Category: Movies

Disney Animation Movie Marathon – Pre-Renaissance Era

The Disney Animation Studios pre-renaissance era stretched from 1937 until 1988. This era produced many of the classics we remember, and some that we do not. If you’d like a little more info on Disney eras, check out my earlier post on the subject.

Picking the best movies out from this era results in an astounding 16-movie 24-hour Disney animation movie marathon. A typical 24-hour movie marathon has eleven, maybe twelve movies in it. This movie marathon wins the “most feature films in one 24 hour movie marathon” award. The schedule even includes copious breaktimes!

So if you want to see the best classic animated films Disney has to offer, and only have a day to do it – have I got the movie marathon schedule for you!

Disney Pre-Renaissance Era Movies

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Snow White and the Seven DwarfsMy take: A wicked queen attempts to murder Snow White several times because Snow is prettier than the queen. Wouldn’t it have been less of a hassle for the Queen to use one of her appearance-altering potions to make herself prettier? That seems like a more direct route to acheive her goal.

Pinocchio

My take: Pinocchio the puppet comes alive, but to become a real boy, he must prove himself brave, truthful and unselfish. Man, the standards for boys made the old-fashioned way sure are low.

Fantasia

My take: A series of short animated stories set to classical music, including Mickey Mouse casting spells to infuse broomsticks with demonic cleaning powers. A kids classic!

Dumbo

DumboMy take: Dumbo the elephant has big ears and is a little awkward, so he is mercilessly teased and exploited by members of the circus. Then he learns how to fly, and is no longer teased. The exploitation continues, but in a good way. The end.

Bambi

BambiMy take: A coming of age story of Bambi: the Great Prince of the Forest. His name and title aren’t quite as impressive as Simba: The Lion King, but I suppose even forests need kings too.

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

The Adventures of Icabod and Mr. ToadMy take: Not exactly a feature film, but two short stories packaged together. Hey – everyone was busy for a while with World War II!

Cinderella

CinderellaMy take: Cinderella is emotionally abused by her step-mother and step-sisters. But, because she is pretty, she is saved from her crummy life by some standard-issue prince she knows nothing about. Second-wave feminism this a’int.

Alice in Wonderland

Alice In WonderlandMy take: The ultimate “and it was all a dream” story.

Peter Pan

Peter PanMy take: Peter Pan brings Wendy Darling (and her brothers) to Never Never land, where where a pixie, mermaids, and a pirate captain promptly attempt to murder her. A whimsical classic!

Lady and the Tramp

Lady And The TrampMy take: “And they called it….puppy love.” – a little Paul Anka for you there. Hope you enjoyed it.

Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping BeautyMy take: A titanic struggle between Maleficent, the evil fairy / dragon / hellbeast and three good fairies. Other characters like Sleeping Beauty exist too, but they are pretty much puppets manipulated by the real power-holders in this kingdom.

101 Dalmatians

101 DalmatiansMy take: Cruella De Vil really, really wants a Dalmatian fur coat. I wonder if her psychological problems started with her parents, who gave her an anti-virtue name. Maybe if she was named “Charity De Vil” she would have started an animal shelter.

The Sword in the Stone

The Sword In The StoneMy take: A dramatic enactment of the old moral: leaders are chosen through divine right, not through piffle like democratic elections or talent.

The Jungle Book

The Jungle BookMy take: A kid is raised by wolves and has lots of animal friends. He instantly forgets all that the second he sees a pretty girl. Men! So predictable!

The Aristocats

AristocatsMy take: Does everybody want to be a cat? The movie’s answer, is an emphatic “Yes!”. In song form!

The Rescuers

The RescuersMy take: This movie follows the adventures of agents of an international mouse organization dedicated to helping abduction victims around the world. Its like Taken, but with mice, and less brutal violence.

Disney Pre-Renaissance Era Movie Marathon Schedule

So now you know all about the movies, but how do they fit into a 24-hour movie marathon schedule? Lucky for you, I have pre-packaged the 24-hour disney movie marathon schedule for you below. Do you think you can relive your childhood in 16 movies in 24 hours? There is only one way to find out!

