Friday, March 23, 2012

Disney Animated Canon 1-3

The first ten films or so I wasn't really getting very in-depth or anything. Thus I'm grouping them together here in all their copy/pasted glory:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - 7.6/10

Haven't watched this in years, and honestly I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. There were all the old-timey cartoon cliches that usually make me roll my eyes (and I did a few times to be sure), but they were all done so well that I actually found myself laughing quite a lot in spite of myself. Snow White's voice is still annoying, and the ending is too abrupt in my opinion, but on the whole it was a really good film for its time. The art and animation was simply fantastic, and some of the imagery (not to mention dialogue) with the queen was just downright creepy as shit. In a really good way. I don't think they'd get away with that sort of thing now.


Pinocchio -8.7/10

Another one I haven't watched since I was a kid. Wow, man. Animation was beautiful back in the day. You never realize just how standardized it's become until you watch a true masterpiece like this one. I can understand why Disney used Snow White for their maiden voyage, so to speak, but this film works brilliantly as their second, and shows just what animated films are capable of in terms of scope, story, character, and excitement. Unlike Snow White, which seems rather simplistic and gimmicky by today's standards, Pinocchio is truly timeless. If it weren't for the extraordinary effort that went into the art and animation, it would be extremely difficult to determine just when this film was made if you didn't already know.

I never got into this one much as a kid; I think it weirded me out, but for whatever reason I've been holding onto that dismissive attitude for years and so was completely shocked at how much I enjoyed it this time. If you're in the mood for some classic Disney or just good old fashioned nostalgia, here's a good place to start. 


Fantasia - 8.7/10

Man, I loved this film as a kid, but just because it was fun. Being older now, I have some knowledge of classical music and am also able to A.) appreciate the symbolism, and B.) follow what the narrator is talking about. It adds so much more depth and I enjoyed it even more than I ever did as a kid. Plus I don't recall ever seeing the Ave Maria half of the last segment before. Night On Bald Mountain was the only part I was interested in.

And speaking of things that wouldn't fly today, man were there a lot of naked boobs in this movie.


2 comments:

  1. I just have to start with, I already LOVE this!!

    Snow White - I think it's funny that you say her voice is STILL annoying because a kid I didn't think/realize it was. As an adult, I can barely stand it!

    Pinocchio - I should break this one out and watch it again. I only saw it a couple times as a child because it was really scary when watching that one kid turn into a donkey... I actually don't know a single child that isn't kind of freaked out by it.

    Fantasia - I didn't care much about this one as a kid, but now I LOVE it!! And I think you are totally right, you really need to know some stuff to fully enjoy it. Oh and I don't recall any boobs. I think you are making that up to :)

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    1. I am seriously not making it up. I was shocked at how many there really were. They weren't even trying to hide it!

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