As the 26th Disney film, The Great Mouse Detective is definitely not quite as well known as other Disney films.  There were ideas to make a Sherlock Holmes movie with animals in it for quite some time but the project was put in limbo because of too many similarities to The Rescuers.  However, when The Black Cauldron was in production, The Great Mouse Detective was also put in production as a backup project since people were unsure of The Black Cauldron having success.  Then, when The Great Mouse Detective was released, it did much better than The Black Cauldron, gaining positive reviews from critics and doing really well box office…

As the 25th animated Disney film, The Black Cauldron is definitely the least known film of Disney’s Bronze Age.  It was also the first Disney movie to use CGI animation (or computer- generated imagery) and the first ever Disney movie to be rated PG.  When the film was released (after a complicated production process), it was not received well by critics as they thought the movie’s tone was too dark and the script was bad; and though the animation voice acting and score received praise, the film also did poorly financially, grossing 21 million but costing 44 million to make.  And to add insult to injury, it was outgrossed by…

As the 24th Disney film, The Fox and the Hound is not as well known by some Disney fans; it takes place in the rural southern United States and is based on a book that was written by an American author.  This movie came out in 1981 and went through a long production due to several people who were working on it resigning from Disney (including Don Bluth who created Don Bluth productions which ended up becoming Disney’s rival); the famous film director Tim Burton also worked on the film.  When the film was released, it did very well financially but got mixed reviews from critics.  While they praised the…

As the 23rd Disney film, The Rescuers is definitely not quite as known as other Disney movies.  Before Walt Disney’s death, he had plans to make the book into a movie but it was shelved due to his dislike of the project’s political overtones.  When the film was finally released in 1977, it received positive reviews from critics and was a box office success, even outgrossing Star Wars in France.  Two classic “old school” actors voice the movie’s main protagonists; the female lead is voiced by Eva Gabor and the male lead by Bob Newhart.  While I really enjoyed this movie, I didn’t like the book it was based on…

As the 22nd Disney film, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is definitely the most well-known movie of Disney’s Bronze Age.  This movie, the first ever Winnie the Pooh film, was originally split into three shorts but, in the 1970’s, Disney chose to put all three of the shorts together into a full-length animated film.  Sadly, I can’t find a lot of information about the production of the movie but I do know that, while the movie didn’t seem to do to great financially, it did receive critical acclaim from film critics, earning one of the very few 100% film ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.  While I own a copy…

As the 21st Disney film, Robin Hood has a bit of an unknown reputation with some Disney fans.  Plans for this film have gone back as far as the 1930s, when Walt Disney himself had the idea of adapting a folktale called “Reynard the Fox” into a movie but was unsure of the idea; and thus, the project was shelved on and off for many years after Disney’s death.  However, a writer at Disney suggested that they adapt Robin Hood into a film but Robin Hood himself would be a fox like Reynard and the rest of the characters would be anthropomorphic animals, which means animals who are made to…

As the 20th Disney animated film, The Aristocats marks the start of a new era for Disney.  Some Disney fans refer to it as Disney’s “Dark Age” but, since a lot of beloved films came out during this time period, most Disney lovers refer to it as The Bronze Age.  Despite a lot of the movies not doing as well either critically or financially, most of the films from this age are well-loved by Disney fans today.  The Aristocats was actually the last animated movie to be approved by Walt Disney before his death.  Even though it received positive reviews and was a box-office success as well, some people still…

As the 19th Disney animated film, The Jungle Book was the first film in several years to have Walt Disney himself involved a lot in it; before, he was busy with other parts of the company, but he was encouraged to have more involvement with the studio after the reception of The Sword in the Stone.  Walt Disney actually did not like the original script for The Jungle Book movie, as he felt like it was way too dark, and so he strongly recommended an editing.  Sadly, Walt Disney died in 1966, the year before the movie came out; thus, Disney’s death and The Jungle Book both mark the conclusion…

As the 18th Disney animated film, The Sword in the Stone is definitely the least talked about movie in Disney’s Silver Age.  Disney bought the rights to make the book into a movie not too long after Snow White was released but didn’t pursue the project due to WW2.  Then, Disney was inspired to finally make the book into a movie after seeing a production of the musical Camelot on Broadway.  When the movie was released, it was a box office success but it received mixed reviews from critics as they seemed to think that the movie ran flat and was not as well-written as past Disney films.  While I…

As the 17th Disney animated film, 101 Dalmatians introduced a new type of animation called xerography, which was a cheaper way for Disney to animate movies.  They hoped that by using this new type of animation they could avoid the box office failure that happened with Sleeping Beauty.  This type of animation was used up until The Little Mermaid (from 1961-1989).  Walt Disney himself hated xerography, however, due to the “scratchy” look it gave, but the new animation attracted moviegoers, as it received positive reviews from critics, and 101 Dalmatians was a box office success and is well loved by Disney fans today.  It’s kind of ironic that I’m reviewing…