Hercules

The next film in the Disney Renaissance was based off of Greek mythology. Released June 27, 1997, Hercules starred Tate Donovan, Danny DeVito, James Woods, Bobcat Goldthwait, Susan Egan, and Rip Torn, with a cameo by Charleton Heston. While it didn’t match the success of the early Renaissance films, it made $252 million worldwide. It would later get a direct-to-video prequel and be featured in Kingdom Hearts.

Zeus (Torn) is the ruler of Mount Olympus, home of all Greek Gods. But Hades (Woods), ruler of the Underworld plans to throw him out with the help of the Titans. However, the three Fates wan him that his plans will be derailed if Hercules (Donovan), Zeus’ son is still around by the time he tries his attempt. So Hades sends his minions Pain (Goldthwaite) and Panic (Matt Frewer) to turn him mortal and kill him. But they fail and leave him on earth with divine strength to be raised as a human. But as he grows up, he learns he is the son of gods and to return to Olympus, he must be a True Hero.

This film is all over the map in terms of tone. It tries to match bizarre designs and animation with Gospel music while making Ancient Greece look like Vegas. It’s a bunch of really odd choices that don’t really go together really well. What this film does have going for it is main characters.

All Hercules really wants is to join his father with the gods, but Zeus won’t tell him what makes a True Hero. He’s got to figure it out himself and his journey to do so makes for good character development. After achieving success, fame and fortune as a hero, it goes to his head and he thinks he’s got everything under control. But he still doesn’t understand what being a True Hero entails until he realizes he’d rather have Megara than all the perks of fame. This development works because it’s not all spelled out for the audience. The viewers don’t know what Hercules will do that makes him a True Hero. And best of all, He doesn’t dive after Megara with the intention of the status. He does it because he loves her.

And Megara is an interesting leading lady. She’s extremely jaded because of her past and working with Hades hasn’t really helped in that department. But after Hercules actually treats her right, she realizes love isn’t completely for fools. Her song is actually not bad either.  

Hades is quite different than any villain Disney has put out. Mainly because he’s a fast-talking schmoozer who won’t make a deal unless he’s sure he can come out on top. And when it became clear he couldn’t kill Hercules, the deal he made with him WOULD have given him success. He just didn’t foresee Megara intentionally putting herself in harm’s way. Disney’s version of Hades is what would happen of the god of death was a Hollywood producer. Or a defense attorney. James Woods also had the perfect voice for him.

Unfortunately, the rest of the characters aren’t all that great. Phil is ok, but there’s not much more too him than the angry trainer who’s come out of retirement.

I have a feeling this film could have been better had the tone been more consistent, but with what we were given, it could have been much worse. #10

The Lion King

While the animators were slaving away on production of Pocahontas, The Disney Company needed something to placate the masses. Taking cues from the biblical tale of Joseph and Moses as well as Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the company went to work on a small project called The Lion King. Starring Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Nathan Lane, Rowan Atkinson, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, and Jonathan Taylor Thomas, the film was Disney’s biggest successes. Making over $900 million worldwide, it became Disney’s highest grossing film until 2013. It is also the 19^th highest grossing film, the third highest grossing animated film, and the highest grossing film of 1994. It won two Golden Globes, two Academy Awards, Three Annie Awards, and the Kids Choice Award for Favorite Movie and was nominated for the Saturn Awards, the British Academy Film Awards and the MTV Movie Awards. TIME named it one of the “25 All-TIME best Animated Films,” and AFI put Hakuna Matata as 99 on their  Top 100 Songs and the film as #4 on its Top 10 Animated Films. Its success earned it a Broadway Adaptation, two sequels, a midquel, a spinoff series and was featured in the Kingdom Hearts franchise.

It was also the first film I ever remember seeing. In a drive-in no less.

The film tells the story of Simba (Taylor Thomas), a lion cub who is the heir to the African Pride Lands. His uncle Scar (Irons) makes a power play for the throne, engineering the death of Simba’s father (Earl Jones). He convinces Simba that it was his fault, causing him to run away.