Start TimeTitle
12:00 PMSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs
01:45 PMPinocchio
03:15 PMFantasia
05:30 PMDumbo
06:45 PMBambi
08:15 PMThe Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
09:30 PMCinderella
11:00 PMAlice in Wonderland
12:30 AMPeter Pan
02:00 AMLady and the Tramp
03:16 AMSleeping Beauty
04:31 AM101 Dalmatians
06:00 AMThe Sword in the Stone
07:30 AMThe Jungle Book
09:00 AMThe Aristocats
10:30 AMThe Rescuers
12:00 PMFinish

 

How to Plan a Disney Movie Marathon

The Walt Disney Company and its subsidiaries have published almost 700 feature films. To have a “complete” Disney movie marathon, you would have to do nothing but watch Disney movies, 24/7, for an entire month. That is a lot of homespun, family friendly, quality entertainment.

But let’s be honest. If you are thinking of having a Disney movie marathon, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds concert is probably not what you are thinking of. I also doubt Mars Needs Moms will show up on your must-watch list.

The stuff produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios is what you want. They produced the great animated films like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. They have produced 56 animated feature films in all. They’ve been doing it so long (about eighty years) that their films can be classified into multiple major “eras”.

Disney Eras Explained

For an explanation of the Disney eras, watch this helpful YouTube video. Don’t worry – I’ll wait.

56 animated movies is more manageable than 700. But this is still too many movies for a 24-hour movie marathon. In fact, you could can get about four 24-hour movie marathons with that many movies. What’s a movie marathon planner to do?

You need to divide and conquer. Per the video above, you can roughly divide up all of the movies into two major eras – Pre-Renaissance and Post-Renaissance. I like to think of it as:

Creating Your Disney Movie Marathon

If you want a Disney movie marathon that does both eras justice, then plan for two movie marathons! Pick the best movies from each era, place them in a movie marathon schedule, and you are good to go!

The key question is how we should pick the “best” disney movies to put in the marathons. Thankfully, half the internet is composed of lists of the best stuff ever. Let’s use Rotten Tomatoes list of best animated Disney movies. They “used a weighted formula that accounts for the Tomatometer, number of reviews, and release year of each Disney animated film.” That sounds like science to me!

Based on this methodology, I have produced sample schedules for your enjoyment.

UPDATE: 30 April 2017 – Some light editing for better readability, etc.

1001 Movies Weblog

There is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to movie weblogs. You can find the top fifty visited weblogs here, and you can find 600 more you might have missed here. Still not satisfied? Try this list of 600 more!

The popular movie weblogs don’t really work for me. Weblogs like this one, focus almost exclusively on the latest releases, gossip about current actors and directors, etc. What I’m looking for are great movies, from any era, that would make a fine addition to my next movie marathon.

The best weblog I’ve found so far in this category is 1001 movies you must see before you die. It is regularly updated, has lots of good ideas, and is easily searchable. By searching for his four-star reviews, I found Bringing Up Baby. It stars Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant, and its considered one of the best American comedies ever made. I’ve never seen it (or heard about it) and it apparently was the first modern use of the word “gay” in a movie. (there has to be a first time for everything, right?). Sounds a like a great idea for my next movie marathon! Score!

How about you? Find any good movie blogs lately?

Pixar Movie Marathon

My kids attended parts of the 24-hour movie marathon I held last year. That got me to thinking about what a kid-friendly, high-quality movie marathon would look like.

My thoughts immediately went to a Pixar movie marathon. Pixar makes some truly stunning films – both in terms of visual beauty and engaging storytelling. I grew up too soon to see a Pixar film as a child, but watching them as an adult has been a real pleasure.

It turns out that the Pixar catalog of original movies almost fits perfectly into a 24-hour movie marathon format. You have to be willing to skip the derivative sequels Cars 2, Cars 3, and Monsters University. And you’ll have to skip the “Just Ok” The Good Dinosaur. But if you can do that, you get to watch 13 gorgeous feature films in one 24-hour period. I have a sample schedule for you below, arranged in chronological order of release of the film.

