Best of Disney Animated Features (33-24)

33. The Aristocats (1970)
Even when Disney has a mid-range movie, it is still considered a classic.  Definitely not among the studio's best, but a very likable movie.  The story is built on a loose, but strong foundation of a family of cats going on a journey to find their way home and meeting some colorful new friends.  It has its dull moments like many Disney movies from this period, but not as much as others.  The musical sequences are high energy and the characters are likable.

32. Treasure Planet (2002)
It seems that either you love this movie or you don't.  When looking at it critically it really is somewhere in the middle.  It is an uneven movie, with some intrusive comic relief and a lack of focus.  Still, it is creative, adventurous and sincere.  The relationships and characterization among the leads is really sweet and surprisingly mature.  The action scenes are exciting and well paced.  I love this movie and it is worth discovering.  It is one of the best adaptations of Treasure Island.  I describe it further in this review (not my best review, but still make some good points, if I do say so myself).

31. Hercules (1997)
This is such an interesting movie when looking at Disney's entire library, it really is unique.  It tries to follow the Broadway musical format, but rather than going serious like the previous two films it went straight for the laughs.  There is still definitely drama, especially with Eric Goldberg's character of Phil who is both comic relief and caring mentor.  The character of Hades steals the show along with some pretty clever pop culture references.  The visuals in this movie went away from the Disney style with designs from Scarfe, which makes this stand out.  It is interesting that the story seems to take it inspirations from movies such as Superman, Karate Kid and Rocky rather than Greek myths.  All of these disparate elements works but don't necessarily make the most complete film.  It lacks a definite anchor in the main character and story structure.  However this works as a comedy and a pretty touching underdog story.  Time has been kind to this film and it is a good one.

30. Great Mouse Detective (1986)
The third movie in a row from Ron Clements and John Musker on this list.  The strength in this movie is in its two leads: the clever, charming Basil of Baker Street and his hammy nemesis Ratigan.  Disney plays up the arch-rival archetypes well and the animators are clearly having fun with them.  It is a pleasant little comedy that also serves as an exciting adventure.  Even though the clock tower is clearly computer animated you still believe that the characters are there and it remains the most memorable part of the movie.  This was the first time that Disney animation had made a quality product in a long time and was an important step to bigger and better things.

28. Frozen (2013)
This is the most recent Disney animated feature and it is a good one.  There is a huge scale, some interesting twists and great comic relief.  Despite its definite quality, it definitely gives the feeling that it could be better.  The plot is not set up well and follows too many different story lines.  Many of the themes are interesting, but it should have just chosen one to focus on.  Some scenes also seem abrupt.  The chase with the wolves and the Snow Monster are well animated, but the movie does not take its time with them.  Still, this is complaining about a very good movie.  Snow has never looked better on the screen, there is creativity in the trolls and the comic relief character of Olaf is an absolute stand out as the animators find every way to take advantage of him being a snowman.  It is touching, just not as consistent as it could have been.  This has been heavily applauded for subverting the traditional Disney romance, but Disney has already poked fun at themselves in other movies and showcased strong independent female characters.  This movie would have been better if it had trusted itself to tell a story about two sisters, without cramming in love interests.

29. Fantasia 2000 (1999)

Vastly different from 1940's Fantasia, but a very worthy successor.  The weakness of this film is in its packaging.  The live-action scenes with celebrities seem out of place and age the movie.  They are not funny and ruin the flow of the movie, although some segments such as James Earl Jones' work well.  Disney utilizes many different styles of music and animation to tell different stories.  The best shorts are the ones directed by Eric Goldberg: Rhapsody in Blue and Carnival of the Animals.  Other shorts such as Pines of Rome, Pomp and Circumstance, and The Firebird Suite are stunning and creative.  Of course it is always great to see The Sorcerer's Apprentice.  In many ways this is more accessible than the original Fantasia, which has been seen as a tad pretentious.  These cartoons are all story based, don't shy away from humor and take place in a much shorter film.  This movie has unfortunately been forgotten, but it should be rediscovered as it features some amazingly underrated work from Disney animators.

27. Rescuers Down Under (1990)
I ranked the original 1977 Rescuers pretty low, but this is the rare sequel that is leagues above the original.  The scenes with Marahute are some of the best flying scenes ever animated and his relationship with Cody is rather touching.  The side characters are fun as are the leads Bernard and Bianca.  This is a rousing adventure that is only know receiving the credit it very much deserves.  It is a shame that this did not receive a bigger push when it was released, it would be nice to see more movies like it.

26. Mulan (1998)
This movie does a lot of things different from previous Disney movies, primarily with its gender roles.  Unfortunately the movie feels the need to point that out and does not trust itself to be entirely different.  Still the character of Mulan is a strong, admirable lead.  There are many scenes that stand out such as the touching talk from Fa Zou, the silent scene where she steals her father's armor and the battle on the mountain.  The movie is a little disjointed as it tries to cram some unnecessary comic relief and a love story.  But overall this is a great effort from the studio who successfully broke out of the mold.

25. The Jungle Book (1967)
One of the best-loved Disney animated features.  The songs and fun characters have made this a classic and help it hold up for new audiences.  It definitely lags at times and is not the most impressive film from an artistic stand point.  But the character animation and voice work are the selling point.  Baloo, Baghera, Shere Khan, Kaa, King Louie and Colonel Haithi's elephants are great characters to build a film around.

