Which Disney Renaissance Film is the BEST? Part 9: The Stories

It should come as a surprise to no one that the greatest era in Walt Disney's Feature Animation department is arguably the most beloved era of a single company's film making in motion picture history.  After all, not only was Disney at the height of their creative development, but the studio continued to release hit after hit, without any glaring failures in anyone's eyes.  To many who are reaching adulthood today,. these films are what we grew up on.  My first film watching experiences were at least five of the top movies pictured above.  These films have had a profound impact on how we act, how we think, and how we tell our life stories.  

But which of these high ranking movies is the most superior?  How can one masterpiece be better than another?  That is what I will be focusing on for the next several posts.  Which film was the most structurally sound, which was the most superior in one area, and ultimately, which was the best.  Feel free to argue for one of your movies on this list or if you think my list is incorrect, but please understand that this is all opinion based, so it doesn't make someone stupid if they agree or not.  

Here is how the list will be determined.  All 10 films of the Disney Renaissance will be judged on the following categories:

Hero

Heroine

Villain

Supporting Cast

Songs (The Rescuers Down Under gets a pass here)

Musical Score

Animation

Story

Special Effects

Theme/ Message

Each film will be scored on a 1-10 scale.  The higher points you score for a category, the greater the chance is that film is ranked the best.  But please note that just because a film could get two or three 10's in a row, doesn't mean that it is guaranteed a victory.  Keep a close eye on the consistent films.

At the end of the competition, the films will have their scores divided by 10 (nine for Rescuers Down Under), and a winner will be determined when the math is completed.  The winner will receive the next King's Analysis and a special surprise for it on my YouTube channel, NintendoMan64.

This Round: What may very well be the deciding round in this contest is arguably the one element that the great Walt Disney generally despised the most.  As the 1980's approached, the animators kept the tradition of drafting storyboards over script writing, resulting in good natured but otherwise clustered messes that ultimately didn't satisfy audiences.  Jeffery Katzenberg put a stop to this and began hiring scriptwriters to draft the stories for these legendary films.  In the end, it worked out MOSTLY for the best.  

Here's my criteria:

• You don't have to follow the story/historical event completely if you have your own interesting twist to put on it.  
• Original Stories or scenario ideas are highly recommended (Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio or the plot to The Jungle Book)
• No severe plot holes or easily predictable stories
• The more dramatic, the more likely you'll score high

With that said, let's begin...

10. Pocahontas

If Pocahontas was to successfully follow the heavy succession of Disney Films that preceded it, it needed to be able to stand out on it's own in terms of it's storytelling approach, yet at the same time, feel at home in the Disney Canon.  Unfortunately, Pocahontas's plot is very predictable, it's conflict forseeable before you even begin to put the DVD in the player, and it's resolution is arguably the most famous moment in the history of the colony of Jamestown.  Granted, it was pretty sweet to finally see Native Americans properly brought to life (to a very small extent), but the whole "Who's the real savage?" narrative has been done so many times it's bordering on cliche.  And this was supposed to be the film that netted an Oscar nod like Beauty and the Beast?  C'mon Jeffery, even you know better than that.  

+1 point 

9. Hercules

I'm not one who delves so deeply into Greek Mythology.  In fact, when I once had a conversation with someone who absolutely despises this movie due to it's sheer ignorance of the Mythology it was based on, I simply uttered "I don't really care about it either way."  I don't really care if Hera actually wasn't Hercules's biological mother, nor do I care that she in fact despised him (though that would have made a kick ass story for Disney to do).  But what I do care about is the twist Disney did put on it.  And that is where my criticisms go.  As I stated in my review, the only thing this film lacked from ripping off the story of Superman was the cape.  Hercules is a handsome young man with quirks who is just so nice that it's almost disgusting (Clark Kent), he battles a nemesis who is clearly smarter than him and outwits him only because of his powers (Lex Luthor), and he falls in love with a snarky woman who has to take her time to really grow to care for him (Lois Lane).  How in the Underworld did the writers of this movie also write Aladdin and The Little Mermaid?

