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…
Sabotage (1936)

Sabotage (1936)

[7] Sylvia Sidney and Oskar Homolka star in this Alfred Hitchcock suspense yarn about a movie theater owner (Homolka) who is conspiring to set off a bomb in London. While a Scotland Yard detective (John Loder) tries to identify and arrest the…
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…
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…
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.…
The Three Caballeros (1944)

The Three Caballeros (1944)

[3] In an abstract void of color gradation, it's Donald Duck's birthday. He magically receives three strange presents that transform into song-and-dance lessons about Mexico and South America, featuring two other cartoon birds named José Carioca (a parrot) and Panchito (a rooster).…
Saludos Amigos (1942)

Saludos Amigos (1942)

[3] Vying with Nazi Germany to create ties in South American countries during World War II, the U.S. government guaranteed Walt Disney federal loans to produce animated films celebrating South American culture. Saludos Amigos is the first resulting film from this strategic…
Bambi (1942)

Bambi (1942)

[10] With relatively little dialogue and an abundance of montage, Walt Disney's Bambi plays out like a beautiful tone poem on rites of passage, death and rebirth. There's a 'circle of life' undercurrent to the film that makes it especially meaningful for…
Dumbo (1941)

Dumbo (1941)

[9] After Walt Disney released the world's first animated feature film, the wildly successful Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the studio struggled with a couple of ambitious financial failures. Pinocchio and Fantasia were creatively and technologically advanced films, but both bombed…