Top Ten Greatest SCENES of Animation in Disney History

From the first conceptual designs of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, to the beautiful imagery of Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, and from the technical wonder of the ballroom dance in Beauty and the Beast, to Elsa's creation of her frozen fortress, the Walt Disney Animation Studios has been the cornerstone of the animation world.  Every animator in the history of the art has looked to Disney as an inspiration, a reference, and a guide in preparing their own legacies.  Some animators look to the characters, others to the music.  But most Disney Animators are sold on the craft based on a few specific scenes.  Often, we need a good reminder on how breathtaking the art of animation can be, and how it is much more stylized and can break the barriers of belief more than live action.  And in many Disney Films, we get one or two specific scenes where the animation takes center stage and the stuff of legends is created.  And while some animated films achieve much higher levels of depth in the art than others, Disney as a whole dominates the animation world, and with good reason.  That's most certainly not a knock on Miazaki or Pixar, but Disney did it first and set the stage.  Here is a list of ten of just a handful  of the greatest scenes of animation in animation history.

Rules for this List:

1. Disney CANON features Only

2. No Repeat Films, otherwise "Fantasia", "Frozen", "The Lion King", and "Pinocchio would dominate this list

3. The Scene must be a standout moment for the film and (to an extent) the history of Disney Animation

Worth Mentioning:

 Topsy Turvy (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

The Wildebeest Stampede (The Lion King)

 

Night on Bald Mountain/ Ave Maria (Fantasia)

 

Gown Transformation (Cinderella)

 

Forest Opening (Bambi) (I had a REALLY hard time keeping this off)

THE LIST:

10. Big Ben Chase (The Great Mouse Detective)

A film that doesn't gain the recognition it deserves is known for one reason.  While there are rumors that The Black Cauldron was the first Disney Film to use CGI, it's in the The Great Mouse Detective where the technology is used at it's best in those early days.  While chasing after Professor Ratigan's blimp, Basil, Olivia, and the evil Ratigan crash into Big Ben.  It's here, where we're able to see just how enormous the gears working the world's most famous clock are to the mouse world.  CGI is used to create the gears, and as the first piece of CGI in the history of Disney Animation, it is done superbly.

9. Escape from the Cave of Wonders (Aladdin)

After Abu touches the Forbidden Treasure, the Tiger God decides to go all out in an attempt to kill both Aladdin and the monkey, before they are able to give the lamp to Jafar.  Aladdin nearly falls into a pool of lava, but the magic carpet saves him and from there, it's like going on YouTube and watching a First Person view on a roller coaster.  From the incredible CGI lava, to the sweeping camera rotations around the cave, this scene is a thrill to watch, and makes all of the things that happened in Raiders of the Lost Ark totally lame.

 8. The Storm (The Little Mermaid)

The one thing The Little Mermaid has going for it over something like Aladdin, is that most of the scenes, particularly this scene and the Final Battle are all hand drawn, with little to no help from computers.  As Prince Eric celebrates his birthday, a sudden hurricane hits the seas (maybe Triton lost a game of cards or something).  From here on, the special effects team takes complete control from the characters.  The water moves at an almost realistically terrifying rate, every lightning bolt is over indulged into amazing territory, and every hit and turn the ship takes can almost be felt by the audience.  The perfect example for a "stand alone" scene.

7. Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (Fantasia)     

The opening piece to Fantasia easily hooks the person watching with not only the power of the music itself, but the animation Walt Disney was able to get out of his animators based solely on the music alone.  Unlike other pieces in the program, Toccata and Fugue illustrates what a person might think about instantly upon hearing the music for the first time.  Instead of Mickey Mouse dancing, it is just masses of color moving in sync with the music, to geometric objects floating in space.  It is a one of a kind moment in animation that should not be copied, even though the film's less than stellar sequel attempted to.

