It feels like it's been ages since I
last cobbled together a Sunday Top Ten list... because it has. But if
I don't do one now, before the heat of Oscar season really starts
beating down upon us, then it'd never get done! So here's a top ten
list that a number of people have been asking for.
In anticipation of Frozen's
imminent release (which I am very much looking forward to), I've
finally joined the sizable flock of Gen-Y-ers on the Internet who
have their own distinct ranking of the animated features of Walt
Disney Studios. No two lists (and there are a ton of them out there)
are quite the same, but they all share one thing in common: No one
has an easy time making them.
I've discovered that my own
relationship with the iconic studio's 52 theatrical releases –
needless to say, the works of Pixar do not count – is a conflicted
and perpetually evolving one. As a child of the 90s being raised on
the miracle of “home video”, I indiscriminately loved
Disney films of all ages, from the antiquated Snow White to
their most state-of-the-art releases. Frankly, I couldn't tell that
some of these films were made 60 years apart, and the notion of
systematically ranking them against each other never crossed my mind
for even a split second. It was the only phase of my life when what I
felt for the movies was pure, unconditional love.
As my burgeoning interest in cinema
(and a nettlesome sense of pretentiousness) began to develop in
adolescence, I suddenly found that certain toons I had blissfully
smiled through not long ago were failing to pass my new-found
discernment. At the same time, new charms and nuances that had flown
over my head when I was knee-high began to reveal themselves. The
magic wasn't gone from these films – not all of them. The magic was
simply changing. Letting a movie win you over a second time but for
different reasons is a special sensation.
Weighing a combination childhood
nostalgia and that unnameable quality that genuinely speaks to me as
an adult was the only way I could come close to sussing out a top
ten. I'm sure many readers will cry foul that 'this' film or 'that'
film was omitted, but I believe it to be an appropriately diverse and
personal list that nicely represents the things I love most about the
Disney legacy. And no, I did not have an easy time making it
(although long-time readers should easily be able to predict my #1
pick).
So without further ado, my top ten Disney animated
features:
