Disney Animation Ranking and Reviews

Other studios: Ghibli | DreamWorks

Finally arrived at the big one, it's been through several stages with a lot of rewatches over a few years, so there's everything from a sentence-long summary to rambling about could-have-beens. Two of these I have heavy nostalgia for but mostly I watched them for the first time as an adult. Even then, given this lineup, it feels like this Walt guy has to be the most influential cultural figure in modern times. As the company has grown and branched out, this will only be the main studio, what's currently known as Walt Disney Animation Studios, no direct-to-DVD sequels or whatever. Big list first, then the higlights of their extensive shorts catalogue, and then the full feature films in order of release.

1. Encanto
2. Tarzan
3. The Lion King
4. The Little Mermaid
5. Aladdin
   (4/5)
6. Tangled
7. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
8. Lilo & Stitch
9. The Princess and the Frog
10. Treasure Planet
11. One Hundred and One Dalmatians
12. Beauty and the Beast
13. Robin Hood
14. Moana
15. Brother Bear
    (3/5)
16. Atlantis: The Lost Empire
17. Hercules
18. The Fox and the Hound
19. Meet the Robinsons
20. Bambi
21. The Rescuers 
22. Mulan
    
23. Pocahontas
24. Home on the Range
25. Zootopia
26. Frozen
27. Lady and the Tramp
    (2/5)
28. The Great Mouse Detective
29. Frozen II
30. Peter Pan
31. Sleeping Beauty
32. Bolt
33. Wreck-it Ralph
34. The Rescuers Down Under
35. Oliver & Company
36. Winnie the Pooh
37. Big Hero 6
38. Cinderella
    
39. The Emperor's New Groove
40. The Black Cauldron
41. The Aristocats
42. Pinocchio
43. Alice in Wonderland
44. The Jungle Book
45. The Sword in the Stone
46. Snow White
    (1/5)
47. Strange World
48. Raya and the Last Dragon
49. Dumbo
50. Dinosaur
51. Chicken Little
52. Ralph Breaks the Internet

Shorts and Anthologies

Walt's short film outings are extensive, so even more-so than the other studios and general shorts (I've seen hundreds) I'm only going to mention highlights (whether culturally or personally) and bold everything I really recommend. From a modern perspective the feature films seem closer to theatrical pairings and tech demos like Paperman than the pre-feature era shorts like Steamboat Willie, but an animator on that went on to direct almost a dozen theatrical releases so that's just temporal bias as far as I can tell. With a lot of ground to cover, let me know if there's a gem I may have missed.

To clarify, the following 9 theatrical releases are (more or less) collections of shorts and won't be covered in their own sections: Fantasia, Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, Make Mine Music, Fun and Fancy Free, Melody Time, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Fantasia 2000.

The 1930s are where classic Disney peaks, getting really into Mickey while moving past more fleeting Alice and Oswald sketches. The Band Concert has a wild energy to it, even compared to the baseline Mickey whackiness. The storm is built up the whole time as the crowning event, but the creative ways the band deals with minor disturbances ahead of that are a lot of fun too. Mickey's Trailer is so jam packed with whimsical ideas and goofs that I for the longest time remembered this 8-minute short as a full film. Ferdinand the Bull is a delightful little story of peace, whose resonance hinges on the allure of the shade of that cork tree.

Fantasia is a real innovation, the longest theatrical animation for 29 years even after cutting a whole segment. Consistently compelling images synced to music in (usually) satisfying ways, I'm not as high on it as a lot of people but it's still solid. The charming narrative framing makes it harder to pick it apart and judge each bit individually, but The Sorcerer's Apprentice does stand out, conceived as its own theatrical short before expanding into the whole concert. Harsh blocks of color, stunning waves, stars descending to shake the sea, shadows dancing across grand halls, it's such an evocative piece of animation. Another favorite is a small aside where we meet the soundtrack, rendering a waveform in absurd beauty. From best to worst: 3 > 2 > 1 > 4 > 5 > 6 > 7.

Then there's the package films, which are largely quite unremarkable, only really shining for a brief Aguerela do Brasil (at the end of Saludos Amigos), where bleeding color from a playful brush guides José (and an obligatory Donald) around Rio. There's also some impressive animation like each of the finales in The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad; a striking headless horseman chase and climactic slapstick fight.

Fantasia 2000 is a bit of a mixed bag but I like it better than the original on the whole, much due to the music. It shows real expertise in 2D animation and beautiful background art even with some awkward incorporation of 3D and digital effects. The ending piece, Firebird Suite, is some of the best animation ever made, so full of life and joy with surprisingly limited "cheating" for how much movement is going on. If I were to put shorts in the ranking, this could make the top ten. From best to worst: 8 > (6 >) 3 > 5 > 2 > 7 > 1 > 4.

The Little Matchgirl pairs Borodin's Nocturne perfectly to the classic story, really bringing out the sweet tragedy, the ultimate comfort of death. Paperman is sometimes too cheesy but still cute, with a nice art style and certain moments of affecting visual dynamism.

Short Circuit has external directors come in to work with their animators, giving middling results as a rule. Cycles' heartfelt look back on the significance of the home setting of a life, Jing Hua's messy vibrance and Dinosaur Barbarian come the closest to reaching beyond. Similarly forgettable is Zootopia+, where people have really attached to Godfather of the Bride but while better than the rest (and maybe beating out The Godfather itself), it's still not much to write home about.

Inner Workings over-relies on death as a motivating factor, likely for comedic effect, which guts any attempt to showcase nuanced body dynamics. There was one way to rescue this: have him quit his job, walk straight past the beach, the restaurant, the hot chick, lock himself in his basement, create a cloning device, and then live out all his wishes unafraid of consequence. You HAVE to subvert the expectation here because it's such a boring story with nothing to explore on its face.

Far from the Tree feels inaccurate, hamfisting animal behaviour to fit a human message. Animals inheriting behaviour based on one generation's experience is cool, but the younger one here demonstrates that it has to make the same mistake to learn from it. Tradition is learning a pattern is good for specific reasons, then passing on the pattern without the reasoning (whether because it has to be lived, or due to simple efficiency). Humans can examine traditions and understand why they exist, and they can more practically pass on teachings with reasoning, though I think even we underestimate the wisdom of the ages. This takes a very modern anti-tradition approach, where you flat-out shouldn't teach the pattern on its own, which is even more wrong when put in an animal context. Looks really nice at least.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 

Pretty cheesy and melodramatic, the characters are more just roles and the story naturally quite well worn. The storybook interludes where you just read about what's happened don't help, and the prince is just so boring. Some beautiful animation (very lively with the animals bouncing and springing around, how they did the complex shadows boggles the mind), though the faces look a bit off (thankfully not full rotoscoping, but a bit too close to be entirely canny).

Pinocchio

Wears its message on its sleeve but doesn't do much with it, flinging its hero into a series of situations more to do with ignorance and a lack of blind faith in authority figures than poor morals. Haphazard and drawn out as it may be, it's got some visual highlights like Geppetto's shop and the epic water animation. The donkey children left to slavery are neat but kind of a strange choice of setting for the tone the rest of it takes on.

Dumbo

Classic Walt feel with non-diegetic singing stuffed in everywhere, strings together events like the birthday song and drunk shenanigans without much overarching meaning until the minstrel crows tell him he can fly (ironically, the most nuanced and likeable characters around). Portrays the circus really negatively but then once Dumbo becomes popular at the end it's all good, the faceless black slaves singing about how happy they are is always jarring, and while it's technically well-animated I'm not inspired by the grey blobs that tend to fill the screen.

Bambi

Has a documentarian feel without that much happening considering feature length, but the art is wondrous throughout. Starts with an enchanting parallax shot through the forest, exploring the beautiful setting in Bambi's innocent childhood. The meadow shows first signs of danger, misty atmosphere after the rain combined with warning words from his mother and stark shifting colors as his father leads the escape from man. Following from this is the haunting scene where his mother is shot and never seen again, but the pacing is ruined by throwing in goofy asides like the ice skating and the owl explaining love, plus a very sudden cheerful springtime right after the loss of his mom. It does eventually arrive at a brilliant climax though, silhouettes rutting dramatically.

Cinderella

A simple but charming fairy tale in its understated heroine and fantasy setting. Real presence from the stepmother (love her breaking the slipper and the utter shock when its like is produced), bit of comic relief with king and advisor poking fun at tropes, cute romance with Cinderella and the prince in the garden (not knowing nor caring about the other's status), and the godmother is pretty fun too. Oh, and I guess there's like half an hour of animals being annoying and pointless? Really could've done without that padding, especially as it moves quite slowly already.

Alice in Wonderland

Some charming characters and neat scenarios, but mostly just a lot of random stuff happening and Alice being a bitch about it (as expressive as she is, that can't carry more than a couple of gags).

