It Could Not Stick the Landing...

 

Sigh...I had such high hopes for this show too...

The Renaissance of Cartoon Animation didn't last too long, did it?  Some shows ended too abruptly, some shows dragged on for way too long and some were excellent shows that were replaced by garbage ones.  An era that was once helmed by Adventure Time, Regular Show, Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, The Loud House and others truly did stumble badly as the 2010s drew to a close.  Now, we sit in an era of cartoons where the only shows getting greenlit are preexisting franchise shows (Teen Titans Go, the seventh or eighth Ben 10, the thirteenth variant of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) or shows going directly to one of seven different streaming services.  Heck, Cartoon Network is even losing ground on it's own channel, with a Programming Bloc geared towards little kids being in operation from early in the morning to mid afternoon and Adult Swim taking over from 8:00 EST onwards.  To be blunt, this is precisely why I suspect these channels we've come to know and tolerate (I won't go as far as to say love) will go the way of the dodo as soon as streaming services eclipse Cable TV.  I for one, will not be partaking in any new or rebooted shows for a while, as Disney and Nicks attempts to constantly reboot things have definitely drained me of a significant portion of my sanity.  

Disney has attempted to have feet in both ponds, with shows and movies exclusively on Disney+ while also releasing new content onto their channels (some of which no longer are in service overseas).  It's had...middling success.  Some of their shows have been very hit and miss.  For every Rapunzel's Tangled Adventures, Amphibia and The Owl House there is on the channel, there's always another lousy Star Wars or baby show to counteract it.  

Star Vs The Forces of Evil wrapped up it's drastically uneven series just around the time Disney+ was beginning to launch.  The show had once been one of the finest shows Disney ever put onto one of their channels, with drama, comedy, heartfelt emotions and stunning animation.  But the transfer from hand drawn animation to flash animation, combined with the show's increasingly convoluted storylines and misuse of characters resulted in a show that by Season 4 was limping it's way to completion instead of getting the fluid kind of finale everyone expected to get.  It's unknown whether the faults of the series lay with the creative team or the executives at Disney who didn't want to stray too far from the status quo. But there was a steep and rocky crumbling from the peak of it's episodes (at least in my opinion) of "Bon Bon the Birthday Clown".  It's never good to see a show limp it's way to a finale rather than end gracefully or even too early.  I will take a hundred shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender if it means I never have to see another show like Lost or The Walking Dead drag on until everyone is sick of it.  

And that's not to say people got sick of Star.  The thing was, though, it felt like someone at Disney was definitely sick of it.  The way they were telling the story from the start to the end of Season 3 seemed fluid and appropriate.  Even midway into Season 4 things were tolerable though a bit too melodramatic to me.  But the joy quickly died out as soon as they reached the episode "The Blood Moon Curse", which is the episode I believe they jumped the shark with.  By that point, anyone with half a brain cell could tell where the show was going to go.  And it's a shame.  I'd rather some muddled water to come before the finale to a show I was truly wrapped around.  

As I mentioned in a post five years ago (wow, I feel old), "Bon Bon the Birthday Clown" was not just the best episode of Star that had aired to that point, it was also one of the finest episodes of any show I had seen to that point.  It made the characters grow and develop.  Marco seemed to be veering off the expected path of choosing the eccentric magical princess and instead getting the confidence to date the girl he'd loved since kindergarten.  Star seemed to be going down a dark path where she began to flirt with using evil spells and dark magic to get what she wanted, which now we knew included Marco.  Everything was gearing for the season to end with one cataclysmic showdown after another.  And the rest of Season 2 certainly delivered on this, putting the seemingly immortal Toffee up against Star and her mother with the fate of all Mewni hanging in the balance.  On top of that, Star's feelings for Marco began to boil up to the surface after this episode and caused her to lose focus on many things.  By the time Star leaves and Marco's world begins to crumble, we knew Season 3 was setting up to be a doozy with the Butterfly Family taking on their greatest enemy yet.  

And Season 3 delivered...in it's first few episodes.  The showdown with Toffee only lasted a short while, though I had expected it to take over the whole season.  With Toffee gone and Marco and Star separating for their own worlds (Star becoming a full time Princess and Marco returning to Earth), things began to change for both of them.  Now, it was Marco who was beginning to realize he missed Star and Star was the one who was finding her world changing for the better.  She found and reunited with her ancestor, the powerful former Queen Eclipsa and had even begun another relationship with her ex boyfriend Tom.  Marco's intrusion back into her life was mirroring Star's involvement in Marco's life.  Marco would ultimately become Star's squire, but would find himself realizing he actually did love Star, only to see her happy with someone else.  Marco seemed to find solace in his squiring duties and in a new friend and confidant in Kelly.  

Who replaced Toffee as a villain?  Why, Miss Heinous from the Perfect Princess school, of course.  In a shocking twist, not only is it revealed that the Magical High Council stripped Eclipsa of her power because of her love and affinity of monsters, but that Star and her mother weren't actually descendants of Eclipsa, but of a commoner who was raised as Eclipsa's daughter.  If that was the case, did Eclipsa have a child?  Why yes, yes she did.  And it was none other than Miss Heinous herself, who is revealed near the end of the season to be the half Mewni-half Monster child known as Meteora Butterfly.  She proves to be too powerful to control and Eclipsa is forced to take her daughter down...and by down I mean she makes her an infant again.  With Eclipsa restored as the rightful Queen of Mewni, Marco continuing to serve as Star's squire and Meteora back in place, everything seemed hunky dory and Star could go out on a high note.  

Oh how wrong we were...

Season 4 was where the show truly began to derail.  Marco ultimately succeeds in his quest to be named a Knight and is tasked with guarding the Earth from the likes of evil and Monsters.  He even seems to be rebounding quite well from missing out on Star with Kelly, whom he starts to date after the episode "Kelly's World."  Everyone seems happy and things are progressing naturally to the point where the show subverted our expectations and gave us a show where for the first time in memory, the lead two characters don't end up together, even if fate had something to say about it.  

Because they deal with that in the episode. "The Blood Moon Curse".  Tom confesses to Star and Marco that the whole point of the Blood Moon Ball from Season 1 was so that he and Star could be destined to be together, but Marco and Star were bound by that at the same time.  So, he takes the two to have the curse broken so everyone can be happy, as Star chose Tom this time around and Marco was getting things going with Kelly.  But then they had to show the two dancing to end the curse.  And in that scene, we learn that both Star and Marco believe that the Curse had nothing to do with how they felt towards one another.  Maybe it was another fake out?  

Oh how wrong we were...

Only a few episodes later, Marco and Kelly have abruptly stopped seeing each other and Tom breaks up with Star for completely unexplained reasons.  This, coinciding with the rising prominence of another former side character Mina, a crazed monster killer, made the last few episodes of Season 4 truly a chore to sit through.  You know Star needs to destroy magic so that the worlds could exist without wars and conflicts between monsters and non monsters.  You know that with both Star and Marco free from their previous relationships, the two were going to end up together.  And with all of the normal subversions rerouted, we know that Disney would never end a show on a somber note and that even if the two end up separated by all the powers of the universe, that they would still find a way back to each other.  

This show proved to me a few things with it's lackluster final season.  The first thing, is that even though a show has the chance to buck trends and subvert expectations, there's a very good chance they won't.  I mean, this is Disney.  If they had kept The Last Jedi's ending and not completely retconned it in the final episode, that would have shown they were a studio with conviction.  Disney was not going to have an episodic show end when it's two of age romantic pairings weren't together.  This isn't even a trend that's unfamiliar to Disney.  Penn Zero, Kim Possible, Star Wars Rebels, The Emperor's New School, Beavis and Butthead (whatever that lousy platypus show was) even something as vacuous and inane as The Lion Guard did it.  Gravity Falls was the only show I can think of that bucked the trend and that was because the main emotional tether for that show was between brothers Stanley and Stanford and then of course with Dipper and Mabel (plus, it would have been weird to see Dipper and Wendy get together considering the age gap).  

