After the passing of Walt Disney and one horrible film that took over 5 years to make and get released, we almost had the complete end of Disney Animation. Many refer to the Bronze Age of Disney animation as, The Dark Age, but I like to think of it as 🌟THE STAR AGE🌟
This era of Disney filmmaking lasted from 1970 to 1988 and like other films of this era had Disney trying new avenues and experiments in movie trends. It was the final years of, The Nine Old Men, and a changing of the guard in Disney Animation that almost cost the company it's base.
Here we'll go from "worst" to Best, and even though I don't think there really has ever been a "bad" Disney animated feature, this era did hold the worst of them all in one film...
The Black Cauldron, released in 1985, it's production began in 1980 and was one disaster after another, with rewrites, refocus, and went through a slew of producers and directors. It was released and remains somewhat unfinished with gaps in dialogue and story. Other than The Horned King and the annoying imp Gurgi, the characters lacked any real strength or depth at all. The legendary, John Hurt (Alien) was the only major actor of 🌟Star Age🌟 power, but he brought it big as the villain, The Horned King. It was an attempt to reach a more mature fantasy crowd that would become more defined in 1981's release of, Heavy Metal, in a mix of animated films to catch up to the sword & sorcery genre. Part of the films "rise of the dead warriors" scene had to be cut to get it a more family friendly rating, something Disney had never had to worry about before. It was an experimental age for Disney as they also tried getting into the motion picture version of The Space Race with their release of, The Black Hole in 1979 (I'll get into the detail of that film in another post). This one movie and it's delays almost caused the complete closure of Disney Animation.
Next up is a Disney classic that has some of the most hilarious scenes in the companies animated history and one music scene that is an all time favorite, The Aristocats. It had some fabulous music and memorable moments, but overall it just didn't really stack up to the classic Disney animation standards, and this was the final film that Walt Disney himself was a part of, but died during production, this might have been why the film, at times, feels a bit lost and unsure where to go. With the loss of Walt, it seems that many of the others involved simply went with some general Disney ideas and didn't really have anyone to push their limits and creativity. Also, voice actor Phil Harris (Baloo the bear) lent his voice to the male lead, Thomas and it seems he brought a lot of Baloo with him, more than the role needed. Eva Gabor voiced Dutchess but it still didn't seem to lend the star power the film really needed, but was part of this 🌟Star Age🌟. The film also featured Sterling Holloway (Winnie the Pooh), Scatman Crothers, Thurl Ravenscroft (Tony the Tiger), and Nancy Culp (Mrs Hathaway, The Beverly Hillbillies).
Ranking this next one so low breaks my heart a bit, but it wasn't originally a feature film, it's a piece work of three Winnie the Pooh shorts with animated scenes made to put them together and titled, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. If this had been a full feature with more time around it, it would be higher. The film is a truly fun watch but is just one fun time after another. The film is memorable and really plays well when paired on a movie night with the live-action film, Christopher Robin. But the film lacked any kind of villain and any story than just being a funny buddy-picture with he and his friends. To this day it still holds one of the quickest re-release dates only 3 years after the initial release, on that re-release the extra title of "and Tigger too" was officially connected to the film. While it's cast didn't carry the star power of others on this list, even though having Sebastian Cabot as the Narrator is still impressive, Pooh has taken his place as Disney's 2nd biggest leading man.
Robin Hood (1973), it's hard to think of that name without thinking of this Disney venture into the classic adventures. It still matches up with almost any of its live-action counterparts, it's the same strong adventure story, but with animals... One of the things that does hold the film back is another bear performance by Phil Harris and it's even harder to ignore this time, since it's actually a brown Baloo. But the support characters really make the difference with this one, lots of very strong secondary characters that hold up the film throughout. Here we do have another piece of the 🌟Star Age🌟 with Peter Ustinov playing a double-role of Prince John and King Richard. Along with musical maestro Roger Miller as Alan A Dale, the musical minstrel and narrator of the tale.