+2 points 

8. The Rescuers Down Under

One of the few things that didn't improve between the first and second installments in this saga was the pacing and overall plots of the story.  Of course, we care far more for about the fate of Cody and Marahute over the fate of Penny and the Devil's Eye, but here is a basic run over of the plots of both movies:

• Child in trouble in remote area
• Reported to Rescue Aid Society
• Bernard and Bianca leave to help them, recruiting an Albatross to take them
• Run in with various locals
• Find the child and villain but are, for the most part, unable to aid the child in escaping properly. 

The problem with both Rescuers movies is that the mice are unfortunately unable to do much of anything for a good portion of the time they are trying to save both children, really making them ineffectual to the film's plot until the climax.  Nevertheless, the story as a whole is a bit more solid, and isn't just about the escape.  It does delve into the protection of Marahute and her eggs, which is certainly more interesting than recovering a diamond.  Just not Top 5 worthy...

+3 points 

7. Tarzan

Tarzan is a film full of missed opportunities.  A film that could have gone deep into the psyche of one of literature's most complicated characters would have definitely been the crowning achievement of the Renaissance.  But the film tries to juggle Tarzan's inner conflict (Human or Ape?), with the weak comedy with Terk and Tantor, the dangers of the Jungle, the human's desire to see the gorilla nests, Clayton's ambitions, and Tarzan's relationship with both Jane and his adopted parents, Kala and Kerchak.  It ultimately becomes too much for the film to bear, and it becomes, unfortunately for it, just another good Disney Renaissance film.  Aside from that big flaw, Tarzan does avoid many cliches that would have driven the film off the cliff, such as keeping the first half of the film completely with Tarzan and his jungle brethren and really staying consistent with the whole "Gorilla Talk vs Human Language" barrier, which was totally botched in Pocahontas.  It should get points for that...

+4 points 

6. Mulan

There is a distinct lack of flaw in Mulan's general conception as a Disney film.  It doesn't have many glaring plot holes, if any, and it really doesn't have to fully change much from the legend.  Unfortunately, it doesn't have much that really stands out, save for Mulan herself, but you don;t get points for something I already praised in another round.  It's a well rounded story, and doesn't exactly make any serious errors in judgement (though the American view of China is clearly depicted over a Chinaman's view of China).  It's a good plot that isn't too complicated.  In fact, it's a good Disney plot.  

+5 points 

5. The Little Mermaid

The plot of The Little Mermaid, or more importantly, the way the plot is told to us is in stark contrast to not only the original source material, but to what was generally conceived as Disney's fair.  Ron Clements and John Musker took clear liberties in the conception of the story, electing not to kill off Ariel at the end and expanding more upon the role of the Sea Witch and Ariel's father, King Triton.  And unlike in previous films, where the girl and boy instantly locked eyes and fell in love, Ariel as a mute really has to work to win Eric's heart.  A wide variety of characters are allowed to have their own needs and desires, and one in fact learns a critical lesson, but more on that in another round.  On it's own, The Little Mermaid took a lot of risks in terms of modernized Fairy Tale storytelling and began the line of more complex and innovative plots and storylines moving forward. 

+6 points 

4. The Hunchback of Notre Dame 

If The Little Mermaid took liberties with the plot of the original fairy tale, The Hunchback of Notre Dame practically rewrote Victor Hugo's dark tragedy of religious corruption.  Frollo isn't a priest in the film and isn't the source of intolerance, and most of the characters besides Esmeralda and Quasimodo were, for lack of a better term, assholes.  Disney's take on the film isn't exactly a watered down version of the story, though.  There are certainly some poorly constructed elements, but they are mostly underplayed.  In fact, for children, this film is a very dark and thought provoking film.  Frollo is a more menacing and realistic villain when compared to Ratcliffe or Jafar, because he can represent our elected body and the very people we trust to protect us when they are corrupted by their greed and lust for both power and...well...gals.  Quasimodo's story is more about acceptance from the people of Paris, and Esmeralda is actually more than just a hot woman that several men want to bang.  Despite not following the book perhaps more than any film since The Jungle Book, Disney's take on the most adult book they've ever looked at is an incredibly insightful look into just how a society works and operates.  Well done.

