Hercules

O.K so Pocahontas was the beginning of the downfall of people's interest in Disney animated movies, Hunchback of Notre Dame didn't exactly help... Hercules saved it. I heard a lot of critics liked it and it did do pretty well at the box office. What's the story? It's Greek mythology and all the gods are up on Mount Olympus and "Zeus" is happy because of the birth of his son "Hercules." But "Hades" the god of the underworld wants to see his son get destroyed because he's apparently going to stop him from taking over everything in the future. So he gives him a potion that takes away his godly powers. He sends his two henchmen named "Pain" and "Panic" to give it to him then kidnap him and then kill him. But they mess up and while he doesn't look like a god anymore he still has his strength and an old couple finds him and raise him. Over the years Hercules turns into a boy who seems to be an outcast with everyone except his adoptive parents. He decides to journey on to find out where he truly belongs. He finds out his real father is a god and that he himself has supernatural powers. And so he goes to save the day where ever he can with his incredible strength now as an adult with his flying horse named "Pegasus" and his goat trainer named "Phil." Along the ay he falls in love with a woman named "Megara" or "Meg" for short. But once Hades finds out Hercules is alive he tries to use Meg to take away Hercules' strength and that's exactly what he manages to do. Leaving Hades to release the titans and rule the land and Hercules to try and stop him in which ever way he can. So what's good about this movie seeing how I've said before how it's one of my favourite 2-D Disney animated films ever. Well first off there's a lot of really good comedy in this film, especially with Hercules, Phil (who's my favourite character) and Hades. Just the way they talk and what they say is hilarious. Another thing that I think is really impressive is the animation. It's really bright and even the character design is great. And even the rest of the side-characters like Zeus, Pegasus, Pain, Panic and the towns people of the town "Thebes" that they go to visit are all really fun. Another thing I was impressed with is the action scenes and how fast they ere was what I thought was impressive. And I also found the relationships between the characters was genuine and now I'm going to talk about the characters. Hercules himself is pretty good. He's kind, he's polite and he even does have good relationships with the characters around him. Meg is alright I guess I mean yeah during the beginning she does use Hercules as a way to be free of Hades but I think she does get her redemption at the end when she sacrifices herself to save him. Phil is my favourite character because he's funny and he does have a pretty cool design. Hades is a cool villain as well, he's funny and has a really cool and unique design especially with the fact that he does seem to be powerful. I just think this is a really good film. I'd say this is a defiant watch.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Well having Pocahontas ruin the big grossing 2-D animated Disney films forever I would say choosing a serious dark, scary, creepy and depressing story such as Hunchback of Notre Dame I say was I pretty good idea given the fact that they do it so spectacularly in this version. But with that said I do think this is probably the last Disney film you would want the whole family considering like I just said it's by far the most darkest and depressing out of all Disney family films. So what's the story. A deformed hunchback named "Quasimodo" lives in the bell tower of Notre Dame. He's looked after by a man named "Frollo." Quasimodo just wants to go out into the streets and be accepted like anyone else. And during the Fest of Fools which is a celebration of the Gypsies he get's his chance. And not only is he accepted by he's also celebrated, people love how strange he looks and start having fun with him. It's not 'til the crowd actually turns on him and begin torturing him. But a Gypsy witch named "Esmeralda" goes to save him. But it turns out Frollo is actually in love with her and wants to do everything he can to get her no matter what it takes. However in the original book she's accused of a crime here he's accused from Witch-Craft. So between Frollo wanting her, Quasimodo wanting her and there's also another person named "Phoebus" who is also is wanting her. So what's good about this movie? Well first off the animation is different looking and with what they did with Notre Dame, it looked and so life-like. Even the character animation is spectacular. Let's also look at the characters. Quasimodo himself is a very likable character. He's definitely my favourite character. He's kind, he's gentle, he's light-hearted and even when he was being tortured by the crowd he wasn't really wishing he could get out and attack everyone. Esmeralda is a good character too. She's just like Quasimodo with her being kind and nice and that's the exact same as Phoebus. But then there is FROLLO. Oh my god Frollo is such an awesome, amazing villain. He does all the dreadful things that a lot of the other Disney villains do but what he does and the way he does it is what makes him such a despicable villain. While I've said Quasi is my favourite character I guess Frollo is my favourite character who isn't a good guy, if you know what I mean? I'd say that "Tony Jay," the actor who played him is by far the best actor in the whole film. Even during the song sequence "Hellfire" he manages to do a really great performance. I would say that the best part of the movie is definitely the climax. The animation is just spectacular. Watch these scenes.

It's just great. Though unfortunately the film wasn't big hit at the box office when it first came out in 1996. However it did get a bigger and better audience over the years. As Disney films go it's definitely one of the darkest and probably one of the ones that took the most risks. I know technically from most Disney films go it's not one of the best ones and not really close, but for what it is it is a really good film. I wouldn't recommend all of it but if you do I would give the heads-up of keeping a close eye on some children watching it because it contains some of the most horrific and unnatural things you'd see from a Disney film. I mean they use the word Hell and there are apparently some sex references not to mention scenes involving lust and some really unpleasant scenes. But for what it is I would say watch it and see for yourself.

