Ranking the Live-Action Disney Remakes

I’m going to start this post off with a quick disclaimer. If you’re someone who is by no means a fan of Disney’s recent trend of producing live-action remakes of their animated classics, you’re not going to get much out of this post since it will be a generally positive take on these films. Yes, since 2010, Disney’s live-action output has primarily been focused on live-action re-imaginings of some of their most iconic animated films. However, while these films have been quite successful at the box-office, they’ve been far more polarizing in terms of their overall reception. While general audiences seem to be fairly receptive towards these new spins on Disney classics, there are a sizable number of folks who have been highly critical of this trend for the exact same reason that folks would take issue with any remake in general. Why would anyone even bother remaking something that’s been regarded by many as an undisputed classic? And yet, as someone who recognizes that the original animated films will always be there regardless of how these new films turn out (which is why I’m thankful for the advent of Disney+, which prominently features both incarnations of the films that have recently gotten the live-action treatment), these recent remakes have never bothered me in the slightest. In fact, I’ve recently started to detest the use of the adjective ‘unnecessary’ when it comes to reviews because I feel that it’s become one of the most overused words in critical vernacular, especially since you could easily apply it to any film that comes out and not just the ones that are remakes/sequels/reboots. In other words, while many of these films are re-imagining some of my favorite Disney films of all-time, I try not to let my affinity for the originals overly cloud my judgment towards the remakes because I personally feel that doing so would be largely unfair to them. And so, with that in mind and in honor of the latest Disney remake Mulan’s impending ‘Premier Access’ release on Disney+, today I’m ranking these live-action remakes from ‘least favorite’ to ‘favorite’. While their placement on this list will primarily stem from overall preference, I will also factor in their efforts to present a new spin on their classic stories.

Before we begin, though, I just need to lay out the ground rules for this list. For starters, I won’t be including the two sequels that were spawned from these recent remakes, 2016’s Alice Through the Looking Glass and 2019’s Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. The reason for this is quite simple; from a subjective standpoint, they’re not ‘remakes’ anymore. Instead, they’re just ‘sequels’ to the remakes. However, I will briefly address them when I go over their predecessors. Also, for this list, I’m only going to be focusing on the remakes that have been released since 2010 since this is when this current trend first began to take shape. Because of this, there are two films from the ’90s that won’t be appearing on this list even though they are technically the first big Disney remakes. The first is the original live-action remake of The Jungle Book (that’s right, Jon Favreau’s version wasn’t the first time that a live-action adaptation of Disney’s Jungle Book was made) which was directed by Stephen Sommers and released in 1994. Admittedly, I haven’t seen it at the time that I’m writing this, but I’ll probably do some kind of post on both it and a different Disney-produced Jungle Book film from the ’90s, 1998’s The Jungle Book: Mowgli’s Story, in the future, perhaps when the sequel to Favreau’s Jungle Book comes out. The other big remake that won’t be included here is the 1996 adaptation of 101 Dalmatians, but again, that’s because I’m saving my thoughts on that film and its 2000 sequel, 102 Dalmatians, for a different occasion; in this case, the upcoming spin-off Cruella that will hit theaters next May. Lastly, while it does technically count as a ‘live-action remake’ and can genuinely be considered as a part of this recent subgenre, I’m also not going to include the 2016 remake of Pete’s Dragon since it’s a remake of a live-action film rather than an animated one. Yes, for this list, I’m mainly focusing on the live-action remakes of animated Disney films, and while two of them are technically more like ‘sequels’ than ‘remakes’, I believe that they still count here given that they are primarily based on their animated counterparts. And so, without further ado, I present my current rankings of the live-action Disney remakes that have been released since 2010.   

10. ALICE IN WONDERLAND

We start things off with the first big live-action reimagining of a Disney classic from this modern era, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. This is the first of the two films that I mentioned earlier that are more like ‘sequels’ rather than ‘remakes’ as it follows a teenaged Alice returning to the world of Wonderland (referred to in-universe as ‘Underland’). Like the original animated film, Burton ultimately went with a combination of elements from both the original Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland novel and its sequel, Through the Looking Glass, rather than just being a direct adaptation of the source material. And right off the bat, the best thing that I can say about this film is that it’s another prime example of why Burton is one of the greatest visual directors in the industry. While the film’s visuals do feel a bit excessive at times due to the scenes in Underland being almost entirely green-screen based, they’re still very much the best part of the film as they wonderfully capture the eccentric nature of the Wonderland setting through the equally eccentric style of Tim Burton. Because of this, it’s easy to see why this film won Oscars for both its production and costume design and how its production designer would go on to direct his own live-action Disney remake a few years later. That said, though, there are a few instances where Burton’s style arguably goes a bit too far for a film that’s primarily geared towards younger audiences. In other words, moments where creatures get their eyes poked out and a scene where Alice crosses a moat filled with the heads of the Queen of Hearts’ victims do make you wonder how the film was able to get away with its PG rating. But despite this and an often-uneven plot (which, yes, is saying something for an Alice in Wonderland film), the film still manages to be another solid outing from Burton, especially thanks to its cast. Helena Bonham Carter is an absolute standout as the figuratively and literally big-headed tyrant the Red Queen and the film sports an impressively stacked voice cast with big names like Stephen Fry and Alan Rickman.

Thus, while it wasn’t exactly a runaway hit with critics, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland was a smash hit financially as it managed to gross over $1 billion worldwide. This has mainly been attributed to the general lack of competition that it faced upon its release in the Spring of 2010 and the boost that came from 3-D ticket sales since this was right when the 3-D format was experiencing its peak resurgence. Because of this, a sequel was eventually made in 2016, Alice Through the Looking Glass, under the direction of James Bobin, who was fresh off the 2011 Muppets film and its 2014 sequel, Muppets Most Wanted (Burton was still heavily involved as a producer). Like its predecessor, though, it didn’t do too well with critics, and unlike its predecessor, it was a rather notorious underperformer at the box-office. But while we’re not going to spend too much time comparing these two films, I will say that there are two things that the sequel does better than the original. First off, it boasts a brighter visual style that is still a lot of CGI overload, to be fair, but is all-around more pleasant to look at. It also means that there aren’t really any moments that push its PG rating like Burton’s film did. The other key advantage is that since the first film was primarily focused on Alice finding the confidence to help her Underland friends stop the Red Queen, she is a far more confident lead in Through the Looking Glass, which is well-reflected by Mia Wasikowska’s excellent performance in the role. And so, with all this in mind, while the live-action Alice in Wonderland films are far from being my favorites when it comes to Disney’s recent live-action output, I don’t necessarily ‘dislike’ them, either. They may be far from perfect, but as much as they do have their incredibly vocal critics (especially those who love taking these films to task for not being the most faithful adaptations of their source material), there’s no denying that they also have their fair share of fans.    

9. LADY AND THE TRAMP

The most recent film on our list, Lady and the Tramp was one of the many exclusive titles that debuted on Disney+ the day of its launch, and I won’t lie, it was, in fact, the first ‘Disney+ Original’ that I watched. While most of the attention that day was directed towards the pilot episode of The Mandalorian, I was genuinely looking forward to the live-action remake of one of Disney Animation’s most underrated projects. To be clear, I’m not saying that the original Lady and the Tramp is a forgotten entry in the Disney canon, but you could also argue that it often gets overshadowed by the other Disney films of the decade such as Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan. Nevertheless, it’s a charming love story that was nicely translated into a live-action film by director Charlie Bean. Now admittedly, there aren’t many deviations from the original film, with the biggest changes consisting of minor things such as giving the dog-catcher a more prominent villain role and changing the song sung by Aunt Sarah’s pair of troublemaking cats in light of the original’s often-accused case of racist stereotyping. But even though this does make this version of Lady and the Tramp one of the more straight-forward installments of the recent Disney remakes, that’s not such a bad thing in this instance. Whereas almost all the other remakes are big-budget, CGI-heavy flicks, the Lady and the Tramp remake is refreshingly simple in its approach since the original film was more of a light-hearted romp with the period setting of a classic 1900’s Midwestern town. It also helps that the filmmakers utilized actual dogs to help bring the characters to life even though it goes without saying that CGI was used for the process of making them talk. All in all, this is just an incredibly cute and harmless film that does a nice job in recapturing the charm of its source material’s timeless romance.   

