Worst to Best: Eras of Disney Animation Canon

Movies can and do have tremendous influence in shaping young lives in the realm of entertainment towards the ideals and objectives of normal adulthood.

-Walt Disney

Walt Disney Animation Studios has been producing feature-length animated films for over 80 years, with no signs of slowing down. Like any other studio, their history has been filled with ups and downs, partially defined by certain corporate decisions and current events of the time period. Despite the variety in settings and genres, each film has served a purpose of entertaining people of all ages and the need to craft timeless stories. While the ranking of individual films are common, I seek to do something unique with the ranking of the eras from the studio. Each era has a distinct “feel” and certain similarities, even if certain films may be more different than others. The seven eras that make up the history of the studio (Golden Age, Wartime Era, Silver Age, Dark Age, Disney Renaissance, Post-Renaissance, Revival Era) are unique and have their own significance in animation history and serving as the trend-setters for the animation landscape.

#7 – POST-RENAISSANCE (2000 – 2008)

• Fantasia 2000 (2000)
• Dinosaur (2000)
• The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)
• Atlantis: the Lost Empire (2001)
• Lilo & Stitch (2002)
• Treasure Planet (2002)
• Brother Bear (2003)
• Home on the Range (2004)
• Chicken Little (2005)
• Meet the Robinsons (2007)
• Bolt (2008)

The worst era in Disney Animation history, the Post-Renaissance era saw a decline in quality and financial success, particularly in comparison to the Disney Renaissance era. Two of the films from the era (Brother Bear and Chicken Little) are considered the worst-rated films of the studio based on their 30% range critic scores on Rotten Tomatoes. While the company as a whole wasn’t as financially vulnerable, there was definite turmoil from the executive side of Disney with the ousting of former CEO Michael Eisner and the purchase of Pixar leading to a change in leadership for the studio. One admirable aspect of this era is the experimentation of stories that went against the formula established in the previous era, even if they weren’t executed well. Films such as Atlantis and Treasure Planet sought to tell more mature stories and avoiding musical numbers, while Lilo & Stitch evolved into a major Disney franchise. Another significant change that occurred during this era is the “temporary” abandonment of 2D animation in favor of CGI due to poor box office returns. There are a few bright spots that stand out such as Fantasia 2000, The Emperor’s New Groove (a film that has since established a cult following), and Home on the Range (a film that I love but everyone else hates).

#6 – DARK AGE (1970 – 1988)

• The Aristocats (1970)
• Robin Hood (1973)
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
• The Rescuers (1977)
• The Fox and the Hound (1981)
• The Black Cauldron (1985)
• The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
• Oliver & Company (1988)

The Dark Age for the studio was somewhat bright in comparison to other areas of the company at the time, as most of the films released had some level of financial success. However, the death of Walt Disney and the stagnation of innovation made most of these films lack the same magic from the previous eras. Most of these films are entertaining in their own right, but lack some memorability in certain significant areas such as characters and musical numbers. Films like The Aristocats and The Rescuers suffered from bland and boring storytelling while The Black Cauldron was an experimental disaster in the studio’s attempt to break the stereotype of Disney films being only for kids. The change in leadership of the company, mixed in with financial woes, a potential corporate takeover, and the transition period from old to new animators all had an impact on the studio and their output. Fortunately, the financial success of The Great Mouse Detective and Oliver & Company (along with the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit) would serve as the groundwork for the success of the Disney Renaissance. Even among these average-to-good films are a couple of classics such as Robin Hood (despite the decline in critical praise since its release) and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

#5 – SILVER AGE (1950 – 1967)

• Cinderella (1950)
• Alice in Wonderland (1951)
• Peter Pan (1953)
• Lady and the Tramp (1955)
• Sleeping Beauty (1959)
• 101 Dalmatians (1961)
• The Sword in the Stone (1963)
• The Jungle Book (1967)

The Silver Age served as the first return to form for the studio, led by the massive success of Cinderella. With Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, Walt Disney aimed to replicate his initial success of Snow White and establish the princess formula while the other films continued his success of adaptations. This era also served as a transitional period as Walt Disney became less hands-on with these films as he turned his attention to live-action films, TV shows, and Disneyland. All of these films can be considered classics on their own merits though some films are better than others, with Walt Disney having more involvement on certain films over others. 101 Dalmatians marked a new innovation in animation with the xerox technology, as it was used to speed up the animation process and helped create the dots for all the dalmatians in the film. Another innovation implemented during this era is the use of widescreen, with Lady and the Tramp and Sleeping Beauty utilizing wider aspect ratios that have since become common in recent years. While these films don’t push the boundaries of the Golden Age, they established a standard of storytelling that would become normal for the studio. The personal favorites of the era are Lady and the Tramp and The Sword in the Stone.

#4 – DISNEY RENAISSANCE (1989 – 1999)

• The Little Mermaid (1989)
• The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
• Beauty and the Beast (1991)
• Aladdin (1992)
• The Lion King (1994)
• Pocahontas (1995)
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
• Hercules (1997)
• Mulan (1998)
• Tarzan (1999)

Disney Animation returned to their roots once again with a string of films that mostly had critical and financial success, and increased the use of CGI elements using the CAPS system from Pixar. Outside of The Rescuers Down Under, all of the films were large-scale musicals with protagonists searching for a sense of belonging in addition to all those films receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song and/or Best Original Score. While all of these films are good, their homogeneous traits does hamper the impact of the era, even if some of these films are considered to be the best of animation. Aladdin, Pocahontas, and Mulan started the initial push for diverse representation, even if they attracted criticism for their execution. The Hunchback of Notre Dame pushed the most boundaries in the era with more mature themes and an overall dark tone not normally associated with Disney, leading to the most underrated film in the canon and the best of the era despite the tone problem. All the princess films served as a middle ground between classic and modern princesses, with heroines that were proactive despite ending up with a man in the end. The Disney Renaissance is the most popular and documented era, and has a level of significance that elevates the status of each film.

#3 – WARTIME ERA (1942 – 1949)

• Saludos Amigos (1942)
• The Three Caballeros (1944)
• Make Mine Music (1946)
• Fun and Fancy Free (1947)
• Melody Time (1948)
• The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)

#2 – REVIVAL ERA (2009 – PRESENT)

• The Princess and the Frog (2009)
• Tangled (2010)
• Winnie the Pooh (2011)
• Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
• Frozen (2013)
• Big Hero 6 (2014)
• Zootopia (2016)
• Moana (2016)
• Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)
• Frozen II (2019)

#1 – GOLDEN AGE (1937 – 1942)

• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
• Pinocchio (1940)
• Fantasia (1940)
• Dumbo (1941)
• Bambi (1942)

The best era of the studio happens to be their first, with all of them holding up many years later in terms of animation and storytelling. In addition, this era sought to create distinct storytelling with the variety in protagonists, settings, and source material. As the pioneer of feature-length North American animation, Walt Disney made sure to innovate to some extent with detailed animation and simplistic storytelling that evokes emotion. Each film in this era had a certain element of darkness that are sure to startle viewers, whether it was the boys turning into donkeys in Pinocchio, the “Night on Bald Mountain” segment of Fantasia, or the death of Bambi’s mother in Bambi. All of these films have held the test of time, even if Snow White and Dumbo were the only ones that were financially successful on release, and the rest only became successful with reissues and additional praise over the years. Fantasia is a unique piece of art that raised the bar of the concept of setting animation to music, while Bambi emulated aspects of realism with animation, and the other three created fantastical worlds that immersed the viewer. Outside of quality, all these films are the most significant stepping stones in animation history and one of the most significant milestones in the history of Hollywood and film.