Having thought about it, I can't help but think that people have categorized the relative boom-and-bust trend of Disney animation over the course of over 70 years a bit too much, and are wanting there to be a dark age followed by another golden age followed by another dark age. The success of Disney in the late 80s and early 90s was somewhat unprecedented (Jeffrey Katzenberg expected
The Little Mermaid to do as well as around the late 80s rerelease of
Cinderella, aka around $30-40 million at most), and I can't help but think that people are going to let themselves down by expecting something "new, magical, bold, wonderful, fresh!". Equally, using such extreme terms can make the lesser points in the "golden age" and the better points in the "dark age" respectively seem out of place.
As for my thoughts on the films of the past ten years (do note that for some, it's been a while since I last saw them):
The Emperor's New Groove:
A relatively fun film, though it does run out of steam a bit when Kuzco turns into a llama, and only takes off again towards the end.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
I only saw this once and it was unfortunately in pan-and-scan. I personally didn't really warm to it that much though, and whilst I appreciate the man-power gone into it, and accept that some really liked the comic-book style drawings, I wasn't too keen on them.
Lilo and Stitch
A charming little winner. A lovely setting, charming if somewhat quirky characters and some gorgeous animation. I'm happy that it did so well, even if it meant that up until around 2006 or so nobody could escape Stitch.
Treasure Planet
The first time I saw it, I HATED it. However, I decided for whatever reason to watch it again and quite liked it. The character animation and the overall visual design is to be commended, even if the melange of CGI and traditional animation doesn't always work (but hey, even the CGI used in - gasp - the 90s films looks a bit out of place). I could sense that it would have probably been better had Musker and Clements been left completely to their own devices - there are some cringe-making moments that seem to have been forced in by executives (such as Dr Doppler going "go Doppler, go Doppler!" in the study scene). Overall, a tragedy that it didn't do so well, and I truly wish that I'd seen it on the big screen; it deserves to be re-released, even if just to get its reputation slightly untarnished.
Brother Bear
I remember liking this one (I haven't seen it in a while). The animation is gorgeous. However, I remember being somewhat baffled by the ending; it seemed somewhat contrived.
Home on the Range
Not as good as some of the others in the past three features, but better than the first two of the decade. Essentially, it's just a little charming piece of fluff and shouldn't be compared to the likes of
Beauty and the Beast.
Chicken Little
What a clunker. This film simultaneously tries to be a father-and-son picture à la
Finding Nemo, a fractured fairy-tale à la
Shrek and a funny alien piece à la
Lilo and Stitch. However, in the process, it appears schizophrenic and contrived. Say what you like, but the comment by an animator at Disney comparing the entry of John Lassetter to the fall of the Berlin Wall is understandable in this case.
Chicken Little is a reason why NOT to let executives fashion a film.
Meet the Robinsons
Very good. Shame that it didn't do that well at the box office as it really was a fun little film. It raised my hopes for CG films made at Disney.
Bolt
Certainly a charming little film. I don't know whether it would have been better or worse in the Chris Sanders version, but it's certainly quite fun in this form.
And as
The Princess and the Frog has yet to open in the UK (and will probably only be on for three weeks at most
), I can't comment on that. Overall, the decade has been a mixed bag, and I can understand why some people may be disappointed, but I'm not going to be reactionary and call it a "dark age", as that would demerit the good that has been produced. To be fair, I really think that only really the Walt-era brought about consistently excellent/very good films (with the possible exception of 1943-9, and even then it's only a possible exception); even in the 90s, there's some lesser points (the gargoyles in
The Hunchback of Notre Dame and the soap-opera nature of
Pocahontas are questionable). Anyway, I'll shut up now.
This is clearly my opinion; so I'm sorry if I offend anybody 