Another big leap for Disney was, The Fox & The Hound (1981), a not so normal buddy-picture that brings in some darker elements of friendship gone bad and the violence of hunting. The bad guy turns out to be not such a bad guy but a very large and angry bear (this time NOT played by Phil Harris) gave smaller theater goers some scary moments. There was another 🌟Star Age🌟 with one of the most incredible and yet overlooked performances with Pearl Bailey playing the wise old owl, Big Mama, and if you saw it, you never forget her amazing performance. But she wasn't the only one, a younger Kurt Russell and a very young Cory Feldman both lent their voices to, Copper the hound dog. Legendary Mickey Rooney also was in the cast, as he portrayed, Tod the fox, and Sandy Duncan as Vixey the bird. Jack Albertson (Uncle Joe, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) played the old hunter, Amos Slade. And a rare Disney "appearance" by Looney Tunes legend, Mel Blanc. The picture disc of the soundtrack was a big seller for the studio with all these voices attached. The man who would finally bring Batman back to the big screen, Director, producer and writer, Tim Burton also worked on this film for Disney in production.
Modern times and popular music elevated our #3 on the list, Oliver and Company (1988) was a modern twist on, Oliver Twist for a homeless kitten who took up with a pack of street wise mutts in the Big Apple and all it's commotion. This films 🌟Star Age🌟 cast is one of the biggest ever, a young Joey Lawrence voices Oliver and legendary New York piano-man Billy Joel was in for, the Artful Dodger. Bette Midler, Cheech Marin, Roscoe Lee Brown, Dom DeLuise, Robert Loggia, Sheryl Lee Ralph were also part of this star studded gathering of voices. Also probably the second more famous voice actor of all time, Frank Welker (Megatron, Freddie from Scooby Doo) had a small part as the hotdog vendor, along with other animals sound effects. The soundtrack was a big hit and brought Disney animation into the modern age of America and pop culture. Other pop stars like Huey Lewis and Ruth Pointer (the Pointer Sisters) were part of the soundtrack.
In at the "silver medal" position in this countdown is the movie that brought Disney Animation back from the brink of doom, The Great Mouse Detective (1986) and back to the more classic style of story telling that the company was famous for. Based on the children's book, Basil of Bakerstreet (a kids ode to Sherlock Holmes), a mouse that lives in the house of the famous detective solves cases of his own. The 🌟Star Age🌟 power here came from a legend who had wanted to lend his voice to Disney for a couple of decades, the master of the macabre, Vincent Price, who took the role of the dark and sinister villain, Professor Ratigan, one of the darker and more vicious villains Disney had tried so far. While it didn't have the numbers that Oliver and Company had, it also gave a respectful bit to Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce who had portrayed Holmes and Watson on the radio for decades and in many major motion pictures, giving them a cameo towards the end of the film. The writers and producers of the era understood that radio dramas had helped advance the cause of voice actors far more than films and made Disney's animated success possible. They also tapped into the pop music scene with a rousing song by, Melissa Manchester (You Should Hear).
Finally, the winner of this age of Disney, The Rescuers (1977). With this list it seems a bit of an easy call but this film had it's future animation stars attached along with the 🌟Star Age🌟 cast. It's not hard to look back and see that Don Bluth had a heavy part of this classics animation and feel. Bob Newhart and Eva Gabor would lead a mighty cast through a great adventure that had a bit more grit to it than most Disney films before it. The cast also featured Bernard Fox, Geraldine Page, George Lindsay, John Fiedler and Joe Flynn. In another respectful nod to the history of voice acting, Jim Jordan came out of retirement to portray Orville, who was famous for his role as Fibber McGhee in the golden age of radio, he passed away before the release of the film, which ended up being dedicated to him. This film set a tone for much stronger storytelling in Disney's future and became a major fan favorite, spawning a sequel to theaters, The Rescuers Down Under. When I was a kid, my sister and I named our pet dobermans, Bernard & Bianca after the two lead characters. The dark visuals of the city and swamp would later come back to us with Don Bluth's work on his own films, Secret of Nhim, and, An American Tale.
With the death of Walt Disney and the long distance of 18 years for only 8 films, it's not surprising how some see this as Disney Animations "dark period" as well as it was part of Disney's experimental time with sword & sorcery, super hero's and science fiction. We can only be glad for the classics that brought the studio back from the brink and gave us some wonderful memories.
Even those who try to claim this as the "weaker" age of Disney has to acknowledge the 🌟Star🌟 power that was part of these classics.
No comments:
Post a Comment