Originally Posted By AutoPost This topic is for Discussion of <a href="http://www.LaughingPlace.com/Latest-ID-76445.asp" target="_blank"><b>Latest: RottenTomatoes: Disney Animation Ranked Worst to Best</b></a> <p><font size="2" color="#808080">(posted by Doobie) </font>RottenTomatoes.com has a new feature ranking all 50 Disney films taking into account their Rotten Tomatoes score and other related factors. Only Disney label films are included, no Pixar, DisneyToon Studios, etc. #50 is <b>Chicken Little</b>, #1 I'll let you discover, but I'll admit, I was surprised. My biggest disappointment - <b>Pocahontas</b> at #44. I think it was hurt by its fictionalization of a real story but the film itself was much better than it gets credit for. Remember when Disney films had great, memorable soundtracks? My biggest happy surprise? <b>Bolt</b> at #11. Many Disney fans just lump this in with Chicken Little as Disney doing bad 3D but Bolt was a fun action, sci-fi film with a lot of heart that deserved to do better.</p>
Originally Posted By Disneymom443 I was suprised at some of the listings, but over all not to bad. A couple of my all time favorite movies are in the top ten. Thanks Doobie.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I agree that Pocahontas is a great film that gets no respect becaust of the whole historical fiction (emphasis on the fiction). I'm also kind of disappointed that Brother Bear is 49. I think it's a great little film that nobody really saw, so it never had the chance. I feel like Hunchback should be way higher up (really, Ichabod and Mr Toad beat it by about 15 spots?!), but I know that a lot of people think it's 'too depressing'. It's also pretty incredible that #1 (I won't give it away either) is rated at 100%. Are there any other films that can claim that? And how many studios have films ranked at 90% that aren't even in the top 1/5 of their library?
Originally Posted By gmaletic Overall, I'd say it's an incredibly accurate list. My only surprise was Peter Pan at #30, a film I'd estimate deserves to be in at least the top 15.
Originally Posted By Longhorn12 Bolt at #11 made we go "whaaaat" but other than that a pretty decent list.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Bolt was a bit underrated at the time, but no way it should have been as high as #11. And #1 was no surprise to me. It's still the pinnacle of the animated feature to me, and it featured both Walt and his top animators (pre-strike, thus including Tytla, Babbitt, etc.) all in one place at one time, and all at the peak of their powers.
Originally Posted By mawnck Well, remember this list is based on the Rotten Tomatoes binary system of rankings ... so a movie with 10 lukewarm but generally positive reviews would get 100% whereas one with 9 raves and one slightly negative would get knocked down to 90%. Then you have Bolt, with a gazillion recent reviews, doing battle with, say, Ichabod and Mr. Toad, which uses 2 "real" reviews from the period coupled with what are essentially 9 blog commentaries. It's really not all that meaningful a comparison. In fact, it looks like Time's Ichabod and Mr. Toad review might have been counted as negative just to make the list work. All the negativity in that review was aimed at the first half of the Ichabod section, while the reviewer LOVED the Headless Horseman chase and all of Mr. Toad. If they had counted that one as fresh, Ichabod and Mr. Toad would've tied for first place.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA 85% of the people watching 'Ichabod Crane' would probably have no idea who Bing Crosby is either. 'Bolt' at #11 is laughable really.
Originally Posted By JeffG The list really is extremely skewed by the lack of contemporary reviews for most of the older films. For instance, the oldest review for the #1 film (which didn't really surprise me) was dated 2000, although it might have been a bit older as I think that may be the year Rotten Tomatoes launched. Regardless, the reviews pretty much all were looking back at an established and pretty much agreed upon classic. I think possibly the most informative ones were the #2 ranking for "Fantasia" and especially the #10 ranking for "Sleeping Beauty". Neither film was especially well received upon their initial release, but the esteem of both films has grown dramatically with the passage of time. Of course, it is impossible to say for sure, but I do think it is likely that some of the fairly low ranked titles (particularly "Pocahontas") will also be held in higher esteem as we get more distant from their original releases. Finally, I think it is interesting to note that the list really does show that Disney's animation studio has had an amazing track record from a critical standpoint. Only 4 of the 50 films had less than 50% positive reviews and only 8 fell below the 60% threshold that Rotten Tomatoes uses as the dividing line between "rotten" and "fresh". 42/50 films viewed as having a positive critical consensus is rather impressive. -Jeff
Originally Posted By mawnck >>the oldest review for the #1 film (which didn't really surprise me) was dated 2000<< The dates indicate when RT entered them into their system. The ones from the New York Times and Time Magazine link to the original reviews, at least the ones I clicked on did.
