[8] The Disney Animation Studios took Shakespeare’s Hamlet and transplanted it to the African savanna with an all-animal cast. Buoyed by a hit soundtrack, lush visuals, memorable characters, and a daring blend of intense drama and whacky humor, the film became the critical and financial climax of the late ’80s/early ’90s Disney renaissance. For me, the truly exceptional elements of the film are the music, …
[8] It may be one of the most atypical Disney animated film, but I thoroughly enjoy The Emperor’s New Groove. It’s by far the funniest Disney flick I’ve ever seen, reminding me more of a Warner Brothers Looney Tune than anything Walt might ever have conjured. The irreverent script focuses on four very engaging characters, two good and two evil, and lets them run the …
[4] Angela Lansbury and David Tomlinson star in this Disney live-action/animation hybrid about a witch, a conman, and three children who search for the missing ingredient to a spell that could help England during the siege of WWII. Call me cynical and jaded, but I thought this was bargain basement stuff for Disney. I like the historical backdrop and the basic concept, but not the …
[5] Disney’s first animated theatrical sequel is a technical and stylistic achievement featuring beautiful character and effects animation, rich background paintings, and thrilling music from the ever-underrated Bruce Broughton. The movie is best at the beginning, during a spectacular sequence in which a boy rides a giant eagle through the Australian outback. But after that, the script offers few surprises and our hero mice, Bernard …
[6] Splash is a sweet-enough fantasy rom-com from Ron Howard (his second feature). Tom Hanks stars as a man who falls in love with a mysterious woman who just happens to be a mermaid. Darryl Hannah plays the fish; John Candy and Eugene Levy ham it up in supporting roles. The best scenes are ones where Hannah tries to hide her true nature, including a …
[7] A mysterious carnival rolls into town, granting wishes at a sinister cost in Disney’s adaptation of the Ray Bradbury story. I wish the film were more strongly from the perspective of the two leading boys and that their parts were better written. But this is still a pretty entertaining fable that achieves some genuinely spooky moments. Jonathan Pryce steals the show as the carnival’s …
[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 than countless others made before desegregation (Gone with the Wind among them). In fact, putting its social infractions in historical context is probably …
[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. These package films were collections of various shorts jammed together to make a feature-length program. One of these, and perhaps the worst, was …
[7] Angelina Jolie headlines in this pleasantly surprising revisionist version of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. Jolie plays Maleficent, the dark fairy villain of the original fairytale. But in this new version of the story scripted by Linda Woolverton (Beauty and the Beast), she’s both the villain and the hero — and Jolie is fantastic in the role. You see Maleficent as the glorious creature she once …
[7] Bob Newhart and Eva Gabor provide the voices of two brave mice who volunteer to rescue a kidnapped orphan in this surprisingly dark and scary offering from Disney’s animation department. I love the atmosphere this movie creates, especially around a wrecked riverboat tucked away in a spooky bayou. That’s where our villainess, Madame Medusa (voiced by Oscar-winner Geraldine Page), holds a little girl named …
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