Peter Pan

Some real personality and humor, action that flows effortlessly and an entertaining villain. The ticking  crocodile is not only a brilliant tool for tension, but its wild Hook chases make for the most fun scenes in the film. Tinkerbell and the romance doesn't work very well though, and while the pacing and animation don't show the film's age its portrayal of native Americans certainly does! Most damningly, I don't really get what the story is saying.

They're all escapists, but there's not much of a change in Wendy, let alone her brothers, to demonstrate why that's a bad thing - romanticized motherhood is the only draw for not indulging in fantasy. Another side is about being playful, open minded and childish, but it's pretty weak to represent these traits with a completely separate land. Wendy is ready to grow up and leave neverland behind at the end, when the message should be (as her parents seem to have been reminded of) that imagination can exist regardless of age. Being barred once you leave and grow up just reinforces the idea that playfulness is only for children.

I also reject the notion that normal life is wholly better; embracing responsibility is good and necessary to have/do much of what gives life meaning, but the inevitability of death is not and will never be fine. Eternal youth as a tradeoff for being unable to grow up is interesting but it doesn't play to that, nor does it give Peter any other arc, feeling too attached to his image as an eternal boy.

Lady and the Tramp

The Tramp is really charming, and to a lesser degree the rest of the cast too (more dogs and some lovely Italian stereotypes), which works well for the majority of the runtime where they're just chilling and getting to know each other. There's some misunderstanding and conflict but never really falls into generic melodrama (Lady's owners aren't too unreasonable to her, and she doesn't start hating all humans for this one misunderstanding), only bad things are the racist cats and the dog singing. At the very end it falls apart completely though, with a hectic second rat appearance to get to a climax with no tension and a completely pointless fake-out death. The earlier story was concerned with the kennel mistreating dogs but as much as the ending does, it leaves that completely unaddressed.

Sleeping Beauty

Lively animation and Earle's intricate sceneries almost manage to gloss over the weak story and characters. Falling in love in first sight while being betrothed at birth is played for drama only to not matter because they're the same person, Once Upon A Dream is a lovely song but that's all the romance has got really. The prophecy makes no sense, Maleficent has to enforce it herself down to such small details with such involving magic that it would seem easier to just conjure a gun. She's still a compelling villain with the sick dragon sequence and her plan to keep Phillip until he's too old to be a fitting groom, but let down by the story surrounding her.

One Hundred and One Dalmatians

Exudes charm already from the opening credits, wonderful sketchy art style and communal feel. Pongo as the point of view works well both for his fun narration, and pushing the romance to the backdrop (they share laughter at one joke and the next scene they're married). The Twilight Bark takes characters previously dismissed as too posh and/or eccentric and unites them all for justice, from which point it's a pretty straight-forward adventure plot punctuated by a wild car chase. The magic lies in a hundred little details (e.g. Roger's musical ticks and stuttering when standing up to Cruella, Cruella overreacting when she doesn't know they get spots later, really Cruella as a whole), as well as the consistent comfortable atmosphere.

The Sword in the Stone

All style and no substance, setting up Arthur's will to learn and mindset but not actually developing him or making him fit to be king, not that 90% of the plot even concerns his kingship. They spend more time getting sexually harassed by squirrels than they do on the sword being pulled from the stone.

The Jungle Book

Very straight forward structure, the narrator telling us the whole set-up with very little going on beyond that. There's a big bad threat that they can't communicate to Mowgli, then when they actually come across Shere Khan he's scared off with some fire and never comes back I guess. Lots of detours along the way, and then the last few minutes have him go to the human village after all because he gotta get that booty - it's a nice reversal of parent figures as Baloo begs him not to go and Bagheera cheers him on, but the plot point itself doesn't really work.

I don't care much for Baloo (doesn't help that this brief adventure is Mowgli's first time meeting him), but Bagheera is great. He's treated as the foil to jungle fun with the silly bear, but he's the only sensible, kind animal there and feels responsibility for this human he begrudgingly cares a lot for. He wants to be with Mowgli more than anyone, but he realizes he can't, that it's for the best that he goes back to his people. On Mowgli's side too it could be a melancholic story of leaving behind the life and people he's always known to embrace the human part of himself. Despite this potential, there's no pathos here, none of the sides reflect on what's happening and no one gets a proper goodbye (including also the wolf mother that raised him).

The Aristocats

Not very coherent or interesting, just a bunch of random stuff happening along a mundane journey. The very reason any of it happens, the servant trying to kill the cats, doesn't even make sense as them legally owning the house is inconsequential when he's their carer. While they don't go as hard on the "poor homeless animals" thing as Lady and the Tramp, it's nice that they at least help the alley cats out by the end.

Robin Hood

Such lovely characters, Ustinov's Prince John being a centerpiece of the jokes while Rob serves as the dashing hero of legend, living happy carefree days in the forest in-between heists and slapstick action. The romance is one-of-a-kind in Disney's catalogue, being that the lovers already know each other when the story starts - no conflict, no questions of requital, no escalation from meeting to marriage within days. Childhood sweethearts grown apart but still pining innocently for one another, really cute. While there's some recycled animation (the dance clips don't really fit), the sketchy style is appealing in itself while still affording the movement detail and nuance.

The Rescuers

Cute characters and setting with a solid action plot. Medusa is like a proto-Cruella with some fun moments (her face unravelling into a sketch when seeing a mouse is so cool), and her gators playing the organ is the best set piece present. Often lacks any background music which can be weird, and in terms of story the only thing that impresses is the cat's warm speech to Penny.

The Fox and the Hound

Gorgeous colors and a nice framework that supports heavy melancholic moments; childhood friends forced apart while time has a way of changing things, and Widow releasing Tod for them both to be alone again. The latter is more affecting, but both are quite light in the story - they've known each other for less than a minute when the "they're the best of friends" song starts playing, there's not enough meat to feel for their lost relationship, and Widow's part is in the background of even that.

The Black Cauldron

Some impressive art and animation, particularly the visual effects, but the narrative is weak with annoying characters. Gurgi, the cowardly comic relief, sacrificing himself is one of few things that works, but is still highly predictable, and gets retconned, and this option to sacrifice someone to save the world is brought up earlier only to be ignored. Otherwise, it's a scattered plot without a strong thematic throughline, feels more like a D&D campaign with haphazardly generated short term obstacles. Except D&D has rules and makes sense, here the conflicts are really poorly constructed which guts the tension, like escaping a supervillain's crowded castle like it's nothing, and the horny king at the end pushing the main character towards the cauldron yet somehow he's swallowed first himself.

The Great Mouse Detective

The clock tower scene with Ratigan chasing frantically after them while going feral is amazing. Delightful character beyond that too, only Clements and Musker will give the villain of their non-musical two songs. Otherwise the plot works alright, the plan of taking over the queen affords interactions like Basil speaking through the puppet, but it's not watertight and needs some suspension of disbelief (once inducted as king of the mouse empire officially, how does he leverage any advantage from that position when everyone still hates him, especially when the mice they kidnapped / knocked out / killed during the plan are found missing?).

Oliver & Company

Some fun characters, mainly Georgette, but quite vapid without any interesting conflicts, themes or villainy (always nice to see the bad guy die horribly though). Oliver earns a place in the gang in five minutes and they act like it's some deep betrayal when he doesn't want to stay his entire life with them (as a result of five minutes of bonding with some kid), weird stuff.

The Little Mermaid

Amazing on so many fronts and still comes together greater than the parts combined. Resurfacing old techniques of live action reference without any of the uncanny quality of the classic princess films, combined with a new generation of animators eager to show their own personality - such a team effort from actors, animators, writer-directors and (perhaps most importantly) producer-lyricist Howard Ashman.

Eric is a romantic prince with everyman spirit, throughout the story missing out on what he really wants because he's too busy dreaming about an idealized version of her that no longer exists - it's so deliciously ironic when he pulls back from the true love's kiss because to be here, she gave up the one identifier he had for her as his crush. Mind control removes his agency for the finale, but there's a full arc concluding in throwing away the flute to face the present. Meanwhile Ariel is so passionate and curious, all about freedom and leaving the nest that manifests in obsession with humans (which in turn gets focused into crushing on Eric). While an unsupportive dad is nothing new, having Sebastian stand in as the father figure lets that relationship develop throughout the story instead of only being relevant to kick it off.

The backbone of it all is Part of Your World. Already an iconic "I Wish" when it first plays, there are a whole three times where the melody and theme are reprised with added lyrics, as well as numerous leitmotifs. Understated musicality only complements the expressive animation (her hair is like a character unto itself). Samuel E. Wright's Sebastian infuses some Caribbean style into the mix of musical threatre and fairy tale, adding more dimension to the setting and conflict, first in conveying the wonders of Ariel's home Under the Sea, and then essentially playing the inner voice of Eric in the stranger and barely serious Kiss the Girl.