Dying in the scorching heat beyond the Pride Lands, he is saved by Timon (Lane) and Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella). They teach him their responsibility free philosophy and Simba grows into an adult (Broderick) with no worries. However, he meets his old friend, Nala (Moira Kelly) and he must decide whether or not to continue his life of no responsibilities or return to face his past.

Out of all the Disney Renaissance films, this one probably had the biggest production value. It’s big and beautiful in every sense of the word. There’s not one scene that draws back and takes away from any other scene. I said The Great Mouse Detective continued to top itself. But The Lion King, starts out on a huge scale and stays that way throughout the film. Even The Rescuers Down Under had a few times where it drew back to give it a bigger sensation when big scenes hit again. Putting all that together with a very adult message and relatable characters to back it up just makes the film work really well.

The message in the film is one of Disney’s most adult, which must be stated verbatim. “The past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it.” It’s a message that speaks to all of us, even though most of us don’t have the same past Simba experienced. But this still makes Simba one of the most relatable Disney characters. See, Simba after running away, thinks he’s finally gotten rid of his past. That is, until Nala shows up. But all he wants to do is be left alone in his carefree world. But he won’t be able to, as Rafiki shows him that he will be forever running from his past until he goes to face it. And he doesn’t do it because he wants to. He does it because he needs to.

Mufasa, even though he’s only in the film for a short while, is great. Everything he does has meaning towards the progression of the film and personifies what it means to be a great and well respected leader and father. Every time Simba is in danger, he drops everything and runs to save him. Even when it meant his own death, which was also spectacular. It says something when most Top 10 death lists include him as #1.

As a villain, Scar is pretty good and a great foil for Mufasa as a leader. Irons voices him very well. And it’s interesting to see the difference between his actions before and after he takes power. Before, he’ strategizing, manipulating, deceiving and conspiring. Like Jafar, he’s crafty and smart. But after he takes power, it all goes to his head and the lion that thought he would be a good leader turns into a childish dictator who destroys the land. He also became stupid enough to bash his minions, which led to them turning on him. Compare this to Mufasa who had the respect of the entire kingdom because of his wisdom.

The rest of the characters are great too. Timon and Pumbaa are good comedic relief that know when to get out of the spotlight, Zazu is a perfect straight man, the hyenas are great minions (with great voices) and Rafiki does really well as the shaman/wise man of the Pride Lands. He’s peaceful, but can fight with ease when he needs to.

There’s also not one song that feels out of place and the score is one of Zimmer’s best works.

On the other hand, this movie does have a fault. When Simba goes to face his past, no one is on his side until the truth comes out. If everyone hated Scar so much, why didn’t they back Simba up and give him time to explain instead of Scar going through rapid accusations?

But despite that, it’s still a great message and one of the best redemption stories put to film. #1

The Nightmare Before Christmas

In 1982, Tim Burton was working as an animator with Disney and wrote a poem that became 1992’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. Released by Touchstone as Disney felt it was too dark and scary for their main brand, the film eventually became the first stop-motion animated feature to be entirely converted to 3D in 2006. Starring Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shadix, and Ken Page, the film was scored by Danny Elfman. It won the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. The film’s characters regularly take over the Haunted Mansion each year and became one of the best worlds in the Kingdom Hearts franchise.

After the current year’s celebration of Halloween, Jack Skellington (Sarandon/Elfman) goes for a long walk into the nearby forest and finds a circle of trees bearing holiday symbols. Immediately attracted to one with a Christmas Tree, he ventures into Christmas Town, where he discovers the bright and jolly holiday. He becomes obsessed with understanding Christmas.

He and the townsfolk of Halloween Town try to understand the holiday, but are limited by their experience of Halloween. With good intentions, Jack has Santa (Ed Ivory) kidnapped for a vacation so he can take over for the year. However, the rag doll Sally (O’Hara) has a vision of disaster. Add in a gambling boogie man (Page) and you get quite the adventure.

