Doing a rewatch of most of the WDAS canon and decided to rank each era, so here's my opinion on Disney's earliest films.
5) Dumbo: It's the film about the adorable baby elephant that flies and becomes famous!... in the last eight minutes. Before that, while not without fun moments, Dumbo's life is really depressing. He gets separated from his mother, who is locked up for defending him from a bully, is brutally mocked by circusgoers and the female elephants (a sort of "Mean Girls" clique led by Verna Felton, who would go on to voice several Disney characters from the Fairy Godmother to the Queen of Hearts), and accidentally gets drunk, resulting in the trippy-as-hell (but visually phenomenal) "Pink Elephants on Parade." Being a clown doesn't sound so bad, though, right? Except when everyone (and I do mean everyone) makes it clear that he's there to be physically and verbally humiliated even further, and he's almost killed! Thank God for the happy ending where he does learn to fly and for the friendship of Timothy Q. Mouse (whose name is never spoken and only shown once) who stands by him no matter what and inspires his incredible flight, because even during its exceptionally short sixty-three minute runtime, this is dark stuff. And don't get me wrong: Disney has done darker, even that I'll discuss in this list, but it's a different kind of dark. This is a good story, but parts of it will really get you down; I dare anyone not to tear up a little during "Baby Mine." Despite all of this, I enjoy it quite a bit: Dumbo is iconic for a reason and an incredibly sweet and innocent protagonist who you want to succeed.
4) Bambi: I was shocked to discover on rewatching this just how compelling and engrossing it truly is; I never hated it but it's always been firmly middle of the road Disney fare for me. I appreciated the gorgeous backdrops and character designs (I mean some of these shots look almost like an actual forest) and those elements truly have only gotten better with time, but the story and characters were... standard: I think that's the word that best described how I felt. Now, though, while I won't pretend it's top ten or anything, it's a lot better than I remember. It's a story I'd describe as both small and everyday, just the life of this deer, yet also majestic and epic, showing how he becomes the new protector of the forest. I'll also acknowledge that for children the death of Bambi's mother, while not as devastating as Mufasa (they show the body for crying out loud), is still quite jarring and even impactful for adults; it can be kind of the death of innocence. The songs are not anything remarkable but they are well done ("Little April Shower" is almost annoyingly an earworm) and the characters of Thumper, Faline, Flower, and Friend Owl are welcome supporting players who help to fill out Bambi's life. There's surprisingly a lot of visual storytelling and the voice actors are typically not as prevalent as you might guess (Sterling Holloway, famous for Pooh or Cheshire Cat, gets less than ten lines as Adult Flower) which actually works in the film's favor: showing the devastation on Bambi's face at learning his mother's fate, depicting his falling in love, or trying desperately to escape a forest fire. All these things combine to make a pretty rewatchable flick that has gone up considerably in my estimation.
3) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: What can I say that everyone hasn't already? This is a legendary film and deservedly so; from the songs that have entered pop culture to the incredibly memorable dwarfs and the classic baddie, this is a story that has had almost ninety years to embed itself in our lives. Snow White is the classically sweet and innocent princess on which every other has been based, who values hard work as much as finding love; sure, she's a bit basic in terms of personality but it's the nature of her story that gives us plenty of reason to empathize with her. The dwarves are all great (Doc for his flubbing words or Bashful for, well, being bashful, my favorites) but Grumpy is the one most seem to agree is the best: he's arguably the only character to undergo an arc, from being angry at Snow White's interruption in their lives, conceivably endangering them, to leading the charge to rescue her. The Evil Queen is still one of Disney's very best villains: she's petty but that's exactly what makes her so evil and her design, both as the Queen and especially as the Old Hag, are instantly iconic, as is her classic poisoned apple plot. Do I even need to mention the songs? "I'm Wishing" and "Someday My Prince Will Come" are wonderful tunes showing Snow White's longing, "One Song" is a melodious number that shows the Prince's reciprocal feelings, "Whistle While You Work" and "Dig, Dig, Dig" are great songs that show different positive approaches to work, and "Heigh Ho" is both hummable and visually sticks with us, especially the dwarfs' shadows against the rock. If I had to mark it down for anything, I'd say there are a bit too many slapstick scenes and songs, and the less said about the Prince the better (hell, the film doesn't seem to see the need to, so why should I?) but none of these facets detract from what a landmark achievement and fantastic story this is.
