Classic Animation

[dandesun]

Not only do I love Hercules but I love the animated series they made out of it later. I love mythology and while neither the movie nor the series could be considered a purist's dream (Herc riding Pegasus? A-what now?) they really had fun fitting the various mythological characters into a series that I found rather witty. Adonis the stuck up prince, Helen the prom queen.

And I still love the Aphrodite theme song ('Aphrodite... Aphrodite... Aphrodite... The Goddess of Love!') and that she was voiced by Lisa Kudrow.

Emperor's New Groove I think is hilarious. It just tears apart the fourth wall. And how can you not love Kronk?

[CyberCathy]

The Emperor's New Groove is awesome.

"Why do we even have this lever?"

I have to share a random story about Disney movies so you know what a complete dork I am. I swear to you I am not Rose.

I met my husband at a friend's wedding. This friend and I are big fans of Disney movies. I had been collecting all of the full-length, theatrical released Disney movies for sometime. So she figured, I'd get along well with her college friend who was also a Disney movie fan.

Our conversation:
Me: I collect all of the Disney movies. But only the first release ones... none of those direct-to-video ones.
Him: I do too. I've recently started to convert to DVD.
Me: Okay, but do you arrange yours alphabetically or by release date?
Him: By release date.

It was at that point I knew I had found my soul mate. Disney movies, people. See why I had to tell you I'm not Rose?

And we only have three more movies to convert to DVD!

[Mugsy]

Ha! I'm so glad there is so much love for the classic animation. Laconic Chick called this a nostalgia thread, which it is, but I sure hope it's not ONLY a nostalgia thread. I'm holding out great hope for The Frog Prince.

Thanks for all the background info about Eisner and Wells. That 1994 end date for Wells makes a lot of sense; that's when the classic animation started its downturn. And here I always thought Eisner was the grand master.

Turning popular movies into half-hour TV cartoons seems like a much better idea than all these lesser quality DVD sequels. Diehards can get their fix, the company keeps the characters in the minds of the consumer (kids), and money keeps pouring in - but they're not bastardizing the movies.

The worst idea they had at the Disney parks (and other theme parks, for that matter) is the Fast Pass. Line-jumping of any kind makes most consumers cranky. We've been to Disney World a number of times and always marvelled at how clean it always was, but after the Fast Pass came along, we started to see garbage in those endless line-up areas. Before, no matter how long the line, it kept moving, so people were happy because they were making progress. But when you're just standing still for a long time, yeah, a lot of people will just set their drink down because the garbage can is "up there" and the friggin' line doesn't move! I don't know if they still have it, but I hated it.

Was it Eisner's idea to make a movie about the Pirates of the Caribbean ride? Because that sure seemed like pure folly on paper. It's like he was trying to sabotage the Company. Pirates turned out as a hit, but naturally, they had to do it again with the Country Bears and the Haunted Mansion. Ugh.

I know Snow White is considered the great classic, but I don't like it, and neither did my kids. I think she just looked to old-fashioned or something, and her voice made my ears bleed. I do get though, how amazing it would have seemed at the time; probably the same feeling of awe I had when watching The Little Mermaid in the theatre.

What would be another unused fairy tale that Disney could do?

[jynni]

mugsy said:

The worst idea they had at the Disney parks (and other theme parks, for that matter) is the Fast Pass. Line-jumping of any kind makes most consumers cranky. We've been to Disney World a number of times and always marvelled at how clean it always was, but after the Fast Pass came along, we started to see garbage in those endless line-up areas. Before, no matter how long the line, it kept moving, so people were happy because they were making progress. But when you're just standing still for a long time, yeah, a lot of people will just set their drink down because the garbage can is "up there" and the friggin' line doesn't move! I don't know if they still have it, but I hated it.

Fast Pass is still there and it's brilliant. One of the best systems for an amusement park ever invented. So much so that several other park chains adopted similar systems. I've only been to Disneyland a few times but when I was there we used Fast Pass to great advantage. The only time it really wasn't a help was the time we went the Saturday before Christmas and the park was at capacity. It was so full they were only letting people in if other people left. The whole place was a nightmare.

Anywho... I really wish they would find a balance between traditional animation and computer. Beauty and the Beast comes to mind as a great example of this - as does Aladdin. I think the Tripletts of Belleville also used both processes.