8. DUMBO

In 2019, Tim Burton took on his second major live-action Disney remake with Dumbo. Admittedly, the story of a lovable circus elephant who uses his big ears to fly may have seemed like an odd choice for Burton to direct, but at the same time, it did fit his usual M.O. of stories about misfit characters. Thus, while Burton’s Dumbo doesn’t feature his traditional gothic style, its visuals are still very much on point throughout as they do a wonderful job of capturing the bright and majestic visual aesthetic of the circuses of yesteryear. The film also has the benefit of having greater opportunities for new material when compared to some of the other remakes on this list since the original Dumbo is one of Disney’s more simpler-plotted affairs, especially due to its short 64-minute runtime. As such, all the key moments from the original such as Dumbo’s mother being put into captivity after causing a ruckus and the moment where Dumbo first publicly showcases his flying ability during a clown act are covered in just the first forty minutes. After that, a new subplot occurs when a greedy theme park entrepreneur purchases Dumbo for use in his circus while the members of Dumbo’s original circus troupe work to free his mom from her captivity at the entrepreneur’s amusement park. The remake also focuses more on the story’s human characters, namely WWI veteran Holt Farrier and his two kids Milly and Joe, who take the place of Timothy Q. Mouse from the original as Dumbo’s primary allies since this film doesn’t feature any talking animals. However, the new material that’s added in ends up feeling just as simplistic as the original film’s plot which, to be fair, was reportedly the point according to screenwriter Ehren Kruger. Ultimately, though, Dumbo still works quite well as a good-natured family film with a solid cast headlined by Burton regulars such as Michael Keaton and Danny DeVito and some fun nods to the original, including the infamous pink elephants.

7. MALEFICENT

Since Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is technically more of a sequel than a remake, one could argue that 2014’s Maleficent is where this current crop of live-action Disney remakes truly got started. Under the direction of Alice in Wonderland’s production designer Robert Stromberg, the film serves as a live-action reimagining of Disney Animation’s 1959 outing Sleeping Beauty that, as the title suggests, mainly focuses on the story’s iconic villainess, Maleficent. However, instead of just having her be the main antagonist, the film turns her into more of an anti-hero whose actions against Princess Aurora and her family were the result of her getting revenge against Aurora’s father, her former love interest, for stealing her fairy wings. And while she does curse Aurora to fall into an eternal slumber on her 16^th birthday, she ends up developing a motherly connection to her to the point where she’s ultimately the one who saves her from the curse. As you might have guessed, those who prefer Maleficent’s traditionally villainous persona weren’t too pleased with this interpretation of the character, but overall, I think that it’s a uniquely fascinating take on Maleficent and the mother-daughter relationship that forms between her and Aurora is genuinely sweet. But, of course, the biggest highlight of the film is Angelina Jolie in the title role as she perfectly encapsulates the look and persona of the ‘Mistress of All Evil’… even if that designation doesn’t necessarily apply to this version of the character. Thus, Maleficent turned out to be a big hit with audiences upon its release in the summer of 2014, ultimately grossing over $758 million worldwide. This effectively paved the way for a sequel in 2019, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, which was generally on par with its predecessor in terms of quality while also expanding upon its fantasy world, namely by introducing more members of Maleficent’s race, the Dark Feys. Really, the only major disappointment with the sequel was that there were fewer scenes between Maleficent and Aurora. Nevertheless, the Maleficent films are a solid duology of fantasy flicks that pride themselves on being female-driven stories.

6. THE LION KING

Now I’ll be the first to admit that Jon Favreau’s CGI-based remake of The Lion King (which admittedly makes this one a bit questionable to include on this list since it’s not really live-action but arguably still counts based on its status as a remake) is quite arguably the most straight-forward remake of this bunch when it comes to retelling the original film’s story. Apart from some minor additions like an earlier introduction for adult Nala and a rivalry between her and Shenzi the hyena, this is the exact same story as the 1994 film with the exact same story beats. In other words, the biggest difference between the two films is that Favreau’s version is CGI whereas the original was traditionally animated. But while this has made the new Lion King one of the most controversial installments yet of the recent Disney remakes, I’d argue that it still manages to be a solid enough film. Like Favreau’s other big remake, The Jungle Book, much of this is due to the utterly impressive visual effects that do such an incredible job in maintaining their photorealistic nature. And while this does mean that the film lacks the more extravagant moments of the original (i.e. there’s no scene of Timon distracting hyenas by donning a grass skirt and dancing the hula (although there is a brilliant substitute bit for that part)), the attention to detail is truly spot on. Plus, I’d argue that the film still manages to hit the right emotional beats from Mufasa’s death to the moment where Simba speaks with the spirit of his father. And so, if anything, I’d say that at the very least, the new Lion King succeeds as a demonstration of how far CGI has truly come in the past few years. Obviously, I’m not saying that it’s ‘better’ than the 1994 film, but with phenomenal visuals and a great voice cast that includes the likes of Donald Glover, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Billy Eichner, Seth Rogen, and the Queen Bey herself, Beyonce, it’s also quite far from being completely worthless. And yes, this is all coming from someone who lists the original Lion King as his favorite Disney animated film of all-time, but as I’ve made it clear already, just because it’s my favorite doesn’t mean that I was going to hold that against this new film. Still, I will admit that the fact that it is largely note-for-note the same as its traditionally animated counterpart does keep me from putting it any higher on this list.

5. CHRISTOPHER ROBIN

Christopher Robin is the other film on this list that’s more of a sequel rather than a remake as it revolves around a grown-up Christopher Robin being reunited with Winnie the Pooh and the rest of the Hundred Acre Wood gang. But, of course, it still counts on this list since it utilizes much of the iconography from Disney’s interpretation of Winnie the Pooh, and since Winnie the Pooh was such a significant part of my childhood, this was easily one of my most anticipated films of 2018. At the end of the day, I’m happy to report that it did not disappoint. Christopher Robin is an incredibly poignant story about the tragedy that is the loss of childhood innocence through the harsh but sadly natural process of growing up. But while this ordeal ends up being an incredibly rough one for Christopher Robin (e.g. losing his father at a young age, enduring the horrors of World War II, etc.), it is what also makes his eventual reconciliation with his friends and family incredibly cathartic. Ewan McGregor does a fantastic job in the title role and when it comes to his Hundred Acre Wood friends, it was only appropriate that they bring back Jim Cummings, the voice of Pooh and Tigger for many a generation (mine included), for his iconic roles. Now admittedly, many have noted that Christopher Robin sports a rather bleak tone, which is true if focusing solely on the first half of the film before Christopher Robin regains his childhood innocence. After that, the film takes on a more light-hearted tone and the scenes where Pooh and company get into all sorts of adventures in London are purely delightful. And really, that perfectly sums up the film in general. It’s a truly delightful family flick that’s fully bolstered by the ever-enduring charm of its timeless characters to be another great Winnie the Pooh story.  

