Side Vault - The Disney Rankings: Post-Renaissance Era
Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.
Following the success of Tarzan, the Disney company began to bump into some problems. The early 2000s recession and the post-9/11 world were not kind to the company. Pixar, a company Disney didn’t even own, was making all of the new animated classics. The Walt Disney animation studio felt like they couldn’t catch a break and entered an era of disappointing, but not necessarily terrible, box office returns. The man who saved the company, Michael Eisner, became a villain due to his decision to become stricter with finances and pull back on taking risks. Walt’s own nephew Roy led the “Save Disney” campaign and would eventually succeed in throwing him out. So Michael Eisner saw himself become the villain, and his era ended with just memories of the highs of 1990s Disney.
While Michael Eisner didn’t have a great ending, there’s no denying his importance to the company's history. To this day, many Millennials who grew up in his era still look back fondly at the best of its content. The Post-Renaissance Era ended up a mixed bag for me, but with a few movies I think are massively underrated and some of my favorites. The ousting of Eisner would be a good choice for the company, as his successor would be Robert Iger, who would go on to change the company in ways no one saw coming.
To catch up, here are the rankings (as well as explaining how they work) for other eras: The Disney Golden Age, The War Era, The Disney Silver Age, The Disney Bronze Age, The Disney Renaissance
Fantasia 2000 (1999)
As infamous as the original Fantasia is, this one is my favorite of the two. The animation is beautiful, I love every single segment, the music is incredible, and the final section of the Firebird Suite is memorable as hell. It’s also a relatively short film that gets in and then gets out before you begin to want it to end, unlike the original, which is a pretty long film. If you haven’t seen this one, and like the original Fantasia, I highly recommend this one.
Dinosaur (2000)
This movie actually has a lot of heart and is really not that bad. Is it a bit generic? Yes. Does the CGI age badly? Oh yeah. But I enjoyed the movie overall. The animation here really does age badly, but the plot and characters helped me get past it. It’s a solid Disney film and the first computer-animated film in the animated Disney canon. The Carnotaurs are solid villains, and you can feel how dangerous they are. The movie's message is still good, especially in today’s divided times. Also, the theme park based on this movie is one of my favorite rides in Disney World.
The Emperor’s New Groover (2000)
Confession time: I don’t love this movie. Now, I don’t hate it either. I think it's okay and has a comedy that deserves its legacy. I just didn’t fall in love with it to the level everyone else does. The main issue I have is that I feel the movie can be a little generic. The characters do help the movie a lot, especially Kronk, who I think is the character many use to give the movie such high marks. But I do understand why people love this movie, even if it isn’t my most favorite.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
When I watched it, I was surprised. I expected it to be generic, but this film has a good story, beautiful animation, and memorable characters. I was actually pretty surprised this movie got the reviews it did. I do wish the soundtrack was better, and the movie’s final act is longer than it should be, but it’s a solid movie that I really did like and appreciate.
Lilo & Stitch (2002)
This is the best movie of the era. It is Disney at its best: great characters, heart, a great message, and great use of animation. Both Lilo and especially Stitch have become some of the more iconic Disney characters of the modern era. The final half of the film can get pretty emotional. There are some really strong themes and messages that even adults can appreciate. I love this movie.
Treasure Planet (2002)
The least successful of the Musker and Clements films, Treasure Planet is forgotten by many that didn’t grow up with it. However, like Lilo & Stitch, I adore this film. The message around identity and the twist on the story of Treasure Island all worked for me. There are some movies I really wish were more successful than they were, and this is one of them. I consider this to be among the most underrated movies I’ve seen. The animation here is among the best, and you will appreciate it more in today’s CGI-animated era. It sucks that this movie does so bad with the legacy and critical ranking scores, because everything else is A-tier. If you’re a Disney fan and have yet to see this one, I can’t recommend it enough. The themes around identity alone makes it a watch, even today.
Brother Bear (2003)
The main thing I think about this movie is the annoying marketing around the two mooses in all the commercials leading up to its release. I don’t think this is a bad movie; it has its moments, but I feel it’s kind of just there for the most part. It also didn’t help that after watching the past two movies and falling in love with them; this one fell a little flat for me. Like I said, there’s some good stuff here, but for me, it felt like a movie that tried too hard to be seen as a Disney classic.
Home on the Range (2004)
The movie that is credited for Disney abandoning traditional animation and the last film of Eisner’s tenure as CEO. I’m not going to sit here and defend this movie too hard, but I also am not going to tell you it’s bad. It actually has some legitimately funny moments and the voice cast does a good with their characters. But much like Brother Bear, it feels like it’s just there. I liked it enough to give it a 7 in the personal enjoyment score, but the other rankings were too bad to save it.
Chicken Little (2005)
Is this the worst movie of the entire Disney animated canon up to date? Easily. Chicken Little is a movie that feels like a cheap straight-to-DVD/streaming film that you put on for a toddler to pass the time. This movie tries too hard with jokes, has a plot that moves too fast, and even the message around a father accepting his son can’t save this film. The ending also feels pretty fast and out of nowhere. I will say, even if the movie is that bad, the ending’s comedy segment did have me laughing pretty hard, it just took to the end of the movie to get there.
Meet the Robinsons (2007)
There’s no doubt this movie has entered the pop culture lexicon in some way, specifically with memes, but I barely liked it. While I think there is some heart, the rest feels very generic and is the definition of just being there. At the very least, this was much better than Chicken Little regarding Disney Animation Studios doing computer animation. I also think the whacky nature of the film when introducing the Robinsons reminds me of the old-school cartoons.
Bolt (2008)
While this movie isn’t among Disney's most popular films, I have always liked it. I think this film is a perfect transition to the next era. Just like Oliver & Company feels like a movie that should be in the Disney Renaissance, this movie feels like it should be in the Disney Revival Era. The concept and story are enjoyable, and I found Rhino the hamster to be a blast to watch. The one weakness of this one was the generic soundtrack, but outside of that, I found Bolt to be the movie that saw Disney get its legs under it and start to deliver the stories we know they can do.
Era Total Rankings (Tie-Breaker is personal enjoyment)
Lilo & Stitch (90)
Fantasia 2000 (86)
The Emperor’s New Groove (80)
Bolt (73)
Dinosaur (72)
Brother Bear (69)
Atlantis: The Lost Empire (68)
Meet the Robinsons (61)
Home on the Range (57)
Chicken Little (44)