Originally Posted By basil fan It makes perfect sense to NOT count any Pixar films in this list, as Disney doesn't count them when giving tangled the 50th spot. I don't understand why Rotten Tomatoes' reviews and opinions are so esteemed by internet surfers. Just somebody else's opinion. Not that it's not interesting to read their choices. I, too, raised an eyebrow at Bolt's ranking, plus I heaved a sigh to see Atlantis so low, and scratched my head over some of the others. But Mulan below Melody Time? And even a 39 is too generous for Dinosaur, IMHO. It was Eva, not Zsa Zsa voicing Miss Bianca. Kolchak: the Knight Stalker <a href="http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/etc/kolchak.html" target="_blank">http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/...hak.html</a>
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORWEN: Oh? Was Kochak the Knight Stalker on the list, too? I didn't see that one. What number did they give it?
Originally Posted By u k fan Not a bad list I suppose, but definitely a few shocks. Total Film (a UK movie magazine I sometimes get) listed their rankings of the first 49 Disney movies last month. They didn't list Tangled as it wasn't released here at the time that article was written. Here is the list they came up with: 49 The Black Cauldron 48 Home on the Range 47 Dinosaur 46 Saludos Amigos 45 Make Mine Music 44 Brother Bear 43 Fun & Fancy Free 42 Atlantis 41 Oliver & Co. 40 Chicken Little 39 The 3 Caballeros 38 Meet The Robinsons 37 Fantasia 2000 36 Treasure Planet 35 Pocahontas 34 Basil The Great Mouse Detective 33 The Princess & The Frog 32 The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh 31 Tarzan 30 The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad 29 Melody Time 28 The Sword in The Stone 27 Bolt 26 Mulan 25 Hercules 24 The Rescuers Down Under 23 Lilo & Stitch 22 The Aristocats 21 The Fox and The Hound 20 Fantasia 19 The Rescuers 18 Robin Hood 17 Alice in Wonderland 16 Peter Pan 15 The Hunchback of Notre Dame 14 Sleeping Beauty 13 The Emperor's new Groove 12 Cinderella 11 101 Dalmatians 10 Dumbo 9 Lady and The Tramp 8 Pinocchio 7 The Little Mermaid 6 Aladdin 5 The Lion King 4 Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs 3 Bambi 2 The Jungle Book 1 Beauty & The Beast An interesting list I think. With 1 or 2 exceptions I think this is a fair summation. It'll be interesting to see if they ever mention where Tangled would fit!!!
Originally Posted By mawnck >>20 Fantasia 19 The Rescuers 18 Robin Hood<< Headdesk. Seriously? Robin Hood two notches ahead of Fantasia? ON A BRITISH LIST? PS - Special bonus headdesk for >>4 Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs 3 Bambi 2 The Jungle Book<<
Originally Posted By u k fan I think the fact that Robin Hood is high up is BECAUSE it's a British list. Robin Hood is littered with voices that we grew up with on TV or in film and (and I think this is the main reason) it was one of the few Disney films that was available to TV companies to show over here. Almost every public holiday featured a showing of Robin Hood. It was as ubiquitous as The Wizard of Oz and The Sound of Music. In the days before video this was a Disney animation that was easy to see. Once VHS was around this was an easy film to record so most kids owned a copy. I'm guessing the second headdesk was for Jungle Book. It's enormously popular in the UK, with most non-Disney fans (especially men) listing this as their favourite. I don't know if it's the British source material or the music (which again is very popular), but it's much-loved in the UK. When it was released on VHS for the first time it became the biggest selling video of all time and was top 5-ish in a poll a few years back of the best family film voted for by the public. On the opposite side many non-animation fans find Fantasia to be quite slow I will admit to dozing off myself during "Rites of Spring" at least once!!!
Originally Posted By mawnck Interesting how different cultures react differently to movies. I just remember all the fuss over the American kid playing Christopher Robin in the first Pooh short, and then there's all those American "hick" accents in Robin Hood. Even aside from the fact that it's not a very good movie. And putting the Jungle Book ahead of Snow White and Bambi is just weird. That's like saying >>4 Gone with the Wind 3 Citizen Kane 2 Legally Blonde<< ... because Reese Witherspoon is SO cute in that movie.
Originally Posted By u k fan FWIW, I'm not a huge fan of Jungle Book. The background art notwithstanding, I find it to be a bit ho hum and too episodic for my tastes. I do think sometimes that Snow White is heralded more for it's history than the film itself. I was surprised to see Lilo & Stitch so low down since it was received fairly well by critics at the time. Also, I was pleasantly surprised by the high placing of TENG!!!
Originally Posted By u k fan Here's the magazine's write up for Robin Hood: "Despite entire characters and sequences being swiped from The Jungle Book, Disney's foxy adap of the classic folk tale stands as the definitive big screen Robin Hood." The write up of Jungle Book is quite long, but includes the phrases "timeless jazzy soundtrack" and "one of Disney's greatest movies" and describes Mowgli as "a perfect blend of innocence and sulky sass"!!!
Originally Posted By mawnck >>the definitive big screen Robin Hood.<< Ow ... my forehead just went THROUGH the desk. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029843/" target="_blank">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029843/</a>
