, I like the music in O&C. Not as much as Disney's best soundtracks at all, but all the songs are fun at least. Bolt is fun at times. John Travolta as Bolt himself is adorable. I like Mittens despite the design. The hamster is annoying as can be.
3. The Princess and the Frog v. The Little Mermaid ~ I love TP&TF, but nothing would stand a chance against my favorite film of all time.
4. Winnie the Pooh v. The Rescuers Down Under ~ Also close to a draw. I went with TRDU because the voice changes for WtP took a little away from the experience for me. Besides, Johanna and Marahute are better additions to the world than anything in WtP, if I had to choose between them.
5. Tangled v. Beauty and the Beast ~ No contest.
6. Wreck-It Ralph v. Aladdin ~ Again, no contest--but by an even greater margin than the above matchup. It's a laughable distance between the two.
7. Frozen v. The Lion King ~ I do like TLK, too, but I prefer Frozen. I prefer its characters, music, designs, etc. I think both films have interesting stories though. Scar is a better villain, of course. But I love Prince Hans' design, voice acting, and I prefer "Love Is An Open Door" to "Be Prepared" (which I've never been too fond of), although I wish they'd given Hans a dark reprise of "Love Is An Open Door" in the climax (perhaps it could have been a duet between Anna and Hans also, only it would happen from internal dialogue as they're both searching for Elsa in the climax, one to save her and the other to kill her). And I'd say Hans, Facilier, and the BHG are the only villains of the Revival that work for me, in one form or another, and Hans the only twist villain to do so. Simba was always the weakest link of TLK for me--I prefer Anna and Elsa (and even Kristoff) as protagonists to him or Nala.
8. Big Hero 6 v. Pocahontas ~ Pocahontas is flawed, but at least I love the soundtrack and the protagonist, and the designs give it its own flavor. BH6, on the other hand, the only thing I like about that movie is Tadashi, who dies after 20 minutes.
9. Zootopia v. The Hunchback of Notre Dame ~ I think Hunchback is more of a masterpiece despite its flaws because of the soundtrack, Frollo, high-quality hand-drawn animation, etc., but I admit I find Zootopia a more enjoyable experience overall and I'm more likely to watch it. I do love Judy and Nick both, and the whole mystery aspect of the film. I know if I ranked all the films by WDAS together, I'd end up putting Zootopia higher, so...
10. Moana v. Hercules ~ Well, like TLM, I'm too attached to Hercules for anything else to beat it. Moana is a worthy competitor unlike some of the other match-ups. "How Far I'll Go" is a better I Want song than "Go the Distance," at least lyrically, even if that's the only point on which the movie would win with me. And that's definitely the case if you were to compare the End Title versions--Alessia Cara wipes the floor with Michael Bolton for me, that's for sure, and I actually enjoy Alessia's version of HFIG more than the in-film version, which doesn't happen often. I think it's because Cravalho's voice sometimes verges on being annoying at times, it's so raw.
11. Raya and the Last Dragon v. Mulan ~ Now this one was hard, I love both of these just like with TP&TF and TLM. Raya hits me in the heart and I like several bits of score. Mulan does the same things ("Mulan's Decision" is as powerful a bit of score as the best of Raya) with the addition of several musical numbers I love and gorgeous hand-drawn animation on top of it. So... *shrug*
12. Encanto v. Tarzan ~ Just early impressions, I'll predict I'll end up going with Tarzan. I have very low expectations for Encanto so far. Tarzan isn't even one of my favorites, but the first 30 minutes or so of Tarzan are great; when Sabor dies and Jane enters the story, it loses a lot of that energy for me, but it's still alright.

[Disney's Divinity]

Encanto v. Tarzan is another one. It's almost an even fight for me. Tarzan has the better animation for sure, I love the sense of danger in the first 40 minutes, and the soundtrack is better overall, too, imo. But I have more attachment to Encanto's plot / characters, overall, where in Tarzan, the only characters I really like are Tarzan himself and Kala.

As for further parallels between the Renaissance films and the new ones, this film did have that same feeling as Tarzan where you have the protagonist's mother (Kala / Julieta) intervening to build them up because the head of the huge family treats them as a danger to the rest of the family (Kerchak / Alma). Kala is a much better character than Julieta though. I suppose there's also the whole "house separate from the rest of civilization" thing--of course, Encanto makes it more of a little town versus the treehouse built by two people in Tarzan.