[CyberCathy]

But when you're just standing still for a long time, yeah, a lot of people will just set their drink down because the garbage can is "up there" and the friggin' line doesn't move!

At the risk of making this too off-topic, I have a story about Walt, garbage, and Disneyland. One visit to Disney World we took the "Key to the Kingdom" tour. (It's a backstage tour of the Magic Kingdom. I think it's about $30 per person. You do have to be 16 and over to take the tour since they take you through work areas - OSHA regs - but I highly recommend it.) Anyway, the tour guide told us when Walt was working on the finishing touches of Disneyland he would hand out individually wrapped candy at the gate and then follow people around the park to see how long it took them to drop the wrappers. I forget how far the distance was, so we'll just say 25 feet for simplicity. So in all of the Disney parks, there is a garbage can every 25 feet or so.

Walt was a genius. He just needed to work on the ride lines, too.

[dandesun]

I know Snow White is considered the great classic, but I don't like it, and neither did my kids. I think she just looked to old-fashioned or something, and her voice made my ears bleed.

Snow White was absolutely a product of its time. I remember when they released it on DVD there were some Kids Reviews shows and they took on Snow White. The kids hated it. The girls thought Snow White was a wimp and everyone hated her voice. No one understood why it was supposed to be such a classic.

I've always hated the scene where Snow White runs through the woods, cringing away from everything until she's so overcome that she faints. Worthless! Belle was chased by wolves and still managed to fight back until Beast arrived. But again... product of the times. Although the year Snow White came out was the same year that Gone with the Wind came out.

Scarlett would have kicked Snow White's ass and worn her as a pelt.

Personally, my favorite Disney heroine was Megara from Hercules. Sarcastic, angry and not easily won over at all. But my favorite Disney princess is Belle. Belle's awesome.

[susyhomewrecker]

cybercathy said:

But when you're just standing still for a long time, yeah, a lot of people will just set their drink down because the garbage can is "up there" and the friggin' line doesn't move!

At the risk of making this too off-topic, I have a story about Walt, garbage, and Disneyland. One visit to Disney World we took the "Key to the Kingdom" tour. (It's a backstage tour of the Magic Kingdom. I think it's about $30 per person. You do have to be 16 and over to take the tour since they take you through work areas - OSHA regs - but I highly recommend it.) Anyway, the tour guide told us when Walt was working on the finishing touches of Disneyland he would hand out individually wrapped candy at the gate and then follow people around the park to see how long it took them to drop the wrappers. I forget how far the distance was, so we'll just say 25 feet for simplicity. So in all of the Disney parks, there is a garbage can every 25 feet or so.

Walt was a genius. He just needed to work on the ride lines, too.

I think it was more like 15 (people are lazy) but yeah, that's pretty effing smart.

LaconicChick I loved the Great Mouse Detective too! Rattigan was an evil genius. The best part was when he put Basil and his sidekick (forgot his name) in that contraption, and then at the last minute, Basil figured out how to get out. The peg-legged bat scared me, though...I used to think he was watching me through windows.

[Deleted]

I love Beauty and the Beast. Still my absolute favourite although I also love Aladdin and Mulan. I wish they'd find a way to make classic animation work these days. "Human" faces don't look good in computer animation, just scary.

[Inkyblott]

No one's mentioned two of my favorite 2D classics: Watership Down and Charlotte's Web. I haven't seen either of them in years because they reduce me to a sobbing mess but I think they were both very good adaptations with excellent animation.

Another favorite was Flight of Dragons. I don't think this was ever theatrically released but I remember watching it on TV. I loved the way the dragons looked.

My favorite classic Disney movie is Robin Hood. I totally had a crush on foxy Robin.

One of the things that bugs me about Disney is how they totally squandered the Miyazaki stuff. Was any of it, other than Spirited Away and Steamboy ever put out in wide release? Even those two played primarily in art theaters. It's like Disney got the rights to distribute the movies then completely buried them in favor of pushing their own stuff. Of course, ths Studio Ghibli stuff is a mix of 2D and computer animation but the art is gorgeous.

[thesurlymermaid]

Disney was pretty stupid about marketing Toy Story when it was first released as well. They totally underestimated how popular the movie would be. You couldn't buy the toys in the movie for months....how much of a no-brainer is it to sell the damn toys in a movie called Toy Story?