What is Your Favourite Disney Animated Film and Why?

[Dizchu]

Let's get away from all the doom and gloom and focus on something more positive. No matter how you feel about Walt Disney as a person, his company's influenced the culture of the 20th century and beyond. They are synonymous with the advancement of animation, from the early shorts to the first feature length in the 30s to the works of Pixar in the 90s. Even anime owes a massive debt to the work of this company.

So what's your favourite animated Disney film? My favourite is Fantasia, which also happens to be my favourite film of all time too. This 75 year-old epic fused what is regarded as a low-brow medium with high-brow concepts and music, while still being accessible for kids. It was the film that got me interested in both animation and music, relying solely on the music to drive its narrative.

So now that I got the ball rolling, what are your favourite Disney animated films?

 

[Evonisia]

Damn, Disney's got quite a few AFs I love. Tangled, Sleeping Beauty, The Lion King, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Mulan. God damn it, Disney, stop owning my life.

----

Honestly, I think I'll be lame and say Beauty and the Beast. Though I absconded from it for years after I watched Enchanted Christmas (why? WHY?!), I revisited it last year and everything about it was just so captivating. It's gorgeous looking, I love Belle as a character (I don't agree with the Stockholm Syndrome accusations), the story is so sweet and there is such a charm to it. I think it deserves a special mention for the music, which IIRC came from somebody who was not long for the Earth when it came out so it felt quite poignant in retrospect.

I wonder if Frozen, which is probably my second favourite behind BatB, can recover in my eyes if Frozen 2 turns out to be abysmally terrible.

EDIT: Does Who Framed Roger Rabbit? count?

 

[EscapeGoat_v1legacy]

For me it's easily The Black Cauldron. I know it might not be a typical choice but what a film! It's got a tense, dark atmosphere, gorgeous animation and John Hurt voicing the villain. Sure, it basically scared the crap out of me when I was a kid but it's stuck with me and it's one of my favourite animated films, let alone one of my favourite Disney films. Close on it are probably Basil the Great Mouse Detective and The Hunchback of Notre Damn but The Black Cauldron juuuust edges it for me.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Beauty and the Beast.

I remember owning the movie on VHS twice because I watched it so much that the first copy was un-watchable and almost broke the VHS player. The music was great in that, and the musical sequences were nicely done. I think Belle is a great character and I don't buy the Stockholm Syndrome nonsense that is thrown at it.

The original Fantasia is a close second though.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

Nightmare Before Christmas. One of the most unique ideas in one of the most unique forms of animation with the most unique design to any movie I've seen. Great Characters; a main character you can really enjoy and get behind, a whole bunch of wacky and uniquely creative side characters, and one of the best villains ever (even if his goal is a little... weak). The score and songs are perfect for this movie. It also doesn't hurt that it's a Halloween and Christmas film. It's my favorite movie of all time.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

Outside of Pixar, probably a toss up between The Lion King and Alice in Wonderland. Both films hold some sentimental value to me. I think I might lean more towards Alice in Wonderland, though, as it's one of those films that I never grow tired of.

Although I also really like Aladin, Mulan, and Lilo and Stitch (which this day the only film I've ever seen twice in the theater.)

 

[KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime]

For me as I was growing up three had a huge impact on me and still carry a lot of nostalgia: Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Alice in Wonderland. For the most of the rest, I can take, or leave them.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Three-way tie between Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King. I think I prefer Aladdin though.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

So we're including Pixar films as well? Then it's easy: Toy Story 3, which I probably should watch again to reassess if it's still the best movie I've ever seen. The story is great, the characters fantastic, the animation and colours beyond incredible. It's one film about which I can't think anything to criticize. Yeah, call the ending sappy all you want, it doesn't bother me.

I must mention Hercules though. Not that it's some masterpiece, but because it was the first film I saw in theaters ever as a kid, and it's still a massive nostalgia trip for me. It's just got this nutty energy that I can't remember many other Disney films having.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Tough call, so I'll just say: Beauty and the Beast, Lilo and Stitch, The Lion King, Aladdin, The Princess and the Frog, Mulan, the Nightmare Before Christmas, and Fantasia/2000. Are Pixar movies a separate category?

