Rank the "Experimental era" 2000-2008 movies

[The Disneynerd]

Hey disney besties
since Farerb did this cool topic of Ranking the princess movies, I thought it would be also fun to Rank the Experimental era, since as the title suggests is extremely unique and every movie is so destinctive and outstanding, so that would make it so interesting to rank them.
Excited to see your results!

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picture credits: https://www.deviantart.com/jurassicwarr ... -941603300

[carolinakid]

1. Fantasia 2000
2. The Emperor’s New Groove
3. Home on the Range
4. Lilo and Stitch
5. Treasure Planet
6. Bolt
7. Atlantis
8. Chicken Little
9. Brother Bear
10. Meet the Robinsons

I never saw Dinosaur and had no desire to.
I actually don’t consider it canon as I believe it was actually added later to the list to make another film a special number (75th DAC or something similar).

[VanessaFan]

1. Treasure Planet: My second favorite Disney Animated Classic movie after The Little Mermaid. It's such a great movie and I LOVE the character of Jim Hawkins! He's just great! The bond between Jim and Silver are gold! The endning when they part ways never fails to make me cry, the same goes for the song "I'm Still Here". I can really relate to Jim! One thing I'd change though, is the setting. Instead of space, I'd set the story at sea, with regular pirates and bullies as Silver's crew. I hate the design of the pirate crew. But still, a great movie!

2. Lilo & Stitch: Another favorite of mine, one that also makes me cry! I adore Stitch, I even have him tattooed on my arm! Lilo is a great character as well.

3. The Emperor's New Groove: The funniest Disney movie of them all! Yzma is my favorite character! She's freakin' hilarious! This movie never fails to make me laugh! I know the humor ain't for everyone, but I find it extremely funny! WAY better than the humor in Tangled, that's for sure!

4. Atlantis: The Lost Empire: Another great action flick by Disney. Very underrated, for sure. I love the characters of Milo and Kida. They're great! And Commander Lyle Rourke is a great villain. Also, Wilhelmina Bertha Packard is funny as heck, with her dry sense of humor!

5. Fantasia 2000: I love this movie, even though it can't beat the original Fantasia. It still has some great sequences, with Rhapsody in Blue being my favorite!

6. Home on the Range: An nice little movie, it's one I can put on in the background if I'm working on Fanpop. It has a great score and a rather funny story.

7. Brother Bear: Not really a favorite of mine, it's okay. But I don't watch it very often.

8. Meet the Robinsons: Now, we're in the "Gosh-I-haven't-seen-this-movie-in-a-very-long-time" period. I remember liking it, somewhat.

9. Bolt: Another one where it's been ages since I saw it! But I do remember I liked the character of Bolt and the cat.

10. Dinosaur: I really can't remembe this movie! Might be time for a rewatch on this one.

11. Chicken Little: The Sky Is Falling and so was this movie. But I do remember I liked the fish character somewhat.

[PatchofBlue]

1. Lilo & Stitch
2. Treasure Planet
3. The Emperor's New Groove
4. Atlantis: The Lost Empire
5. Fantasia 2000
6. Brother Bear
7. Meet the Robinsons
8. Bolt
9. Dinosaur
10. Home on the Range
11. Chicken Little

10 & 11 are the only bad ones, I'd say. Dinosaur is just kind of bland. Beyond that, this wasn't a terrible era of Disney, though Lilo & Stitch is probably the only "classic" among them.

Movies like Treasure Planet and Atlantis have a lot going for them, but they suffer from telling too big a story in an 85 minute runtime. Too much ambition isn't the worst crime, but it does still factor in to the final score.

Brother Bear was probably my favorite of these films back when I living through this era as a kid, and I still think there's a lot to love about it (I think I love the transformation sequence more today than I had the capacity to back then), but I think there are things about this story that work well on paper that don't in execution.

Rewatched Fantasia 2000 for the first time in some seven years only a week or two ago. I think some segments are stronger than others, but when it works, it really works.

[Farerb]

1. Fantasia 2000
2. The Emperor's New Groove
3. Treasure Planet
4. Lilo & Stitch
5. Atlantis: The Lost Empire
6. Home on the Range
7. Brother Bear
8. Bolt
9. Dinosaur
10. Meet the Robinsons
11. Chicken Little

[Vlad]

Farerb, our rankings are very similar. Here's mine

1. Fantasia 2000
2. The Emperor's New Groove
3. Lilo & Stitch
4. Bolt
5. Home on the Range
6. Brother Bear
7. Dinosaur
8. Atlantis
9. Treasure Planet
10. Chicken Little
11. Meet the Robinsons

[The Disneynerd]

My ranking:

Perfect and endlessly rewatchable (1-2)
1. Lilo and Stitch
2. The Emperors New Groove
Both are really great and I really love them almost equally, but L&S is only slightly above tENG because it has more heart and message, and also I love Lilo, Stitch, Nani and Pleakley more than most characters aside from Kuzco of course, but ENG is clearly way more funny and witty. Both are the best of the Experimental era imo. They are the most unique ones with their concepts and main characters! I revisit both gems atleast once every year. Classics.

