The Chronological Animated Disney Canon: The Silver Age
Movie the Thirteenth: "Cinderella"
It's well worth mentioning that, at this point, we're in the 1950's. This marked the beginning of an era of great change for Disney animation. Walt Disney himself was starting to branch out into theme parks and television and live-action features. Therefore, he wasn't always available to personally supervise the various animated films in production. On the downside, this meant the movies of this period have less of Disney's personal touch. One the upside, it also meant the producers of the films could experiment a bit more.
All of this is buildup for me to say, with regards to "Cinderella", that after all those anthology features, this is more like it!
This is about as close to the Grand Unified Perfect Disney Movie as you can get. The best thing is, it doesn't hold back. I don't think you can see a more relentless show of outright b*tchery onscreen than the actions of Lady Tremain (yet another fantastic villain), nor a bigger a**hole in the Disney Universe than Lucifer the cat (who is there to do b*tchery when Lady Tremain is unavailable). Cinderella herself is a far, far more empathic character then Snow White. The drama is absolutely top-notch. The songs are terrific. The final act is like something out of "Die Hard". The Fairy Godmother and the mice are more great competitors for the Best Character Ever title.
I just can't praise this movie enough. It's like a long, hot bath after some of those anthology features.
Movie the Fourteenth: "Alice in Wonderland"
Me: "Squee! 'Alice in Wonderland'!"
Walt Disney: "Ugh. 'Alice in Wonderland'."
Me: "I said, 'SQUEE, "Alice in Wonderland"'!!!!!"
Which is to say, it's funny to read what the creators of these movies really thought about them. This, in Walt Disney's eyes, was his biggest disappointment. And to that I say, whatever.
(Okay, the song at about the 55 minute mark is the most dreadful Disney song thus far, and they very obviously run out of ideas at the end, but the rest of the movie is awesome. So there.)
Have I mentioned how hard Mary Blair rocks? This is her opus. We've got yet another candidate for Best Character Ever in Cheshire Cat. And "Alice" has, by far, the best sight gags and "Parental Bonuses" in any of the classic Disney films. I finally understand the Caucus Race scene! Wee!
Movie the Fifteenth: "Peter Pan"
I guess anytime Katherine Beaumont has a solo song, that's your cue to go get a snack. The one in this movie is pretty dreadful too, but much nicer than the one in "Alice". You've also got another great example of double-standards at Disney: they won't re-release "Song of the South", but the song here at the 50 minute mark is A-OK.
Those are the only things I can complain about here. "Peter" is another amazing movie. At this point, you could easily argue that Disney peaked in the '50's; it was, after all, the last time all of the Nine Old Men would work together on movies. The "You Can Fly" scene gives me chills.
Movie the Sixteenth: "Lady and the Tramp"
Awwwww… *^_^*
Now, if "Bambi" is a tone poem, this is a dedicated character study. I can't help but wonder if this is the beginning of how dogs have been characterized ever since or if it was always that way. It is obvious that Disney was a dog-person. I can't believe I never really noticed this before, but the whole story is told from the animals' point of view.
This is the first movie Disney made in a widescreen aspect ratio. Up until now, we've only been able to watch such films in pan-and-scan. (If you don't know the difference, pan-n-scan is a little like trying to read this through a keyhole.) It looks absolutely terrific now that the DVD allows you to watch it in it's original format.
This is also supposedly the very first time Disney made a feature-length animation based upon an original story. That is… sort of true. Follow this now: Ward Greene wrote a short story about a character who'd inspire Tramp. Joe Grant was kicking around the idea of making a movie about his dog, a Cocker Spaniel. Several years and plenty of executive meddling later, and Ward Greene found himself writing a novelization of "Lady and the Tramp", which was released the year before the movie was. Oh, Disney.
Movie the Seventeenth: "Sleeping Beauty"
The best of the Silver Age. No contest.
It's gorgeous. The music and effects are excellent. And most important of all, the characters are wonderful.
Philip finally gives us a Prince with more personality than "hot guy who gets to marry the heroine in the last act". By the end of the movie he's a genuine hero. And he has to be. Maleficent is the best villain! There are, really, a few Disney bad guys who come close, but in terms of downright evil b*tchery (her scene with Philip in the dungeon; wow) there's no wonder why she gets to be leader of the villains whenever they do a crossover.
The supporting cast is great as well. Even the minor characters are fun. You have to love the scene with the bard. Really, I can't get over how excellent this movie is. The fact that Disney didn't make another movie based upon a fairy tale until "The Little Mermaid" says a lot; it's like they knew they wouldn't be able to match this one for some time.