 

[Skatologist]

Frozen!

*Gets switftly assaulted by overripe tomatoes and old shoes*

Seriously though, Disney Animated Classics can't get much better than Alice in Wonderland in my humble opinion. I don't think I've seen any adaption of Carroll's books have quite lived up to how well the animated feature had done things.

 

[tilmoph]

The Lion King. That was just a really good story, Scar was a well done, logically motivated villain, Simba's character art was engrossing and handled well, and the music was top notch.

Second pick would be Nightmare before Christmas. Love Jack Skellington, and it's got a nice horror themed sense of humor, but the gap between Scar and Boogieman as villains puts Lion King in the top spot for me.

 

[Fox12]

The answer is clear.

Spoiler

The best, and most underrated of all Disney films. It's, well, epic. The only Disney film to give me chills.

Lion King gets a very close second, though, that film is crazy good.

Edit: Well, oops : P

 

[viscomica]

Mulan, Aladdin and Pocahontas, all those three are my favorites (the jungle book would be the runner-up)

 

[Asita]

The Princess and the Frog actually rates pretty high up there for me because it's the first film since...probably Mulan that felt like it really captured the Disney magic I remembered from when I was young.

The answer is clear.

Spoiler

The best, and most underrated of all Disney films. It's, well, epic. The only Disney film to give me chills.

Lion King gets a very close second, though, that film is crazy good.

Uh...I'm getting a dead link for that youtube video, so which was it supposed to be?

 

[Dizchu]

Uh...I'm getting a dead link for that youtube video, so which was it supposed to be?

I Googled the Youtube code in Fox12's post and I believe it's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (correct me if I'm wrong).

Good answers, guys. I see most people have a fondness for the films released during the so-called "Disney Renaissance" (the period between The Little Mermaid and Tarzan, I believe?).

Other favourites of mine will have to include Emperor's New Groove and Lilo & Stitch.

 

[FPLOON]

Top 15 (No particular order):

-Atlantis: The Lost Empire
-The Lion King (Game of Thrones lite)
-The Emperor's New Groove
-Lilo and Stitch
-The Princess and the Frog
-The Black Cauldron
-Beauty and the Beast
-The Rescuers Down Under
-Fantasia
-Aladdin
-The Great Mouse Detective
-The Hunchback of Notre Dame
-A Goofy Movie
-Mulan
-Treasure Planet

I refuse to choose just one, mind you... and the rest [that are not on this list] I mostly respect one way or another...
(Note: List would have been bigger, but I tried to mainly focus on Disney's animation-only movies and not their hybrids, live-action, or Pixar films...)

Basically this... I can never seem to choose just one Disney movie as my favorite... Other than that, there's Marry Poppins/Bedknobs and Broomsticks for hybrid, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for live-action, and Toy Story/Finding Nemo for Pixar... Honorable mention to The Avengers because you know why, I'm guessing...

 

[SmallHatLogan]

Alice in Wonderland is not only my favourite Disney movie but one of my all time favourite movies. I just love the general absurdity of it. I also like the fact that there's no real overarching narrative but rather it's just a series of weird events strung together. That's something that would normally be a negative rather than a positive but with Alice in Wonderland I think it works really well. And I find Alice to be a genuinely interesting and funny character (I like her a lot more than most Disney protagonists). She's generally a polite person but is also seen to lose her patience and go as far as to make some sarcastic responses to the Queen.

The books are also fantastic and definitely worth a read.

I'm also a big Aladdin fan. I think that was one of my first Disney movies.

 

[Asclepion]

I'll never forgive Atlantis: The Lost Empire for so blatantly copying Nadia: The Secret Of Blue Water.

Aladdin is weirdly personal for me, because I know Aladdin in real life. One of my best friends is an attractive dark-skinned street rat of partially Arabic descent who does parkour, and everyone I know calls him Aladdin.