Trudging along the post-Walt Disney era of the Disney canon,
It’s ok! You may cry!
we find that Walt still hasn’t really left us! Released in 1973, “Robin Hood” was the Disney Studios’ 21st animated feature. It was based on the legend of Robin Hood, the outcast who “stole from the rich to feed the poor”. The studios had originally wanted to make a film about Reynard the Fox,
“Hey Walt, how about we make a film about an antisemitic children’s hero?” “Uh….no!”
Well, due to the popularity of my last “Top 13” list, I decided to make another one! And today’s post takes a dive into an aspect of Disney’s animated films that is loved by everyone: its songs!
The vast majority of the Disney Canon films are musicals, or at least feature a song or two. And the magic of Disney along with the magic of many of Disney’s songwriters including the Sherman Brothers,
“We’re awesome!”
Alan Menken and Howard Ashman,
“We’re…second….awesome!”
and many others whose names are relatively unknown to the majority of the world, make these songs enjoyable, cherished, and memorable to us all!
So the question is, “Which of the songs are my favorites?”. To find that out, I went through all the songs of the Disney Canon films and picked out the ones that I really loved…all 40 of them!
Yeah, then came the nigh impossible challenge of shortening that “shortlist” to 13! (This was soooo much harder than figuring out my top 13 favorite animated Disney canon films)! So if you don’t see your favorite Disney song on here, don’t be mad! It most likely was in my shortlist to begin with and didn’t make my top 13!
Well, even though Walt Disney has left us on our journey, his legacy still remains! Disney’s 20th animated feature, although not worked on by Disney, was given the approval to go ahead before Walt had passed away! “The Aristocats”, released in 1970, was the beginning of the post-Disney years and what I term the “Iffy Era”. I don’t really consider the ’70s and ’80s as a “Dark Age”; but they definitely weren’t lucrative years! Continue reading “Disney Canon-Forgotten/Minor Characters #20: Georges Hautecourt”
Sorry for the long delay! We are now at Disney’s 19th animated feature and the last one that he personally worked on before he died!
Don’t hold back those tears now!
Released in 1967, “The Jungle Book” was both a commercial and critical success. It was so good that Gregory Peck tried his hardest to get this film to be nominated for the “Best Picture” award at the Oscars! Unfortunately, the erroneous idea that animated films are “kiddie flicks” and incomparable to live-action movies was present and his efforts were shut down.
“Members of the Academy, if you grant me that nomination, that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you!”
Well, the Disney feature won 5 awards including “Best Animated Feature” and “Voice Acting in a Feature Production (Alan Tudyk as King Candy)”! I still have yet to see this film, and all this hype just makes me want to see it more!
I can hear you saying, “WHO?!” and you probably have a right to say that. Hopefully, everything can be explained as we progress.
We are visiting Walt Disney’s 18th animated feature film, “The Sword in the Stone” (or as I like to call it, “How Many Times Can You Hear Wart Say, ‘Wha..?Wait. Whoa!’?“).
Disney’s animated classic, “Aladdin”, is coming to Broadway in 2014! The show will feature music and lyrics by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, and Tim Rice of course as well as by Chad Beguelin. Are you excited for this? Do you think this show is a good idea?
Well folks, it’s about time that I open up my latest section of this blog: my “Top 13” Lists! Face it, we all love lists and love reading other people’s opinions, and I’m no exception. So I thought to myself that I should start making a few lists and hopefully some people would be interested in reading them!
I’m stuck reading this, aren’t I?
So I went ahead and decided my first list to be, “My Top 13 Favorite Animated Disney (Canon) Films”! It seemed an appropriate list to start with seeing as I’m already doing a project involving the Disney Canon. Maybe some of you were curious as to which films are my personal favorite?
“Simply, (yawns)…Ecstatic!”
After looking through the list of the Disney Canon films and after much painstaking editing and re-arranging (I never realized how hard ranking things can be! To those of you who make lists often, I tip my hat to you!),
“Darn, I can’t make the joke about the hat being the fastest piece of clothing because it goes on a head!”
I’m ready to share the results with you all!
Note: I personally find one’s favorites and preferences can vary over time, minutely, if not majorly! So keep in mind that as of January 2013, this is my list! Maybe when I look back at this list in the future, I’ll wonder why my #6 film was not #12? Or why my #10 film was not my #3? Or why my #7 film was even on the list to begin with?
Also, I have not seen “Wreck-It Ralph” yet, but I have seen all the other films in the Disney Canon! Hopefully, I don’t love “Wreck-It Ralph” so much that it affects my top 13! Oh, you’re probably wondering to yourself, “Why top 13?” Well, it’s because I’m not superstitious!
The “Twilight Bark” can bring you the canine-related news, but “The Animation Commendation” will bring you the Disney canon-related news! And today, we venture into Disney’s 17th animated feature, “One Hundred and One Dalmatians”. Released in 1961, the film was a great success and became loved by us all. It was a thrilling film of how far one goes to save one’s family. Continue reading “Disney Canon-Forgotten/Minor Characters #17: Towser and Lucy”
Come once upon a dream with me as we investigate Disney’s 16th animated feature, “Sleeping Beauty”. Released in 1959, this film was meant to be a masterpiece. Intricate detail was put into the animation and backgrounds. Two versions of the film were made: a widescreen version and a regular version. And to top it all off, this was the most expensive animated Disney film to date! Walt and his crew were hoping for this to be a success! Was it? No!
Like “Alice in Wonderland”, this film was not an initial success, but rather saw box office profits through future re-releases. The underperformance of this film was the reason that Walt decided not to make another animated film based on a fairy tale again. And the Disney Studios would not make an animated film based on a fairy tale until 1989’s “The Little Mermaid”. Continue reading “Disney Canon-Forgotten/Minor Characters #16: Queen Leah”
The Animation Commendation 