The real dimensions of the movie are provided by Ursula though, dynamically moving and slinking about during her song and otherwise, with a refreshing honesty as far as villains go; Ariel is just too horny to care about how bad of a deal she's getting, emphasizing her desperation to get out. Rather than painting those ambitions as foolish or misguided though, it's very positive towards humans and breaks all the standards about them set by Triton - and when the king of all the sea is defeated by the rules of his own domain, it's up to an outsider who isn't bound by those to skewer the squid. Just brings it all together, certainly no replacement for the original tale but its more child-friendly story doesn't come at a cost of real emotion or artistic ambition.

The Rescuers Down Under

The characters are endearing (even if the stalled out romance isn't), but it prefers to focus on lacklustre action and comedy instead. The comedy is mostly the annoying bird and how much time is spent on him in hospital, while the action is a constant barrage of tiny funny (not really) or exciting (still a no) obstacles. There's no coherent sense of physicality which undermines attempts at tangible stakes and tension; e.g. they get on the chain tracks of a truck and panic, but then easily go in between the tracks which defeats the purpose of portraying it as dangerous to start. Early on the 10 year old boy just climbs a mountain, and towards the end a mouse swims up through rushing waters while dragging that tied up boy. The only part that is really satisfying is when Bianca and Jake pass the keys bit by bit up along the cage from inside. The ending is also solid action aside, some good shots of the eagle as it gets loose, but the rest can't rely on animation or choreography to carry it.

Beauty and the Beast

The romance and Beast are best in class, but aside from that it lacks direction. The initial musical number is mostly an introduction of the setting, only vaguely and briefly conveying Belle's internal desires of adventure - and her despondent reaction to actually getting that excitement, with no real reflection on her naive desires later on, further weakens this. Similarly, the inhabitants being so unlikeable (straight up psychopathic later when they seem ready to lynch the town eccentric) takes away from the charming atmosphere, and makes Gaston blend in. His song may afford him flair, but with how similar his personality is to every random guy on the street, I'm thankful the story only hinges on him for the final act.

Beast is sick though, one of my favorite characters. There's a feral quality to him, slinking and bolting around the castle, this spoiled kid who's gone years without human contact. Overcoming this twisted upbringing and self-hatred is the main arc of the story, increasingly alienating Belle until she runs away, which of course gives them the opportunity to actually get to know each other. Something There sees further bonding with vocalization from both sides, and feeds into the titular song as their relationship comes into full fruition. While I initially didn't appreciate the rose as an external motivator, it allows a great dynamic where Beast can only abide by keeping Belle there until he truly loves her. His desire is kind of taken for granted, not helped by Belle being such a boring character, but given what they have to work with the romance really shines. Definitely helps to have one of the best-looking animated sequences in the ballroom; otherwise it looks good but generic, particularly the humans.

Aladdin

The foundation is there from the get-go, charming characters dreaming out of their caged lives. Then choreography, creative imagery, the elegant line art and pure animation prowess combine to push it into a complete spectacle. Jafar is pretty linear but a delight when he gets to shine (like his sardonic Prince Ali reprise), and it's neat how both hero and villain have an animal sidekick that reflect a different side to their life - agitated fury rather than measured plotting for one pair, caustic egoism over humility for the other. I'm not very big on pop culture references but the genie still affords it great energy and some fun songs; of the lineup only A Whole New World really explores the characters but not only does it do a lot of work there, the rest of the storytelling is dynamic and entertaining enough without a melody. The sincerity of the developing romance could suffer for Aladdin's lies, but the balcony scene tears away just enough of the Ali persona for them to have a genuine love song.

The Lion King

Eschews the typical storytelling of this studio, if not the entire medium, to have our hero's downfall be in freedom, and his ultimate redemption to accept his birthright. From the get-go the film is a sober glorification of tradition, family and society from a child's perspective. I Just Can't Wait to be King is possessed of immature spirit, idolizing his father and wanting the comfort and power of his position, without realizing or wanting the responsibility those necessitate. The plot happens, of course, and brings an angel and devil to lead him astray; Scar presents the weight of that responsibility and consequences for the past, while Timon & Pumba push the carefree squalor of not bothering with the whole business. Combined, a young boy has no choice but to give in.

Recovering from that is also twofold. To make him care, Nala's relentless will to see him live up to his potential, the love that results and all that comes with it (it is more than the usual happy ending when his own son is shown in the final scene). Second Rafiki helps make him realize he can do something about it, that the spirit of his father and everything he looked up to is still present, within himself. Real hard to follow that up in the last act, and Timon and Pumba get a bit too much screentime (did they have to both start and end the love song?), but the score continues to kill it (echoing the majestic opening at the end when the circle is whole again, but also with characteristic leitmotifs throughout), and on that note Scar must be the gayest villain they've ever made.

Pocahontas

Shrinks down and stylises complex themes, taking a dark story and giving it a happy ending, as with some past Disney movies. The fact that it's based on real, gruesome events makes this adaptation a lot more distasteful though. It turns the man that was ambushed, skinned and burned alive into a cartoonish villain to laugh at, and the kidnapped and abused teenager into a hot chick falling in love at first sight. Even just on its own it's hard to understand how anyone thought this could bait any Oscars; its comical inaccuracies are matched by lazy stereotypes and poor storytelling.

It's not uncommon for western stories about a foreign culture to invent bigotry and intolerance, especially as concerns love (a big cultural focus on marrying for love is great, but that doesn't mean no other culture is capable of that too). There's a stark scene where her father talks up Kocoum as being able to protect her and build her a strong house when they marry. I can get not wanting to accurately show girls marrying upon reaching puberty, there's a reason they aged her up so ludicrously, but Powhatan men didn't even build houses! And of course, Kocoum's entire character is just nothing; even if it's not fully arranged and forced on her, the whole way this is set up doesn't seem to fit with records of their customs and culture (his standing seems too low to be a status marriage).

Twisting this kind of story might inevitably be distasteful, but if it's in service of interesting characterisation or dynamics, especially if what's changed is just historical detail, then it's at least understandable. The natives' side of the conflict fails hard on this front, with far more room for exploring colonialism and racism in how things really happened; initial fairly friendly relations followed by the English betraying and terrorizing the Powhatans. I do think the English side is pretty fair though, more an eat the rich sentiment than clear anti-colonialism, but by associating the two and having them all leave at the end (however poorly that matches up with history), it's not exactly regressive. Ratcliffe calls the crew peasants within minutes, constantly feeds into prejudice and ignorance to advance his position, and once they learn the truth his men turn on him. Not how it happened sure, but a decent dynamic for the villanous side of a conflict story-wise.

Where there's definite vision to justify glossing over inaccuracies is the soundtrack. The villain song and Savages are kinda funny because of how stupid they are, and while Colors of the Wind exoticises the natives, its imagery and animation is so beautiful, and in the context of the story this is the best it gets for exploring its themes of natural bounty. The writing isn't amazing (what is up with that sycamore), nor how the lyrics fit with the melody, but the accompanying imagery takes it to another level. (This applies to the whole film really, with wonderful romanticist vistas whose colors shift as the plot develops.)

Just Around the Riverbend is my favorite, if maybe the least relevant from a representational perspective (hard to describe but this ennuyé* pondering feels very out of place with a hunter-gatherer lifestyle). From a modern perspective, I really like her struggle here, desperate not for agency in itself but knowing how to make her choice, and melancholy in knowing she can no longer enjoy the freedom of her life before that choice. It's about the loss of innocence, growing up, all that. And it has 5 seconds of the best water animation the studio's produced too, that helps.

* I had to look this one up, my instinct was ennuic for ennui's adjective form but the French are gonna French.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The most tragically mixed entry in their history, this ascends new heights for artistry and storytelling but pairs it with atrocious gargoyles and slapstick humor that don't even let up (sometimes become even more prevalent) near the most emotional, climactic moments. The final fight's tension and drama is undermined by how silly and bloodless the action is (at least the feast of fools' stupidity is thematic), Quasimodo never gets to have downtime to reflect on the events that change up his life without obnoxious interference and gags from gargoyles, and the song where they force a romantic sub-plot is downright painful. I'm also not hot on the CGI (at its worst with the crowds, some backgrounds, cheap lens flares and smoke textures), and it's odd to portray gypsies as misunderstood outcasts but also have a crime den where they revel in murdering anyone that stumbles in.

