Disney Classics

Recently I had a lengthy discussion with a few people about the Disney Animated Classics as well as Pixar vs. Dreamworks movies. The Disney animated movies have had three golden ages since the beginning in 1937. The first came right at the beginning from 1937 to 1942 releasing Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo and Bambi. The next unbelievable stretch was 1950-1959. Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp and Sleeping Beauty came out in the period. The final and my personal favorite golden era of Disney movies was 1989-1994, which introduced The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. Now sure there have been other greats here and there but the best usually come in packs. With any luck our next golden era could be coming with 'Rapunzel' and 'The Princess and the Frog' coming out in 2009. The Princess and the Frog will be the first fully 2D animated Disney movie released since 2004's Home on the Range. The creators of Rapunzel are trying new technology which will include both 2D traditional animated style and 3D CGI.

So when the conversation turned to that of recent CGI movies I almost lost it when two of the four people involved thought that the Shrek movies were made by Disney/Pixar. Now as I Disney guy I can be the first to admit that Shrek is a wonderful movie and has some elements of comedy that no Disney animated movie has matched, but in my opinion it can never be compared to some of the big guns of Pixar because it just lacks the magic.


Top Ten 2D Animated Movies

1. Beauty and the Beast (above)
2. Aladdin
3. The Lion King
4. Cinderella
5. The Little Mermaid
6. Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs
7. Alice in Wonderland
8. Sleeping Beauty
9. The Fox and the Hound
10. Hercules


Top Ten 3D CGI Movies

1. Monsters Inc. (above)
2. Toy Story
3. Toy Story 2
4. A Bug's Life
5. Finding Nemo
6. Shrek
7. Shrek 2
8. Ice Age
9. Cars
10. Ratatouille