Continued from last time. Minor spoilers ahead.
10. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) - There's a lot wrong here. After seeing the Charles Laughton version of "Hunchback" from the '30s, I understand what Disney was going for, but there are some dire adaptation mistakes. The gargoyles are too silly. Esmerelda is too modern. The happy ending is way too happy. And yet, the Disney "Hunchback" is one of the most beautiful animated films ever made, and some of the sequences are as good as anything they've ever done. These versions of Quasimodo and Frollo are truly moving, and had me invested in their fates. I wish they existed in a film that lived up to them, but Disney played it too safe, and proved only willing to go so far.
9. The Great Mouse Detective (1986) - This is the oldest film on the list, and something of a borderline case. It had its origins in the pre-Eisner era, and feels more like a film of the old school, even though Katzenberg certainly had a hand in the production. Also, it has some of Disney's earliest uses of CGI animation, and a lot of important Renaissance era talent was involved. I like that the movie works as a Sherlock Holmes pastiche, and as an adventure comedy starring mice. However, what helps "Great Mouse Detective" just squeak into the top half of this list is the villain, Ratigan, an egomaniacal rodent played with great panache by Vincent Price.
8. The Rescuers Down Under (1990) - You forgot about this movie, didn't you? Childhood nostalgia is in play here, as I was absolutely obsessed with this movie's flying sequences when I was a kid, but I continue to adore the intrepid Bernard and Miss Bianca. Marahute the golden eagle is one of the most magnificent creatures ever animated, and yes, that is George C. Scott himself voicing the villainous poacher, McLeach. I count this as the first, and perhaps the most successful of Disney's attempts to make a straight, blockbuster-style action-adventure picture. The spectacle works, the comedy works, and most importantly it has characters that you can really root for.
7. Hercules (1997) - It took a while, but "Hercules" has grown on me over time. It helps that it's so broadly comedic, after several years of too-serious epics like "Pocahontas" and "Hunchback." Here, using Gerald Scarfe's caricatures as the basis for the character designs, and recruiting very modern comic personalities to fill out the cast, we have a proper cartoon feature for the first time since "Aladdin." My qualms with the film come down to the life and origins of Hercules being a little too Disneyfied, removing anything remotely scandalous from the story, and setting him up as the Grecian Rocky Balboa. But its heart is in the right place, the vibe is swell, and I can't resist a Greek chorus.
6. The Little Mermaid (1989) - I was a little wary of placing "The Little Mermaid" so high in the rankings, especially since Ariel's boy crazy motivations are kinda eyebrow-raising these days, but just about everything in the movie still works to a startling degree. The music in particular is woven so well into the narrative that I can't imagine the movie without it. With the help of composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman, "The Little Mermaid" really originated and perfected the formula for the modern animated musical film - to the point where Disney found it very hard to divorce itself from this legacy in the following years. And the kids, I can report firsthand, love it as much as ever.
5. Tarzan (1999) - "Tarzan" is one of the most beautiful of the Disney features, and really the last one in this era that I felt was a successful execution of the Disney musical template - though it's not technically a musical, with Phil Collins' songs kept in the background. There is a love story that works better than the vast majority of other Disney romances, the character animation of both the humans and animals is stunning, and Tarzan himself is far and away the most interesting character in the picture. The comic relief is notably weak, but also far less obtrusive than we've seen in other Disney films. It mystifies me that this feature is so often overlooked or forgotten in the lists of Renaissance classics.
4. The Emperor's New Groove (2000) - "New Groove" underwent one of the most extreme transformations from original conception to the finished product. The chaotic production, which went through multiple directors and multiple visions, was always meant to be "The Prince and the Pauper" in a South American fantasy kingdom, but somehow also became a Chuck Jones homage with llamas. And it is the funniest, most delightful comedy that Disney ever made. David Spade and John Goodman as Kuzco and Pacha are perfect. Eartha Kitt and Patrick Warburton as Yzma and Kronk are even better. And despite being a box office bust, it has slowly but surely become indispensable.
3. The Lion King (1994) - I've had a love/hate relationship with this movie over the years, because on one hand it is an unparalleled visual spectacle, and on the other hand it was so omnipresent in pop culture for years that I got sick of it. Frankly, it is not as good as its reputation proclaims, but what it does right, it does better than any other film. The iconic opening sequence is still a high point in animation history, and Elton John and Hans Zimmer's music will live forever. I can grumble that the characters and the story are too bland and basic, but that's a big reason why they resonate so well with so many viewers. In the end, it's useless to try and argue against the masterpiece status of "The Lion King."
2. Aladdin (1992) - I miss Robin Williams. "Aladdin" managed to capture the energy and the joy of Robin Williams in a way that no other piece of media ever has. It's no surprise that this was a box office sensation, because no other animated film had ever been so much concentrated entertainment, propelled in large part by Williams' performance as the Genie. Whenever I rewatch it, I keep catching more little moments for grown-ups that it manages to sneak into the corners, like the William F. Buckley and Rodney Dangerfield impressions, and throwaway lines that go by so fast, kids don't catch the implications. It's aged over the years, sure, but "Aladdin" is still full of surprises.
1. Beauty and the Beast (1991) - A big reason I wrote this feature was because I realized that "Beauty and the Beast" has supplanted "Dumbo" as my favorite animated Disney feature. Over the years I mostly remembered the funny moments and the campy moments, and somehow lost sight of the pathos and romance at the heart of the story. I think it's because the most poignant moments play out largely away from the bombastic songs, and are these lovely, intimate scenes that tend to pass without much dialogue or comment. It's so earnestly emotional in ways that have gone completely out of style, and I love it for that. "Beauty and the Beast" also features my pick for the greatest piece of animation in any Disney film - the final transformation of the Beast.
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