6. Flight of the Eagle (The Rescuers Down Under)

If only I had skill in drawing.  If I did, not only would this blog not exist, but I'd also be out there trying so hard to match the power of this scene.  This cemented my dream to become a Disney animator, if the next five didn't already.  I was a late bloomer to this film and it's original film.  I didn't grow up with this film, but boy do I wish I did.  I wish I could quote this movie like I can The Jungle Book or Aladdin, because this is one of the single greatest scenes in history.  Cody rescues Marahute from the trap and is accidentally knocked off the cliff.  The eagle catches him.  But instead of just flying him to the nest, the Eagle carries him throughout Australia and showing off the animators skills.  And in this, you still haven't seen Bernard or Bianca!  BADASS!

                                                                       

5. Ballroom Dance (Beauty and the Beast)         

In the single most romantic scene in Disney Animation History, the magic of Beauty and the Beast is heightened to an extraordinary degree in the film's romantic climax.  As Belle and the Beast's relationship continues to blossom, the objects plan a romantic dinner for the two.  Beast shows off his swag and his returning human manners, and Belle takes him to the ballroom to dance.  As they do so, the animators explode with creative ideas as they use sweeping camera movements to show normally unseen motions of the dancing.  The animation takes center stage, and the film reaped the reward of Golden Globe glory for it.

4. Monstro Chase Scene (Pinocchio)

As far as animation is concerned, Pinocchio is probably the most perfect film ever made.  Every second of the film is technical perfection.  This goes double for the film's epic climax, as Pinocchio and Geppetto attempt to escape from the belly of the mighty Monstro by making him sneeze.  In his fury, the whale unleashes his wrath on the duo, crashing and flailing his massive body towards them.  The waves are not meant to be normal waves, but to illustrate the need for the present situation.  There is no comic relief in this fight.  Only intense frights and jaw dropping animation that is still breathtaking even 74 years after it's initial release.  Kudos Disney!

3. "Let It Go" (Frozen)

As Elsa begins to accept the fact that she will never be allowed to live the life she was told to, she begins to explore what her powers were capable of.  Instead of doing a flashy "Friend Like Me" style musical number, Disney Animators take advantage of their medium and use their tools and skills to create the most breathtaking scene of animation they'd had in almost twenty years.  Elsa is finally allowed to have free reign of her powers and creates her own dream world made entirely of her powers of ice, including the beautiful castle she creates.  Combine that with a stellar song, and this makes for an epic moment in Disney History.  Is it a wonder why this film quickly eclipsed Tangled as Disney's second highest grossing film?

2. Mufasa's Ghost (The Lion King)

Originally, Simba was supposed to have his famous "To Be or Not To Be" scene on his own accord, without any help from his father.  But the famous storytellers in Disney decided on a much more marvelous approach to telling the single most important scene in their epic movie.  To have Mufasa appear before his son in cloud form, which not only symbolized the great king's star metaphor from earlier in the film, but it also gave the "B Team" an opportunity to show that The Lion King was not the B Movie it was conceived to be.  The specter of Mufasa becomes more of a 3 dimensional shape as the scene progresses in order to show to Simba that it really was him and to show of the color palette Disney had to work with.  From being an initial dark blue to turning into a heavenly glow of warm colors, this scene gave audiences around the world chills for years, and made this the single greatest achievement the Post Walt staff would create.

1. The Final Battle (Sleeping Beauty)

But the greatest achievement in the history of animation occurred in Disney's most ambitious film it's ever attempted.  As the film races to it's hectic climax, Phillip battles through hordes of Maleficent's goons, escapes through volleys of arrows and boulders, and a quickly retracting drawbridge.  But before the prince could reach his beloved princess, he must battle his way through a massive forest of thorns created by the wicked fairy.  But even this cannot stop the Prince, who leaves the witch with no other alternative but to face him herself.  This results in the single greatest transformation in animation history, as the wicked Maleficent transforms into her terrifying dragon alter ego.  As Prince and Dragon clash, the flames from the dragon singe the thorns and make for stellar animation.  Sleeping Beauty is considered the apex of the animation form and it rightfully deserves to be named so, which is why this scene is the greatest in the history of Disney Animation.