Since 1928, Disney movies have been part of almost all of our lives. Everything started with Walt Disney creating Mickey Mouse which was an instant success, and while Walt Disney died in 1966 at the age of 65, but his legacy lived on. Today, after many ups and downs, The Walt Disney Company is the biggest movie company in the world and has expanded through buying companies such as Pixar, 20th Century Fox, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Buena Vista, ABC, Freeform, Hulu, and National Geographic.
Now with Disney+ being launched in more and more countries in 2020, you easily get access to every Disney production ever made whether it be a live-action movie or an animation, there is something for everyone! This includes the so-called Disney Classics, mostly animation movies which reached iconic status because they are one of the first tales told by Disney or those which have were immediately success. Speaking of, lets take a closer look at those classic movies and find out what they all have in common.
Please note that the movie list below is not the complete list of Disney’s movie productions. Those movies marked bold are the ones which have been or are planned to be turned into a live-action movie or to be remade.
The Era of The First Animations
Back in the day, animation was known as cartoons and the hand drawing movies consisted of thousands of drawing which, when put together and filmed, would build a whole story. The cartoonist had to work incredibly precisely so that every move is as realistic as possible, and the characters would move smoothly. Only then the illusion would be perfect.
In the early 40s, when the movie business decided to give their characters audio, it also decided that each movie needs at least one dance and singing number. Disney adapted it and created songs which are known through generations.
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1937: Short movies with Mickey may have started everything for Disney, but it was not until the first real movie. Snow White paved the way for every animation that came afterwards.
- Pinocchio 1940
- Fantasia 1940: The movie tells the story of Mickey being a Sorcerer’s Apprentice. The movie shows how Mickey copes with being left alone and taking care of things for the Sorcerer. What makes this movie special is, that there are no words, only music. A sequel then released in 1999, Fantasia 2000.
- Dumbo 1941
- Bambi 1942
- Cinderella 1950
- Alice in Wonderland 1951
- Peter Pan 1953
- Lady and the Tramp 1955
- Sleeping Beauty 1959
- The Sword in the Stone 1963
- Mary Poppins 1964: With Mary Poppins, Disney combined real actors with hand drawn figures and let them interact. This concept was picked up again when technology advanced and more possibilities were available. The sequel came out in 2018.
- The Jungle Book 1967
- Aristocats 1970
- Robin Hood 1973
- Popeye 1980
- The Little Mermaid 1989
- Beauty and the Beast 1991
- Aladdin 1992
- The Lion King 1994
- Pocahontas 1995
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1996
- 101 Dalmatians 1996
- Hercules 1997
- Mulan 1998
- Tarzan 1999
- The Princess and the Frog 2009
As you can see, hand drawn animations have been used until not long ago and was picked up once more in 2009 for The Princess and the Frog.
Fantasy Becomes Real
After Walt Disney passed away, the company had to find a way to create movies without him. Doing only hand drawn children’s movies would probably not assure them to stay in the business and so they searched for a new way to entertain their audience and produce movies which could be watched by the whole family. They started to focus more on live-action movies and mixed reality with fantasy.
- Tron 1982: Using the revolutionary technology for that time, Tron is one of the first movies which uses something we now refer to as CGI today. Watching the movie today will make you laugh about the poor special effects, but back then, everyone was in awe. In 2010, the sequel Tron Legacy was released.
- The Mighty Ducks 1992: The group of outsiders playing ice hockey, was Disney’s new way to teach and encourage children to see more in themselves as they thought there is.
- Hocus Pocus 1993
- The Three Musketeers 1993
- Santa Clause 1994
- Tower of Terror 1997
- The Princess Diaries 2001
- Pirates of the Caribbean 2003
- The Haunted Mansion 2003
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 2005
- The Shaggy Dog 2006
- Bridge to Terabithia 2007
- National Treasure: Book of Secrets 2007
- Tron Legacy 2010
- Saving Mr. Banks 2013: This one gives you another perspective of how the first Mary Poppins movie came to life, showing how Disney worked and how they created movies.
- Maleficent 2014: The first movie which tells the story of Sleeping Beauty from the perspective of the villain, showing that a person is not born evil but was made into one due to certain events.
The Era of Computer Animations
Disney stays true to their roots. They may not be hand drawing their movies anymore, but they still create children’s stories using a computer instead. After buying the animation company Pixar, new opportunities have opened for Disney and they have started to bring out every classic hand drawing animation back to us in a new computer animated version.
- Toy Story 1995: The movie which tells the story of some toys in a kids room was the first collaboration of Disney and Pixar, prior to Disney’s purchase.
- Atlantis 2001
- Finding Nemo 2003
- Ratatouille 2007
- Tangled 2010
- Wreck-it Ralph 2012
- Frozen 2013
- Big Hero 6 2014
- Inside Out 2015
- Zootopia 2016
- Moana 2016
- Coco 2017
- Frozen 2 2019
It is debatable if creating a monopoly is the right way, but Disney for sure found its way to grow and show that they are here to stay. It is the combination between the different types of movies as well as their amusement parks. For so many years, they take their audience on adventures and teach them to dream. It seems that everything is better with a song and hope in our hearts. For sure, it is something to lift you up after a long hard day and that is what it really all about.