Yet, no matter how much is stacked against it, it's such an amazing work when it isn't stuffing in pointless immature asides. The thrilling introduction set to The Bells of Notre Dame immediately dives into the primary driving force - Frollo's fear of God - only for Hellfire to go above and beyond that, an operatic masterpiece with rich imagery that fully reveals his dark ambitions. Out There is an outstanding I Wish, so humble and tragic in Quasimodo's initial subservience to Frollo, with joyful, brilliantly animated dancing across the cathedral - also a great leitmotif when he fulfils the wish, closing the door after being humiliated and hurt at the festival.

It all comes together in the plot as Frollo pushes the populace, his men, and his son toward seeing his true monstrous nature. There is a grain of truth in the lies he feeds Quasimodo, making his abuse harder to recognize and affirming his commands to stay away from the public eye. It's a gradual journey to grapple with the values Frollo has embedded in him, Esmeralda's friendship encouraging his good heart to shine through. The fact that it doesn't feel rushed and still manages to work as a complete, compelling story is a real feat with a considerable amount of time spent on such garbage.

Hercules

Striking abstract, swirling style from the get-go, but has limited interest in its broader cultural setting: anachronistic humor, gospel muses, sanitized and stereotyped gods - these are all signs of an American reinterpretation and stylization of the myth (however cool some of that is), without the same kind of attention paid to its more historic locale. While the character design is appealing (titans aside) and does something to explore mythical figures regardless of accuracy (e.g. flaming homosexual Hades), Thebes is all white pillars, colorless statues and grand bare halls - more accurate to contemporary audiences' image of ancient Greece than what it actually looked like or stylizations thereof (another symptom is using his Roman name).

The hero that lands amidst it all is likeable, but doesn't really face a convincing journey or conflict. Hercules' superficial desire is to return to his biological family because it's where he belongs, while his deeper need to explore through the story is just the last part of that, a place to belong. With no personal failings or growth (he would've gladly made that final sacrifice at the story's beginning), he fulfils the surface requirement and promptly realizes he's already fulfilled his wish. This lines up in theory, but when he's barely an adult, "true love" is an unconvincing fulfilment of his dreams, and every obstacle being outside his responsibility weakens it considerably.

His only development, a training montage of getting stronger and better, is the start of his quest. The montage works in Rocky (and Mulan for that matter) because the hero's motivation has been a question up until then, and this is the turn where he commits to the ambition - the training is a result of that commitment which then affords him the ability to win. Here, he's instantly eager to commit to this life and the training, and once through with it all he needs is an opportunity to show his heroism, which never falters or wanes. With its set-up, it would make a lot more sense for his immense wealth, popularity, celebrity activities etc. to cloud his ambitions, or give him undue confidence in his strength and image - Zeus could welcome him back as a famous hero mid-way but be refused in favor of superficial adoration, and then when he gets betrayed his fans disappear and he learns the true value of family and home.

The final let-down of the hero is his lack of connection to the villain; for as much style as Hades has, there's no personal rivalry since he doesn't even meet Herc until the very end and only cares because of some silly prophecy. Hercules' necessary role in the big conflict is as a reset button, undoing the imprisonment of the gods and this time for no clear reason they win instead of the titans. The random potion that removes godhood, child-friendly Zeus not allowing mortals in his home, a lot of things are clearly just there to make the plot possible or reference mythology, without coming together into a sensible adventure.

Both style and storytelling peak with the songs, and particularly Megara's I Won't Say (I'm in Love). A binding agent playing both sides, she's the heart and soul of the film and rivals Beast in stealing the show from their main characters. While Hercules' journey is weak, her side is sincerely compelling from justifying selfish acts with a traumatic past, becoming increasingly conflicted and in denial about falling in love, before finally taking responsibility for her faults. Even with only one song it's a strong context to convey that internality, along with a great leitmotif when she's brought back to life, the two finally together.

Mulan

Mushu steals the spotlight and impact of the central cast, leaving very few interactions within that circle (mainly thinking Mulan and Shang, but she could've had a deeper relationship with her squad too), and between them and the plot. The representation of a given culture in a period piece always interests me, but here even the bits that aren't westernized and inaccurate are overshadowed by the anachronistic dragon. If, say, Mushu didn't fake a message to get their army on the road and instead Shang went scouting to find out his father's in trouble, that might afford him another tiny bit of talking with / looking at / being looked at by Mulan.

As it stands, the two romantic leads have at the very best five moments together before he finds out she's a girl - in which case, why care about that reveal on the personal level? Two of those are each of them just looking at the other, and even the ones that involve talking are very one-sided - short statements of support when events unfold that actually involve them. There's a following of Shang as a bicon but it's fabricated out of thin air as far as I'm concerned. The concept of the film contains some hints of queerness, but the story doesn't focus on that at all, let alone explore it. Same with Mulan's gender presentation, it only goes skin deep with "men are gross, oh but not the shirtless hunk he's hot" and "restrictive gender roles suck". The second of which at least gets a good song to convey her inner struggle, but the action plot doesn't really explore those feelings any further, it's more about proving her right in defying convention.

While Mushu as a constant plot device is bad for stealing screentime from actual characters, I don't think the plot would actually fare that well regardless. It's a standard hero's journey of getting stronger and beating the odds, but without a compelling abyss - there's no personal failure, only an external setback as she's exposed and exiled. Proving she belongs to the group after all doesn't require any growth or change on her part, she already beat the Mongols at the pass and saved everyone's lives; doing so again at the palace lacks punch.

It is both illustrative of this and to its own credit that I'll Make a Man Out of You explores this journey as deeply as the rest of the story combined. Song certainly helps the triumph of effort hit home, and is a natural fit for a montage of disparate soldiers becoming a confident unit. The rest feels kinda like a serialized sequel - Tangled or Tarzan for example have tight stories and clear arcs, and when serialized both recycle themes and continue exploring those concepts in basic ways. Each little plot point is like an episode where Mulan comes up with some unique, strategic way of tackling a situation while the others doubt her, and when it works her squad respects her a bit more, but never so much that they can't go through the same routine next episode.

All that said, the art direction and visual storytelling are worthwhile beyond just dressing up the songs. The moment it stops being a musical at the massacred village (even if it still has goofy shit), the bright colors that frame her home life, and such beautiful snow and smoke - it's close to matching Aladdin in visual styling, and is one aspect that really delivers on its cultural influence.

Tarzan

Reverses the musical storytelling established in the renaissance; rather than breaking into song when words can't fully express their emotions, Tarzan is silent and relies on body and face language to evoke empathy. While I would have liked for Kala to continue and sing more than just the introduction of You'll Be in My Heart, the visual storytelling is complemented by Phil Collin's catchy, lyrically apt, drum-laden soundtrack, so I can't consider it a big step down from the more traditional musicals.

Tarzan's upbringing is shaped by how differently his parents react to losing a son; Kala's desperate search for healing encourages him to open up his heart and not get hung up on superficial traits, while Kerchak's detachment and scepticism fuels his desire to prove himself, to go above and beyond the average monkey, leveraging human ingenuity to succeed against the most poetic foe - the beast that brought the two worlds together to begin with.

It's easy to forget with its iconism that the "Tarzan yell" (here a melodic, full-lunged chant from Clayton's voice actor) is only heard two times in this incarnation: once when he proves his worth to his father and attains vengeance for his lost parents and brother, and again to announce a triumphant return home to save his family. The action scene between Tarzan and Sabro might be my favorite of all time, framed by moving cameras without looking awkward for a second due to the incredible key animation, strong plotting as to where and how the actors move, and absolutely thrilling choreography. His triumph is punctuated by the aforementioned call and a completely silent scene of carrying the body to Kerchak, a trophy of his worth finally impossible to ignore.

Now clear that Tarzan deserves a place among the apes, the question for the second half becomes whether he truly wants it. Jane and Tarzan are both out of their element, awkwardly feeling their way forward and falling in love before they know it, tempting each other to break their cultural norms. Their bumbling behaviour makes for a cute romance, with empathic moments of handholding, and the action really brings to the forefront Tarzan's absurd physicality; dancing down giant treetrunks and swinging on vines are delightful and evocative as action sequences, but also important to their growing bond.

As a more overt love story though, it wouldn't work nearly as well if Strangers Like Me took a different angle. The English wandering into uncharted territory and bragging of home, without even a parodic framing like Pocahontas' villain, could've easily robbed it of any and all charm, but the allure isn't of cobbled streets and bustling stock markets, but rather human invention (mirroring Tarzan's pursuit of tools) and exploration (stargazing to unite in curiosity of the unknown). While compelled by one-another, their relationship is just as much defined by their curiosity about the other's wider world.

The rest follows suit, delivering further on those themes and offering second chances to hammer home their dynamics. Kerchak takes a bullet for Tarzan as recognition that he was wrong, finally seeing his son as such, and Kala gets a powerful goodbye when Tarzan intends to leave the nest. There's another sick action scene against Clayton, his wild frenzy to be free from nature leading to his own brutal destruction. It's one of the few nostalgia-laden Disney movies for me so I can't pretend to be impartial, but I love this film so much. Thrashing the camp and Terk certainly aren't high art, but as far as flaws go they're very easy to brush aside.