+7 points 

3. Aladdin

The original Arabic folktale of "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp" takes more of a 1980's Oliver Stone movie.  The boy is born and lives with nothing, finds riches, finds girl, loses both, and gets both back while losing a bit of his humanity along the way.  In Aladdin, the characters are properly fleshed out and the story is likened to more like a 

romantic comedy.  The boy is poor, meets girl, finds a way to date her by lying, his secret is revealed, and he decides to show her who he really is.  And yet, the story has so much payoff and delight in it's confines that it really surprises me that nobody really loves this film as much as I do.  The villain isn't killed like in most Disney movies.  Instead, the movie allows Jafar to really do himself in and trap himself in his own "itty bitty living space".  Aladdin, unlike Ariel, causes a ton of problems in Agrabah, yet manages to save the day and even decides to give up his dream to marry Princess Jasmine in favor of freeing Genie from his lamp.  While I will admit the whole "Let's just change the law" stuff the Sultan does at the end is a fair plot hole to bring up, the rest of the film is so solid that it borders perfection.  Another job done well, Aladdin.  

+8 points 

2. Beauty and the Beast 

One of the things that I find to be incredibly overrated with regards to the original Fairy Tale of "Beauty and the Beast" is this notion that the Beast and Beauty's relationship was one of the most dynamic.  From what I've read of the original tale, the Beast was only moved by her beauty and the girl by his caring for her.  In Disney's retelling, the film takes a TRULY dynamic approach, not only having Belle and the Beast acting downright hostile towards each other, but also gradually allowing the Beast and Belle to care for one another by getting to know each other.  Belle learns to overlook the Beast's temper and gruff exterior and see the kindness and innocence he has inside, while Beast overlooks Belle's beauty to get to know just how smart, intelligent and spirited she is.  The film is also clever enough to not tell us how much time has passed between Belle being imprisoned in the castle and her falling in love with the Beast.  It could be weeks, or even months.  But the best element the story provides is the opposite tracks our hero and villain walk.  While the Beast is vicious and cruel in the beginning, he is warmed by Belle's heart and caring.  Gaston starts out as a handsome, muscular buffoon, then transforms into a bloodthirsty monster hellbent on getting what he wants.  And this is the reason Beauty and the Beast is truly Oscar worthy, NOT Pocahontas!!!!

+9 points 

1. The Lion King

It's one thing to have a character that isn't the villain die.  After all, several Disney films do that.  It's another thing to have a character die during the movie.  Disney has also done that quite a few times.  But it is a completely different thing entirely when the character's death triggers not only a serious emotional response from the audience, but also drives the emotional workings of a character AND the plot.  The Lion King is a film of many firsts and many of the things that this film has ushered in has been foolishly attempted to be duplicated.  Mufasa's death and the subsequent exile it forces Simba into allows Disney to reach new levels of emotional depths in their storytelling.  But the story is more than just about Mufasa's death.  We also mustn't forget all of the inspiring lessons that Mufasa bestows upon both his son and the audience, the contrasting conditions the Pridelands are forced into when changing kings twice, and the subsequent journey Simba takes into his own subconscious, makes The Lion King the most well rounded and all around sensational Disney story ever told.

Current Standings:

1. Aladdin                                               76 pts
2. The Lion King                                    71 pts
3. Beauty and the Beast                         69 pts
4. The Little Mermaid                            67 pts
5. The Hunchback of Notre Dame        56 pts
6. Tarzan                                                 35 pts
7. Pocahontas                                         32 pts
8. Mulan                                                  31 pts
*9. The Rescuers Down Under              30 pts
10. Hercules                                            27 pts

Next Round: The final round of the Tournament is a cage match of nothing but the timeless messages and morals these legendary films give us.  Which of these Ten morals was the best and which left us scratching our heads?  Which were the most original and which were the most cliched?  Which of these films can beat Aladdin?  Find out when Part 10 is ready to go!