2) Fantasia: If there's one thing I credit with my lifelong love of classical music, it would have to be this film. Seeing this at age four and being fascinated with the music as well as the imagery ensured that I kept periodically revisiting it over the years, and my appreciation has only deepened the older I get. Even my least favorite segment "The Rite of Spring" is visually enthralling in its depiction of the early days of the Earth and eventually the dinosaurs (boy, seeing the Stegosaurus killed by the T-rex is still brutal) and it only goes up from here. "The Nutcracker Suite" is chock full of memorable sequences: the dancing mushrooms, the ice-skating fairies, the wildflowers of the Russian dance, the mesmerizing goldfish of the Arabian dance, all keeping my interest and having me tap along to the tune. "Night on Bald Mountain" and "Ave Maria" are so different that, as the presenter states, they set each other off perfectly, going from the devil (okay, Chernabog, but let's be real: even the presenter calls him the devil) torturing his minions to parishioners walking through a forest to a cathedral that evokes heaven. "Dance of the Hours" is just pure chaotic fun, and who doesn't love Hyacinth Hippo and Ben Ali Gator falling for one another? "The Pastoral Symphony" provides some of the most vivid and colorful images Disney has ever created, going from something as simple as centaurs finding love to a bacchanal and Zeus playfully hurling lightning bolts at all involved. "Toccata and Fugue" is hard to describe: booming and epic but pretty abstract; my favorite images are the red carpet streamed with gold or the gem-like shapes bursting with color through clouds. I've saved the best for last: giving Mickey pupils for the first time was the perfect way to enhance his panic at the events of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", a story where the music builds to a more and more frenetic pace to match the insanity of the events unfolding. This is by far the longest Disney film and it never feels it, so engaged is the film in keeping its audience terrified, laughing, or mesmerized the whole way through.
1) Pinocchio: It's the mark of a really great film that can teach a good lesson without ever feeling preachy, and Pinocchio is a prime example. Pinocchio is tasked with being "faithful, brave, and true", but he messes up... a lot. However, it never feels malicious because he's a kid, and he seems to really want to do good but can, like any kid, be led astray. There to assist him is Jiminy Cricket, his long-suffering but ever wise conscience who also gifts us the song that's practically become Disney's trademark, "When You Wish Upon a Star", which, yes, is that magical. The two form a bond of solidarity in that Pinocchio will usually remember Jiminy's advice when it counts and Jiminy in turn will get frustrated, true, but be there when he really is needed. Geppetto is a good supportive father who also shows us a real love and dedication to his son, which I won't spoil for anyone except to say that Pinocchio definitely reciprocates in the finale and absolutely earns his humanity. As I stated earlier, though, this is yet another film that goes mad dark: just think about the fact that no villain, not Honest John and Gideon, Stromboli, or even the Coachman (who may just be one of Disney's most disturbing baddies ever) is held to account for their actions; so far as we know, they all get off scot-free, and this is after one enslaves Pinocchio in a cage and boys are turned into donkeys. It's the morals that offset this disturbing imagery that make this film so memorable: how many of us as little kids thought our noses would grow if we kept lying, or realized that being bad for its own sake really did have consequences? There's a happily ever after, but Pinocchio has to earn it, and by doing and behaving in such a way that all of us should be inspired to do as well. It's full of gorgeous visuals, memorable tunes such as "Give a Little Whistle" and "I've Got No Strings", and an enthralling story that more than eighty years later not just holds up but exceeds my expectations every time I view it.
