Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Sleeping Beauty (1959)

[6] Walt Disney combines Charles Perrault's original 1697 fairy tale with the Brothers Grimm's 1812 'Briar Rose' to form the storyline for Sleeping Beauty. The story echoes Disney's Snow White and Cinderella, centering on the cursed princess Aurora, doomed by the scorned…
Lady and the Tramp (1955)

Lady and the Tramp (1955)

[6] A pampered Cocker-Spaniel named Lady falls for a street mutt named Butch in Disney Animation's nineteenth animated feature, Lady and the Tramp. Lady comes from a well-off family on the good side of town, but when her owners start expecting a…
Peter Pan (1953)

Peter Pan (1953)

[6] Walt Disney adapts J.M. Barrie's story about three children from London -- Wendy, Michael, and John Darling -- who take a magical trip to Neverland with a hero only children can see: Peter Pan. Pan, an eternal boy who'll never grow…
Alice in Wonderland (1951)

Alice in Wonderland (1951)

[3] I've never read Lewis Carroll's novel, but I loathe every film adaptation of Alice in Wonderland I've ever seen. Walt Disney's animated version is marginally better than the studio's hideously garish 2010 remake, but it's just as aimless, pointless, and tediously…
Cinderella (1950)

Cinderella (1950)

[4] Cinderella was the biggest hit Walt Disney had since 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Walt credited it for saving the company from bankruptcy. While I'm certainly thankful the film allowed Disney's legacy to continue, I can't say it's among…
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad (1949)

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad (1949)

[4] This short feature presentation from Disney Animation is really two short stories slammed together. Up first, we have "The Wind in the Willows," narrated by Basil Rathbone. It's a fast-paced story about three stuffy critters -- a badger, a mole, and…
Melody Time (1948)

Melody Time (1948)

[6] For eight years in the 1940s, between Bambi (1942) and Cinderella (1950), Walt Disney Animation stopped making feature-length stories and focused on more budget-conscious 'anthology features' like Saludos Amigos and Fun and Fancy Free. Since anthologies are only as good as…
Fun & Fancy Free (1947)

Fun & Fancy Free (1947)

[3] When the army took over Disney Animation during WWII to make training and propaganda films, old Walt was forced to make a series of 'package films' to keep the studio afloat until he could afford to make another stand-alone feature story.…
Song of the South (1946)

Song of the South (1946)

[4] For its racist stereotypes and sugar-coated depiction of plantation life in the post-Civil War South, Disney has locked away Song of the South from the public since its last re-release in 1986. I don't think the film is any more offensive…
Make Mine Music (1946)

Make Mine Music (1946)

[4] If musical animated shorts had to audition to be part of Disney's Fantasia, then Make Mine Music is a compilation of the rejects. Without an overarching narrative to connect these shorts in any way, the film hinges on the aggregate quality…