I think I may be the only person over the age of, say, 7 to be
excited for the release of “Brother Bear,” the newest
animated film from Disney. Sure, I had some reservations, but
looking at the company’s track record with animated films, I
gave it the benefit of the doubt. Still, I had to work hard to
convince some friends to see it with me.
I admit “Brother Bear” looks more like “The
Hunchback of Notre Dame” than it does “Aladdin,”
but again, never count Disney out. After seeing the film, I was
smiling, and my friends who didn’t want to see it ended up
calling it “cute” in a very good way. Disney can do
that to a person. So the question arises: Where does “Brother
Bear” rank among the all-time pantheon of Disney’s
incredible animated films?
To be honest, not very high, but that’s more of a
testament to the average quality of a Disney animated film than it
is to the problems in “Brother Bear” because
there’s not too much wrong with it. Still, Disney animation
is wonderful, and “Brother Bear” just doesn’t
compete with the all-time top-five Disney animated movies (Note:
Pixar movies don’t count, as they weren’t completely
developed and created by Disney.). Here’s the list, which of
course includes six films:
5.b. “Beauty and the Beast” (1991): To tell you the
truth, I’m not a big fan, but I know a lot of other people
are, so it makes the list simply because I don’t want to get
a ton of angry e-mails. The biggest problem with “Beauty and
the Beast” is that Gaston makes for an uninspiring and rather
boring villain while most Disney antagonists are entirely
entertaining. Sure, the film was nominated for best picture in
1992, but hey, so was “The Prince of Tides.”
5.a. “The Sword in the Stone” (1963): “The
Emperor’s New Groove” got a lot of praise for its
clever showdown between good and evil: People turned into different
animals and fought each other. However, the truth is Disney
plagiarized the sequence from itself. One of the last scenes of
“The Sword in the Stone” does the same thing with
Merlin and Madam Mim’s final battle, and does it much better.
And while “Beauty and the Beast” has talking
silverware, “The Sword in the Stone” had animate
cutlery first. Many of Disney’s successful gimmicks can be
found here first, yet somehow the film is relatively forgotten. I
have no idea why.
4. “The Little Mermaid” (1989): First and foremost,
it has the best score of any Disney animated film, and that’s
saying something. There are simply no weak spots. Also, Ursula is
the perfect counter-example to the problems Gaston has as a
villain: She’s frightening. The story is sweet, even if
it’s not entirely faithful to the fairy tale on which it was
based. And if people tell you that they aren’t close to tears
when Ariel loses her voice, well, either they’re lying or
their hearts are harder than Margaret Thatcher’s.
3. “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937): This
one’s probably placed a bit higher than it should be because
it was the first animated Disney film, but it’s great
nonetheless. It won Walt Disney an honorary Oscar in 1939 for
basically inventing a new genre of filmmaking, and it deserves to
be remembered if only because it convinced Disney the animated
feature film could work.
2. “Peter Pan” (1953): This was my favorite movie as
a kid, mainly because of Captain Hook. At once a villain and a
comedian, he turns standard Disney fare into classic animated
filmmaking. Also, the story applies especially to those who enjoy
Disney animation; after all, who wouldn’t want to stay a kid
forever? The film also gets bonus points for having the best
movie-related ride at Disneyland (Pirates of the Caribbean
doesn’t count because the movie came after the ride.).
1. “The Lion King” (1994): When you start with
Shakespeare, you know you’re on the right track. But more
than anything else, “The Lion King” uses landscapes in
a way never seen before in animation, as it’s
“filmed” as if David Lean was behind the camera.
Everything emphasizes the story, and everyone can associate with
Simba.
We, too, must confront our fears and our pasts, but filled with
Disney animation, that may not be such a bad thing.
E-mail Tracer your five favorite Disney animated films at
jtracer@media.ucla.edu.