The second thing I learned, chiefly from a writer's perspective, is that you cannot go into a show like this without knowing who the main antagonist is going to be.  Ludo is a comically inept villain, so you know he wouldn't be the one on top in the end.  Toffee and Meteora were both excellent candidates, but both were quite thoroughly disposed of by the end of Season 3.  Mina cannot be introduces as a comically bonkers hero for Star in one episode and then turned into a vicious killer in another random one.  There needs to be setup, payoff, consequences for it.  Mina just seems to suddenly resurface as a villain, almost as if Disney wanted to extend the show, realized how much it was gonna cost and then said just wrap it up in Season 4 with Meteora and Toffee both disposed of.  There was no reasoning behind just slapping Mina on as a villain, outside of there being literally no other candidates left.  And I think that's a little unfair, as they wrote many one time villains into the show that could have filled he slot.  Heck, even one of the Magical High Council could have served that role, like Heckapoo or perhaps even Star's mother.  But Mina only works if that episode was one of the more memorable ones from Season 2.  And let's be frank, it wasn't.  

The third and most depressing thing about the way this show ended is that shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender are an exception to the rule and not the rule itself.  This will also have something to do with another post I'm writing about The Empire Strikes Back, but chiefly I mean that more shows end with lackluster finales than quality ones.  Nickelodeon has never had a finale for a show pan out quite like Avatar's did.  Disney has not been able to replicate Gravity Falls ending and the way they forced a fourth season out of Kim Possible knows they don't understand the right time to end a show.  Cartoon Network either drags shows on for way too long or ends them too abruptly.  It's not just Disney doing this, as plenty of other networks and shows follow this trend of just limping to the finish line (Looking at YOU Game of Thrones!).  But Star is a prime example of it.  If you're setting yourself up for an exciting ending for one of your favorite shows, you are more likely to get a dud than you are a worthwhile ending to all the years you've put into a show like this.  

I gotta be honest with you guys, sitting through this show again was one of the most thankless and depressing things I've ever had the displeasure of doing for the blog.  It hurt to see such potential go to waste, but I'm think I'm beginning to become desensitized to it.  After all, I've been getting through revisiting Game of Thrones and the Disney Remakes, as well as Kingdom Hearts III fairly well enough.  I just wish I could get one more show like Avatar that can shine brightly and win me over for it's entire run.  Unfortunately, none of these companies seem keen on doing that at this time.  Guess I'll have to move on to Netflix or something...

An Updated Ranking of The Greatest Disney Animated Films (Pre-Encanto)

 

Whether you agree with their marketing, business strategies or pricing for their amusement parks and other amenities, I think it cannot be denied that Walt Disney Feature Animation has left an indelible impact on all of us from the ages of 1 to 101.  Whether your first film was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (my Grandfathers), Cinderella (my Grandmothers), The Jungle Book (My Dads), Dumbo (My Sisters), 101 Dalmatians (My Moms), Aladdin (Mine) or Moana (My nephew's), this company has been a staple in the childhoods of millions upon millions of people from the United States to China.  Some are richly woven tapestries of animation and music, others are heartfelt stories about growing up and being yourself.  Some are tremendous undertakings, others are exceedingly simple.  Some are good, some are...not so good.  But the fact that we all can say without thinking much that we have a favorite Disney film isn't done so by mistake.  

Walt Disney himself said that his movies were supposed to be for everyone to enjoy, but somewhere along the line people got it into their heads that these movies are supposed to be just for kids.  Apparently, those people have never seen "Night on Bald Mountain" from Fantasia or...well...any of The Black Cauldron.  Many like to tease these films being just for kids, but cannot help but bawl their eyes out when Widow Tweed let's Todd go or Mufasa dies trying to save his son from a thundering stampede.  All of us look fondly on the roles that left indelible impacts on us as kids, whether it be Robin Williams as the Genie, James Woods as Hades or even Idina Menzel's Elsa.  We all have one Disney memory we will never let ourselves forget because of how it made us feel.  Cinderella's gown materializing out of thin air, Belle and the Beast's ballroom dance or the first time we see Peter Pan and the Darling children fly through London.  All of them, some of them, or just one of them.  We all have one either buried in our subconscious or wear it proudly on our sleeves.  And we can do little more but tip the cap to Disney for leaving these imprints on us.  

A long time ago, I did a list of these films I think that went as far back as Big Hero 6.  Since then, Disney Animation has released five new films to add to the pantheon of animated classics with a sixth incoming with Encanto slated to come to theaters soon.  Eventually, I'll have to give an updated list to tell you where that film will slot in, but I have a few big updates to the list.  

As many of you know, I dealt with a long and painful battle with depression throughout most of 2019, the worst of my life that compelled me to go onto medication and seek therapy.  But one of the few joys I got out of 2019 (apart from my trip to the Most Magical Place on Earth for my birthday) was watching the Disney movies I either already owned or added to my collection.  Some films I looked at in completely different ways and adore now.  Others have fallen very far out of my grace since I previously ranked them.  Heck, some I still don't really know how to peg my feelings for.  But when Panda and I snapped at one another over our sheer grossly different rankings for Disney Movies using TierMaker (I mean, the guy put Chicken Little as an A and Fantasia as an F for goodness sake), it got me to thinking exactly how much of my personal preference has changed since 2015.  And I'd say a lot of it has.  From the last time I ranked these films, only five or six of Disney's soon to be Sixty Animated Films remained in the same position they did previously.  The rest have all shifted.  Some higher up, some further down.  And some of the rankings might surprise you.  

But, before we get to the 30 Animated Films that occupy the top three tiers for me in terms of quality and likability, I'd like to list those that didn't quite make the cut and where they fall on my list:

59. Chicken Little (2005)

58. Home on the Range (2004)

57. The Rescuers (1977)

56. Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)

55. Saludos Amigos (1942)

54. Fun and Fancy Free (1947)

53. Bolt (2008)

52. Frozen 2 (2019)

51. Melody Time (1948)

50. Dinosaur (2000)

49. Brother Bear (2003)

48. Winnie the Pooh (2011)

47. Fantasia 2000 (1999)

46. The Three Caballeros (1944)

45. The Sword in the Stone (1963)

44. Oliver and Company (1988)

43. Meet the Robinsons (2007) 

42. Make Mine Music (1946)

41. The Aristocats (1970)

40. Wreck it Ralph (2012)

39. The Black Cauldron (1985)

38. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)

37. Big Hero 6 (2014)

36. Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

35. Zootopia (2016)

34. The Rescuers Down Under (1990)

33. Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

32. Peter Pan (1953)

31. Pocahontas (1995)

And Now, the Main Attraction...

30. Robin Hood (1973)

This is one of those films that has seen a huge tick upwards over the last few years for me.  Sure, it isn't a stylish or artsy animated film, but the fact that a film of this caliber was released during the period between Walt Disney's death in 1966 and the retirement of his trusted Nine Old Men by 1981 says something about the amount of dedication and work put into Disney to try and keep the whole thing floating without it's most charismatic leader. Originally based on the fable of Reynard the Fox,  this story used the character ideas to incorporate one of England's greatest legends and bring him to life for a new generation to enjoy.  It's funny, action packed and full of charm that so many films from the Dark Ages of Disney struggled to provide.  Fortunately, this one is a bright spot in a sea of shadows.  