Really Good and enjoyable (3-5)
3. Atlantis
4. Brother Bear
5. Treasure Planet
Atlantis was also great but I just find it hard to get into sci fi (never watched any Star Wars things), same goes for TP. Lilo and Stitch however doesn’t feel like a scifi movie as 75% of the movie takes place on earth and the scifi part is more like the sideplot. Brother Bear feels the most grounded and classic among all of the movies. There is not that much going on in the movie, but it still has really great characters to root for.

Just good or ok  (6-9)
6. Bolt
7. Meet the Robinsons
8. Home on the Range
9. Chicken Little
Bolt was one of my childhood ones that I rewatched constantly, its a cute story and I like Bolt, Mittens and Rhino. Also im obsessed with "I thought I lost you" the song never gets old. In MtR, I really like how they handled the main plottwists with Goob, and the family. Also Goob is one of my fav characters out of this era, i feel so bad for him. They feel more organic that they dont impact the excitement or flow of the rest of the movie, like Zootopias or Big Hero 6s plottwists that only really work the first time watching them. I dont think HotR is actually bad, its just not that outstanding.Chicken Little however is tho. A really weird quirky movie that is still enjoyable, but has not alot of soul. I wish they did more with the heart of the movie with the relationship between the Chicken and his dad.

Hard to rewatch (10 -11)
10. Fantasia 2000
11. Dinosaur
Most of Fantasia 2000s shorts are actually really good, especially the Noahs Arc one, Rhapsody in blue and the Tin Soldier, but the movie as a whole? Not really that alluring. Im not a fan of sitting 2 hours forcing myself to watch multiple shorts, same goes for the other package films. Sometimes I only rewatch specific shorts from them again and skip the others. Personally I think they would do better as standalone shorts. Also Dinosaur feels really bland and im NOT a fan of Dinos in general.

1. Fantasia 2000

1. Fantasia 2000

1. Fantasia 2000

WOW thats really interesting that most of you were putting Fantasia 2000 on top! Do you have specific segments that you really adore or do you like the Orchestrical concept or something else? Im Really curious how it surpasses all the other flicks guys

One thing I'd change though, is the setting. Instead of space, I'd set the story at sea, with regular pirates and bullies as Silver's crew.

I think this would have really made it so much more timeless and rewatchable! I fully agree!


Its a FACT. I automatically have to grin during the whole flick. Every character is so likeable, including Yzma! But "Snuff out the light" alone makes me want to enter an alternative universe where KotS got made instead, this one would have been Disneys spin on "The Prince and the Pauper" i suppose. But im still grateful for the breath of fresh comedic air we got instead.

Brother Bear was probably my favorite of these films back when I living through this era as a kid, and I still think there's a lot to love about it (I think I love the transformation sequence more today than I had the capacity to back then), but I think there are things about this story that work well on paper that don't in execution.

I also love the magical sequences! but what do you think could have been slightly improved? My guess would be the reindeer things as they were fun but didnt really serve the plot.

The endning when they part ways never fails to make me cry, the same goes for the song "I'm Still Here"

thats also one of the Highlights for me! Im glad they didnt fully redeem Silver and make him his new Stepdad/ father figure. Felt more real this way. Also I have a thing for bittersweet endings

Rewatched Fantasia 2000 for the first time in some seven years only a week or two ago. I think some segments are stronger than others, but when it works, it really works.

The weakest one for me was the one about the whales. It was also a bit disappointing that they reused Sorcerer Mickey from the 1st Fantasia. But I also havent seen it as a whole since 2019 or 2020. I think i need to rewatch it to see if my taste has changed in any way. Same goes for MtR, Dinos and Bolt. However I saw the rest of the list in like 2022-23, so no need to rewatch any time soon.

[PatchofBlue]

I also love the magical sequences! but what do you think could have been slightly improved? My guess would be the reindeer things as they were fun but didnt really serve the plot.

I think Rut and Tuke could have maybe been fine tuned a little more, but they don't really bother me that much.

I was mostly thinking about the entire storybeat of Koda finding out that Kenai literally killed his mother and then being fine with it some five minutes later. That clearly serves a strong thematic point for Kenai's character--it's a really strong way to impress on him that his reckless disregard for life does have an impact--but that's a crazy thing to just drop on a ten-year-old. While a lot of films in and out of Disney tend to have characters processing traumatic events really quick just for narrative utility, the fact that Koda will go to bat for Kenai the same day he learns that he freaking drove a spear through his mother's heart just does not feel natural to me. I don't even know if it's that it was too heavy for a Disney movie specifically or if it would just need like a complete change in genre altogether. Again, it's a storypoint that serves a clear purpose, which is why I say it works in concept, but the movie is just NOT prepared to really unpack the reality of that situation.