Jack is quite the main character. The whole plot is set in motion simply because he’s bored and dissatisfied with the status quo. And the viewer can actually understand what he’s going through as repetition does get tiresome after a while. He’s actually quite understandable to those with addictive personalities. We experience something new that we absolutely love and just can’t get it out of our minds for quite a long time. That’s how he is with Christmas. He finds something that’s the polar opposite of what he’s become bored with and not only decides to figure everything out about it, but gets everyone else on the act. But he can’t just stop there. He has to take over for Santa He won’t listen to Sally, but when someone has an idea that they just really want to do, they don’t listen to anyone. It’s only until he gets shot down by the military does he understand he was meddling in things he shouldn’t have meddled in. But he turns right around, and fixes it all. He’s a hero that everyone can relate to, understand and sympathize with.

It also seems like Santa is overreacting when Jack saves him from Oogie Boogie. Sure, he had every right to be upset, but he was just a little more so than he should have been.  But consider that he didn’t know Jack told the Lock, Shock, and Barrel to leave him out of it. He had most of the story, but didn’t quite know it all. Without Oogie, Jack actually wouldn’t have been redeemed in Santa’s eyes. Rather, he would have gone to get him, and Santa would have been on his merry way, just a little be less pissed off.

Oogie is a great villain, with the film not actually showing him until about halfway through the film. He’s on the moon in the beginning, but you don’t actually know that he’ll play a role, nor that he’s a villain. He’s also a very charismatic gambler and likes to make his victims thinking he’ll put everything to chance. But he constantly cheats because that’s what he does, because he knows he can’t win in a fair fight, which is seen when Jack shows up and he tries to have his devices take care of him while he’s running.

The music is great, with the best song being “Poor Jack” by far. Only Jack can make the words “What the heck,” sound particularly badass.

However, there are a few confusing edits, but it doesn’t ruin the overall tone or pacing of the film.  #5

Beauty and the Beast

I like 1991. Mainly because it was the year I was born, but other than that, a lot of great stuff happened. The Soviet Union fell, Comedy Central was launched, the first Starbucks opened in California, and Beauty and the Beast was released to theaters. Starring Paige O’Hara, Richard White, David Ogden Stiers, Angela Lansbury, and Robby Benson, it made $399 million at the box office. It was the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture, had three songs nominated for Best Original Song (“Beauty and the Beast” won) and won the award for Best Original Score. It also won three Grammys and two Golden Globes and The American Film Institute recognizes it as its #22 Greatest Musical, #7 animated film, #62 Greatest Song (“Beauty and the Beast”) , #34 Greatest Passions, and nominated Belle as one of their 100 Years… 100 Heroes and Villains. Eventually, it became a musical and was featured in the Kingdom Hearts franchise.

When Belle’s (O'Hara)  father doesn't return from his trip to a fair, she searches for him and finds a caste hidden in a forest. She finds her father in the dungeon and offers herself in his place. The Beast (Benson) that imprisoned him accepts.

However, he is actually a cursed human prince who hopes her love will break the enchantment on him and his servants (Stiers, Lansbury, and Jerry Orbach) . With time limited to a wilting rose, the prince must tame his temper and she must learn to see his goodness.

But the vain Gaston (White) sees Belle as his and vows to marry her.

Remember when I said the Big Ben scene in The Great Mouse Detective was the definitive use of CGI in the 1980s? Well, this film could possibly the greatest use of it in animation in the early 90s. And whenever it’s used, it looks spectacular. The “Beauty and the Beast” number would not have been nearly as good without it. Which leads me to say that this film’s production value is nothing short of amazing.

But we can’t stop there! Disney subverted “love at first sight again!” And this time, not only is it central to the story (unlike The Aristocats), but it’s actually pulled off very well, tying it into character development and a well-placed song. He went from unpleasantly mean, angry and abrasive to gentle, kind and loving and she went from being afraid of him to seeing him for who he truly is. And that’s what’s interesting. Beast wasn’t angry and abrasive because he wanted to be, it was because he hated himself. And since Belle was the first one to get past that exterior, he was able to get over himself.