29. 101 Dalmatians (1961)

A film that broke new grounds technically as well as aesthetically for Disney Animation, 101 Dalmatians was the first Disney Film to fully incorporate the use of the Xerox Process for photographing the animation directly onto cells and focused on a more rigid yet modern appeal to audiences, removing the costly yet wonderful ink lines of the past.  This trend would continue until the CAPS Process was brought in to work on the films of the Disney Renaissance.  But apart from being a technical breakthrough, this one is still a delight to romp through every time I watch it.  Sure, it's plummeted down the rankings considerably since I made the first list several years ago, but this one is rescued by both it's unique style and having the most zany and bonkers Disney Villain of them all.  Thanks for ruining this Disney Villain with a remake too, Disney...not the 1996 one.  The stupid Cruella movie I keep putting off reviewing.  

28. The Emperor's New Groove (2000)

I've held the original concepts for the film against this one for a very long time.  As a kid, it was one of my favorites, but it has since fallen very far from grace in my opinions.  The ideas for "Kingdom of the Sun" were some of the finest Disney has ever done, but the declining profits of the Renaissance Films made Disney completely 180 away from a big and bold musical and towards a zany Warner Bros. style comedy.  I've come to live with this film for what it is: a comedy.  It's not a deep or emotional movie.  But it never sought to be.  It's supposed to be a comedy film and there's nothing wrong with that.  While I'm not the biggest David Spade fan, this was my official introduction to both Eartha Kitt and Patrick Warburton, both of whom I have since become huge fans of.  This film has comedic timing down to such an art that I feel like this film is a worthy follow up to Aladdin (albeit with less quality music and emotional backing).  

27. The Princess and the Frog (2009)

In terms of structure, this is probably the weakest film of the John Musker and Ron Clements line.  But that's certainly not the fault of them or the animation teams that worked for them.  This film is still a special film to many in the world and I would like to give it the respect I feel it deserves.  I feel that if this film had been more successful, Disney would have fully revived their 2D Department.  The animation is wonderful, the songs are toe tapping and I feel there truly is a strong and emotionally exciting  film in the woodworks for this film.  But the whole is not equal to the sum of it's parts with this one.  I recognize it's importance to the spectrum of Disney Animation, so here I am giving the film the love it deserves.  

26. Lady and the Tramp (1955)

Maybe it's the fact that I never owned this one as a kid or perhaps it's something else, but I found myself watching this one the least of any of the films here in my Top 30.  I just don't have a strong emotional connection to this one.  That's not to say anything supremely negative resides in this one.  This is a sheer classic.  Breathtaking animation, well written characters and story lines and a heart the size of an apple tree, this one is about as solid a film as it comes.  But it would be silly of me to disregard the dated "attitude" of this film.  If I am going to hold it against Peter Pan, I have to hold it against this film too.  But boy did this movie's attitudes regarding race and stereotypes not age gracefully.  I'm surprised this film, Peter Pan and Dumbo don't have the same reputation for Disney that Song of the South does.  Oh well, for what it is, this one is a classic.  I just wish I had grown up with it so I could have a relationship with this one that I do other films like Winnie the Pooh and Sleeping Beauty.  

25. Treasure Planet (2002)

Of all the Disney Animated Films made in the 2000's, I thought this one was going to age like a jug of milk.  But it has surprisingly aged very well over time.  Maybe it's because I'm growing a newfound respect for Steampunk, or maybe it's because the good elements of this film (like The Jungle Book) outweigh the bad in every conceivable facet.  And I think that's how I have to judge it.  This film is far from a perfect movie, but it does things that most Disney Films of the time would have balked at.  This and Lilo and Stitch might very well be the most important movies Disney has made in the post-Lion King era.  The characters and the animation are what puts this one over the top.  What it lacks for in the songs and a captivating villain it makes up for with a solid connection between characters, be it Jim and his Mother, Jim and Silver or even Doppler and the Captain.  This movie has the finest cast of characters Musker and Clements have developed for their movies since Aladdin, and it really shows just how much of a pet project this was for them.  I hope they remake this one so it doesn't fade into the background alongside more mediocre 2000's Disney films like Meet the Robinsons or Brother Bear.  

24. Mulan (1998)

I'm going to go out on a limb and say some of the rankings on this list will shock you.  Considering how heavily critical I've always been towards this film, you would think that I would be the last one to finally turn the corner for this one.  But I did a rewatch of this a few months ago and it hit me in ways I didn't think a post-Hunchback Disney Film could.  This whole list has been changed as I take a closer look at the films made from 1997-2002.  And Mulan got probably the biggest bump up of any of the Disney Films on this list.  The animation is still a little lacking in some areas and the villain is one of the weakest Disney has ever put out, but the characters were what drew me on this current go around.  Even those I thought were a little basic like Shang got to me with how well the movie visually tells it's story.  The songs still don't work that well for me with two well known exceptions to the rule, but hey, this film does belong in the same conversation as the films made before it.  Just, not as dramatically high as some put it on.  

23. Frozen (2013)

Whereas both Treasure Planet and Mulan have begun to age far more gracefully than I thought they ever would, this film has proven to only get weaker as it ages.  Sure, it's songs are still bangers, it's animation is breathtaking and it's themes are still fairly strong, but the characters and the story have definitely not improved over time.  With the exception of Elsa (who is the poster child for kids of this generation in expressing themselves), the other characters all either fall by the wayside, prove to be dumber and more naïve than I remember, or are just flat out terribly written.  I feel I was too kind to Hans in previous attempts to look over this film, as he has aged far too poorly.  In fact, all of the Disney Villains of this era are not only forgettable, they're just lousy villains.  Even the relatively good ones like King Candy just slide backwards for me.  The good unfortunately cannot outweigh the bad here, but hey, not every film can hold the same grace as the Renaissance Films.  

22. Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Sleeping Beauty has been the weakest link of the Original Six Disney Fairy Tales for it's entire existence.  While it's buoyed by memorable Fairy Characters and a tremendous villain, the rest of the characters are either completely inconsequential or unlikeable, with even the main alleged leads in Aurora and Prince Phillip.  The songs aren't particularly anything special, either.  What does make this film float though, is it's impeccable art style.  Eyvind Earle truly knew what he was doing in adapting medieval artistry for this one to make it stand out in some way from both Snow White and Cinderella.  If this film didn't have the fantastic animation and art styling behind it, it might have been the most forgettable Disney Film in a catalog that includes such wonderfully beloved films as Saludos Amigos and Make Mine Music.  But as it stands, the overtime work for the villain and the art more than make up for the rest of it's shortcomings.  

21. Hercules (1997)

Another one who's art style has definitely grown on me over the years.  But what made Hercules stand out this time around wasn't just the art by Gerald Scarfe.  It was the heart the film possesses.  While James Woods all but steals the show from the rest of the cast as Hades, the other characters are finally getting to me after I found them little more than cookie cutter from other more successful movies previously.  I pariticularly felt something for Hercules and Megara in my last viewing and I can see what my Mom and Sister love about this one.  Not enough for it to remove one of the other Top 20, but definitely to see that this film deserves another serious look for those who have rejected it for some time.  The songs are still bangers, the characters are growing on me and the art style works for a film like this.  I just wish the story wasn't so completely bonkers.  