4. ALADDIN

As I’ve mentioned plenty of times before, director Guy Ritchie’s live-action remake of Aladdin ended up being quite a noteworthy success story even though, before its release, it was quite possibly the most scrutinized installment yet of these equally scrutinized remakes. Simply put, it was almost as if this film could never catch a break as it caught flak for various reasons ranging from certain casting choices to the infamous first reveal of Will Smith’s Genie in his traditional blue form. But when it finally came out, it managed to earn over $1 billion worldwide while also doing decently enough with critics, many of whom felt that it turned out to be much better than they initially anticipated. And if you ask me, that means that this film deserves a lot of credit for managing to avoid being the disaster that many predicted it would be. Now as far as being a remake of its animated counterpart, Aladdin is in the same boat as Lady and the Tramp and The Lion King by not making a lot of radical changes to the original story of a good-natured thief who tries to woo the Princess of Agrabah with the help of a wisecracking Genie. Despite this, however, one great change that it does make is letting Princess Jasmine play a far more proactive role in the story. With no disrespect to her animated counterpart, this is the best incarnation of the character to date, especially thanks to Naomi Scott doing a phenomenal job in the role. Meanwhile, Mena Massoud shines in what is surely going to be his breakout role as Aladdin while Will Smith, despite all the pressure that stemmed from having to follow in the footsteps of Robin Williams’ iconic rendition of the Genie in the original animated film, successfully delivers his own, unique take on the character. Ultimately, the only thing that holds this film back is its mediocre interpretation of Jafar, which is primarily due to this version’s more grounded take on the character. But at the end of the day, the live-action Aladdin ends up being a lot of fun, and while it may have seemed like a weird choice to have it done by a director who’s known more for making gritty crime dramas, Guy Ritchie does a highly respectable job when it comes to maintaining the original’s great atmosphere and unforgettable musical numbers.  

3. THE JUNGLE BOOK

Out of all these films, Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book is arguably the best example of a live-action Disney remake that isn’t fully tied to its animated counterpart. While it’s still very much the story of a young boy named Mowgli who is raised by wolves in the jungles of India and pursued by the sinister tiger Shere Kahn, it’s ultimately a combination of the 1967 animated film and Rudyard Kipling’s original novel. In other words, it only features three of the songs from the animated film (“Bare Necessities”, “I Wanna Be Like You”, and “Trust in Me”) and places greater emphasis on the dramatic parts of the story such as Mowgli’s history with Shere Kahn, who killed his human father, and the dangerous power of ‘Man’s Red Flower’, fire. Favreau does an excellent job of balancing these two aspects of the story, resulting in some excellent emotional moments (e.g. when Mowgli first leaves for the man-village and says goodbye to his adoptive wolf mother Raksha) while also featuring plenty of great homages to the original. But, of course, the most notable aspect of this film is its extensive use of CGI to bring both its animals and its jungle landscapes to life. And because Favreau’s VFX team did such an outstanding job with the visuals (which ended up netting them the Oscar that year for Best Visual Effects), sometimes it’s easy to forget that Neel Sethi, who plays Mowgli, is literally the only ‘real’ thing on-screen 95% of the time. All this and a top-notch voice cast that includes big names like Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, and Lupita Nyong’o helps make this adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s classic story a full-blown visual masterpiece. And as I noted back in the intro, Favreau and screenwriter Justin Marks are currently prepping a sequel that, according to Marks, could potentially incorporate some of the unused elements from the animated film’s original screenplay by Bill Peet that was ultimately rejected by Walt Disney himself for being too dark.

2. CINDERELLA

No matter how much these live-action Disney remakes get ragged on by their biggest critics, there will always be the select few that were genuinely well-received, and the one that started it all for this group was Kenneth Branagh’s 2015 remake of Cinderella. Unlike both Alice in Wonderland and Maleficent, which received mixed reviews upon their release, Cinderella fared quite well with critics and became the first of these remakes to secure a ‘Fresh’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. And just like Christopher Robin, this was another one of my most anticipated films back when it was coming out due to the original Cinderella being one of my all-time favorite Disney films growing up. All in all, Branagh’s remake does a wonderful job of bringing this classic story to life. Sure, it’s another case where the remake is predominately faithful to its animated counterpart without many significant changes, but in this instance, the changes that it does make are some of the best to come from any of these recent remakes. Easily the best example of this is how it expands upon the relationship between Cinderella and Prince Charming, namely by having them meet before the ball, which also allows the latter to be a more fleshed-out character compared to his animated counterpart. And while Cinderella continues to get a lot of flak nowadays for allegedly being ‘too passive’ of a protagonist, I still stand by what I’ve been saying these past few years in that her unshakably optimistic nature in the face of all the crap she’s put through makes her a far better heroine than she’s often given credit for. Sure enough, this is well-reflected in the live-action remake, especially thanks to Lily James’ outstanding turn in the role. The same goes for Richard Madden as the superior version of Prince Charming, Cate Blanchett as the unforgettably sinister Lady Tremaine, and Helena Bonham Carter in a scene-stealing turn as Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother. And so, with a phenomenal cast, gorgeous production design, and all-around excellent direction from Kenneth Branagh, the live-action Cinderella is one of the most uplifting films to have come out in recent years.

1. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

To be perfectly blunt, folks, I have the feeling that this film’s placement at the top spot on this list is going to garner some controversy given its usual reception. Let me put it this way; when it first came out, it did relatively well with critics. It currently boasts a 71% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a decently solid score for a film to have on that site, and it also grossed over $1 billion worldwide, effectively making it the second-highest-grossing film of 2017 behind only Star Wars: The Last Jedi. In other words, it was, at the very least, clearly a big hit with audiences. However, I think it’s safe to say that this was the film that fully intensified the utter contempt that the ‘Disney remake’ critics have towards this trend, especially due to the legendary reputation of the film that this remake was adapted from. Before 2017, all the live-action Disney remakes were based on older animated films such as Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella. As such, one could argue that the overall expectations for them weren’t as intense given how long it has been since their releases. Beauty and the Beast, on the other hand, was the most recent Disney animated feature to get the live-action treatment at that point and it also happens to be one of the studio’s most beloved outings. It is, after all, the first animated film that was ever nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, a distinction that only two other films have achieved since then. As such, this remake clearly faced stricter expectations because of how much the original has meant to my generation, and the same can also be said for the remakes of Aladdin and The Lion King that would come out later and would end up garnering far more polarizing reactions from critics. Thus, despite what I just said about the film maintaining a solid rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I wouldn’t be surprised if many of those who gave it a ‘Fresh’ review aren’t as positive about it nowadays. And yet, I’m not afraid to admit that I still love this film.

Yes, this is yet another instance of a remake that doesn’t make a lot of changes to the original’s story, but overall, I was genuinely fine with the updates that they did make. This includes, among other things, Belle being an inventor just like her father (played excellently by Kevin Kline in a uniquely more subdued take on ‘crazy old Maurice’) and her discovery as to why he has been overly protective of her all these years after her mom died from the Plague. I also loved all the new songs that were made for this remake, especially the Beast’s new solo, ‘Evermore’. And while I’m well aware that much of the criticisms towards this film have been directed towards Emma Watson in the lead role of Belle, namely due to her singing, I still think that she does a fantastic job in the role if we’re talking about all the other things that have made Belle one of the most popular Disney princesses. She’s then backed by a phenomenal supporting cast that includes Dan Stevens as the Beast, Luke Evans and Josh Gad as the scene-stealing duo of Gaston and LeFou (so much so that they’re going to get their own Disney+ series) and the likes of Ewan McGregor, Emma Thompson, and Ian McKellen as the Beast’s servants. In short, I will fully admit that there’s probably quite a bit of bias behind my decision to place this film at the #1 spot on this list. I saw it twice in theaters, with the first time being in IMAX at the film’s ‘Fan Event’ screening on my birthday. I also bought the soundtrack on iTunes not long afterward and loved the film so much that my mom asked one of her co-workers to pick it up on Blu-Ray and ship it to us so we could get the special Best Buy Steelbook*. In other words, I know that I’m probably in the minority when it comes to liking this film, which has certainly faced tons of scrutiny over the ‘necessity’ of its existence and has often been negatively compared to its animated counterpart. And yet, as this entire list has hopefully established by now, I don’t really care about any of that stuff, even if this is another case like The Lion King since the original Beauty and the Beast is one of my Top 5 favorite Disney films. Ultimately, though, that doesn’t prevent the live-action Beauty and the Beast from legitimately being one of my favorite films of the 2010s.