Beast is also a great foil for Gaston. He starts off absolutely loving himself as God’s gift to women. And for some reason, the entire town seems to love him. He was a vain jerk that thought that since he was attracted to Belle, she should drop everything and marry him. But when it becomes clear that he’s not getting what he wants for the first time, he devolves into a complete psychopath and leads on of Disney’s greatest third acts.

And then there’s the music. I’ve mentioned two songs already and the fact that three of them were nominated for an Oscar. That’s because they’re all great songs. Except for one. See, I watched the Special Edition. And got “Human Again.” They were right to cut it out of the theatrical release as it just stops the movie dead cold for the song before picking it up again.

But if the only problem with a film is that a previously cut song is out of place, then it’s a pretty strong movie that got robbed by Silence of the Lambs. #2. 

The Little Mermaid

November 17, 1989 saw the beginning of the Disney Renaissance, with its first film being a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale The Little Mermaid. Starring Jodi Benson, Pat Carroll, Samuel E. Wright, and Buddy Hackett, the film was the first to feature music by Alan Menken. It was the 13^th highest grossing film of 1989, won the Academy Awards for Best Song (Under the Sea) and Best Score, earned a Saturday morning prequel series, a direct to video sequel and prequel, and was popular enough to warrant an appearance in the Kingdom Hearts franchise as well as a ride at Disney California Adventure.

A 16-year-old mermaid named Ariel (Benson) is one of the daughters of Triton (Kenneth Mars), King of the Sea. She is unique in that she is fascinated by humans. But Triton hates them. One night, she ventures to the surface and falls in love with the human Prince Eric (Christopher Daniel Barnes). She rescues him after his ship is destroyed in a storm, but she becomes desperate to become a human.  

She visits the sea witch Ursula (Carroll) to become a human. She gives up her voice to become human and agrees that if she can get him to fall for her in three days, she’ll become permanently human. If not, she will be Ursula’s slave.

While Prince Phillip of Sleeping Beauty was the first Disney Prince to actually do something, Prince Eric is the first Disney Prince to do it all on his own power. He didn’t need any magic to steer his ship into Ursula’s Final Form, he just did it. And it must be stated just how determined he was. Once he finally realized he had the girl he was after, he just wasn’t going to let her go without fighting. He doesn’t care that he’s up against a gigantic evil octopus. And he was using a ship that was previously wrecked that came up when she did it. He’s crafty enough to use whatever he can get.

Ursula is the octopus version of Ratigan. She’s evil, but she’s also smart. She words the contract in a way that she would be all but guaranteed to come out on top after she shape shifts into a woman. She just didn’t count on an insane seagull to ruin her plans. Also, she actually seems to care for her minions, considering she flies into a rage when Flotsam and Jetsam are blasted. But, her hubris was her downfall. In her breakdown after her plan has failed, she makes herself grow to epic proportions, giving Eric the target he needed.

Triton is also excellently characterized as a parent. He’s got a hatred of humans and he’s projecting that onto Ariel. We only know that he hates them because they eat fish, but the origin of that hatred isn’t revealed. And so we understand that he’s trying to be the best father he can be, he just isn’t able to correctly put into words just really why he doesn’t want Ariel up on the surface.

The side characters are also fun. Flounder is afraid of everything, but in the end won’t hesitate to help Ariel. Sebastian just wants to do his job as a court composer and when he’s given the task of looking after Ariel, he takes it, but doesn’t want to upset the king and even tries to hide the fact that she has a statue of Eric. And Scuttle is hilarious. He’s insane and doesn’t know a thing about what he says is his expertise. But he’s able to rally fish, dolphins and birds to attack Ursula in disguise.

The animation in this film is stellar, with it truly feeling like it’s a Disney movie with really good songs. There’s not one that doesn’t feel like it doesn’t fit.