20. Tarzan (1999)

Every single day, I feel differently towards this movie than I did the day before.  One day, I love it.  Other days, I think it's a bloated mess.  Right now, I feel I've reached a fair equilibrium we can all be happy with.  It has heart, charm and brilliant animation.  It's side characters are largely forgettable and it's villain one of the weakest in the Disney Pantheon.  It's songs are either seen as headbangers (in that you cannot help but rock out to them) or headbangers (in that you cannot help but smash your head into a wall when you hear Phil Collins sing).  But whereas I feel the story of Hercules missed out a lot on the lead character not being able to fit in with the rest of Ancient Greece, I feel they really get the whole fish out of water thing well here, as Tarzan literally has to learn how to become a gorilla and then how to be a man again.  The story is fairly strong and the morals are some of the better ones Disney has come out with.  But, like with The Princess and the Frog, there really is just no way to compute the sum of this film's parts into something that can be as all around appealing as the other Disney Movies of it's time.  Good, but not good enough.  

19. Moana (2016) 

As Lindsay Ellis put it in her look back at this film a few years back, this film is about as fully realized an improved version of Pocahontas as Disney could make.  The films have surprisingly a lot in common, but where Pocahontas tried to ignore the cultural and factual understandings of the time to make a Romeo and Juliet story to win them an Oscar.  They follow similar plots (albeit with a more mythological threat to Moana's world than a physical settlement from outsiders), they take the character on a journey where she has to find her place with her people and in the world and they have to clean up the mess of the main male character in her life.  No, this film is not flawless.  It's lack of a villain can feel weird in some instances and refreshing in other parts (I do not count Tamatoa as a real villain but more along the lines of being like The Pink Elephants from Dumbo).  But I feel Moana is an excellent female lead, Maui is an arrogant yet likeable character and the their adventure is one I will certainly not forget anytime soon.  It's definitely Disney's best film since 2015, and it's not even close.  

18. Alice in Wonderland (1951)

There is just so much charm and imagination in this one that I cannot help but feel content whenever I revisit this one.  In fact, I feel it could have even been more imaginative than the finished product was, but Disney was more inclined to keep to his fixed budgets after years of financial turmoil at the studio and with still many plans to make Disneyland a thing.  One of the things I have to admire about this trip back to Wonderland was just how wonderful a character Alice is in this story.  She isn't always a straight man in a world of nonsense.  You can tell she's trying to get into this world as best as she can, but even all of the nonsense she had wished books could be filled with in the beginning is too much for her to take.  The characters are a treasure to watch, even the more passive ones like the Dodo or the Flowers all stand out in the few moments they've been given.  There's actually a lot in common this film has with The Jungle Book, but I feel that the one strength that film has over this one (the relationships) is something they could not have possibly put into this one to make it work.  As this one stands, it is the best and most faithful adaptation of Lewis Carroll's work I've seen.  

17. The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

It truly is amazing that of all the adaptations and versions of Sherlock Holmes that exist in the media hell scape we call life, that the best version of him isn't even supposed to be Sherlock Holmes.  Basil of Baker Street (or as plebs call it: The Great Mouse Detective) was truly a breath of fresh air for Disney after a long and difficult time for the studio which included a complete turnover in command, a tremendous box office disaster in The Black Cauldron and many in the studio believing animation was just not feasible for them at this time and considering it's elimination.  The film is, once again, far from perfect.  It has numerous animation mistakes (due to a severely cramped budget), but the film's characters are it's strengths.  Olivia is an adorable damsel in distress, Dawson being the bumbling Watson to Basil's Sherlock is impressive, but the best relationship in the film is clearly the one between hero Basil and villain Professor Ratigan.  You can tell both get joy out of outwitting and defeating the other and even feel at some points that their lives might be incomplete without the other menacing them.  With it's strong c characters, yet easy to solve mystery, if this was a child's introduction to mystery movies, I think Disney did an excellent job with this one.  

16. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)

For some inexplicable reason, it has become cool in the mainstream of Disney Animation to look down at this film being released when it was and being as packaged together as it was when Disney could have used that time to make more films.  I don't understand why this would compel people to take their feelings out on a film that is otherwise a perfect little jaunt and probably the smartest Disney Film to introduce to your kids as their first.  All of the characters are endearing, the stories are simple and character focused and there aren't any real scares or frights for anyone in the audience.  Maybe it's just the affinity I've always had for Winnie the Pooh and the characters of the 100 Acre Wood, but Winnie the Pooh is always a film I will fondly sit down for if it's the time to watch it.  I personally just cannot find a way to criticize this movie.  It's a perfect beginner movie for a little child and also a quaint look back for all of us to remember what it feels like to be a kid again.  Winnie the Pooh is one of the franchises Disney has done the most justice towards, if you ask me.  

15. The Fox and the Hound (1981)

I personally feel that if more adults had been introduced to this movie as kids, we would have a society that hates each other just a little less.  Maybe not extraordinarily, but enough for there to be a noticeable difference.  It's a far cry from the original story, but it takes a unique and somber take on childhood friendships and how the forces of society tend to drive innocent relationships apart.  It's definitely a family favorite, as it treats children with such respect that one could be very surprised Disney would do with one of their films.  We know that Tod and Copper should still be friends, but we also understand why they can't really be as close as they used to be.  It's probably the perfect film in educating kids against prejudices that isn't too preachy with it's lesson as Zootopia is.  The songs are still meh and the animation is good but still in the midst of Disney's transition from cells to digital compilation, but the story's heart is just too strong for me to put it at any position lesser than this one.  

14. Lilo and Stitch (2002)

Talk about a movie that gets better with age.  This movie, like fellow 2002 release in Treasure Planet, has gone from being a good but overplayed film in Disney's library to being the one of, if not the most important release Disney Animation had after The Lion King.  Who would have thought that a movie inspired by ET would have skyrocketed in likeability as time has passed.  I think it's because the heart of the story truly isn't with the alien characters or their technology driven world.  It's more a story about Lilo and Nani, two sisters who are doing everything they can to understand, nurture and love one another in a world that would rather see them torn apart after their parents die.  Nani is doing everything she can to be there for Lilo, while Lilo is doing her best to fit in with a world that just doesn't understand who she is.  You can make your own interpretations for whether or not Lilo is a child with special needs or not, but the fact is that the heart is there for all two of them and the little alien they adopt into their households.  This is a movie I feel I need to put on whenever I begin to feel a little down, joining Winnie the Pooh and The Jungle Book in those regards.  Everything from the moment we cut from space to Lilo swimming in the ocean to it's rip-roaring ending makes this film on par with Disney's best.  

13. Dumbo (1941)

By all counts, Dumbo can barely be qualified as a motion picture.  It has an extremely short run time, goes on multiple different stylistic and story telling tangents and was not known for breaking grounds in terms of either story or animation after Snow White, Pinocchio and Fantasia all definitely did.  But this film is 63 entire minutes of charm, cuteness and outstanding animation in one small package.  Who would have guessed Disney was capable of ruining this one?  Oh well, we're not talking about THAT film.  We're talking about this one.  While it also shares Lady and the Tramp's issues with having very stereotypical looks at race relations, I feel that it's a little more forgiving here because the movie's big and welcoming heart has sucked you into it's world that you could probably ignore the crows for what Disney made them out to be.  And if you can't, you can't.  It happens.  I feel, personally, that this film succeeds where Lady and the Tramp failed in having it's charming story and loveable lead character carry the picture and not just let the picture run it's course as that film does.  All I can say is, this one is charming.  

12. Bambi (1942)

While I prefer movies with more of a plot behind them, I can respect a movie like this that simply a slice of life movie.  It's not as powerfully moving as The Lion King or as emotionally evocative as Dumbo, but Bambi is naturalism in it's finest form.  After the deer in Snow White looked more like bags of flour than actual animals, to have a turn around of getting realistic deer and forest animal anatomy so quickly is nothing short of impeccable.  Not to mention the film is incredibly memorable to many, if not for one incredibly dark and tragic moment.  But parental death aside, I feel like Bambi is the perfect last act for the Golden Age of Disney Feature Animation that ended once the United States entered World War II.  It has the charm of Dumbo and the outstanding animation of both Fantasia and Pinocchio.  And while it also has a very short run time, it feels like a full length movie thanks to it's immersive animation, it's heartfelt story and another fine dose of charm that Disney has since become well known for.  

