Poll :: Which film from the "dark" period of Disney stands out?
The Aristocats (1970)
7%
[ 2 ]
Robin Hood (1973)
35%
[ 10 ]
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
0%
[ 0 ]
The Rescuers (1977)
3%
[ 1 ]
The Fox and the Hound (1981)
10%
[ 3 ]
The Black Cauldron (1985)
7%
[ 2 ]
The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
17%
[ 5 ]
Oliver & Company (1988)
17%
[ 5 ]
Total Votes : 28
Author
Message
BorneAgain
Joined: Oct 21 2006
Posts: 22
Posted:
Oct 23 2011 07:37 am
While many talk well about the Golden/Silver age periods of Disney as well as the 90s Renaissance era, there is a time period which is not quite as well regarded. That of course being the Disney Dark Age period. Now when it began and ended is a matter of debate, but just for sheer simplicity's sake and to provide a somewhat decent rage of choices, we'll go with the traditional field of post Jungle-Book pre-Little Mermaid.
Syd Lexia
Site Admin
Title: Pop Culture Junkie
Joined: Jul 30 2005
Location: Wakefield, MA
Posts: 24882
Posted:
Oct 23 2011 09:34 am
I think your "dark" era is too long. The Aristocats is certainly right out, as the film was personally greenlit by Walt Disney and retains the same style and ton as the company's 1960s productions.
Robin Hood wasn't the best Disney film, but it did well enough, and it's not any less memorable or entertaining than 1963's The Sword In The Stone.
The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh, while not a real film (all three stories had previously been released individually as featurettes between 1968 and 1974), has become one of Disney's most beloved and lucrative properties. Walk into any high school or junior high and you'll see at least ten fat girls with either Pooh or Piglet-related school supplies.
The Rescuers, at its release, was Disney's most successful animated film ever.
Disney's real Dark Age was 1978-1988, where they were more noticeable for the constant theatrical re-releases of their back library than they were their new features. Sure, the re-releases continued up through the 90s, but Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Little Mermaid really revitalized their animation division.
From the 1978-1988 period, I have to go with The Great Mouse Detective. Vincent Price is always complete win, and "World's Greatest Criminal Mind" is one of my favorite Disney songs ever.
Also, as far as I'm concerned, the real Disney Dark Age is the post-Bambi, pre-Cinderella era. I'd gladly watch any of the films listed in your poll. But I'd rather shoot myself than ever watch the following films again:
Saludos Amigos (1942)
The Three Caballeros (1944)
Make Mine Music (1946)
Fun And Fancy Free (1947)
Melody Time (1948)
The Adventures of Ichabod And Mr. Toad (1949)
Fuck the Disney "package" films, fuck them so hard. Except Fantasia and Winnie The Pooh, because they feel like complete ideas. Also, Fantasia is high art.
Pretty much everything you just said. I love The Great Mouse Detective. There are one or two segments from the package films that I enjoy, but on the whole I never bothered with them.
I'm not a psychopath. I'm a high-functioning sociopath.
UsaSatsui
Title: The White Rabbit
Joined: May 25 2008
Location: Hiding
Posts: 7565
Posted:
Oct 23 2011 12:22 pm
They definitely got a bit more risque with the Great Mouse Detective.
While I like all of these movies, it's definitely a "dark age" in terms of quality. I think Robin Hood is almost entirely recycled animation and the Fox and the Hound is pretty painful to watch (and listen to).
And yeah, those "package films" shouldn't count as movies.
Switch Elwes and Costner there and you have my thought process. It's a tough choice for me between Robin Hood and The Great Mouse Detective, with Oliver & Company being a close third. I think Robin Hood wins out, though.
BorneAgain
Joined: Oct 21 2006
Posts: 22
Posted:
Oct 23 2011 04:08 pm
Walt greenlit Aristocats, but Jungle Book was the last film he was film he was significantly involved with. It also began the trend of reuse of animation which for better or for worse would get big in this time. Again I've heard several definitions of where the various ages of Disney started and ended, particularly the silver age.
I think the package films are more appropriately called the Forgotten Age, since while all these films will likely get an "Oh yeah, that movie" reaction (well barring Black Cauldron) ask anyone about Make Mine Music or Fun and Fancy Free and you'll get a blank face.
Etch
Title: Intermittent Scribbler
Joined: Mar 15 2011
Location: Texas
Posts: 588
Posted:
Oct 23 2011 09:28 pm
Fernin wrote:
Switch Elwes and Costner there and you have my thought process. It's a tough choice for me between Robin Hood and The Great Mouse Detective, with Oliver & Company being a close third. I think Robin Hood wins out, though.
I agree with everything said, but I put The Great Mouse Detective above Robin Hood.
UsaSatsui
Title: The White Rabbit
Joined: May 25 2008
Location: Hiding
Posts: 7565
Posted:
Oct 23 2011 10:17 pm
I liked Oliver and Company, but I like Billy Joel. So there.
Honestly, I think robin Hood benefits a lot from the writing and voice actors. The animation itself was shoddy and mostly recycled, but they told a really good story that was recognizable as Robin Hood but different enough to be it's own thing, and they struck a really good balance of "serious" and "silly".
What exactly was recycled? Like, in Scooby Doo, it was really obvious that they reused run cycles and the backgrounds were often shoddy. It's been awhile since I've seen Robin Hood, but can someone give me some examples of what they did lazily?
Also, I'm pretty sure Don Bluth worked on all Disney's 70s stuff.
What exactly was recycled? Like, in Scooby Doo, it was really obvious that they reused run cycles and the backgrounds were often shoddy. It's been awhile since I've seen Robin Hood, but can someone give me some examples of what they did lazily?
They didn't just use the same footage, but they did reuse the animation cells from older movies and retrace over them. The most blatant example is Little John pretty much being exactly like Baloo. They even have the same voice actor. There's a few YouTube videos that show comparisons that I don't have time to dig up right now, but Wikipedia covers a lot of them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood_%28Disney%29#Reuse_of_footage.2C_sound.2C_and_voice_actors.
Eeeyup, posted that one before sometime, I think in Internets.
"Life is a waste of time. Time is a waste of life. Get wasted all the time, and you'll have the time of your life!"
Syd Lexia
Site Admin
Title: Pop Culture Junkie
Joined: Jul 30 2005
Location: Wakefield, MA
Posts: 24882
Posted:
Oct 24 2011 08:09 am
Interesting. Recycling dance sequences isn't so bad. I mean, who cares how the characters are dancing? If characters are dancing, you're more engaged by the song, unless it sucks. Recycling jokes is unfortunate though. That's very Hanna-Barbera.
Fair point. I'm not sure where I was going with that.
I'm not sure I should be participating in this, honestly. I have seen less than a quarter of all Disney films (if even that), so I'm pretty biased as far as their movies go.
https://discord.gg/homestuck is where you can find me literally 99% of the time. Stop on by if you feel like it, we're a nice crowd.
