Ranking Disney: #1 – The Lion King (1994)
This had to be number one. It’s the only film of Disney’s that will actually get me to sit and watch entirely from start to finish. I love the rest of them (specifically Fantasia and Beauty and the Beast), but this is the only one I will watch in its entirety every time.
I feel like this is (and should be) a populist choice. It is, after all, the highest grossing Disney film of all time, and is really the film that manages to combine all the elements of a great Disney film. Fantasia‘s a little bit on the slow side and Beauty and the Beast is a bit slight on the villain/conflict aspect. This one has it all. The story, the songs, the characters, the comic relief — everything you could want in a film is here. Not to mention the message — “the circle of life” — it’s wonderful.
I love everything about this movie, and honestly, aside from the fact that Fantasia is Disney’s greatest artistic achievement, this is a slam dunk, no-brainer number one for me, all day, erryday.
Ranking Disney: #2 – Fantasia (1940)
Objectively, this is probably #1. Well — top three no matter what. I feel like, this and Snow White are probably in top three no matter what. To me, this is, not counting Snow White (which has to be the “greatest,” being the one that started it all), their greatest achievement. It’s a great piece of art, animation, and a great film on top of it all.
However — it’s not #1, because — when I watched it, I realized — I hold this film in very, very high regard, and I love it. But when I watch it, there are a few segments where, while the animation is great, they’re a bit slow for me, and it’s the kind of thing where I’d consider forwarding through some of it unless I was totally on board with watching the whole thing. Whereas the film I put at number one (which should be obvious by now) is a film where — I’ll watch that one all the way through, every time. And it feels like an experience. So, for fun purposes, I put this at two. But, in terms of full packages, this was so close to being my #1. (I also felt it would have been a really easy choice for #1, which is another thing I didn’t want to do.)
Either way — it’s fucking Fantasia. If this isn’t in your top three (okay, top five if you’re doing the list like I am, based on how much you like them, and top ten if you’re totally batshit and have weird tastes), you’re delusional.
Ranking Disney: #3 – Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Tale as old as time.
Song as old as rhyme.
It’s Beauty and the Beast.
Ranking Disney: #4 – Cinderella (1950)
It was a tough call for me, deciding between Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella for top 5. I went with this for several reasons. First, this is really the princess story in all of Disney. It’s both the first one and the quintessential one.
In terms of being what I consider the “first,” Snow White is great and all, but it’s not really a fairy tale. She meets the dwarfs and almost dies — there’s nothing romantic there. This, though — poor girl, gets her dream to come true for a night, then winds up getting her fairy tale ending anyway — this is the first one to do that. And, when you think of how a typical Disney princess story goes, you think of Cinderella first.
Plus — the songs. Sleeping Beauty doesn’t have any songs. It just really has the one great one. This one has about five great ones. The only real thing Sleeping Beauty has over this is the strength of the animation. This doesn’t look as good as that. But, story-wise, and song-wise — this wins easily. I had to put this one in the top five. (Also, it was actually #5 until two days ago, when I realized that, while I love The Little Mermaid more because I grew up with it — this is just better.)
I couldn’t put this any higher, even though I wish I could. It’s just — the top three are the top three. Still — we know what this is. If you had to pick the top five most classic Disney movies, I’d say the three that would go on everybody’s lists were Snow White, Fantasia and this. (The other two would be up for debate.)