11. Cinderella (1950)

Cinderella has constantly gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to the way people treat it.  Some revere it as a solid animated film, but not as emotional as Snow White or as artistic as Sleeping Beauty.  Others see it as an antiquated and very sexist film that insists a woman can simply sit around and wait for something magical or a man to come and rescue her.  But they all tend to neglect the things that truly make this film stand out.  For one thing, Cinderella herself is a much better protagonist than Snow White.  She actually shows an intense work ethic and drive to actually find a way to get her own dreams to come true.  Not only that, but she was under the mental, physical and emotional manipulation of one of Disney's finest villains in the Wicked Stepmother.  The animation for this movie is superb, with the film taking full advantage of the ink lines that Walt and his company had become famous for, as the characters look like they could fit right into the fairy tale books Walt based them off of.  This one is no exception.  Excellent animation, a compelling lead and extremely catchy music, what else could you ask for from a prototypical Disney Classic?

10. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

When someone asked me how best to describe a movie like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, I told them the best thing to call this film was to call it "The Ultimate Fairy Tale Adaptation".  And I stick to it.  While four more Disney Fairy Tales are on the list before this one, I feel that this one is probably the best and perfect blueprint for how to adapt a fairy tale into a feature length movie.  It doesn't add anything pointless or dry, it even cuts down the story a bit by eliminating the two previous attempts the Queen made on Snow White's life to just the poisoned apple.  And most importantly, it doesn't just serve as a flat reread of the classic Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale.  Disney Animation added their fully realized charm, some truly outstanding animation and delightful music to tell a story we all knew in a completely different and never before seen way.  And, to be fair, without Snow White, there would be no rest of this list.  So I feel we all need to keep showing this film the endless praise and respect it deserves.  Because this one is not just one of the greatest movies ever made, it might be the most important Disney was ever attached to.  

9. Tangled (2010)

Whereas Snow White is the ultimate adaptation of a Fairy Tale, Tangled is an example of how to make an otherwise short and antiquated story in a modern time.  Let's be fair, something like Snow White could never be made at this time.  This film takes a more modern take on a classic fairy tale and updates it.  Rapunzel is no longer just confined to the tower until being banished from it by the witch.  Instead, she actively goes out and sees the world for what it has to offer, with Rapunzel herself being more of a Quasimodo styled character who fears the outside world yet longs for it, while also having far greater worth to someone like Mother Gothel than as just a daughter of some guy who stole from her garden.  Disney takes one of the least memorable fairy tales and gives it a good heave ho by introducing new characters, updating the villain and making the romance one less geared towards "love at first sight" and more towards learning to trust one another and care for each other.  Add into that some truly sensational CGI animation (which I don't usually care for as I'm a 2D guy all the way) and some admittedly catchy Disney tunes and you've got a Fairy Tale that safely fits in alongside the elite of the company.  

8. Pinocchio (1940)

It would have been impossible for the Disney Animation team to replicate completely the success they had with Snow White.  So, Walt encourages his animators to not try at all to replicate their first film and do things in animation that had never been attempted before.  The results bore one of the most technically perfect motion pictures ever drawn to life.  Pinocchio doesn't try anything to replicate what had been done in it's predecessor.  It follows a much more episodic style of writing, let's characters actions guide the story instead of allowing the story to tell itself.  And above all, the center and the heart of the movie come from two different characters.  Pinocchio may be the center of the story as it's protagonist, but it's heart comes from Jiminy Cricket, played brilliantly by Cliff Edwards.  Intricate art stylized by Gustaf Tenggren that evokes European art, characters that are allowed to be themselves and one of the most beautiful musical scores and song lists ever put into a film, I don't think Walt Disney helmed a film that was technically superior than Pinocchio.  Yet, two more films he helmed personally are above it?  Well, there's always a reason for it...

7. The Jungle Book (1967)

While the film has almost nothing to do with the original Rudyard Kipling story, I feel that Walt Disney never released a better narrative driven movie than this one.  Why?  Well, let's delve into it.  The film is just oozing in that old fashioned Disney Charm.  There isn't a single character or scene that goes on longer than it has to.  The animation, while a bit less storybookish than some other films on here, is still top notch for a heartfelt comedy taking place in the jungle.  The songs are easily some of the greatest ever put into a Disney Film.  But what makes The Jungle Book stand out is the cast of characters Disney assembled.  There isn't a single character who isn't a welcoming addition to the story.  Kaa is a comedic and devious villain, King Louie is completely bonkers, the Elephants are funny, Shere Khan is a menacing monster and the heart of the story, Baloo and Mowgli, is the most powerful relationship in any Disney Movie apart from two films just ahead of this one on the list.  This one is truly a masterful sendoff for the legacy and career of one Walter Elias Disney.  

6. Fantasia (1940)

Fantasia isn't so much a motion picture as it is an experience.  I mean, my god how is this film not revered along the likes of other films?  I get it, it's a little too artsy for some people (ahem, Panda).  But it's just so gorgeous a movie that I feel I cannot in good faith say anything negative about it.  After all, it's a combination of two of my all time favorite things in the world in Disney Animation and Classical Music.  This film alone is the reason why I love both, believe it or not.  I love movies like the next five because of how well their stories are told and the morals ring true.  This one is purely an artistic experience unlike anything Disney has done before or since.  The impressionistic moments of Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, the wondrous animation in The Sorcerer's Apprentice, all the way down to the hellish interpretations of the profane and the angelic lights of the sacred from it's finale of Night on Bald Mountain and Ave Maria, this film is something so gorgeous that I cannot help but shed a tear whenever I watch it.  If I did not love the remaining five films as much as I do, this one would have easily had a chance to edge itself into the Top 5, if not the Top 3.  But there are five superior Disney Films to this one and I think you all know which five they are.  

5. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

Fantasia will likely be the gustiest artistic choice Walt Disney ever made for a film.  The most gutsy story take the company ever took on was turning one of the darkest and most tragic novels Victor Hugo ever wrote into something that could appeal to audiences of all ages.  They failed.  While there might be things in this film that make kids laugh and feel welcome, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is almost an exclusively adult Disney Animated film.  And there isn't anything wrong with that, but Disney is unfortunately not the company to make another gutsy move like this anytime soon.  In one 93 minute package, Disney tackles persecution, prejudice, genocide, religious corruption, sexual desire and societal acceptance.  The melodrama of Quasimodo, Esmeralda and Frollo is some of the most compelling storylines in any Disney that has since only been made better through stage adaptations.  Stellar animation, impeccable casting and some of the finest and darkest storylines Disney has ever tackled, this film truly deserves it's spot in the Top 5.  

