As you may have noticed, yesterday I finally finished my survey of the Disney Animated Canon. So naturally, to-day I have to rank all the movies. First, I thought I'd comment on the Canon as a whole.
Obviously, the preoccupations present in Disney films have changed over time as their creators changed and the company's philosophy changed. Earlier films placed a greater emphasis on personal responsibility and achievement while, in recent decades, the emphasis is more on personal validation. The intrinsic value of community and family has remained a mostly consistent theme, though, from Snow White to Encanto. These things stand out but there are a few other interesting, less obvious, recurring ideas I noticed.
Sex
Yeah, it's there. Many people comment on romance in Disney films but there's plenty of pure, carnal pleasure in evidence. There are the sexy fairies in Fantasia and the seductive Slue-Foot Sue in Melody Time. But sex in Disney movies wasn't just about titillating the audience--sexual attraction as a motivation integral to the plot is frequently present in the first decades of the canon. Donald Duck and his comrades indulge in unbridled hedonistic pleasure in The Three Caballeros, chasing Carmen Miranda's sister and Mexican women on the beach as they sow their wild oats in foreign lands. Ichabod Crane in The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is a man of carnal appetite whose lust for Katrina Van Tassel is tied to his greed and gluttony. In Peter Pan, Tinkerbell functions as a symbol of easy, adolescent, sexual gratification as opposed to the potential family symbolised by Wendy. In Lady and the Tramp, it's heavily implied that the two lead dogs have a sexual encounter in the park that leaves Lady ashamed to awaken alone. Curiously, while the 1960s sexually liberated most of the western world, it marked a time when Disney became more reluctant to explore sexuality. It wasn't until the late '80s that sex became part of the story again and, unsurprisingly, it coincided with the company's legendary Renaissance. After the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the company was willing to be titillating again and sexually appealing character designs enhanced The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Pocahontas. However, the stories were less sophisticated in how they commented on the sexuality apparent in the animation. Only The Hunchback of Notre Dame really attempted to approach it but that movie is generally, quite rightly, regarded as an ambitious failure. As American society now has grown increasingly wary of physical intimacy, sexuality has become noticeably less prominent in Disney films.
The Unnaturalness of Sexually Attractive Older Women
This is a strange preoccupation that has cropped up repeatedly throughout the history of the canon, starting with the evil queen in Snow White whose compulsion to be as sexually desirable as her adoptive daughter is shown to be deeply, destructively unnatural. Cruella De Vil's attempts to look sexually glamorous are connected with a compulsion to kill puppies--like the Queen in Snow White, being beautiful herself involves murdering the young. Ursula tries to take Ariel's place in The Little Mermaid and the most egregious example occurs somewhat anachronistically in Tangled in which Rapunzel's stepmother has a desire to appear young that is presented as obviously sick. What is this preoccupation? It could have something to do with the importance placed on family so, therefore, any attempt by one component of a family to redefine their role might be seen as a threat.
Beauty
Some would say beauty is entirely subjective. To some extent, that's true, but there's a consistent universal appeal in youthful, symmetrical features. The reality of beauty can be seen in its constant influence on society at all levels. Naturally, it's unavoidable for Disney and though occasionally their movies present a story like Hunchback of Notre Dame or Beauty and the Beast, seemingly intent on presenting a story about how true love transcends physical appearances, every time, Disney films reinforce the value of physical beauty (Esmeralda does not reciprocate Quasimodo's feelings and the Beast is transformed into a handsome gentleman). In the process, Disney has given us some of the most gorgeous characters ever to grace celluloid or digital.
Management/Entrepreneurship
Walt Disney's belief in capitalism is certainly reflected in his films and in the first decades there was plenty about personal responsibility and the need to eschew short term pleasures. Cinderella is really a story about a girl who uses her difficult upbringing to learn how to be a queen while, a year before, Ichabod Crane was also seen trying to improve his economic standing through marriage (less successfully). Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and Sleeping Beauty all present examples of leadership--showing the benefits of good leadership and the dangers of bad leadership.
Romance
There's a lot less romance in Disney than you'd think. After Snow White, it cropped up memorably in the anthology films but only as vignettes, until Ichabod and Mr. Toad. The complicated dynamic between Ichabod, Brom Bones, and Katrina is left more or less in tact from the original story but actually isn't terribly romantic. Since the Prince is barely in Snow White, I'd say it wasn't until Lady and the Tramp that we got a proper, two sided affair with two three dimensional characters. And after Lady and the Tramp, we wouldn't get it again until Robin Hood. Sadly, both The Rescuers and The Aristocats lobotomise their female leads and the teens in The Black Cauldron seem like they were written by robots. I wouldn't even say The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast are particularly strong in the romance department (Prince Eric never really progresses past a masturbatory fantasy for Ariel). Aladdin has a genuine chemistry between its leads and then . . . That's it. Tarzan and Atlantis both have lopsided pairings with only one fleshed out character and Tangled's preoccupation with conformity stifles its romance. The only romance that's really worked in recent years is the one in Zootopia--which the characters never acknowledge. It kind of makes sense, though, because prepubescent kids, even girls, aren't especially interested in relationships beyond a superficial level.