*(By the time that I was fully intent on getting the Steelbook, it wasn’t available at any of the Best Buy stores that were near our home in Rhode Island, hence why we needed to have my mom’s co-worker pick it up for us in Wisconsin where he’s from. As our way of saying thanks, we then proceeded to get him his own Steelbook copy of the film. In other words, as a friendly piece of advice for all you Blu-Ray enthusiasts out there, if you’re ever interested in getting a film’s Steelbook release, be sure to pre-order it in advance because it could very well go out of stock as soon as it hits the shelves, especially if it’s for a highly popular film like one of the MCU films or, say, a billion-dollar grossing remake of a Disney classic…)

And that concludes my rankings list of all the major live-action Disney remakes that have been released since 2010. Thanks for following along and be sure to be on the lookout for my review of the next big live-action Disney remake, Mulan, not too long after the film makes its Disney+ debut on September 4^th.

Lady and the Tramp (2019) review (Disney+)

Disney’s brand-new streaming service Disney+ is finally here, granting Disney fans premier access to a vast and varied collection of the company’s legendary filmography along with some exciting new projects from practically every major facet of the Disney universe. And here on Rhode Island Movie Corner, that means that you folks can expect plenty of reviews of Disney+ originals for the foreseeable future, which all begins with a review of the latest entry in Disney’s recent line of live-action remakes. Oh sure, I know some of you probably just rolled your eyes right now given how many of these have been made at this point, but as I’ve made it clear plenty of times by now, I’m all for these new spins on classic Disney stories, which includes today’s installment, a remake of Disney Animation’s 1955 release, Lady and the Tramp. Overall, I’d sum up Lady and the Tramp under the category of ‘Disney classics that, unfortunately, tend to get overlooked sometimes due to some of the other films that came out during that period’. In this instance, Lady and the Tramp, as far as its initial release was concerned, was sandwiched right between two of what are arguably Disney Animation’s most iconic films, Peter Pan and Sleeping Beauty. And yet, I think it’s safe to say that this charming little tale of a pampered Cocker Spaniel who falls in love with a street-savvy stray mutt is just as well-regarded as the other Disney classics of its time, especially thanks to its iconic sequence where the titular duo share a romantic spaghetti dinner to the tune of ‘Bella Notte’. This, of course, brings us to its new live-action remake, which is directed by Charlie Bean, a veteran animator who’s worked on several classic shows including Dexter’s Laboratory and The Powerpuff Girls. He also made his directorial debut back in 2017 with the considerably underrated LEGO Ninjago Movie, and here, he delivers an earnest and all-around heartwarming rendition of a classic Disney love story.

In a quaint little Midwestern town, Jim Dear (Thomas Mann) gives his wife Darling (Kiersey Clemons) a Cocker Spaniel for Christmas, whom they name Lady. As time goes on, Lady (voiced by Tessa Thompson) becomes incredibly accustomed to her life of luxury, especially after Jim and Darling give her a new collar. However, things start to change when she meets a stray mutt who’s often referred to as ‘the Tramp’ (voiced by Justin Theroux), who informs her that she isn’t going to be the center of her owners’ universe anymore because they’re about to have a baby, and as he puts it, “When the baby moves in, the dog moves out”. Sure enough, Jim and Darling end up having a baby girl named Lulu and Lady soon finds herself getting much less attention than she used to. To make matters worse, an incident in which Lady gets into trouble with Darling’s dog-hating Aunt Sarah (Yvette Nicole Brown) while Jim and Darling are away results in her ending up out in the streets without a collar and far from home. Thus, when she eventually reunites with Tramp, he offers to help her get home and begins to show her everything that he experiences as a street dog all while avoiding Elliot the local dogcatcher (Adrian Martinez), who’s hellbent on capturing Tramp and putting him in the pound. And in the process, an unexpected bit of romance starts to blossom between this most unlikely pair.  

Like Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin before it, Lady and the Tramp is another case of these recent live-action Disney remakes where, admittedly, most of its big changes are cosmetic in nature. For starters, instead of rarely showing their faces like in the original, Jim and Darling are featured a lot more prominently in this version whereas Aunt Sarah plays a lesser role than she did in the animated film in favor of a generally expanded role for the dogcatcher as the new main antagonist. But easily the biggest change comes via Aunt Sarah’s pair of Siamese Cats, who receive a considerably major overhaul due to their animated counterparts often being considered as racist stereotypes complete with a new song, ‘What a Shame’. The story, meanwhile, is basically the same as the original with the exact same story beats, from the troublesome rat that constantly pesters the family to Lady’s brief tenure in the pound where she learns ‘the truth’ about the Tramp. And unlike the other recent live-action Disney remakes, this one doesn’t really do much to update the story from a modern perspective outside of the previously mentioned revision of the Siamese Cats and the fact that Jim and Darling are a biracial couple. However, this new film still does a very nice job when it comes to its overall handling of this story and consistently maintains the same pleasant atmosphere of its animated counterpart. Yes, even that iconic spaghetti scene is still beautifully executed even with a live-action/CGI coat of paint.

A lot of this has to do with the film’s unique method of bringing its animal characters to life. While it clearly could’ve been quite easy to just have all the dogs portrayed solely through CGI since that is what many films tend to do nowadays for animals, Lady and the Tramp instead manages to go the extra mile by casting real dogs (many of them rescues), with the utterly adorable duo of rescues Rose and Monte taking on the title roles. And while the film does obviously use CG to have them talk and to give them digital doubles for certain sequences, it’s so well implemented that it’s often legitimately rather hard to distinguish between scenes where the dogs are either real or fully CG. It also helps that Lady and the Tramp are given an excellent duo to voice them in Tessa Thompson and Justin Theroux, respectively, as both do a wonderful job in making these two incredibly lovable and effortlessly charismatic while also sporting some lovely chemistry. They’re then backed by an equally solid supporting voice cast headlined by the likes of Sam Elliott as Trusty the old bloodhound and Janelle Monáe as Tramp’s flirtatious friend Peg the Pekingese (Monáe, of course, performs the classic ditty that is ‘He’s a Tramp’ and also helped write the Siamese Cats’ new song). As for the film’s human cast, Thomas Mann and Kiersey Clemons have solid chemistry that’s on par with Thompson and Theroux as Jim and Darling even if they still end up playing the same generally passive roles that their characters had in the original. After that, you have some nice supporting turns from Yvette Nicole Brown as Aunt Sarah despite her significantly reduced role in this version of the story and Adrian Martinez as the dogcatcher, who manages to be an effectively menacing villain without being too campy.

Many of these recent live-action Disney remakes have extensively used CGI to help bring the fantastical worlds of their stories to life. Lady and the Tramp is not one of those films since, just like the original, it is still very much an old-fashioned love story set in a practically picturesque Midwestern town like the ones that Walt Disney himself grew up in. As such, its use of CGI is a lot more limited compared to the other films of its subgenre which, even as someone who has loved all these recent Disney remakes, I have to admit is a nice and refreshing change of pace when it comes to these films. In other words, it could be argued that this new version of Lady and the Tramp eschews what has become the traditional process of remaking a Disney classic in favor of a pleasantly nostalgic ‘back to basics’ approach. However, if there is one thing that this film has in common with the other recent live-action Disney remakes, it’s that it’ll ultimately once again be the subject of controversy amongst those who are fully against this current cinematic trend. It also doesn’t help that this version of Lady and the Tramp doesn’t really do much to update its story for a new generation outside of abolishing some racist stereotypes. Ultimately, though, while it may not necessarily be the best of these live-action Disney remakes, Lady and the Tramp still thoroughly succeeds at being an immensely heartwarming crowd-pleaser thanks in large part to its extensive use of actual dogs instead of CG creations. But if you are one of those folks who still prefer the animated incarnations of these Disney classics, you’ll be pleased to know that the original Lady and the Tramp is also readily available for your streaming pleasures on Disney+. In fact, the same can be said for all the Disney classics that have received remakes these past few years. I’ve always argued that these remakes can peacefully co-exist with their animated counterparts and I’m pleased to say that Disney+ is now proving that this is, indeed, possible.

