DVDizzy Forum

Disney Geek wrote:Well Beauty and the Beast is in my top five, but The Rescuers is in my top ten, and The Lion King isn't on my list

Hmm... I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt.

Seriously, what I'm pleasantly surprised about, is how consistently high Lilo & Stitch ranks on so many lists.

Goliath wrote:
Seriously, what I'm pleasantly surprised about, is how consistently high Lilo & Stitch ranks on so many lists.

They probably put it up out fear of you. They're probably scare of you and scare that you will eat their brains if they didn't oblige to your demands.

I tried my best but would have to watch them all in one sitting to give a proper ranking:

01. Aladdin
02. Lilo & Stitch
03. The Little Mermaid
04. Cinderella
05. Fantasia
06. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
07. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
08. The Emperor's New Groove
09. One Hundred and One Dalmatians
10. Tarzan
11. Mulan
12. Bambi
13. Pinocchio
14. Peter Pan
15. Lady and the Tramp
16. Beauty and the Beast
17. The Lion King
18. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
19. Fantasia 2000
20. Rapunzel

No surprises here

Goliath wrote:

Disney Geek wrote:Well Beauty and the Beast is in my top five, but The Rescuers is in my top ten, and The Lion King isn't on my list

Hmm... I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt.

The benefit of a doubt?

But my list is on page 3...

Dr Frankenollie wrote:Bambi is style over substance (although I still respect its animation and really like parts of it);

No, it's not.But let's not argue about it here. For now, let's say we have differing opinions.

Dr Frankenollie wrote:while I like Cinderella, I think its extreme amount of filler partially spoils it;

I recently wrote how it's amount of filler is not "extreme" and Sleeping Beauty may have much more filler, that spoils it.

As for the rest, I think it was still weird (but still an interesting technique)to just try to make some unappreciated films go higher, and over-appreciated ones lower, and I also feel the reasons you say the other puzzling choices you have are so good do not really say they are better than the other choices you had lower than them or admitted altogether. However, you defended yourself and for now I just have to accept that or we would be taking up too much space going over every DAC!

I guess your discussion of Winnie the Pooh makes sense. You do really like humor in films.

Goliath wrote:Oh? Would I be a fan of Disney's if I didn't like "heartwarming cuddly stuff"? Most Disney films contain that in one form or another.

Winnie the Pooh is a kind of heartwarming I don't think is found in any Disney film and I would say it's all emotion over any kind of intellectual stuff so I thought you wouldn't like it at all.

Goliath wrote:Oh, and The Rescuers should be in everybody's top 10.

I don't think it's that good but I have started thing it may really be better than the Rescuers Down Under after I and many others have often thought the opposite. I'd have to watch them back to back though. And unfortunately The Rescuers still has this...muggy feeling to it, if you know what I mean.

Disney Geek wrote:The benefit of a doubt?

But my list is on page 3...

I know. But... I wanted to make a joke, you see... and thus... never mind, my humor obviously sucks.

Edit: and my typing skills, too.

^ ^ ^

I was joking myself, but I guess the raspberry emotiocon would have been better than the winking one

I’ve never made a favorites list for the simple reason that there are so many I like about equally. This list really doesn’t feel ordered right, and perhaps there are one or two that shouldn’t be on it altogether. But it’s the best I can do without writing lists and analyzing the films and watching them all over again, which I don’t intend to do.

1. The Fox and the Hound (take that!)
2. The Lion King
3. Mulan
4. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
5. Beauty and the Beast
6. Treasure Planet
7. Alice in Wonderland
8. Peter Pan
9. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
10. The Emperor’s New Groove
11. Tangled
12. Bolt
13. The Jungle Book
14. Cinderella
15. Tarzan
16. The Princess and the Frog
17. Oliver and Company
18. Fantasia 2000
19. Brother Bear
20. The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Disney Duster wrote:And unfortunately The Rescuers still has this...muggy feeling to it, if you know what I mean.

I think I know what you mean, although that's not exactly a bad thing for me. Do you mean the overall fuzzy vibe of the animation and languid songs? And how dark the lighting usually is? If that's not what you mean, I'm curious. It's a very interesting way to describe a movie.

There's still a little over a week to post your votes, so keep em coming people!

We should get at least 100 votes!!

Linden wrote:

Disney Duster wrote:And unfortunately The Rescuers still has this...muggy feeling to it, if you know what I mean.

I think I know what you mean, although that's not exactly a bad thing for me. Do you mean the overall fuzzy vibe of the animation and languid songs? And how dark the lighting usually is? If that's not what you mean, I'm curious. It's a very interesting way to describe a movie.

I suppose all those things contribute to it, but generally when I watched the film it had this...feeling, like a depressing thick fog that made everything in it rather slow and un-exciting. It has really good stuff in it but unfortunatley the thing is very sombre...and not the good kind of dramatic sombre, but a kind of sombre that is rather off-putting and makes me not want to watch the film and see that good stuff. I hate to say it but I mean the dull, gloomy kind of sombre.

But now that you mention it, any films with the sketchy animation have a touch of that to me, except I think somehow the Sword in the Stone livens it up enough. 101 Dalmatians is also livelier.

I don't think I'm explaining it well, I was hoping people would know what I meant the first time. But now that I think about it there's something depressing about the films from Jungle Book to The Great Mouse Detective. A depressing tone that may be part of why the films are considered "the dark ages" of Disney. But the Rescuers I find to be marred by this feeling the most, aside from it having some great quality things in it that are worth seeing.

Linden, your list is the most intruiging and most surprising thus far. It really stands out from all the other lists.