Children
Pinocchio, Dumbo, and Bambi are three of the best movies about children in the history of cinema. After that, though, children don't make frequent appearances in Disney films. Ironically, the kids in Peter Pan seem more like teenagers, as does Alice in Alice in Wonderland. Winnie the Pooh had some fantastic childlike characters but the child characters in the '80s films--Fox and the Hound, The Great Mouse Detective, and Oliver and Company, are pretty weak, as are the kids in the two Rescuers movies. But that makes sense. Kids like to fantasise about being adults.
Parenthood
The 1960s found Disney releasing a string of films centred on parental figures--Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmations, The Sword in the Stone, The Jungle Book, and The Aristocats. I suspect this was likely due to the filmmakers' preoccupations with their own roles as parents at the time. Family, though, is a big concern throughout the canon, whether it's a found family, like in Snow White, or biological family. There is an underlying bias towards biological families sometimes, particularly considering the recurrence of evil stepmothers, but I suspect this is more of a hand-me-down detail from the source materials. Found families are positively portrayed again and again--in Pinocchio, Dumbo, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, The Jungle Book, Oliver and Company, Home on the Range, Bolt, Wreck-It Ralph, and Big Hero 6. And that goes hand and hand with . . .
Community
Again and again, the importance of community is emphasised by Disney movies. If a movie doesn't end with family coming together, it ends with community coming together. Sometimes to the detriment of the story, so committed is Disney to this ideal. The only Disney movie in which we really get any inkling of a dark side to community is Ichabod and Mr. Toad. This was once again due to Disney being extraordinarily faithful to the source material. Ichabod Crane remains the only character in the Disney canon who's punished in the end for being an outsider, even if he is a charming one.
Class
This is one big difference between old Disney and new. During Walt Disney's lifetime, economic and social class were frequently a part of the characters and their stories. You can see it in Snow White, Ichabod and Mr. Toad, and obviously in Lady and the Tramp. And then you see it after Disney's death in The Aristocats, The Rescuers, The Black Cauldron, The Great Mouse Detective and, of course, in Oliver and Company. But after that, it's rarely a factor, with the notable exception of Aladdin. Disney's not alone in its decreased class consciousness as Hollywood in general has been less and less conscious of economic disparity over the past thirty years.
Anyway, here's my ranking:
60. Dinosaur
59. Chicken Little
58. Winnie the Pooh (2011)
57. Meet the Robinsons
56. Home on the Range
55. The Emperor's New Groove
54. Moana
53. Treasure Planet
52. The Princess and the Frog
51. Bolt
50. Big Hero 6
49. Fun and Fancy Free
48. The Aristocats
47. The Rescuers Down Under
46. Hercules
45. Mulan
44. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
43. Tangled
42. Ralph Breaks the Internet
41. Raya and the Last Dragon
40. Encanto
39. The Sword in the Stone
38. Fantasia 2000
37. The Fox and the Hound
36. The Black Cauldron
35. Tarzan
34. Brother Bear
33. The Great Mouse Detective
32. The Rescuers
31. 101 Dalmatians
30. Frozen II
29. Pocahontas
28. Atlantis: The Lost Empire
27. Robin Hood
26. Beauty and the Beast
25. The Lion King
24. The Jungle Book
23. Lady and the Tramp
22. Oliver & Company
21. Lilo and Stitch
20. Wreck-It Ralph
19. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
18. Make Mine Music
17. Zootopia
16. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
15. Bambi
14. Melody Time
13. The Three Caballeros
12. Saludos Amigos
11. Aladdin
10. Peter Pan
9. Fantasia
8. Frozen
7. Cinderella
6. The Little Mermaid
5. Sleeping Beauty
4. Alice in Wonderland
3. Dumbo
2. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
1. Pinocchio
Twitter Sonnet #1524
The tea's important nights conclude at eight.
Excited voices fail to frazzle weeds.
A trillion blimps could lift the planet's weight.
The line divides the clueless food from feeds.
With timing blank as paper faces start.
We never dreamed of dripping bags for life.
Arrange to cook the callous, broken heart.
The shade is cool but not a living wife.
A special hat was worn to shield the track.
Reducing picture size, we carried film.
Avoid the Atlas job to spare your back.
The candy necklace never broke the helm.
The pencils change to plastic autumn leaves.
The book forever gains increasing leaves.
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