Rating: 4/5

DISNEY MONTH: Top 10 Favorite Disney Songs

Welcome back to another installment of Disney Month here on Rhode Island Movie Corner, a month dedicated to honoring the best of the best of Walt Disney Animation Studios in honor of the impending release of their 56^th animated feature, Moana. Previously, I ranked the current members of the Disney Princess line and listed my Top 5 favorite Disney Protagonists and Sidekicks. And this week, it’s time to delve into what is usually one of the most prominent parts of any Walt Disney Animation film... the music. While there are some films like Atlantis: The Lost Empire and The Rescuers Down Under that go without the use of soundtracks, most Disney Animated films are well-known for their music. Whether it’s from legends like the Sherman Brothers or Alan Menken, it’s hard to narrow down all the great Disney songs to just your Top 10 favorites. But… that’s what I’ll be attempting today. Now, to keep things fair, I’m limiting my choices to one song per film. Because if I didn’t, this list would be dominated by most of the songs from one or two films. With that said, though, I will be listing my ‘Runner-Up’ picks from each film that I list here. Also, I will not be including songs that were primarily featured in their film’s credits, so that disqualifies songs like ‘When Can I See You Again’ by Owl City from Wreck-it Ralph and ‘Immortals’ by Fall Out Boy from Big Hero 6 (Disclaimer: Even though the latter was used for a montage scene in the film, it’s still primarily the end credits song hence why I didn’t count it.) So, without further ado, here are my Top 10 Favorite Disney songs.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Like I said, it was hard to narrow this list down to just 10 songs so I have quite a few honorable mentions. I’ll rattle them off quickly here. First there’s the classic song from The Jungle Book, ‘The Bare Necessities’, sung by Baloo as he teaches Mowgli about the care-free lifestyle. And no, Screen Junkies, this isn’t the only memorable song from the film. King Louie’s number, ‘I Wanna Be Like You’, is just as iconic. Next up is ‘I See the Light’ from Tangled. Overall, this was a nice love song backed by the gorgeously animated sequence that was Corona’s annual lantern ceremony. My runner-up pick from this film is Rapunzel’s ‘I Want’ song, ‘When Will My Life Begin?’, which she sings as she wishes to explore the world outside of her tower. And speaking of this ‘genre’ of music, finally there’s the two main ‘I Want’ songs from The Little Mermaid and Cinderella. The Little Mermaid’s ‘I Want’ song, ‘Part of Your World’, is beautifully sung by Jodi Benson and is set to a terrifically animated sequence in which Ariel expresses her desire to explore the human world. My runner-up pick from this film is everyone’s favorite, the Calypso-inspired melody that is ‘Under the Sea’. As for Cinderella, her big ‘I Want’ song is ‘A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes’, a soothing melody buoyed by the performance of Ilene Woods in the title role of Cinderella (Lily James also did a fantastic rendition of the song for the live-action remake in 2015). For my runner-up pick of this film, that distinction goes to the obvious choice of the Fairy Godmother’s upbeat melody ‘Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo’.  

10. WHY SHOULD I WORRY? (OLIVER AND COMPANY)

While 1988’s Oliver and Company may not exactly be the most beloved entry in the Disney canon, especially considering that it’s sandwiched between two of the studio’s most well-received efforts, it does have one major saving grace. And that is the main song from the soundtrack, ‘Why Should I Worry?’. Sung by the legendary Billy Joel, it’s probably the one thing that most people remember when they think about Oliver and Company, and sure enough, it’s very much the main highlight of the film. In the film, Joel plays the charismatic street-dog Dodger, who in this sequence shows Oliver that above all else, he’s got ‘street savoir-faire’. During this entire scene, Oliver is trying to catch up with Dodger, who is carrying a bunch of hot dogs that Oliver helped him steal from a vendor. The two end up in various situations over the course of the sequence, including Oliver getting blasted with water from a fire hydrant (thanks to Dodger) and Dodger playing a piano with his tail as the piano is being lifted by a crane. Simply put, this was an enthusiastically upbeat song that I listened to quite a lot as a kid thanks to those old Disney Sing-Along VHS tapes (Ah, the good old days…). And as I stated before in my 80’s Disney Retrospective, this was before I ever saw the actual film. Sure, it’s probably a telltale sign of how the song ultimately became more famous than the film itself but hey, who’s counting?

Runner-Up: Admittedly the rest of the soundtrack for the film is just ‘ok’ at best. I mean, it’s disappointing to note that the song performed by ‘The Divine Miss M’ herself, Bette Midler, ‘Perfect Isn’t Easy’, is easily the weakest song in the film. But another thing that this soundtrack has is a song by Huey Lewis which opens the film; ‘Once Upon a Time in New York City’. Simply put, it’s Huey Lewis, the same guy who brought us the classic songs from Back to the Future. But I also think that the song ‘Good Company’, sung by Oliver’s new owner Jenny as she practices the piano, was a cute little melody that showcased the growing friendship between the two of them.

9. BELLA NOTTE (LADY AND THE TRAMP)

Call me crazy, but I consider the ‘Bella Notte’ sequence from Lady and the Tramp to be one of the best romantic film scenes of all-time. And keep in mind… we’re talking about a scene that centers around a romance between two dogs. But it’s easily the most famous scene from the film. After spending some time with the charming stray Tramp, him and the house-owned cocker spaniel Lady head on over to an Italian restaurant named Tony’s, which Tramp was shown to frequently visit earlier in the film and was also shown to be on good terms with the owner, Tony. And even though they’re just dogs, Tony has his assistant Joe prepare them a plate of spaghetti and meatballs. As they eat, Tony and Joe serenade them, via accordion and mandolin, respectively, with the romantic melody that is ‘Bella Notte’. The film then transitions to Lady and Tramp in the park, during which the song is then sung by a chorus for the remainder of the scene. And while George Givot’s (the voice of Tony) take on the song is excellent, I kind of prefer it when it’s sung by the chorus as it takes on a very soothing tone that I think works quite well in this romantic context. Still, there’s no denying how iconic this scene is, especially the part where Lady and Tramp both start to eat a single strand of spaghetti and they end up sharing a kiss once their mouths meet. It’s so famous that it’s been replicated in other forms of media, including shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy. Not bad for a film that, like Oliver and Company, is sandwiched in between two of Disney’s most famous films.

Runner-Up: Okay, I should probably lay out a disclaimer for this one. The other memorable song from this film is ‘The Siamese Cat Song’. This plays during the scene where the two Siamese cats of Aunt Sarah’s cause all sorts of trouble and Lady subsequently gets blamed for it all. It’s a memorable scene for sure and I remember seeing it all the time on those old ‘Disney Sing Along’ tapes. With that said, though… um, this is one of those cases of early Disney where, from a modern perspective, this scene may come off as being incredibly racist to some people. But like with the natives from Peter Pan, while I understand if people do see it that way, it doesn’t ‘really’ bother me that much.

8. I’LL MAKE A MAN OUT OF YOU (MULAN)

Taking the Number 8 spot on this list is the stand-out sequence from Disney’s highly underrated 1998 effort, Mulan. At this point in the film, Mulan has already enlisted in the Chinese army under the assumed name of Ping. The scene starts off with the soldiers on their first day of training under Captain Li Shang, who starts off the song. Shang’s singing voice is provided by Donny Osmond, though it’s interesting to note that in the Chinese versions of the film, the song was performed by, believe it or not, Jackie Chan. Yes, THAT Jackie Chan. Anyway, this leads to a fun training montage and the best part about it is that there’s a clear arc to it. As it begins, it’s made clear that Mulan and the other soldiers are severely lacking when it comes to combat experience. As such, the sequence starts out with them struggling to complete their training exercises. But then, as the scene progresses, they too start to get better and better. And it’s all spurred by the best moment in the entire sequence. Going back for a quick second, the sequence started off with Mulan and company being presented with their first big training exercise; grab an arrow lodged in a tall wooden log by climbing up to it, all while carrying heavy weights. Obviously, they all fail at first (Shang: “We’ve got a long way to go…”). But when Mulan is told to go home by Shang because she’s “unsuited for the rage of war”, she does succeed in grabbing the arrow, finally managing to impress Shang and their comrades. And so, as the song concludes, the soldiers are now shown to be mastering their training, ending one of the best scenes in the entire film.

