Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Four long years separates Sleeping Beauty from Lady and the Tramp, due once again to the use of CinemaScope's 2.55:1 ratio, allowing the artists to paint on a larger canvas. This film has a very distinctive look from most other Disney films, and each background took seven to ten days to complete, versus the typical one day for other Disney films. As a result, the backgrounds are rather lifeless, as only prominent characters are given the ability to move. Its still one of the most striking looks a Disney film has ever attained.
This is another Disney film carried by the supporting characters, rather then the leads. The story opens on the birth of Princess Aurora, and the curse the evil Maleficent places on her. Jealous that she was not invited to the Princess' birthday, she declares that before the sun sets on her 16th birthday, the Princess will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die. The King sends his daughter into hiding with three fairies, who place a counter charm that will simply but Aurora into a deep sleep, only to be awakened by true love's kiss.
It's amazing how Disney romance made sense when I was younger. Perhaps it bored me, so the faster the characters fell in love the happier I was. Now, of course, its almost laughable how quickly people fall for each other. Aurora meets her betrothed, Prince Phillip, though neither knows the other; and though she is apprehensive, it takes one song (Once Upon a Dream) to convince them they were in love. If only it were that easy.
But if Aurora and Phillip don't provide much in the way of character, its made up by the three fairies (Merryweather being the best), and imposing force that is Maleficent. True her gripe with Aurora is a weak reason, but then again there are plenty of people out there who would do the same. It comes down to a fantastic final fight, as Maleficent transforms into a huge dragon. And, of course, true love's kiss.
101 Dalmatians (1961)
101 Dalmatians is a watershed film in the Disney animation style; before you couldn't fault a single Disney film for its look, they were all wonderful to behold. But production costs were too high, and so a new process was developed known as Xerography, a photocopying technique that gave the films a rough look. To swap Sleeping Beauty for 101 Dalmatians feels like taking a few steps back from where animation had come.
101 is one of those films I watched a million times as a kid because those puppies were so darn cute. The story opens with Pongo the dalmatian narrating the everyday droll life he leads, and how he hooks up his human pet Roger (see, they think of us as pets!) with a beautiful young lady named Anita. Bonus for Pongo: she has a dalmatian named Perdita. Both couples get married, and Perdita gives birth to fifteen puppies. In one of Disney's darker moments, one of the puppies doesn't make it, though of course Roger uses massaging techniques to revive the little guy.
This is all threatened by Anita's extravagant employer, Cruella De Vil (possibly the best name for any Disney villain ever), who steals the puppies intent on skinning them all and making a Dalmatian fur coat. Ethics aside, I imagine a Dalmatian fur coat would look horrible, but then again I've been told I have no sense of fashion so what do I know.
As far as Disney films go this one's fairly decent, once again featuring a myriad of supporting characters that help Pongo and Perdita on their quest to rescue their puppies (and the 84 others Cruella has somehow rounded up). There's also the bumbling henchmen Jasper and Horace who provide a few chuckles. The best scene is the climax, in which Cruella's vehicle turns into a hellmobile and her eyes blaze with the rage of 1,000 suns.
The Sword in the Stone (1963)
There are two ways people know the Arthur mythology, neither from reading any of the books. One is Monty Python's classic telling of Arthur's quest for the Holy Grail. The second is this film, which tells Arthur's origins, his schooling with Merlin, and his eventual pulling of the sword from the stone. A third would probably be the musical Camelot.
Arthur is a squire, referred to as Wart, until one day Merlin comes along and begins schooling him in the ways of the world. This film is one of the first, in animation anyways, to make winking references to the future. Merlin has time traveled and seen all the latest inventions, and mentions several different technologies that leaves Wart confused but will have the audience laughing, if they haven't seen Shrek (2001) a million times yet.
There's not much forward momentum to the plot, but what is here is fairly enjoyable. Merlin transforms Wart into a fish, a squirrel, and a bird, and each leads to dire misadventures. The highlight is a duel between Merlin and Madam Mim, as they transform into several different creatures to try and one up each other. The Merlin wins is quite ingenious actually.
Merlin's sidekick is the owl Archimedes, voiced by Junius Matthews who also does Rabbit in Winnie the Pooh. He's a nice little character, dropping several dour remarks about the situation, and always keeping a pessimistic outlook, though he helps when he can. In the end, Sword in the Stone might not be much, but whats there is pretty damn entertaining and provides youngsters with a neat entry point into the Arthur mythology.
The Jungle Book (1967)
You know what's been missing from the past several Disney films? Great music. Sure most of the past couple films had songs, but none of them are ones I pull up regularly and sing along too. Jungle Book, on the other hand, has several great songs, the highlights of which include Bare Necessities and I Wanna Be Like You. Strong songwriting wouldn't pervade Disney until the Renaissance era, but of all the past Disney films, this one has the most memorable songs.
It's also a significant film because its the last Walt oversaw before his death in December 1966. While the quality of Disney films had begun to wane at the start of WWII, here the films really start to dip in quality, with a few real duds on the horizon. Jungle Book is still overall a good film and one I will continue to revisit through my life, featuring several wonderful characters including George Sanders' wonderfully deep voice as Shere Khan. Also notable are the Vultures, modeled to look like the Beatles because they were originally going to do the voices, until John Lennon vetoed the idea.
Making his first of three appearances in Disney is Phil Harris, providing the voice of Baloo. He brings a swinging, easy going edge to the scene, and Disney would use him in their next to films to bring a little life to the scene. The journey of little Mowgli from the Jungle to the village is always fun, with one of Disney's better endings as he is charmed by a girl away from his friends. Oh Disney, sometimes you know life too well.
More importantly, this film saved Disney animation. Because Walt had died, the future of the animation studio was called into question, and had this film been a financial failure, it is likely Disney Studio Animation would have closed indefinitely. Luckily, the film has a huge box office hit, and resuscitated the studio, but it would be 22 years before Disney animation truly returned to form.
The AristoCats (1970)
Jungle Book saved Disney Animation so we could get...this. It's a highly unremarkable film about a cat and her kittens who are going to inherit their wealthy owner's entire estate. This makes her Butler extremely jealous, and so he sets out to drown the cats, since the lady will bequeath her estate to him instead, if the cats aren't there. My what a dastardly plan.
If the plot is slightly ridiculous, it is saved by several good characters and some good scenes. The highlight of the film involves two dogs, Napoleon and Lafayette. (Pat Buttram voices Napoleon, and if the name sounds familiar, it's because he resurfaces in several coming Disney films.) Napoleon and Lafayette chase the Butler for no other reason then thats what they do, and inadvertently foil his dastardly plans.
Phil Harris is back as Thomas O'Malley Cat, providing the same swagger he did for Baloo. Eva Gabor voices Duchess, the lead Cat, and she'll be back in a future prominent Disney role. They go on several misadventures and have a run-in with some other alley cats, who sing the films only semi-memorable song, Everybody Wants to Be a Cat. This is all finished off with another great climax in which the Butler is shipped far, far from Paris. Disney is pretty good at climaxes.
Disney does produce some good films through the 70s and 80s, but none have that timeless classic feel to them (save one thats coming up). Disney's animation department was heading towards their lowest point, as they operated on tight budgets and the pressure to deliver successes that would keep the company afloat. Its definitely not smooth sailing, as we'll see next time.
Part 5 will cover:
Robin Hood (1973)
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
The Rescuers (1977)
The Fox and the Hound (1981)
The Black Cauldron (1985)
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