Disney Duster, I agree only partly with your assesment of The Rescuers. Yes, it obviously has a dark and gloomy atmosphere that gels well with the story. But to say it's dull...? Not at all. Sure, it's not the spectacular, style-over-substance, CGI-filled adventure story that is the sequel, but dull it is not. Just take that one sequence in which Penny is forced back into the cave by Medusa to find the diamond and she almost drowns. That's full of suspense; it has a kind of 'race against the clock' feeling to it. This little kid is really put in harms way there. There's a lot of funny moments, too, espcially with the interactions between Medusa and Snoops, but also with Orville. I think what you mistake for gloomy or dull, is the many moments of contemplation the movie offers, as a way to develop the main characters. Bernard and Bianca at one point doubt they could actually help Penny, asking themselves: "what can two little mice do?" I missed those moments in the sequel.

I think you have a thing for the lush (sometimes overdone) animation of the Disney Classics from the 1940's and 1950's and the 1990's. And to a certain extent, you're right. Animation in The Aristocats wasn't that great and Robin Hood is not so good at all. But to say those are sombre films? They're all about fun, fun, fun! Even a bit too much, if you ask me, because they lack heart and warmth. I get that Fox and the Hound, Black Cauldron and Great Mouse Detective have that gloomy feeling: the first two due to the nature of their stories and the last one due to its environment (foggy and rainy London, mostly by night). But if you like classic lush Disney animation, you should like Black Cauldron, which was beautifully animated.

The term 'Dark Age' doesn't mean much to me anymore. Yes, those films didn't have as much succes as their predecessors and successors and Disney's reputation was in a rot, but a lot can be nuanced here, since I believe Robin Hood did well at the box office and The Rescuers was even a modest hit. The Black Cauldron could have been the big revival, at least that was what the animators were hoping for and it sure has potential. What strikes me about the 1980's, is that Disney dared to do lots of different things; they were experimental and were not afraid to think outside the box. In a way, it's more interesting than the 'safe' 1990's.

Goliath wrote:What strikes me about the 1980's, is that Disney dared to do lots of different things; they were experimental and were not afraid to think outside the box. In a way, it's more interesting than the 'safe' 1990's.

Agreed 110%, it's something I've felt for awhile now, especially when you compare the live-action movies too, but even animation alone is a good way to the show contrast. Looking at just the five 80s DAC you see different drawing styles, settings, storytelling methods and approaches that show a much more varied output than the post Mermaid movies. It's part of the reason why I find the 80s the most interesting time in the company's history. Just think about the differences between "Walt Disney Productions" of 1980 with "The Walt Disney Company" of 1989 and you'll see what I mean.

Goliath wrote:Linden, your list is the most intruiging and most surprising thus far. It really stands out from all the other lists.

And your response is equally surprising. I thought for sure you would argue against it. But thank you. I do like to think I stand out.

I know it seems like I chose many of Disney fans' least favorite films along with a smattering of their most beloved films. I tried to choose them not on the basis of critical acclaim or popularity, but on the ones that stick out to me the most. So, basically the ones I like the best. There are some that I think would have made the list, but I haven't seen them in a long time (Lilo & Stitch and The Rescuers among them).

Linden wrote:And your response is equally surprising. I thought for sure you would argue against it. But thank you. I do like to think I stand out.

Well, obviously I don't agree with it at all. I don't understand why anyone would put The Fox and the Hound, of all the Classics, at no. 1 and I also don't see how Bolt and Treasure Planet made the top 20... But then again, I don't *have* to understand. It's your list, isn't it? I can't really argue preferences, even if I wanted to. Your taste is a bit unconventional, but at the same time, that's also refreshing!

Okay, here's my list. These are definitely my favourite 20, but the ordering is a bit tentative.

1. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
2. Mulan
3. Lilo and Stitch
4. Alice in Wonderland
5. Aladdin
6. The Little Mermaid
7. Beauty and the Beast
8. Tangled
9. The Sword in the Stone
10. Hercules
11. Pocahontas
12. The Lion King
13. Sleeping Beauty
14. Oliver and Company
15. Pinocchio
16. Fantasia
17. The Jungle Book
18. Cinderella
19. Robin Hood
20. One Hundred and One Dalmatians

Goliath wrote:Well, obviously I don't agree with it at all. I don't understand why anyone would put The Fox and the Hound, of all the Classics, at no. 1 and I also don't see how Bolt and Treasure Planet made the top 20... But then again, I don't *have* to understand. It's your list, isn't it? I can't really argue preferences, even if I wanted to. Your taste is a bit unconventional, but at the same time, that's also refreshing!

I like talking about The Fox and the Hound. I think it's the best mainly because it's about strong characters in a complicated situation. There is no bad guy, and there are conflicting motivations. It is one of the few Disney movies (or the only?) that focuses on how growing up changes people and shows the fragility of friendship (even though all the commercials say it's about the power of friendship, which it is, too). It stands up on its own without a purely bad character, without a romance-centric plot, and even without a mystery. It's a character-driven movie, unique in the canon.

You have a point with Bolt, though. I wasn't sure I was going to put that one in or not. I might end up changing it, because it lacks in the creativity department. Treasure Planet stays, though, for almost the same reasons as TFatH.

Just in case someone takes this the wrong way, I'm not arguing. I just like discussing my favorite movies (especially when they're Disney).

Treasure Planet absolutely bores me to tears. I had to watch it three times before I got through the whole thing

That's how I feel about The Sword in the Stone and Bambi, although, admittedly, I haven't seen Bambi in a long time. Also, for the latter, "bores me to sleep" would be more appropriate. I feel like such a lowbrow saying that.

^^^

Bambi is, like Frankenollie once said, all style over substance, so I totally get what you're saying (the same goes for Fantasia, by the way). The Sword in the Stone actually is an easy movie to get through, because it has a fast pacing, a light tone and is mostly about humurous situations.

^ I feel the same. I really have to be in the right mood to get through Bambi.