It's worth noting that Disney was very hard at work on Disneyland while this film was in production. And that helps a lot in explaining why the overall design of Fantasyland (Sleeping Beauty Castle of course but also other buildings and signage and such) looks a lot like "Sleeping Beauty".
Movie the Eighteenth: "101 Dalmatians"
And now, we are in the sixties, which would prove to be a very tumultuous decade indeed. Plus, the Disney studio had a lot of shockwaves go through it at this time.
Walt Disney passed away in 1966. This was a crushing blow to everyone at the Disney studio. The Nine Old Men floundered for years and years without their leader, and in many cases this shows in their work.
Oddly, each of the four films that round out this chapter have been advertised as "the final film Walt Disney personally produced", but who knows which one (if any of them) this is true for.
Another shockwave was the invention of a Xerox machine that could photocopy the animators' drawings directly onto cells. "101 Dalmatians" was the first movie to use this technology (they pretty much had to; all those spots) and every film from this era has a distinctive "sketchy" look. The good thing about this technology was that it made films much easier to produce. However, it also makes the films look rather cheap. There are times when you can actually see the "skeletons" of the characters, and bits of recycled animation.
All this is a prologue to me being amazed that "101 Dalmatians" immediately followed "Sleeping Beauty". I never would have guessed it. Imagine if one band, within three years, followed "Dark Side of the Moon" with "Cracked Rear View".
Come to think of it, "101 Dalmatians" is very like Hootie and the Blowfish. (Stay with me here.) There is no reason whatsoever for it to be as insanely popular as it is, and yet it's somewhat better than I remember. It's the Disney version of an action movie and it's very, very sixties. Plus the puppies are cute. And it's the source for one of the best straight-up parody episodes of "The Simpsons".
Let us not speak of the live-action remake.
Movie the Nineteenth: "The Sword in the Stone"
I must confess, I wasn't looking forward to watching this one again. Even as a kid, I thought it was remarkably lame for a Disney feature, and (once again) it amazes me as an adult that it was released within a few years of "Sleeping Beauty". So having watched it again for the first time in probably fifteen years, what can I say?
I can say that in fact, "The Sword in the Stone" IS lame. The funny thing is, it's just as lame as I remember - not better or worse. Of all the movies I have watched thus far during this project, even the anthology features, this is the first one that genuinely feels cheap. Have you ever noticed that the plot recycles itself every twenty minutes or so (Merlin turns Arthur into something cute, he gets into some kind of misadventure, Merlin changes him back, lather rinse repeat)? The animation is downright sloppy and repetitive; we are apparently not supposed to notice when they recycle the same action over and over (the good news is, there's a drinking game to be made there). We're also not supposed to notice when they use the same dialogue over and over (take two sips for that), or when Arthur's voice changes (three sips).
And I have to go off on Arthur. All of the characters are very unappealing but he is the most annoying character in any of these films so far. He has few other expressions other than this stupid, blank gaping stare that begs to be caved in with a brick. He's the Peter Patrelli of Disney heroes. XD
But then… ah, the Wizard's Duel. Five minutes of genius in a sea of stupidity. It starts after the one hour mark, if you'd like to know.
This is really the first of a sort of series of book adaptations the Disney studio would pump out ever since. Almost none of them have anything to do with the source material other than the fact that the characters have the same names. I'll try to refrain from picking on them for that.
Movie the Twentieth: "Mary Poppins"
And now, the very first time LaGremlin (who hates musicals) ever watched this movie the whole way through.
I liked it.
(Pauses as everyone's head a-splodes.)
Well, the songs are very good; it amazes me that the Sherman brothers wrote all of these after their forgettable "Sword in the Stone" numbers. It's very long but it moves very fast. There is, really, only one slow spot (the bank scene). But it's very fun and very cheerful.
And it's the source for another one of the best straight-up parody episodes of "The Simpsons". And don't forget "Scary Mary"!
Movie the Twenty-First: "The Jungle Book"
So this may well be the very last film Walt Disney was directly involved in, may he rest in piece. Even if that is true, this is really the Sherman Brothers and Ken Anderson and Bill Peet show. The latter two provided the memorably fun character designs. The former provided the excellent songs. Funny thing about those songs, however; even though "The Bear Necessities" is one of the most-often covered Disney songs, it makes absolutely no sense out of context. With a lot of fun Parental Bonuses and a great script, this will be the most memorable fully-animated film for some time, I'm afraid.
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