24. Alice in Wonderland (1951)
This is one of Disney's best known films.  These versions of Lewis Caroll's characters have become iconic and remain one of Disney's most popular brand.  Critically and among Disney animators at the time this was not the most popular.  It certainly has its flaws as it does not feel like a complete film.  But much like the Jungle Book, the character animation raises the quality of the film immensely.  The Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, White Rabbit, Caterpillar and Queen of Hearts are some of Disney's best wacky characters.  The bright and colorful nonsensical world is also a treat for the eyes with Mary Blair's backgrounds.  It may not be perfect as a whole, but there is certainly great art at play.

Treasure Planet Review

How does one begin to discuss Treasure Planet?  It is one of the biggest box-office bombs in history, costing $140 million to make but only recouping $109 million in international box-office receipts.  Treasure Planet is infamous for signaling the end of the traditionally animated feature.  Despite its supporters (it was nominated for an Oscar, something that superior features such as Tangled and Winnie the Pooh weren’t nominated for), there is an infamy that it is one of Disney’s worst features.  The truth it that while there is certainly much valid criticism around Jon Musker and Ron Clements’ adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic, it does not deserve the unfortunate reputation that it currently holds.

            At first glance it is easy to pass off Jim Hawkins as a cheap marketing gimmick.  The filmmakers took an innocent boy and turned him into a ponytailed, space surfing, action star with loads of teen angst.  But the character development and back-story is all there.  Jim’s father left him and his mother when he was young and he has been frustrated and restless ever since.  John Ripa animates these emotions consistently with a great vocal performance from Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  Animated features of this time tried to connect to the teenage audience, such as through bland generic tough guy Cale from Titan A.E.  However Jim earns his right to be reckless and smart.  He works to earn the audiences’ and characters’ respect to save the day.  His action scenes are grounded in emotion.  As odd as it is to hear a pop song in a Disney cartoon, I’m Still Here sung by John Rzeznik, embodies the character in an effective montage.

            The character that Jim Hawkins plays off of is naturally Long John Silver.  This being a cartoon allows the character of the sea cook to be much more versatile than a live action actor could portray.  There has been criticism that master-supervising animator Glen Keane was ill-suited to the sloppy, fat Silver as he is mostly accustomed to animating grace (Ariel, Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas and Tarzan).  But Keane gifts the character with a sense of warmness and slyness.  He maintains Silver’s infamous ambiguity while crafting a natural father figure for the lost Jim.   The highlight of the film is when the two misfits find comfort in one another.  Particularly after Jim feels he is responsible for Mr. Arrow’s demise and Silver provides tough love.  Silver is not an easy character to love and Jim is not instantly likable.  But the combination of the two makes for some of Disney’s most emotional and personal moments.

            The other characters in the movie are not as good.  There are three comic relief characters.  Each has their strengths, but they each weigh the film down in their own way.  Dr. Doppler (a combination of Dr. Livesy and Squire Trelawney) has some terrific subtleties to him as well as natural comic timing that come from voice actor David Hyde Pierce.  But he has too many unnecessary tangents that undermine various action and emotional scenes.  His character development seems extraneous from the main storyline.  B.E.N. (an android version of the marooned Ben Gunn) is amusingly voiced by Martin Short and is animated well (computer animated in a traditionally animated setting), but does not add a lot the story.  The final comic relief is Morph who seems the most natural and least intrusive, but still has a tendency to appear at the wrong time.  These three are the most responsible for the movie’s tonal shifts.  However they are not as bad as the gargoyles in Hunchback as they are actually part of the story.

            As for the other characters Jim’s mother works decently here and there but leaves little impact.  Both Captain Amelia and Mr. Arrow are memorable, but none of the rest of the crew are as imposing.  Which is a problem when Silver is supposed to be a threat when he has a band of forgettable comic misfits at his side.  The crewmember with the most personality is the terrifying Scroop (a substitute for Israel Hands), but he is almost undermined by a forgettable Disney death.  The other memorable side character is Billy Bones, creatively re-imagined as a dying snake turtle.

            The characters are responsible for the films highlights and lowlights.  But the movie is probably most remembered for its visuals.  The filmmakers wanted to make space feel less empty and the combination of pirate imagery in a sci-fi setting is certainly grand.  One has to credit this movie for having its own visual style.  It does not look like Star Wars or Star Trek, it looks like Treasure Planet.  There is also a lot of combining traditional animation with computer-generated images.  Computer animation embodies most of the creative sci-fi elements: such Silver’s cyborg components, B.E.N. the android and the action set pieces.  The two forms of animation blend pretty much perfectly, which is impressive for 2002.

            Revisiting Treasure Planet it is easy to say that had this been live-action it would have been hailed as a classic if not masterpiece.  The characterization and relationships are better than any live-action sci-fi and the visuals much more impressive.  The problems with this movie come from Disney’s problem of finding an audience.  The older blockbuster crowd it was going for were turned off by “kiddie” elements such as the comic relief and marketing while the kids and families were looking for something familiar.  Audiences will not take a chance on an animated film like they will on a live-action film, which causes animation to play it too safe.

            However please do not make this mistake anymore.  You can view Treasure Planet on Netflix right now.  While it certainly has its flaw it is definitely one of the better movies available.  Yes it is a traditionally animated Disney feature, but please view it with an open mind.  You may find a new favorite movie.