4. The Little Mermaid (1989)

Not gonna lie to you guys.  I almost put this film in the Top 2.   This film has had such a profound impact on me and my love for storytelling, animation and music that it almost upended two of the greatest animated films ever made by Disney.  But why this one and not Hunchback?  Well, there's a lot of reasons.  For one thing, this film is probably the most tightly written motion picture Disney has ever done.  It has brilliant dialogue and some of the best musical work to come from Howard Ashman and Alan Menken in their entire careers.  Add into that some of the most beautiful animation Disney has ever put out and an entire cast of compelling characters and one of the boldest steps Disney ever took that people blasted for years (and ironically praised Mad Max: Fury Road for) in choosing to make the character that goes through the most transformative change not be Ariel herself, but her father the King.  Considering how many have railed against this movie for so long with unsubstantiated arguments, is it a wonder why I have come to adore this movie this much?  It has everything someone could ever ask for in a Disney Animated movie and set up the ground work for the next three films that succeeded it (not including The Rescuers Down Under)

3. Beauty and the Beast (1991)

I think I underestimate just how brilliant this film is every time I watch it (and we're pushing on at least a thousand or so times).  I mean, my god does everything in this movie work.  The animation is gorgeous, the characters charming and engaging, the cinematography breathtaking and the songs without a doubt the finest ever written for a Disney Film.  I've tried to be a cynic and find flaws in this film, but none of them hold any water, not even the flimsy as all hell argument that Belle has Stockholm Syndrome.  This is about as close to flawless an entire product that Disney has ever come up with.  I'm still trying to figure out to this day how both Walt himself and the production team behind this film had a hard time adapting this film because it seems so fluid and well structured that I cannot help but feel they had this planned from the beginning.  This movie is just...wow...I still can't believe a movie this good came out from the same studio that now is creatively bankrupt...

2. Aladdin (1992)

How can I justify putting Aladdin over a movie that is considered about as perfect as Disney Animation could possibly go?  Well, I find that sometimes, if an element of a movie is so jaw droopingly brilliant, that I can't help but throw praise the way of one street rat and his blue friend.  And while this equally beloved classic may not have the perfection behind it that Beauty and the Beast has, the things Aladdin does do right are nothing short of miracles.  I don't think much more can be said of Robin Williams as the Genie, but if that wasn't the perfect casting for a role in my life, I will never know.  And he certainly made up for any slight shortcomings the overall film had, which are few and far between.  The animation is so quick yet vibrant that I'm amazed Disney did this so quickly after Beauty and the Beast.  Aside from that, the movie is a bucket full of laughs, has songs that rival those of it's predecessor and is full to the top with that good old fashioned Disney Charm that has made so many of these films as memorable as they are.  This one is just sheer brilliance.  

1. The Lion King (1994)

There will never be another film quite like The Lion King.  Many studios have tried and even come close to replicating the brilliance of this film, but none have done it better, not even Disney themselves.  This film was a perfect storm that happened to fall in just such a way that it went from being a project nobody had any faith in into becoming a phenomenon the likes of which Disney has never had before or since.  Any one element of this film being changed makes it not work.  Disney had to learn this the hard way with the remake, but at least this was what that soulless cash grab came from.  Something that is theatrical in it's telling, epic in it's scope and meaningful to everyone who crosses it.  It's more than just a movie.  It's an experience.  A story that deals with love, loss, murder, betrayal, redemption and community, all while having a central character who's main gimmick is burping and farting.  With the greatest Musical Score ever written for a film, some of the most iconic songs in world history and animation that puts all other films to shame, The Lion King truly was an event unlike anything before it or since.  I never grow tired of heaping praise onto this masterpiece, because it deserves every second of it.  

Film Review #133: Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker

I truly think Disney was petrified about how the audience had been extremely divided in terms of their opinions on The Last Jedi.  You would have thought that Disney would persevere with their choices to make their own take on the story, with JJ Abrams writing things as if he was setting up a clever reveal, only for Rian Johnson to completely crap all over that idea with his blunt and more grim outlook on the universe they were handed.  I mean, it's not like Disney makes kneejerk decisions constantly to try and appease as many fans as possible, right?  After all, I and many others despise the remakes with such a burning passion that surely they're cancelling them left and right to appease us, right?  What?  They're not?  Perfect, that means Disney isn't going to completely retcon their last Star Wars film (non-single story like Rogue One or Solo) just because a few neckbeards complained about them online.  Right?  

Well, I guess this was the one place where Disney didn't have money on the mind and just went with their gut in letting JJ Abrams come back to "fix" the mistakes Johnson made in The Last Jedi.  The results are without a doubt the greatest Star Wars movie of all time, in strict terms of memes and being a mosaic of awful.  The Phantom Menace has been unseated.  I repeat, The Phantom Menace is no longer the most wonderfully terrible Star Wars movie out there.  Disney put all of their money making sycophants to work to fix up Episode IX to make it more marketable and appealing to fans.  The results are a car bomb of nostalgic overload, combined with unexplained stupidity and downright bizarre character choices.  This film is right up there Ryan's Babe and The Room as one of the most enjoyably terrible movies I've ever seen.  Make no mistake about it, if you ever want to see a big budget film crash and burn for all to see, The Rise of Skywalker is the film for you.  It's just...mind boggling how creatively terrible and bankrupt this film is.  Truly, I give Disney a tip of the cap.  You couldn't have made a film more terribly delightful as this one.  

Plot: Somehow, Palpatine returned...Nope.  I'm serious.  There's no explanation, no reference.  He's just back.  Apparently it's possible to survive being thrown into the reactor of the second Death Star by your former minion.  I guess Palpatine didn't teach Vader that...oh well.  Kylo Ren goes in search of the Emperor and finds him on the planet Exxon Mobil (or something like that).  Palpatine reveals he was the one behind Snoke and the First Order in a quest to retake control of the galaxy, having created with his Sith powers an entire fleet of Star Destroyers and recruits the son of Han Solo and Leia to find and kill Rey.  

After learning that "somehow Palpatine returned...", Rey and her team of Poe, Finn, Chewbacca, BB-8, and Threepio go in search of a Sith Wayfinder, which might be able to give them the location of where Palpatine is hiding.  They ultimately recruit both Poe's old flame Zorii Bliss and the last reference to the OG Trilogy in Lando Calrissian, but lose Chewbacca to the First Order, who also gain control of the Falcon.  To add insult to injury, Rey reveals she has the power of the Dark Side of the Force in her by using Force Lightning to destroy an entire transport.  

While mounting a plan to rescue Chewbacca, Rey confronts Kylo Ren, who informs Rey that she is in fact Palpatine's granddaughter, whom the Sith Lord wanted destroyed because of the threat she posed to him (you know, when he was supposed to be dead from a good old fashioned mine shaft fall).  The group manages to escape from the First Order with the aid of apparently General Super Hitler (AKA General Hux, who's apparently a good guy now) and heads to Endor to retrieve the Sith Wayfinder from the remains of the Second Death Star (which was pretty blown up so I don't have an idea how such a large wreckage could still exist, but I digress) and has an epic Lightsaber duel with Kylo Ren, defeating him.  But when she learns that Leia passed on into the Force, Rey chooses to heal Ren and spare him from death and flees to where she had begun to train under Luke, while Ben Solo is left to question his role in the universe: to serve Palpatine or to come back to the light and fight as the Jedi his mother and father knew he could be.  

What's Bad?: I feel bad calling anything in this film bad.  I mean, truly I do.  It is just such a treasure of a bad movie to watch that I get more joy from watching this than I do any other bad big budgeted movie out there.  Even The Phantom Menace or Twilight.  It's a national treasure as far as I'm concerned. 

