Rank the Big Four, with a twist!
Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2023 5:24 am
We all have our favorite movies, but I'm certain that there are some elements of them you're not so fond of and/or find their equivalents in other movies to be stronger. In other words, the love you have for a movie as a whole may not always translate into love for all of its individual parts. Because the Big Four are considered the pinnacle of Disney animation in the '90s and they all ended up having similar media/pop-culture trajectories, I thought, hey, why don't we rank them on those key aspects they have in common?
The categories to be ranked:
- hero/heroine - protagonist
- hero/heroine - deuteragonist
- villain
- sidekicks
- intro / opening sequence
- climax / end battle
- songs
- score
- sequels
- TV show(s)
- Broadway show
- remake
- overall movie
This is just for fun but depending on how many replies this gets, I may eventually assign each movie a weighted average, just to see how each of them stands. You're welcome to add additional comments to your rankings, but you can also just list them without explaining anything further. Happy ranking and, if possible, try to avoid ties.
I'll begin...
Hero/heroine - protagonist:
(Note: potentially debatable opinion right off the bat, but even though Belle and the Beast share the billing and screentime, the film is often framed as Belle's story in marketing and Disney Princess merchandise. I feel it's actually the Beast's story more and that he's the one with a full character arc, hence why I chose him as the protagonist.)
1. BatB - the Beast
2. Aladdin - Aladdin
3. TLM - Ariel
4. TLK - Simba
Hero/heroine - deuteragonist:
1. Aladdin - Jasmine
2. BatB - Belle
3. TLM - Eric
4. TLK - Nala
Villain:
1. TLM - Ursula
2. Aladdin - Jafar
3. TLK - Scar
4. BatB - Gaston
Sidekicks:
1. Aladdin - Genie, Iago, Magic Carpet, Abu
2. BatB - Lumiere, Mrs. Potts, Cogsworth, Chip, LeFou
3. TLM - Sebastian, Scuttle, Flounder, Flotsam, Jetsam
4. TLK - Timon, Pumbaa, Zazu, Shenzi, Banzai, Ed
Intro / opening sequence:
1. TLM -- I had a hard time choosing between the top two. BatB's is gorgeous, perfectly sets the mood for the rest of the tale, and it's a quintessential fairytale opening. However, there's just something purely magical about TLM's with the way music builds up, we're shown these mysterious figures swimming, and then comes that dazzling shot of King Triton's castle accompanied by the booming score. It's a breathtaking introduction to a completely new world.
2. BatB
3. TLK
4. Aladdin
Climax / end battle:
1. Aladdin -- even though it features swordfights and spells, I like that in the end it turns out to be a battle of wits. I always thought the way Jafar was defeated was super clever.
2. BatB
3. TLM
4. TLK
Songs:
1. TLM
2. BatB
3. Aladdin
4. TLK
Score:
1. BatB
2. TLK
3. Aladdin
4. TLM
Sequels:
1. Aladdin
2. TLK
3. BatB
4. TLM
The bottom two are ranked mainly on how much I enjoyed The Enchanted Christmas and disliked Ariel's Beginning. The other two (Return to the Sea and Belle's Magical World) I kind of hold in the same regard, even though objectively RttS is a better movie.
TV show(s):
1. Aladdin
2. TLM
3. TLK -- not a huge fan of Timon and Pumbaa, and I've only seen a few episodes of their show. Same for The Lion Guard, cute but not my thing.
4. BatB -- I've only seen one or two Sing Me a Story with Belle episodes, the ones that were released on VHS back in the '90s and I though they kinda sucked. I used to think it was a shame BatB didn't get a "proper" animated show, but looking at Belle's Magical World, I'm glad it didn't.
Broadway show:
(I've only seen the Aladdin show properly; BatB was a local community theater production only based on the Broadway show and therefore didn't have the luxury of Broadway's fancy costumes and stage design. I'll be seeing TLK next month.)