On the other hand, my main issue with this movie is our main character herself. Ariel wants what she wants. And she’s going to do anything it takes to get it. Normally that’s not a bad trait, except when you not only gamble your soul to do it as well as almost risk the entire ocean coming under the control of Ursula. She is the cause of everything and despite that, she ends up with everything she wants with absolutely zero repercussions. Though there’s a short time in the climax when she apologizes, it’s not because she’s really sorry that she caused everything, she’s sorry that it all went south. Furthermore, she is willing to give up everything that makes her who she is for love. That's a surefire way to end up hating yourself. The film isn’t trying to tell us that we can do whatever we want with no consequences or that we should lose what makes us who we are in the quest for love, but it ends up coming out. And that’s a glaring fault.

Yet, she’s absolutely adorable when she can’t talk and is just enthralled in the wonder of seeing everything on land. It’s heartwarming to see her unbridled joy at what’s going on around her. 

Final Call: A good start to the Renaissance, despite the faults provided by Ariel. #10 

Sleeping Beauty

In 1959, the Walt Disney Company produced its last fairy tale adaptation for 30 years. Based on the stories La Belle au bois dormant by Charles Perrault and Little Briar Rose by The Brothers Grimm, Sleeping Beauty was released on January 29, 1959. The film’s score was based on arrangements and adaptations from the Tchaikovsky ballet. It was also the first animated film to use the Super Technirama 70 widescreen process. This wouldn’t happen again for 54 years.

When King Stefan (Taylor Holmes) and Queen Leah (Verna Felton) welcome the birth of their daughter, Princess Aurora, the kingdom’s subjects gather to pay her homage. She is also betrothed to Prince Phillip (Bill Shirley), the son of King Hubert (Bill Thompson). The good fairies Flora (Felton), Fauna (Barbara Jo Allen), and Merryweather (Barbara Luddy) bless the child with the gifts of beauty and song, but the evil fairy Maleficent (Eleanor Audley) appears to curse the infant to death by pricking her finger on a spinning wheel before her sixteenth birthday is over. Merryweather weakens the curse, changing it into a deep sleep, only revered by true love’s kiss.

King Stefan orders all the spinning wheels to be burnt and the three fairies take Aurora into the forest until her sixteenth birthday passes.

The years pass and on her sixteenth birthday, Aurora meets Prince Phillip while out in the forest and fall in love without knowing who each other are. She rushes home and finds out she is the princess. But Maleficent’s raven has found them.

Aurora is taken back to the palace, but is lured into a secret passageway to fulfill the prophecy. The fairies place a charm to make everyone else fall asleep as well until the spell is broken. They overhear that Prince Phillip met Aurora in the forest and went back to see her, but was taken by Maleficent.

The fairies realize this, free him and help him get to Aurora. Maleficent transforms into a dragon, but Philip kills her, and enters the palace to awaken Aurora. He does so and the two live happily ever after.

Production for Sleeping Beauty began in 1951, with most of the work being centered on the art and music. This is quite evident as those two aspects are the best part of the film. The art is fantastic, with the backgrounds drawn to evoke a renaissance feel. This is quite different from most Disney films at the time, but this works rather well, considering the time period the film is set in. It makes it more authentic. The musical adaptations of Tchaikovsky’s ballet are also very well done.

The story is a bit different than the original fairy tale. One aspect of the original tale includes the prince’s mother being an ogress who means to eat their children and eventually cooks herself. This would have made an interesting movie, but would have been a terrible choice for Disney. The directors and Disney made the right choices of what to include and cut and ended up making a great adaptation.

On the other hand, the characterization for the film is lacking. While Prince Phillip is the first Disney Prince to actually do something, he’s a very bland character who doesn’t say anything for the final half of the film. The same goes for Aurora. Granted she does put on a brave face when she finds out her entire life is a lie, but she doesn’t really do much other than sing, look nice, and (of course) fall asleep. But where those two fail, Maleficent succeeds not only as a great villain for the film, but one of Disney’s best. She’s terrifying and irrational, considering since she doomed an infant to death for not being invited to a party. But she also has her sane and subtle moments that give her some depth.

Final Call: Great animation, music and story choices. The main characters may be boring and bland, but Maleficent is one of the best villains made by Disney. It passes the Edge of Satisfaction but doesn’t get too far in. #6.