Pocahontas

So Disney was making 4 of the biggest hits the world has ever seen and when this movie came out, people didn't hate it but they didn't like as much as the other Disney films. They mainly didn't like it that much because they found it to be... well not that interesting. And because of this film, the 2-D animated Disney films would never be able to get the amount of money at the box office the way they did with The little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast, Aladdin and the Lion King once this came out. So, what's the story? The main character is an Indian princess named "Pocahontas" who I'm just gonna say is pretty boring. But one day everything changed when an English governor and his crew came and decided to take over the native Americans land. One of the crew members was a man named "John Smith." He begins to fall in love with Pocahontas as does she to him and one moment when one of John friends shoots one of Pocahontas' friends and John takes the blame for it. From there there's constant misunderstandings that result in capture and death and the governor is actually the villain and all he cares is about nothing but get constant gold and more gold. O.k first let's talk about some of the good things in this movie. First of all some of the songs are nice and decent. There's also the colours of the movie that look pretty good and even the villain isn't that bad. Aside from that however the rest is all just boring. So while I wouldn't say it's not bad I do see the flaws of this movie. I wouldn't say don't see it but if you do you can give it your own opinion on it. For me though I didn't find it entertaining or interesting.

The Lion King

And now we come to the big one, The Lion King, the highest grossing 2-D animated film of all time. When this movie came out everyone and I mean everyone on this planet when nuts. The characters are great, the animation is great, the songs are great, the villain is good and the story is spectacular. And in my opinion this should be on everyone's top 2-D animated Disney movies like it is with mine as you've seen before. What's the story? opening is animals in Africa celebrating the birth of the new lion prince named "Simba" in probably one of the great Disney openings ever. Watch this.

So years go by and Simba grows into a young cub played by "Jonathan Taylor Thomas." He's shown around the kingdom but his father, king "Mufasa" of the pride lands played by "James Earl Jones." But Simba's uncle named "Scar" played by "Jeremy Irons" is angry because he was next in line to be king, so he constantly tries to set traps with the 3 hyenas named "Shensi, Bonsai and Ed" to kill Simba off. But Mufasa is always there to save him so there's only one choice, kill Mufasa. This leads to a very intense and very well-done and very famous chase scene with a bunch of wilder beasts. Simba is trying to un from 100s of wilder beasts and at one point Mufasa go in to help him. He manages to get Simba to a safe place but he tries to climb up himself. Scar sees his opportunity and throws him off a cliff. (Which for me always raised a lot of questions. How did he die from that? In mean did he die from falling from a big height? Did he die because of the amount of wilder beasts kept stomping on his head? Did he die because when he hit the ground he hit his head hard?) Anyway, Simba, thinking he started the stampede feels incredibly guilty and scar advises him to run away. Simba then goes into exile and comes across a team of two best friends named "Timon" played by "Nathan Lane" and "Pumbaa" played by "Ernie Sabella." They tell him it's O.K to run away from your problems and start a new life over. And that's exactly what he does he spends most of his years growing-up with the two until he becomes an adult played by "Matthew Brodrick." He decides to never go back to Pride rock. That is until his old childhood friend named "Nala" played by "Moira Kelly" shows up and tells him that things are terrible back at Pride rock because Scar took over as king. And since he is the rightful king he's the only one who can go back and make things better. But Simba doubts himself thing he still killed his father until he get's a vision in the sky as his father telling him to remember who he is and telling him what he most do. Simba then decided to go back and fight Scar after then talking with a baboon named "Rafiki" played by "Robert Guillaume." And you know the rest, big climax, comedy then the final fight between Simba and Scar. O.K what's good about this movie. Well for one thing the characters are great particularly the voice actors. In my opinion I'd say James Earl Jones as Mufasa is the best casting in this movie. The animation is some of the best Disney has ever done. Even just the size of this movie is gigantic. And there's actually two messages in here that are actually does pretty well. The main message is to just try your best to find your place in life and never give-up. The mini-message is to always confess what you've done and if you do eventually everyone will be happy again. The story is one of the best things in this movie. I mean it's supposed to be a kid version of an adult play called "Hamlet." They don't even just shove the dead person aside like in a few other Disney movies, no here you see Mafasa's dead body. That must of been a gigantic thing for people back then. Particularly since Disney did it. So overall I really love this movie it has ever right to be the highest grossing 2-D film in history because it's just a spectacular film. I'd say this is a definite watch.