1. Aladdin
2. BatB
3.
4.
Remake:
1. Aladdin
2. TLM
3. BatB
4. TLK
Overall movie:
1. BatB
2. Aladdin
3. TLM
4. TLK
The categories to be ranked:
- hero/heroine - protagonist
- hero/heroine - deuteragonist
- villain
- sidekicks
- intro / opening sequence
- climax / end battle
- songs
- score
- sequels
- TV show(s)
- Broadway show
- remake
- overall movie
This is just for fun but depending on how many replies this gets, I may eventually assign each movie a weighted average, just to see how each of them stands. You're welcome to add additional comments to your rankings, but you can also just list them without explaining anything further. Happy ranking and, if possible, try to avoid ties.
I'll begin...
Hero/heroine - protagonist:
(Note: potentially debatable opinion right off the bat, but even though Belle and the Beast share the billing and screentime, the film is often framed as Belle's story in marketing and Disney Princess merchandise. I feel it's actually the Beast's story more and that he's the one with a full character arc, hence why I chose him as the protagonist.)
1. BatB - the Beast
2. Aladdin - Aladdin
3. TLM - Ariel
4. TLK - Simba
Hero/heroine - deuteragonist:
1. Aladdin - Jasmine
2. BatB - Belle
3. TLM - Eric
4. TLK - Nala
Villain:
1. TLM - Ursula
2. Aladdin - Jafar
3. TLK - Scar
4. BatB - Gaston
Sidekicks:
1. Aladdin - Genie, Iago, Magic Carpet, Abu
2. BatB - Lumiere, Mrs. Potts, Cogsworth, Chip, LeFou
3. TLM - Sebastian, Scuttle, Flounder, Flotsam, Jetsam
4. TLK - Timon, Pumbaa, Zazu, Shenzi, Banzai, Ed
Intro / opening sequence:
1. TLM -- I had a hard time choosing between the top two. BatB's is gorgeous, perfectly sets the mood for the rest of the tale, and it's a quintessential fairytale opening. However, there's just something purely magical about TLM's with the way music builds up, we're shown these mysterious figures swimming, and then comes that dazzling shot of King Triton's castle accompanied by the booming score. It's a breathtaking introduction to a completely new world.
2. BatB
3. TLK
4. Aladdin
Climax / end battle:
1. Aladdin -- even though it features swordfights and spells, I like that in the end it turns out to be a battle of wits. I always thought the way Jafar was defeated was super clever.
2. BatB
3. TLM
4. TLK
Songs:
1. TLM
2. BatB
3. Aladdin
4. TLK
Score:
1. BatB
2. TLK
3. Aladdin
4. TLM
Sequels:
1. Aladdin
2. TLK
3. BatB
4. TLM
The bottom two are ranked mainly on how much I enjoyed The Enchanted Christmas and disliked Ariel's Beginning. The other two (Return to the Sea and Belle's Magical World) I kind of hold in the same regard, even though objectively RttS is a better movie.
TV show(s):
1. Aladdin
2. TLM
3. TLK -- not a huge fan of Timon and Pumbaa, and I've only seen a few episodes of their show. Same for The Lion Guard, cute but not my thing.
4. BatB -- I've only seen one or two Sing Me a Story with Belle episodes, the ones that were released on VHS back in the '90s and I though they kinda sucked. I used to think it was a shame BatB didn't get a "proper" animated show, but looking at Belle's Magical World, I'm glad it didn't.
Broadway show:
(I've only seen the Aladdin show properly; BatB was a local community theater production only based on the Broadway show and therefore didn't have the luxury of Broadway's fancy costumes and stage design. I'll be seeing TLK next month.)
1. Aladdin
2. BatB
3.
4.
Remake:
1. Aladdin
2. TLM
3. BatB
4. TLK
Overall movie:
1. BatB
2. Aladdin
3. TLM
4. TLK