But if I have to be critical, the movie has so many plotholes in it, I thought someone just put a slice of swiss cheese on the screen.  First of all, how the hell did Palpatine survive being thrown into the Death Star's reactor core by Darth Vader?  Ignoring all of the "Chosen One" narratives Disney threw away with this (because I don't give a damn about the Prequels), I'm just genuinely confused as to how Palpatine could have survived this.  But there's no explanation to it.  We're just expected to believe Palpatine is so evil, he can will himself in and out of life easily.  Or maybe there were clones like in the EU?  Either way, there's no explanation.  Second, how the hell did any portion of the Second Death Star survive the Battle of Endor, which was clearly blown to bits after Lando and Wedge destroyed the main reactor.  And are we supposed to believe it crashed on Endor without any of the Rebel Leaders noticing it and going to either help in cleaning up the forests of the Ewoks or just making sure there wasn't anything valuable there?  No?  Well, how about this magical new ability Rey has to heal people who have been impaled by a lightsaber?  Surely Obi-Wan could have used that when Qui-Gon was stabbed by Darth Maul, right?  Does JJ want to show his work and explain?  No?  Well, what about how the hell Palpatine was able to bring an entire fleet of Star Destroyers to life?  Did he just use his Sith power to do it?  Did he will the people on the ships to life?  Why wait until after Kylo Ren killed Snoke to announce his return?  And why use Snoke at all when he could have just revealed he had returned and freaked the entire galaxy out?  I'm sorry, but that whole "Somehow Palpatine Returned" storyline is going to bug me.  It's the equivalent to the Jedi just ignoring the whole blatant Clone Army being secretly commissioned for the Republic thing.  Just so bizarre of a plothole that I'm flabbergasted that this movie plot made it out of the first phase or rewrites and Disney deemed acceptable.  Also, one last one that grinds me to my core is if the Resistance was basically left standing alone at the fight on Exxon Mobil (or whatever it's called), who the hell did those 10,000 ships belong to?  Like honestly?  Who?  WHO?!?!

I feel it might be blasphemous to say, but I think John Williams phoned in his performance here.  There are so many callbacks to the original musical pieces he wrote for Star Wars, from "Duel of the Fates", "The Emperor's Theme", "The Imperial March", "The Force Theme", "Luke and Leia's Theme" and especially the main theme.  There was almost nothing new about this score and I find it similar to how Hans Zimmer scored The Lion King (2019).  But whereas that film used the themes in the original movie effectively and to move both the audience and the plot, here it's just for a callback.  I guess Disney was so creatively bankrupt after they blew their load on Avengers: Endgame that they just didn't care enough about one of their most important movie franchises.  

This film did not do any of it's characters apart from Rey and Kylo Ren any justice.  Poe and Finn are just there to fill in lines and support roles, Rose's role was scaled so far back it almost seemed like Disney was taking those racist posts about Kelly Marie Tran online seriously, and I genuinely do not think any of the OG characters besides Palpatine did anything.  Threepio, R2-D2, Lando and Chewbacca are just there and Carrie Fisher's death (while sad) basically meant that Leia did next to nothing in this film and probably should have been killed off in either The Last Jedi or offscreen.  That's also adding that I don't think any of these other new characters, like Zorii or Jannah do anything outside of just exist to add new characters to the story.  I guess you could argue Zorii does something, but Jannah I think was put in just to give Finn some kind of friend to talk to with Rey and Kylo Ren basically all but getting together by the end of the story.  Star Wars may be progressive, but we can't really have interracial relationships just yet in this story.  Unless it's Star Wars Rebels.  Then you can have humans and aliens get together.  But since the chuds don't watch cartoons, they didn't notice.  

What's Good?: Ian McDiarmid is, as always, a brilliant Palpatine and practically saves this movie with his over the top villainous acting.  Even if it makes absolutely no sense for him to even be here in Episode IX, I don't think I could have stomached someone other than Ian as the Emperor.  And he is so delightful here it evokes his performance from Revenge of the Sith.  Simply wonderful.  

The acting for both Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley is also on par with their performances in the last two films.  They seemed to be the only two characters JJ knew what to do with in this one.  And Adam Driver is growing on me as an actor.  I think he was excellent as an anti-hero again in this film, perhaps a little less polished in this one than in The Last Jedi.  And I've always been able to get behind Daisy Ridley in this role as Rey.  Personally, while Mark Hamill will always have my respect as Luke, I think she might have been the best actor of the three main leads of these trilogies (including Hayden Christiansen since George Lucas didn't have a main character to get behind in the Prequels).  She sells her scenes well enough and helps carry the otherwise unnecessary roles the side characters have.  

Overall: This film is absolutely a treasure.  Unlike The Force Awakens or The Last Jedi, this film isn't so much of a chore to sit through.  It's 2 1/2 hours of pure chaos on screen and I cannot help but be in awe of how terrible this movie is.  Disney, JJ Abrams and everyone involved (with the exceptions of Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley and Ian McDiarmid) should come and take bows.  And considering how abysmal working on this film has been, I am not surprised both Oscar Issacs and John Boyega are not at all interested in coming back to make more films.  This trilogy was an example of how Disney truly had no vision or plan for this series except to make money.  IF this was the plan, wouldn't it have made more sense to follow an outline like the one George Lucas had?  I mean, the end product still would have turned out like Seasons 5-8 of Game of Thrones, but it still would have been a coherent and not at all sloppy mess of a movie.  George has proven to be an excellent idea man.  He's just a terrible script writer and director.  The whole creative team behind The Rise of Skywalker was just like a coop of chickens with it's head cut off.  The end result is pure chaos.  It worked here.  But when the end result isn't as memorably bad as this, I pity the next soul who Disney puts in charge of Star Wars...

Seeing as how I don't want to work on Cruella considering how terrible it was, I think I want to follow up on something a little more positive.  How about a List Update?  Yeah, let's go with that...

Coming Up Next: An Updated List of How I Rank the Disney Animated Films (Adding Moana to Raya)

Why Disney will NEVER make a third Fantasia...

 

Sometimes, I think I take for granted just how splendid a film Fantasia is.  It's the fully realized form of animation that Walt Disney himself had overseen.  Not only is it splendid animation set to some of the most recognizable and finest pieces of Classical Music ever written, but it's also the magnum opus of Walt, serving as the dividing point in his career when Walt went from being Walt the Imagineer to being Walt the Business Man.  The film was another in a string of commercial disasters for the fledgling Walt Disney Productions back in 1940, where all of the profits of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs were all but evaporated into the costs of the next four features, only one of which (Dumbo) turned a profit for Disney upon initial release.  

The film's lack of success and commercial appeal was not lost on Walt or Roy, with it's highly stylized styles of storytelling and emphasis on Classical Music not gelling well with an audience keen to see the next Snow White or Pinocchio.  Audiences rejected Fantasia for not being what they expected of Walt and Critics rejected it because they felt Walt wasn't sophisticated or cultured enough to understand what Classical Music was supposed to be.  The film, as it was presented in the Fall of 1940, will never exist again.  Thanks to the high costs of the film's production, the poor handling of the film's negatives over the years following several disappointing re-releases and constant attempts to market the film to an audience that just wasn't there, the original film is something that only a few people ever got to see and most of them are long since passed on.  For nearly thirty years, Fantasia served as the black sheep of Disney's Animated library, with the majority of films released between 1937 and 1967 turning massive profits for Disney through both initial releases and re-releases.  All of the films that had failed in the early 1940s found massive appeal and audiences.  Pinocchio and Bambi were smash successes upon re-release, but Fantasia remained an unmarketable film for Disney and the film would not see an uptick in sales until after Walt Disney's death.  

Then, 1969 happened.  

And we have a bunch of young adults high on LSD to other psychedelics to thank for Disney's Concert Feature to finally turn a profit.  The film was a sensation with this group of young adults wanting to stand against the older generations they felt did not understand them.  And it was through this commercial success that people finally began to look at Fantasia through a critical lens once more and realized not only what a historic and pioneering achievement it was, but also just how splendid of a performance it must have been to see back in 1940.  