Aladdin

Aladdin was another one of the 4 Disney movies that made Disney a big name including The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and the Lion King. What's the story? Aladdin is a thief who's trying to survive while living on the streets with his pet monkey named "Abu." He comes across a princess named "Jasmine" who's trying to get away from the palace to make a life for her own. But he get's captured by a sorcerer named "Jafar" and he tricks Aladdin into searching for a magic lamp. In the cave where he goes searching for it he meets a magic flying carpet and of course the genie of the lamp named "Genie" played by Robin William. So he goes back to his village called "Agrabah" wishing to turn himself into a prince. This allows him the chance to marry Jasmine but Jafar won't let it happen he tries to kill Aladdin and take the lamp away from him so he can use Genie for his own evil plans. From here on in it's action, comedy, sword-fighting, monsters and a happy ending. O.k so what's good about this movie. Well for one thing the animation in this is really spectacular and even the colours are wonderfully used in this. There' a lot of comedy in this especially out of Robin Williams' performance of the joke-making Genie. (P.S. I'm pretty sure you've all heard of Robin Williams' recent tragic death.) Aladdin himself in a fun character. He's a rascal bit still has kindness and a good heart. Jasmine is a sweet normal kind-hearted Disney princess who is nice and has innocents to her. Her father, the Sultan is a funny. enjoyably stupid character. Jafar is pretty cool and his parrot "Iago" is pretty funny to. Just to give you a hint as to why this is a funny movie just watch these scenes.

Genie is my favourite character because he's so energetic and funny. The songs are also really awesome. This is definitely a great movie and it's family friendly. It's entertain so I say that's than enough to recommend it.

Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast is said to be one of the greatest Disney Movies ever and yeah I guess I do agree but it's not one of my favourites or even close. But doesn't mean I don't like it, I do. What's the story? In a castle lives a selfish, greedy and vain prince. One night an enchantress comes to his castle and turns him into a beast for treating her so cruel. He was given a magic rose that is slowly wilting away. If he can learn to fall in love and be loved in return before the last petal falls off he'll go back to human. Then we meet a young woman named "Belle." She's the strangest person in her town because she's the prettiest one there but she doesn't taunt herself around. She doesn't hang out with other woman flirting with men, she just read her books and doesn't bother anyone which confuses a very strange town. That is except for "Gaston." In any other Disney movie he'd probably be the hero. But here he's the villain. He's admired Belle for a long time and wants to marry her. But when Belle turns him down he swears to have her as his wife. While that's going on Belle's father named "Maurice" leaves town for an invention convention but find himself at the Beast's castle. But the Beast says he's trespassing and throws him in the dungeon, where Belle finds him later. She makes a deal with the Beast saying she'll stay if he let's Maurice go. The Beast agree and let's Maurice go. While the Beast sees this as an opportunity to finally fall in love he's not very social, in fact he's... well Beastly. But after an incident where the Beast save Belle's life from a pack of wolves she begins to see some good in him. From there there's romance, sadness, action and magic. When people first saw this movie in 1991 they fell in love with it. It was even the only animated film to be nominated for best picture. First let's look at the good stuff. The animation in this looks different. It more smooth, more fluid and more bright and I found it to be really spectacular. Let's also look at the characters. Belle is an enjoyable character. She's kind, smart and just does her own thing. She has a realistic kind of personality which makes her seem more 3-dimentional. And she's definitely one of the best Disney female leads next to Tiana from the Princess and the Frog. The Beast is defiantly the best written character of the movie. He has a defiant personality that does improve over time and you do get to like him more and more as the movie goes on. Gaston is an entertaining villain. He's self-centred, self obsessed and funny. And at first he doesn't start as a villain, just as a jerk. Also I really do like the design of the Beast. He looks an awful like a giant sized were-wolf. Now let's get to my problems with the movie. At first I thought the first few more was pretty boring and some things kind of pointless. Another problem I have with the movie is that something's that Belle and the Beast do are pretty weird and un necessary. My one last problem is the design of the human version of the Beast. But aside from that I think this movie is really spectacular. The songs are great, the animation is great and not just the main characters but the side characters are really memorable. It's just a great movie. This definite watch.

The Little Mermaid

After the huge disappointment of The Black Cauldron Disney got on this huge kick. Not only were they going to turn out better movies but they were going to do it fast. Witch meant the films were starting to come out every single year. And "The Little Mermaid" was the movie that started hit after hit after hit again and again. This movie went back to the kind of real Disney animation. What's the story? It about a Mermaid named "Ariel" a 16 year old girl who's abscessed with being on dry land. Her father named "King Triton" forbids it but then she falls in love with a human prince named "Eric." After Ariel saves his life in a storm she decides that she absolutely wants to become human so that she can be with him. So she sells her voice to "Ursula" the sea witch and gets herself legs. But now she can't tell Eric who she is. So during the two days they're together they slowly begin to fall in love with each other. However while they're doing that going on, Ursula is plotting her way to get control of the Underwater world. O.K first let's look at the good stuff. Like I said before the animation is back to the kind of animation Disney used to and boy is it spectacular. Let's also look at the characters. Ariel herself is a determined, head-strong, hopeless romantic, generic and modern kind of girl character who is likable. Eric is a kind, kind of hopeless but still likable guy. There's a crab named "Sebastian" who's a worrywart but funny and likable. There's a fish named "Flounder" who's a worrywart, fun-loving and kind of naïve person who's likable. Ursula like I've said before is one of my favourite Disney villains and yeah there's a reason. She's great. Much like Ratigan she just so enjoys what's she's doing. Even her psycho moments like in her song sequence she's really enjoyable to watch because of the speed she's going at and craziness she's keeping up when she's doing all of her things. The music is also spectacular, The songs are memorable and really enjoyable to listen to. As for me, I still really enjoy this movie.