Dinosaur

I don't care that they talk, even if it took a more documentary-esque approach and spared the awful dialogue, it would still have really awkward movement, mixed art direction, and the most generic story imaginable. Using live action footage and miniatures to cover CGI weaknesses lets the environments and effects still look pretty good (the fireworks meteor monster is sick), but that's about it. Pretty sad just how cheap this looks coming right off of magical late renaissance films and being produced alongside some of the last great 2D films they'd make.

Look, for years the Wikipedia chart of all their movies listed John Harrison as a writer and linked to an 18th century carpenter. They even removed all non-producing/directing credits from the table at some point and reinstated them without catching the error - no one clicked that link until Brian K. Tyler fixed it. Untested tools and people being put on a project and failing is one thing but this feels like it's completely outside the company culture and environment, the place known in part for its united production (music, animation and story being developed alongside each other rather than in sequence like an assembly line).

The Emperor's New Groove

It's ridiculous just how long the main character remains evil, I guess in an attempt to undermine the trope of an ignorant noble learning what peasant life is like upon basic exposure. He doesn't have a character "arc" as much as a singular delayed stair step. It has some good comedic timing and choreography (arranging the heads for Izsma to smash is hilarious), but the villains don't get that much screentime and on the Kuzco's side the humor only further undermines any kind of serious character development or action adventure plot that it goes for.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Very cute cast, great bonding on the trip and in the city exploring a bit with Kidagakash, all punctuated by expressive, fluid animation. The angular cel shaded style doesn't extend as effortlessly to backgrounds and cgi which tend to look middling (some stand-outs like every look at the whole city though), but the character design is fantastic which makes up for it. The story doesn't get a lot of time to develop though, lost knowledge works as an underlying theme but the ideas of fading technology that requires sacrifice to protect them is halfbaked, not even committing to the sacrifice by the end. Dogfights and other vehicle action is pretty clunky, but once it gets to brawling it's got real punch.

Lilo & Stitch 

Lilo is an outsider, bullied and lonely, that struggles to find comfort both at home and with strangers. She lashes out, she's stubborn, she doesn't like being told what to do or how to behave, and she's straight-up just a bit different from the other kids. Stitch gives her a friend, but also a mirror, as they both understand each other through themselves and themselves through each other. And in understanding, they avoid hurting the ones they love, but don't change who they are to conform to normality. This is the crux of the story, dressed up with beautiful watercolor backgrounds and animation that infuses everything with grounded charm.

There's also the whole Elvising around town and fighting aliens, however. The practical circumstances concerning custody are a lot less interesting than how the characters navigate these relationships, and even there it's not perfect. It's awkward to focus so much on Stitch leaving and then coming back, while leaving Lilo's rejection of him (when she learns he's an alien) completely without follow-up. Then the ending feels like it's spoon-feeding the themes to kids, letting down the maturity and nuance of the rest of the storytelling.

Treasure Planet

Clunky CGI, but the more traditional animation still manages to look pretty damn good and elevate key sequences, plus the setting is just cool. It all centers around the wonderful found father-son bond between villain and hero, using the conflicts to explore and test their convictions. Silver might just be the best written character of Clements and Musker, if not the whole studio. B.E.N. does his best to ruin it, and the fart monster doesn't help, but on the plot side it's not shabby either, even when they arrive at the planet and pauses the central relationship, things develop at a pretty good pace.

Brother Bear

Slightly too charmed by early digital tech, with overexposed lights and blur - even a cheap lens flare - distracting a tiny bit from otherwise really well-painted backgrounds. Reportedly inspired by Bierstadt they capture illustrious natural light, with textural brushwork and dynamic shifts in color (particularly with strong lights of opposing temperature to the shadows). Probably my favorite art they've done, very much my thing. On the other hand you have beautiful animal animation that lets a middling story still hit some real emotional notes, despite some uneventful adventuring between the high points.

Koda is the heart and soul here, while the main character's cultural backdrop and character arc feel a bit cheap. There's this song as he realizes bears are cool and that they have a really nice community and life together in the wilds, and while this works as a contrast from modern suburban dystopia or whatever, Kenai in the story lives close to nature in a small, loving community so it doesn't really match up with that. The song lyrics literally go "it's nothing like I've ever seen before" which just doesn't seem accurate. I get Koda needing him and don't disagree with keeping him a bear at the end, but the way this song presents it, as well as the whole gimmick where the film is pillarboxed until he turns into a bear to see the full beauty of the world, are kind of just blind animal worship.

I also don't think Collin's songs fit the storytelling here. The montage is fine but when Kenai confesses to killing Koda's mother, it feels like the confrontation is hidden behind the overpowering music number, lessening the impact of this heartbreaking confrontation. Really the opposite of how you want music to work with a story, and doesn't even do much lyrically to convey character. Great Spirits and the chanting spirit anthem are amazing though so still a great soundtrack.

Home on the Range

I'm not sure why this last gasp for 2D Disney (The Princess and the Frog notwithstanding, that’s closer to necroposting) gets shoved aside so frequently. There's a hint of more serious storytelling (both the villain and hero have a bit of a vengeance motivation) that doesn't really go anywhere but I still like their quest of belonging and the plot goes along with that quite well (maybe just since the last film relying on the adventuring plot was Dinosaur and this is a masterpiece by comparison), and a bit of good humor (even if there's a lot of low-effort shit).

It has a bit of a "remember hand-drawn animation?" vibe with the crayon aesthetic, especially striking in the rocky desert with angular shapes and myriad hues. I think the rainy scene looks better than past photo cels too, coming down to this using depth more in the rain shots so most of the screen is pretty sparse, compared to e.g. Mermaid's uniformly dense storm. There are some 3D scenes with 2D assets to get more detailed camera movement without going all B&B ballroom on us, which are fine but definitely no highlight (maybe the mine explosion could've been great in full 2D). There's also some awkward shortcuts, like painted assets animated with rippling distortion effects, and bits of mediocre CGI. On the whole though, definitely a visual success.

Chicken Little

Downright uncomfortable in its contrivances to punish the main character. A piece of the sky falls on his head so he travels several minutes to the town hall bell and rings it sending everyone into a general panic (most of which is not his fault whatsoever, even kids can handle an emergency situation better than this). The scene where everyone barely misses seeing the spaceship makes no physical sense, how it's constructed they would've seen it and/or reached the threshold earlier. When they're trying to reunite Kirby (itself a result of weird plotting with the parents trying to murder random kids instead of communicating) they jump through inordinate hoops instead of just putting him down on the street and backing off. Very troubled production is hopefully to blame because while not as disastrous as Dinosaur story-wise, it's hard to imagine a single person intentionally making something this incoherent.

Beyond the poor logical backing though, it is consistently ugly and unfunny, with no worthwhile scene or moment at all. Charmless main characters inhabit a nightmare reality where everyone sucks, like the entire premise is that this is a town made up 99% of bullies. "I told you so" and brainwashing the biggest bully to be a good agreeable person are not the resolutions you want for that either! Tries to be Shrek so hard but even as a Shrek hater I can't stand how much it misses the point, how half-assed the thematic core is (even if it worked, it'd be undermined by the duck laboriously explaining all of it to the audience), how basic the humor is (so much just mimicking wacky animal behaviour with zero thought for how that would work with sentience and community, nor making any real joke out of it), how much of a random mish-mash the soundtrack is, how flat every pop culture reference falls.

Meet the Robinsons

A bit clunky but manages to get something out of its animation with a delightful slinking villain and fun main cast. Most of all it's well written so it doesn't need to be beautiful (not bad for their third CGI film, but Ratatouille is the same year lol); the dialogue flows really well, certainly some dorkyness that doesn't land (the wider family is very gimmicky) but lots of good jokes and charm too.

The theming isn't exactly subtle, "keep moving forward" is said something like 20 times and several jokes hinge on the bowler hat guy being the complete opposite, but self-awareness doesn't stop the film from being sincere. All culminates in a bittersweet ending where there's no possible neat resolution for bowler hat guy, lost and alone if he even exists.

It's also refreshing how little it cares to disguise its twists. Yeah it hides who is who in the future a bit, but there's increasingly blatant ties and pretty easy to guess, which makes for a cool dynamic compared to the modern treatment of twists as a competition between audience and writer. Not just the lead-up (with plenty of irony to catch on a rewatch), but the kind of nonchalant way it reveals it in the end, it's not this big song and dance.