It's appeal and audience only grew more and more over time.  It's re-releases became more successful and the film continued to age so brilliantly that some began to take their kids to it to introduce them to Classical Music.  And I was one of those kids, though I never saw the film in theaters.  Disney underwent extensive restorative efforts to find some way to salvage the original film as the quality of the film became worse and worse over time.  Like with Snow White and Pinocchio, the film was frame by frame restored to try and recapture some bit of brilliance from the original film.  For the most part, at least in my opinion, they succeeded and the 1990 Restoration (which is available on VHS in the film's original home video release) is the definitive version of the film.  While I will always adore the film and cherish it on Blu Ray and other releases (also Corey Burton for having the impossible task of trying to stand in for Deems Taylor after the original audio of his introductions for most of the original film was lost), I feel that this was the most precise attempt by Disney to replicate the film's stunning majesty.  

Fantasia came out on Home Video at the most formative time in the history of Disney Feature Animation.  After years of ironing out the kinks and going about their work, Disney Animation was back with a vengeance.  Oliver and Company and The Little Mermaid were huge box office successes and with both Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin right around the corner, they were set up for both short term and long term success.  Though the newer films were capturing the imagination of kids and adults in theaters, it was the older films that were winning their hearts on Home Video.  Disney routinely had success in the Home Video department, but Fantasia (heavily pushed as only being available for 50 days) shattered all expectations and sold a stunning 14 million VHS tapes in the US and Canada alone, selling plenty more overseas and a large amount of Laserdiscs as well.  It was clear to Disney that Fantasia truly belonged in same conversations with Snow White, Cinderella and Pinocchio as being the best films Walt Disney ever produced.  

Roy Disney, the nephew of Walt and son of Roy O. Disney, had dreamed of one day adding to his uncle's legacy with a sequel to Fantasia to round out the decade of the 1990s.  After all, Walt had originally planned on Fantasia continuing along every now and then with a few new pieces being added into the overall flow of the original performance.  But the film's lack of success shelved those ideas until the 1980s, when Roy brought it up to Michael Eisner as he came in to assume direct control of the company after years of turmoil.  The heads of the Walt Disney Company were gung ho for the idea, particularly after the successful integration of Fantasia to Home Video, but Studio Chief Jeffrey Katzenberg was hostile to the idea of a sequel and was seemingly out to try and stop it from being made (with some even saying Katzenberg would only greenlight the film if they did more modern music from the Beatles or other groups).  This prompted Roy to undertake the production of the film himself without Jeffrey's involvement.  Once Katzenberg had left the studio in 1994 after a power struggle with  both Eisner and Roy, the film went into direct production alongside a slate of Disney Renaissance films including Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Tarzan.  

Roy's original vision for "Fantasia Continued" was to have three or four of the segments from the original film combined with three or four newer segments to be added on and perhaps integrated into the original runtime for the film.  This proved to be unfeasible for a myriad of reasons, so the film went from being just a few new segments to being mostly new with The Sorcerer's Apprentice returning because of it's popularity among Disney Fans and audiences.  In the end, the product became what we know today as Fantasia 2000, which received all of the fanfare the Walt Disney Company could muster as it came to large format theaters in the Fall of 1999

Fantasia 2000, though significantly more successful than the original film had been, was still a commercial failure for the Walt Disney Company, but one the company was more than willing to eat given the string of blockbuster successes they had had with their original animated films and the ones they collaborated with Pixar on.  It was made to symbolize the artistry and less about the commercial appeal.  Whether you enjoy the film or not, the film still follows in the footsteps of it's predecessor in trying to tell a story through music and stellar Disney Animation.  And the film was popular enough where there were even plans to make a third film in the works, with whole segments being animated and completed as the 2000s reached their midway point.  

But there were some dark clouds gathering over Disney at that time, as they had done for the first film with the outbreak of World War II.  Another power struggle would see Eisner ousted as CEO and his replacement Bob Iger being brought in.  At first, it seemed Iger was keen to revitalize all aspects of the company.  2D Animation was coming back (sparingly).  Pixar was coming into the fold for good after Eisner had stepped on toes with them and nearly ended their partnership.  Live Action would receive a big boost with the Disney acquisitions of Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm.  Disney Animation reached it's 3rd Golden Age with the successes of Tangled, Wreck It Ralph, Frozen and Zootopia.  But it became clear that what Iger wanted wasn't going to be what fans of the artsy styles of Disney Animation wanted.  In fact, it was something he had in common with the producers behind Dreamworks and Illumination Studios.  $$$$$$$

Plans for a project called "Fantasia 2006" were scrapped and a few of it's completed stories were released for Audience consumption, chiefly "The Little Match Girl", which was a Bonus Feature on the Platinum Edition release of The Little Mermaid and then "One By One", which was based off of unused music from The Lion King and would be released in the 2004 Special Edition release of The Lion King II: Simba's Pride.  And Roy Disney passing away in 2009 all but doomed plans to make a third addition to the lore of one of Walt Disney's most important animated achievements, as he had been it's biggest proponent.  But surely with Disney raking in tremendous profits and successes in the Theme Parks and abroad that they would be willing to eat the costs of an artsy film like a third Fantasia Movie, right?  

Oh my sweet summer child...

Bob Iger's vision for Disney (which is now in the hands of Bob Chapek) centers around appeasing the shareholders and their ideas for profit over the improvements to the artform of animation.  Why make an original and well thought out science fiction movie with a scary budget when we could just make another Star Wars movie?  Why let Disney experiment with a movie like "Gigantic" when they could just as easily make a sequel to Frozen?  Why try anything new when the current model is making money hand over fist?  

Walt Disney, for all his faults as a product of his times and a strictly anti-union capitalist, was an artist.  A pioneer and a visionary.  At least, that's what he was before Fantasia.  The film's failure had definitely changed him.  No longer was he out to push the boundaries of animation beyond his own comprehension.  He largely left Animation to it's own devices until he had to step in for The Jungle Book a few years before his death.  And while some live action films and Disneyland would occupy his creative juices, the artist in Walt had seemingly fell by the wayside after the failures of Fantasia, Pinocchio and Bambi and he was never the same.  Let's say that pre-Fantasia Walt was 90:10 an artist first and a capitalist second.  He didn't particularly care about money and sought only to revolutionize animation.  By the time Cinderella came out, he was more 50:50.  

This notion would continue with Michael Eisner.  He, like Walt was a dreamer and sought to do the best he could with what he had.  But he was also a staunch conservative when it came to spending money and kept things on a budget, doing his best not to go overboard unless absolutely necessary.  Eisner had initial success.  The Disney Renaissance happened under him, after all.  But failures had hardened his businessman nature and he was focused solely on the money and less on the magic.  

Iger does not have the creative juices to helm a company like Disney for it's own good.  He's a corporatist first and a visionary...well maybe 11th.  He is out to make the most money for the shareholders and the audiences come third or fourth.  This continued on with Chapek, who has drawn the staunch ire of the public for his handling of the theme park and movie divisions, focusing more on remakes and squeezing drops of money from them than their happiness.  They should count themselves lucky that 2020 had all of us inside for the majority of the year, otherwise I think Disney World and Disneyland would be ghost towns.  

So what does this mean for Fantasia?  Well, I'll sum it up the way my cousin and best friend Chris (AKA Mild) would.  It's antiquated and won't make Disney money outside of those who are nostalgic for it.  Chris has no caring for this film.  He prefers the movies like Lilo and Stitch or The Lion King that hit him hard emotionally, but could really care less how artsy they were.  And that seems to be the way the money flows at Disney right now.  A third Fantasia has no chance of making it passed the drawing boards of a modern Disney Animation department.  They're more focused on making movies like Raya and the Last Dragon or Encanto.  The movies that Walt would have wanted to make or that Roy had been desperate to continue will never be made.  At least, not by Disney....