Runner-Up: ‘Reflection’, the beautiful solo sung by Mulan following the incident with the Matchmaker as she laments about who she’s meant to be, just barely got beat out by ‘I’ll Make a Man Out of You’.

7. YOU’LL BE IN MY HEART (TARZAN)

As I’ve stated before, it seems as if I’m in the minority when it comes to liking the soundtrack from Disney Animation’s 1999 effort, Tarzan. From what I’ve seen online, some people aren’t too big on the songs that were provided by Genesis front-man Phil Collins. The main reason why, again going from what I’ve gathered online, is that instead of the characters in the film singing the songs, they’re performed by Collins himself. And at the very least, I do get that argument as it is a bit of a weird spin on the usual proceedings of a ‘Disney musical’. However, I think that on their own merit, Collins’ songs are really good. And even with that said, I think that they also work fine in the film, too. At the very least, they all match up to their respective scenes. And if I had to choose a favorite, I’d go with the [admittedly] obvious choice of ‘You’ll Be in My Heart’. This is one of the few instances in which a character in the film sings the song, albeit partially. It’s first sung by Tarzan’s adoptive ape mother Kala when he is an infant to calm him down. But after that, Collins takes over and basically all the other songs in the film are just sung by him. Still, it’s a great song that can be used as either a romantic song or a song of motherly love depending on the situation. Thus, it earned the Oscar for Best Original Song at that year’s ceremony. In fact, this was the last Disney animated film to do so for more than a decade. Which song broke that drought? Well, let’s just say that it’s coming up in a bit…

Runner-Up: Admittedly it was rather hard to pick just one ‘runner-up’ from this soundtrack. Like I said, I do like most of the songs in the film; ‘Strangers Like Me’, ‘Son of Man’, etc. But I decided to go with the one that opens the film; ‘Two Worlds’. And open the film it did… on a great note.

6. GASTON (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST)

You’ve probably noticed that I don’t have a lot of ‘villain songs’ in this list. While I do recognize that many consider Disney’s ‘villain songs’ to be some of the best songs to come out of their respective films, I’ll admit that they’re usually not my favorite songs on a Disney film’s soundtrack. For the record, though, that’s not to say that there haven’t been any great Disney villain songs… because there have been. ‘Hellfire’ from Hunchback of Note Dame, ‘Be Prepared’ from Lion King, ‘Friends on the Other Side’ from Princess and the Frog, the list goes on and on. But I’ll admit that I lean more towards the songs performed by the main characters or sidekicks. I guess it’s because I just prefer heroes over villains in general. But, anyway, if I had to choose my favorite Disney ‘villain song’, it would have to be the one named after its main subject, ‘Gaston’ from Beauty and the Beast. The scene starts out with Gaston sulking at the local tavern after being “Dismissed! Rejected! Publicly humiliated!” by Belle when he tried to propose to her. His lackey LeFou manages to cheer him up by reminding him of the fact that he’s the town hero and that everyone loves him. What follows is an extremely catchy tune in which Gaston lists all his accomplishments in life, like how he’s grown to ‘roughly the size of a barge’ (because he always eats five dozen eggs every morning) or how no one can beat him in a spitting competition. It perfectly captures the smug egotism of Gaston with the running theme of “No one (insert verb here) like Gaston”, a line that I know many of us have quoted in Gaston’s manly voice. In short, this is just a fun ‘squad’ song that highlights one of Disney’s best villains. What’s not to love?

Runner-Up(s): Ok I’m kind of cheating here because I have two other songs from Beauty and the Beast in the runner-up spot instead of one. The first is probably the most famous from the film, ‘Be Our Guest’, the literal personification of dinner and a show. But the title song ‘Beauty and the Beast’ is great as well, matched perfectly with the film’s beautifully animated sequence of Belle and Beast’s first dance.

5. LET IT GO (FROZEN)

Yeah, yeah, I know… some of you are tired of hearing this song being brought up all the damn time. It’s been covered so many times on YouTube that it’s practically become its own sub-genre on that site. But with that said, it’s hard to deny the impact that this song has had on pop culture. Just like how the song serves as Elsa’s anthem of liberation in the film, it’s undoubtedly served the same purpose for many others. And of course, it was one of the major factors into reworking Elsa as one of the main protagonists instead of being the main villain. Frozen’s music was created by the duo of Robert and Kristen-Andersen Lopez, who also did the music for Disney 2011’s release, Winnie the Pooh (the latter even voiced Kanga). Back when Elsa was still set to be the villain, the two began to develop a song that was more about her inner struggles instead of just being her ‘badass song’. No joke, that was the literal note that they got from the filmmakers. And while it ultimately meant that director/co-writer Jennifer Lee had to re-write the whole film to accommodate this change, we all know that it was for the best. The song is great and is set to one of the best sequences of the entire film in which Elsa rids herself of her former demons (e.g. shedding the gloves that were used to conceal her icy powers) and builds her ice palace, away from those who’d fear her. And of course, it’s all backed by the phenomenal performance by the vocal powerhouse that is Idina Menzel (or ‘Adele Dazeem’ if you’re John Travolta). And that is why ‘Let it Go’ won Best Original Song at that year’s Oscars, making Frozen the first Disney animated film to win that award since Tarzan which, fittingly enough, was also directed by Frozen’s co-director, Chris Buck. Sure, some might find it to have been ‘played out’ at this point but it’s still undeniably the most iconic element of the global phenomenon that is Frozen.

Runner-Up(s): Once again, I have two ‘runner-up’ picks from this film. The first is the other one that everyone loves, Do You Want to Build a Snowman. It’s a song that details Anna’s attempts to reconnect with Elsa over the years, starting off in the cutest way possible before ending on a somber note and hitting us in the feels as the result of it ending with the death of Anna and Elsa’s parents. Would you believe that this song was almost cut? Thank god they kept it in, right? The other song that I like is ‘For the First Time in Forever’, which is a duet involving Anna and Elsa but mostly focuses on Anna as she finally gets the opportunity to leave the castle grounds because of Elsa’s Coronation Day. This song was then reprised later in the film when Anna tries to reason with Elsa in her ice palace. This version gradually crescendos before ending with Elsa accidentally striking Anna’s heart with her icy powers.

4. HAKUNA MATATA (THE LION KING)

It was hard to pick just one song from The Lion King, which has probably my favorite Disney soundtrack of all-time. I love all the songs that came courtesy of the legendary Elton John and lyricist Tim Rice, the latter of whom also worked on the soundtracks of Aladdin and the Broadway adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. ‘I Just Can’t Wait to Be King’, ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight?’, ‘Circle of Life’, etc. It was hard to narrow it down to just one. But I went with the [again, admittedly] obvious choice of ‘Hakuna Matata’. Going off what I was talking about last week, this song, sung by the duo of Timon and Pumbaa, helps liven the mood after the devastating loss of Mufasa. After finding Simba out on the desert all alone, they let him stay with them as Simba begins to learn about their carefree lifestyle and how he should ‘put his past behind him’ by adhering to their motto and “problem-free philosophy”, ‘Hakuna Matata’, which means ‘no worries’. And while Simba does wise up after a while and embraces his destiny as the rightful king of Pride Rock, this is still a classic song that is easily one of the best moments in the entire film. Pumbaa gets a hilarious ‘flashback’ in which other animals are shown to be turned off by his constant flatulence, Simba gets a ‘crash course’ in regards to Timon and Pumbaa’s ‘bug diet’, and even ends up becoming an adult as the result of him spending many years with his two new friends. Really, there’s not much else that I can say about ‘Hakuna Matata’ that hasn’t been said before by others. It’s just a classic, laid-back tune from one of my favorite films.

Runner-Up(s): Simply put, given what I said before, let’s just put the rest of the film’s soundtrack as my ‘runner-up’ pick, ok?

3. WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR (PINOCCHIO)

What more can be said about this song that hasn’t already been said? This is practically the anthem of Disney. It’s used during the opening logos of most of Disney’s film output. The first seven notes of the song are used as the horn signal whenever the Disney Cruise Line leaves port. In other words, this is arguably the most famous Disney song of all-time. And rightfully so as it’s a terrific tune sung excellently by Cliff Edwards, the original voice of Jiminy Cricket, during the opening credits. But as I noted before in my 30’s/40’s Disney Retrospective, it seems as if there’s a bit of controversy surrounding this song. This controversy stems from the supposed message that this song implies. The implication that all that kids need to do is wish upon a star to make their dreams come true. But like I said in the retrospective, I don’t think the song is literally telling people to do that. It’s just a heartwarming melody that correlates well with the plot-line in Pinocchio in which Geppetto wishes on a star for his wooden puppet Pinocchio to be a real boy. But at the very least, I think Disney is aware of this controversy. 2009’s The Princess and the Frog opened with a reference to this song but then went in a totally different direction by having Tiana’s father tell her that one has to work hard for their dreams to come true. Still, it’s hard not to love the classic tune that is very much, 100%, utterly, undoubtedly, in every respect… Disney.

Runner-Up: Easily the other classic tune from this film is ‘I’ve Got No Strings’. It’s set to an entertaining sequence in which Pinocchio performs for Stromboli in his traveling puppet show. But for you Marvel fans out there, like myself, you’ll remember the sinister version that was used in the trailers for Avengers: Age of Ultron, a fitting connection seeing how Ultron was basically the dark personification of Pinocchio.

2. A FRIEND LIKE ME (ALADDIN)

Last week, I listed Robin Williams’ unforgettable character from Aladdin, the Genie, as my #1 favorite Disney sidekick. In fact, he’s quite possibly my favorite Disney character, period. And, sure enough, his big musical number, ‘A Friend Like Me’, ends up being my favorite tune from the film. It’s all set to an excellently animated sequence in which the Genie, freed from the confines of the magic lamp, shows Aladdin the true extent of his powers. Originally, the piece was done in the style of legendary scatman/bandleader Cab Calloway. But once Robin Williams was cast, the song was reworked to match the Genie’s new wise-cracking, anachronistically pop-culture spouting characterization... and probably to better fit Williams’ musical abilities, also. And, sure enough, it all comes together nicely. Williams does an excellent job performing the song and the animation in this sequence is flashy and colorful throughout. There’s even some traces of Aladdin’s original design, when he looked more like Michael J. Fox instead of Tom Cruise, left in at this part because this was one of the first scenes of the film to be animated. But ultimately, the key to this scene is that it does its job at showcasing just what the Genie can do, effectively making this one of the studio’s most creative animated sequences ever. Highlights include the time that he tap-dances with his two hands and the big show-stopping finale that includes dancing camels, dancing elephants, you name it, it’s probably there. What more can be said but...

Runner-Up(s): Like Lion King, this is another instance in which I’m going to put the remaining soundtrack of the film in the runner-up spot instead of just picking one song. Because Aladdin had an equally fantastic soundtrack outside of ‘Friend Like Me’. ‘Arabian Nights’ does a great job of setting up the atmosphere of Agrabah. ‘One Jump Ahead’ is a fun tune set to Aladdin’s efforts to escape the Palace Guards. ‘Prince Ali’ is another memorable showtune, again sung by Robin Williams, to help introduce Aladdin’s new persona. And of course, who can forget the film’s big love song, ‘A Whole New World’, sung by Aladdin and Jasmine as they rode the Magic Carpet. But there was one other song from the soundtrack that sadly never made it into the film. ‘Proud of Your Boy’ was written by the late Howard Ashman, sung by Aladdin as he laments about the fact that he’s constantly been a disappointment in his mother’s eyes due to his troubling ways. His mother was originally in the film but ended up getting cut. And so, even though it no doubt must’ve hurt Ashman’s collaborative partner Alan Menken to do so, the song was cut as well. It did, however, come back in the Broadway musical adaptation.

1. GO THE DISTANCE (HERCULES)

For my number one favorite Disney song, I decided to go with Hercules’ ‘I Want’ song from, well, Hercules; ‘Go the Distance’. The song symbolizes Hercules’ struggles to fit in with the human world, unaware that he’s the son of the gods Zeus and Hera and was taken from his home in Mount Olympus when he was a baby. The song starts off with him basically praying to the Gods to help him find his place in life before taking a brief break as Hercules learns about the necklace, which has the symbol of the gods on it, that he was wearing when his adoptive parents, Amphitryon and Alcmene, first found him. As he heads off on a journey to the temple of Zeus, the song starts up again in a much more rousing iteration compared to the slower but very much hopeful tone of the first verse. And finally, it is reprised once more as Hercules heads off on his quest to become a ‘true hero’ and return to the world of the gods. The reason why I love this song so much is because it truly is an inspiring anthem. Obviously, none of us are a Greek demigod like Hercules but away from the context of the film, this song’s inspirational feel can be uplifting and inspire people to never give up and achieve their dreams no matter the circumstance. In other words, this is basically just like ‘Let it Go’ but was done 16 years before that song was ever conceived. Just imagine playing this song while working out at the gym or doing some similar activity; it does motivate you. Sure, it may not exactly be a ‘classic’ like ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’ but it’s still a great song because of its ability to inspire. And that is why it’s my favorite Disney song to date.  

Runner-Up: This was another instance where I do like most of the songs from the film’s soundtrack; ‘The Gospel Truth’, ‘One Last Hope’, ‘I Won’t Say I’m in Love’, etc. But if I had to choose just one for my runner-up pick, it’d probably be the montage song ‘Zero to Hero’, sung by the Fates as they recount Hercules’ rise in popularity. Simply put, it’s catchy, upbeat, and the animation is, like many great Disney animated sequences, flashy and colorful.

And those are my Top 10 favorite Disney songs. Obviously, there are a lot of other great Disney songs that I didn’t cover here. Like I said, it was hard to narrow this down to just a Top 10. So, be sure to sound off in the comments below about your personal favorites, especially if they’re ones that I didn’t mention here. Next week, Disney Month concludes with what is easily the biggest list of them all. A complete rankings list of the 55 animated features that Walt Disney Animation Studios has produced up to this point, from Snow White to Zootopia.

Disney Retrospective: The 50's

Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s ongoing series of Disney Retrospectives, in which I look back upon the many, many animated films that have been produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. And today, we’ve actually come to the final part of this series as we’ll be covering the final collection of Disney animated films that I’ve yet to address; the Disney films that came out during the 50’s. Last time around I covered Disney’s first 11 features, which of course started with 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and was then followed by the likes of Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Bambi. But then came World War II, which resulted in not only some of the studio’s staff members being drafted but also certain overseas markets being cut off. As a result, most of the Disney animated features during the 40’s were low-budget ‘package films’, a series of animated shorts that were not usually connected narratively. This included projects like Saludos Amigos, Fun and Fancy Free, and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad just to name a few. It wouldn’t be until the 50’s when the studio returned to doing full-length feature films. And I must say, out of all of the decades that make up Disney Animation’s long history, the 50’s might arguably be the studio’s most iconic period. Obviously nowadays the decade that most Disney fans are probably familiar with is the 90’s AKA ‘the Disney Renaissance’. But as far as the 50’s is concerned, while there were only five films that were released during this time, pretty much all of them are considered to be some of the studio’s most classic films. So with that said, it’s time to look back upon the decade where the young woman put on the glass slipper, the girl fell down the rabbit hole, and the boy who never grew up explored the world of Never Land. These are the Disney Animated films of the 50’s.