Bolt

Conceptually kinda cool and kinda stupid, it works really well in the committed opening but going through "Bolt thinks he has superpowers but doesn't" so many times wears it pretty thin. Learning to be a good normal dog without superpowers is cute though, and it looks decent enough with some painted backgrounds across the states and alright animation (the pigeons are great? Thank god they bought Pixar so it only took 3 movies to get through the awkward teenager phase of 3D).

The Princess and the Frog

The want/need dichotomy is popular in screenwriting, but a character having different needs and wants doesn't in and of itself make a deep character or natural development, so it's a bit awkward to present it so up-front and ask the characters directly what it is they really need. Naveen's wants and needs form a nice dynamic; he's coasted by in life and never had nor wanted any responsibilities, only to now realize that what he really needs is commitment and something he'd want to be responsible for, a family (it's very Simba). Meanwhile Tiana has a more material want in the restaurant, and her real need comes more down to the love itself rather than the lifestyle that represents. Not as frivolous as Hercules, but without much development: her father straight up tells her that love is what really matters at the very start, so facing her need is more just remembering that than conflicting with her want.

A simple main character arc when the cast is so charming and the storytelling so solid isn't a big drawback though, with some fun songs to spice it up. Besides, as the story continues it's more about them giving up their dreams to live up to their word and make the other happy, which goes both ways. There's so much going on beyond the main pair too, even the three frog hunters that show up for 5  minutes are a lot of fun. Her comically privileged white friend (or at least her dad) could've easily been evil but instead the racism here is baked into the background, not as a convenient scapegoat to comfort white audiences. On the visual side it's nice as a rule, a worthy last hurrah for 2D animation, but middling digital effects and colors do let down some of the more striking moments of black magic and swamp romance.

Tangled

First and foremost, really charming characters. Humans looking good at long last (shame they just copied this style moving ahead), the main pair are cute together with some nice personal development, and mother is best. The kind of villain who wants to break the hero's spirit rather than just kill her, here not out of sadism but as a pragmatic strategy to maintain control over Rapunzel and her powers. Makes for a solid plot, and goes really well with the themes. Eugene has kind of shielded himself from the world, creating an exalted mask to never truly engage with people. Rapunzel has been convinced that, and through the plot continues to be made to question if, the world is a bad place and that as a rule people suck, which would have her close herself off as well.

So really the central conflict isn't some physical one, it's a question of whether life and people are worth living (with), and winning out is naturally a very positive view of the world and yearning for freedom even if it opens you up to the negative parts of life. There is also a physical side to it in the hair, which comes forth in the ending where Rapunzel's agency and hair are being bargained and fought for. As a result, not much time is spent tangled up in action or drama, it's mostly their engagement with the world and take-aways from that which take center stage.

Winnie the Pooh

The storybook sceneries are delightful but cleaner digital animation is a pretty big downgrade compared to the shorts, and while it's one continuous adventure, it's a very fluffy story that leaves little impact.

Wreck-It Ralph

While more fully fledged in its story scope and production than Pooh, it feels more catered specifically to kids with how much it spells things out for you. There's no subtextual side to the message and almost everything that happens ties into these characters not wanting to be defined by their roles - which is a fine concept, but ironically gets undermined by everyone having this shared defining crutch, rather than broader personalities that encounter each their own problems surrounding the message. The storyline and plot work, the king's manipulation of Ralph is good, there's not a lot of strict flaws really, it's just hard to care when it's so generic and obvious, which includes the pop culture references (even if they aren't as central and disruptive as several contemporaries).

Frozen

Too busy trying to subvert tropes and surprise you with twists to give any depth to its characters or flesh out the themes. The true love's kiss subversion is particularly clunky. Anna needs a true love's kiss to be revived, which itself is a bit of a silly fairytale-ism that doesn't quite fit the setting. Kissing Kristoff is forgone in order to save Elsa - an act of true love, but not one that involves a kiss, nor one that Anna is recipient to. Maleficent did this better! Because it's actually a kiss there, and it has a more fantastical setting with a prophecy clearly setting that criteria early on, and the act of love is toward the cursed person. For another type of subversion of the same trope, Tangled has a true love's tear that invokes fairytale imagery without the world actually playing by those rules (her tears have healing properties so the symbolic cure is also a practical one).

Let It Go might have been played to death since the film blew up, but it was already as good as dead from carrying the entire story on its back. It contains everything there is to Elsa as a character, her struggle to hide her true self and triumph in finding freedom, tinged in tragedy since the audience already knows she's doomed the kingdom and alienated herself from her sister as a result. This is then never further explored by her interactions with the rest of the cast, nor her actions within the plot at large (not really her to be fair, more how predictable the setting is as a context).

Similarly, Love Is an Open Door is a great song, calling back to early Disney princesses falling in love at first sight and winning over the audience with pure charm in lieu of an intricate romantic plot. The prince here is as usual pretty dull (and with the twist straight-up boring), but for a fleeting few minutes there's a convincing relationship building on screen, like the garden scene in Cinderella making the characters feel a lot less one-note. The slick character animation really helps with this one, in the same way pretty ice effects bolster Let It Go, even if I'm not big on the animation generally.

Then it introduces Anna's actual true love, Kristoff, who's the most likeable cast member and you better believe the film will keep shoving that in your face. Worst of all with the trolls song (competing with another set of annoying stone creatures for worst Disney love song), but the plot making true love such a central device also serves to make me less invested in what could have been the best two characters having a naturally building relationship in the background. Fixer Upper is the major flaw of this film; the villains, wishy washy story and Elsa's weak arc aren't actively bad so much as less interesting than they had potential to be.

The rest of the songs include an opening chant that sets a mood the rest of the film can't live up to, a very preachy snowman song that just reiterates the basic character relationship already established by that point, For the First Time in Forever which is pretty nice in highlighting Anna's innocence and later her commitment to her sister, and I guess there's In Summer too (Olaf is fine, or maybe I only say that because there's infinitely worse characters in this). There's also Kristoff's tiny reindeer song which is another case of the film very overtly going "look at this guy he's so goofy and cute" and … it works, he is.

Big Hero 6

Such a charming build-up, mainly Tadashi being a really compelling role model, but then throws it away to become at best a bland action film. The villain is hilariously bad and the sci-fi tech such a plot device. Someone created a portal to another dimension that allows teleportation and because of one death during testing, no one ever touches that technology, nor does any research on other tech involving an alternate dimension? Including the guy whose daughter went in there in a pod capable of sustaining her for years? And he now reconstructs the portal without even thinking of checking it out? He also kills a genius protégé for no reason, fakes his death for no reason, doesn't hesitate to try and kill the students that he has invested so much into, and of course employs an over-the-top poetic strategy to get his revenge instead of just killing the guy years ago to stop his sell-out science from taking more lives. It wouldn't be particularly interesting for the telegraphed bad guy to be the villain, but the twist here is so ridiculously poorly thought out and makes no sense at all.

The bigger problem though is in the themes, or lack of such, on display for the main story. There's a bit of "revenge bad" accompanied by ridiculous murderous stupidity on Hiro's part, but mostly the story here is generic power fantasy, saving the world by defeating the baddie. Rarely a big issue, especially if it had interesting visual flair rather than chasing realism (the hyperexpressive character facial animation feels like it's trying to make up for how lacking in stylization everything else is). But in this case, there's a big clash between this escapist simplicity and Tadashi's life's work: a medical assistant designed to proactively help people and make the world a better place, remodelled to punch bad guys.

Because superheroes are not something you want to rely on, they're a necessary counter to fantastical superpowered threats. The Avengers reference this in their name; they can't really protect the Earth, they just have really powerful weapons, so even if they win they may be the only survivors. It's nothing new to take undefeatable characters and simply kill or kidnap the people around them. If you want to make the world a better place, you don't put on a cape and beat people up at night, but that's the exact vision of heroism this film has, turning Baymax from a nurse into a cop because that's just a better way of helping people. If they could at least have had his death not be a fake-out, it would be a message limited to this specific situation (where a fantastical superpowered threat is present), but when they hype up their team of superheroes at the end, all hope is lost for Tadashi's legacy to be fulfilled.

This is even more strikingly tonedeaf when you realize that the start of the film is about Tadashi wanting Hiro to do something better with his life than traveling around the city for cheap thrills in robot combat, and at the end that's exactly what he's gone back to. Having Baymax's medical side be the key to solving the situation (like his improved sensors detecting the comatose person lost in another dimension) would've worked so much better, you can even have Hiro ignore that in favor of juvenile ideas of rightful violence, not much needs to change but their outlook at the end and reason this is all happening just can't glorify twisting baymax towards violence.

Zootopia

Solid buddy cop dynamic and a flavorful setting, coming forth in the rodent town chase, the Godfather shrews, and sloth jokes. So much dialogue is dedicated to hamfisted yet vague theming though, failing to really explore the bigotry through characters or use the storyline to complement their arcs. Strings together plausible examples of prejudice that align with various real-life analogues (don't buy into the narrative that it's a clumsy 1:1 analogy to contemporary American racial relations lol), but fails to make a compelling story from that.

