Disney Countdown

From a movie with a famous ride to a movie based on a famous ride, we have Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. The Movie: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is a 2003 summer blockbuster directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.  It was the first movie rated PG-13 to be released under the Walt Disney banner instead of  a subsidiary studio.  Given the recent failures of pirate-themed movies and the fact the movie was based on an amusement park ride, expectations were low for the movie.  In fact, during production, it was debated whether the project would be for a theatrical movie or a direct-to-video one.  However, Pirates of the Caribbean surprised everyone, becoming a critically acclaimed movie and a box office hit.  The movie garnered five Oscar nominations (Makeup, Sound, Sound Editing, Visual Effects, and Actor for Johnny Depp). Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is ...

Keeping in the Disney Renaissance, let's look at one of their darkest films, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The Movie: The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the 34th film in the Disney Animated Canon and the 7th of the Disney Renaissance.  This was the follow-up film for Beauty and the Beast directors Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise.  The movie was met with generally positive reviews and performed well at the box-office, though it did face some criticism for the darker tones and from fans of the book for the changes made.  Notably, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the only movie in the Disney Animated Canon to ever be nominated for a Razzie (in the one-off category " Worst Written Film Grossing Over $100 Million.") The Hunchback of Notre Dame is (somewhat loosely) based off the novel by Victor Hugo.  Set in Medieval France, the movie opens with Judge Claude Frollo capturing a group of gypsies.  A mother tries to escape to save her baby and dies.  The baby is def...

Let's return once again to the Disney Renaissance with Tarzan. The Movie: Tarzan is 37th movie in the Disney Animated Canon and the final movie of the Disney Renaissance.  The movie was well-received and Disney's biggest hit since The Lion King.  Tarzan's popularity led to a spin-off TV series, a direct-to-DVD midquel, and a short-lived Broadway musical.  While still a 2D animated film, Tarzan notably used an innovative new computer system called Deep Canvas to create complex 3D backgrounds. Tarzan is based on the novel Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs.  The story begins with a shipwreck stranding the baby Tarzan and his parents in the jungles of Africa.  When his parents are killed by the leopard Sabor, Tarzan is rescued by the gorilla Kala, who raises him as her son.  As he grows up with his friends Terk (a fellow gorilla) and Tantor (an elephant), Tarzan struggles to gain the approval Kerchak, the leader of the gorillas.  Tarzan's...

Our final Dark Age film is The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The Movie: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is the 22nd film in the Disney Animated Canon.  In essence, this movie is a variation of a package film, in that it took three previously released Winnie the Pooh shorts, one of them an Oscar winner and another an Oscar nominee, and placed them together with new material to connect them and a new ending.  Today the movie is almost universally praised and held up as the definitive adaption of the books. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is based on the book Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne.  As it is a compilation of three shorts, there are three distinct stories, although as presented here they aren't labeled as such.  The first section is Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, in which Pooh attempts to get some honey from a tree.  The second section is Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, in which a strong wind and rain causes problems f...

Here's our last remaining Silver Age film, The Sword in the Stone. The Movie: The Sword in the Stone is the 18th film in the Disney Animated Canon and the 7th of Disney's Silver Age.  It was a box-office success despite receiving mixed reviews from critics.  It did earn one Oscar nomination for its musical score. The Sword in the Stone is based on the book of the same name by T. H. White, which tells the story of a young future King Arthur before the legends as told by Sir Thomas Malory.  (White would later write three other books based on the Arthurian legend and combine them into the work The Once and Future King.)  In this tale young Arthur is known as Wart, a ward of Sir Ector and the squire of Ector's son Kay.  While the two boys are out hunting, Wart goes into the woods to retrieve and arrow and meets the magician Merlin and his talking owl Archimedes.  Merlin, knowing Wart is destined for greatness, travels with him back to Ector's castle to...

Today we visit another classic fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty. The Movie: Sleeping Beauty is the 16th movie in the Disney Animated Canon.  Upon its initial release, Sleeping Beauty received mixed reviews.  Even though it was the second highest grossing movie of the year, it lost money at the box-office due to high production costs and a protracted development.  This loss forced Disney into using cheaper animation techniques that defined the styles of the end of the Silver Age and the Dark Age.  Disney also abandoned fairy tales after this movie, and the company wouldn't make another one until The Little Mermaid thirty years later. Sleeping Beauty is based on the Charles Perrault fairy tale.  The movie opens with King Stefan holding a celebration for the birth of his daughter Aurora.  The evil Maleficent crashes the party uninvited, and places a curse on the child.  To protect Aurora, she is sent into hiding until her 16th birthday as Briar Rose, ...

Next up on the list is the Disney classic Alice in Wonderland. The Movie: Alice in Wonderland is the 13th movie in the Disney Animated Canon and the 2nd Silver Age Film.  It received lukewarm reception upon its initial release and lost money at the box-office.  Walt Disney himself was disappointed by the film, as he felt it lacked heart, and he didn't re-release the film in theaters, instead opting to show it on television.  It finally got a theatrical re-release in 1974, as the movie had gained a cult following, especially on college campuses.  Today the film is held up as a classic of the Silver Age alongside the other movies of that era. Alice in Wonderland is an adaptation of the Lewis Carroll novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, with some elements taken from that book's sequel, Through the Looking Glass.  The title Alice is a young girl who, while sitting on the countryside and being bored by her lessons, sees a White Rabbit wearing clothes and ...