CINDERELLA (1950)

You might recall that I was a really, really big fan of Kenneth Branagh’s live-action reimagining of this film that was released last year. One of the reasons why I was really looking forward to it was because Disney’s original take on the story of Cinderella was actually one of my favorite Disney films growing up. And even though nowadays I sort of lean towards the live-action version for its improvements over the original film, namely a more developed relationship between Cinderella and Prince Charming, that doesn’t mean that I don’t still appreciate the great things that came from this Disney classic. It’s got some really nice animation, especially in regards to the creation of grand and gigantic rooms. It’s got a great collection of songs from Cinderella’s sweet melody ‘A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes’ to the Fairy Godmother’s bubbly tune ‘Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo’. As noted before, Cinderella is generally viewed as one of the more passive Disney princesses, with some claiming that she does nothing the whole film and then gets rescued by Prince Charming at the end of it. But as I’ve also noted before, I believe that there’s more to her character than that. She deserves a lot of credit for managing to endure all of the crap that her stepmother and stepsisters put her through while still maintaining an optimistic outlook on life. That is why she’s one of the best Disney princesses in my opinion. And of course this film has plenty of great side characters as well from the aforementioned Fairy Godmother to Cinderella’s wicked stepmother Lady Tremaine to Cinderella’s friendly mouse friends, especially Jaq and Gus. So in short, I guess you can say that this is one of my all-time favorite Disney films; one that now has an excellent live-action version to serve as a companion piece, not as a replacement!

Rating: 5/5!

ALICE IN WONDERLAND (1951)

Also commonly known as the film that many love to joke about in regards to them claiming that Walt and his team were totally on drugs when they made it, Alice in Wonderland is exactly what you’d expect from a film adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic story of a young girl’s adventures in the wacky world of Wonderland. It’s a world that is full of crazy characters in nonsensical situations and as a result, this film boasts some of the studio’s absolute best animation. Simply put, the animators perfectly captured the surreal imagery of the story as the animation is the perfect combination of vibrant colors and zany visuals. As for the plot, while I’ve never read Carroll’s original book, it seems as if the film follows the same general non-linear plot of the book in that it’s mostly just Alice getting into various situations and meeting a wide variety of goofy characters. Speaking of characters, Alice herself is a likable lead, voiced excellently by Kathryn Beaumont who would go on to voice another main character in the next Disney film. And of course the film also has plenty of memorable side characters, from the mischievous, always-grinning Cheshire Cat to the foul-tempered Queen of Hearts, who always orders “Off with their Heads!” whenever someone gets on her bad side. Alice in Wonderland is generally considered to be one of Disney’s finest animated classics and I can totally see why. All in all, it’s a very charming and light-hearted adventure through the strange world of Wonderland complete with a fun cast of characters and the studio’s usual excellent animation.

Rating: 4/5

PETER PAN (1953)

In 1953, Walt Disney Animation brought J.M. Barrie’s iconic play/novel Peter Pan to life in what is generally considered to be the most famous adaptation to date of ‘the boy who would never grow up’. This was the final Disney animated film that was primarily supervised by Disney’s original core team of animators AKA ‘The Nine Old Men’. It was also notably the last film that Disney released as part of their distribution deal with RKO Pictures. Since then, the studio has released all of their films under their own distributor, Buena Vista. In that regard, this is certainly a great one to end on when it comes to the Disney/RKO partnership. That’s because Peter Pan is easily one of Disney’s best films. It really does have it all. All of the main characters are great, from Peter Pan to Wendy (voiced by Kathryn Beaumont in her second major Disney Animation film role) to Tinker Bell and so on and so forth. The villains are absolutely terrific. The notorious Captain Hook and his main lackey Mr. Smee are two of Disney’s most hilarious villains. They work off each other so well as the two bumbling buffoons that they are. Just look at the scenes in which Hook tries to avoid being eaten by a hungry crocodile. The soundtrack is excellent as well. The main theme ‘You Can Fly’ is simply iconic but ‘Following the Leader’ is a pretty darn fun song as well. Sure, in hindsight the film gets a lot of flak nowadays for its arguably fairly racist/stereotypical portrayal of Never Land’s Indians and it’s completely understandable if some people are offended by this. But aside from that, it’s pretty easy to see why Peter Pan is commonly regarded as one of the most famous films in the Disney canon. It’s just a really fun adventure that is guaranteed to capture the imaginations of young and old.

Rating: 5/5!

LADY AND THE TRAMP (1955)

Sandwiched in between two of the most famous Disney animated films of all-time is 1955’s Lady and the Tramp, which is actually based off of a story titled Happy Dan, The Whistling Dog that was written by Ward Greene and published in Cosmopolitan magazine. The film focuses on the romance that develops between Lady, the beloved cocker spaniel of an upper-class family, and Tramp, a stray mutt. The romance that forms between the two of them is pretty nice, highlighted by the iconic ‘Bella Notte’ sequence in which they share a romantic candlelit spaghetti dinner while being serenaded by the owner of the Italian restaurant that provided them the food. Simply put, this is one of the most iconic ‘love story’ moments in the history of film. But the rest of the film is quite solid as well. One of the most interesting elements of the story is the fact that the majority of the film is seen from the perspective of the dogs. Lady refers to her owners as ‘Jim Dear’ and ‘Darling’ because that’s what they frequently call each other from her point of view. And when they have a baby, Lady doesn’t initially realize it at first when she finds that they start to become rather distant and we also see how the baby’s arrival ultimately affects her relationship with her owners. Granted, I wouldn’t really call this one of Disney’s absolute ‘best’ films. The story is rather simple and it is sort of like Alice in Wonderland in that it’s mostly just a random collection of moments involving the main characters. Still, with a likable lead duo, a solidly developed romance, and the usual nice Disney animation, Lady and the Tramp is still a pretty darn classic entry in the Disney canon.

Rating: 4/5

SLEEPING BEAUTY (1959)

From an artistic perspective, Sleeping Beauty is definitely one of the most beautifully animated films that Disney has ever made. It was the second film that they’d ever shot in widescreen, after Lady and the Tramp, and the results really are fantastic. The grand landscapes that come from the format are excellent and have an excellent painting-like quality to them. The film also has some excellent music, which was adopted from Tchaikovsky’s 1890 ballet of the same name. ‘Once Upon a Dream’ is definitely a classic Disney love song. But when it comes to the writing, admittedly it’s rather flawed in some parts, namely the main characters. Princess Aurora is unfortunately one of the weaker Disney princesses, though that’s mostly just due to the fact that she spends a good chunk of the film asleep. Her prince, Phillip, is also a bit underwritten at times; in fact, once he goes off to rescue Aurora he never says anything for the remainder of the film. But despite a rather underdeveloped pair of leads, the film does have a great cast of side characters. The three fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather are an excellent trio who work off each other well when it comes to the three of them trying to raise Aurora in secret without the help of their magic. And of course, there’s the main villain, Maleficent. Sure her motivations are rather weak, as she does what she does only because she wasn’t invited to the party celebrating the birth of Aurora, but her elegance and magical abilities easily make her one of Disney’s greatest villains. In short, Sleeping Beauty may not be perfect but it’s still a very enjoyable entry in the Disney canon. While it doesn’t really do much for its two main protagonists, the main villain, side characters, music, and animation do make up for that for the most part. Ultimately, though, Sleeping Beauty was actually an underperformer at the box office upon initial release, effectively resulting in Disney moving away from adapting fairy tales until The Little Mermaid three whole decades later.

Rating: 4/5

And with that, Rhode Island Movie Corner’s ‘Disney Retrospective’ series officially comes to a close. As always, be sure to sound off in the comments below in regards to your own thoughts on the films discussed here today and be sure to also check out the previous Disney Retrospectives that I’ve done in the links below. However, this is not the end of my discussion of Disney Animation for now. You may have noticed in a few of the previous ‘Disney Retrospectives’ that I mentioned that I have something BIG planned for next month. Well, since we’ve reached the end of these Retrospectives, I figured that it’s time to finally reveal my big plan… so be sure to check back tomorrow for the big announcement of what is coming to Rhode Island Movie Corner this November.

Disney Retrospective: The 90's

Disney Retrospective: The 2000's to Present

Disney Retrospective: The 60's and 70's

Disney Retrospective: The 80's

Disney Retrospective: The 30's and 40's