The villains are both driven by self-interest, one uses bigotry to fuel her career but that's as far as it extends, doesn't really go all-out for structural criticism since it ignores cops and the government institution. Nick has probably the most relevant characterisation, prejudice causing him to close off from people until Judy's acceptance and altruism brings his heart of gold to the surface again. It's not a new storyline for Disney (Eugene, Meg, Beast), but in the past the development always runs alongside falling in love which takes a bit away from the purely moral growth. Stopping smoking because someone convinces you it's bad is different from stopping smoking because a really hot chick will date you if you do (Nick still can't match those guys though).

Judy suffers most from allegorical plot points not really informing a consistent character. She goes from a bunch of investigation getting to know Nick, to a well-intentioned speech about concrete traits of predators, to saying that Nick isn't like the other predators (that family man otter though, totally the type to go savage), to then go for the fox spray when Nick does a spooky face. There is a way to justify these actions if you explored her character and mirrored Nick with the bully that gave her a still-present scar, but it doesn't even try to go there, it's content with her entire character being rebelling against bunny infantilization (I can't believe it's not misogyny!).

She would be far more compelling if she consciously acknowledged that predators are good but had an instinctual and/or traumatic fear of them (causing her shame whenever it manifests, like assuming Nick was robbing the store at the start). Then when .1% of predators start going wild for unknown reasons, her gut feeling is validated and she copes with her trauma by feeding that prejudice. She logically excludes Nick because she knows him, like how KKK members sometimes have black friends (or are themselves black), but when he hovers over her menacingly just like Gideon, she panics - the two causing each other to relive defining traumatic moments. When she finds out predators aren't to blame Gideon is right there as a symbol, her template for every fox she meets, perfect for processing and moving past that and make the apology to Nick more genuine. As is, would-be powerful moments are let down by her weak characterization.

Moana

So beautiful, some felt underlying themes and emotional beats, but the plot and character development are weak. Songs serve as emotional highpoints without being backed by a strong larger story, or serve no purpose other than expositing more explicitly than dialogue can ever get away with (consider the coconut…). While the stereotypical unsupportive dad is weak (could've had powerful moments with his mom encouraging him to trust in his daughter, even if he won't send out his whole people), I do like the set-up and How Far I'll Go. She conveys this helpless romantic yearning for the sea in song, making it impossible not to get behind her recklessness.

Once out there, the biggest problem is having the ocean as her ally. It doesn't affect the fun side stop of the monster realm since it can't reach them there, but coconut pirates and the landlocked monster afraid of water are both awkward since the sea itself can hand them victory anytime it feels like it. The obvious solution is just removing the magic element, but you could just as well bring it into further focus; give Moana direct control of the sea, mirror her learning to sail with gaining greater control of water. While thematically relevant, her sailing only matters to the plot as-is because of contrived action: the ocean not just handing them the win as mentioned, but also how Maui doesn't fly above Te Kā, and her big canoe dodging lava balls better than a hawk.

It's kind of generic to have a superpowered individual whose downfall is being too cocky in their abilities, but it's better than what her arc is otherwise. Dealing with Tamatoa should provide some confidence for her (while Maui hits his lowest point), but it's after being instrumental in their survival there that she doubts her purpose and value. Despite that I think what they're going for in the first bout with Te Kā is her bouncing back and being too cocky anyway? It’s pretty messy, not really committing to a sensible direction for her character, and the comeback after failing is no better: a song about vaguely finding herself, the real sea was inside her all along so let's just try the exact same thing again! Ignoring that her main failure in the first fight is not listening to Maui, but she can't amend that because he fucks off for drama. At the end they mirror her to Te Fiti as she empathically brings back the goddess' true self, but I don't think they sell Moana losing her way enough to make that really work.

Worse is Maui though. He drops hints throughout of the stone being a curse and him being scared of it, while acting remarkably selfishly: gleeful to sacrifice a random human for his freedom, with no interest in returning the heart, whether for personal fame or world-saving. There's a couple sensible ways to take that character, either revealing that the legend was lying and they shouldn't be returning the heart, or that Maui is a fake who never pulled up islands or stole fire from the gods. Letting humans die and suffer for his own vanity doesn't really fit into his portfolio of light-hearted antics, a completely irresponsible attitude making it hard to see the trickster with a heart of gold that the film seems to imagine. Moana has to go so hard on the "you'll be a hero" angle to even make him consider doing something decent (this hero status being his sole motivation for stealing the light of the world in the first place), and he STILL fucks off the moment she falters. Why do they have this big split only to not explore that betrayal at all and just return him when things heat up again? Such a frustratingly static character whose basic motivations don't even make sense.

On the more positive side, You're Welcome (the best reason to do Maui as a charming, worthless liar) is almost as much of a banger as Shiny (a villain song? In this economy?), Te Kā is the best-looking thing Disney has ever created with CGI, and the tradition-oriented theming is wonderful. There's a sense of reclaiming lost history and knowledge, most obviously in the way of their people and how to sail beyond the reef, but also seeking the help of a hero lost for a thousand years, to return an artifact equally forgotten, all to restore a goddess' ancient form. The right way to live has been found before even if the present wouldn’t indicate it; the goal is to rediscover that traditional way, rather than blindly rebelling against all authority and seniority.

Ralph Breaks the Internet

Such a soulless, hollow representation of the world wide web. The most mainstream acultural memetic garbage honoring itself. Even worse is the princess scene where Disney shits on their classic catalogue for brownie points, but even if you strip away the romanticized dystopia and referential side stops, assassinating the characters of the first film along with its themes doesn't leave a much better taste in the mouth.

Ralph's abusive dependence on Van doesn't match his desire for recognition in the first at all, where he was more a father figure than anything resembling this middle aged single man obsessed with his "friendship" with a 9-year-old girl (right after spying on her he visits the dark web, how did this go to production). The first film thought a game's characters had a responsibility towards their origin, now Ralph's absence from his own game is completely glossed over, and Van's storyline is to abandon her roots, risking both her life and that of all her subjects that she finally earned a place among (the plot fails to reckon with any of these valid reasons for her not to blindly "follow her dreams").

Even if the characters didn't suck the dialogue is atrocious, calling extra attention to the inconsistencies (like Ralph saying the two friends who have separate jobs haven't been apart in 6 years), further ridding the setting of charm, and making the overt theming more hamfisted as its characters spell it all out. The setting is similarly unsalvageable, obviously should’ve focused on games rather than social media, but the idea of yearning for soulless Fortnite-looking modern slop over classic arcade titles (with an excuse like "there's no variety" lol) would never get me on board. The post-credits scene where it's implied a child gets scarred by bunny gore is the most (possibly only) interesting scene in this dogshit movie.

Frozen II 

When I heard of this being made I was really excited because it would be the first in-house Disney sequel ever (even if that wasn’t quite true). After all, why else would they break this pattern if not because the writers and directors had a strong idea for another story to follow it up? Ralph's sequel might have been more of a character assassination, and more of a soulless sell-out, but the incoherent sketch of a story here shows another side of corporate, rather than creative, decision-making. With no clear idea of where the story is going and no time to work that out, they ended up recycling Elsa's conflict, overemphasising and underdelivering on Anna's dependence, and no other character has much of a purpose at all.

Most clearly, the basis just isn't there with unclear plot details. Water having memory is brought up again and again and it doesn't really mean anything (at least in how it's practically relevant), the fifth elemental spirit being a frozen form of water is silly, that elemental spirit just being Elsa on some metaphysical level (who then freezes herself) is weird. The other four spirits are trapped in the forest but also attack Arendelle to drive them out so the dam can be destroyed without killing them, but then don't do anything to destroy the dam, and attack the people that could do so (spirits being antagonistic for no reason is the only real source of conflict). The wind's attack also hints at the true unfoldings that day, so the messy quest for the fifth spirit doesn't seem necessary at all.

The dam itself is quite a plot device too, we never learn how it's so harmful to the Northuldra, or why they (and the spirits) didn't realize that, even though it would have taken years to construct. This doesn't really connect to the present-day storyline either, the sisters (including the city they rule) have no connection to their grandfather or his politics, there isn't a clear privilege afforded them by his betrayal that they've been ignorant of. What does relate to them is their parents, who were terrible people and are now romanticized and hoisted up as defeaters of racism - there's a scene where the two intolerant sides of the conflict realize there's a peaceful resolution because of the two of them, and it's impossible to not draw lines to Pocahontas.

There are disparate pieces of characterization and storytelling that can be salvaged from the half-baked plot, chiefly the songs and a compelling layer of visual make-up - fog goes from this washed out sludge in the first film to being impressively rich in texture and movement, and the birch-dominated forest in autumn is beautiful. Speaking of, Kristoff is a non-character whose shtick of failing to propose to Anna gets old so fast, but his song is probably my favorite, a fun 80s rock ballad that showcases surprising vocal talent from Jonathan Groff. The two other stand-out songs are Elsa's, first Into the Unknown which familiarly vents her forbidden desires, let down by the thematic work in the ending but on its own a good song.  

Show Yourself harmonizes different songs and motifs brilliantly, but can't back it up with a sensible narrative. As mentioned she kind of kills herself, after getting some piece of trivia justified by this being the wellspring of all knowledge (why it’s a record of historic events rather than some fundamental truth of the world, beats me). This whole sequence would work so well for an evil siren spirit, whose mischievous powers of temperature and emotion were used to curse Elsa (child of those that escaped the spirits' punishment), and now face-to-face they lose themselves to dazzling magic. It makes no sense for her chaotic powers to be a blessing, and there's constant warnings about going up here alone, from the lullaby and stone troll to the general symbology (a kelpie carrying her towards a beautiful voice singing dies irae across the water? Can only end well). Instead the only negative outcome of the song is that the community and truth of the fifth spirit, her true calling that she's been seeking, doesn't exist and she's all alone - yet somehow the movie wants to paint that as a good triumphant thing, that she shouldn't be with her sister even.

Which is a good opportunity to look at Anna, whose dependence on Elsa and insistence they do things together isn't seen as bad, in fact it's continually validated by Elsa (apologizing and promising to trust her in the future), but with how the plot goes Elsa's betrayal of this trust is only rewarded. Anna wants to be alongside her sister and tackle things together, as in the first film where it's their love that lets Elsa control her powers in the end. Here even the earliest breach of trust, when Elsa decides not to talk about the voice until it's too late, is rewarded as there's no ill intent and it kickstarts the events of the plot. Pushing Anna off into the woods to go alone into Ahtohallan not only gives Elsa crucial information - making use of that information necessitates Anna being elsewhere (plus you know, she would’ve been purely a hindrance in getting across the freezing sea).

The movie could have reasonably gone against the first's message and said that no, love isn't the only thing we need, knowledge as to how we make the world right is as important as power and control. It could have avoided glorifying her attachment and delusions of importance, while still allowing her to fill a practical role that suits her, processing the trauma that was growing up starved of that relationship. This goes along with the ending too, at least if there is some practical reason for Elsa to be apart from her family. As it stands, neither side of their relationship improves as a result of what they go through and the happy ending is unconvincing.

Raya and the Last Dragon

Suffers consistently from having terrible dialogue, especially Sisu. Examples don’t really work, it’s almost every line, more a complete personal distaste of the style than execution of individual segments. While I ultimately hate a lot more than just that, the moment-to-moment writing prevents it from being a mostly fine and entertaining adventure story. Along the way there are some cute side characters, though they get barely any focus. The plot is just about touring the world and meeting almost no resistance because no one has any reason to resist saving the world until the final hurdle - both unsatisfying from being too easy along the way, and from the villains that do eventually show up having such poor motivations. There's a whole scene where Namaari's mom spells out why they can't just give the piece away, but I have no idea what she's talking about. She says people will hate them for breaking the orb to begin with if they let the world be restored, but if they steal the pieces and threaten the dragon that brings about that restoration, everyone will somehow like them? Simply doesn't make sense.

Thematically it spells out Raya's trust issues so much but she trusts every side character that arrives (just not as blindly as the dragon naively wants her to), the problem is when she needs to trust the one who betrayed her in the past. That time they were kids of course, and Namaari didn't know she was dooming the world, she just wanted to do what was best for her clan (and in the present she still looks up to the last dragon, it's not like she's lost her way from being a "dragon nerd"). So naturally Raya's inability to trust her is the main obstacle in this last act - oh wait no, Namaari is just evil, she's totally down to doom the world and betraying Raya for no reason, never apologizes, and Raya's distrust was entirely reasonable! Except we're still gonna pretend Namaari is a good person and redeem her? The theme here is kind of just rotten, seeming to go towards irresponsible preaching about blind trust but then failing to even commit to that.

Visually it's almost to the point of realism, technically impressive but bland. The animation is fluid but never really elevates character moments or the plot, with middling fight choreography and generic dragon design. There's some pretty color palettes, nice cool greens, but otherwise pretty boring to look at. Worse, the worldbuilding is barely more than a concept. Everyone's at war with each other, but there's no felt relations or history to that conflict to bring another dimension to the adventure (most of the characters from the past don't even show up in the present, and there's no cultural clash among the party-members). They introduce these five regions by a child reciting stereotypes, and somehow fails to go beyond that for the entire bunch. There's more specific ways it fails in capturing the cultures it's vaguely based on too. The one saving grace for the presentation is music, but it can't do enough for how poorly put together the rest is.

Encanto

This is just unfair. Ignore that this is one of the least corporate, soulless, pandering, stereotypical stories off the back of the company's first disastrous forays into sequeldom. Of course it'll look good compared to that, any genuine effort will. But many other stories fall flat or don't reach their full potential because they're juggling so much, whether it's a broader practical plot that doesn't tie into the thematic and character-driven story (B&B, Hercules, Moana), bad comedy (Mulan, Hunchback), or different elements of the story(telling) not really gelling (Zootopia, Brother Bear).

The closest this gets to silly mascot asides is the kids, which are very much set dressing, and the house, which is wordless. Both also tie into the tone well, the kids are part of the village so they only feature when things are already open to guests and full of energy, while the house can't reach some of the more serious areas where story happens and obviously falls away completely as it crashes down. Whimsical, colorful, energetic yes, but no significant moment or character that exists just for levity or immature pandering (this is their first film since Tangled to not have toilet humor, which ideally wouldn't be something to brag about). I don't want to focus too much on it not being bad, it has plenty of merits, but given how butchered their most sober stories have gotten in the name of appealing to the youth I'm just happy this was possible.

Another delightful surprise is how creative it gets with visuals during musical numbers. There's been varied montages like Color of the Wind and I'll Make a Man Out of You, and rare cases where abstract visuals explore the mind of a character (Hellfire), but this is truly like a stage musical detached from reality, wild movement and colors and images without concern for logic. Alongside the whirlwind energy, the soundtrack really plays to Lin-Manuel Miranda's strengths - usually I find his work too cheesy, rhyme-obsessed and poorly written (to varying degrees), but here that's either absent or used just enough to be complementary.

The mentioned focus lets it develop multiple rich characters by affording each a major musical number; Waiting on a Miracle is a solid I Wish yet drowns within the larger story and cast. Part of Your World echoes throughout that story and defines its scope, but here every step is highlighted in its own way, most spectacularly in Surface Pressure. It must be intentional how it starts out cornier than any of the rest and then literally flips the ground to get into a (to this point) side character's nuanced troubles and insecurities - paired with the most out there visuals. We Don't Talk About Bruno is the most Manuel scene musical song of them all, catchy as hell, and What Else Can I Do? is another opportunity to look into a neglected character at the height of the story's optimistic energy. Finally, Dos Oruguitas beautifully frames the family's growth from tragic circumstances.

Alma and the broad story is the backbone of all this, but there isn't a lot to dig into that the film doesn't lay bare itself. Modern storytelling (in Disney but also generally) can be a bit overt, over-explaining and -justifying itself, so while I think this works as an exception to the level of quality many contemporaries land at as a result of this, it still is a very super-textual narrative. The family's deference to Alma and her obsession with appearances is a subtle but insidious tendency that undermines their ability to function as themselves - and there's clear conversations and developments to highlight this. Similarly with Mirabel finally getting her magic door (tied for best moment of the film with like 3 others), and how the pressure fading when everything tumbles down allows them to open up at the river - I love it, but any argument as to why would feel like an echo of the text itself.

Strange World

I'd pretty confidently call this a flawless film. Establishes a dynamic between the generations, flings them out on an adventure to sort those issues out, with some cool environment and monster design along the way. But while fully functional, it is never good. The art direction is bland and oversaturated, with some lolrandom tendencies. The adventure plot is let down by having no villain to induce tension and stakes. It tries for an (overt) ecosystem lesson as the youngest tells his dad and grandfather that there's no villain in the game they play (which goes along with not having much conflict in the story), but it turns out saving the world involves exterminating a parasite so that doesn't really track.

It features an ethnically and sexually diverse cast, but with lifeless characterization and a setting devoid of culture I don't care about any of them. There's nothing to really pick apart, nor any interesting elements that inspire me to think of how the rest could be reshaped around it. It's not even boring to watch; just to think about. If I was a homophobe I could at least feel something about this. Kind of a downer to end on but hey, thanks for reading and surely Wish brings it back around.