10 for Friday: Disney Movies

For a 7-year-old in the 1990s, there was no company as prolific as Walt Disney, especially their cartoons. So in order to do a countdown of my favorites at the time, I’m going to have to cheat a little bit.

So, here are 10 of the best animated features, according to 7-year-old me.

Beauty and the Beast

I have some distinct memories of the first movie I watched in theatres, but for the most part I think of Beauty and the Beast as a girl’s movie, one my sister enjoyed more than the other siblings (although I was especially a fan of Lumier and Cogsworth). Beauty and the Best was however at the time one of the most visually striking tales I had ever seen, with big showy music, a pretty compelling story and funny characters. And it also lead to my dad deciding to get a bigger TV and surround sound for our living room, so I probably owe this movie a lot more than I give it credit.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks

We owned a copy of Bedknobs and Broomsticks which was taken out of circulation at the local library when my mom worked there. It’s a classic and in many ways I like this one more than the other live action/animated film staring David Tomlinson (cough, Mary Poppins, cough). It’s a strange movie, which spent long portions of time in weird animated worlds, with the right amount of magic and fights with Nazis. (Seriously, how many World War II kids movies do you know of? Oh, that many. Never mind then.) It has not held up very well and in retrospect is almost so odd that I half expect it to have been directed by Terry Gilliam, but it will never lose its nostalgic charm for me.

101 Dalmatians

We had exposure to many of the classic Disney movies through their 1990s VHS releases, but one I vividly remember was 101 Dalmatians which became more than a little obsessed about. (Remember that time I said we really wanted a dog? This only helped that desire grow.) It was probably one of the more watched movies than any in the Dutro household, and its held up pretty well. At the very least, I know I cringe a little bit whenever I hear the words Cruella de Vil, which has to account for something.

Fantasia

I really enjoyed Fantasia as a kid, but the real reason it’s on this list? I used to dress up with a bathrobe and a pillow on my head and dance with the mushrooms during the song "China Dance." That’s the major reason. I was also scared to death by the devil at the end of the movie, and with the exception of the Magicians Nephew (was there a dinosaur one? I don’t remember) there are few other scenes in this I can recall today. But the mushrooms made this a regular must watch.

Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh

My relationship with Winnie-the-Pooh has a few parts. My first introduction was at a young age when we owned a few Disney VHS tapes that contained chapters of the “Many Adventures,” and they were a constant in our VCR because it also played during the time ABC aired the wonderful New Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh (come on, you remember the theme song). Years later, my youngest brother Zach became obsessed with the full movie and (as kids often do) we probably watched it about 2 or 3 times a day. It got to the point where I could remember each line without looking at the TV. It was gross. However I have a love of the movie, and Pooh in general, but today that is because of the book which I so greatly enjoyed. As far as children’s books go, it’s the standard in my opinion.

Toy Story

This is the other movie that Zach watched regularly and again, I can almost recite every line of it. But Toy Story is much more than that, and it was not really until I grew older that I realized that. I watched Toy Story first at the library, where they had acquired a copy of it and played it on a projector, and it was terribly impressive to me as a kid, a funny movie (and wow, it still is) with beautiful visuals -- and hey, no musical number. Today I look at it as an achievement and still one of the best films produced by Pixar, which is saying something. Toy Story is of course their flagship property, and it’s incredible that they have been able to keep up with it’s quality and character after 3 films.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

When The Nightmare Before Christmas came out, it was a bit of a shock. At the time I was reading Goosebumps and Ahh! Real Monsters was a favorite of mine when I had the chance to watch it, but Nightmare was something entirely different. It wasn’t intended to be scary like Goosebumps and wasn’t necessarily funny like Real Monsters (although it achieved both). Nightmare was a family movie, that had a real heart to it and it was one my immediate family latched onto. Later I became obsessed with it again in my high school days ("Look how brooding I am for liking this movie and wearing converse shoes"), and today I see it as one of the best productions Disney has put its hand in and possibly Tim Burton’s finest creation.

The Great Mouse Detective

I don’t think many people would contain this one on a list of ‘best’ movies any time soon, but I really enjoy the Great Mouse Detective as a bit of a shake-up from the regular Disney pack, and so did 7-year-old me. It was a fun spoof on Sherlock Holmes, with some great songs, decent action and who could say no to Vincent Price playing the bad guy. In my book, The Great Mouse Detective has so much going for it, it’s a shame it doesn’t top most lists.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

In retrospect, this movie is probably not the most appropriate for children, but it doesn’t matter -- I loved it as a kid and wow, does it still stand up today. For a character who up until this point was only featured in a murder mystery, Roger Rabbit became a household name in the late 80s and early 90s on par with Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny (who shared a scene together in the film). Roger was goofy, the story was wildly entertaining and the characters still stand out in my head. In fact, I never realized how much this movie left a mark on me as a kid until a recent re-watch. I strongly urge people to check this out again, because it is still one of best films of its time with animation that has yet to be topped.

Aladdin

I’m going to be honest, I do not think Aladdin has held up nearly as well as some of the other movies on this list -- and especially  the previous four mentioned -- have. But it doesn’t matter what I think of it today, 7-year-old me loved this movie. Loved, loved, loved it. Like Beauty and the Beast, it was one of the first movies I saw in theaters and became an obsession. Which was further encouraged by the movie and characters being made to an incredible feat of marketing. Toys, a video game, a TV show and even comic book stories were released in the monthly Disney Adventures magazine (we had a subscription for many years). I could not get enough of it as a kid. I’m not going to pretend that it was perfect, but I have a feeling that if you asked 7-year-old me what his favorite movie was, this would probably be on the top of his list.