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Have you ever seen a movie made by another studio that felt like it could have been a Disney movie in their golden age? Let's share...


Hands down, Night at the Museum is the best Disney movie Disney never madew. It's the kind of film nearly all family films from the mid 90's on tried to be and failed. The Haunted Mansion should have been this fun!

Star Wars (1977) has always felt like it's a film Disney should have made. Back to the Future and Harry & the Hendersons too.

I won't hog them all, any takers?

I loved Night at the Museum. I'll have to think about my favorite, however.

I was actually quite shocked at how good Night at the Museum is. I was expecting the typical Jumangi/Haunted Masion/Cats & Dogs/Santa Clause sequel/Home Alone wanna be drek and got a film that may very well be the best family film of that type I've seen since the 80's. Everything you hope for in a film happened and in the deleted scenes you see that everything that shouldn't have happened did. What a grand surprise! Let's hope they make more films of this calibur in the years to come!

I guess I'm the only one that thinks Night at the Museum was a major let down. I found it to be poorly acted (can't stand Stiller) and riddled with bad dialog. Not to mention I didn't find it to be the least bit humorous.

That being said, it's funny that this thread should be made as I just recently saw Happy Feet and voiced this very opinion about it. Maybe it was the singing....I don't know I just got a little Disney vibe from it.

In terms of animation, I love Dreamworks Sinbad movie.

In terms of family movies, I agree with the above poster about Star Wars, and I think George Lucas, is in many ways, the modern day Walt Disney. A technological innovator who has transformed the film and entertainment industry. I guess it's no co-incidence that Lucas properties are prominent in Disney Parks around the world.

i'm not sure if people might thing of it like quote on quote "disney" but i think Shrek and Shrek 2. I also love Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. (Tim Burton's).

one of my BIGGEST and weirdest pet peeves is when people confuse non-disney movies for disney movies. i always go "no.. it's not disney" and then they look at me weird. and it goes silent. believe it or not my people skills aren't THAT horrible all the time.

back on topic. the shrek movies and any family-ish tim burton movie.
everything else is just a desperate attempt to be better and winds up worse.

UncleEd wrote:Have you ever seen a movie made by another studio that felt like it could have been a Disney movie in their golden age?

From the 1980s, movies like The NeverEnding Story and D.A.R.Y.L. comes to mind (hey, both also starred Barret Oliver!). Also, I thought the movie The Dust Factory was rather Disney-esque.

And Ridley Scott's Legend was inspired by several films, and notably among those films were Disney's own Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, and Bambi. I wouldn't really consider Legend to be one of those "best Disney movies Disney never made", bu it comes close.

Escapay

With the aforementioned Lucasfilm productions, I think the following could all have something of that Disney magic about them.


Back to the Future.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Ella Enchanted.
E.T.
Forrest Gump.
Ghostbusters.
Gremlins.
Hook.
Jumanji.
Peter Pan (live action).
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
Short Circuit.
Two Brothers.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

I think the Superman films (well, 3 of them at least), Spider-Man and Star Trek are great family films, but as they are big franchises, I'd tend not to include them in this grouping.

I know I've gone with Star Wars and Indy, but as I said, I think George Lucas has a lot in common with Walt Disney as a great visionary and innovator in the industry.

Oh, and if we're being picky, and claiming Pixar are nothing to do with Disney - I suppose we should throw in all the Pixar films to that list too.

"Ella Enchanted", but it's a Miramax film, so it really is a Disney film (heck, the DMC sells it). I really like that film, and it has a very Disney feel to it.

Night at the Museum? Ye Gods, I hope not. That film was average at best. It seemed content to carry a $100M+ budget on stars "doing their thing" which frankly doesn't cut the mustard for me. I expect more (Not that improvisation is inherently bad, but it needs discipline too, and ruthless editing).

I'd probably say (with a little help from IMDB.Com)

It's A Wonderful Life
Field of Dreams
Scrooged

the most recent film I can think of is

Big Fish

I'm not a big Ben Stiller fan either but I saw him in a supporting role to all the wonder of the museum. I couldn't get over how well executed that film was.


I was kind of disappointed by Ella Enchanted. It was too contemporary for my taste.

Scrooged? Really? That would be more of a Touchtone than a Disney label for me.

I think Charlie and he Chocolate Factory is Tim Burton's attempt at a Disney film. In some ways I like it better than the older film but in most areas I prefer the older to the remake.


What's Dust Factory? Never heard of it.

Night at the Museun Sort of felt like it should've been a Disney movie, but it felt more like a Universal/Dreamworks movie.

I'm suprised no one's brought up any animated stuff yet.

The only one I can think of in that category off the top of my head is Anastasia. Can you imagine how often this is mistaken as a Disney film?? I think Don Bluth may have purposely taken that approach when he made this film. I dont think any of the other Don Bluth animated films get more Disney-ish than Anastasia.

Live action films, especially during Walt's era would be much harder to identify as those types, but I agree that Chitty Chitty Bang Bang could be one (Willy Wonka? not so much). Sometimes I think The Wizard of Oz (1939). I'm glad that Disney didnt make that film though. That film was released only a couple of years after Snow White and back then Disney magic was still developing though not as much.

What about Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone & Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets? I dont think any of the other HP films after that would have that sort of Disney-esh flavor cuz the films get darker every time.

What about Titanic?

Anastasia
Thumbelina
An American Tail
Sinbad

I love Thumbelina!!!

Anastasia definitely, i love the story and her personality very disney-like which brings to me to her voice and the way she sings.

I like Anastasia's....soundtrack. Mm-hmm. Ella Enchanted was a fun movie, but it deviated too far from the book for my tastes. Areida, my favorite character - and the closest to the Prue archetype, was so different from how she was in the book.

The Back to the Future films are among my favorite movies ever.

I absolutely agree about Anastasia. It's one of my favorite animated films and certainly has a Disney feel to it. On the live action side, I'd have to say Babe is the first one that comes to my mind. It's one of my all-time favorite films and definitely has that feel of Disney magic throughout. I was disappointed, but not really surprised, that it didn't win the Best Picture award.

Anastasia
Thumbelina
The Swan Princess
FernGully: The Last Rainforest
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang