Back in 2013, before the release of Frozen, I did a retrospective on all of the major Disney animated
films that were collectively part of an era in the 90’s known as ‘The Disney
Renaissance’. During that period of time, the studio overcame a major slump that
it had been dealing with in the 80’s to produce numerous critical/commercial
darlings, from The Little Mermaid to Beauty and the Beast to Aladdin to The Lion King. That era ‘officially’ came to a close in 1999 with Tarzan. However, this then led into what
many consider to be another major slump for Disney’s animation division that
would affect them for most of the early 2000’s. However, instead of it
primarily being because of a rival studio or controversial behind-the-scenes
changes like it was in the 80’s, the big reason this time for the studio’s
rough patch was primarily due to the growing popularity of computer animated
films, which of course was originally kick-started by the company that would
ironically become one of Disney’s biggest partners, Pixar, who they ended up
buying in 2006 so that their partnership would continue indefinitely. But prior
to that acquisition, Disney’s 2-D animated features began to suffer heavily,
particularly from a commercial standpoint, during the first few years of the
new millennium. It got so bad that at one point the studio stopped producing
traditionally animated films for half a decade once they realized that they had
to catch up with the rest of the pack.
It wasn’t until the Pixar deal, which would also see Pixar’s
Ed Catmull and John Lasseter promoted to the roles of the Disney Animation’s
new President and Chief Creative Officer, respectively, that the studio finally
started to get back on track after their growing series of misfires. While they
have produced a few more traditionally animated feature films since then, Disney
Animation has now joined in on the computer animation business and while their
initial attempts weren’t that successful, the studio has fared much better in
recent years. Some are even arguing that, with the recent success Disney has
been having with films like Frozen, Tangled, and Big Hero 6, the studio is now entering a second ‘Disney Renaissance’,
or a ‘Revival’ period as some have put it. We’ll see what comes of that but for
now, in honor of the impending release of Disney Animation’s 55th
animated feature, Zootopia, here is
the second of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s Disney
Animation Retrospectives. Today we’ll be looking at the films that Disney
Animation has produced since the start of the 21st century. Some
tend to ignore most of the films that came out during the early stretch of this
era but I’d argue that there are some underrated gems (shall we say ‘diamonds
in the rough’) hidden amongst this lineup of films. There’s quite a lot of
films to cover this time around so let’s not waste any more time and look back
upon the Disney animated films of the noughties and 2010’s.
FANTASIA 2000 (1999)
(Note: While this is
technically regarded as a 1999 release, even though it wasn’t actually released
in theaters until 2000, I’m including it here because I didn’t include it in my
90’s ‘Disney Retrospective’, mainly because it’s not considered to be a part of
the ‘Disney Renaissance’.)
Walt Disney’s original plan for his 1940 classic Fantasia was to have it be re-released
every few years with new animated segments developed for it each time it
returned to theaters. However, the film performed poorly at the box-office upon
initial release, which effectively halted Walt’s vision despite the fact that
the film would eventually go on to become one of the most beloved Disney films
of all-time. But 60 years later, his vision was at last revived with Fantasia 2000, produced by his nephew
Roy E. Disney. Initially it debuted on January 1st, 2000 as an IMAX
exclusive, becoming the first feature-length animated film released in IMAX,
before seeing a wide release in traditional theaters later that year in June. I
didn’t get the chance to see the film in IMAX, which I bet would’ve been
amazing, nor was I able to see it when it was in theaters. But I did rent it
once on VHS (remember that?) many years ago back when Blockbuster was still a thing
(remember those?). Admittedly I didn’t watch the whole film back then but I
finally watched the complete film recently after watching the original Fantasia. And overall I must say that Fantasia 2000 is a solid follow-up to
its 1940 predecessor, though admittedly it has a few flaws. But the one major
advantage it has over the original Fantasia?
A more manageable run-time. That’s nothing against the original Fantasia or anything but that film had a
fairly hefty two-and-a-half-hour run-time (it was a road-show release, after
all) whereas Fantasia 2000 is only 75
minutes long, which I feel is a bit easier to handle for this kind of film.
However, the segments of this film are more of a mixed bag
compared to the previous Fantasia.
There are some really amazing segments in here, like the toe-tapping one set to
‘Rhapsody in Blue’, my personal favorite, that follows a bunch of people in New
York going about their daily lives and the strikingly animated ‘Firebird Suite’
sequence involving a sprite, an elk, and the fiery spirit that the piece is
named after. But then other segments like ‘Carnival of the Animals’, which
involves a flamingo playing with a yo-yo to the annoyance of the rest of his
flock, and ‘Pomp and Circumstance’ (AKA the song you always hear at graduation
ceremonies), which is basically just the story of Noah’s Ark featuring Donald
and Daisy Duck, while not ‘bad’ don’t really feel like they belong in a Fantasia film. Another criticism that
some have towards the film is its use of celebrity cameos to introduce all of
the major segments, including but not limited to Steve Martin, Bette Midler,
and Penn and Teller. By comparison, the first Fantasia had only one ‘presenter’, Deems Taylor, and yes it
definitely worked better in that film because of it instead of having different
people presenting each segment. But overall it didn’t really bother me as much
as it did other people, though I do understand where they’re coming from. In
short, Fantasia 2000 is by no means
as good as its predecessor, mostly due to more mixed results when it comes to
its segments. But overall it’s still a very fascinating film to watch that,
despite its flaws, still pays tribute to what Walt Disney did with the original
Fantasia and retools it for a new
generation. If you have kids, I actually recommend you show them this film
first because I feel it will help get them ready for when they eventually watch
the original Fantasia.
Rating: 3.5/5
DINOSAUR (2000)
I wanted to start this section off by showing you the first
trailer for this film in order to get you into the mindset of what it was like
for kids like me back when that trailer was released sometime in either late
1999 or early 2000. Similar to how Disney marketed The Lion King by putting the entire ‘Circle of Life’ opening
sequence in one of the trailers, this film’s original trailer showcased its
opening sequence, in which a group of dinosaurs are attacked by a Carnotaurus and
a sole Iguanodon egg is transported across the environment to the amazing score
by James Newton Howard. It’s definitely one of the most memorable trailers of
all-time, in my opinion. And while the final film may have been a bit of a step
down from what I think a lot of people were expecting, Dinosaur is still a very unique entry in the Disney canon. For one
thing, it was one of the studio’s first major attempts at computer animation
and the animation is pretty damn impressive for the time. The dinosaurs are
computer animated but the backgrounds were real locales in areas like
Venezuela. In a way, it’s sort of the precedent to the animation style of
Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur and it’s
easily the best part of the film, producing such a cool ‘photo-realistic’ look.
If you had no idea about this film and watched the trailer, you’d probably have
no idea that it’s actually just an animated film because you’d swear it was
real.
Though while the film definitely shines in terms of the
animation, its writing is bit more problematic. In short, it’s a rather simple rehash
of The Land Before Time in which
dinosaurs travel to a new suitable home, and as a result is rather bland in
terms of its story and characters. Some have also criticized the decision to
have the characters talk, a criticism that was also directed towards another
dinosaur film that was released more than a decade later, Walking with Dinosaurs. It doesn’t bother me that much but I do get
why it would be an issue with some people as it does sort of go against the
realistic nature of the animation. I should also point out that the decision to
give the dinosaurs voices was done by then-CEO of Disney Michael Eisner and,
without getting any further into this, let’s just say that this wouldn’t be the
last time that executive meddling would interfere with Disney’s animated films
during Eisner’s run. In short, while Dinosaur
is rather flawed in terms of its writing, the animation makes up for it for the
most part. Sure computer animation has become much more advanced in the years
since this film but it’s still solid animation for both the time it was
released and in regards to this being one of Disney’s first forays into this
style of animation. For those like me who were kids when this film came out,
it’ll serve as a neat little nostalgic trip down memory lane. As for kids
today, I have the feeling they’ll probably like it fine. It’s not my favorite
Disney film by any means but I still have generally positive feelings towards
this film that brings me back to a simpler time.
Rating: 3/5
THE EMPEROR’S NEW GROOVE (2000)
Ah, The Emperor’s New
Groove… I have a lot of positive things to say about this one. And in some
ways that’s saying a lot considering that this film had a rather troubled
production. Originally it was going to be an Incan musical epic titled Kingdom of the Sun, featuring music by
Sting, before it underwent a major creative overhaul and became the
light-hearted buddy comedy that we know today. However, in the end, that just
proved to be the best move for this film as The
Emperor’s New Groove is, in my opinion, one of the best Disney films of the
post-Renaissance era and one of their most underrated efforts to date. Why?
Well that’s because it’s arguably their funniest film to date. This film is
highly quotable from beginning to end and is full of memorable moments, from
the discussions that the character Kronk has with both his shoulder angel and
shoulder devil to the chase scene where the duos of Kuzco and Pacha and Yzma
and Kronk race back to the palace, which ends with Yzma and Kronk falling into
the river after getting struck by lightning and yet somehow managing to get
back to the palace before Kuzco and Pacha with basically no clear explanation
as to how they got there first. It’s quick and snappy humor and it works
perfectly, resulting in a very fun buddy road-trip comedy. Though apparently
that seemed to be the problem for some people based on what I’ve seen in some
places online, as they felt that this genre wasn’t something that Disney
should’ve covered. But ultimately I did like that they did this as it’s proof
that they are able to cover different genres and not just the musical fairy
tale. Not only that, but the ‘buddy flick’ concept would also work really well
in future Disney films like Tangled and
Frozen.
Really what makes this film work so well is the characters,
specifically the villains. Now don’t get me wrong, the main duo of Kuzco and
Pacha are pretty great as well. David Spade (I’m pretty sure that’s the other
skepticism that some people had towards the film) is great as the egotistical
emperor who learns to change his ways after being turned into a llama, as is
John Goodman, as always, as the lovable village leader who constantly finds
himself at odds with the Emperor, especially in regards to the latter’s plan to
tear down his family’s village in order to build his summer home “complete with
water slide!”. But the real stars of the show are the film’s main villain,
Kuzco’s advisor Yzma, and her head crony Kronk. Eartha Kitt is perfectly and
delightfully campy as Yzma and Patrick Warburton is quite arguably the film’s
biggest standout in the role of Kronk. Despite the fact that he is working for
the villain, he’s not necessarily a bad guy. It’s just that he’s a bit dim-witted,
though actually pretty smart when it comes to cooking and translating chipmunk
speech. So yes, with all of this in mind, this is obviously a very zany film. But
if you haven’t seen it yet, I strongly urge you to check it out because I
guarantee you that you’re going to have a good time watching this fun and
hilarious buddy comedy. Simply put, The
Emperor’s New Groove is easily one of my favorite Disney films of all-time.
I even love the TV series spin-off, The
Emperor’s New School, which aired from 2006 to 2008 on Disney Channel. What
else more can I say? I love this universe, I love these characters, and I love
this film. “Pull the Lever, Kronk!”
 |
| Why do we even have that lever? |
Rating: 5/5!
ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE (2001)
Atlantis: The Lost
Empire was one of Disney’s attempts at a more mature animated film… and it
didn’t really turn out as well as they hoped. It only did ‘ok’ at the
box-office, which led to Disney quietly canning their plans for a franchise,
including a spin-off TV series and an underwater ride at the Disney parks. But
you know what? I’d argue this is one is rather underrated. I’ll admit I may be
a bit partial towards this film because I remember watching it plenty of times
when I was a kid but upon re-watch recently, I still think it’s a really unique
and original entry in the Disney canon. From what I can tell, a lot of people
took issue with the film’s apparent lack of focus in terms of who it was trying
to market itself to. Obviously it’s a much different film than what you’d
usually expect from Disney, being more action-packed and what not, but some
felt that it didn’t do enough to gear itself towards kids and admittedly its
attempts to appeal to younger audiences can result in some jarring shifts in
tone from time to time. However, I do think Disney does deserve some credit for
trying something new and quite frankly I think they handled the change in
direction quite well for the most part. This film is fast-paced and full of fun
action sequences, including the attack on the Nautilus by the robotic ‘Leviathan’. And of course, the animation
is solid as always, with this particular film sporting a really cool comic book
style as fashioned by comic book artist Mike Mignola, creator of the series Hellboy.
And while some felt the film was lacking in terms of story
and character development, I thought that the story was pretty interesting and
I liked most of the characters. Milo Thatch is a pretty good lead as voiced by
Marty McFly himself, Michael J. Fox, and I liked his supporting cast of
characters, from Atlantean princess Kida (Cree Summer) to demolitions expert
Vinny (played by Don Novello AKA SNL’s ‘Father Guido Sarducci’) to eccentric
geologist ‘Mole’. The only weak links of the cast are the main villains, Rourke
and Sinclair, who ultimately are just ‘greedy’ villains and nothing more than
that. But even with its lackluster villains, Atlantis: The Lost Empire is still a really entertaining animated
adventure flick. At the end of the day, though, it failed to achieve its goal
of setting a new path for Disney Animation and became one of the many
‘forgotten’ films of Disney’s ‘Post-Renaissance, Pre-Lasseter’ era. So with
that said, this is definitely one Disney film that I recommend you at least
check out, especially if you’re interested in a ‘different’ kind of animated
Disney film. And despite the argument that it isn’t really geared towards kids,
I think kids might still like it. After all, I liked it when I was a kid. But
then again, technically that was back when it first came out so it’d be
interesting to see how kids of today would respond to it.
Rating: 4/5
LILO AND STITCH (2002)
I think it’s safe to say that Lilo and Stitch was arguably the most successful of Disney’s
‘Post-Renaissance, Pre-Lasseter era’ films in terms of how big of a franchise
it became compared to other Disney films like Atlantis or even The
Emperor’s New Groove. It did really well at the box-office, a feat benefitted
by its fairly low production budget of $80 million, and it spawned a pretty
expansive franchise that included a few direct-to-DVD spin-off films, a TV
series that aired on Disney Channel from 2003 to 2006, and even an anime series
titled Stitch! that aired and was set
in Japan but apparently heavily contradicted the events of the films and
previous TV series… I’ve also seen parts of it and I can tell you right now…
it’s rather weird. But anyway, back to the original film. I think one of the
big advantages that the film had, hence why it did so well, was its really fun
marketing, which featured the titular mischievous alien creature known as
Stitch sneaking into some of Disney’s notable animated films like Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King and causing all sorts of
trouble. This set the stage for the crazy adventures that Stitch would have in
the film itself, as he, the chaotic experiment (‘626’) of mad alien scientist
Dr. Jumba Jookiba, breaks out of imprisonment and winds up on Earth on the
islands of Hawaii. There, he befriends a young and lonely girl named Lilo who
adopts him as her new dog. The two then proceed to have all sorts of adventures
while Jumba and his partner Pleakley try to capture him for the United Galactic
Federation.
As usual, the animation is really nice, doing a nice job of
capturing the beauty of Hawaii, and the film also features a pretty kick-ass
soundtrack dominated by music from ‘The King’ himself, Elvis Presley. But at
the same time, the story also has quite a lot of heart to it as well,
especially in regards to the relationship between Lilo and her sister Nani.
It’s established that their parents had died in a car crash years earlier and
that Nani has now been forced to take on the additional role of being a ‘mother
figure’ for Lilo. And because of Lilo’s eccentric personality, which also
results in her not having many friends, frequently causing Nani problems, it
gets to the point where she risks losing her to child services. It’s a pretty
serious situation and is handled with much maturity here. Lilo and Nani are
very sympathetic characters as is Stitch, who learns to hone back on his
destructive antics and become, as social worker Cobra Bubbles (Ving Rhames)
puts it, a ‘model citizen’ through the help of his new ‘Ohana’; Lilo and Nani.
After all, as the main message of the film conveys, ‘Ohana means family. Family
means no one gets left behind or forgotten’. It’s a great message that’s one of
the many strong elements to one of Disney’s best ‘Post Renaissance’ films.
Colorful, zany, and full of heart, Lilo
and Stitch is definitely a great time to have on the ‘Hawaiian
Roller-Coaster Ride’.
Rating: 4.5/5
TREASURE PLANET (2002)
Now this is one hell of an underrated Disney film. In fact,
I’d argue it’s the most underrated entry in the entire Disney animated canon.
One of the reasons why it became so underrated was the fact that it
unfortunately tanked at the box-office. On a budget of $140 million, it only
grossed $109 million, with only $38 million of that coming in from the United
States. Why? Well I have the feeling it had something to do with the fact that
it opened around the same time as another popular family film, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
The same fate would befall another Disney film 9 years later that also had the
unfortunate distinction of having to go up against a Harry Potter film. It’s a shame because I think audiences missed
out on what was a really fun sci-fi adventure. It certainly was a favorite of
mine growing up and I still love it today. Basically, for those who haven’t
seen it, Treasure Planet is a sci-fi
based retelling of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel Treasure Island. It’s the same general story; a young boy named Jim
Hawkins finds a map to the secret treasure trove of the infamous pirate Captain
Flint but has to deal with pirate Long John Silver on the journey there. The
major difference here is that the whole story is set in space and the treasure
trove is represented as an entire planet worth of treasure. That as well as a
few other tweaks to the story, including having Silver be a cyborg pirate and
having the ships sail through space instead of across the sea, results in a
pretty unique spin on this classic story.
Though from what I gather, that seems to be the issue that
some have with this film. They feel the combination of space and pirates didn’t
work too well but overall I think it worked out fine. The filmmakers opted for
a ‘70/30’ split in terms of style; 70% traditional and 30% sci-fi. In doing so,
the film does just enough to give the story its futuristic vibe while still
managing to maintain the pirate-like atmosphere of the original story. But one
of the greatest strengths of the film is the relationship between Jim Hawkins
and Silver. Like it was in the original story, Silver, despite being the ‘main
antagonist’ in regards to him leading the mutiny against the protagonists,
becomes the father figure that Jim never had, with his real father having left
him and his mother years before. It’s a very touching element of the film that
gives it a solid amount of heart. Plus, while it’ll probably be contrary to
popular opinion, I really liked the songs in this film that were written and
performed by Goo Goo Dolls front-man John Rzeznik; “I’m Still Here” and “Always
Know Where You Are”. Just like the songs from Phil Collins in Tarzan and the next film in this retrospective,
these songs still stick with me even to this day. So in short, I feel Treasure Planet deserves a second chance
because when it was first released, it was ignored and then pretty much
forgotten once Disney’s next pirate film, Pirates
of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, came out about half a year
later and become the mega hit that it was. I mean it’s not really Disney’s best
but it’s still pretty damn entertaining as is. It’s most definitely a personal
favorite of mine.
Rating: 4.5/5
BROTHER BEAR (2003)
As you’ve probably guessed by now, I’m fairly partial
towards quite a few of the animated Disney films of the early 2000’s because
those were the ones that I grew up with. And for the most part, I still really
like a lot of them; The Emperor’s New
Groove, Treasure Planet, Lilo and Stitch, etc. Brother Bear was definitely one of the
films I watched a lot growing up. But I’ll admit that upon re-watch, it’s a bit
more flawed than I remember. That’s what can happen sometimes with the films
you used to watch when you were a kid. Anyway, Brother Bear starts off on an excellent note. It handles the Native
American element of the story with great maturity and the film establishes a
pretty nice camaraderie amongst the trio of main character Kenai and his
brothers Denahi and Sitka. Heck, this film even pulls a ballsy move by killing
off Sitka, who sacrifices himself to save his brothers from a bear, just a few
minutes in. The main character arc that Kenai goes through in this film is actually
really nicely done. Angered at the bear that attacked them for inadvertently
being responsible for Sitka’s death, Kenai chases after the bear and kills it.
Angered by this, the Spirits of the Land turn him into a bear. This leads him
to have to change his ways and be more loving, as his spirit totem is intended
to represent, which he does through the brotherly relationship that he forms
with a young cub named Koda… who just so happens to be the cub of the bear that
Kenai killed. Awkward…
Anyway, the first part of the film is superb but after Kenai
is turned into a bear, that’s where the film undergoes a very radical tonal
change. At first, the story was being handled in a more serious nature through
Kenai’s journey into becoming a man. But once he is turned into a bear, the
film basically turns into a more kid-friendly buddy road trip. I don’t really
dislike this segment of the film but it’s rather jarring to go from the more
serious opening to the generally light-hearted atmosphere of what is basically
the bulk of the film. Despite that gap, though, there are still some really
good things about this film, including the aforementioned camaraderie between
Kenai and his brothers as well, the brotherly relationship that develops
between Kenai and Koda, and Kenai’s overall story arc. And like with Tarzan, I actually did like the
soundtrack by Phil Collins. Say what you will about whether or not they connect
to the film all that well, or in the case of the song ‘No Way Out’ for drowning
out the dialogue of a very crucial scene, but I think they’re still pretty darn
good songs on their own merit. At the end of the day, Brother Bear is admittedly one of those films that I liked more as
a kid. But while nowadays I can’t really say that it’s one of Disney’s best, I
still have fond memories of watching this when I was younger and even now I
don’t ‘dislike’ it. I’ve seen a lot of people put this right near the bottom,
or at the very bottom, when it comes to ranking Disney Animation’s films but
seriously it isn’t THAT bad. For kids I think they’ll enjoy this one a lot. But
for adults, just be prepared for one hell of a tonal shift.
Rating: 3/5
HOME ON THE RANGE (2004)
This is another Disney animated film that I remember seeing
in theaters when it first came out. Heck, I even got the film on DVD. However,
upon re-watch years later, I’ll admit that this is definitely one of those
films that I clearly liked more as a kid than I do now. Because really that’s
this film in a nutshell; it’s a film that’s geared primarily towards kids whereas
adults will get little out of it. I mean kids will probably like it okay for
its zany antics and colorful animation. And, at the very least, I wouldn’t go
as far as to say Disney’s ‘worst’ film. Compared to the next film on this list,
at least this one isn’t mean-spirited or anything. But at the same time, it’s a
very forgettable film with bland characters, lousy villains, and almost all of
the jokes fall flat. Sure this film may feature Roseanne in the lead role but
unlike her titular hit show, the material she has to work with in this film is
weak. And that’s the best way to describe this film, unfortunately… weak.
Again, it’s fine for kids and it isn’t even Disney Animation’s absolute worst
film. But talk about a film that goes against Walt Disney’s vision of animated
films that could appeal to both kids and adults. And I’m not kidding….
Apparently that was the order given to the filmmakers by executives; make it
for younger audiences. Not only that,
but one of the biggest downfalls that happened because of it was the shuttering
of Disney’s 2-D animated features for a few years. Obviously a lot of these
early 2000’s Disney films had stiff competition from the rise of computer
animated films and with Home on the Range
under-performing at the box-office just like Atlantis and Treasure Planet,
Disney realized that they had to adapt to the new animated craze. However, it
didn’t start off on the best note for them…
Rating: 2/5
CHICKEN LITTLE (2005)
Here’s another Disney film that I remember seeing in the
theaters when it came out. In fact, it was the first film that I ever saw at
what has now become my primary movie theater in Lincoln. However, more so than Brother Bear and even Home on the Range, this ends up being
the most egregious example of a film that I clearly liked more as a kid.
Because oh boy… this film is one hell of a mess, which is disappointing
considering that it’s directed by Mark Dindal, the guy behind The Emperor’s New Groove. This was
Disney’s first major attempt at a fully computer animated film… and quite
frankly it shows. This is one of the rare times where I actually think the
animation for a Disney film is rather mediocre. I can’t really explain why but
something about it very much gives off the impression that this is a studio’s
first major attempt at computer animation (note: their collaborations with
Pixar don’t count). Thankfully, the studio would improve upon their animation
work on future films. And at the very least, the animation ‘style’ is rather
interesting and the film maintains an overall zany nature throughout, even if
most of the jokes are really just pop culture references. The main character of
Chicken Little (voiced by Zach Braff) is a likable enough main character along
with his friends Abby Mallard (Joan Cusack) AKA ‘The Ugly Duckling’, the
cowardly pig Runt of the Litter (Steve Zahn), and the mute Fish out of Water.
But that doesn’t make up for the film’s most glaring issue
and that it is that it is incredibly mean-spirited. Sure, the main characters
are sympathetic enough that you do root for them but that’s because everyone
else in their neighborhood constantly treats them like s*** every single chance
that they get. Pretty much the only time that they’re treated decently are when
they do something that satisfies their town’s selfish desires, like winning the
Baseball Championship, which Chicken Little does but is then just turned into a
social pariah again when he embarrasses himself again just like how he first
embarrassed himself by getting the town into a furor when he thought that the
sky was falling. Even his dad of all people tries to distance himself from his
son and despite the fact that they do make up at the end of the film, that
really doesn’t excuse the fact that his dad seriously almost goes as far as to
act like he doesn’t even care about his son. At the end of the day, I guess
kids might like this okay. But after re-watching this, I’m seriously wondering
if it’s even a good thing if they do watch this. Because I don’t know about you
but the whole thing about Chicken Little’s dad not supporting him could
potentially be scarring for some kids. Hell I’m surprised I wasn’t scarred for
life watching this film for that reason. In short, this film definitely hasn’t
stood the test of time at all and as much as I hate to say it, because I do
remember watching this film when I was younger and liking it, this is easily
one of the worst films that Disney Animation has ever made. If there’s any good
that came out of this, it is that pretty much starting with the next film, a
new and improved era for Disney Animation was about to begin.
Rating: 1/5
MEET THE ROBINSONS (2007)
By the midpoint of the 2000’s, Disney Animation was in quite
a bit of a rut. Many of its animated features were underperforming with both
critics and audiences, which forced the studio to have to adapt to the
increasingly popular style that was computer animation. However, their first
computer animated feature, 2005’s Chicken
Little, as we just proved earlier, wasn’t the best start for them in the
computer animated business. But then, everything would begin to change once Bob
Iger took over as CEO of The Walt Disney Company that same year. A year later,
Iger would oversee the company’s purchase of their long-time partner, Pixar,
for $7.4 billion. Not only did this result in Pixar staying with the company
permanently, but it also led to the promotion of Pixar’s Ed Catmull and John
Lasseter to the positions of President and Chief Creative Officer for the
Animation Studio, respectively. And to put it simply, Lasseter has been
arguably the best thing that could have ever happened for the studio, giving
the animation division the heart and soul, and perhaps most importantly
creative clout, that had been absent from some of their most recent projects at
the time. And while not necessarily the best of the ‘Lasseter Era’, primarily
due to the fact that it had been in development prior to his hiring, the first
major Disney Animation film to come out during Lasseter’s tenure with the
studio, Meet the Robinsons, certainly
showed that Disney was at least heading in the right direction.
Clearly inspired by Walt Disney’s vision of the future the
same way that Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland
would take note from 8 years later, Meet
the Robinsons is full of fantastical futuristic imagery and colorful
animation, which is definitely a step up from Chicken Little’s rather lackluster animation. The lead duo of Lewis
and Wilbur have solid camaraderie and the film has its fair share of memorable
side characters, namely in regards to the other members of the titular Robinson
family. I also felt that the story had some neat reveals in it as well, even
though older audiences are likely going to figure them out from miles away,
from the true connection between Lewis and the Robinsons to the reveal of the identity
of the villainous ‘Bowler Hat Guy’ who, minor spoilers, actually isn’t even the
main villain. And at its core, the film, just like Tomorrowland, encourages the idea of hope for a brighter future the
same way Walt Disney himself strived for that reality when he was alive. Aside
from a few minor issues here and there, namely in regards to pacing, Meet the Robinsons is a pretty fun step
up in quality from the studio’s last two animated features. And while I can’t
really say that it’s one of the ‘best’ Disney animated films ever made, things
were only to get better for Disney Animation in the next few years. To quote
this film’s most prominent line, they ‘kept moving forward’.
Rating: 4/5
BOLT (2008)
While Meet the Robinsons
may have been the first major Disney animated film that was released since
Lasseter became the studio’s Chief Creative Officer, Bolt was the first ‘official’ film produced under his watch. So in
other words, Bolt is pretty much
regarded by most people as the first major film in Disney’s current ‘Revival’
era and rightfully so as it is a very charming film with a fun, albeit a bit
familiar, ‘fish out of water’ story. The film focuses on its titular
protagonist, a dog named Bolt (John Travolta), who’s the star of a hit action TV
show along with his young owner Penny (Miley Cyrus) in which they continuously
fight the ‘Green-Eyed Man’, Dr. Calico (Malcolm McDowell). However, because
Bolt has been on the show for so long and the producers have continuously
deceived him by keeping the actual filmmaking process hidden from him, he has
become convinced that it is all real. So when he fears that Penny is in trouble
when the two are separated after a day of filming, he escapes his trailer to
find her but ends up getting sent all the way to New York by accident. There, he
begins to realize that he doesn’t have powers like he does on the show (e.g. a
‘super-bark’, laser-beam eyes, etc.). Looking to return to Penny, he joins
forces with an alley cat named Mittens (Susie Essman) and Rhino (Mark Walton),
a super-fan hamster who spends most of the film rolling around in his
hamster-ball, to get back to Penny in Hollywood, resulting in a very pleasant
road-trip across the U.S.
One of the best things about this film is its inherent
likability. The main characters are all very likable from Bolt himself to
easily the most memorable character in the film, Rhino. All of these characters
are well-voiced as well, which gives the film such a great charm factor
complete with some very heartwarming moments, particularly those between Bolt
and Penny. There’s also quite a lot of great humor in here as well, like
whenever Bolt tries to use his ‘powers’ in the real-world, obviously to no
avail, or when a group of pigeons are unable to identify Bolt even when the
answer they’re looking for is right in front of their noses (e.g. a bus with an
advertisement for Bolt’s show drives by). As you might have guessed, a lot of
the best lines come from Rhino (Bolt: “The road will be rough.” Rhino: “I have
a ball!”). While not every joke hits, the film still benefits from its solid
writing and endearing characters. And of course, the animation is solid,
especially during the sequences near the beginning involving Bolt and Penny during
their show. In short, Bolt is
definitely an excellent addition to the Disney canon. While I still think that Meet the Robinsons is pretty good even
though it wasn’t completely supervised by Lasseter, Bolt was very much the first Disney animated film in quite some
time that gave its creators full control over how the film turned out instead
of the final product being heavily influenced by executives as had been the
case with films like Home on the Range.
And because of this, the studio’s more recent films have seen a major step up
in quality with Bolt serving as the
film that pretty much officially kick-started this current Revival. And that’s
very much a deserved honor for Bolt
as its aforementioned strengths all come together nicely for a very good
package that the whole family can enjoy.
Rating: 4/5
THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG (2009)
As we’ve already discussed, Disney Animation had hit quite a
considerable rough patch in the early 2000’s. Due to the rise in computer
animated films, as first brought up by the company’s major partner Pixar, the
company’s main animation studio was suffering lesser returns in regards to
their traditionally-animated films. Once films like Treasure Planet and Home on
the Range became box-office flops, Disney decided to abandon the
development of traditionally-animated films altogether in favor of computer
animated films. But once the Pixar deal went through and Ed Catmull and John
Lasseter were brought in, they nixed that plan. And as a result, Disney finally
returned to their original hand-drawn style in 2009, as well as returning to
the animated musical genre that hadn’t been covered by the studio since the
first Disney Renaissance, with The
Princess and the Frog, based on the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale The Frog Prince. Except this time
there’s a twist to this story. Instead of a princess kissing a frog to turn him
into a prince, the kiss actually ends up turning the princess, who in reality
isn’t even a princess at all but a young working woman from New Orleans named
Tiana who was only wearing a princess costume at the time, into a frog. This
results in her and ‘the frog’, Prince Naveen of Maldonia, having to traverse
through the Bayou in order to find a way for them to be changed back into
humans and the end result is a fun and colorful adventure that is very much as
classily executed as Disney’s previous hand-drawn efforts.
The animation is vibrant, colorful and overall superb,
especially because of the film’s New Orleans setting. This also translates well
to the music, with Randy Newman contributing to the soundtrack. I wouldn’t
necessarily call it the studio’s best soundtrack ever but the jazzy songs are
rightfully toe-tapping as one would expect from a film set in The Big Easy. The
two best songs of the bunch are ‘Almost There’, which is Tiana’s solo about her
dreams of one day opening a fancy restaurant as she and her father always
dreamed of, and the villain song ‘Friends on the Other Side’. Speaking of
villains, this film has easily one of Disney’s coolest villains in the form of
the sinister voodoo man Dr. Facilier, voiced perfectly by Keith David. But
overall the whole film has a solid cast of memorable characters, including the
trumpet-playing alligator Louis who, as we learn, has had trouble trying to
play his music with humans (for obvious reasons), and the saucy firefly Ray. In
short, save for the occasional over-complication of the plot (specifically in
regards to how Tiana and Naveen must break the spell), The Princess and the Frog is an incredibly charming Disney film
full of fun characters, toe-tapping songs, and some of Disney’s most beautiful
animation to date. Fans of Disney’s 2-D style will no doubt appreciate this
return to the studio’s classic form. But even in this current age of computer
animation, it’s still definitely a must-see for animation fans young and old.
Rating: 4.5/5
TANGLED (2010)
A lot of comparisons have been made between this film, an
adaptation of the classic fairy tale of Rapunzel
as well as being Disney’s 50th animated feature, and their 2013
smash hit Frozen. Pretty much ever
since the latter was released and became the worldwide sensation that it is,
I’ve seen plenty of people comparing these two films and to be perfectly frank
I’ve seen quite a lot of those people post the following statement; ‘Tangled>Frozen’, which shows that there’s quite a few people out there who
prefer Tangled. Admittedly, I’m in
the other camp who feel that Frozen
is better but that’s nothing against Tangled,
which is definitely a really great entry in the Disney library. That just means
that now this particular ‘review’ will be a comparison between the two films. I
didn’t want to have to do that but the internet basically forced me to do it so
here we go. In regards to how Tangled
is ‘better’ than Frozen, it does have
a much stronger villain in the form of Rapunzel’s ‘mother’, Gothel, a very
showman-like villainess excellently voiced by Donna Murphy, whereas the
villains of Frozen, as I’ve noted
before in the past, were the only real weak spots of the film. Tangled also does a better job in
handling its ‘action-adventure’ elements as far as the story is concerned.
Admittedly Frozen wasn’t really an
‘action-adventure’ kind of story but it still did have some of those elements in
it and if I had to compare these two films, Tangled
is much more that kind of film and it does it really well.
The animation is great as usual, with a particularly nice painting-like
quality to this film, and the duo of Rapunzel and Flynn Rider (well-voiced by
Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi, respectively) are a great pair of leads. But if I
had to list the advantages that Frozen
has over this film, I feel that ‘Frozen’ had stronger main characters, a more
unique storyline, and more memorable songs. Though even with that said, this
film does have a few noteworthy songs courtesy of good old Alan Menken. This
includes Rapunzel’s solo ‘When Will My Life Begin?’, in which she dreams about
one day experiencing the outside world after having spent most of her life
locked in her tower, Mother Gothel’s solo ‘Mother Knows Best’ where she warns
Rapunzel about the dangers of the outside world, and the Academy Award
nominated duet between Rapunzel and Flynn, ‘I See the Light’, in which they
finally witness the kingdom’s magical lantern ceremony. So in regards to the
whole ‘Tangled/Frozen’ argument, I’ll argue that both are terrific and I wish that
the internet wouldn’t make this such a big contest in regards to which one they
feel is better. And while I do prefer Frozen
over this film, Tangled is still
really great thanks to its lead duo and main villain, the as-expected excellent
animation from Disney, and some nice songs. And say what you will about the
decision made by the studio to change the film’s name from Rapunzel to Tangled in
order to ‘appeal to a wider audience’ but it actually is a rather smart move
because the film actually does a really nice job in balancing the roles of
Rapunzel and Flynn Rider instead of just focusing on Rapunzel.
Rating: 4.5/5
WINNIE THE POOH (2011)
Winnie the Pooh
has easily been one of Disney’s most iconic franchises and rightfully so. I
strongly believe that this franchise should be a part of every kid’s childhood.
It certainly was for me growing up, from watching episodes of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh on
VHS (back in the days when VHS was still relevant) to getting to ride the Winnie the Pooh ride at Disney World
with Pooh himself. And of course, there was the 1977 Disney classic The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh,
which is easily one of my all-time favorite Disney films. Simple in story but
big on heart, the film was a collection of featurettes that Disney had
previously produced based on A.A. Milne’s iconic characters packaged into one
film. 34 years later, Disney Animation returned to the Hundred Acre Wood with a
brand new Pooh film simply titled Winnie
the Pooh. To date, it’s Disney’s most recent 2-D animated film. Hopefully
it isn’t the last because unfortunately this film only did ‘ok’ at the
box-office. Sure it made its budget back but it had the disadvantage of opening
up right alongside one of the biggest films of all-time. What film was that you
may ask? Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hallows: Part 2. Clearly this film did not learn the same lesson that Treasure Planet did about trying to open
up around the same time as one of the biggest film franchises of all-time. But
we’re not here to compare these two films.
Anyway, in a lot of ways, Winnie the Pooh is a lot like its
predecessor. It’s a generally simple group of stories involving Pooh and his
friends, all the while having multiple instances of the characters breaking the
fourth wall through them interacting with the book that they’re in and talking
to the narrator (in this case, John Cleese, an excellent choice for the part). And
like the original Winnie the Pooh film,
it’s incredibly charming from beginning to end with its lovable characters, its
sense of childhood innocence that kids can relate to and adults can reminisce
about, colorful animation, and cheerful songs (courtesy of Frozen’s Robert and Kristen-Anderson Lopez (the latter of whom even
voices Kanga)). My only ‘issue’ with the film, which is only a minor one at
best, is that the film is a little lacking in terms of its story. There are
only two major plotlines in the entire film; Eeyore loses his tail and the gang
tries to find him a new one, and Pooh and friends embark on a journey to find
Christopher Robin, who they believe was taken by a creature called the
‘Backson’. There’s not anything majorly wrong with that but from what I’ve
heard, the film was originally going to cover a few more of Milne’s stories
until it was cut down to two, resulting in a fairly short one-hour film.
Despite its shortness, though, the film is still an incredibly sweet and
charming animated film that both kids and adults can enjoy. All in all, it’s a
welcome return to the big-screen for these beloved characters while
simultaneously introducing them to a new generation.
Rating:
4/5
WRECK-IT RALPH (2012)
At the time of its release, Wreck-it Ralph was pretty much the first Disney animated film in a
few years that I was really anticipating, primarily due to its premise. If I
haven’t already mentioned it before, I’m a big fan of video games, almost as
much as I am a film fan. So when I heard that Disney was going to make a film
based around video games, I got really excited and in the end it turned out to
be a really fun and entertaining entry in the Disney canon that also refueled
my interest in Disney films. Its premise is fairly similar in some ways to Toy Story with the many characters
within the games of a local arcade ‘coming to life’ and spending time outside
of their games after the arcade has closed. But it also offers a fun and unique
story that focuses on a bad guy trying to be the good guy for once. That bad
guy in question is the titular Wreck-it Ralph (John C. Reilly), the villain of
the Donkey Kong-like game Fix-it Felix
Jr. where he is constantly ostracized by the other characters in the game
who celebrate the game’s titular hero Felix (Jack McBrayer). Tired of having
been in the same exact role for 30 years, Ralph ends up ‘going Turbo’ and
sneaks into other video games, including the modern FPS Hero’s Duty and the Mario
Kart-esque candy themed racer Sugar
Rush, where his actions cause all sorts of trouble for the arcade.
The animation in the film is excellent, especially in
regards to the fact that the film features quite a few different environments,
from the 8-bit world of Fix-it Felix Jr.,
where the characters all move in low-resolution, blocky motions, to the hyper-realistic
world of Hero’s Duty. Gamers will
also appreciate the many references to gaming, from the legendary Konami Code
to all the various Easter Eggs littered throughout. Not only that, but I also
liked how the filmmakers ‘convey’ certain aspects of gaming within this world
that they create, like in Hero’s Duty
where the player is represented as an in-game monitor with a weapon that gives
the player their view of the gameplay (in other words, a “First Person
Shooter”). Though with all of that said, I must admit that the references are
technically geared more towards older audiences. So while they’ll no doubt
satisfy older audiences like myself who were at least alive when arcades were
still relevant, some of these references are guaranteed to go over the heads of
younger audiences. Still, the film makes up for that with a charming story
about a bad guy who’s not such a bad guy that has a good message of being proud
of who you are. And of course, the film is full of fun characters; Ralph,
‘glitch’ racer Vanellope (Sarah Silverman), Felix, tough-as-nails Sgt. Calhoun
(Jane Lynch), and King Candy (Alan Tudyk, who has gone on to become the ‘John
Ratzenberger’ for Disney Animation having appeared in every major Disney film
since) just to name a few. Really the only issue with the film, which isn’t
even an issue at all, is the fact that the film could’ve explored more of the
world of the arcade. But even with that in mind, Wreck-it Ralph is one extremely fun tribute to the world of video
games. Films based on specific video-games usually turn out bad but that’s not
always the case with a film that’s only based around games and Wreck-it Ralph is a prime example of
that.
Rating: 5/5!
FROZEN (2013)
And now here we are at what has easily been Disney
Animation’s biggest film in years; Frozen.
It’s the studio’s first billion-dollar grosser (not counting Pixar), it won two
Oscars for ‘Best Song’ and ‘Best Animated Feature’, and has legitimately become
a worldwide phenomenon in a way that arguably none of the other post Lion King era Disney films were able to
do. Don’t believe me? Just go online and search for ‘Let it Go’ parodies and
you’ll see how big this film really has been for audiences all over the world.
But you see, the thing is that whenever something becomes really popular, it’s
then subjected to quite a bit of backlash. And let me tell you, there’s been
some considerably vocal backlash towards Frozen
in the time since it first debuted in theaters, so much so that I think it
spilled over onto the short film follow-up Frozen
Fever, which was released with
Cinderella last March. I think it’s safe to say that a lot of the Frozen backlash has mainly come in
regards to how BIG the film has truly been. In other words, there were
definitely some people who got REALLY sick of hearing ‘Let it Go’ over and over
again. Now I will admit that yes, the ‘Frozen craze’ did get a little out of
hand after a while. However, I don’t see why this is meant to be a bad thing
because it really was nice to have something like this be such a cultural
phenomenon that both young and old were enjoying with unabashed glee. And upon
re-watch… I still stand by what I said in the past about how this has easily
been Disney’s best film in quite some time.
There are quite a lot of things to love about Frozen. First off, the animation is
excellent as you would expect from Disney Animation but the story is also just
as strong with its themes of family, love, and the ability to take fear and
shame and, for lack of a better term, ‘let it go’. This is a ‘love story’ not
between a prince and a princess but one between two sisters, which was
something rarely seen in Disney films in the way that it was portrayed in this
film (the only other Disney film that I can think of that focused this much on
a sister relationship was Lilo and Stitch).
Those two sisters, Anna and Elsa, are the shining stars of Frozen and voiced perfectly by Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel,
respectively. Anna is the spunky and adventurous type who finds herself
experiencing the outside world for, again for lack of a better term, ‘the first
time in forever’ while Elsa, who was originally the villain as was the case with
the story of The Ice Queen of which
this film is based on, is instead a sympathetic heroine who is at first scared
of her ice powers but comes to accept who she is. These two are backed up by an
excellent cast of supporting characters, including the charming ‘mountain man’
Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), his reindeer best friend Sven who he ‘translates’
for throughout the entire film, and of course the biggest breakout character of
the film, the lovable snowman Olaf (Josh Gad), who dreams of getting to
experience summer all the while being blissfully unaware of what would really
happen to a snowman like him during that time of the year (Kristoff: “Someone’s
got to tell him…”).
Hell, I’ve even warmed up to main villain Hans with recent
viewings. I’m not saying that he’s ‘that good’ of a villain but Santino Fontana
does do a good job in the role, especially in regards to giving Hans a wickedly
evil swagger during his big villainous reveal. And of course, the music is
great courtesy of Robert and Kristen-Anderson Lopez. Say what you will about
whether or not you’re sick of the song but ‘Let it Go’ truly is the film’s best
song and best moment too in regards to the sequence it’s featured in. But the
rest of the songs in the film are pretty great as well. ‘Do You Want to Build a
Snowman?’ is both sweet and sad at the same time, I’ve always liked the duet
involving Anna and Elsa, ‘For The First Time in Forever’, and so on and so
forth. Bottom line, I know that it’s become rather popular nowadays to hate on
this film because it got so big. Well, unlike that part of the internet, I’m
not going to do that because I do really love this film and I’m glad that it
did become a big hit because it deserved to achieve that much success. It’s
charming, fun, and most of all it’s full of heart thanks to its great writing,
unforgettable characters, and iconic music. If you recall my original review of
the film, I gave it a 4/5 rating, and looking back at it now I must ask… what
the heck was I thinking giving it that low of a score?
Rating: 5/5! (Now
that’s much better!)
BIG HERO 6 (2014)
Three years after the Pixar deal, Disney would make another
big deal that would result in them gaining another major studio to add to their
company; Marvel Studios. In 2009, Disney purchased Marvel for $4 billion, and
while Fox and Sony maintained the licensing deals for their respective film
franchises (X-Men and Spider-Man, respectively), Disney became the new
distributor for the ever-growing Marvel Cinematic Universe. And in 2014, Disney
utilized their new asset for the first time in their animated features with Big Hero 6, based on the Marvel Comics
team of the same name that was developed by Man of Action Studios, though
admittedly the film strays rather heavily from its source material. As for the
film itself, it’s basically the animated equivalent of a Marvel Cinematic
Universe; it’s fast-paced (though maybe a bit too fast in some parts), it’s
full of fun action sequences, and it has plenty of memorable characters. Of
course the one that everyone remembers is the lovable health-care robot Baymax,
whose monotone voice and insistence on helping people deal with their health
concerns provides plenty of the film’s humorous moments (my favorite is
whenever he fist-bumps someone (“Balalalalala”)). But the other protagonists
are likable as well; there’s science whiz Hiro, chemistry enthusiast Honey
Lemon, neat-freak Wasabi, tough-girl GoGo, and comic book fanatic Fred (whose
father, without giving it anyway for those who haven’t seen the film, let’s
just say fits perfectly with this film given the brand it’s inspired from).
This film also succeeds in very much bringing heart to this
story of superheroes and supervillains. As is common with, well, a lot of
Disney animated films, a loved one of the main character (in this case, Hiro’s
brother Tadashi) dies early on in the film. And while I know many have made the
joke about Disney doing this in almost all of their films, this particular
death is handled really well in regards to how Hiro has to overcome it. And I
will admit, the scene at the end where Hiro is forced to deactivate Baymax in
order to escape from the alternate dimension is one that you’re very much
likely going to get emotional over. In short, Big Hero 6 is basically a combination of three things; Marvel’s
action-packed and adventurous storylines, Disney’s charm and heart, and the
light-hearted humor of both, which all comes together for one very fun film. As
many of you know, I’m a big fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe so I was
excited to see a Disney film that took inspiration from the Marvel comics, even
if the film itself actually wasn’t promoted as a ‘Marvel’ film. With that said,
it’s looking like there won’t be any plans for Disney to develop an animated
equivalent of the MCU. But if you ask me, Disney and Marvel should totally consider
doing one, that way Marvel can get onto DC’s level when it comes to animated
superhero films. Hey… a guy can dream, can’t he?
Rating: 4.5/5
And with that, we now come to a close on this second RIMC retrospective
of Disney’s animated classics that covered all of the main Disney animated films
that have come out since the start of the 21st century. And while
there are quite a few people out there who tend to forget about some of the
early films of this era, I still look back upon most of them fondly. Sure it
may primarily have to do with the fact that these were the Disney films I grew
up with but I still think a lot of them hold up today. And of course, nowadays
the studio is back in top form and based on the reviews it has been getting, it
looks like Zootopia will be another
home run for them. As far as these Disney retrospectives are concerned, I do
plan on doing more of them in order to cover the other eras of Disney
Animation’s history. At the very least, one of those posts will come before the
release of the studio’s second feature of this year, Moana, but the rest could come at any time before or after that. So
what are your thoughts on the Disney films discussed in today’s post? Be sure
to sound off in the comments below.
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