And this marathon comes with a bonus! By watching each film in one session, you can see for yourself if you believe The Pixar Theory.

The Pixar Movie Marathon Movies

Toy Story

Toy StoryMy take: Toys come alive when no one is looking. Why they bother to pretend to be not alive when looked at is never explained. This is frequently cited as the major weakness of the film.

A Bug’s Life

A Bug's LifeMy take: Remember the parable about the foolish grasshoppers vs. the frugal ants? What if the grasshoppers just did shakedowns of the ants to get their food? Who’s foolish now?

Toy Story 2

Toy Story 2My take: Woody the toy is abducted by the Collector and put in plastic with Xena Warrior Princess, Dr. Who, and…oh wait – that was a Simpsons Halloween episode.

Monsters, Inc.

Monsters Inc.My take: Monsters scare children to generate electrical power. This movie is very similar to The Matrix, in that  implausible power generation sources are used in both films.

Finding Nemo

Finding NemoMy take: If fish can all talk to each other, wouldn’t sharks eating other fish be kind of like cannibalism?

The Incredibles

The IncrediblesMy take: A superhero family lives a typical suburban lifestyle. The teenage years are going to be rough on the neighborhood.

Cars

CarsMy take: A race car learns that life isn’t all about racing. Wait, what?

Ratatouille

RatatouilleMy take: A rat fulfills his lifelong dream of being a gourmet chef. Now that would have been an interesting episode of Gordon Ramsey’s “Kitchen Nightmares”.

Wall-E

WallEMy take: The life and times of a mobile trash compactor in the dystopian future where humans have trashed earth and spent the last 700 years in a space mall. Deep stuff for the elementary school crowd.

Up

UpMy take: So…it seems like the villain in this movie could have made some serious bank with his talking dog collar invention. I might have just retired after that one. Just sayin.

Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3My take: More unending sadness about loss and abandonment and the ways it twists the minds of those who experience it. But told in colorful toy form!

 

Brave

BraveMy take: The classic story of a mother-daughter fight which leads to the mother turning into a bear. Who hasn’t heard THAT story already?

Inside Out

Inside OutMy take: A psychology textbook brought to life in colorful Pixar form. An insanely good drama of a young girl dealing with moving away from her home to an unfamiliar environment, woven together with a strangely accurate depiction of her cartoon subconscious emotions. A stunning achievement of entertainment and education.

The Pixar Movie Marathon Schedule

Start TimeTitle
12:00 PMToy Story
01:45 PMA Bug’s Life
03:30 PMToy Story 2
05:15 PMMonsters, Inc.
07:00 PMFinding Nemo
09:00 PMThe Incredibles
11:00 PMCars
01:00 AMRatatouille
03:00 AMWall-E
04:45 AMUp
06:30 AMToy Story 3
08:15 AMBrave
10:00 AMInside Out
12:00 PMFinish

 

Movies You Should Die Before You See

Movies You Should Die Before You See is a great, catchy title for a weblog. I guiltily admit I just spent about a half hour browsing the terribleness it catalogs. It is an entertaining weblog, but I think it tends to review movies that go beyond “funny bad” to “bad bad”. As a long time watcher of MST3K, I’ve found it very difficult to endure “bad bad” films, even with witty commentary to accompany them. Case in point: The Castle of Fu Manchu.

This weblog reminded me how much I enjoyed it when Roger Ebert reviewed truly terrible films. I guess it takes a Pulitzer-prize winner to truly give bad films their due. Conveniently, Roger Ebert’s Most Hated Movie List is online for free to fulfill my need to read eloquent bad movie reviews. And there are no less than three book compilations of his bad movie reviews. Your Movie Sucks still wins the “best title” competition.

What does this have to do with movie marathons? Not much really – I am just perpetually amused by the dark, seamy underbelly of modern cinema.