The weakest one for me was the one about the whales. It was also a bit disappointing that they reused Sorcerer Mickey from the 1st Fantasia.

Oh, the Pines of Rome is one of my favorites in all of Fantasia-dom. I just think the image of flying whales is so majestic.

And I'm personally fine with them reusing one segment to provide that sort of continuity between Fantasia films, especially their most iconic.

[The Disneynerd]

I was mostly thinking about the entire storybeat of Koda finding out that Kenai literally killed his mother and then being fine with it some five minutes later. That clearly serves a strong thematic point for Kenai's character--it's a really strong way to impress on him that his reckless disregard for life does have an impact--but that's a crazy thing to just drop on a ten-year-old. While a lot of films in and out of Disney tend to have characters processing traumatic events really quick just for narrative utility, the fact that Koda will go to bat for Kenai the same day he learns that he freaking drove a spear through his mother's heart just does not feel natural to me. I don't even know if it's that it was too heavy for a Disney movie specifically or if it would just need like a complete change in genre altogether. Again, it's a storypoint that serves a clear purpose, which is why I say it works in concept, but the movie is just NOT prepared to really unpack the reality of that situation.

Ok now that you adressed this, thats a really good point! Never thought of it before. I think it still slightly worked because Kenai was aside from his mother probably the (only and) closest person in Kodas Life and that he also later on learns that his mother isnt really gone as he reunites with her at the end. Also it helped that Kenai chose to return as a Bear because Koda needs him, something he probably wouldnt have done if he still had his mother, so Koda also saw how important he was to Kenai for sacrificing his human life. Maybe it could have worked better if Kenai got killed by his brother, going full circle and Koda realizing how much he needs Kenai or something and then getting revived through his human transformation, like in BatB. Koda had to forgive him either way for the happy ending. But you are still right, that has been solved way too quickly

[adamw92]

1. Lilo & Stitch
2. The Emperor’s New Groove
3. Treasure Planet
4. Atlantis: The Lost Empire
5. Chicken Little
6. Bolt
7. Dinosaur
8. Fantasia 2000
9. Home on the Range
10. Meet the Robinsons
11. Brother Bear

[D23ExpoVisitor25]

1. Meet the Robinsons
2. Treasure Planet
3. Lilo and Stitch
4. Fantasia 2000
5. The Emperor's New Groove
6. Atlantis: The Lost Empire
7. Bolt
8. Brother Bear
9. Dinosaur
10. Home on the Range
11. Chicken Little

[Disney's Divinity]

1. Treasure Planet
2. The Emperor's New Groove ~ Yzma and Kronk are so funny, and Kuzko is good sometimes, too.
3. Meet the Robinsons
4. Atlantis: The Lost Empire
5. Lilo & Stitch ~ I used to really dislike this movie for a long time. It's really only in the last 5 years or so that I came around to liking it. Lilo used to get on my nerves more when I was younger, I guess.
6. Fantasia 2000
7. Dinosaur ~ I always had a little more fondness for this than maybe it deserved because of Della Reese and the other older actress (my mind is blanking on the name, she's also in the Glenn Close Dalmatians remake as Nanny). Still, it's hard to look at at times and feels a bit like a Land Before Time ripoff as far as them looking for a green valley paradise after a natural disaster (but I do love TLBT).
8. Home On the Range ~ I like the animation and some of the songs even if the characters are mostly annoying.
9. Bolt ~ Probably more satisfying than HOTR, it's just uglier to look at--particularly Mittens for some reason. Bolt is actually cute at times.
10. Brother Bear
11. Chicken Little

[The Disneynerd]

5. Lilo & Stitch ~ I used to really dislike this movie for a long time. It's really only in the last 5 years or so that I came around to liking it. Lilo used to get on my nerves more when I was younger, I guess.

Yeah i can partly agree on that lol she was probably one of the weirdest characters but after countless rewatches her character turned out to be more real, including Nani and their sibling relationship. By the way when I was small I always thought Nani was her mother

7. Dinosaur ~ I always had a little more fondness for this than maybe it deserved because of Della Reese and the other older actress (my mind is blanking on the name, she's also in the Glenn Close Dalmatians remake as Nanny). Still, it's hard to look at at times and feels a bit like a Land Before Time ripoff as far as them looking for a green valley paradise after a natural disaster (but I do love TLBT).

do you mean Joan Plowright? I also really like Della Reese as I really adore "touched by an Angel", great hopeful series. Also Dinosaur had no chance to not be compared to tLbT, also my childhood movie.

Interesting that you topped your ranking with Meet the Robinsons, D23ExpoVisitor25!
Really cool Rankings guys! Thanks for participating